jennjess

It is easy to do and public transport in Edinburgh is excellent.

 

Yes the shuttles are easy to find. When you get to the top of the pier they are just to your left and the owner of the company will be visible with his board and his voice!!! You pay one of his assistants by the coach. They usually wear hi-vis jackets. They will accommodate everybody who wants to go on the shuttle but I would strongly advise getting an earlier shuttle because the queues can build up later in the morning. Hopefully you're Elite so you'll get priority for the tender.

Sadly far from Elite so we will have to take our chances. Thanks again!

Tartanexile, many thanks for your informative reply. It seems quite easy to do.

A question or two about the shuttle, will it be easy to spot from where the tenders drop everyone off?

Also is it available to everyone ie no need to book in advance? and will there be enough places for all who wish to use it?

Are there tulips in the fields yet? I will be there April 17-28 which is supposed to be prime viewing time. Do you know if this year will be a normal year? Also is it worthwhile going to the flower auction in addition to Keukenhof?

 

Any local tips will certainly be welcome.

I think you will be timing it right! The early tulip varities are beginning to come into flower now but most don't come to bloom until April or even early May. I wouldn't bother with the flower auction personally. The keukenhof ensures that there will be many flowers to see.

We are hoping to go to Rosslyn chapel from South Queensferry. We will plan on using the shuttle into Edinburgh and then the bus to Rosslyn. Could you give me any advice on making this journey such as where to find the Rosslyn bus in Edinburgh? Is it necessary to book entrance tickets in advance?

Excellent post and I agree!

If you let fear stop you travelling where you wish to go then the terrorists have won! Don't let them win!

This was a reply to Sue but the quote function doesn't seem to be working for me.

Are all outputs US style? Will I need to bring an adapter for Euro plugs?

I read a review recently about the NeoRiviera that said that the buffet was open in the evening for an hour or two. I suppose that the same is true on the neoRomantica. The review was on another website.

I also have read that there is only open dining so no fixed dining at all.

There are no dates later than april 2015 on the Dutch site either.

 

I had a look at the German site which does have cruise dates for the whole 2016 and beginning of 2017 available.

 

The German website itself has so much more information available also.

 

Wonder why they do that?

Oops that should have been 2016 obviously!

There are no dates later than april 2015 on the Dutch site either.

I had a look at the German site which does have cruise dates for the whole 2016 and beginning of 2017 available.

The German website itself has so much more information available also.

Wonder why they do that?

See attached for price list - hope it is readable.

 

The above mentioned packages can be used by any number of persons.

Thanks again.

Laundry prices quite expensive, sadly. Oh well, will bring some washing powder to wash out the little things.

Thanks for the info.

Don't suppose anyone has a laundry price list available?

One or two of those drink packages will work for us I think. Are they per person or can we share a coffee or soft drink package?

I'm also new to Costa and have a couple of questions.

Is it possible to buy a unlimited laundry package at all, so that you can send clothes when you want to the laundry? Or is only individual pricing (apart from the last days deal).

Is it possible to buy other drink packages onboard as the AI will be uneconomical for us. We don't drink alcohol, so a soft drink or coffee package would be useful but doesn't appear to be pre bookable.

We are cruising on the NeoRiviera so this may have different arrangements.

Any extra info on this cruise ship would also be useful.

Thank you for taking the time to give a review. My husband and I will soon be sailing with MSC and I have to say that am expecting to get what I paid for : ) The price was quite inexpensive. I have read many many reviews and your comments have been echoed many times over...both the good and bad ones. I find it hard to believe there isn't truth to them. Food is subjective as they say but many people feel the same way you do. I will go with lowered expectations and hopefully will be happily surprised.

 

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Thank you for sharing yours.

I hope you enjoy your cruise!

Some things are more important than others to different people and many seem to be happy with MSC. I am not trying to put anyone off just giving my personal view.

A brief review of our 7 night cruise on Fantasia from which we have just returned.

Embarkation was quite fast & efficient considering the amount of people boarding.

I'll start by saying that the itinerary was great and was why I booked this cruise. We would have liked longer time in the ports than was available but we knew this when we booked. We booked an MSC excursion from Bari to see the trullo houses in Alberobello and that was very enjoyable and the guide was fun and informative. I booked another company to take us to Olympia from Katakolon which was cheaper and also provided a guide for the site. We prefer to avoid cruiseship excursion where possible as they tend to include shopping or other unwanted activities. The other ports we did on our own using either local transportation or tours which worked out fine. No sea days was fine with us also.

The ship is well kept,clean and very glamourously decorated but there are just too many people onboard and it was a nightmare at breakfast and at other peak times to find a table, even at the back of the buffet. We found ourselves walking round and round the buffet looking for a place to sit.

Our cabin was large enough for the 2 of us, pleasingly decorated and comfortable. We had a larger than usual, odd shaped balcony as it was at the point were the ship widened out at the back. It was rather enclosed by a over hang from the deck above and was somewhat cave-like. Since we were off the ship every day, we didn't use it much anyway.

Our cabin steward seemed very stressed and got quite upset when we dialled the housekeeping number to ask for the beds to be split or request a guest feedback form that hadn't been delivered to our room (which other guests had told us they had received it the night before). He wasn't always around so how else were we to organize these things? He did keep the room clean and tidy enough and I left him a tip on the last day. Having worked myself in hotels and restaurants I know that the job can be hard work and I feel some sympathy for the staff onboard who sometimes are asked a lot of. Unless they are very surly or rude, I will not complain. In general they were friendly and helpful.

Our big problem was with the food. As we are vegetarian the choices were very very limited but even for non vegetarians there was not much choice. We have sailed on other lines and they have far greater and more appetizing choices. The quality of the meals was so very poor and never arrived at the table hot. We gave up on the dining room as the options were so limited for non meat/fish eaters but the buffet was not much better. The service was adequate in the dining room though and I have no complaints about that.

We wound up eating salad most nights from a very uninspiring salad bar in the buffet. The few non meat options (vegetable lasagne etc.) looked like they had been sitting there for hours and were barely warm. Mushroom pizza were you were lucky to find more than 2 tiny mushroom pieces on a slice. The whole impression was of cost saving and no effort put into making things look attractive. It surprises me that a great food loving nation can produce such disappointing cuisine.

We met 2 other couples who were equally disappointed with the food, they also had issues with their cabins, which we thankfully did not.

The shows were glitzy and sparkly and mostly worth watching. I just wish they had put that much effort into their dining experiences.

We didn't use the pools but there seemed to be too few loungers for everyone who wanted one. We also saw toddlers and babies in the pools who should not have been there, for hygiene reasons. Talking of hygiene nobody seemed to use the hand sanitizers onboard nor was it ever requested by the staff.

The tendering process at Santorini & Dubrovnik was also chaotic. The queues for the tender tickets were extremely long (an hour wait) due to just 2 staff members handing them out. A few more staff would have helped the process go much faster and stopped the aggressive reactions of guests, who got very upset at people who tried to push in the queue, which did happen. Once down at the exit nobody took any notice of the time on the tender tickets anyway. What a waste of time!

Guests were supposed to vacate the cabins at 8 AM on disembarkation day but since the ship was late in docking, 9AM, this meant many people had to hang around for a long time to leave the ship. We disembarked ourselves so had no problem getting off when we wanted to. We left the cabin at 10AM when the cabin steward came knocking the door to clean the room.

For me it was all Style over Substance and I wouldn't sail MSC again.

Many thanks for the answers.

It will be . I've not been on that particular cruise but every 7 night cruise I've had with them had 2 normally second night and second last night if you are boarding at the main embarkation port. Occasionally it is different depending on the itinerary and port times.

How formal is it? Will my son get away with a dark jacket and shirt (no tie).

Hi guys, we are booked on the 7 nt cruise on the magnifica leaving on 1st October and wondered how many formal nights there will be? I'm thinking 2?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

I would also like to know this, we leave in 2 weeks and I have to start thinking about packing.

Hi Jenjess

 

Sorry cant help with that one. I have had mine booked since day 1 of our booking earlier this year. I do remember seeing somewhere that they don't like changes on the website within 5 days of travel. Might just be worth a call to you local MSC Rep to check they have the booking.

 

Allegrissimo is definitely worth it if only to take away any anxiety over the final bar bill.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise.

I tried to call the local MSC office today to ask but it was taking too long for them to put me through. I will try again tomorrow. We still have 4 weeks before we cruise.

Hi Jennjess

 

You can buy drink vouchers on board, just be aware they will charge an additional 15% Service Charge. Better to pre order through the website and the charge minus the 15% gets added to your onboard account and you pay at the end of your cruise.

 

There are no advantages to booking excursions before boarding other than places are limited and popular excursion sell out fast.

 

Have a great cruise.

We decided to do the Allegrissimo drink package after all which I have pre-booked online. We will just have to drink enough to make it worthwhile.

Now the MSC website is saying that the payment is overdue but can I still pay for it onboard or do I have to pay for it now?

Is it possible to buy drink vouchers onboard or do you have to pre-purchase beforehand?

The drink packages are of no interest to us as we drink very little alcohol so they seem too expensive.

Is there any advantage to booking excursions before boarding?

It looks like you can purchase a soft drink voucher package. Check out onboard services on MSC website.

This sounds like a good option. Thanks I will check the website.

Laundry package is 20 items for €25/$25 for normal service and 40 for express service.

 

Are you sailing on the Divina or another ship? All the fleet have a 24 hour beverage station with water, ice, tea and coffee. They also have juice at breakfast. In the MDR you only get juice, tea and coffee at breakfast. On the Divina, you get free iced water in MDr at any meal and I believe they may also serve tea or coffee.

No not the Divina, sailing the Eastern Med with MSC Orchestra.

The 20 laundry items for 25 euros can be done as many times as you wish? Or is it a one time offer?

As we are new to MSC I have many questions?

Firstly laundry, I like to get things washed onboard so that I don't have to bring home bags full of dirty clothes so is there a laundry package available at all? I have sailed with Holland America and the first thing I do is sign up for an unlimited laundry package, does MSC have something similar?

Secondly drinks packages. Are there no free drinks at all offered onboard?

We are not really alcohol drinkers so the drinks packages offered seem too expensive for us, are there other alternatives? It would be nice to have unlimited soft drinks, water, tea and coffee, does such a package exist?

Please see my answers above.

Thanks again. Ethnic corner sounds interesting, do they have curries? My son likes spicy foods and is not so keen on Italian food. Hence we may eat more often in the buffet.

Thank you someone for bumping this up to the first page so I didn't miss it.

Can wait to go cruising again now!

Thanks you Elmartellama for your wonderful review, really enjoyed reading it.