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Live MSC Preziosa Grand Voyage


travelberlin
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In a transatlantic crossing, it comes a question what to do in the many sea days? Some cruise lines like Cunard provide lectures, theater performances and of course a lovely library. The best library at Sea is imho on the Queen Mary 2.

At MSC, during this crossing the activities are more oriented to dancing and learning samba and other Brazilian dances. They used to provide Tai Chi on board with well qualified instructors. That was for sure a value added from MSC. But unfortunately not on this crossing. I will try to post a photo of the activities offered on board.

Many people have disembarked yesterday in Tenerife. I think specially many crew members. Now we have a cabin attendant from Indonesia, who makes a very friendly impression.

We are still enjoying our crossing. But there are some things from MSC, which annoy us, like the lack of proper higiene measures on the MDR at lunch time, which I mentioned before. If we go to the MDR at lunch we try to go at the opening time to avoid being seated in places that were already occupied before us and where glasses, and even forks and knifes are not being properly replaced.

It also annoys us, that if you call the reception trying to get some information, no one answers the phone. It does not matter how often you call and how long you let it ring no one will come to the phone. So this means that you will need to go to the reception desk and stay on a queue for any simple issue. Is it really that difficult to improve on the points mentioned above?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lovely day in Ponta Delgada, Azoren. Choppy seas to arrive here but in a ship of this size hardly noticeable.

We saw dolphins from our balcony this morning. I have heard they like to surf on the waves made by the ship. They were so many. What a nice sight.

Ivi

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Sunrise at sea. That picture was taking before our arrival at Ponta Delgada. Today is cloudy, windy and cold. Lets hope weather will improve once we are in the continent.

Internet is working intermittently. Last evening no connection, but there is one now, good enough to post pictures.

Have a good day.

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Choppy seas today. The MSC Preziosa handles it beautifully. It is a sea day on our way to Lisboa. This evening is the third gala night during this crossing.

We had our lunch at the main dining room which at the MSC Preziosa is called the Golden Lobster. I wonder why. Even though there are some lobster representations on the walls of the restaurant we have never seen a lobster served.

Port presentations have improved a little bit on MSC cruises. I remember when they were just the explanation of their excursions in order to sell them. They call your attention to the port presentations now, in which they describe them as “new and entertaining”. They don't lie to you about this. It is entertaining to see how a charming girl who has never been in those ports before, tries to tell you something about them. You better come prepared with your information before hand. Wikipedia will do it.

We like very much the politeness of the Brazilian guests of this ships. It is nice to be greeted with a friendly “Bom Dia” (not sure you write it this way) when you enter the elevator.

Ivi

 

 

 

 

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The highlight of this voyage is for us Lisboa. The day started cloudy and rainy. We did a city tour visiting the Torre de Belem, the Gieronimus Monastery and the city center. Four hours and no time to do anything else in this lovely city. We have managed to find a nice tapas place with good wines, cheese and hams. The name of the place is Odette, close to the Restauradores Square. Definitely not enough time for Lisboa. Unable to post pictures because the internet is getting worse. We have the premium package but somehow it is extremely slowly and with interruptions even when we are at port.

 

 

 

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Welcome to Vigo. This is a good port to get to know Santiago de Compostela, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes from here. We have been there before. Not sure what to do yet in Vigo on a Sunday. Going to church and maybe eat some seafood. We missed our crabs yesterday in Lisboa, so today we will try to get it in Vigo.

The bread has improved a lot onboard. There are a multigrain bread and a rye bread which are tasty and look very healthy.

Have a good Sunday.

 

 

 

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The swimming pools on the MSC Preziosa are beautiful. On this crossing they were very much used before Tenerife. Unfortunately they are not heated and since the weather has become cold as we go to the north, there is not possible to use them. Not even the one, which is covered.

 

 

 

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Hi TB ... September last year on a cold, wet and horrible second day stuck in Zeebrugge that very same pool was full all day.

Today in the afternoon at around 17.00 we went for a swim. About 21 Celsius. In the morning it was imposible. Just too cold. It looks like MSC heats the inside pool during the day. But still not warm enough. At least not for us or our fellow passengers.

Ivi

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We have enjoyed the shows at the MSC Preziosa. The production shows were very good and also the guests entertainers. When on a transatlantic I think this is one of the value added of big ships in comparison to small ones.

Another important value added is for us, that on a big ship one does not experience the rough seas as much. For example during this crossing, we had rough seas between Tenerife, Ponta Delgada and Lisbon. We would not have liked to be on small ship during those rough seas.

Today we are in Southampton. It is not very warm outside. We have been many times here before, so today we are just going to take it easy and walk around a little bit. Maybe have some nice fish and chips...

Several of our fellow cruisers are taking excursions either to London or to Stonehenge and Salisbury. I remember once we went to Stonehenge at this time of the year and it was freezing cold. Fantastic place though.

Ivi

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No fish and chips for us today in Southhampton. So many Chinese restaurants here. We could not resist one. Wow! Very tasty. We had steamed crab with ginger and spring onions sauce, peking duck and dim sum. Nice meal.

The restaurant is called Shanghai and is on High street. Most of the guests were Chinese. A place to return.

 

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Hi Stockjock, we had indeed a good crossing.

Last evening there was a performance again by the very talented tenor, soprano, mezzo-soprano and pianist. It was an Opera music. There was only one performance and the theater was not full. The performers were excellent again. I think that there were not many people attending because many came back tired from the excursions.

We have enjoyed the selection of music. The Nessun Dorma was spectacular.

 

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Today our port of call was Le Havre. It is cold outside. Well, about 11 C. It is taking me a lot of effort to adapt to the cold weather after the warm in South America.

On the pool deck the bar attendants do not have it easy. Standing many hours in the cold...

I have decided not to go out today since we were also here before. It was nice to be on a quiet ship for a change since most of the passengers were out visiting. The Brazilian passengers are very polite but for some reason they speak very loud. A cultural difference for sure.

Ivi

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Today we were in Zeebrugge. From there we found that it is very easy to travel to Brugge. There is a shuttle bus outside the port, which is called Cruise Express. A round trip ticket to Brugge costs 20 Euro.

Lovely city! It was quite cold. We had a nice hot chocolate in town. A surprise how they present the hot chocolate. Tasty.

 

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Last day at sea before our final destination. It is a cold but sunny day. Not much going on today in terms of activities. People just sitting in the different lounges having lively conversations.

We have just finished packing and went for a walk. How I enjoy those walks watching the sea...

This is my last post during this voyage. I will try to post an overall review once I arrive home.

Have a nice week end.

Ivi

 

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