Fantastico MSC Fantasia

Good evening from Trondheim, Norway.

Just registered at cruisecritic and I would like to share some experiences with this board regarding MSC. I have seen some negative issues here but our cruise with MSC Fantasia was just great. Of course some differences to my previous cruise with RCCL but that is the great thing about cruising. Every cruiseline have their issue but it is the total that counts.

We have just returned from a fantastic 7 night cruise with MSC Fantasia from Barcelona around the Western Mediterranean. We just love cruising and after a great cruise with RCCL's Navigator Of The Seas last summer in the Eastern Med we decided to give MSC a try this year. MSC Fantasia looked very temptating and here itinerary was just perfect. We were not let down and MSC Fantasia impressed me a lot. She's really huge and here and you wont believe here size before you see here. With over 137 000 GRT and 333 meters i length she is really impressing. The ship is in top condition. The cabins, decks and public areas are very well maintained and you could allways see crew do some shining and maintenance around the ship. Elegant interior all the way and at the same time intimate and cozy. Maybe a bit crowdy when all passengers are onboard but that goes for all cruiseships I guess. She's configured for 3274 pax in double occupancy but total capacity is over 3900 pax.

Here is the itinerary:

1 Fri Barcelona 18.00

2 Sat Marseille 08.00 19.00

3 Sun Genova 09.00 17.00

4 Mon Napoli 12.00 19.00

5 Tue Palermo 08.00 17.00

6 Wed Tunis 07.00 13.00

7 Thu Palma 14.00 24.00

8 Fri Barcelona 09.15

I was really impressed by the check in process at the terminal in Barcelona. Took us ten minutes from the time we entered the terminal until we were onboard. We did the MSC Web express check in some days ahead, don't know if that was the reason. Bright and airy terminal in Barcelona with many check in counters. As soon as we stepped onboard our steward was there to show us our way to the cabin on deck 13. Quite a contrast to the RCCL check inn mess in Civitavecchia ( tent ) last year. That said, about 700 passengers boarded the ship in Barcelona.

The food and service onboard was fine. We had 2nd seating in the main Restaurant Red Velvet at 0930 PM. For breakfast and lunch there was a the buffet as well. The buffet was a bit chaotic with people everywhere and noise but the food was great, a lot to choose from. Free water from the combined ice and water machine. I can imagine how it is here during the hectic summer season and the waiters had some stories about that....... We allways had breakfast in our cabin, free from roomservice. A nice start of the day with great seaview. The disembarking morning with had breakfast in Red Velvet, efficient service and a lot to choose from. Other dinner options are speciality restaurants, one french and one tex mex. There is a a la carte fee there but well worth it. We tried both of them and especially the french L'Etoile was great.

Our cabin was 18 sqm plus balcony and was very nice decored as well as comfortable. Two cleanings pr. day. Another fine thing, there's no need to do tipping, they charge your onboard account with EUR7 every day to cover tips as well as adding 15 % in a servicecharge on onboard purchases. No noise from neighboor cabins. Smiling and friendly service from our cabin attendants. The did not however replace breakdfast ordering forms when we ran out of them so I had to call roomservice to order breakfast.

Did I mention the Zen pool area, a great adult area aft of the main pool area, a haven for us.

We did not do any excursions a we are the "make them selves" types.

I can really recommend MSC Cruises and their Fantasia class ship. Happy cruising. Any comments or questions appreciated.

Some images:

Thank you for your great review. I am considering another MSC cruise for next year and Fantasia was one I was looking at. We were on the Magnifica last June and just loved it. Your photos are beautiful. Just one question -- did you do a "do it yourself tour" in Tunis as well? Was it easy to get around? Did you get to Carthage? I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise. MSC gets too many negative comments.:)

Thank you for your great review. I am considering another MSC cruise for next year and Fantasia was one I was looking at. We were on the Magnifica last June and just loved it. Your photos are beautiful. Just one question -- did you do a "do it yourself tour" in Tunis as well? Was it easy to get around? Did you get to Carthage? I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise. MSC gets too many negative comments.:)

Thank you for your nice comments, glad that you liked my review and photos:)

In Tunis we stayed onboard because we had a wedding ceremony onboard that day:) The evening before arrival Tunis we received a immigration form that had to be filled in and brought with you together with your passport. I spoke with a crewmember in the poolbar about "do it yourself tour" in Tunis and he did not recommend that. There are horror stories about taxidrivers that don't return passengers to the ship in time and that they overcharge taxifares a lot, eg EUR60 to the citycentre......

I spoke with a passenger which did a MSC Tunis shoppingtour but he was dissapointed, very expensive in Tunis he said. There is a tourist "souk" and village right on the harbour and the ship is welcomed by traditional tunis folklore music in the morning, a great way to wake up :)

Thanks for the info! Very helpful.

Thanks for the info! Very helpful.

You are welcome, here is some photos from Tunis, taken from the ship:

Thanks for the review and the pictures. They brought back some nice memories from my trip on the fantasia last year

Hi Norwegian Cruiser 73,

I like your photos, too :)

That is such a unique image, of the tall ladder needed to change a lightbulb!

And Tunis looks like a really interesting and pretty port.

I'm glad you had a great cruise!

Thank you for your Fantasia review. I also just came back from that same cruise, Sept. 24 - Oct. 1, traveling with 5 other ladies. I am kind of in charge of arrangements for our little group, and I have to admit that I was nervous after reading so many negative comments. But we were all very pleased and impressed with the ship. Your photos brought back fond memories and it sounds like you enjoyed more of the onboard amenities than we did. We left the ship every day, which is part of the reason that we chose this intinerary. We wanted to see the areas.

We only took 3 of the ships excursions, including the one in Tunis because we felt we would be safer that way. We went to Carthage and Medina where we never felt threatened, but if you appear interested in anything at the market, the salesmen hounded you. I guess that was part of getting to know the area. We stayed there much too long for me, just waiting for other's sales to be completed. Then it seemed that we were rushed to get back to the ship. I think the guides must get a cut of all the sales! I am not a shopper, but some on our bus bought beautiful carpets.

The other excursions we took with the ship were the Aix en Provence and Pompeii. Both were well worth it. We went on our own in Genoa and for 10EU we did the HOHO hour tour. We actually got a free one since we had six people. Glad we did that. In Palermo we had previously arranged a tour with a man called Gaspare that I had read about on this site. Also nervous since I had never done that before. His email is gasparecracchiolo@alice.it if anyone is interested in a private tour. We all loved his tour and the one on one experience we had with him, as opposed to the large tour bus of the ship. We also arranged the Barcelona City tour on our last day in Barcelona. We were staying there overnight and knew we would be too tired to just wing it and this worked out very well. That tour was with www.BarcelonaDayTours.com and also well worth it.

Thank you for the great review eases me much!