Report On Lirica Transatlantic 27th Dec 2004

[Claire O'Brien]

I am sorry this is so late, I would have liked to have sent it from the ship but at 60c a minute for a slow conection it wasn't affordable.

I hope some of it - at least the Genoa port info - may be helpful to you all. If you don't want me to clog up the board with more then please say so. otherwise there will be plenty more to come.

 

Lirica Monday December 27th 2004

 

 

 

We arrived at London Stansted Airport at 7am to check in for a flight which was due to depart at 8am. Unfortunately Ryanair checkin lines were long and not moving fast. This was due in part to not enough checkin desks being open and in part to checkin clerks attempting to extract extra revenue from passengers who were even marginally over the miserly 15kg weight limit. This led to passengers repacking their cases as much as possible to avoid a £22.50per 5kg excess baggage charge. However Ryanair tickets are usually available at bargain prices so overall they are generally good value.

 

 

 

The flight left on time and arrived at Genoa Airport 10 minutes early after a 1hr 50 minutes flight. The plane was at least 90 per cent full with a varied mix of passengers, however no else on the flight was cruising on Lirica as far as we could tell. We discovered later in the cruise that the passengers who had booked air tickets with their cruise flew with Alitalia from London Heathrow Airport to Milan, then took a bus ride of about two and a half hours on snowy roads to Genoa.

 

 

 

For us at Genoa Airport it was a good half hour wait for the baggage to travel 100 yards from the plane to the terminal however it all arrived undamaged.

 

 

 

Leaving the luggage collection area we found a red-uniformed MSC lady who had a bus leaving for the ship but because we had not pre booked the bus we could not go on it, the bus left a few minutes later with only 4 passengers on board.

 

 

 

We were informed by the MSC lady that there was a special city bus to the Maritime Station (which is the Cruise Terminal) which cost €3 a person, tickets to be bought from a machine near the bus stop immediately outside the airport main doors. You need cash Euros for this machine, it does accept small notes as well as coins and gives change. The bus runs every half hour between the Airport, the Principal Train Station and the North Train Station and can be very crowded with airport passengers.

 

 

 

Unfortunately the bus does not actually call at the Maritime Station but does stop fairly near it, the stop is after the Ferry Terminal and you will see the Cruise Terminal is on your right, a large whitepainted classical style building which will probably have your ship tied up alongside it. You need to ask the driver when you get on to stop there, at the same time you should insert and validate your ticket in a small machine inside at the front of the bus.

 

 

 

As this was our first time in Genoa we did not know this and did not get off at the right stop, instead we stayed on the bus occasionally catching glimpses of the cruise terminal as we went around various one way streets in the city center. When we reached the North Train Station we realized that we had gone too far and that we had to go back, so we just stayed on the bus until we saw the cruise terminal and pressed the stop button and the bus pulled into its next designated stop. We then had a half mile level walk to the terminal.

 

 

 

On entering the terminal you need to drop off your large suitcases on the lower level before checking in. The porters will stack them on a trolley and the next time you see them they will be outside your cabin door. The checkin procedure was painless, cruise cards were issued and photos taken, credit cards could be registered for your shipboard account which is in $US. All in all you were standing at the checkin counter for no more than five minutes.

 

 

 

After negotiating a series of stairs and escalators you will arrive in the final hall before boarding the ship where you will find complimentary orange juice and water. A display shows a boarding number and this will match up with a numbered sticker on your ticket so you know when you may board, in fact our number was 109 and the display was already showing 120 when we arrived there so we went straight on.

 

 

 

At the top of the gangplank our new cruise card was scanned and we embarked the ship, handing in our passports as we went on. We were greeted and shown to our cabin by a steward. Lunch was available in a variety of restaurants on the ship and was excellent but the service was a little hit and miss.

 

 

 

We were immediately impressed by the ship, it was elegant spacious and clean. There were plenty of elevators and stairs between decks. The accommodation decks on Lirica are the upper decks 10, 9, 8, 7 and the public areas like restaurants and bars etc are on lower decks 5 or 6 .

 

 

 

Our cabin – quite forward - 9074 – was a basic inside cabin but was bigger than some we have had on other ships, its well laid out and fine for two people. Outside cabins we saw were exactly the same size as the inside but had a window, larger outside cabins (maybe the ones they call suites?) had plenty of room and a larger television as well but we only saw them from open doors when the rooms were being cleaned. There was plenty of storage space and a compact shower-room. Everything was very clean and comfortable, the décor was modern and pleasant, there was a remote controlled TV and a small refrigerator which was stocked with cans of soft drinks and miniature bottles of spirits , there was a price list which showed that these drinks were at normal hotel minibar prices – not cheap.

 

There were two bottles of Pellegrino mineral water in the cabin which, if consumed, were charged at about $3 each. We swore never to drink them.

 

 

 

The cabin airconditioning was silent and was adjustable, however we turned it to minimum and the cabin still seemed pretty warm. The water in the bathroom was as it should be and there was plenty of it. The toilet was a vacuum flush and operated perfectly, there were no nasty smells in the cabin or bathroom. The shower was very small and you had to be careful not to flood the whole bathroom when using it. If you are a very large person you would have problems using the shower.

 

 

Next part in separate post as there were too many characters (10,000 limit)

[Claire O'Brien]

Next part:

 

 

Lifeboat muster was scheduled for 3pm, however a large number of passengers were not embarked by that time due to flight delays so it was held at 4.30pm. The lifejackets were easy to put on and very new, and the access routes to the Muster Station clearly marked and easy to follow.

 

No rollcall was taken so not every passenger may have attended. That’s their problem I guess. All safety announcements were made in English, Italian, German and French. After the first day there were few announcements.

 

 

 

We had requested late dinner seating and a table for 6 – at least we got the late seating but we were put on a table for 4 and our dinnermates did not turn up on the first night, this is why we had requested a larger table as it minimizes the chances of dining alone.

 

 

 

The service was to say the least slow. It took an hour to get the first course and half an hour to get a glass of water. Some diners did not receive the dishes they had ordered and others received nothing. Steaks arrived not cooked the way they had been ordered. The food itself was however excellent, with the exception of the desserts which were rather bland.

 

 

 

This problem leads to an important matter one should realise about this particular cruise. Lirica has just been in dry dock for painting and refitting for 4 weeks. All the crew on board are new and not used to the ship or to working with each other.

 

 

 

Most of the waiters and restaurant staff are mature Italians. They seem friendly but they stand around a lot. Some others are from Bali or other Asian countries, they seem generally to be in assistant waiter jobs and are unsure about their duties although they are obviously trying hard to pick it up as they go along. Regardless of origin they are mostly pleasant to the passengers and are very apologetic when service is slow. Personally I suspect the galley, staffed with Italian cooks is not providing the waiters with the dishes promptly , but the waiters are also making mistakes. This problem should resolve itself as the crew become used to the ship.

 

 

 

Another point to consider is that the menus and service has been changed for this season’s cruise to the US. There are pepper and salt shakers on the tables, jugs of iced water and iced tea is available at mealtimes, a selection of various teas and what I can only describe as typical cruise ship “American Coffee” is available at all meals. The breakfast and lunch menus are good and have plenty of items on them which will appeal to US and British) passengers as well as to Europeans.

 

 

 

You might not think this is anything out of the ordinary but from MSC past passengers’ reviews it is a huge improvement which has been made without spoiling the Italian ambiance and flavour of the ship. There is still a way to go though.

[bthorn1108]

Claire, please continue with your review. I am sailing on the Lirica on 4/22 for a 10 night cruise and would appreciate as much knowledge about her as I can find. As a note, I am sailing as part of a travel agents "Seminar at Sea", so I'm sure when we get back, there will be plenty of information available about the Lirica. As a travel agent, I like nothing better than to find the good, the bad and the ugly about all ships. It allows me to provide better service to my clients.

[Claire O'Brien]

At Sea 28th December 2004

 

 

Today we went to the Library when it opened. There was a good selection of English language paperbacks, many of them brand new. The Library shares its premises with the Card Room which has several tables and is very small when you consider the number of passengers. Many card players use the Lord Nelson Pub during the day as it has comfortable seating and large round tables, however it can become busy with quizzes and other events organized by the entertainment team. The Cruise Director is Franco Rossi who seems to be fluent in at least four languages and makes various announcements as required at parties, shows etc.

 

 

After lunch we watched a movie,“The Johnson Family”, on Channel 12 on the TV, it was publicised as being on Channel 11. Unfortunately it skipped randomly between scenes which made it interesting but did not improve the viewing experience. Some problem with the centrally located DVD player. The girls at reception had no idea what to do about it and in fact nothing was done, the problem just carried on.

 

 

The show tonight in the Broadway Theatre was opera, a violinist, a tenor and a soprano who was a large Italian lady. Absolutely the whole thing was in Italian but was still very enjoyable as several of the arias were well known and they performed them well. The soprano in particular was very funny and obviously enjoyed her performance as much as we did.

[Claire O'Brien]

 

Malaga 29th December 2004

 

 

We were originally scheduled to arrive in Malaga earlier in the morning but did not berth until after 12 o’clock. This being the start of lunch we decided to eat lunch and go ashore afterwards. This was a mistake as many of the stores in the city close for a siesta at 2pm and do not reopen until 5pm. However we had a pleasant lunch in La Bussola restaurant, the other formal restaurant was closed this lunchtime. We arrived early to dine, the restaurant soon filled up and later passengers were turned away and had to go to the buffet for lunch.

 

 

The quite expensive ship’s shore excursions were not due to depart until 2pm, we were not taking one of those and just went ashore on our own. There was no shuttle bus laid on by the ship or, as sometimes occurs, by the local Tourist Office. There were a number of taxis waiting in a line but at least initially they wanted only to take passengers on a tour at $50 plus, not take them into town.

 

It’s a long walk from the ship to town, at least 25 minutes for a fit person and a good two miles, on uneven potholed sidewalks or in the even worse road through the busy port area where there are many trucks driving and heavy machinery operating. This is not a safe situation and is one which MSC needs to address in future. We took a cab back and the cost was €10 which we split four ways and thought it was worth it. We were told by the taxi driver that the Spanish word for cruise ship is nave (pronounced nah-vay).

 

 

The service this lunchtime was excellent, the waiter served us our 5 course lunch as quickly as we could eat and there were no mistakes with what we had ordered. Most of the waiters speak basic English, some are much more fluent,many of the Italian waiters also speak French. The German passengers generally however have to speak English to the waiters as German is not widely understood on the ship and this has led to some problems with the wrong dishes being served, the German passengers are not amused about this. Some of the Italian waiters do speak German but they did not seem to have been allocated any more German speaking passengers than the other waiters.

Malaga is a pleasant and warm city year round, when we called there it was still decorated for Christmas with lights, a Christmas tree and many large planters of red poinsettias in the streets.

 

In the city centre main shopping street and around the Plaza de la Constitution some fashion stores were open. We headed off several hundred yards to a large department store called El Corte Ingles which has a food and drink supermarket in the basement where we bought some Coca Cola and two small bottles of spirits. Although there is a new policy for MSC of confiscating booze from passengers when they come aboard we did not see this being implemented. (It was later to a certain extent) Bags were put through the usual xray machine but no queries were raised. In any case just to be on the safe side we had just put our booze in capacious pockets and were not bodysearched..

 

 

On return to the ship we found the two Jacuzzis were in operation but were not at all hot enough. The swimming pools were filled but we did not check out the temperature of these as the wind was quite strong even though the ship was not moving.

 

 

The shops on board include fashion and jewellery and are very well laid out and attractive, however it is not always easy to know how much an item costs as many are either priced in Euros or not priced at all. In the duty free shop if you wanted to know how much a bottle cost it was necessary to take it to the cash register and have its bar code scanned.

 

Any alcoholic drinks bought in the duty free shop on board are not given to the passenger until debarkation at the end of the cruise, and as they generally seem to cost more here than at some Caribbean islands sales may not be very good. For example a one litre bottle of Bacardi was $14.

 

 

On our return from ashore we ordered for the first time from roomservice, just a couple of club sandwiches and a chicken Caesar salad. These arrived in 30 minutes and were excellent. They claim to deliver within 20 minutes from the limited selection of room service items available but we would be happy if they can consistently manage 30. A continental breakfast is available if ordered the previous evening but lunch and dinner meals are not delivered by room service. There is conflicting information in the daily information about room service, in one place it tells you to dial 99, in another 2222 which is reception. Maybe they both work.

 

 

Whilst on the subject of the daily information sheet which is delivered in the passenger’s language to the cabin every evening – there are often mistakes in it regarding times, or tv programs or other matters. For example on the first formal night the dress information was printed in Italian and in no way resembled the English for “Formal”. Films are often on a different TV channel to that published and meal times can be different to those listed.

 

 

The show tonight in the Broadway Theatre was Flamenco dancing, it started badly but improved later in the show, the 3 female and 2 male dancers were enthusiastic but performed more a modern interpretation of Flamenco than traditional. There was no classical guitarist to accompany them just taped music. Apparently they were on the ship last year but now they include one more female dancer. There was a lot of what seemed to us un-necessary shouting of "OY" by the male dancers. Whatever happened to "OLE"?

[webdesigner]

uups, I accidently posted an answer to his thread although it was meant to be here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2772369#post2772369

[Claire O'Brien]

As eroller posted such a wonderfully professional review I won't be carrying on with mine. You don't need my cruddy effort.

[czechmate]

Claire

I for one am sorry that you so underestimate your efforts. You are or were providing great information which was interesting and I am sure helpful to many. Please can we persuade you to continue? All opinions and insight are helpful and your writing was GREAT!

[eroller]

As eroller posted such a wonderfully professional review I won't be carrying on with mine. You don't need my cruddy effort.

 

 

Claire,

Please continue! I certainly didn't post Howie's review to take away from yours. The more information and viewpoints the better.

 

I hope you decide to finish yours. I've enjoyed reading what you have written so far.

 

Best,

Ernie

[webdesigner]

I really enjoyed your review very much so far.

seems to be very fair and balanced and needs to be in this board.

 

thanks and looking forward

 

;-)......remember the flow... ?

[czechmate]

Claire

It would appear that the entire thead started by Ernie and including the review has been deleted.

This makes it even more important that you continue with your excellent and informative review.

Do not abandon us mid-ocean.

PLEASE!