First time with MSC, questions from a newbie

[JazzyJay]

Hi all, just a few questions please, about cruising with MSC. Mum and I are travelling with Armonia on the 7th September for a week. We have travelled several times with Ocean Village and loved having the tea making facilities in the cabin.

 

So, question one. Is inclusive tea and coffee available 24 hrs a day? ie not having to pay extra?

 

Q2. Are we permitted to take a travel kettle to use in the cabin? I understand there is usually a minibar (presumably a small fridge?), so could we store fresh milk in it?

 

We DO like our frequent teas and coffees and rather than ask the stewards to fetch, (we believe in doing things for ourselves!), we would like to know if it was possible to make our own whenever wanted. And of course, if we wanted a hot drink on waking up, without trotting off to a restaurant far away.

 

Also on OV dining was freestyle which we prefer. We have given our choice of dining time, of 6.30, but can we use the buffet every night if we wanted to? Does the food quality differ?

 

Also, our flight home doesn't leave till 5.35pm. Are we allowed/given time to explore Venice, or are we taken off ship, complete with luggage, for an all day stay at the airport?

 

Many thanks.

[AmoMondo]

Hi JazzyJay

 

Tea is free 24 hours at the buffet. You can also get tea delivered to your cabin free at breakfast. I always do this as my wake up call before heading to the MDR later for full breakfast. (if you do use this service, remember to order milk as well as they'll assume you want it black)

 

There are no kettles in the room and I'm not sure whether you are allowed them or not. There is a fridge big enough to hold milk, but not sure where you are going to get it from? You are not allowed to bring any food or drinks onboard, so you'll need to acquire it onboard. Guess you could try ordering glasses of milk with breakfast and keeping them for later.

 

There is no reason why you can't go to the buffet every night. Can't tell you how it compares to what is on offer in the MDR as I've never used the buffet for dinner (don't like buffets for dinner). It would give you an element of freestyle, but not a lot as the opening hours are usually quitenshort (90 minutes typically) compared to the length of time the 2 dinner sittings take place over.

 

As for flights home, presume MSC arranged flights and transfers? If that's the case they'll take you to the airport after disembarking and you won't have time to explore Venice, unless you

1. Can find a left luggage facility atbthe airport and then head back to Venice

2. Forgoe your MSC transfer, leave your luggage atbthe cruise terminal and then make your own way to the airport

3. Book a disembarkation tour with MSC that includes drop off at airport. (I did this on my first cruise with a flight at a similar time. Went on a Venice on your own excursion. They loaded our luggage on to coaches then provided a boat transfer to St Mark's Square, we had 3-4 hours to explore on our own, before the return boat to our coach which then dropped as off at the airport with our luggage)

[Mousehound]

I travelled on the MSC Armonia a few weeks ago.

 

You are able to get tea, coffee & some fruit teas 24 hours a day. It is available in the self service restaurant during meal times & outside near the pizzeria at other times. Good coffee is also available from room service at breakfast time. if you would like quality coffee then you can pay a Euro or so in the coffee shop.

I personally would not smuggle a travel kettle onto the ship as I would not be happy to be called to the naughty room if it was detected in my luggage.

 

There is a mini bar in each cabin & you could store milk in it. Remember that they lock it at about 6.00 pm on the last night of the cruise so, so make sure nothing personal is left in it.

 

You can use the buffet every night but I found the choice limited & the quality disappointing. The food in the dining room was far superior.

 

With regards to your final point, I flew back from Verona to London & my flight left at 19.30. We were advised by the reception that we would be transferred to the airport at around 10.30, leaving us with a very long wait at the airport. After making representations to the managers, with all the other Brits in the same situation, they allowed us to store our luggage at the dock & spent the day in Venice, being transferred at 2.30pm.

 

Hope this helps.

[lita24]

Hi all, just a few questions please, about cruising with MSC. Mum and I are travelling with Armonia on the 7th September for a week. We have travelled several times with Ocean Village and loved having the tea making facilities in the cabin.

 

So, question one. Is inclusive tea and coffee available 24 hrs a day? ie not having to pay extra?

 

Q2. Are we permitted to take a travel kettle to use in the cabin? I understand there is usually a minibar (presumably a small fridge?), so could we store fresh milk in it?

 

We DO like our frequent teas and coffees and rather than ask the stewards to fetch, (we believe in doing things for ourselves!), we would like to know if it was possible to make our own whenever wanted. And of course, if we wanted a hot drink on waking up, without trotting off to a restaurant far away.

 

Also on OV dining was freestyle which we prefer. We have given our choice of dining time, of 6.30, but can we use the buffet every night if we wanted to? Does the food quality differ?

 

Also, our flight home doesn't leave till 5.35pm. Are we allowed/given time to explore Venice, or are we taken off ship, complete with luggage, for an all day stay at the airport?

 

Many thanks.

 

Buffet was closed on formal night last year on Splendida, then at least one night they opened the night buffet around 23:30 at night.

[JazzyJay]

AmoMondo, I'm amazed at the line in your reply (thanks to everyone, BTW, for your responses), that no food or drinks are allowed on board. Why on earth not?! How can you not be permitted to take anything back with you when visiting ports? We took on bottles of water, milk from supermarkets, cans/bottles of soft drinks, sweets, crisps etc. Isn't that a bit draconian, and against our rights?

 

Can anyone else comment on this?

 

I've accepted the remark about not taking the kettle with us, thank you, and that we can use the fridge for milk storage.

 

(Going off to have a lie down!)

[AmoMondo]

AmoMondo, I'm amazed at the line in your reply (thanks to everyone, BTW, for your responses), that no food or drinks are allowed on board. Why on earth not?! How can you not be permitted to take anything back with you when visiting ports? We took on bottles of water, milk from supermarkets, cans/bottles of soft drinks, sweets, crisps etc. Isn't that a bit draconian, and against our rights?

 

Can anyone else comment on this?

 

I've accepted the remark about not taking the kettle with us, thank you, and that we can use the fridge for milk storage.

 

(Going off to have a lie down!)

 

The no food is for health reasons, just like you often can't take food in to other countries. Bringing contaminated food onboard ( even unwittingly) could lead to a major outbreak of an illness onboard. There is no shortage of food onboard anyway, so it really shouldn't be a problem. They don't bother about little things like wrapped snacks, biscuits, cereal bars etc.

 

Drink prohibited, no doubt because they want you to buy theirs. They won't bother about the odd bottle either. If you

come on with a crate of the stuff they'll confiscate and keep it for you until the end of the cruise, when it will be returned to you.