The long-lost sister of the Lirica Class ships and how about £163 for a week on her?

[Skipper Tim]

What we know as MSC's Lirica Class (MSC Armonia, Sinfonia, Lirica and Opera) was originally the now defunct Festival Cruises' 'Mistral Class'.

 

The MS Mistral was the first new build for Festival Cruises and came into service in 1999. Two further ships were built based on an enlarged Mistral design, the MS European Vision (2001) and the MS European Stars (2002) with a further two Mistral Class ships on option with the ship yard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique. When Festival Cruises went bust, the company's fleet were auctioned and MSC bought the European Stars, now the MSC Armonia, and the European Vision, now the MSC Sinfonia in 2004.

 

Festival Cruises did not have chance to exercise the option on the two further Mistral class ships. However, it appears that MSC also acquired that option, as the MSC Lirica and MSC Opera followed as new-builds for MSC with a reconfiguration to fit more smaller balcony cabins at the expence of suites. Sounds familiar?

 

Now back the the MS Mistral. She was bought in the same auction by a group which became Spanish-based Ibero Cruises, jointly owed by Spanish company Orizonia and Carnival and managed by Costa - Carnival's European division. The MS Mistral was renamed the MS Grand Mistral. Her most distinguishing difference from the other Mistral class ships (i.e. the Lirica Class ships) is the presence of stern balcony cabins and an extra pool on the top deck at the stern. Internally and externally however, there is little to separate her in layout from her older sisters.

 

Much of this is trivia but for those who love the continental culture aspects of MSC and the smaller, more traditional Lirica class ships, I am pleased to report that Ibero Cruises does not even have English on its website! Further, they currently have a 7 night repo cruise aboard the Grand Mistral from Istanbul via Athens, Corfu, Dubrovnik and Triest to Venice on the 28th May for 192 Euros (£163) inside or outside cabin with no solo supplement. If you would like to truly immerse yourself in Spanish culture aboard the original Lirica Class ship, there may never be a better bargain.

 

Virtual tour: http://blog.iberocruceros.com/tours/mistral/Tour_ibero-mistral.html

 

http://www.iberocruceros.com/

 

Tim.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Skipper Tim

[Skipper Tim]

Oops! The £163 cruise is actually on Ibero Cruises' Grand Celebration not the Grand Mistral and taxes double the fare. Mere details....

Edited May 19, 2013 by Skipper Tim

[AmoMondo]

Very interesting Tim. Sitting in my hotel in Genova at the moment. Tomorrow I'll be back on the European Vision ala Sinfonia tomorrow.

 

Iberocruceros take bookings from non fluent Spanish speakers but I believe don't really cater for other nationalities as Costa do. Wonder how similar the onboard experience will be to Costa? on the other hand you cannot book on Aida unless you speak German.

[Skipper Tim]

Very interesting Tim. Sitting in my hotel in Genova at the moment. Tomorrow I'll be back on the European Vision ala Sinfonia tomorrow.

 

Iberocruceros take bookings from non fluent Spanish speakers but I believe don't really cater for other nationalities as Costa do. Wonder how similar the onboard experience will be to Costa? on the other hand you cannot book on Aida unless you speak German.

 

Yes, lots of wonderings. Ibero Cruises are on my list for the future. Their FAQ did say their staff could "cope with English". I signed up to their mailing list and I had to indicate which country I live in. The choice was either Spain or Portugal - wonderful! (As with my MSC address of 'Yorkshire, Greater London', my Iberocruceros address is 'England, Spain'.). Actually their website is an awful lot slicker than MSC's but that really is not saying much is it?

 

Have a great time aboard the closest relative of the Armonia and keep us posted!

 

Regards,

 

Tim.

Edited May 19, 2013 by Skipper Tim

[Skipper Tim]

Internally and externally however, there is little to separate her in layout from her older sisters.

 

younger sisters.

[Skipper Tim]

I see that Costa have just acquired the former Mistral, refurbished her to the tune of 10 million Euros and have renamed her the Costa neoRiviera.

 

She has a lovely repo from the middle East of over 60 nights around the point end of Africa and avoiding the Gulf of Aden and Suez, the same time that 'fans of the MSC Armonia' will repoing from the Canaries to Venice. Pricey though.

 

It is interesting also that Costa have chosen to acquire such a small ship (48,200 GT) not long after MSC abruptly disposes of their smallest, the MSC Melody.

 

I will keep a look out for the newRiviera's future repos.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Mistral

http://www.costacruises.co.uk/gb/costa_neoriviera.html

Edited November 17, 2013 by Skipper Tim

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Here are a couple of photos of MSC Lirica I took from MSC Preziosa in Genova this September:

 

 

Edited November 18, 2013 by Norwegian Cruiser 73

[sthelder]

I heard lots of complements on Pullmantur, but none of my friends ever tried Ibero.Are they comparable?