Live From The Armonia. 13.09.13

[POSTAPB]

Hi, we are on board now. Not so good at the moment. Queue to give luggage, queue for check in, we asked for first seating at restaurant and we got second. . .At reception we asked info about that,they told us to meet the maitre at 12.00 at Marco Polo restaurant. We went there but the maitre told us that we should go at dinner time . . . We are on vacation and we don't like to complain. Then we decided to stop at restaurant gor lunch. The restaurant was neatly empty but the maitre told us that guests on their embarkation day can't eat at the restaurant and asked us to leave. . .nonsense! The buffet is poor and overcrowded. The stateroom,we have a balcony suite deck 12, is old atnd worn out,expecially the bathroom, the window is not clean. There are the worst pillows - just one per person - ever had and the blanket is such a low quality one. in the corridor the smell is awful. The itinerary has been changed due to traffic congestion in some ports . . . So we'll stop at same sites but in different days. Tha start is bad. . . Hoping it will be better . . .msc armonia at the moment is not nice.

[POSTAPB]

Hi, we are on board now. Not so good at the moment. Queue to give luggage, queue for check in, we asked for first seating at restaurant and we got second. . .At reception we asked info about that,they told us to meet the maitre at 12.00 at Marco Polo restaurant. We went there but the maitre told us that we should go at dinner time . . . We are on vacation and we don't like to complain. Then we decided to stop at restaurant gor lunch. The restaurant was neatly empty but the maitre told us that guests on their embarkation day can't eat at the restaurant and asked us to leave. . .nonsense! The buffet is poor and overcrowded. The stateroom,we have a balcony suite deck 12, is old atnd worn out,expecially the bathroom, the window is not clean. There are the worst pillows - just one per person - ever had and the blanket is such a low quality one. in the corridor the smell is awful. The itinerary has been changed due to traffic congestion in some ports . . . So we'll stop at same sites but in different days. Tha start is bad. . . Hoping it will be better . . .msc armonia at the moment is not nice.

[papcx]

Oh dear! Not the best start.

 

I hope things improve for you.

[MSC Cruises USA]

Hi, we are on board now. Not so good at the moment. Queue to give luggage, queue for check in, we asked for first seating at restaurant and we got second. . .At reception we asked info about that,they told us to meet the maitre at 12.00 at Marco Polo restaurant. We went there but the maitre told us that we should go at dinner time . . . We are on vacation and we don't like to complain. Then we decided to stop at restaurant gor lunch. The restaurant was neatly empty but the maitre told us that guests on their embarkation day can't eat at the restaurant and asked us to leave. . .nonsense! The buffet is poor and overcrowded. The stateroom,we have a balcony suite deck 12, is old atnd worn out,expecially the bathroom, the window is not clean. There are the worst pillows - just one per person - ever had and the blanket is such a low quality one. in the corridor the smell is awful. The itinerary has been changed due to traffic congestion in some ports . . . So we'll stop at same sites but in different days. Tha start is bad. . . Hoping it will be better . . .msc armonia at the moment is not nice.

 

 

We sincerely appreciate your candid comments and bringing this to our attention. MSC Cruises prides itself in customer service and we would like to resolve any concerns raised in your comments above. Please contact our Customer Service department at customer-srvc@msccruisesusa.com with detailed information and they will be happy to assist in resolving your inquiry.

 

Regards,

MSC Cruises USA

[POSTAPB]

We're back.

Luckily the weather was fantastic and we could enjoy our autumn cruise.

As written before our stateroom - suite 1215 -was nice but the bathroom really needs some improvement. Black lines along bathtub and along wall, scratched and chapped wash basin even it's a plastic one, the low edge of the mirror was ruined, the paint was peeling off the wall and onto the nozzle of the areator, everywhere fixes with white silicone. In the bathroom there is a soap dispenser on the wash basin and two dispensers (shampoo and body wash) by the bathtub. No body lotion provided (we asked but it wasn't available), we had shower caps and a sewing kit. The bedspread had two ugly yellow stains on the inside. I asked the waitress to replace it and she took it off but we didn't get another one... I'm afraid this is not the standard I expected for the best available accommodation on Msc Armonia. Our waitress anyway cleaned with care and the same did the rest of the staff all along the ship. At dinner the service was attentive and fast. We didn't enjoy all the ports of call but I won't talk about that as I think it depends too much on personal preferences.

Good weather helped our vacation a lot: sunny and warm days.

[POSTAPB]

Forgot to say: after a week, I still can't understand why the maitre at the main restaurant asked us to leave and to have lunch at the buffet restaurant as guests are not allowed to eat at restaurant on their embarking day... Pls remember that the restaurant was 90 % empty... Is there anybody who's so kind to explain it to me?

[steph7021]

Forgot to say: after a week, I still can't understand why the maitre at the main restaurant asked us to leave and to have lunch at the buffet restaurant as guests are not allowed to eat at restaurant on their embarking day... Pls remember that the restaurant was 90 % empty... Is there anybody who's so kind to explain it to me?

 

Well, I imagine it is just their policy/procedure. They are probably doing some re-stocking or getting ready for the week. You don't have to like it---but there is no "reason" just the way they do it. :roll eyes: They may also be changing staff--giving a day off etc...

[steph7021]

Thanks for your review. We are booked on the Spirit but now may change to the Armonia out of Venice on May 26th because of some schedule issues. The price is outstanding--and I was wondering about the condition of the ship. I'll have 2 18 year olds with us---much to do for the young adult crowd?

[cruiseclues]

Enjoyed your photo review very much...didn't know what parbulking meant, though had some idea from the mention of Costa Concordia, so I looked it up on Google and only found two references (your posts)...Google suggested I search for parbuckling, which I vaguely remembered seeing the word before, but didn't remember what it meant. I'm assuming you meant parbuckling...Definition from Wiki. :):):):)

Edited January 6, 2014 by cruiseclues

[cruiseclues]

We sincerely appreciate your candid comments and bringing this to our attention. MSC Cruises prides itself in customer service and we would like to resolve any concerns raised in your comments above. Please contact our Customer Service department at customer-srvc@msccruisesusa.com with detailed information and they will be happy to assist in resolving your inquiry.

 

Regards,

MSC Cruises USA

 

I must say I'm impressed with your response to this...though my wife (posts under cruisecluestoo), told me that though your website was not a great one...she felt that when you were contacted, you always gave the most information and help than any of the other cruise lines. :):):):)

[reilly1]

Hi, we are on board now. Not so good at the moment. Queue to give luggage, queue for check in, we asked for first seating at restaurant and we got second. . .At reception we asked info about that,they told us to meet the maitre at 12.00 at Marco Polo restaurant. We went there but the maitre told us that we should go at dinner time . . . We are on vacation and we don't like to complain. Then we decided to stop at restaurant gor lunch. The restaurant was neatly empty but the maitre told us that guests on their embarkation day can't eat at the restaurant and asked us to leave. . .nonsense! The buffet is poor and overcrowded. The stateroom,we have a balcony suite deck 12, is old atnd worn out,expecially the bathroom, the window is not clean. There are the worst pillows - just one per person - ever had and the blanket is such a low quality one. in the corridor the smell is awful. The itinerary has been changed due to traffic congestion in some ports . . . So we'll stop at same sites but in different days. Tha start is bad. . . Hoping it will be better . . .msc armonia at the moment is not nice.

 

We also had a filthy time on the grubby Armonia, but got flamed for even daring to say that our bathroom was dirty! In the end, MSC admitted that we were right and offered us 15% off a future MSC cruise - no way!