Msc Lirica just back from Xmas Cruise

[tammez]

Will be on 15th March sailing and just wondered if you could tell me when the formal night(s) are on this cruise.

 

Read your review and it was most informative and you obviously had a good time on this cruise. I cannot wait to do this itinerary for the second time and get the chance to see the sights I did not have time for on RCI in Feb last year. Also looking forward to spending time pre and post cruise with the family who are based in Dubai.

 

Regards

Suzanne (Bristol UK)

 

Hi Suzanne!

Jammy so and so wish we still had this cruise to look forward to!

As this was a Christmas cruise we had 3 normally it is 2, from memory they were Monday and Thursday. We also had Xmas night.Have a great holiday!!!

[suron]

Hi Suzanne!

Jammy so and so wish we still had this cruise to look forward to!

As this was a Christmas cruise we had 3 normally it is 2, from memory they were Monday and Thursday. We also had Xmas night.Have a great holiday!!!

 

 

Thanks for the information on Formal Nights. Yes I am very lucky to be able to have such a great holiday destination for a few years to come - son based in Dubai permanently now. There is so much to see and although this will be my four trip out there I still have a big list of "to do" items.

 

How about the trip MSC are doing from Dubai to Australia in 2015? It sounds great but as yet (and as usual) the UK Agents seems to know little or nothing about it.

 

Thanks again for the information and your review - most interesting and very helpful.

[hebbie67]

Hi Tammez

 

Just wondered what time the evacuation drill is held as we are planning to go into Dubai on the Saturday afternoon and the drill is obviously

compulsory.

 

Many thanks

 

Heather

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[gerimay1964]

Hi Tammez

Thanks for all the great information regarding your Dubai cruise I will find it very useful for my upcoming cruise to Dubai on 22nd March...as of yet I can not see anyone else going that date from Roll Call..I hope we enjoy it as much as you. We have done 2 previous cruises 2012 and 2013 and enjoyed them immensly.

Geraldine

Edited January 27, 2014 by gerimay1964

[Bigbum & Shortarse]

Hi, to answer a couple of questions,(we are just back from the Lirica cruise).

 

Boat drill was 5.00pm, 5 minutes late, bit of a shambles but they always are on Italian ships.

 

Theme nights were as follows, Saturday, casual. Sunday, 60-70-80's. Monday, Formal/Gala. Tuesday, White. Wednesday, Green, white and red. Thursday, Formal/Gala. Friday, casual.

 

We were not notified of theme nights prior to the cruise although we new there would be 2 formal nights. Most cruisers made an effort on formal nights but all the other nights it was mostly casual.

 

Hope you all have a fantastic cruise, we did and hope we could do it again.

 

Will try and do a full review shortly.

 

B & S

[Salsaqueen70]

Hi. We are going on this cruise on Feb 22nd and are wondering if it is worth paying for excursions or trying to go it alone.

[suron]

Hi Suzanne

 

I asked irnbru the same question on the "on board MSC Lirica" thread - formal nights are Mon & Thurs.

 

Hope this helps

 

Heather

 

 

Another question which you may be able to help with - Do you know the times for first sitting and second sitting. Some posts have indicated 7 for first and as late as 9pm for second.

 

Guess your plans are well in hand. Have a great cruise.

 

Suzanne

[suron]

Hi. We are going on this cruise on Feb 22nd and are wondering if it is worth paying for excursions or trying to go it alone.

 

 

I am on the 15th March sailing and you might like to log on to that Roll Call and get some information on what I have posted there. I did a similar itinerary in Feb 2013 with RCI.

 

I would definitely take the excursion in Abu Dhabi which includes the mosque. There is so much to see in Dubai and you could easily get around on your own - taxis are reasonable and there is the Hop On Hop Off Bus. In Khasab I will do the Dhow Cruise as mentioned in the Roll Call info. In Muscat the Magical Muscat Tour is worthwhile - visits the mosque there which although very good it is not as grand as the one in Dubai.

 

Good Luck with your plans. You will love UAE and this cruise.

 

Suzanne (Bristol, UK)

[Plan B]

Hi. We are going on this cruise on Feb 22nd and are wondering if it is worth paying for excursions or trying to go it alone.

 

Hola

 

We are on your cruise! I started a "roll-call" but not had any response so far. The link is http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41519709&posted=1#post41519709. Please join us :)

 

Not long now :D

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

This is a very informative thread, thanks. What time were you made to disembark? Some reviewers have said they had to be out of their cabins at 2.30AM on the Saturday morning back in Dubai. Our flight home is not till 8PM Saturday, so I really don't want to be off the ship in the middle of the night before!

[suron]

This is a very informative thread, thanks. What time were you made to disembark? Some reviewers have said they had to be out of their cabins at 2.30AM on the Saturday morning back in Dubai. Our flight home is not till 8PM Saturday, so I really don't want to be off the ship in the middle of the night before!

 

which sailing are you on?I am on the 15th March sailing (join our roll call if your date is the same) and I will be spending time pre and post cruise with family who are based in Dubai. However those on our roll call have queried time to disembark as they do not have flights back early. My TA sent me an e-mail to say for cruise only passengers (like myself) and those with later flights cabins need to be vacated by 8 a.m. and leave ship around 9 a.m. I believe there are facilities at the airport for you to leave luggage (or even do an early check-in). You would need to be back at the airport by 5 pm as it is a three hour check-in for flights. Dubai Airport is massive and there are lots of places to eat and lots of shops to explore if you did not want to do any last minute sightseeing. Might be worth asking your TA to clarify situation or contact MSC direct.

 

Good Luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

Regards

Suzanne (Bristol, UK)

 

Good Luck with your plans

[AmoMondo]

I'd add, that unless you're travelling business class get to the airport in plenty of time. I arrived 2.5 hours before my flight and they had already started boarding when I got to the gate and I knew where I was going and walked quicklynstraightbthere with no detours. Didn't take very long to drop off baggage (maybe 20 mins) but wow passport control was something else - it was almost an hour! The queues moved unbeliever lye slowly with them taking several minutes just flicking through every page in a person's passport, then looking stuff up on screen before stamping it. I was even worse, she spent all this time looking at mine, asked me to confirm my first time and then told me I had to go to another immigration desk at the end which also had another queue. No explanation why. Fortunately the second guy was marginally quicker and gave me my exit stamp and allowed me to pass on to security.

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Thanks so much for that Suzanne. We're not actually travelling till Jan 2015 :) Great tip re time required at Dubai airport, I wouldn't have thought it would be so long, will be sure to allow plenty of time now. Will look into left luggage facilities too. Enjoy your cruise, I'll look forward to reading your review!

[Plan B]

I have seen plenty of comments on the air-conditioning in Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc but what about on board the Lirica? Is it very cold? When we went to the Canaries with NCL it was just right - no need for jackets or cardigans indoors.

 

Thanks for all your help :)

[AmoMondo]

Lirica is not very cold. None of the MDC ships are in my experience. The only time I felt cold in a MDR was on the Lirica's sister the Opera when she was doing an 11 night round trip out of FLL. I thought at the time they'd made the AC colder than usual to suit the mainly US passenger base. It wasn't freezing, just a bit cool if you had a sleeveless outfit on. Lightweight wrap was enough. Certainly didn't need a jacket indoors.

[Bigbum & Shortarse]

Dinner times on Lirica are 6.30 and 9.00pm in both the main restaurants, buffet from 7.00 to 10.00pm.

 

Ships excursions were a little expensive but we used them every day and were very good. We booked from the UK but were not charged until final account.

 

Gratuities, if you request reduction at reception, these will be removed on your final invoice. Interim invoice still listed them. Waiters, bar staff and cabin maid all appreciated what was given.

 

Disembarking, if you have arranged your own flights, (as we did) then you can stay on board as long as you like. Our flight was not until 2.45pm so we stayed on board till 11.00am. We had to vacate our cabin by 7.30am. I think the confusion arises because cruisers that booked flights and cruise through MSC were tied into flights departing early in the day. We found no problem getting a taxi to the airport but be warned, the book in/passport control is painfully slow so allow plenty of time. Gates seem to be open early and we were on board almost an hour before take off time.

 

As already stated cabin air/con was very comfortable, we just set ours to the minimum and it was just right for sleeping.

 

For anyone contemplating the Dubai cruise, we got an unbelievable deal combining flights and hotel with Emirates, choosing the Rose Rayhaan by Rotana in the central district. We spent all day on the hop/hop buses for about £36 each, 2 day passes are avalible. The hotel was brilliant, we had a corner room on the 47th floor with views out to the sea and down the 10 lane highway that runs through the centre of the city.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

B & S

Edited February 8, 2014 by Bigbum & Shortarse

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Great info, thanks B&S

[tmbhl_on_the_go]

Temperatures in Dec/Jan seem to be in the early 20's (centigrade). Coming from Australia, that doesn't seem warm enough to enjoy the water parks. Was the temperature an issue or is it warm enough for a day at a water park?

[AmoMondo]

I was there at the end of January and most days it was mid twenties or occasionally higher which was warm enough for me to be in a swimming cossie and plenty of folk to be using water slide onboard and the watermarks ashore. However at the last weekend in Dubai it was very overcast and had a bit of a cool breeze. There were plenty of sunbeds in the Hilton's pool and beac area as it was obviously too cool for many. Actually too coll for me on the Saturday until midday when it got up to 21 (morning was pleasant enough at 16 but not warm enough for swimwear). It also clouded over again around 3.30- 4.00 and people started covering up as the temperature fell. January is the coldest month in Dubai and it's been a bit cooler than normal. It should warm up more as each week passes.

 

Looking at the 5 day current forecast, it's like what I experienced ranging form 16 to 21 most days but due to get up to 24 after that.

Edited February 10, 2014 by AmoMondo

[Bigbum & Shortarse]

We were in Dubai from the 16th January and by British standards the weather was beautifly warm at 22-25c as AmoMondo says. We were on the beach one day and it was crowded. The mornings can be cool with a haze but this burned off by mid morning and descended again at dusk. The breeze can spring up quite quickly which cools things a little. Keep your eye on the weather forecast and choose your days for the water parks and beach. I am sure you will not be disappointed whatever you do in Dubai.

 

B & S

[Salsaqueen70]

Thanks for all the info. so useful! We are there on the 22nd Feb cruise.

[Plan B]

AmoMondo? "water slide onboard" I missed that on the deck plans! My daughter will be so pleased :D Thanks

[AmoMondo]

AmoMondo? "water slide onboard" I missed that on the deck plans! My daughter will be so pleased :D Thanks

 

Sorry for misleading you, I wasn't on the Lirica but the (Costa) Fortuna. I'm afraid the Lirica doesn't have one. I was answering a question about weather in the Arabian Gulf being warm enough for water parks.

[Plan B]

Not to worry - I didn´t mention it to my daughter :)

[suron]

Our Roll Call plan to meet up on embarkation day. We are thinking of the Atmosphere Lounge on Deck 6 or the Lirica Lounge on Deck 7. Suddenly thought these might be a bit congested with people going to and fro, especially if the gangplank is on one of those decks. Do you have any suggestions as to a good meeting place for a small group? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated from those of you who have already done this trip.

 

Many thanks

 

Suron (Suzanne in Bristol,UK)