MSC Magnifica picture heavy fun review -- 12 days British Isles incl. DIY port trips

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Wow, that Tiger look is something a bit too much! :D We're sailing the MSC Orchestra next year and I think it also has a Leopard themed bar. What's with MSC and the animals? The Fantasia class is nothing like that though, even if I keep reading the Magnifica class is more classy.

 

By the way, you can also buy soda and water vouchers prior to embarking withouth the 15% extra. For regular cocktails and non alcohol cocktail vouchers you just can't. That distinction is a bit weird really.

 

We did the vouchers and they work fine at bars (you have to sign all the receipts even if Allegrissimo anyway). The main difference is that you have to check out every time you finish dinner and sign, that is not the case with the Allegrissimo.We did not like waiting fot our waiter at that time, since he sometimes disappeared for a while. You also have the risk of losing the vouchers or forget them at the room.

 

thanks for the infos on the vouchers...I didn't know they'd allow only some of those to be prepurchased. Really weird.

 

we did have to show our cards and sign for our wine, water and the occasional limoncello after dinner each night as well. Our waiter was always available though and so it was no problem. Plus I really liked to see the big fat Zero after having enjoyed a bottle of wine:D.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Another pretty big bar is the sportsbar on deck 7. It is tugged in between the l’Ametista lounge and the centrum gallery on the portside. The actual bar swoops around the middle of the ship to the picture gallery on starboard as well. I have to admit we never had a drink here or even sat down to chill. Not because we didn`t like it – some of the booths with individual tvs looked real comfy --- we were just always headed somewhere else. I’m pretty sure though that this is the place to be if you happen to cruise during a major soccer event. It must have been thrilling to watch the world championships from here…especially with so many different nations aboard. I don’t know if they would also show American football (especially the superbowl) and or baseball. While we were onboard it was a variety of athletics, soccer and some sporty stuff I didn’t even know existed. But here are some pictures:

this is also where they had the pool table. This is a regular one though --- not one of those very cool tilty ones on the Serenade of the Seas....plus you had to pay to use this one. We didn't.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

La Barchetta bar.

This is the pool bar next to the indoor pool. The temperatures are always nice here and you’re not subjected to heavy wind – unless you sit on the one side of the ship where smoking is allowed (forgot which side it was). They have sliding glass doors to the outside pool area—these open up continuously to let in heavy gusts of icy wind (together with tobacco scent). There are tables situated for the smokers just behind that door. We sat next to that door on the adjoining side within the indoor area once after having jumped in the indoor pool (so wet hair) – the waitress came to take our order and told us it’s dangerous to sit at these tables with wet hair because the wind gusts might make us sick pretty fast. I think she knew what she was talking about and we were grateful for the friendly hint (we were already uncomfortably cold – but too lazy up to that point to change seats). We got up and moved a couple of tables down. Much better. But I’m sidetracking again. Sorry.

The la Barchetta bar has one major advantage over all the other bars…It’s the home of the ship’s gelato (I have pics when I get to the daily stuff). They had many different flavors and it was delicious. And since it was included in the Allegrissimo, you could find us here pretty often (especially Tarik).

I also liked the fact that you could sit next to the pool, wrapped in a towel with dripping hair and sip on a delicious cocktail ….felt like a hot summer day, even if the temperatures outside where far from it. I felt bad for the poor waitresses, since they had to constantly walk up and down the stairs to the gallery above the pool to serve those tables as well.

As to the friendliness in all the bars: We had one negative experience with a waitress in the l’Ametista lounge….other than that all the bar personnel was just wonderful --- completely different from waiters and bartenders on American ships though….but actually we loved their “we’re not in any way looking up to you” attitude. If you got into a conversation and had some laughs, you could be sure it was honest. As honest as the moody waitress one night…the next day she served us again and everything was back to normal. No hard feelings. You just have to be prepared that nobody will be kissing your butt. They will be respectful (most of the times) but expect the same of you as well. Lol – if you disregard that (we saw that from time to time:mad:) you will end up waiting an eternity for drinks :-) . So in your own regard, be courteous to your fellow human beings, no matter if they happen to be on the crew or passenger side.

Another bar we would have loved to spend more time at was the Il Bar del Sole way up on deck 16.

It had the most spectacular view of the entire pool deck and the ship in general….just that it was rarely open. I guess the weather just didn’t allow it. But I had a cappuccino here once and Tanja and I had a cocktail. It does have only a very limited drink variety, since it is so small.

It is also situated right next to the “top 16” entrance…now, this upset me a bit. In previous reviews I had read that this deck 16 has two hardly ever used jacuzzis and a nice sun deck right in front of the ship. I was really looking forward to using that...it was open to the public all along…But not anymore. Now they closed it off and you would have to pay extra to enter that area. It just made me mad not to know about this in advance. Bummer. But the Bar del Sole was right next to it, so on the few occasions, when it was actually open, you had people meander in from the closed off section to order pretty expensive drinks. Sigh, I guess we’re playing in another league.But we didn’t have the feeling that the bartender treated us any different from the VIP people who came up to order.

We loved this bar. On a cruise with warmer weather, this probably would have been our main hang out spot. Heck, we would have spend more time up here during the weather we had…I even sent Tarik up there once in a while to check if it was open.

The last outdoor bar is the la Conchiglia bar.

This is the main pool bar. It was never busy here, because the weather was always a bit cold and quite stormy. The waitress here always wore a warm jacket and most of the times a hat as well. We LOVED the Conchiglia bar and were seen here quite often. As long as you huddled up in warm clothes it felt good to have the seabreeze around your nose.

If you were still too cold, you could get a blanket instead of a towel at the towel station. The one in the back of this picture wasn’t always open…another one at the side of the inside pool however was. They scanned your card and gave you either towel or blanket together with a receipt. Sometimes they wanted that receipt back when you returned the borrowed cloths, sometimes not. I’m still a bit confused about that, but since no charges were added to our account I guess it works out fine either way.

Anyway, since we were on the Allegrissimo, naturally we endulged in many cocktails. It turned out: one specific cocktail ain’t the same cocktail at another bar. We soon found our favourite one and the la Conchiglia pool bar sure was the best in creating those and many more fantastic cocktails. They just tasted divine here. I don’t know how they did it, but it was outstanding! Well worth sitting there with multiple layers of clothes.

Of course they had all other drinks as well – but who wants to drink the house wine (we’ll get to that one later) if you have an abundance of sheer heaven to choose from.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[windjamming]

Stef, bravo for yet another fantastic, "can't-wait-for-next-installment" review!! I love the inimitable "Stef-eye" on these photos. We have not sailed MSC, so I'm really enjoying seeing the ship.

 

Oh wow, that Tiger Bar. Imagine an 80s party there!

 

And you are so right about elevator etiquette!! When 2 Americans are in an elevator, we'll really spread out as far as possible from one another. I don't know why, it's just a natural instinct!

[earn]

lol -- had a hard time with the soccer game last night

 

Germany -- Scotland...

 

didn't watch it, since I didn't want either one to loose.

 

We won 2:1...sorry Scotland! I still think you rock! ...and none of us could ever throw a caber...:D:D:D.

 

Stef

 

Enjoying the review and photos. All MSC ships I have been on seem to have a zebra/tiger type lounge, which is also against my taste!

 

At least for once we put up a good fight at the football!

[Elmartellama]

thanks for the infos on the vouchers...I didn't know they'd allow only some of those to be prepurchased. Really weird.

 

we did have to show our cards and sign for our wine, water and the occasional limoncello after dinner each night as well. Our waiter was always available though and so it was no problem. Plus I really liked to see the big fat Zero after having enjoyed a bottle of wine:D.

 

Stef

 

I didn't know that! I just don't get why you have to sign everything in that case, other than assigning tips to your waiter.

[denisey]

I didn't know that! I just don't get why you have to sign everything in that case, other than assigning tips to your waiter.

 

It is for accounting purposes, and for accountability....that way the waiters get the tip, but don't pad the bill to get more tips.

[windjamming]

whoohoo windjamming!

 

Welcome, welcome, welcome! Missed ya on here already.

 

Now we only have to coax Melissa and Sherry over here and we're pretty complete (oh god -- now I'm afraid that I might have forgotten anybody else with a detailed review out there). Let's see: You 're here, Ayasha, Irishcat and Katgoesonholiday...doing pretty good I guess:).

 

:)anyway ....just glad you're here!

 

Aww, Stef, you always know how to make someone feel welcome! I wouldn't miss your review for anything!!! And where else would I see golden elephant tusks!?? Yikes!

 

If it's all right with you, I'll put in a plug for my budding review on the New England / Canada itinerary. Like our cruises, our reviews will be very different, but hopefully interesting to some. :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44054963

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Okay – last bar post. Promise.

Let’s see --- what is left?

There is the Topazio bar in the middle of the ship on deck 6, surrounded by the shops.

They often had a band play here. Easy listening evergreens. Nothing too spectacular. There were usually quite a few people sitting here especially in the evenings. We had a fun time gabbing with Pat and Steve here one time after a quite disturbing adventure of ours…but more on that later.

The design is fine, but nothing else…sorry, we thought this bar to be a bit boring and since there were other places which we liked more, we only walked past here most of the times.

This was also the place where they had you wait for the tender tickets.

Another bar we never used was the bar in the spa area…I don’t even remember the name.

This area was always dead when we were here --- but then again, we were usually here early in the mornings for the gym….so it might have been a fantastic cozy little bar on other occasions. Sorry—don’t know.

 

There’s the coffee and chocolate bar on deck 5, close to the centrum.

we sat here only once to enjoy one last cappuccino and sparkling wine before disembarkation. They had funky chocolate drinks for extra charge here and little pastry stuff to nibble on. A cute little hang out place.

This is the Cuba lounge cigar room.

I only dragged Tanja in here to get a photo for you guys. I kinda expected to be punched in the stomach with excrutiating tobacco smells when we opened the doors to this little gem….but oh I was soooo wrong. This is such a nice place. I’ve heard some MSC folks explaining about how they had installed an innovative ventilation system to keep the air clean. Of course I thought it’s only a commercial gimmick….but nooo. The air was really wonderfully clean. There was one lady smoking a cigarette in there and we didn’t even smell it. The air had a very faint –not unpleasant at all – cigar smell to it. The couches were really comfy and I loved the deco. I could definitely see me reading a good book in here, besides the smokers….and I absolutely HATE to inhale second hand smoke otherwise. There was a little bar in there as well, but it was closed at the time we checked it out. We found this little gem way too late. Bummer. Really enjoyable room to escape from the glitzy design…Warm red and brown colors, comfy furniture and nice pictures and or showcases with cigars and liquors on the walls. Really a nice place.

Two bars I never used were the ruby and the purple bar…two identical twins on either side of deck 6 … just one in red and one in purple (dahhh). They were tiny bars which clung to the thoroughfares…I really didn’t know why they existed … sorry, they were so meaningless to me that didn’t even take pictures. Tanja had a drink here one night just before they closed down and was amazed by the work they have with that. They had to measure the contents of each bottle in use, counted every little teabag on display and of course gathered up all the receipts. Everything had to be scribbled down in some lists…apparently it was quite a lot of work. Tanja thought that these bars were great for people travelling alone (or having a drink on their own -- like she was that night), since you would sit right at the tiny bar and could spend your time with people watching.

There was one more bar in the casino. It was a smoker’s paradise and you could smell it everywhere in the vicinity (no miraculous ventilation system here). We didn’t try it out.

We thought it sad, not to have a bar or bar service in the theatre but other than that the Magnifica had a wide selection of bars to cater to (almost) every taste. The bar menus were fantastic and we tried many things we never heard of before…drink variety on MSC? --- a highlight for sure.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:pthanks for the kind words everybody -- it makes me happy to hear you're enjoying this review! I'll try to keep the new posts coming frequently. Thanks for sticking around.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

If it's all right with you, I'll put in a plug for my budding review on the New England / Canada itinerary. Like our cruises, our reviews will be very different, but hopefully interesting to some. :)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44054963

 

:Dno problem...glad to hear you're starting a new review! ... did I miss your conclusion on the Breakaway:confused:? Gotta go back and check.

 

I loved how one and the same ship and route turned out so differently in our Serenade reviews! Can't wait to hear about your adventures --- bring it on!

 

:)Yay -- a new review:)!

 

Stef

[Elmartellama]

It is for accounting purposes, and for accountability....that way the waiters get the tip, but don't pad the bill to get more tips.

 

Exactly what I thought. But then again, that only proves that the waiter does get his / her 15% tip, or whatever that is.

 

Some other reviewers have just stated that waiters do not get the 15% just because they heard that...

[northerncomfort16]

Hi Stef

 

I'm really enjoying your in depth review, ahead of embarking the Magnifica this coming Sunday.

 

Could you please tell me the Dinner sitting times?

 

Also can you recall which wines were included in the allegrissimo?

 

Thanks a lot.

Mike

[PathfinderEss]

Really enjoying your review, thanks for posting it.

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

I wanna throw in a hidden gem we didn’t know existed till one day prior to disembarkation. Our fantastic tablemates told us about it and actually led us there to show us.

On the Serenade of the Seas I really liked the fact that you could walk on the helipad…not so much because it’s a place for helis to land but because you were able to see the front of the ship while being outside….it’s a Titanic feeling…you know….king of the world kind of stuff. Lol – Yvonne is a HUGE fan, so her husband Ingo had to look for an equivalent spot on board for her, since the helipad (or at least the spot where that was on the Serenade) is off limits on the Magnifica (which is weird, since they have a jacuzzi on it:confused:) and the front of the ship on deck 16 was closed off for “Top 16” guests only. He had to be a bit more investigative to find such a spot. He succeeded. If you walk up the hallways to get to the cabins on deck 9 and go alllll the way to the front you see this innocent looking white door with a wind warning:

Heck that warning is to be taken seriously if you’re cruising in stormy weather:

But you do get to see the front of the ship!

So go for it and check it out!

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

…add on to the previous post:

before leaving this cool balcony- like structure Tanja found this little disturbing detail:

A cute little official key, hanging around in the open…mmmhhh, what’s this for?

Oh, okay…..I really don’t think that this should be hanging out here in the stormy weather … or in general -- admitting free access for kids or nosey people like us to fool around with. We didn’t unlock the door though … although Tanja was tempted for a wee bit. Lol – I bet she will get us thrown off a ship one of these days…but then again…I’m in no position to judge her after what I did in Dublin:o….but this story will come much later.

Oh, I think this might be the entrance to the “heli pad”. Tanja of course had to fiddle around with it again:rolleyes:. This eerie light was spooky.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi Stef

 

I'm really enjoying your in depth review, ahead of embarking the Magnifica this coming Sunday.

 

Could you please tell me the Dinner sitting times?

 

Also can you recall which wines were included in the allegrissimo?

 

Thanks a lot.

Mike

 

Hi Mike,

 

whoohoo sunday! only 3 more days for you, how cool. Too bad I'm not fast enough to get to the daily food pictures till then. Sorry about that. I'll give you a very quick dinner overview though:

 

First seating was at 5:30 pm, second at 8:00 pm (only on embarkation day these times were different). Dinner lasted 2 hours each -- at least! You had 6 different courses to choose from, but we didn't manage to use all 6 each night or we would have exploded for sure. The wine on Allegrissimo is --- well, it's wine (sort of) but please don't expect anything special. There's one or two white wines (can't say anything about those, since we don't do white), one Rose...tried it once for lunch --- never again-- I even had a hard time to finish this one glas and two red wines. One dry and one not so dry. We always took the dry one, so I can't tell you about the other version. The dry red wine wasn't anything I would buy voluntarily at a store twice, but it wasn't as gruesome as the rose....so we stuck to that for dinner. You can see a picture of the house wine in my la conchiglia picture. It's the one on the bottom right. Lazolla I think was the name...no idea what sort it was supposed to be. It was wine afterall and we killed a bottle each night:D.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Really enjoying your review, thanks for posting it.

 

Hi PathfinderEss,

 

:)You're very welcome! Welcome to the review! I love to write this -- it's like still cruising:D.

 

Stef

[earn]

Stef, I am on the same cruise as Mike, and was hoping for some fizz at dinner! Did you see or try that?

 

This is great. I am living your cruise before we go, live my own for 3 days then will be able to spend some time living yours again when I come home. So, this might be the longest cruise I have done yet. This cruise is actually a trial run, as I am doing the exact same one with another friend in November. The boys all like to ski, so their time will come :)

 

Any tips on Hamburg? We will be there for one full day evening and morning. We are staying at the Ibis at the airport. I think it should be easy to get the train or bus in to the city and to Altona.

[Irish Cath]

I bet she will get us thrown off a ship one of these days…but then again…I’m in no position to judge her after what I did in Dublin:o….but this story will come much later.

[/i]

 

:eek: So you were the tourist that they were all talking about in the news here :D:D:p

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Stef, I am on the same cruise as Mike, and was hoping for some fizz at dinner! Did you see or try that?

 

This is great. I am living your cruise before we go, live my own for 3 days then will be able to spend some time living yours again when I come home. So, this might be the longest cruise I have done yet. This cruise is actually a trial run, as I am doing the exact same one with another friend in November. The boys all like to ski, so their time will come

 

Any tips on Hamburg? We will be there for one full day evening and morning. We are staying at the Ibis at the airport. I think it should be easy to get the train or bus in to the city and to Altona.

 

lol -- gladly providing you with the longest cruise you ever had

 

fizz? what exactly do you have in mind? Any drink with bubbles in it? I guess you could order sparkling wine (by the glas). We didn't drink it for dinner, but in between sometimes... Prosecco wasn't included in the Allegrissimo, but the regular sparkling wine was really quite tasty. So go for it. Other than that I guess you still have the option of mixing regular sodas with the alcohol of your choice:).

 

Hamburg...it's weird how you can hardly find stuff to talk about in a city so close by...I always tend to put more work in the exotic (e.g. scottish:D) ports. But I'll tell you about what I think is cool in Hamburg. If you're there overnight, you definitely have to go check out the Reeperbahn. It's pretty dead during the daytime, but at night it is a spectacle.

 

Also -- if you're a guy, you can walk through the infamous "Herbertstrasse". It's a street only for men, where the whores sit in the windows, trying to coax you into buying intimate time with them. It's forbidden for women (who don't work there) to enter.

 

If you're into miniature trains at all you just have to visit the "Miniaturwunderland" in the Speicherstadt. It's a place where they have pretty much rebuilt the whole world -- just in ultra tiny and in a fun way. Yes, they have trains running through their worlds, but the highlights are actually the millions and millions of tiny figures (the size of a fingernail) found in all kinds of odd situations. You can easily spend hours with the family in here. We really liked it.

 

...and the Speicherstadt is beautiful in itself. Hamburg is actually supposed to have more bridges than Venice!

 

Right next to the Miniaturwunderland is the Hamburg Dungeon. A very fun way to learn about Hamburg's history in a fun-frightening way. They have tours in English as well and let in children who are at least 10 years old. It does get insanely busy, so I'd suggest to do this right when they open up in the morning.

 

From the Altona cruise port there runs the relatively new public bus nr 111 which will basically take you past all the major sights in about an hour round trip...for a minimal fee. You can of course take the Hoho busses as well to have an English commentary along, but you'd have to get to their starting points first and it's a lot more expensive.

 

You have to spot the "Michel", which is a church, the "Speicherstadt" (cool unique houses with canals in between), the unfinished "Elbphilharmonie" (Operabuilding, which is under construction for decades --- it's a running gag that one should leave the cranes next to it, since they're historical monuments by now;)) and the "Landungsbrücken" (the central public promenade along the river Elbe) or you haven't been to Hamburg. If you're there overnight I guess you can also try to get tickets for a musical or get up real early (5:00 a.m.!) on a sunday morning to see the Hamburger Fischmarkt (a very unique market with very loud, entertaining comedian vendors -- you'd have to know German for those though).

 

Whatever you decide on, Hamburg has to offer all kinds of stuff. Just enjoy!

 

 

hope this helped a bit.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

going pale....Cath.....please tell me that was a joke!

 

Stef

[northerncomfort16]

Hi Mike,

 

whoohoo sunday! only 3 more days for you, how cool. Too bad I'm not fast enough to get to the daily food pictures till then. Sorry about that. I'll give you a very quick dinner overview though:

 

First seating was at 5:30 pm, second at 8:00 pm (only on embarkation day these times were different). Dinner lasted 2 hours each -- at least! You had 6 different courses to choose from, but we didn't manage to use all 6 each night or we would have exploded for sure. The wine on Allegrissimo is --- well, it's wine (sort of) but please don't expect anything special. There's one or two white wines (can't say anything about those, since we don't do white), one Rose...tried it once for lunch --- never again-- I even had a hard time to finish this one glas and two red wines. One dry and one not so dry. We always took the dry one, so I can't tell you about the other version. The dry red wine wasn't anything I would buy voluntarily at a store twice, but it wasn't as gruesome as the rose....so we stuck to that for dinner. You can see a picture of the house wine in my la conchiglia picture. It's the one on the bottom right. Lazolla I think was the name...no idea what sort it was supposed to be. It was wine afterall and we killed a bottle each night:D.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

 

Stef

 

Thanks Stef

 

Wow, 5.30 is really early for first sitting. I think I will try to get 2nd sitting. Red will normally be our choice as well, although I don't mind white or rose either:D

 

So enjoying your review, I can tell it's a bit of a labour of love.

[windjamming]

:Dno problem...glad to hear you're starting a new review! ... did I miss your conclusion on the Breakaway:confused:? Gotta go back and check.

 

Haha, you noticed I never finished the Breakaway review! When I sat down to write the post for the last day, I realized I had nothing new to say. It was a sea day, and the weather was crummy, and we didn't do much. I suppose I should give it a good conclusion at some point.

 

*This* review is cracking me up. Of course you have to fiddle around with a random key hanging in an open area on the ship! I can't believe it's hanging there just like that! And of course you've just whetted our appetites for what happened in Dublin...

 

Keep it coming!!

[lorrdean]

Laughing at Scotland being an 'exotic' port lol xx