Quick feedback from newbie Cruiser

[bluecontrolman]

So we completed our first ever cruise - on the MSC Armonia sailing between Genoa and Cagliari (3 nights) - and thought i'd give a quick review.

 

Good

 

Outside cabin was nicer than I was expecting.

Food in both the sit down restaurant and buffet was fine with us.

Value - we paid £324 in total for the cabin for the 3 nights which I still think is fantastic.

 

Bad

 

Embarkment process- arrived at the terminal at 14:00 and didn't get on to the ship until 16:45. Were then told that there was a safety drill at 17:30, which actually took place closer to 18:00. So it was almost 19:00 before we could relax and start enjoying the ship. I'm guessing that this kind of delay isn't normal as they arranged the 'welcome to the ship' meeting for 15:45!

 

Drinks - When I booked my trip there wasn't any information about drinks packages - afterwards though though they told me that it wasn't possible to prebook the unlimited package for trips of less that 4 days but I could ask when I got on the boat. As it was me and my mum I didn't think it would be too much of an issue but got a blunt no and complete refusal to discuss it. Neither of us are big drinkers but with the prices on board being very high we just wanted to be able to spend our cruise not worrying about what we ordered, so it was frustrating. Then when our visit to Menorca was cancelled due to high winds I asked them again if it was possible just to have the package as an exception as we were now going to be on the boat the whole day but they were completely uninterested.

 

Overall

 

I choose to do a three day thing as it suited our plans and I just wanted to get a taster of being on a cruise. In the end though that meant we only had one port stop (Marseille) and with us losing half a day boarding the boat it probably wasn't a good idea for a first timer. Just too much of the trip was spent with me trying to work out what was going on. My experience of Marseille was that you're only going to get the benefit of the port visits if either you do the official excursion or do a LOT of pre-planning and make alternative travel arrangements. But maybe Marseille was a bad example.

 

I did like the ship, entertainment and food - it was busy but in general I thought the other passengers were polite and well behaved.

[shukapaw]

Thanks for taking the time to offer your insights.

 

~Brian

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Nunagoras]

Good evening! First of all be welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

It seems you had a great time, congratulations!... :) Meanwhile you were quite adventurous by chosing a 3 nights cruise on an older and smaller ship!... :) TBHH, I tend to avoid those cruises... Usually MSC offers those "sample" cruises at the end of a season when they are also preparing for a new season... Sometimes those cruises will also coincide with full or big part crew turnarround preparing for the next season. Once MSC permits embarcation and debarcation of their cruises on most ports here in Europe, I had unfortunately one of those cruises as part of one of my 7 days cruise some 5 years ago. The first 5 days were fabulous... The last 2 were what they were with crew change and lots of service inconsistencies...

 

Italian ports are sometimes more disorganized than others in Europe... But that so big time you've endured may very well have something to do with what I said above: At least partial crew turnarround for the next season...

 

And permit me a final note: Fortunately it seems that you had a good passengers environment on your cruise. Congratulations! But the next time beware that those cruises tend to atract such a somewhat drunken crowd... Those passengers that will likely go there just... To drink!... This is why, industry wise, companies are mostly going the way to forbid guests to buy the All Inclusive drinks packages. Speaking just for me, I don't like to be on an environment full of drunken individuals... Neither certainly you!... I had that experience on the above mentioned cruise... All that said, I think that it is perfectly acceptable that less than 4 night cruises are unelegible for drinks packages!...

 

Oh!... And the next time try to choose a larger and newer Musica or aboove classes of ships!... You'll enjoy them even too much more than the, indeed limited, Armonia!...

 

Have a nice day and good sailings!... :)

[bluecontrolman]

Good evening! First of all be welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

It seems you had a great time, congratulations!... :) Meanwhile you were quite adventurous by chosing a 3 nights cruise on an older and smaller ship!... :) TBHH, I tend to avoid those cruises... Usually MSC offers those "sample" cruises at the end of a season when they are also preparing for a new season... Sometimes those cruises will also coincide with full or big part crew turnarround preparing for the next season. Once MSC permits embarcation and debarcation of their cruises on most ports here in Europe, I had unfortunately one of those cruises as part of one of my 7 days cruise some 5 years ago. The first 5 days were fabulous... The last 2 were what they were with crew change and lots of service inconsistencies...

 

Italian ports are sometimes more disorganized than others in Europe... But that so big time you've endured may very well have something to do with what I said above: At least partial crew turnarround for the next season...

 

And permit me a final note: Fortunately it seems that you had a good passengers environment on your cruise. Congratulations! But the next time beware that those cruises tend to atract such a somewhat drunken crowd... Those passengers that will likely go there just... To drink!... This is why, industry wise, companies are mostly going the way to forbid guests to buy the All Inclusive drinks packages. Speaking just for me, I don't like to be on an environment full of drunken individuals... Neither certainly you!... I had that experience on the above mentioned cruise... All that said, I think that it is perfectly acceptable that less than 4 night cruises are unelegible for drinks packages!...

 

Oh!... And the next time try to choose a larger and newer Musica or aboove classes of ships!... You'll enjoy them even too much more than the, indeed limited, Armonia!...

 

Have a nice day and good sailings!... :)

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

I fully understand the reason that MSC restrict the unlimited option as they don't want people going on 3 day drinking trips. I just thought that i'd have a chance to discuss it with someone on the boat and they would apply a bit of common sense - that a guy with his 55 year old mum wasn't likely to be going on a drunken binge. In general I had a bad experience with every bit of the customer service process (including disembarkation when they told us to wait in a lounge at a certain time however no one was there - in the end we just walked off the boat).

 

But it's hard for me to really complain about anything given the price we paid. I completely accept that it wasn't a normal experiencing of MSC cruising.

[Canadianmama3]

Well if they made an exception for you they would have to make an exception for others. You can't expect special treatment.

 

 

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