Just off the Armonia (Cuba/Christmas)

[mexico8]

Thank you Smeese.   Did you get your Visa on the ship or beforehand?   (Last year NCL were charging $75 U.S. so $50 is a bargain.)

[NCTribeFan]

According to MSC's website, we US residents get to pay $75 for the visa while onboard the ship.  I'm assuming it's just charged to our onboard account, but I should probably double-check that.  Don't want to have to stand in line at the service desk for an hour to make a separate payment!  But if you have to physically obtain a visa while on the ship to show when you disembark, I'd hope they have a system to make it fairly painless to obtain!

[FGJones]

57 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

According to MSC's website, we US residents get to pay $75 for the visa while onboard the ship.  I'm assuming it's just charged to our onboard account, but I should probably double-check that.  Don't want to have to stand in line at the service desk for an hour to make a separate payment!  But if you have to physically obtain a visa while on the ship to show when you disembark, I'd hope they have a system to make it fairly painless to obtain!

 

My understanding from other posts is that the visa is automatic and you must stand in line if you wish to not purchase it. 

[NCTribeFan]

OK.  That helps.  Still curious as to how you get it if you need to show it to disembark.  Delivered to the cabin?

 

The good news is DD just let me know she can get the week off to go, so I need to book as soon as my TA gets back from her current cruise! 

 

I wanted the 5/6 itinerary (a few more hours in Havana), but her b'day is 5/8 and she thinks her DH would like her to be home for that, so I'll be booking the 5/13 sailing.  The trade-off of fewer hours in Havana is that 5/13 is a 5+15% Voyager discount, so saving a few more dollars off the fare will help offset the Visa cost.

 

Guess I'll email the Cuban Connection tour operator and ask about a half-day tour the first day and a morning tour the second day.

Edited January 16, 2019 by NCTribeFan

[lovetoholiday]

23 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

According to MSC's website, we US residents get to pay $75 for the visa while onboard the ship.  I'm assuming it's just charged to our onboard account, but I should probably double-check that.  Don't want to have to stand in line at the service desk for an hour to make a separate payment!  But if you have to physically obtain a visa while on the ship to show when you disembark, I'd hope they have a system to make it fairly painless to obtain!

Your room steward will deliver the visa to your cabin - we had to sign for ours.  If you make an error filling it in you will need to get another one and pay for it again.  It is charged to your account. It's a 2 part small form and you fill in both parts with the same information.

[NCTribeFan]

Thanks for the visa info.  I spend very little time in the cabin, but I imagine our steward will find me there eventually!

[NCTribeFan]

Well, darn!  While I was waiting for DD to confirm she could sail and for my TA to return from her cruise on Sunday, the 5+15% disappeared for the 5/13 sailing.  It doesn't look like they post any "offer expires" date anywhere on the Voyagers Club page.  Had I known, I would've booked myself and transferred it to my TA once she was back. 

[Reds4life]

Did anyone experience the spa onboard Armonia? I see that black card members get an hour in the Thermal Spa. Just wondering what was available on Armonia

[cloverose]

On 1/12/2019 at 2:47 PM, abbeytravelstheworld said:

We will have our ten month old with us so we have decided to stick with the show onboard! Since our cruise is two back to back we get 4 free excursions. I’m thinking the same that we’ll do one on the first day and to speed up customs and then maybe organise our own with Blexie. I’m really hoping there is a Vinales option.

We took a wonderful trip to Vinales with the private company, cubaamongcubans.com. Check out their website and send a message. They will respond quickly. Adrian, our guide was so personable and knowledgeable! It was one of the best tours we have ever taken. We are going back on the Armonia in March and have already contacted Adrian for new tours the days we are there.

[cloverose]

On 1/6/2019 at 11:36 AM, FTLcruisers said:

I thought we could convert CUCs back so...basically if we convert too much money, we're stuck with the CUCs???

No, you are not stuck! When we were there in August, we converted our leftover CUCs to American dollars in the same area we originally got the CUCs before we got back on the ship to depart.

 

 

 

 

 

[lowdown]

A friend of mine that's traveling with us read somewhere that you have to make reservations for the shows is this true or not

[Beamafar]

Armonia was 'stretched' a few years ago, with extra cabins installed.  As a result, the theatre now doesn't accommodate the extra numbers, hence the requirement to book shows to ensure you have a seat.

 

You can make reservations on screens around the ship;  you don't have to book ahead for the whole week, you can book each day.

[smeesme]

For the theatre shows, they had the screens around the ship where you could reserve a seat but no one was ever checking at the doors.

[sfaaa]

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 5:30 AM, NCTribeFan said:

Well, darn!  While I was waiting for DD to confirm she could sail and for my TA to return from her cruise on Sunday, the 5+15% disappeared for the 5/13 sailing.  It doesn't look like they post any "offer expires" date anywhere on the Voyagers Club page.  Had I known, I would've booked myself and transferred it to my TA once she was back. 

5+15 or 5% discount has no offer expiry date but has limited no. of cabins available. Once they are sold, the offer is off the table. Found this out the hard way.

[cloverose]

On ‎1‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 1:40 PM, Cauzneffct said:

 

That’s annoying.  We’re likely going to book private excursions (except Tulum for the same logistical reasons you mentioned), but I was surprised by the dearth of MSC options for Havana and Roatan.  I guess it makes sense to hold open some slots for people to book on board, but I don’t get the benefit of keeping whole excursions hidden from pre-booking.

We used Cubaamongcubans.com in Havana for Vinales Valley in August on Carnival. They are excellent. If you go to their website and message, they will get back to you quickly. Our guide was Adrian. We loved Cuba so much we are going back on Armonia, sailing March 25th. We are using cubaamongcubans again both days. That sailing has a stop in Roatan also. We have contacted Cleve's Tours and Adventures there for the culture island tour of Roatan. They have good reviews on Trip Advisor. As this our first MSC cruise and first visit to Roatan, I have no idea how MSC excursions or Cleve's are, but we always book private tours with good ratings when we feel we can safely and are not so far from the port that we are worried about time.

[Reds4life]

Just to bump my questions, any reviews of the Thermal Spa on Armonia? How about verification on the early and late dinner times? (I saw on the dailies from Imfinney the times were different than what I was told on the phone and was hoping for some clarification)

[GateGuardian]

Did you get the chance to try the internet on the ship? I'm guessing it's just dial-up speed......

[lmfinney]

23 hours ago, GateGuardian said:

Did you get the chance to try the internet on the ship? I'm guessing it's just dial-up speed......

 

I didn't bother. Sorry.

[Jerryr11]

The following are our comments on MSC Armonia Cruise to Cuba 1/ 14/19 to 1/21/19. 

 

Entertainment on the ship was in general very good. The dancers and singers were among the best we have seen on previous cruise  Evening Shows. The evening shows should have had more variety and in one of the show the dancers overwhelmed the singers and they didn't add anything. But, overall they did a great job.  The Entertainment staff was excellent. They had more energy then any other ship we have been on and really tried very hard to get everyone involved in their nightly events. Most of the evening shows were very well done but perhaps a bit redundant. Somehow, whatever the theme it tended to have a Latin flair. The cruise dance instructors did a good job teaching their dances and we really enjoyed their demos. However, teaching more latin dances then most people have ever heard of was clearly excessive and it would have been nice to used those sessions on more popular dances. Some of their lessons were also at times that didn't fit well into the night's events (Example Country and Rock and roll (Swing ) lessons were at times that either to close to Supper or the main show of the evening. ).  The latin band in the 5th-floor lounge was very good but clearly played VERY latin music and no other variety of dance. When I refer to VERY latin music I mean they didn't play much music you could dance ballroom type Cha Cha, or Rumba. The combo on the 6th lounge did play some different music and we started to that lounge, perhaps a bit too late,  once we couldn't take any more Latin music that we couldn't dance to. It would have been nice to have a comedy show to provide a better mixture for those who didn't like all the dancing or wanted something different..

 

Tours were taken on the ship from MSC. We found out on the ship that MSC was only repeating US guidelines for departing Cuba on tours and MSC really didn't enforce them and you had the option to book a tour with MSC  or a 3rd party company. We booked only the Cuba Tours since this is all we were interested in and had been to the other Caribbean ports often. The tours we booked were Architecture of Havana and it was very good. Tour was about  2 hrs of walking around old Havana and that was enough for us followed by about 2 hrs of bus touring. Since the ship got in a little late and it took us almost 2 hrs to get through customs with the tour returned about 7:15, it was cut a little short so we could have time to make the Trop tour at 8:15 departure. The guide was excellent. The Tropicana show was really very good and all tables received a glass of champagne and 2 bottles of rum for 10 people. The rum was good and so was the show, we didn't get back until after midnight.  The vintage car tour wasn't that good since it rained for the first hour and we were in a caravan of about 10 cars with only a driver that didn't really speak much English. I think you would be a lot better off doing this off the ship. Tours did sell out so if you wanted a Cuba tour its good to do it as early as possible off or on the Ship. The ship did provide VISAs for $75 and that was easy and convenient. If you didn't get off the ship in Cuba the ship would refund your Visa fee as long as you didn't fill it out. This was all very well explained in the Cruise directors talk on Cuba.It would have been nice if he took questions after his talk. 

 

Food was a different story. I'll break it down in some detail. Breakfast,(Dining Room)  in general, was very good and we enjoyed it. The procedure to get seated at a table was a mystery since no one greeted you as you walked into the dining room and showed you to a table. Each time we went in we had to look for one of the staff we taught would seat us. The fact that people are always walking thru the dining room probably has something to do with the seating service.  Lunch  (Dining Room) wasn't bad, but due to other events, we didn't use it often so I can't offer many comments on it. Dinner was another story and it didn't have a happy ending. This is probably how many people judge cruises and the dinners left a lot to be desired. The salad and french onion soup were very good but most of the other food needed help. Coffee cups were always only 1/2 filled and waiters never came back for a refill (Or fill ). As my wife mentioned there was not one dinner meal we could really say was good or one we enjoyed a lot. Most to our table agreed with that. I would hope MSC management realize that the Bulletin boards (Cruise Critic for example) have been very hard on this aspect of MSC and leave many past passengers saying they would never do another MSC cruise again. 

Upstairs on 11th Foor, the pizza was really very good and the ice cream Gelato was great. The buffet lunch was ok, I  didn't have any issues with it. Ladies would be happy if they were served first. 

 

I didn't notice any lesson on how to play 3 card poker or ultimate texas holdem, other ships do this and have slot machine tournaments. 

 

I didn't notice any water events (water volleyball for example) planned. 

 

The talk on Cuba was done very well and informative but he should have allowed time at the end for at least a few questions. 

 

Leaving the ship was awful and completely unorganized. It sure didn't help that the ship arrived a couple of hrs late. 

 

The room was fine and the staff was good. It would have been nice if they introduced themselves to us.

 

One sentence summary is: If the supper meal improved and entertainment shows had more variety it would go a long way to improving MSCs cruise image. Many of our cruise friends tell us we can't compare a MSC US cruise with one in Europe or Asia since the non-US cruises are going to have much worst meals and staff. I sure hope that prevalent negative comments we hear on those cruises aren't t true since we are looking forward to our planned 28-day cruise from Dubai to Toyko the end of March 2019. We sure hope the above-detailed comments on this cruise are improved on that cruise or it's going to be a long long cruise. 

[Cruiser933]

It seems like several recent reviews complain about problems getting off in ports.  Does anyone know how long to expect it to take to get on shore in Grand Cayman?  I have a third party tour booked and I am worried we won't make it.  We are supposed to have priority tendering.

[Reds4life]

On 1/20/2019 at 2:07 PM, Reds4life said:

Just to bump my questions, any reviews of the Thermal Spa on Armonia? How about verification on the early and late dinner times? (I saw on the dailies from Imfinney the times were different than what I was told on the phone and was hoping for some clarification)

Just wanted to check and see if anyone had any info on these questions. Also, anyone else recently off the ship have any more photos to share? I believe a few posters promised some menu photos among others. A huge thank you in advance for any additional photos or info.

[Sailgal05]

On 1/15/2019 at 7:30 PM, Scooters said:

 

Great review and comments!  My wife is very allergic to cigar smoke (Migrane/Nausea/Vomiting)... How prevalent is cigar smoke in Cuba. We really want to go, but we don't need to have her too sick to enjoy the trip.  

Thanks!

The streets and open areas around the port where like any city. We encountered cigar smoke inside the shops that sold cigars and was also a smoking room. On the ship, deck 6 starboard, deck 11, pool aft port side and the cigar lounge deck 5 were the allowed areas for smoking. However, this was not always followed.

‘The city of Havana was the highlight of our cruise and we loved the friendly people, history and lively spirit that surrounds this island. We both agreed, we want to go back soon.

[Jerryr11]

On 1/24/2019 at 7:02 PM, Cruiser933 said:

It seems like several recent reviews complain about problems getting off in ports.  Does anyone know how long to expect it to take to get on shore in Grand Cayman?  I have a third party tour booked and I am worried we won't make it.  We are supposed to have priority tendering.

Grand Cayman was easy Quick since no Visa as were the other ports without Visa requirements. On Havanna about 13/4 to 2 hr except if you went to Trop at night and it was you first exit with Visa then it was only about a 10 or 15-minute delay since most passengers already had their VIas stamped. The 2nd exit off the Ship in Havanna also went very quickly. 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Jerryr11

[Jerryr11]

On 1/24/2019 at 11:47 PM, Sailgal05 said:

The streets and open areas around the port where like any city. We encountered cigar smoke inside the shops that sold cigars and was also a smoking room. On the ship, deck 6 starboard, deck 11, pool aft port side and the cigar lounge deck 5 were the allowed areas for smoking. However, this was not always followed.

‘The city of Havana was the highlight of our cruise and we loved the friendly people, history and lively spirit that surrounds this island. We both agreed, we want to go back soon.

The only real issue we had was at the trop show. They give all the men a cigar along with the rum when you walk in. The table below us had 1 man light a cigar and other at the same table puffed away. My wife asked the man right below us to please blow the smoke away and it went without issue. THe trop show is outside and the smokers several seats away werent a issue. For the number of cigars they gave out I wouldn't really say it was that bad. Oh ship seemed like there were some smokers on ine side of the pool area and in a smoking area in the casino but it wasn't a issue. 

[Sailgal05]

Jerryr11-as dancers, what did you think of the Tropicana? Wish we could dance like that!

Were you the lovely couple that would dance in the lounges? If so, you were wonderful to watch.