MSC Armonia June 10, 2019 Review (sans Cuba)

[Jayhawk]

Getting ready to disembark tomorrow and heading straight to work the next day, so I'm including my "journal" thoughts and if I remember, I'll add any final comments later, but here goes for anyone that is interested.

 

Monday, June 10:

Headed to the cruise ship and got settled in.  Everything went pretty smoothly.  MSC doesn't have the reputation of being a "high end" ship but overall a great value. We had initially chosen this cruise because of the Cuba stop, which was cancelled a week ago...so disappointed. Armonia was on the smaller side of the ships we’ve be on, but still maintained well. We thought the food was good and all the staff super friendly. We had dinner with a family from northern Florida and then went to the show the first night.  Our teenagers both went off with new friends they made. They said the teen club was relatively lame but at least afforded a central location to meet up with others their same ages. 

 

Tuesday, June 11:

Today was our first day at sea. We started the morning after breakfast with a CruiseCritic party.  After nearly 20 years on the boards and nearly a dozen cruises, this was my first CC party, and it was very nice, even though there were only 10 of us. They had drinks, a cake and some snacks and the staff and a few officers came to introduce themselves to us. We had some internet connection issues due to my work VPN and spent about 2 hours in the morning dealing with that at the customer service desk.  MSC finally problem solved by giving us two unlimited internet packages.  We then had a pretty lazy day…some time at the pool and we watched “How to Train Your Dragon” in the movie theater. This was the first formal night, we enjoyed dressing up, going to the show (French Follies) and wandering around participating in various activities afterwards.

 

Wednesday, June 12 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica:

Today was our first port. It was a bit of a rough start…the electricity on about half the ship went out right before we docked.  This caused a bit of a backup with disembarkation, which got worse as soon as the internet shut off as well.  We were close to the end of the line (embarkation started at 10:30, we got in line about 10:45, but not off the ship until probably 12:15.)  Long time to stand in line, especially when there was limited air conditioning.  Poor MSC, their staff must be ready to pull their hair out! No compensation other than $100 off a future cruise; wish we could have gotten a $100 shipboard credit. Some passengers had lost lots of patience, so glad it wasn’t worse.  We had a great day in Ocho Rios, still able to do our excursion.  We booked through https://www.excursionochorios.com/ via Richie Brooks.  Richie was not able to join us so we instead had his son O’Neil. We started off horseback riding, including an “ocean dip” with the horses. Then we climbed Dunn’s River falls, they put us in with another tour guide and I felt bad as we didn’t have money on us to tip afterward. The evening theme was “flowers/70s"; we dressed for all the themes although noticed the majority of people didn’t. Dinner included a small lobster tail tonight which was a pleasant surprise and we all really liked the Greatest of Broadway show. Chris and I ended the night playing trivia again, which was fun, and kids were off with teen club/new friends. All in all, nice day.

 

Thursday, June 13 – Grand Cayman:

Today was our tender port. I always hate dealing with the logistics of tenders, especially when it’s a short day (last tender back left at 2), so we slept in a bit and got off the ship about 10, when there were no lines.  We just mostly shopped around and went snorkeling at Eden Dive, which was a short walk from the port: http://edenrockdive.com/. It was very fun but a further swim out to the reef than we thought, so we were pretty worn out after just an hour, but did see some amazing fish and reefs! Back on board had time to relax before “white night”. It was fun to watch the party/dancing on the ship, even though we didn’t directly partake in it. We enjoyed the Addams family show in the theater as well.

 

Friday, June 14 – Cozumel, Mexico:

Today we had a long stop in Cozumel.  Since we didn’t dock until 10, we tried breakfast in Marco Polo, which was nice, although not that much different than the buffet (just easier to find a seat!). For this trip we booked a dolphin interaction with www.dolphindiscovery.com. It was located inside Chankanaab Natural Park. We didn’t take as advantage of the whole park as we should have. It was $318 for the 4 of us (excluding taxi there/back which was $12 for 4 each way). In addition, to the dolphin encounter we had full access to the park/beach/snorkel area (you can rent equipment), pool, lockers, a full lunch buffet, unlimited drinks (I discovered this too late into the day, huge bummer). The dolphin experience was almost an hour behind schedule, but once we started, there were 6 of us that had quite a bit of private time with the dolphins. In addition to the interactions, we did a dorsal tow (hanging on to two of their fins as they swam) and a foot push (the push you to standing height). This is probably the most interactive experience they have with the dolphins with two cool chances to ride (vs one belly or fin ride). The girls so much enjoyed their encounters, even the kisses. We eventually caved and bought the pictures since you couldn’t take any yourself; that’s probably how they make all their money.  Definitely negotiate down…they won’t budge on the pricing but you can get the 2 person price for a family of 4, or a 1 person price for 2, etc. We had meant to go to the beach there and snorkel, but by the time we were done and ate at the all you can eat buffet, it was nearly 4, so we ran out of time.  Shopped for a bit back by port and then got back on vs staying out later – we didn’t have to load until 7:30 at night. Back on board it was Italian night, caught a quick show, and we were worn out!

 

Saturday, June 15 – Costa Maya, Mexico:

This was our “make up” port for Havana.  While we were so disappointed about Cuba, I have to say, the make up experience was pretty good.  We booked a tour (with only 24 hours between the time we found out the new port and when we left, so thanks to those online that helped me) with Natural Choice: https://www.thenativechoice.com/tours/chacchoben-ruins-tour.  We chose the 5.5 hour option for a guided tour visit to the ruins, which was 1 hour away and lunch with a local family.  It was so cool, great personalized experience that included 13 of us, including 4 people we had dinner with each night from Northern Florida who I told about it. While the ruins were cool, honestly the kids and even us enjoyed the lunch more than anything.  They taught us how to make tortillas and we cooked them together over an open flame, had a great local meal, ground our own chocolate, pulled up water from a well, explored the grounds and a small brightly colored village and enjoyed interacting with everyone.  We rested back on ship and prepared for our second formal night dinner. We ordered a cake and the wait staff sang Happy birthday our 17 year old.  We skipped the show this night and instead went to watch “the Quest” which was kind of like a scavenger hunt contest on board.

 

Sunday, June 16 – day at sea:

This was supposed to be Day #2 in Cuba.  Would have been nice if they could somehow squeeze something like Key West in, but I’m sure that would have been hard. One pleasant surprise for us was mass offered on board.  We’ve cruised a lot and almost never seen this. We had a church picked out to attend in Cuba Sunday morning so were grateful for the mass option. Evidently it wasn’t normal, just a priest who was traveling with family and he was also planning to go in Cuba, so when it was cancelled he offered service. It was super cool, maybe 15 of us, with normal French bread!  Rest of the day was lazy, including nap and a few shipboard activities like trivia, while DH watched two movies in the theater. It was Father's Day so we let him have that time.  After a nice final dinner, we attended the last show, which was my favorite – the contortionists were amazing, and ended with evening trivia.  Trivia had become a thing for our family and it was fun and competitive. Overall, I think MSC did a great job given the challenges handed to them by our government.  Here’s hoping for a fast debarkation tomorrow to make our 9:55 FLL flight!

 

[johnnylincoln]

Sounds like you made the best of your cruise given the circumstances. Glad MSC did a good job and glad that you seemed to come out of it with an overall positive experience. 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Thanks so much for taking the time to give us a delightful review.  It sounds like you had a great time in spite of the port changes.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

I'm so glad you had fun regardless. I know those issues were frustrating but you didn't let ruin your trip. Did you get a pic from the cruise critic party? I've seen ppl say they deliver to your cabin? 

[mafig]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.  I enjoyed reading it.

[helen haywood]

Thank you for your review.  Glad you enjoyed your cruise even though it was not what you'd wanted when you booked.  But I commend you for rolling with the punches and making the best of things.  What a wonderful thing to teach your children!  Not to throw a tantrum, demand changes, make everyone around you unhappy...but to accept there are things in life that can't be changed and the world does not revolve around you.

[Jayhawk]

9 hours ago, AerynSun_JohnCrighton said:

I'm so glad you had fun regardless. I know those issues were frustrating but you didn't let ruin your trip. Did you get a pic from the cruise critic party? I've seen ppl say they deliver to your cabin? 

That's a good question...I thought the same but they never did.  Do they post them here?  Bummer to miss that pic.

[Jayhawk]

6 hours ago, helen haywood said:

Thank you for your review.  Glad you enjoyed your cruise even though it was not what you'd wanted when you booked.  But I commend you for rolling with the punches and making the best of things.  What a wonderful thing to teach your children!  Not to throw a tantrum, demand changes, make everyone around you unhappy...but to accept there are things in life that can't be changed and the world does not revolve around you.

Thanks.  You probably should have seen me on June 5...didn't probably provide the best example then.  I forgot to add we talked to the staff more the last day at sea.  They said the week before was AWFUL!  People protested (formal protest with written demands evidently Sunday night, led by non-US citizens), there was physicality with the staff, cruise director tackled.  They were told Wednesday morning everyone not an officer to stay on deck 4 when they told passengers they weren't going to Cuba.  Several staff told me it was the worst week they ever experienced. 

[Jayhawk]

Just figured out how to edit...but how do I delete a post (i.e. this one I'm typing right now??)

Edited June 17, 2019 by Jayhawk

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Just now, Jayhawk said:

That's a good question...I thought the same but they never did.  Do they post them here?  Bummer to miss that pic.

That's what most say. I'll be sure to ask someone though if we don't get it.

[Jayhawk]

Ok, can't figure out how to edit it, so here goes:  

 

Yes... early flights can be done!

Woke at 5:45 and to breakfast at 6:20. Done by 6:40 and in line at 6:45.... maybe 30 people ahead of us. The line started moving about 7:05....we were off the ship, through customs and in our SAS van by 7:35. All looked well,  however it immediately started pouring. Plus the van said they had to wait another 10-15 minutes to see if others needed a ride and didn't leave area until 7:50.  That and 3 accidents on the way (likely due to weather) slowed us down, but we took some side streets as we got closer to the Ft. Lauderdale airport.  Arrived at airport at 8:40 and checked in, through security and to terminal by 9:00, plenty of time for 9:25 boarding of our 9:55 flight.

[armani18J]

Hey OP,

Did you have any of the $400 OBC left after your cruise. If so, how did MSC refund it? Was it cash or back to your credit card you paid for the cruise with?

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

[Jayhawk]

14 hours ago, armani18J said:

Hey OP,

Did you have any of the $400 OBC left after your cruise. If so, how did MSC refund it? Was it cash or back to your credit card you paid for the cruise with?

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk
 

We did not.  To be honest, it mostly got eaten up with the service fees (tips).  For us that was $87.50 per person and there were four of us - so that was $350.  We ordered a birthday cake, bought cough medicine and maybe 2 drinks the whole time.  Going into the last night we had a $7 credit...but then we decided to buy a couple pictures so wound up owing $50. I didn't keep the disembarkation sheet of paper but seemed to remember if we wanted the credit, we had to go downstairs before the end of the cruise and get it "in cash" which I thought was odd (it said even if you paid with a debit or credit card). Maybe I misread it but that seemed odd.

[docboy]

So it sounds like the $400 credit is just enough for tips/gratuities, and maybe a little bit extra.

 

OP, how was the food quality?  Were there lobsters and fillet Mignon nights?  What about drinks, was there free ice tea and water for all?  Did you also notice if the buffet is open until 11pm?

[Jayhawk]

3 hours ago, docboy said:

So it sounds like the $400 credit is just enough for tips/gratuities, and maybe a little bit extra.

 

OP, how was the food quality?  Were there lobsters and fillet Mignon nights?  What about drinks, was there free ice tea and water for all?  Did you also notice if the buffet is open until 11pm?

If you have 4 people, pretty much. If only 2 per cabin, you'd maybe not spend it all.  

In general lobster tail and filet were extra (~$20).  They had a small lobster tail one night (like mini) and several choices of strip steak that my husband said were pretty good.  Free water, iced tea, coffee, lemonade and juices (depending on time of day).  You pay for alcohol, fancy mixed drinks, special coffees and sodas only.  Buffet was open until at least midnight every night....possibly later (we didn't make it any later than 11:30).  

Food quality wasn't bad....kind of like Carnival, not like Celebrity 🙂 .  You somewhat get what you pay for, I wasn't "wow'd" by it but it was more than fine.

 

[travelgal23]

On 6/17/2019 at 3:33 PM, Jayhawk said:

That's a good question...I thought the same but they never did.  Do they post them here?  Bummer to miss that pic.

We were told at the Meet and Mingle that they would deliver a copy of the picture to our cabin.  We never received ours either.

[travelgal23]

12 hours ago, Jayhawk said:

We did not.  To be honest, it mostly got eaten up with the service fees (tips).  For us that was $87.50 per person and there were four of us - so that was $350.  We ordered a birthday cake, bought cough medicine and maybe 2 drinks the whole time.  Going into the last night we had a $7 credit...but then we decided to buy a couple pictures so wound up owing $50. I didn't keep the disembarkation sheet of paper but seemed to remember if we wanted the credit, we had to go downstairs before the end of the cruise and get it "in cash" which I thought was odd (it said even if you paid with a debit or credit card). Maybe I misread it but that seemed odd.

This was the first cruise where I walked off with more cash than I walked on with.  There were only 2 in our cabin and we had scheduled 2 excursions for Cuba which they also refunded.  Gratuities and 1 bottle of water were the only expenses to offset what they owed us.  It was refunded in cash which I also thought was strange since we had paid for everything with a credit card.

[travelgal23]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:39 PM, Jayhawk said:

Getting ready to disembark tomorrow and heading straight to work the next day, so I'm including my "journal" thoughts and if I remember, I'll add any final comments later, but here goes for anyone that is interested.

 

Monday, June 10:

Headed to the cruise ship and got settled in.  Everything went pretty smoothly.  MSC doesn't have the reputation of being a "high end" ship but overall a great value. We had initially chosen this cruise because of the Cuba stop, which was cancelled a week ago...so disappointed. Armonia was on the smaller side of the ships we’ve be on, but still maintained well. We thought the food was good and all the staff super friendly. We had dinner with a family from northern Florida and then went to the show the first night.  Our teenagers both went off with new friends they made. They said the teen club was relatively lame but at least afforded a central location to meet up with others their same ages. 

 

Tuesday, June 11:

Today was our first day at sea. We started the morning after breakfast with a CruiseCritic party.  After nearly 20 years on the boards and nearly a dozen cruises, this was my first CC party, and it was very nice, even though there were only 10 of us. They had drinks, a cake and some snacks and the staff and a few officers came to introduce themselves to us. We had some internet connection issues due to my work VPN and spent about 2 hours in the morning dealing with that at the customer service desk.  MSC finally problem solved by giving us two unlimited internet packages.  We then had a pretty lazy day…some time at the pool and we watched “How to Train Your Dragon” in the movie theater. This was the first formal night, we enjoyed dressing up, going to the show (French Follies) and wandering around participating in various activities afterwards.

 

Wednesday, June 12 – Ocho Rios, Jamaica:

Today was our first port. It was a bit of a rough start…the electricity on about half the ship went out right before we docked.  This caused a bit of a backup with disembarkation, which got worse as soon as the internet shut off as well.  We were close to the end of the line (embarkation started at 10:30, we got in line about 10:45, but not off the ship until probably 12:15.)  Long time to stand in line, especially when there was limited air conditioning.  Poor MSC, their staff must be ready to pull their hair out! No compensation other than $100 off a future cruise; wish we could have gotten a $100 shipboard credit. Some passengers had lost lots of patience, so glad it wasn’t worse.  We had a great day in Ocho Rios, still able to do our excursion.  We booked through https://www.excursionochorios.com/ via Richie Brooks.  Richie was not able to join us so we instead had his son O’Neil. We started off horseback riding, including an “ocean dip” with the horses. Then we climbed Dunn’s River falls, they put us in with another tour guide and I felt bad as we didn’t have money on us to tip afterward. The evening theme was “flowers/70s"; we dressed for all the themes although noticed the majority of people didn’t. Dinner included a small lobster tail tonight which was a pleasant surprise and we all really liked the Greatest of Broadway show. Chris and I ended the night playing trivia again, which was fun, and kids were off with teen club/new friends. All in all, nice day.

 

Thursday, June 13 – Grand Cayman:

Today was our tender port. I always hate dealing with the logistics of tenders, especially when it’s a short day (last tender back left at 2), so we slept in a bit and got off the ship about 10, when there were no lines.  We just mostly shopped around and went snorkeling at Eden Dive, which was a short walk from the port: http://edenrockdive.com/. It was very fun but a further swim out to the reef than we thought, so we were pretty worn out after just an hour, but did see some amazing fish and reefs! Back on board had time to relax before “white night”. It was fun to watch the party/dancing on the ship, even though we didn’t directly partake in it. We enjoyed the Addams family show in the theater as well.

 

Friday, June 14 – Cozumel, Mexico:

Today we had a long stop in Cozumel.  Since we didn’t dock until 10, we tried breakfast in Marco Polo, which was nice, although not that much different than the buffet (just easier to find a seat!). For this trip we booked a dolphin interaction with www.dolphindiscovery.com. It was located inside Chankanaab Natural Park. We didn’t take as advantage of the whole park as we should have. It was $318 for the 4 of us (excluding taxi there/back which was $12 for 4 each way). In addition, to the dolphin encounter we had full access to the park/beach/snorkel area (you can rent equipment), pool, lockers, a full lunch buffet, unlimited drinks (I discovered this too late into the day, huge bummer). The dolphin experience was almost an hour behind schedule, but once we started, there were 6 of us that had quite a bit of private time with the dolphins. In addition to the interactions, we did a dorsal tow (hanging on to two of their fins as they swam) and a foot push (the push you to standing height). This is probably the most interactive experience they have with the dolphins with two cool chances to ride (vs one belly or fin ride). The girls so much enjoyed their encounters, even the kisses. We eventually caved and bought the pictures since you couldn’t take any yourself; that’s probably how they make all their money.  Definitely negotiate down…they won’t budge on the pricing but you can get the 2 person price for a family of 4, or a 1 person price for 2, etc. We had meant to go to the beach there and snorkel, but by the time we were done and ate at the all you can eat buffet, it was nearly 4, so we ran out of time.  Shopped for a bit back by port and then got back on vs staying out later – we didn’t have to load until 7:30 at night. Back on board it was Italian night, caught a quick show, and we were worn out!

 

Saturday, June 15 – Costa Maya, Mexico:

This was our “make up” port for Havana.  While we were so disappointed about Cuba, I have to say, the make up experience was pretty good.  We booked a tour (with only 24 hours between the time we found out the new port and when we left, so thanks to those online that helped me) with Natural Choice: https://www.thenativechoice.com/tours/chacchoben-ruins-tour.  We chose the 5.5 hour option for a guided tour visit to the ruins, which was 1 hour away and lunch with a local family.  It was so cool, great personalized experience that included 13 of us, including 4 people we had dinner with each night from Northern Florida who I told about it. While the ruins were cool, honestly the kids and even us enjoyed the lunch more than anything.  They taught us how to make tortillas and we cooked them together over an open flame, had a great local meal, ground our own chocolate, pulled up water from a well, explored the grounds and a small brightly colored village and enjoyed interacting with everyone.  We rested back on ship and prepared for our second formal night dinner. We ordered a cake and the wait staff sang Happy birthday our 17 year old.  We skipped the show this night and instead went to watch “the Quest” which was kind of like a scavenger hunt contest on board.

 

Sunday, June 16 – day at sea:

This was supposed to be Day #2 in Cuba.  Would have been nice if they could somehow squeeze something like Key West in, but I’m sure that would have been hard. One pleasant surprise for us was mass offered on board.  We’ve cruised a lot and almost never seen this. We had a church picked out to attend in Cuba Sunday morning so were grateful for the mass option. Evidently it wasn’t normal, just a priest who was traveling with family and he was also planning to go in Cuba, so when it was cancelled he offered service. It was super cool, maybe 15 of us, with normal French bread!  Rest of the day was lazy, including nap and a few shipboard activities like trivia, while DH watched two movies in the theater. It was Father's Day so we let him have that time.  After a nice final dinner, we attended the last show, which was my favorite – the contortionists were amazing, and ended with evening trivia.  Trivia had become a thing for our family and it was fun and competitive. Overall, I think MSC did a great job given the challenges handed to them by our government.  Here’s hoping for a fast debarkation tomorrow to make our 9:55 FLL flight!

 

Great review.  I enjoyed the cruise also.  My only complaint would be the organization of the excursions.  We booked ours through MSC.  Not including the day the power was out, it was chaotic in the theater where they had everyone meet.  It was unclear what you were supposed to do when you got in there.  The information screen was not updated regularly.  A woman we met at breakfast one morning said an employee gave her the wrong sticker so she ended up with a 2 hour Spanish tour group instead of a 4 hour English tour group.  By the time the error was realized, the other group had already left the port.  On the cruise line we typically travel on, they only have 2-3 groups meeting in a location rather than everyone meeting in the same location so it was easier to communicate information.

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

4 hours ago, travelgal23 said:

We were told at the Meet and Mingle that they would deliver a copy of the picture to our cabin.  We never received ours either.

I plan to ask at our party about it and who to contact if if doesn't show up. 

[travelingtink]

2 cruises and 2 meet and mingles, no picture delivered from either one. I never took the time to check on it though. 

[L2float]

On 6/17/2019 at 4:36 PM, AerynSun_JohnCrighton said:

That's what most say. I'll be sure to ask someone though if we don't get it.

We sailed on Armonia June 3 and also attended the Meet and Mingle. The photo was never delivered as promised. We just figured that with all of the emotional reactions of the passengers over the cancellation of Cuba, it wasn't a priority! Another couple asked the cruise director and he advised them to pick it up from the photo desk. Ours was waiting for us there. It is a nice momento!

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

11 hours ago, L2float said:

We sailed on Armonia June 3 and also attended the Meet and Mingle. The photo was never delivered as promised. We just figured that with all of the emotional reactions of the passengers over the cancellation of Cuba, it wasn't a priority! Another couple asked the cruise director and he advised them to pick it up from the photo desk. Ours was waiting for us there. It is a nice momento!

I kinda thought the photo desk might be where it ends up. Did you specifically ask for cruisecritic meet and mingle? Or how did you specify?

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

Hey, did the on board stores have any good liquor sales? I tend to buy on shore but since we have on board credit... just curious if they had any good prices or sales, I should look for.

Edited June 23, 2019 by AerynSun_JohnCrighton
Auto correct

[Jayhawk]

On 6/19/2019 at 6:01 PM, L2float said:

We sailed on Armonia June 3 and also attended the Meet and Mingle. The photo was never delivered as promised. We just figured that with all of the emotional reactions of the passengers over the cancellation of Cuba, it wasn't a priority! Another couple asked the cruise director and he advised them to pick it up from the photo desk. Ours was waiting for us there. It is a nice momento!

 I would love to hear more about YOUR cruise!  All the staff was talking about it.  They said some people got hit, the cruise director was tackled.  Everyone not officer level was told to stay downstairs on 4 on wednesday morning and there was a protest at guest relations Sunday night???

[Essiesmom]

Jayhawk, I have just booked a cruise on Armonia, and have a few questions....and a request.  I would like to know if the outlet in the bathroom is 'live' without the lights being on.  It is not on Divina or Seaside, and on all Carnival ships I have sailed.  If it is live, I would bring a nightlight to plug in.  If not, we have other options.  And the request:  There are very few pictures of cabins on Armonia available online or on cruisedeckplans.com.  If you took any, please submit them there.  Thanks, EM