Questions about Poesia in particular and MSC in general

[cruisemom42]

I've never sailed MSC, but there is an itinerary in 2020 on Poesia that is very attractive.  I have a few specific questions that hopefully someone can help me with, as I'm considering booking it:

 

I have read the first few pages of this forum and was hoping to find some sort of general description of the difference in the various "classes" like Bella, Aurea, etc. I thought maybe it would be a stickie, but I don't see anything. Can someone either enlighten me or point me to somewhere with this info clearly explained?

 

Regarding Poesia itself:

 

1.  I read a recent/ongoing wonderful photo review of someone's trip on Poesia on a more southern Med itinerary. The itinerary I'm looking at is a very Northern one, including Iceland and Greenland. Does anyone have experience on how the ship handles crowds on those kind of cruises, where being around the pool isn't a big draw?  Is there a covered pool area?

 

2.  The cruise is in August and it's 21 days, roundtrip from either Copenhagen or Warnemunde. Any thoughts on whether there would be a lot of kids onboard?  I know August is "summer vacation" time for many Europeans, and schools are out. I wouldn't think a 20-day cruise with a fair number of sea days would be very attractive to families with children, but I have no real idea -- anyone know?

 

3.  Finally, since the cruise is going to these places (Iceland, Greenland) where there is a lot of possibilities for enrichment, such as lecturers on the wildlife, nature, culture, and history, does MSC offer anything like that?  I'm thinking it is unlikely, given the number of potential languages spoken onboard, but if they did it would be a big plus for me.

 

 

Thanks for any thoughts. I guess it would also be helpful to know how solos like MSC in general?

 

 

[perakcruiser]

I only can tell you that this is the most popular cruise available in Europe. It will be sold out early, there will not be the usual MSC promotions and specials. 

 

There will be a lot of kids, your idea that this cruise is not attractive for families unfortunately is totally wrong.

 

You don't need to think about the "classes", Aurea is not available, if Bella is still available, take it, if not or if you want breakfast in the cabin you have to choose Fantastica. By the way the Poesia was sailing many years already before MSC invented this "classes". 

Edited December 1, 2019 by perakcruiser

[mimmy52]

I can answer one question.  There are two pools but neither is covered.  It seems to be a fairly small ship compared to newer ones.

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

 

There will be a lot of kids, your idea that this cruise is not attractive for families unfortunately is totally wrong.

 

 

Thanks for the info; pretty sure this cruise is not for me, then.

 

56 minutes ago, mimmy52 said:

I can answer one question.  There are two pools but neither is covered.  It seems to be a fairly small ship compared to newer ones.

 

Thank you. Your photo review is wonderful and I really enjoyed it!

[JP82]

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

I only can tell you that this is the most popular cruise available in Europe. It will be sold out early, there will not be the usual MSC promotions and specials. 

 

There will be a lot of kids, your idea that this cruise is not attractive for families unfortunately is totally wrong.

 

You don't need to think about the "classes", Aurea is not available, if Bella is still available, take it, if not or if you want breakfast in the cabin you have to choose Fantastica. By the way the Poesia was sailing many years already before MSC invented this "classes". 

 

Can you give some background to that? I'd love to know more? This surprises me, as I had always believed that the Med itineraries are the most popular in Europe, which I also see reflected in pricing. I took a lot of time planning my 2020 cruise, and it was toss up between a Northern Europe and another Med. All the Med itineraries seem to be pricier and sell quicker.

 

Is there something specific then about this cruise? Would love to know.

 

Thanks a lot,

[perakcruiser]

4 hours ago, JP82 said:

Is there something specific then about this cruise? Would love to know.

 

Yes, you cannot compare this cruise to the other northern Europe cruises. It combines Iceland and Greenland, two dream destinations for many Europeans. MSC is offering it exactly one time a year. Their competitors are very few, most mainstream cruise lines don't go there. The price may look high, but it is by far the cheapest in the market, these Greenland cruises usually start with triple prices. 

 

It is also a dream cruise for me, but either it is fully booked (2018, 2019) or I am not in Europe in August (2020). In this case I world not care about the ship (been on the Poesia, classical MSC ship, not bad, nothing special) or the many kids (I bring my own 😁). Fingers crossed for 2021, I will not give up.

[cruisemom42]

28 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

 

Yes, you cannot compare this cruise to the other northern Europe cruises. It combines Iceland and Greenland, two dream destinations for many Europeans. MSC is offering it exactly one time a year. Their competitors are very few, most mainstream cruise lines don't go there. The price may look high, but it is by far the cheapest in the market, these Greenland cruises usually start with triple prices. 

 

 

Princess and Holland America both have cruises that go to Iceland and Greenland, in addition to more upscale lines.

 

[perakcruiser]

OK, thanks, both I don't know and never seen a ship.

[emmas gran]

A friend has just been on Poesia and there is smoking in most areas. Every time they returned to cabin they had to change clothes as they were smoky.

Another comment was the food isn’t good, there are comments on this on mimmy’s review

Edited December 2, 2019 by emmas gran

[mimmy52]

I was on the Poesia for a 12 day cruise and only noticed smoke when I walked through the casino, except for one day when someone decided to smoke cigars on the balcony two cabins down from us.  I believe I called the food hit and miss.  I didn't like the buffet, but that was because of the crush of people.

 

[mimmy52]

When I thought about it, I remembered there was an area on the pool deck, too, that allowed smoking and that was an unpleasant area.

[alyssamma]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have been looking at this cruise too. My main concern is the amount of sea days. Are the special programs since there are so many, or is it just the normal activities they would have on shorter sailings?

 

Also, has anyone done this cruise? If so, any feedback is welcome.

[perakcruiser]

10 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Also, has anyone done this cruise? If so, any feedback is welcome.

This cruise has been done only two times before (2018, 2019), both times with the Orchestra. So difficult to say, I had a cruise on the Poesia from Venice in 2015, loved it, but there were no sea days or maybe only one that I don´t remember. 

[alyssamma]

Ah...thanks. That explains why I can't find any info on it.

[MMJJOli4]

We are going on this cruise and yes, we will bring kids (13 and 10 by that time) but they are quite well behaved in comparison to some adults ;-).

Princess and HAL are indeed both doing Greenland and Iceland, but HAL does not make a roundtrip and Princess is way more expensive for us, since at MSC the children only have to pay taxes.

[perakcruiser]

27 minutes ago, MMJJOli4 said:

since at MSC the children only have to pay taxes.

You mean the DSC? Europeans usually not need to pay taxes on MSC cruises when they book via their local MSC websites.

[MMJJOli4]

23 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

You mean the DSC? Europeans usually not need to pay taxes on MSC cruises when they book via their local MSC websites.

Ehm... I don't know what DSC is, but the kids only have to pay port taxes so on this 21 night cruise I only had to pay 162 euro's for them, which is a pretty good deal :-)

[emmas gran]

There is a mandatory Daily Service Charge (DSC) I think it’s about €10 per adult per day and the child rate is reduced but 13 may count as adult.

This is what HAL and Princess refer to as gratuity 

 

[MMJJOli4]

Oh thank you Emmas gran 😄. I also have to pay DSC for de kids. So DSC and Port taxes 👍🏻.

[perakcruiser]

Strange you need to pay port taxes, I don´t think MSC is allowed to charge passengers from the Netherlands this if you booked on the NL webpage.