Currently on Grandiosa halfway through a 10 night cruise

[Stockjock]

So far, everything has been very good. We are pulling into Ferrol, Spain this morning.  We are in an aft cabin on the 14th deck. 
 

I have noticed definite improvement on board, in terms of the onboard experience.

 

I will write a full review once I return, but if anybody has any questions, feel free to ask.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Stockjock

[perakcruiser]

Very nice! Enjoy your cruise, looking forward to the review. 

 

Where on board you catched that amazing crayfish pasta? 

[Stockjock]

It’s actually lobster and it is a $17.50 per person upsell in the specialty French restaurant. The choices were pretty limited on the standard tasting trilogy menu, so I thought it was probably worth it.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Stockjock

[Stockjock]

For anyone interested, I guess there are about 3800 passengers on board and I think this ship can hold somewhere around 6000 passengers.

[travelwide]

Who is the YC director and HD? Have fun!

[Stockjock]

I don’t know who most of these people are. The entertainment Director is kind of a tall woman from Germany but other than that I’m not really sure. We are not in the yacht club so I don’t know what’s going on there.

[racephoto]

I'm on here too.  I got off the Island Princess in Copenhagen and jumped on the Grandiosa. I stay on for another 3 days at the end of this sailing, Barcelona -Genoa- Barcelona,  then I hop on the Meraviglia back to Port Canaveral, ending my 140 day European adventure, 134 days of which will be on cruise ships.  So far, honestly, I'm not loving the Grandiosa. I'm calling it just OK. I can't believe that there's only 3,800 people on the ship, it feels like WAY more. It's so darn loud!! I enjoyed my Divina cruises more, but that's just me. Looking forward to seeing if the Mera is different.

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, racephoto said:

I'm on here too.  I got off the Island Princess in Copenhagen and jumped on the Grandiosa. I stay on for another 3 days at the end of this sailing, Barcelona -Genoa- Barcelona,  then I hop on the Meraviglia back to Port Canaveral, ending my 140 day European adventure, 134 days of which will be on cruise ships.  So far, honestly, I'm not loving the Grandiosa. I'm calling it just OK. I can't believe that there's only 3,800 people on the ship, it feels like WAY more. It's so darn loud!! I enjoyed my Divina cruises more, but that's just me. Looking forward to seeing if the Mera is different.

We also get off in Barcelona. So far, we do like the ship.  The service is not quite up to Celebrity’s standards, but it’s a big improvement since our last couple of Cruises on MSC.

[adogaer2]

Do you find that the staff on the ship speak English?

[cellfree]

6 hours ago, Stockjock said:

For anyone interested, I guess there are about 3800 passengers on board and I think this ship can hold somewhere around 6000 passengers.

Who is the Captain, Massa?

[Nunagoras]

Well: Nice review, so far. Have a nice sailing! Hope that at least the check-in process was at least relatively expedited now with the covid documents review. Curious to know in what way have them sort of improved the overall experience. With the current overall tourism industry lack of employees crisis it is difficult to improve whatever else, and MSC is not sadly an exception. Wonderful to know, that at least they're readapting themselves. And just another question: Are they offering any replacement for the departed paid for Cirque du Soleil show? Have a nice sailing!

[bildoug]

Thanks for the review and pics, keep them coming.

We board in Barcelona on 10/15. 

[SirWolf]

1 hour ago, Nunagoras said:

And just another question: Are they offering any replacement for the departed paid for Cirque du Soleil show?

CAROUSEL PRODUCTION AT SEA is performing 2 shows in the Carousel Longe on deck 7 .

• Carousel Productions at Sea SWEET show!

including Signature Cocktail 

$12 per person (MSC USA website)

• Carousel Productions at Sea STRING show!

including Signature Cocktail

$12 per person (MSC USA website)

[iwtobek]

13 hours ago, Stockjock said:

So far, everything has been very good. We are pulling into Ferrol, Spain this morning.  We are in an aft cabin on the 14th deck. 
 

I have noticed definite improvement on board, in terms of the onboard experience.

 

I will write a full review once I return, but if anybody has any questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the photos, very much appreciated!

It looks like we're going to relay on the ship, as we're embarking on the 25th!

[Stockjock]

16 hours ago, SirWolf said:

CAROUSEL PRODUCTION AT SEA is performing 2 shows in the Carousel Longe on deck 7 .

• Carousel Productions at Sea SWEET show!

including Signature Cocktail 

$12 per person (MSC USA website)

• Carousel Productions at Sea STRING show!

including Signature Cocktail

$12 per person (MSC USA website)

We thought that the sweet show was poor and the string show was decent. But neither compare to Cirque du Soleil. Not even close.

[Nufc]

Can I ask what was the testing requirement before this cruise, I'm reading conflicting information on what is required for Mediterranean MSC cruises

[Stockjock]

5 minutes ago, Nufc said:

Can I ask what was the testing requirement before this cruise, I'm reading conflicting information on what is required for Mediterranean MSC cruises

Remember this is a European sailing so the rules may be different than out of the USA, but we had to have a negative Covid test taken no more than two days before boarding, which was really more like three, because the day of embarkation is not included.

 

We found a test center that was about $20 US per person and gave us results in maybe half an hour. You could get a paper result and the euro digital certificate.  
 

When we boarded, they asked us for that proof of a negative result and they also asked us for proof that we had been vaccinated. And other than that, it was a very quick process to get on the ship.

[Stockjock]

Here are a few more photos for the heck of it…Here are a few more photos for the heck of it.  Today we are off the coast of Portugal with a stop in Lisbon tomorrow.
 

The weather has been decent, mostly cloudy although we had a warm day yesterday in Ferrol. We are doing the walking tour of Lisbon and wine tasting tomorrow.

[racephoto]

1 hour ago, Nufc said:

Can I ask what was the testing requirement before this cruise, I'm reading conflicting information on what is required for Mediterranean MSC cruises

This was actually classified as a Northern Europe sailing. Since the guidelines for that said home tests were not allowed, I got tested on the Island Princess so it was face-to-face. I had used E-Med for all my other cruises without issue, but since Princess would do it, I went that route. 

[racephoto]

That’s hilarious. You were sitting in front of me at the piano concert. 😂  I really enjoyed the ventriloquist. I wondered how that was going to work with all the different languages, but I thought it was really good.

Edited September 16, 2022 by racephoto

[no1talks]

1 hour ago, Stockjock said:

"...tour of Lisbon and wine tasting tomorrow."

I'm a bit envious. The fortified wines of the Iberian Peninsula are high on my list of adult beverages. I hope the tasting inclues Madeiras and ports. Cheers!

 

[Aeroplex]

Worth to mention, if you have a speciality package you can get both show for 5 € on board 😉 

 

@Stockjock Do you know if the 39€ for the butchers cut menu is already the total price or do they add 15% on top? Could you pls ask for me. I booked a second cruise with Grandiosa. This time no speciality package^^ Thanks

Edited September 16, 2022 by Aeroplex

[iwtobek]

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

which was really more like three, because the day of embarkation is not included.

Is it so? Always thought it was 2 days, whatever time.

[Stockjock]

42 minutes ago, Aeroplex said:

Worth to mention, if you have a speciality package you can get both show for 5 € on board 😉 

 

@Stockjock Do you know if the 39€ for the butchers cut menu is already the total price or do they add 15% on top? Could you pls ask for me. I booked a second cruise with Grandiosa. This time no speciality package^^ Thanks

I am not sure but usually if you book in advance the gratuity is included and if you book on board it may not be.

[Stockjock]

24 minutes ago, iwtobek said:

Is it so? Always thought it was 2 days, whatever time.

For example let’s say your cruise leaves on Friday, you could do it Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. We did it the first day fairly early in the morning.