Live from the MSC World Europa, June 9th from Barcelona

[Nikodemos]

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 - Messina

 

We pulled into Messina around 9am.  The weather reports for all our Italian ports indicated thunder and rain, but besides from 5 minutes of rain in Napoli at 6pm, it’s been sunny, humid and very warm.  I won’t say hot because although it feels hot when there’s no breeze, I imagine it will be scorching later in the summer.

 

Unlike all the other cities, where you arrive at the port near the city, but have to go miles through port roads to exit to the city center, here in Messina it’s like you just rolled up to a parking space near the city center.

 

Tony and I went down to do a couple of slides on the Venom, then got protein smoothies (no YC charge) at the juice bar and then headed up for some eggs with the ladies at the YC Grill.  My wife convinced me to escort the more directionally challenged folks in our party to walk around Messina and take pictures of the architecture.

 

On the way back we stopped at Rossopomodoro and had a few appetizer dishes of caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato and basil), some 4 cheese poppers, some sort of spanish rice fritter, a savory cheese donut ball and other tasty items.  Tony had one of the local beers, which is an unfiltered blonde lager and I had a glass of Toscano red wine which, to my surprise, was served chilled (cause it’s hot here in Italy).  The appetizers were very fresh and extremely tasty.  Definitely on the list of items to enjoy in Italy.

 

Since Messina is in Sicily, I thought it was appropriate to order a Godfather cocktail (2 parts blended scotch to 1 part Disaronno).  I was on my third when we went up to dinner and had our off-menu individual beef wellingtons.  For dinner we had crepe suzette and a dark chocolate cake/mousse (don’t have them both as the sweet and bitter clash together).

 

There was an Elton John tribute singer at the theater, so we did that at 11pm and enjoyed it.  Not as much talking over the singer as the other performances.  Messina is the White Party night which is held at the main La Plage pool on deck 18.  They had a group of Spanish singers performing, with a number of European songs.  Bailando (Enrique Englesias) and La Bamba (made popular by Los Lobos) were the only tunes I knew.  We stayed up on deck and danced till after 1am, then collapsed in our room. 

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by Nikodemos
Restaurant picture not visible; replaced

[Nikodemos]

14 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Thanks Nikodemos, although that is really bad news! It seems YC is not as good as it was! What a shame. This was a perk I really enjoyed….without paying extra! 
how much is the afternoon tea at Ray Polo please? 
thanks again for your information.

Connie,

 

For an individual tower (we shared it between the four of us), the cost is 11.50 euro.

[Nikodemos]

One of the things that worried me pre-cruise was being able to get tickets to the theater shows.  However, we've found that you can book the shows the afternoon of the event as long as you are going to the 11 pm showing with no problems.  You'll also get good seats as long as you show up 10 or more minutes before the show.  There were limited seats for those in big groups who showed up 5 minutes after the show started.....

[Nikodemos]

I did find after looking at my current bill that Sweet Temptations is an extra venue that doesn't do the cost minus 14 euro for YC guests.  Bah!  Especially since the shake was not that good.

[ConnieTact]

4 hours ago, Nikodemos said:

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 - Messina

 

We pulled into Messina around 9am.  The weather reports for all our Italian ports indicated thunder and rain, but besides from 5 minutes of rain in Napoli at 6pm, it’s been sunny, humid and very warm.  I won’t say hot because although it feels hot when there’s no breeze, I imagine it will be scorching later in the summer.

 

Unlike all the other cities, where you arrive at the port near the city, but have to go miles through port roads to exit to the city center, here in Messina it’s like you just rolled up to a parking space near the city center.

 

Tony and I went down to do a couple of slides on the Venom, then got protein smoothies (no YC charge) at the juice bar and then headed up for some eggs with the ladies at the YC Grill.  My wife convinced me to escort the more directionally challenged folks in our party to walk around Messina and take pictures of the architecture.

 

On the way back we stopped at Rossopomodoro and had a few appetizer dishes of caprese salad (mozzarella, tomato and basil), some 4 cheese poppers, some sort of spanish rice fritter, a savory cheese donut ball and other tasty items.  Tony had one of the local beers, which is an unfiltered blonde lager and I had a glass of Toscano red wine which, to my surprise, was served chilled (cause it’s hot here in Italy).  The appetizers were very fresh and extremely tasty.  Definitely on the list of items to enjoy in Italy.

 

Since Messina is in Sicily, I thought it was appropriate to order a Godfather cocktail (2 parts blended scotch to 1 part Disaronno).  I was on my third when we went up to dinner and had our off-menu individual beef wellingtons.  For dinner we had crepe suzette and a dark chocolate cake/mousse (don’t have them both as the sweet and bitter clash together).

 

There was an Elton John tribute singer at the theater, so we did that at 11pm and enjoyed it.  Not as much talking over the singer as the other performances.  Messina is the White Party night which is held at the main La Plage pool on deck 18.  They had a group of Spanish singers performing, with a number of European songs.  Bailando (Enrique Englesias) and La Bamba (made popular by Los Lobos) were the only tunes I knew.  We stayed up on deck and danced till after 1am, then collapsed in our room. 

 

Sounds like a great day! I’d love the Elton John performer -I hope he is on when we are onboard in January! 🤞

[Nikodemos]

So I discovered there is 'Elegant Tea Service' in the Top Sail Lounge between 4pm-5pm.  However, it's only done on sea days.  I think they had discontinued it on other days because people were not taking advantage of it.  I went up to the lounge at 4:20pm and no one was having tea even though they had tables with tea cups set out.

[Cruiseforever11]

14 minutes ago, Nikodemos said:

So I discovered there is 'Elegant Tea Service' in the Top Sail Lounge between 4pm-5pm.  However, it's only done on sea days.  I think they had discontinued it on other days because people were not taking advantage of it.  I went up to the lounge at 4:20pm and no one was having tea even though they had tables with tea cups set out.

That sounds interesting and 4pm is about the right time for a spot of afternoon tea/Elegant Tea Services (well it was on Virtuosa) I shall look out for that when on board in October. Thank you for letting us know 😊

[Gemina]

Thank you so much for the review! We are booked on this itinerary/ship for October 2024. I was already excited to try out the YC and now it’s going to be even harder to wait. At least I have 3 other cruises (on various lines) between now and then!

[Nikodemos]

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - Valletta, Malta

 

Today we decided to visit St John’s on Valletta, the capital of the island of Malta.  Malta is another port where you have the ability to just walk off the ship and explore without driving a lot through the port to actually get to town.  Most of the destinations on the island are at an elevation 300 feet above the port.  We chose to walk the 1.2 miles to the city center up the hill, but there are many other options as well.  You can take a cab to the city center for 10 euro.  There is also the Barrakka Lift (elevator) that is about 400m away from the ship, but at the same elevation that will take you up 20 floors to the same elevation as the shopping and St John’s for a cost of 1 euro.

 

You can also take a horse carriage (60 euro for 2 people) in a circle around Valletta.  This tour takes an hour and you get to visit a number of the fortifications that are not in the city center.  My sister-in-law and husband did this and enjoyed it.

 

From the outside, St John’s is simple sandstone with nice bells that chime every 15 minutes, but what makes it rated as one of the top ten churches in the world is the inside.  Built by the Knights Hospitaller on Malta after their church in Jerusalem and Rhodes were taken during the crusades, the interior is ordained with paintings, sculptures, tapestries and gilted (by gold leaf) that was done over two centuries by patrons of the Order.  Very different from the architectural masterpiece by Gaudi for the Sagrada Familia.  The cathedral is also in the middle of the shopping district.  We definitely could have spent a few days in Malta, and it was one of the best ports in the itinerary.

 

Back on ship, we prepared for the single Gala Night on this cruise.  I was surprised that after all the comments I’ve seen about folks going casual on MSC that a very high percentage of folks dressed up to some degree, although there were few in tuxedos.  Some had jackets with open collared shirts, but it was definitely in the European fashion chic style of casual elegance.  I saw one young lady in a sparkly green dress and combat boots, which worked surprisingly well.

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Nikodemos
Added another picture

[Nikodemos]

Thursday, June 15, 2023 - Sea Day

 

Yesterday we returned to our room at night and found two invitations: one for a YC event with the director and captain at 11am at the Top Sail Lounge and one for Silver and above Voyager members at the aft of the ship at 11:45 with the captain.   My wife had already scheduled a massage at 10:30am so I went to these events by myself.  Both had champagne and cocktails being distributed, so I was buzzing before noon.  At both events the captain talked about the World Europa being LNG powered with a focus on being green from an environmental point of view.  At the YC event, the butlers, officers and chefs were paraded out to applause.

 

In the afternoon, my sister-in-law and husband entered into the foosball tournament in the tropical garden pool area.  I noticed that on this sea day, the four hot tubs in this section seem to have exceeded the capacity limit by a large amount.

 

Afterwards we went to the Raj Polo Tea House for tea and cookies.  There is an “Elegant Tea Service” in the Top Sail Lounge at 4pm on this sea day, but I didn’t see anyone taking advantage of it.

 

Tony and I went to check out the F1 simulator using our Fun Pass.  This was our first time doing this and it was not intuitive.  The staff member didn’t seem very interested in helping out noobs like us.

 

We were in the Top Sail Lounge later and found that they serve canapes at 6pm, which is an undocumented feature.  Also note that the paper drink menus are MUCH more extensive than the scanned version, so ask for real menus to get a full set of cocktails.

 

Just before 7pm we headed down to Master of the Seas to get the craft brews they make on board.  At this time, they had a pilsner, bitter and wheat beer.  We took these beers off to our Teppanyaki reservation.

 

From the menu you chose the Geisha (chicken), Samurai (Sirloin) or Emperor (Lobster instead of shrimp plus filet for the meat) at different price points.  The presentation and show were fairly standard for a normal teppanyaki place if you’ve ever been to one (we have one within walking distance of our house).  The chef did overcook the sirloin and filet.  I think they could have done a better job at training the chefs on meat preparation.  In the YC, the chefs are spot on.  Tony asks for his filets rare, and his always comes out perfect.

 

After dinner, we packed and called it an early night since we had to get up at 7am to prepare for the debarkation the next day.

[Nikodemos]

Friday, June 16, 2023 - Back in Barcelona

 

We got up early and headed for the YC restaurant at 7:30am.  John M, our normal server at night, was already working breakfast, so we talked to him and got pictures.  We had brought up our luggage and just stored it near the concierge which is just outside the Top Sail Lounge on deck 19.  Since we had packed light, we hadn’t had them pick up any luggage the night before.

 

After saying our goodbyes, we were told that we could leave the ship at 8:30am.  We were escorted by one of the other staff (not our butlers), who took us all the way to the taxis in the terminal.  There are specific shuttles to the airport based on flight number and time, but we had a couple days extra in Barcelona so we just used the taxi to drop our luggage at the hotel (Hotel Sixties just off of Las Ramblas) since it was too early to check-in.

 

We walked over to the Barcelona beach (~½ a mile away), had some soda and checked out how to get chairs and an umbrella on the sand.  My wife really wanted to rest at the beach until our hotel was ready, so we sprung for the 60 euros for two covered chairs.  Tony and I went off to check out all the superyachts at the marina, and we also found that the gondola that goes from the marina to “Montjuïc Castle” is 20 euro (return).  This cable car was made for the 1929 World Expo in Barcelona, but due to funding issues, wasn’t completed till 1931.  It would offer great views of the city, but we ended up not going on it.

 

Once our hotel room was ready, we checked in, showered and went to Tablao Flamenco Cordobes dinner and show, which is just off Las Ramblas.  The dinner was buffet style, and you had around 70 minutes to eat before going to the 70 minute flamenco show, which seemed very authentic with 3 dancers, 3 guitarists and 4 singers.  We were very glad to do this.  Afterwards we walked up Las Ramblas to get gelato, which is much better than on the ship, or anywhere else I’ve ever had it.  I personnel enjoy the chocolate negro (dark chocolate).

 

They have SuperMercat (7-11 type convenience stores) off the Las Ramblas and we grabbed a 1.5L chilled water for 1 ½ euros.  Then off to the hotel to chill.

[Nikodemos]

Overall Thoughts 

 

We definitely can’t say enough about how good the Yacht Club is on the MSC World Europa.  The service, amenities and food were over the top.  I’ve stayed at a couple of high end hotels and they can’t compare to YC.  The only things less than stellar are the tepid temperature of the whirlpool and one iffy room service delivery of pizza that was not coordinated with our butler.  Everything else was awesome.

 

Outside the YC, I would say that the food is ok, but nothing spectacular.  MSC should really step up the food execution for the specialty restaurants.  If they want to upsell folks, they need to make it a good experience.  We enjoyed doing the venom slide a number of times.  The Raj Polo Tea House was nice as well, although the scones I cook are better 🙂

 

The shakes at Sweet Temptations and the gelato at Jean Philippe’s were a let down.  Maybe the ice cream bars at Sweet Temptations and the custom chocolate at Jean Philippe’s are better, but I didn’t try those.  Everything I’ve read indicates that the steaks at Yacht Club beat Butcher’s Cut so we didn’t try that venue.

 

We liked the singing shows at the theater.  Nothing spectacular, but still good for the 45 minute shows and the seating is comfortable.  We had no problems getting seats and we were only escorted by our butler the first night.

 

We rarely interacted with the YC Director, but focused more on the interaction with the wait staff, who are great.  This really made all the difference.  We would do more YC based cruises with MSC just for that experience.  We’d like to do another 7 day cruise including two days at Ocean Cay, but right now only 3 or 4 day cruises include multiple days at Ocean Cay, and I really don’t want to do a party boat.  Hopefully they can offer a multi-day Ocean Cay 7 day cruise in the future, especially when the World America sails starting 2025.  However, all I see is Western or Eastern Caribbean cruises with that ship posted at this time.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Thanks for sharing!  We’re considering this ship in the Mediterranean next summer. 

[P2l]

Just committed to Aug '24. YC duplex with jacuzzi. Figured if I was going to take the plunge, might as well go all in.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

29 minutes ago, P2l said:

Just committed to Aug '24. YC duplex with jacuzzi. Figured if I was going to take the plunge, might as well go all in.

What ship and itinerary?

[P2l]

Same ship and itinerary as OP. 
 

MSC ought to give him commission!

[NCteacherlovescruising]

You may have mentioned this already, but I’ve you been on the Seaview as well?  We are looking at one of these ships for the Mediterranean next summer. 

[Nikodemos]

The World Europa has been our first and only MSC cruise.  We've sailed with Holland America and on the Disney Fantasy before on western Caribbean cruises.

[mackfam]

Thank you for an informative review. 
 

Was the YC full on your sailing and how busy was the Top Sail lounge and pool deck?

 

Also wondering how things seemed outside the YC enclave as far as general behavior went and how crowded venues were?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Similar question as mackfam. I’ve heard some find the YC layout poor on this ship and that the yacht club feels crowded because there are too many YC cabins for the size of the pool deck, lounge, and grill area. What are your thoughts on this?

Edited June 18, 2023 by NCteacherlovescruising

[Nikodemos]

The only time it felt crowded was in the YC restaurant between 8pm-8:30pm which was the most popular time to have dinner.  Otherwise the Top Sail Lounge was hardly ever busy.  The YC pool is quite small, but I saw only a couple of folks using it at a time.

 

The non-YC pools were crowded on port days only after folks got back around 4pm.  However, on the sea day, all the non-YC pools were packed like sardines.  The non-YC bars were empty during the day, but very busy after 8pm.  On gala night, there were a ton of folks walking around the indoor 'mall'.

Edited June 18, 2023 by Nikodemos
Added non-YC comment

[MaverickF]

Thank you very much for the detailed review. We are on the same itinerary now, and really appreciate your suggestions/tips on the tours and attractions. We are in a Fantastica balcony, and will share some thoughts of the experience outside YC.

[sverigecruiser]

 

I don't remember if you have mentioned it but did you get a printed newspaper and if yes, did you have to ask for it?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

5 hours ago, Nikodemos said:

The only time it felt crowded was in the YC restaurant between 8pm-8:30pm which was the most popular time to have dinner.  Otherwise the Top Sail Lounge was hardly ever busy.  The YC pool is quite small, but I saw only a couple of folks using it at a time.

 

The non-YC pools were crowded on port days only after folks got back around 4pm.  However, on the sea day, all the non-YC pools were packed like sardines.  The non-YC bars were empty during the day, but very busy after 8pm.  On gala night, there were a ton of folks walking around the indoor 'mall'.

Thank you!  On FB several people are saying the Europa YC is too crowded because they have too many YC cabins for the small space. It’s nice to hear a different opinion because we’re looking at possibly sailing on her next summer. We wouldn’t eat that late, although I know many Europeans do. 
 

3 hours ago, MaverickF said:

Thank you very much for the detailed review. We are on the same itinerary now, and really appreciate your suggestions/tips on the tours and attractions. We are in a Fantastica balcony, and will share some thoughts of the experience outside YC.

I look forward to reading about your experience as well!

[sverigecruiser]

56 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We wouldn’t eat that late, although I know many Europeans do. 
 

 

 

We will board MSC World Europa in less than four weeks! We plan to eat around 7pm.