I am looking at two cruises which would you pick and why?

[momofmeg]

I very much enjoyed my MSC cruise in the Med. Great food and service, lovely ship. Food better than X by a wide margin, IMO, but very Italian. I would not hesitate as long it is not a cruise where kids sail free.

 

Italian is fine with me.

[Post Captain]

we had a classicial concert one afteroon of one of the sea days on our Connie cruise. It was very enjoyable and I forget the guy's name - as I am not a classical fan-but he is well known in the classicial. Maybe someone on that was the Connie TA will post here can tell you what it is.

 

Elliot Finkel.

We can't seem to avoid him: This crossing on the Connie was the third time we've run into him. He was on the QE2 in January 2006, the Connie in April 2006, & the Connie again this past September. He undoubtedly is the dean of cruise-ship classical pianists.

 

Mind you, if you've seen him once, you've seen his entire act & heard his basic repertoire. He's classically trained (at Mannes & at Julliard), but nowadays works mainly in show-biz. His Broadway-style act is leavened with a large dose of old New York comic shtick. His repertoire ranges from lowbrow honky-tonk to Debussy's Clare de Lune, from Chopsticks to Chopin. Audiences love him.

 

On the Connie last year he partnered a British classical violinist named Nicola Loud, whom the BBC had named Young Artist of the Year in the mid-90s. Elliot dubbed their act "Loud and Louder." (As he said, there's no doubt which one he is.)