Lirica Review 12/27 - 1/3

[Lowie]

New Years Eve Cruise.

We went with our kids (13 and 8) and my parents (60's)

This was by far the worst vacation we've ever taken. The 10 night Spring Break we have booked on the Lirica will be cancelled first thing Monday morning. Carnival Triumph for less days , fewer ports and more money is already booked.

 

Pre-Trip. First my DH forgot the garment bag with his dinner clothes and our dd's dresses. We first noticed as we were arriving to pick up my parents. So we went back home about 1 hour out of the way. Finally we arrive in port and are unloading the luggage and my mother notices that her toiletry bag is not there. this held her passports and medicines, two things she could not board without. at this very moment my father's glasses broke. so off they went back home. This was about 2 p.m. they made it back just in time to miss the Muster Drill. Strangely the Muster Drill was held long before sailaway and before all passengers were on board.

 

Embarkation: was very smooth, got on the ship within 15 minutes where we were escorted to a table to get our ds's muster station bracelet, then escorted to our cabin. The escort did not speak a word of english, only enough to tell us that muster drill was at 5:45... 15 minutes after dinner was to begin. it was really 4:45. no problem.

 

The Cabin: we took an inside (8046)which was unfortunately next to a service area. The room was VERY clean, very tiny, but well equipped. The bathroom is extremely small, and the shower smaller still, oddly shaped but with good water pressure. There are 2- 220V outlets at the dressing table and 2-100V there also. none in the bathroom.

 

We could hear every footstep in the hallway, every ding of the elevator and EVERY noise in the service area, which went on 24 hours a day. we could hear the people talk, whistle, walk around, every door slam and everything they dropped. the last night we heard every piece of luggage they threw around.

sleep did NOT come easy in this cabin. the beds were uncomfortable and the pillows like rocks.

Our cabin steward, who's name we never found out, was terrific, very attentive and responded to each post-it note request. He was very well tipped although we removed all other tips from our accounts.

 

The Dining Room: awful :( on our first night we were a few minutes late after muster drill and getting our luggage into the cabin, the doors to the dining room were shut. they shut them 10 minutes after seating starts. we did get in and were shown our table with a pointed finger from across the room.

The waiter never introduced himself nor seemed interested in letting us get to know him. Getting drink refills was impossible, never saw bar staff, orders were wrong or incomplete, wait staff throughout the ship has awful body odor issues.

we had issues with waiting 45 minutes from ordering until first course and then we wouldn't have enough time to finish dinner. this happened almost every night. the maitre' d could not care less. the people at the next table, who spoke italian and ordered wine every night, were VERY well taken care of.

menu selections certainly varied but the food quality and taste were lacking, often we'd look at each other and ask if they forgot to add the flavor. The Filet Mignon was about 1/2 inch thick and too hard to chew, my mom thought she broke a tooth! Try ordering some salmon with a baked potato, it wasn't too bad. The soups, IMO were always good. There were a few good choices on the kids menu.

On the baked alaska night the cruise director introduced the maitre'ds, the chefs and the waiters. some of the waiters were booed as they paraded around the dining room. only one small section cheered very loudly for theirs. I can assure you that a very good waiter would have been WELL compensated for their service by us.

 

The Buffet: BARF! well, not every single item was BARF, but darned close. Every day they had a pasta station with different items, a few days those were tasty. The carving station was OK, salads varied but there was always a way to make a standard lettuce and tomato salad. Or you can do what my dd did, live off of hard rolls and breadsticks all week.

 

Desserts: Tiramisu Good, most others pretty darn bad. The kids didn't even like the ice cream. On the last night there was a delicious cheesecake in the dining room but the service was so slow that it was delivered to the table just as they started turning the lights on and off, signaling that it was time to get the heck out of the dining room, frustrated and fed-up we left it on the table.

 

Breakfast: this was my dh's favorite meal of the day. We ate both in the dining room and buffet. Stick with fruit and yogurt and you should be ok. In the dining room we enjoyed the chocolate croissants, french toast and my dad LOVED the eggs benedict. Service also BAD, one day my mother was eating her bagel and as she lifted it to her mouth the waiter took away her plate then reached right across her face to take another dish. These kind of things were a running issue on this ship. That same day a man at the table behind ours just lost it, he was so upset at the poor service that he was nearly screaming at the maitre' d and finally threw down his napkin and left. they had waited 20+ minutes and hadn't had an order taken or gotten a cup of juice. and while 20 minutes doesn't seem like a big deal, the place was nearly empty and he was frustrated by the total lack of good service the whole week.

 

Entertainment: This is where we felt the Lirica shined (well not my dh but i'll go into that later) the shows were very good and interesting. each night had different themes but within each theme was various concepts. Things like magic and juggling were thrown in with singing and dancing and acrobatic acts. the entertainment team were very good as well, high energy, friendly and fun. My dh is legally blind so he could not really enjoy the shows as they were mainly all show and no communication.

 

they had karaoke one night and it was a lot of fun, one guy (if he or his family reads this please know that everyone LOVED you) and 2 girls sang bohemian rhapsody by Queen and just ROCKED out. he had the whole crowd going and was really the highlight of the entire week on the ship.

 

staff: wow, what can i say?? 90% bad 5% awful 5% really darned good. Many didn't speak a word of english and couldn't even tell you where to find a restroom or take a drink order. Many smelled VERY bad. one afternoon my dm was talking to another guest in the buffet line and the man was complaining to her about the bad food and rude staff and the guy behind the buffet looked at them and said "the guests are Rude!" My dm was shocked!

one night we were playing monopoly in the buffet and were asked to leave. my dm asked if we could stay and the guy just turned around and walked away, no response. so we played monopoly until my dd had to use the restroom and realized that we were locked in!! we found a back door that we could unlock from the inside and go up a flight of stairs to enter the back door of a dance club.

 

Other passengers: this was a total melting pot of a cruise. lots of asians, most in large groups that always seemed to be having fun together, europeans and us americans. I made it a point to greet everyone i met in the halls or elevators and almost all passengers were friendly back.. the crew not so much. Sadly, upon getting into a conversation with another passenger it quickly turned into how unhappy they were with the cruise. the theme being "i guess we got what we paid for" or how bad the service and food are.

One guy had been on the week before as well and said if he could have gotten off after that he would have, but he'd have lost all his money.

we did not speak to one passenger that enjoyed their cruise :(

there were a lot of children on this cruise and i heard a lot of complaints from the older folks about it. mostly the kids were fine (by my standards) but i saw a lot of very young kids unattended. i saw many kids 5 and under unattended in the public areas, elevators and buffet.

 

Ports:

Key West: not a lot of time in Key West. we docked but had to take a trolley into town. We had reserved an electric car from "conch". We were given a cell number to call so they could pick us up at the trolley stop but the phone wasn't answered. a few minutes later a guy riding an electric car pulled up, it was the same company but we were able to get a cheaper price from him! We had lots of fun in the cart, although it was VERY hard to steer, at the end of the day they mentioned that they do have carts with power steering! we had no problem finding parking. we ended up just driving around and shopping, bought some coach items, key lime pie on a stick and a hard rock pin.

 

Cozumel: we splurged and took the family to swim with dolphins at Chankanaab, definitely the highlight of the entire trip. my dm and i did not join in but relaxed in the shade and ate some quesadillas and burgers (some of the best food of the week) The rest of the family did the dolphin encounter, not the royal swim, it was enough for them. We could not get close enough to take our own pictures but we were able to watch the video. we did not purchase the video but bought one picture of each person for $44 total. they had a nice gift shop which was pretty inexpensive and the kids were able to get t-shirts with their dolphins name and other souvies. The food was also inexpensive and the guy serving us was super nice and accommodating.

 

Grand Cayman: we planned to do a semi-submarine but decided to just walk around and shop. it's a nice enough shopping area with some high end stores and some souvenirs to be found. we also had haagen daz here which was our best ice cream of the week. the jewelry prices in each port and on the ship were MUCH higher then our local stores and even in the mall. with U.S. companies so desperate for business there are much better buys here.

 

Cayo Levantado: my dad wasn't feeling well this day but decided to tender over. it was a lovely beach with some straw market type stalls set up along the way. i am a sucker for a straw market!! after just a few minutes my dad decided to go back to the ship so my dd offered to go with him. about 10 minutes after that my ds and dm left as well. I ended up buying a bunch of souvies and although i'm very happy with my stuff it was WAY overpriced. small wood vases and nicknacks which were $3-5 in honduras they started off asking $35-50!!

it is true that there is no free food here. a lunch buffet is available for $15 per person. Massages are available in an open tent for about $1 per minute. my dh would have gotten a massage if there was some privacy.

 

Our last sea day started out beautifully, the kids were enjoying the pool and the waves in the ocean was sloshing the water back and forth. all the kids in the pool were having a blast riding the pool waves. then the sky turned dark and soon the pool was closed. The waves, as shown on the TV were 7.5 to 12 feet. but the ship was moving quite a bit. we ended us playing monopoly until my ds got sick from the waves. so we went back to the cabin to rest. the waves pretty much lasted all night but got a bit better later in the evening.

 

Disembarkation was easy enough. unfortunately we were brought back to another pier from where we started and shuttled to the parking lot. we were standing as there were no seats left and the driver was so crazy that my dh, dm and dd all fell when he slammed on the breaks. all of the passengers were yelling at him to slow down and be more careful. then they dropped us off in the far end of the parking garage to lug our belongings across.

 

Other things....

Casino: SMALL! only 2 blackjack tables, 3 poker, 2 roulette and one craps. there are only about 50 slot machines. the dealers were NOT friendly and seriously, had they been just a little friendly my dad would have lost a LOT more money there. he brought a large chunk of change to play with and was so disgusted with the bad attitudes that he kept his money and walked out. this coming from a guy that lives to gamble

 

the no water issue: there is water and iced tea offered in the dining room at meal times. if you can get it of course. the buffet had hot and cold drinks most of the time, often they turn off the ice and water machine and empty the juice/tea dispensers leaving only hot drinks. hot milk was also served with coffee and we had to ask for cold milk, which normally never arrived.

 

smoking: smoking is allowed in the casino and lord nelson's pub. both places were very smoky. one side of the pool deck allowed smoking but i never noticed it.

 

food after 8:00: just not available. you will have to wait until the midnight buffet or order room service. the room service menu is very limited and there are no drinks on it. we never ordered room service. although i took a picture of it. we met a family with three small kids looking for sinner for their kids at about 8:30. the kid slept through dinner and they were frantic that there was nothing to be found until midnight. we told them they could order room service.

 

cabin amenities: our cabin had shampoo, bars of soap, shower caps, and sewing kits. there were plenty of lights with most accessed without leaving the bed. there are 2 hanging closets and another with drawers (6) and shelves (2). there were no robes or hair conditioner, bring your own.

 

TV: european channels. including euro ESPN (dh not happy, no football scores), euro CNN etc. the movies shown were good selections although they were in several languages so if there were 4 movies showing only one would be english. not a big deal as we didn't want to waste vacation watching TV.

 

that's all i can think of now. please feel free to ask questions.

[ikelmay]

Hi, many thanks for your detailed review - I found it very interesting. As someone yet to try MSC, I always appreciate the detail. I look forward to hearing feedback from other MSC cruisers.

[BonnieVA]

Thank you , thank you, thank you!

[FabFam4]

Thanks so much for the review. Guess we won't be taking advantage of the kids cruise for free promotion.

[WhoDat]

Thank you for posting about your experience. It's always good to hear both positives and negatives.

[cassieroll]

Wow. Thanks for the great review. I guess we won't be looking into that promotion. lol

[casino girl]

Well thanks but we are booked for March 4th and i am looking forward to the cruise even with all the bad reviews, cause any cruise is a good cruise, you just have to take it in stride cause everyones opinion is different. My vacations with my family are just that to be with my family and have a good time. When ever i encounter bad service i just make them happy and they always seem to remember that and that bad service turns into great service. If you are not happy with your meal, ask nicely and you shall receive a great meal. It is all about the way you ask.:D

[WDBGUY]

I am sailing on the Lirica Feb 12, we have the early dinner seating and the ship departs at 7pm, is there a sail away party on the deck departing from Ft Lauderdale? Should I miss my seating to see if anything is going on?

[Mona Lisa]

There is no special sail away party. No steel drum band or special drinks in a souvenir cup...nothing...that was a disappointment.

 

You can get on the ship as early as noon, you will be escorted to your room and the luggage arrives fairly quickly. We unpacked, toured the ship, had Muster around 4 and scrambled to get ready for our 5:30 dining room seating.

 

You don't want to miss the first night in the dining room when you meet your table mates and wait staff. They close the doors ten minutes after the seating time...so try to be prompt. Happy Sailing!

[Bibi]

Wow. This is not the first time I have heard this type of review about MSC. Hopefully, your Carnival Cruise will make up for it. Thanks for the review.

[rjrice1]

My family and I were bumped off their new ship so Mr. Ferrari can charter it and placed on the Lirca. We board on 1/3/09 and was stuck on this night mare for 10 long ass days. Food is the pits. Stick to lettuces and tomatoes from buffet and bring your own salad dressing. We witness the staff members take silverware off the main dining room table and placed them back into the drawers and reused them throughout our meals One even dropped it on the floor and placed it backed in the drawer. You can complain to anyone because they will gang up and attack you.

Like you said after 8pm no food, the buffet at night is a joke. We had pot. chips at the bars. Best diet in the world. We lost weight and we were small people to begin with. No swimming or hot tub after sunset. Bring games, dices and ect. We brought a port. dvd player and watched movies.

Don't use their computers they will charge you a min $5.00 each time even if you don't use the minutes.

We been with Royal Caribbean and decided to do this line for the good discount. Well you get what you pay. As for kids sail free, there is nothing for kids to do They can't do the activities since it is aimed for the old folks. If you speak Italian you will be treated good.

Wish I never wasted my money on this trip. My dog got better treatment in the kennel as well as better food.

No ice cream unless you pay for it. Sneak your own coke products on board. By the way they lock you fridge the day before and if you want anything you must call room service.

I wouldn't put anyone on this ship.

[royandjenn]

Hi rjrice1, you guys went to Martinique right? Could you please let us know if the ship offers excursions for Martinique? If so what ones? I am sorry that you had an awful time. Thank you very much!

[rjrice1]

Hi rjrice1, you guys went to Martinique right? Could you please let us know if the ship offers excursions for Martinique? If so what ones? I am sorry that you had an awful time. Thank you very much!

 

Went to Martinique; very high crime area. Go through your travel agency. The ship refused to let us book anything. We did walk the two miles to town. Just follow the blue road and then stay on the main road. There is a water taxi that will take you to the beach. Also when you get off the ship so of the locals will offer you better deals. Just know the euros. The other shore excursions were pretty good. If you need to know the people we use let me know. Got the best deals with local people vs the ship, They were more helpful.

If you have kids bring snacks and soda's. Also St. Marten is the cheapest for any cigarettes if you smoke (we don't or liquor.) They will even bring it back to the ship.

IF you are going on the Lirca good luck. Try to have fun.

[rjrice1]

:):):)

Went to Martinique; very high crime area. Go through your travel agency. The ship refused to let us book anything. We did walk the two miles to town. Just follow the blue road and then stay on the main road. There is a water taxi that will take you to the beach. Also when you get off the ship so of the locals will offer you better deals. Just know the euros. The other shore excursions were pretty good. If you need to know the people we use let me know. Got the best deals with local people vs the ship, They were more helpful.

If you have kids bring snacks and soda's. Also St. Marten is the cheapest for any cigarettes if you smoke (we don't or liquor.) They will even bring it back to the ship.

IF you are going on the Lirca good luck. Try to have fun.

[rjrice1]

:mad::mad:IF ANY ONE WANTS TO KNOW WHAT REALLY GOES BEHIND THE CURTAINS OF THE LIRCA CAN EMAIL ME rjrice1@earthlink.net. I can tell you some horror stories and prewarn you on the stuff that really happens.

[royandjenn]

Thank you! What kind of tour did you take in Martinique? We usually go to Jamaica every year, and that place can be pretty nasty too! I would appreciate it if you could let us know who you used as a tour guide. Did you have to tender in St Maarten? Thanks again... Did you leave a review in the review section on this site?

[rjrice1]

Thank you! What kind of tour did you take in Martinique? We usually go to Jamaica every year, and that place can be pretty nasty too! I would appreciate it if you could let us know who you used as a tour guide. Did you have to tender in St Maarten? Thanks again... Did you leave a review in the review section on this site?

 

In Martinique we walked into town and back. Call you agency about tours. However in town there is water taxi for $10.00 per person to go to the beach. Never went anywhere very nasty. Nobody speaks english and dont want to help you. Jamaica is paradise compare to this island.

As for St. Maarten; take the water taxi right by the ship for only $7.00 per person unlimited and go to the other side of the island. So many nice stores and shops. The cheapest of all the islands for everything and cheaper than the ship. You may be able to get liquid on the ship wrap it in towels. They really don't look in the bags. We bought soda and other stuff and nothing was taken away. The beach is very nice. They charge for the chairs; and there's things for kids. Bring their own water gear.

[halbfl2]

In Martinique we walked into town and back. Call you agency about tours. However in town there is water taxi for $10.00 per person to go to the beach. Never went anywhere very nasty. Nobody speaks english and dont want to help you. Jamaica is paradise compare to this island.

As for St. Maarten; take the water taxi right by the ship for only $7.00 per person unlimited and go to the other side of the island. So many nice stores and shops. The cheapest of all the islands for everything and cheaper than the ship. You may be able to get liquid on the ship wrap it in towels. They really don't look in the bags. We bought soda and other stuff and nothing was taken away. The beach is very nice. They charge for the chairs; and there's things for kids. Bring their own water gear.

 

Did you mean that you took the water taxi in St. Maarten and went to the French side of the island. How often does it run?

[rjrice1]

Did you mean that you took the water taxi in St. Maarten and went to the French side of the island. How often does it run?

I really don't know if we were on the French side of St. Maarten; but the water taxi is within walking distance from the port. Very nice beach and island. Cheapest for any items you want out of all the islands. People so nice and friendly. They don't push you to buy things. Near the ports they are more costly at their shops.

The water taxi ran quite frequently through out the day. If you don't get off the first stop they go to the second stop. Enjoy yourself there

[bgsimp]

I really don't know if we were on the French side of St. Maarten; but the water taxi is within walking distance from the port. Very nice beach and island. Cheapest for any items you want out of all the islands. People so nice and friendly. They don't push you to buy things. Near the ports they are more costly at their shops.

The water taxi ran quite frequently through out the day. If you don't get off the first stop they go to the second stop. Enjoy yourself there

 

The water taxi is right there & takes you to front street where the beach, restaurants & all the shops are.

[AmoMondo]

royandjenn - there are 9 different shore excursions available in martinique (look at MSC's site for more info). i did the 4 x 4 jeep one on my first visit to this Island and really enjoyed it. I'm not a huge fan of the big coach tours. It was nice that there were only 6 of us and we got on well and were able to do a lot more and see a lot more than we would have if we'd been on a big coach party. I really liked the visit to the rainforest and also getting to try the 100 year old rhum at the rhum distillery. Our guide and driver was fantastic. When he heard one of us say that she'd nevr been on a beach before that had black sand. he made a 15 minute impromptu stop to let us have a quick dip and wander on the beach. The next time I called at martiniqie i decided not to do an excusrsion, as I'd already seen a lot of the island on my last trip. I speak French reasonably fluently, so i decided to walk in to the centre of town. Big mistake it was dusty, hot and incredibly noisy and with way too much traffic. I really was not enjoying it at all, so decided to head back to the port. i have thought about taking a ferry over to one of the better beaches but when i saw the length of the qs and the general chaos and noise at the terminal, I just kept going and went back to the ship. if you do decide to do your own thing - rememebr this is a french Island that speaks French and uses the Euro not the dollar. You may be fortunate and find some people that speak English and willing to do so, but do not depend on it. I'd recommend using either the ship's excusriosn or booking a private tour.

 

cant remember who asked the question about the St Maarten water taxi . they run very regularly, almost constantly. You wont have to wait more than a few minutes until the next one comes along. Also a recommendation, if anyone likes horseback riding - is the Lucky Stables. You can organise a ride with them for one or a group and you can specify the level. You get some lovely views on the ride and the highlight is when they take the horses in to the water -almost swimming with horses but not quite! If you want more info look them up on their website. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. if you go, rememeber to take a set of spare clothes to change in to after the ride!

[royandjenn]

Thanks for the great info. I have been checking on the msc website regularly for tours in Martinique, and it always says none is available. That is for the carribbean sailings.. I will check again right away though. Thanks again!

[AmoMondo]

Thanks for the great info. I have been checking on the msc website regularly for tours in Martinique, and it always says none is available. That is for the carribbean sailings.. I will check again right away though. Thanks again!

 

If that dos not work, try the UK site as they are all listed there. The prices are in pounds sterling but at least it will let you see what is available - msccruises.co.uk

[fiorita]

We were also on the Lirica and I did not find things as bad as some did. This was not our first cruise and it was the second time on the Lirica. We enjoyed the shows, they were short only a half hour. All the food we got in the dining room was great even the steaks. The portions were small. Everyone at our table enjoyed the ice cream. I was disappointed that the ice cream in the afternoon was not free as it was the last time we were on. We went to relax and get out of the cold and that is what we did. Would I go back on MSC, that depends on the ship and the price. We met some very nice people and had a great time. What more can you say for a cruise. We got our monies worth.

Fiorita:)

[dnino]

Interesting review- I just retruned 1-18-09 from the Voyager of the Seas( which I loved!) Anyways had seen the Lirica in port at Costa Maya, MSC has been advertising a lot of inexpensive cruises. A lot of our family members want to get together for a cruise later this year and I was thinking of looking in to the MSC. But as some of them will be first time cruisers I don't want them to have a bad experience!

Thanks for your review!

Will you do one on the Carnival when You return?

Thanks Again!