MSC Poesia - Any tips??

[Mummye]

We are cruising from Venice in August . Doesw anyone have any tips ? Things to take, things to avoid!! We have never cruised before and are hoping for a fabulous time!

[sea-explorer]

Hello,

 

I sailed on this itinerary on the Poesia last august.

 

You may find this thread useful.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=904671

 

 

Also this one, not about the Poesia but AmoMondo gives some good tips for first time cruisers.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=902309

 

Any other questions..please come back & ask. :)

[Mummye]

Thanks for this - but unfortunately couldn't find/ access the link. Help!

[sea-explorer]

Ooops. Help from me too. I have just tried the links and they work for me.

 

Is a pop up blocker preventing them? Try pressing control as you click the link...or try a different browser if you have one.

 

If that doesn't work, that is the full extent of my technological knowledge, so I'm stuck too.

[Mummye]

Thanks - manged to pick up second link and there is some useful information there. Still not able to access the other thread though so maybe I can search it under a different heading?

 

I am really interested in getting any tips for shore excusions . We will have 2 children with us (10 and 12) so any great ideas?

[sea-explorer]

The first one is a link to a thread further down this page called MSC Poesia Reviews by wonder woman.

 

In that one is a link to my report where I mention a little about each port. Another good place to pick up tips about the ports is on the Mediterranean boards.....I'll try another link here. :)

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234

 

 

You can also access this from the main index page under ports of call...Europe.

 

We didn't take any ships shore excursions, but those we spoke to who did said they were very good. Will you be spending any additional time in Venice?

 

The only things I would have done differently as far as the ports were concerned were:

 

Bari..made a little more effort to find the little touristic train. I still wouldn't have taken a shore excursion here as we needed a little down time after Venice, but that would depend on you . :)

 

Istanbul: With hindsight we should have done this port on our own and taken the tram into town. I would also have skipped Topaki Palace & spent a little more time at the bazaar.

 

Some other useful links for Istanbul:

 

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/turkey/grandbazaar.htm

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=15018484#post15018484

 

and

 

http://www.letsgoistanbul.com/1day.asp

 

Come back to me if there is anything else you want to know. :)

[AmoMondo]

Hi Mummye

Just had a look at the itinerary and it is almost the same as my first ever cruise with MSC on the Opera. (only difference was we did Kusadasi instaed of Izmir). I don't do shore excursions anymore but back then I did because i was a bit nervous about getting back to the ship ontime and wondering off on my own. Now i just do the research on the net and go off and do my own thing, However I can comment on the shore excursions as I did them in every port on this occasion.So in no particular order, here goes

Katakalon - I did the Olympus site. At first it was interesting to see the ruins of buildings that i studied back in school regarding Greek mythology. Our greek guide spoke excellent English was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly but here comes the BUT - it was very hot without any shade anywhere, the detailed descriptions at each remain went on quite a time. I was getting too hot and restless and I was interested in the subject matter but i cannot imagine any 10 or 12 year old wanting to stand in a group for 2 hours or so listening to that sort of info - I'd recommend getting them to the beach instead (either a beach trip or the more basic and much cheaper beach transfer)

Istanbul - Sparky has excellent advice about doing Istanbul on your own, However if you are nervous about that - you could try the one I did which was fantastic. it was an all day one which started at the Blue Mosque( absolutely amazing building) then accross the road to St sophia church (amazing for completely different reasons - e.g the wooden front door is a thousand years old!), then we went on to a carpet making demo which was interesting and you got delicious apple tea whilst they were telling you all about them. there was absolutely no pressure to buy 9although i did splurge on a beautiful silk one which still has pride of place in my home), then it was on to the Grand Bazaar where you had free time to stroll about the stalls, try turkish delight from every second shop 9or so it seemed!) buy cheap pashminis etc. then it was back to the bus for our last stop of the day at the amazing Tokapi palace. We got quite a lot of time here. If you like jewelrey, wait to you see what is on display here - absolutely dazzling. the rest of the palace is interesting too and there is also some nice grounds to have a wander in the sunshine.

Dubrovnik - we id a walking city tour which was just OK. We were tendered off here and the tender dropped us just outside the main archway that you entered to get in to the main square. Our walking tour pretty much centred around her with a visit to a convent, town hall and some other building. To be honets probably could have done this just as easy walking around myself. the best bit for me was when they left us for a few hours at the end to do our own thing. We really enjoyed strolling around all the wee side streets off the main square and then ending up sitting outside a cafe with big armchairs having a cold drink. My niece and nephew are just slightly older than your children are now, but from memory if I'd done that sort of excursion with them, I'm fairly sure they would never have stopped whining that they were bored. perhaps doing a walk around the city wall on your own might be better or taking them off to a beach or something a bit more entertaining.

 

Bari - i did the walking city tour again. Not great. first stop was the castle but we did not get to go in - just stood outside whilst the guide did all the history of it, then it was in to the centre where we went to a church that has St Nicholas's remins in the crypt, next was a walk to the esplande and then an hour free time for some shopping. To be honest this was not a great tour.Again i think your kids would be bored rigid.

venice - i had a late aftnernoon flight so i did the transfer to St marks square one. This was good. they took all your luggage and then transfered you by water in a launch to very close to the square. we had almost 4 hours to wander about on our own before getting back on the boat to get to the coach and then got dropped off at the airport.

 

I've not been on the Poesia but have cruised with MSC a lot. So please let me know if you haev any other questions and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

[Jacques O]

We are cruising from Venice in August . Doesw anyone have any tips ? Things to take, things to avoid!! We have never cruised before and are hoping for a fabulous time!

 

hello

 

I sailed on the Poesia on her maiden voyage in April 2008, from Dover to Venize. We enjoyed it.

here is the links for my review.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=795741&highlight=

 

I hope you find it informative.

 

 

I hope you have a good cruise vacation, Mummye.

 

Jacques O, Paris.

[Mummye]

Thank you so much for all this information. It is a great help and I have even been able to access the links!

We may well try some trips ashore with our own agendas so any ideas gratefully received.

As far as food and drink on board - with 2 hungry and thirsty children, any tips to avoid hefty on board bills?? Is it ok (and easy) to take supplies with us? I was slightly concerned to read that we cannot access drinking water, as I'm sure we will be needing plenty of that!

[AmoMondo]

Thank you so much for all this information. It is a great help and I have even been able to access the links!

We may well try some trips ashore with our own agendas so any ideas gratefully received.

As far as food and drink on board - with 2 hungry and thirsty children, any tips to avoid hefty on board bills?? Is it ok (and easy) to take supplies with us? I was slightly concerned to read that we cannot access drinking water, as I'm sure we will be needing plenty of that!

 

I'm not sure where you are from, but if you have booked with a US TA I belive you get vouchers for water at meals. All drinks at breakfast are included. They introduced a no drinks or food brought onboard policy late last year. not sure how strictly they will enforce it as I haven't travelled with them since the rule was introduced. They do Xray all your stuff as you come back onboard. As far as food is concerned the only food you pay for is - room service (other than breakfast); if you go to a speciality restaurant or have the snacks out of the mini bar. they dont do food 24 hours. After breakfast, there is no food available until lunch. The pizza bar and outside grill sare open longer in the aftnernoon than the dining room and buffet. then there is aftnernoon tea, then dinner then midnight buffet. I'd say that there are a few hours between main meals when there may not be food available. make sure you check the daily programme for when meals are available and if you know you are not going to come back onboard until after lunch is over, then eat when you are ashore. I have seen people take fruit and extra bread rolls and cold meat and cheeses from the buffet before to have as snacks later. never tried it myself ass 3 meals per day is what I'm used to and the times are at the times I'm used to eating. Not sure if the staff would try to stop you doing this or not. To save money on drinks, you can buy packages (basically books of vouchers) that work out a bit cheaper than buying drinks indiviuduaally

[Dinkey]

Thank you so much for all this information. It is a great help and I have even been able to access the links!

We may well try some trips ashore with our own agendas so any ideas gratefully received.

As far as food and drink on board - with 2 hungry and thirsty children, any tips to avoid hefty on board bills?? Is it ok (and easy) to take supplies with us? I was slightly concerned to read that we cannot access drinking water, as I'm sure we will be needing plenty of that!

 

 

I have a copy of the Tequila bar prices in Euro's, the prices are shown as

the same as the ones in $ but changed the $ sign to euros. Do not know

how they work their prices out but 6.90euros for a spirit is high even if you are saving the service charge. 2.50 euros for any can of coke, sprite etc. 1.10 euros for expresso coffee. 1.50euros for a cappacino!

 

It certainly works out cheaper to purchase the wine and beer packages than to buy singular. We are may go tea total on our sailing next month ha ha!

 

Sorry but I cannot seem to be able to download the list:confused:

 

Dinkey

[Notenut]

Your header doesn't indicate where you are from. We're from the U.S. and we brought along with us individual serving size instant drink powders (Crystal Light, Propel, Celestial Seasonings, etc) and saved a couple of plastic water bottles and just mixed our own drinks from tap water in the cabin. We enjoy drinking iced tea and this was the only way we could get it on the ship anyhow.

[Mummye]

Thanks for your tips. In fact we are from England ( Midlands). Does your reply mean that the tap water in the cabin is ok to drink?? Also is there a mini fridge in the cabin? I saw someone had mentioned taking a travel kettle to make hot drinks- is this a good idea in your opinion?

 

So many questions!!

[AmoMondo]

Hi there Mummye

yes you can drink the tap water in the cabin - it is perfectly safe. there is also a mini fridge. it will have the usual mini bar stuff in it, but there is still room to put some of your own bottles in too. You are not suppossed to bring things like travel irons and kettles on to a ship because of fire precautions - fire is the greatest hazard on a ship. Tea and coffee can be had throughout the day until about 1am but obviously you have to pay for it (unless it is part of room service breakfast). They also have aftnernoon tea about 4-5 where tea is free. they have a reasonable choice of different types of tea bags. To be honest on a European itinerary when you are in a different port every day, not sure that you will be spending huge amounts of time in your cabin anyway.