Armonia, anyone?

[gadgetlady]

We've just booked a cruise out of Venice (to Greece) in June on the Armonia. Can anyone give any insight on this ship? We are frequent cruisers, but mostly with the more traditional "American" lines (RCCL, NCL, Celebrity, HAL, etc.).

[AmoMondo]

I've not been on the Armonia but do know it is the same size and layout as the Lirica and Sinfonia and opera, so any reviews or comments you see on threads here about these ships will pretty much apply. menus are more or less the same regardless of the ship. Main difference to expect will be that English speaking passengers are likely to be in the minority on this cruise. MSC make some variations to the "product" when in the caribbean but won't for this cruise. So expect there to be no free tap water available at meals. You have to buy bottled water. If you have booked through a US TA then you will no doubt get voucherrs to use to "purchase" bottles. Room Service will not be free (except for continental breakfast), food will not be available 24/7, there will be a charge to use the sauna/steam room. Dinner times are likley to be later than you may be accustomed to. Tours may be cancelled if there are not enough people booked to run the English version. Announcements will be few but will be in 5 or 6 languages when they do happen. Theatre shows need to cater for many languages so will be visual or musical. Hope this is of some help to you in giving you an idea of what to expect.