MSC Lirica 1/23/09 was Fantastic

[Wishbone2]

Return from MSC Lirica 2/2/09: 10day cruise was fantastic- food was great (late seating 8pm dining room) - We could not believe that people would complain about the food in other postings.

The mix of European passengers was very fun and interesting. The crew is largely Indonesian (Bali) and they are friendly and hard working. MSC is the cleanest Cruise Line you will find, and just won an award from US Dept of Health.

We had to tender to Cayo Lenventado- and MSC is smaller and very fast.

For us, the cruise is only part of the adventure and we were very pleased with MSC.

We are physically fit and snorkel and swim at every island. It’s fun to book our own activities- generally using a cab to get to a beach and sometimes rent a car.

Two times we recruited an other couple to share a cab or van ride. If you don’t know another language, this is a great opportunity to learn some Spanish and French to use for getting around. MSC Lirica on a scale of 1 to 10 is a (9). Bon Voyage

[halbfl2]

We just returned home from the very same cruise. In general, I would say it was "fine". Would we sail again with MSC? Probably not unless the itinerary was so great and unavailable from any other cruise line.

 

Embarkation

This went very smoothly. We had preregistered online, so the line was very short. Taken directly to a nice, clean room, so no problem there. Also the baggage seemed to arrive more quickly than usual. A + for them.

 

Food

I thought the food in general was just fine. Certainly not gourmet, but a nice variety. The buffet is set up very poorly, tho, so it makes for a lot of hopping up and down to piece a meal together. The worst part is the beverages--yes, they had the tiny juice-sized glasses as noted before on this board. Also, no one comes around to refill coffee or beverages in the buffet and you don't get any straws. I started helping myself at the bar where the waitress picked up her drink orders. After a few meals, we gave up and ate all our meals in the dining room where we could sit down and be served. I think some people missed the items on the left side of the menu where they listed things like pancakes and french toast, etc. for breakfast and the burgers and hot dogs for lunch. The buffet was open for dinner except on the "gala" nights (there were 3 of these on a 10 night cruise). The wait staff was fine, and as mentioned before, there seems to be a slight language barrier. It helped to point to the item on the menu that you wanted. I didn't find the dinner menu that different from other cruise lines with the exception of always having 2 pasta choices on the dinner menu. Also, as noted before, there is NO food available between 10a-noon and from 2-4p and following the dinner unless there's a midnight buffet event. However, there was just something about the service that I can't put my finger on that made it less than we've experienced before. They were very pleasant, but just not quite as professional.

 

Entertainment

I felt the entertainment in the main theatre was as good as we've gotten on other cruises. They also had the problem of not being able to use a comedian due to language barrier. (By the way, you do get very tired of having all the announcements in 5 langs.) You don't miss a live orchestra, the costumes were great, and there was a variety. We don't have much of a comment for the entertainment in the lounges, etc. The couple we did see were just so-so. We also felt the activity staff were a little less than professional. They acted silly and like they weren't sure what they were to do a lot of the time. The daytime activities are held almost exclusively on the pool deck so this is one cruise where you aren't running from one activity to another on a sea day. Bring a book as you'll need it. The library is very sparse and only open a few hours a day.

 

Accomodations

The ship, as mentioned before, is extremely clean and our cabin attendant was very good. The bath towels are huge and there are washcloths. The beds leave something to be desired, and the pillows are very hard. I felt the decor in the common areas of the ship was rather lacking. No fresh flowers anywhere. It certainly wasn't "gorgeous" as some have stated on this board in the past.

 

Ports

All the ports were fine and I can't say anything about the ship's excursions as we didn't do any. Had been to all the islands except one before. Cayo Leventado is a beautiful beach and the tender service was no problem.

 

Disembarkation

We chose to do the self disembarkation as did at least 25% of the passengers, so it didn't go as smoothly as we've had it on other ships. If they have that many passengers that chose that, they better find another way to accomodate it.

 

All in all, the weather was great, I didn't have to cook, and we got what we paid for.

[twochefs]

We now have a new low standard for all cruises. I spoke to at least 50 couples who said this is their 1st and last time with MSC. We all booked for the same reason. Good price. I guess we could say we almost got what we paid for. The food was worse than a cafeteria. Thankfully we were able to eat at wonderful places in the ports. This is the 1st cruise that we took that we lost weight.

 

The communication was next to nil. The self assist was a cluster. This is not a good cruise line. They really need help.

[SForman]

We now have a new low standard for all cruises. I spoke to at least 50 couples who said this is their 1st and last time with MSC. We all booked for the same reason. Good price. I guess we could say we almost got what we paid for. The food was worse than a cafeteria. Thankfully we were able to eat at wonderful places in the ports. This is the 1st cruise that we took that we lost weight.

 

The communication was next to nil. The self assist was a cluster. This is not a good cruise line. They really need help.

 

Would you mind detailing some of the issues that you encountered?

[twochefs]

I don't even know where to start. You can't book excursions from the website. We also book on our own ahead of time but when they change ports without notice we have to pay up front.

 

The times were changed for dining and when you are on an excursion coming back for the 1st seating is really tough. 15 minutes they close the dining room. The late seating is too late for us so that is not an option. The room service is really non exsistent unless you like tastless cold sandwiches.

 

I don't believe there was any night I could even cut my meat of any kind, much less taste anything.

 

The self assist was a disaster. We had a 10am flight and they were letting everyone off even if they didn't have to be anywhere until 5pm. It should be for the people who really need to get off.

 

Our neighbor broke her shoulder the 1st morning and they wouldn't bring her any food nor would they let her husband take food to her. We told them to just do it. They didn't give her any assistance even though she had to go to the hospital in Peurto Ricco. She ened up needing to fly home. They wouldn't put the mats in the bath tub too much work. We insisted.

 

I could go on and on. We had a great time but it was because we stopped expecting them to acutally be like a real cruise line.

 

I am sure you saw the Holland America ship have water, lemonade, cookies and fresh towels when they got back to the ship. This is what we have come to love when we cruise.

[joedm4]

I can't believe anyone would say the food on the Lirica was great - if you think bolognese sauce is tomato soup with chop meat in it, then i guess it's great - about one in 5 items on the menu was palatable and one in 10 good -

 

good cabins - very clean - intermittent service - poorly organized

 

most people i talked to were very disappointed in the food and said they would never take MSC again

 

and that includes me

[WDBGUY]

Food

I thought the food in general was just fine. Certainly not gourmet, but a nice variety. The buffet is set up very poorly, tho, so it makes for a lot of hopping up and down to piece a meal together. The worst part is the beverages--yes, they had the tiny juice-sized glasses as noted before on this board. Also, no one comes around to refill coffee or beverages in the buffet and you don't get any straws. I started helping myself at the bar where the waitress picked up her drink orders. After a few meals, we gave up and ate all our meals in the dining room where we could sit down and be served. I think some people missed the items on the left side of the menu where they listed things like pancakes and french toast, etc. for breakfast and the burgers and hot dogs for lunch. The buffet was open for dinner except on the "gala" nights (there were 3 of these on a 10 night cruise). The wait staff was fine, and as mentioned before, there seems to be a slight language barrier. It helped to point to the item on the menu that you wanted. I didn't find the dinner menu that different from other cruise lines with the exception of always having 2 pasta choices on the dinner menu. Also, as noted before, there is NO food available between 10a-noon and from 2-4p and following the dinner unless there's a midnight buffet event. However, there was just something about the service that I can't put my finger on that made it less than we've experienced before. They were very pleasant, but just not quite as professional.

 

 

I will be sailing on the Lirica in a few weeks, have a few questions.

I thought the buffet was not open for dinner, only for breakfast and

lunch. Also, I thought there were only two formal nights on the 10

night cruise. I will be going to San Juan, St Martin, St Lucia, etc.

[Lard Greystoke]

I will be sailing on the Lirica in a few weeks, have a few questions.

I thought the buffet was not open for dinner, only for breakfast and

lunch. Also, I thought there were only two formal nights on the 10

night cruise. I will be going to San Juan, St Martin, St Lucia, etc.

 

My info is a year old, but here goes: buffet is open through 1st dinner seating. It shuts down before 2nd seating. There were either 2 or 3 formal nights. If the itinerary is still San Juan, St Martin, St Lucia, Antigua, Tortola and Cayo Levantado, that's some very nice scenery.

[twochefs]

There are 3 formal nights and the buffet is not open on those nights so everyone has to go to the "gala". The buffett is open in the morning from 630am to 930am. Then it is open again from 12pm to 230pm. Then it opens in the evening from 530pm to 830pm. The next time to eat is some stuff at 11pm.

 

We were supposed to go to St Lucia but at the last minute they cancelled that port and we went to Martinique instead.

[halbfl2]

I will be sailing on the Lirica in a few weeks, have a few questions.

I thought the buffet was not open for dinner, only for breakfast and

lunch. Also, I thought there were only two formal nights on the 10

night cruise. I will be going to San Juan, St Martin, St Lucia, etc.

 

twochefs is correct about the hours of the buffet. However, incorrect about the "last minute" change to Martinique from St. Lucia. If you go to the MSC web site and download their brochure, you will see that Martinique was on the agenda for the 1-23 sailing all along.

[twochefs]

All of my cruise documentation from the start said St Lucia. I printed the itinerary from the MSC Web site and it also said St Lucia was the stop. It was not until I got on the ship that we found out we were not going to St Lucia.

 

Most of the people on the ship also thought we were going to St Lucia. No one really knows when it was changed. Thanks

[Clamshell]

I was on the Lirica for the 1/23 cruise and wonder if Wishbone2 was on the same ship??? The food was NOT good. The "always available" sirloin steak was what we in the States would call a 'minute steak'. Their idea of bruschetta was a few pieces of chopped tomato on stale bread.... what happened to the olive oil & garlic? Did they even have garlic on that ship? I never got a taste or a whiff of it. Food in dining room was cold if it was supposed to be, barely warm if it was supposed to be hot - Baked Potato that wouldn't melt the butter is just one example. Guess they have more refrigerator space than stove or oven space.

 

twochefs: Not only did we talk to passengers, but crew as well that are less than satisfied with MSC.

 

I won't be back on MSC.

[bighairtexan]

I, too, was on the 1/23 Lirica cruise and I agree with halbfl2 (waving at you guys). For the most part I had a wonderful cruise. The food was all over the board as far as quality. The beef was tough but the veal chop first rate. Excellent appetizers and soups. Weak buffet.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable time. I keep saying, it was no Celebrity (my favorite line) but I didn't pay for Celebrity. Even the wines were inexpensive ($15 per bottle if you get a package). Things seemed to run efficiently and on time with the exception of trying to get a refill on my water. In fact that is my biggest complaint and if that is the worst thing to happen then I would say I got good bang for my buck.