We would consider sailing with MSC again, although they need to make their casino programs more competitive in the American market.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
A little disorganized but everyone friendly and helpful.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food was good. The new Surf & Turf steakhouse restaurant is good, however not as good as Carnival steakhouse food or experience. Recommend lobster 🦞 thermador. Surf & Turf restaurant only serves bottled water at almost $6 a bottle if you like water with your meal. They will not serve regular water. Armonia will not honor Black Card members 1 free specialty restaurant each for Black Card members as they say it is not included in this class of ship, despite Surf & Turf being a steakhouse. We were disappointed but paid for two nights of steakhouse dinners anyway & enjoyed it.
Ice Cream Bar
5 out of 5
Excellent
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Main Pool deck area is very nice & there is a special water park for children there. Do not miss the gelato ice cream as it is delicious. My favorite was 1/2 hazelnut & 1/2 strawberry in a waffle cone. Really addictive.
Casino: No craps. Small choices for slots. MSC is really going to have to rethink their points needed in casino for free cruises. They want 10,000 slot points for a free cruise. They don’t offer a drink card in the casino after a specific amount of points ie: Carnival offers this at 1,500 points. In addition, the slot points are supposed to be 1 slot point for every $2.50 that rotates through the machines. One guest complained that she was maximum betting at $8.80/ spin & only got 10 slot points in an hour!!! The casino worker told her that they adjusted the points accumulation down after that machine had paid out. That shouldn’t happen & if they want to be competitive for slot or tables games gamblers, have a fair playing field. The casino staff however were beyond friendly and kind to everyone.
Casino
3 out of 5
No crap table. At least need virtual craps. Not a good selection of slot machines & casino small. Machines have next to no payout. 10,000 slot points for a free cruise is an insane high number. Slot machines don’t consistently do a 1 point per $2.50 rotation. See review. Some specific slot machines (thin it was called Grand)?adjusted by casino for a much higher dollar rotation per slot point awarded. That makes future casino comps next to impossible to obtain.
Cigar Room
5 out of 5
First class
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Shows were just OK. The Jersey Boys show was not good at all. There was better entertainment other nights. Our biggest highlight was captain Paolo speaking eleven languages while he welcomed the crowd. He was the most valuable celebrity in our experience. What a dynamic personality. He was so nice to everyone on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
We had the best cabin steward on this cruise in our long history of cruises on many ships. Even the exotic beautiful towel animals he made made us stop & say wow. Very kind & talented.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Although it is not the largest or newest ship, Armonia has subtle nice differences. Note: They have a very nice dedicated cigar room onboard with plush lounge chairs. We met so many amazing people from Europe & USA on this cruise. The food choices were much healthier on Armonia & some were tapas style. A lot more choices of juices at breakfast than other ships which I appreciated. Very fresh salads on lido. Very clean ship. We did hear about a couple of guests falling in the public bathrooms from wet floors, however we did not have any problems.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Although somewhat small, the inside cabin was adequate & very well designed for closets & lots of storage. Carnival newest mega ship designers really missed the mark & lacked keeping the cruisers in mind when designing Vista & Horizon closet space on their ships. Enough for just one person. Armonia got it right with closet space. Room Very clean. The TV unfortunately only had two English speaking channels, but you are on vacation. Beds were very comfortable. We were treated very well on the ship. Black card members don’t have special treatment like special lines for guest services etc like Carnival has.
Ship tip
Try it. There are a lot of multinational people on board as guests and it was pleasurable to meet people from so many places
Rose Hall was an interesting enjoyable excursion. We stopped at a shopping district on this tour & were excited to find a 30 year old Appleton Rum that we were keeping our eye open to find for the last 5 years. We would definitely consider coming back to Montego Bay as the people here were so nice.
Cozumel is always fun every time. MSC has a much superior spot downtown when they dock in Cozumel. A GREAT locals spot that shouldn’t be missed is “Wet Wendy’s” in downtown Cozumel. Biggest margaritas for cheap prices & great music. Feels like sitting in Key West with friends. FUN!!!
Love ❤️ Cuba!!! Havana & the people are beautiful. The music and culture/ architecture will call you back there to see more.
If you don’t go to Tropicana cabaret, you missed the best show in Cuba. Same show since 1939. Worth every cent. Do not ever book a Cuba cruise that has a one day stop or you will waste your money. You MUST have 2 days there. The Cuban customs only has 11 people to process an entire cruise ship of people!!! The lines were backed up so bad, after arriving at 1 PM we couldn’t get off until 430PM because of the backup. Cuba needs to expand the terminal with more officials to accommodate the ships. The cruise industry should insist on this.
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