pbiondo28 Cruise Review on MSC Armonia on Mar 04, 2019

MSC Armonia Cruise Review

pbiondo28

Contributor Level: Purser

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 20

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Sail date: March 04, 2019

Ship: MSC Armonia

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Where do I start? Ok - so the first day was a bit hectic but I think the first day of any cruise is like that. The first day on Armonia seemed unusually hectic though. We were among the handful of Americans on the ship, it was mostly Europeans, so the cultural differences were very evident. Communicating with other passengers was minimal, American standards of common courtesy were non existent. I can provide examples of the situations we experienced if interested, it is just too much to get into at the moment. The cabin - we were in a family oceanview cabin. The price seemed to be the same as the regular oceanview cabins, however, it was essentially two cabins in one and accommodated 4 ppl. It was slightly smaller than their suites. I snagged one of these cabins by pure luck as there are only TWO on the entire ship. I can't imagine how the 4 of us would have managed in one of their regular cabins without having to upgrade to a suite. It was still tight but we managed pretty well. The cabin itself could be better taken care of. The chairs have all kinds of "mystery" stain on them, as did the carpet. A little shampoo would go a long way. The bathroom and windows had rust stains. I suspect all the cabins are the same way. Our cabin stew was great though! I would recommend this cabin just because it's bigger. The regular rooms are so tiny but FYI, despite having more space for our family at a good price, our cabin was right below the captain's bridge so at 5pm we had to shut the curtains in both rooms for the "safety" of cruising at night. We forgot to close one of the windows before leaving for dinner one night and realized when we returned around 8 pm. We quickly closed it but we were scolded the following night by a crew member lol. Oh- the pressure! The ship survived though - all was good. Also, the morning of disembarking, we arrived back in Miami earlier than expected - our captain hauled ass to get us to every port earlier than anticipated, which was great.... but around 4:30 am on disembark day we woke up to the sounds of freight trains passing by for 30 minutes straight. I suspect that they were using machinery to remove luggages off the ship, but our entire cabin was shaking and so loud during this process, we were unable to go back to sleep. We were on the 9th deck, so I'm not sure why we heard it as though it was right next to us. Hopefully this was not something the entire ship had to experience but I'm certain everyone in our area did. It was horrible. The food- sweet baby Jesus, it was sooooo bad! We survived off of their pizza, gelato, a few things here and there and port food. The pizza, by the way- AMAZING!! Their breakfast was also good. Same thing everyday but the usual breakfast items. Lunch and dinner in dining room and buffet were hit or miss, but mostly miss. Even on Italian Night, the food was so bad... and it's an Italian cruiseline. How does this happen? My husband and mom in law are Italians from NYC, so after a few days of bad dinners they were really excited for the Italian Night dinner so they can finally have food they are accustomed to. Guess where we went after what they served us...yup, pizza! Thank goodness for that pizza! We did have a pretty decent meal at their new specialty restaurant Surf & Turf for an additional $35pp. Well worth it. I think most Americans will be highly disappointed in most of what they offer after breakfast. But try the pizza - the best I've ever had on any cruise! The Entertainment - sweet baby Jesus again! The only word that comes to mind is corny. Embarrassingly corny. They tried. Don't get me wrong, some ppl were entertained. I will say this, most of the crew members are very friendly, which was nice. Just pack your patience because they are a bit more disorganized than other cruiselines. I'm not sure I'd sail with MSC again. If I do, it'll be a newer and bigger ship.

3 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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tomika75 5 years ago

Okay, I will avoid this ship. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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shakiab2 5 years ago

Great review. Thanks.

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