Overall, our experience was very positive on the MSC Armonia. One of the reasons I chose it was that it was very competitively priced, however the trade off was their response to not being able to go to Cuba. Larger, more established cruise lines were able to compensate their passengers much more fairly than the MSC could (or chose to). That said the service, food, and cabins are excellent.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Very well organized and easy. The Armonia's a relatively small ship and so embarkation wasn't as stressful as it can be on larger ones.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
We have two small active children so we didn't take advantage of the main dining rooms or specialty restaurants so I can't speak to those. We ate at the buffet for every meal and it was very good with lots of options so we didn't get tired of the food. I appreciated that they had very fresh and healthy choices available at every meal.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The amenities are modest on this ship which I was aware of when I chose it. However, if you want rock walls, water slides, ect. this wouldn't be a good choice for you. The gym is small but very clean and well appointed. They had lots of poolside activities happening throughout the day including yoga, salsa lessons, aerobics, and various competitions (my favourite was the belly flop competition).
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The performers and shows were the best I've seen on a cruise ship.
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
The staff were excellent. The kids enjoyed going there. The only downside was that there wasn't more for them to do on the ship.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Every staff member I encountered was friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin was cleaned daily and the beds turned down at night. We had the most economical cabin, but it was significantly bigger than it's counter part we had on Royal Carribbean.
We went to Xcarat eco park which was phenominal. My criticism is that the ship only allowed us 4 hours there even though our departure time got pushed back 2 hours! We easily could have stayed those extra hours, but they didn't make any change for us. Many people were very frustrated by this. It's a lot of money to only be able to stay that long.
We were informed that the administration put a ban on any ships from a U.S. port going there the day before we were to arrive. I've been told that passengers on other ships were given a 50% refund. We were given a $400 on ship credit. The itinerary they offered us instead was one day at sea and one day in Key West. That was extremely disappointing to say the least.
@jwolf55 who else is there to blame? You do realize none of the ports are in the US except Miami so what is your point? Question why was cruising affected but not air travel? Please think before you speak.
Seriously, you are going to blame our President? Get a grip— as much as I would have liked to visit Cuba in October and mainly booked this cruise because of that port, I’ll gladly give my money to our country on our visit to Key West. :-)
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