More ups than downs
MSC Opera Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 59
Review summary
This was cheapie cruise, and we enjoyed it. The weather could have made things better but hey it was February. I have read many MSC reviews which have not been great but I feel they are making a good effort to improve and we would have no hesitation sailing with them againEmbarkation
Embarkation did not start well with a 90min wait on the dockside waiting for wheelchair assistance to arrive from the ship, despite Portside staff in Genoa contacting MSC numerous times. Luckily we had a seat in the sun, it would have been horrendous if it had been windy or raining. Once the wheelchir arrived everything went relatively smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
we originally took our lunch in the main dining rooms, where the staff were attentive, however although we started to eat breakfast in the dining room it was more of a buffet style and we found we could get a better hot selection at the upstairs buffet. Dining room juices were often muddled and we were given Pineapple instead of orange many times....they were irtually the same colour and staff could not distinguish the difference. The buffet was better for breakfast with a better selection of hot dishes and super hot drinks (Although packet drinking chocolate is kept out of sight) We ate our evening meals in the dining room, where service wasexcellent, but meal portions were small. On the 11th deck there were several flavours of fresh hot pizza available nearly all day, the burger bar located on the opposite side served very fresh hot chips and burgers. (Burgers not as good as Carnival but good just the same) The meat served from the carvery were always good, although fish left a bit to be desired.
Onboard Activities
We really didn't take part in the onboard activities, the dance and fitness instructors were enthusiastic even tho the participants weren't always in time or following what they were told. There were quizzes, dance classes, craft classes which were well attended
Entertainment
The stage shows were better than we expected, although most of them recycled the staff in different roles. The corps dancers could have done with more practice as they were sometimes just a little out of sync. The speciality acts were very good to excellent, the acrobatic dance couple were brilliant, goodness knows how the chap moved his legs soooo fast and his female partner coped with some of the acrobatic moves. There were a couple of other acrobatic turns, including tumbling, trapeze type things with a huge hoop, and /or silk ropes. The singers and musicians in the bar venues were good and worked hard. The staff show was excellent. The one thing that did annoy me so much I ended up reporting it both to the cruise director an Guest relations manager, was people coming in late to the shows, then standing or sitting on the staircases blocking views as well as causing a health and safety hazard. There were also occasions when children were running around the stair in the theatre. There are designated seats for people with disabilities
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
Excellent, helpful and friendly
Ship Quality
Personally I found the split dining room a pain, having to walk thro it most times. The layout was ok, and there were some nice touches in the lounges. The shopping area could be improved
Cabin / Stateroom
cabin had partially obstructed view, bed was made up as a double which meant there was very very little room to pass round the ends of the bed, in future we would have cabin set up as a twin. The bed was comfy, but overall we felt the room was small, not much drawer space or hanging space come to that. The bedside cabinets were very deep so at the end of the cruise you needed to get on your hands and knees to check they were clear. The EnglishTV channels were very limited BBC world news, CNN news plus 1 other english language film channel. There was no TV channel or film guide. (luckily I had downloaded lots of radio programmes we could listen to without internet.There were several electric sockets of various types/voltages. We had a fridge, and daily ice. The bed linen was good. The bathroom however was extremely small, which impacted on the shower use. The shower was adjustable on a sliding rail, but the shower curtain wanted to cling to you the whole time. We chose an ocean view cabin instead of a balcony as the cruise was port intensive, weather may not have been good and we feel having a balcony and sitting there tends to make you antisocial.
Ship tip
It's your holiday, make the most of your time and enjoy
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
No ship excursion, but the city is charming and easily walkable. Buses are frequent and it's easy to get to PortoFino by train
We used the hop on hop off bus which took us into town but shops closed at 1pm Weather wasn't good there
Not good, security all through the port even though we were checked getting off the ship, Haifa security checked us as well causing queues. There was no tourist information open at the port. You had to run the gauntlet of taxi drivers to get out of the port. Onboard tours available to Dead Sea, Nazareth, Jerusalem etc but they were 8 hrs or so and were very pricey
Again no tourist information re port etc, we paid for ships shuttle to take us into town, we were dropped outside with no directions on where to go. Managed to find a coffee house with good internet. However the main thing is the overwhelming smell of cat wee everywhere in Limassol
Really nice, did hop on/off bus circuit and then walked from the new town to harbour and old town, then back to ship. We found it difficult to get a coffee in Rhodes, outside cafes were lacking in staff. Very enjoyable day, but no tourist office to be seen...out of season?
No tourist office, Hop on/off buses just across the road from the dock but the Hop on/off buses, train only let you hop off for a couple of minutes to take a photo. Walked thro the town, lots of high end fashion both men and women but nothing special.
Docked here on a Sunday, virtually everything closed, thought it was going to be a bit grim, then we discovered the seafront and Prom with cafes and bars. Really pleasant day there
Disembarkation
No one told us we could have booked a MSC transfer to the Airport, so we had to pay 35euro (standard set fare) Onboard it was a bit of chaos as we needed assistance but this had been sorted for us after I had a chat to the Customer Services Manager during the week regarding embarkation day fiasco. We were one of the first people off and everything went Smoothly. At the Airport we asked for assistance and it was readily available, we were taken thro to one of the business lounges, checked in and hhad avery pleasant time until we were taken to the BA flight which again went very smoothly