Stunning, Mediterranean Cruise....
MSC Sinfonia Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 76
7 Night Eastern Mediterranean (Venice Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 01, 2019
Ship: MSC Sinfonia
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 1096
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 5 years ago
Review summary
Think I pretty much summed it up. While not everything was perfect, we had a super fabulous time, and we enjoyed the cruise a great deal. We are talking about repeating again in a year. Going in the beginning of summer before the crazy summer tourist season or 2nd/3rd week of September would be ideal for this cruise. I highly recommend it. I prefer the "Mediterranean" based cruise company vs Royal/Princess/Ncl, just due to the nationalities on board. There was not an over abundance of Americans on board....but we did meet some lovely people from Australia, the UK, and Ireland....We really enjoyed the multi-cultural crew. Just put in to them, what you want to be treated like and they take care of you like gold. I don't think you'll find a better itinerary to visit so many amazing cities.Embarkation
We got there shortly after 12:00 Noon which is the time you start checking in, it was a bit crazy at first, but became more organized within 10-15 minutes. It seemed everyone arrived at the same time :)
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We preferred the Buffet over the main dining room options. It's a fairly busy itinerary which we loved, but sometimes it was not convenient to do the first seating/second seating, even though we had the "as you go" option. We did have dinner in the dining room once, but it was a bit lack luster. The dining room was lovely, it's just the food let us down. We went back to the buffet, and enjoyed a much better dinner. The Buffet can get busy, there is no doubt, but we went generally right when it opened for the applicable meal time....and had no issues. We found the food and selections to be consistently good and above average in comparison to other cruise buffets I've experienced. We hung out at the Capri Bar the most. We found this outdoor bar was a lot of fun, it was out on the deck on the 11th floor and the servers/bartenders were very attentive. We got to be pretty friendly with a few of them, and always had excellent service, even during some of the hectic times (aka, at Sea days). It's all what YOU give them as a customer as well. We found that some of the bars down below, ie: The Sinfonia Lounge, The Manhattan Bar, were a tad "out dated" so to speak, but since the weather was good the whole time, we didn't want to be inside, so back up to the Capri Bar, and it's also good people watching :) We didn't hang out at the pool (on the otherside of the Capri Bar) for there were more Children than we anticipated and just didn't want to be part of it. However, the pool area is quite nice and rather large. Stick with the Capri Bar :)
Onboard Activities
This one, i can't give a honest response, for we didn't participate in any of the activities, but we did hear/see them. People seemed to enjoy it.
Entertainment
We did not go to any of the shows. However, we did like the music that a duo played out by the Capri Deck. Great music.
Children's Programs
Didn't have children.
Service and Staff
There were so many fantastic people on board that were great. Our room steward was very sweet and he was so attentive. We had ordered ice one time, and once he knew we liked ice, we had it non stop for the rest of the cruise! Our wait staff in the bar areas were great. We gravitated to about 4 that we really liked. They became to know us, and we were constantly taken care of. I think they appreciated we were so polite and nice, for these cruises have a LOT of people that are pretty demanding and do not necessarily treat them nice.
Ship Quality
I loved the size of the ship and so glad to not be on one of those dang Mega Ships. The lounge areas on Deck 5 and Deck 6 could use a refreshing update. A bit dated, but that was my opinion. The ship was kept very clean, in particular, our cabin was always spotless. The wait teams kept the tables outside where folks used from the Buffet, clean and wiped down quickly. I used to cruise many years ago before the boom of the these monsterous ships were built, so i was pleased this ship was on the smaller size.
Cabin / Stateroom
The Balcony really helped with the size of the cabin. We were very comfortable. The bathroom (the shower in particular) was a wee-bit too small for my liking, but this is normal on many cruises lines. I am 6'2, so it was a little tight. One "little" negative was, that the deck directly above us was the pool/activity deck. You could hear at times (not in the middle of the night or anything) but you hear the arranging of chairs some times. Again, it was not during "off hours". I did like the convenience of the 10th Deck. There is a lot of closet space, so we were able to stow what we needed and get it out of the way. There's a small TV that was nice and appropriate for the size of the room. I particularly, enjoyed the balcony and wouldn't cruise unless I had one. It's worth whatever more you have to pay.
Ship tip
BE NICE to your waitstaff. They work very hard!!! Since this is a European Cruise, the type of folks on board (customers) can be a little aggressive, but it's their culture. Utilize the Buffet when you can, the also have a pizza parlor/cafe on board and a Hamburger/hotdog parlor/cafe for those "inbetween" moments when you are not crazing at the Buffet! :) They proved to be quite popular. Take advantage of a Drink Package.....we bought the "middle of the row" package, think it was $326 per person and was worth it. Enjoy the cappuccinos/espressos they offer on board at the bars. Delish. I am a big coffee drinker, so opted for those rather than the house coffee.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
We stayed 3 nights prior to the cruise, which i STRONGLY suggest. We loved loved loved Venice and can't wait to go back.
This was a pleasant surprise. A friend of mine had said how much she enjoyed Split, and I can see why. It has this great promenade in the middle of this little town. We didn't sigh up for an excursion, so we opted for a hour "city tour" by someone who was offer little motorized taxi tours. He took us to a couple of overlooks to see the beaches and this great spot that overlooks Split and had a gorgeous view. Think we paid 30 Euros per person. There's also the old castle/fortress in the middle of the city, so it was great to walk through. Our taxi driver advised us of this restaurant right off the promenade for lunch, and we took him up on it and it was DELISH. Inexpensive local wines of Croatia and an excellent meal. Very inexpensive. Great time. It was raining when we first got there, but cleared up before we left.
I don't know what more you can say about Santorini!!! My only wish was, I wish we had more time. However, I was appreciative that we got in early before the other cruise ships. Makes taking the tram to the top quick. My word of advise is once the ship is docked and the tenders start, GET DOWN THERE....you do have to collect a ticket (they will tell you where to pick it up) I went down first thing at 8am to get our tickets for the tender and we were the 2nd boat off the ship. We didn't have to stand in a big line or anything. Since we were in town early, we decided to leave a little early so again went back to the tram and no line and a quick trip down. We sat at one of the cafes at the bottom before we went back to the ship, but you should of seen the long long long lines for the tram, since 3 other ships had come in since we were first there. We did not do an excursion. We forged out on our own. My partner had been there before so we had a plan.
My only wish was, I wish we had more time!!!!! However, it worked out just fine, and we ended up walking around, and enjoying the culture, some food, local cuisine and went over the bar on the water front called Jackie'O's. Had a Fantastic time!!!! The waiters were so friendly. We didn't want to leave. Fell in love with Mykonos.
The walled in city was BREATHTAKING. I knew a little about it, but once we went through the walled in cities door, your jaw would drop. We walked around, climbed up on to the top of the walls (it's not a climb for the weak at heart, let me tell you, and having had a knee replacement, i was not happy, but wanted to see the view and glad i did). We enjoyed one of the outdoor cafe's then went back outside of the Walled in city and there's like a piazza with some restaurants, etc...so we hung out there for a while, since the weather was so nice, and enjoyed a lovely bottle of location wine, and some tapas. Took in the view, the sights, the sounds....lovely lovely city. We didn't do any excursions.
This town was "ok". Nothing super spectacular but it was VERY low key. A quick walk from the Ship and there was a few piazza's we discovered after checking out a few churches, etc. There was one excursion we WISH we would of signed up for It was for these underground Caverns that looked super cool. Since this was a pretty busy itinerary, to be honest, we just enjoyed sitting in the piazza, ordered some lunch, and yes "more wine" and just chilled. Again, the weather was lovely, the people were lovely....so just basically rested. After a bit, we ventured back to the ship...
Disembarkation
Very smooth, very efficient. I didn't want to leave :(
4 Comments
LisaKitty 5 years ago
I was on the sailing right before you on this ship! Agree with your assessments, with one exception. We absolutely loved dinner in the Main Dining Room. Great food, and fantastic service. I found the buffet selections on Deck 11 to be hit and miss. We also really enjoyed the shows in the theater, as well as other live music through the ship.