You need to try this ship!
MSC World Europa Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 11
7 Night Western Mediterranean (Rome Roundtrip)
Sail date: December 04, 2023
Ship: MSC World Europa
Cabin type: Suite
Cabin number: 15247
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 1 month ago
Review summary
To Note: -I am 33 and have a very go-with-the-flow attitude -I don’t have high expectations when cruising with MSC because it’s an INCREDIBLE value when compared to other cruise lines like NCL which is the only other line I’ve used so far and is my benchmark for cruising. -This was my second MSC cruise (the first was a very affordable 4 day cruise from Florida to Bahamas last year for $400 USD)And my 5th overall. -I wanted to book this cruise because of the appeal of going on a brand new ship (and the incredible price I got. I booked in February). -I originally booked the trip to travel solo but eventually added a friend to my cabin -This was my first European cruise but I’ve been to Europe MANY times before. With that being said, it’s definitely a different experience than American catered cruises like the ones from NCL -We booked fantasica with highest balcony on outside of ship but upgraded to an Aurea Grand Suite with whirlpool on deck 15 for $950 USD extra by calling ahead of time instead of doing upgrade emails like I usually do (much better than the ones on deck 16 because of greater obstruction from ship structure above). I’ve never had an more amazing cabin on a cruise ship (NCL would have been double the price or more). Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. -Having the whirlpool on my balcony was an amazing experience especially for sail away since it was a little chilly at times -Coming from winter temps in NY and forecasted rain and slightly colder temperatures for this whole cruise, honestly the weather was AMAZING and exceeded my expectations. Rain was forecasted for every port but thankfully it all changed and missed us by 1 day 🙏🏻. Even though it was an amazing value, I was concerned that the weather would be a little too chilly for comfort. -I had easy plus drink package and upgraded to premium -I did the 2 specialty dining package -With premium package, drinks are included up to your €14 euro limit at Mexican restaurant (all you can drink margaritas 😜). At dining restaurant, we still had to pay menu price to add bottles of wine (no €14 discount like I expected). -Ship docked at 7am at Civitavechia and earliest diembarkment was at 8:30a for 12:30pm departing flight out of FCO. -Because of sleeping/drinking too much, We (tried very hard but) never made it to a restaurant for breakfast or lunch and we did buffet at those times so can’t comment on the comments I’ve heard about them being too busy for those seatings. The good: -Boarding at Civitavecchia we literally just walked on the ship. Amazing. -Les Dunes (assigned Aurea restaurant) was amazing -This amazing ship. It was also very clean everywhere. -Amazing staff. Never any issues -Buffet for breakfast was fine. I had eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, juice every morning to get my day going and was perfectly satisfied with that. -Entertainment shows were great. Did not make it to all of the available ones but had a good time at those attended (Let’s get loud, Catch palm tree light show at least one night, I wish I made it to Amelia) -We did the e-bike tour in Palermo and Marseille and they were both great. Definitely recommended -With having not extremely high expectations, I feel like the Aurea experience was good enough and Yacht Club isn’t needed. -Disembarkation at Civitavecchia was as easy as Embarkation. I was able to just walk off with my luggage at the time I wanted. -Loved the champagne bar (included with premium drink package) The bad: -On my last day we were at the breakfast buffet and a woman fainted near us. Thankfully my cruise mate was trained and able to assist but it took an alarmingly long amount of time for medical staff to arrive to assist further (more than 15 minutes). Without my cruise mate I’m not sure she would’ve been ok. -With Aurea, one of the benefits is free morning room service. We tried it for one morning towards the end and didn’t receive anything 😪 -On day 6 the body wash in shower was empty and by day 7 the remaining shampoo I was using to wash myself ran out so I had to resort to the sink handsoap 😂 (thankfully it all seemed similar). -By day 6 the whirlpool started to have a an odor that didn’t exactly seem clean. I’ve seen other comments on here that are conflicting whether the whirlpools are cleaned and sanitized beforehand, however it seemed fine when we first arrived and probably just needed a more regular cleaning like the public whirlpools. We definitely got our moneys worth from it using it at least 5 times (we never used other facilities besides the whirlpool) Neutral: -Smart elevators were great in the beginning but after a while became annoying with the longer wait times. This was the first cruise I didn’t use the stairs much, however, because overall the elevators were great. -I have seen previous complaints about the ship having too many people in areas, and people being annoyed with buffet being too busy but I am on vacation and can just be patient to wait for what I want. This was also the biggest ship I’ve ever been on so I wasn’t not expecting it to be as accommodating as ships half the size. -Annoying with the specialty dining package that it’s basically pre-set (if you buy 2 it’s sushi and tappanaki, 3 includes butchers cut and 4 includes Mexican). I’m not a steak guy but love Mexican. So we did the Mexican ala carte (twice) for under €30 each time since drinks were included with premium package -The spa was a good experience (definitely not the best, but was very relaxing and satisfying), though I booked a 50 minute massage very early and by the time it was closer to the cruise they had a 120 minute for the same price, as well as a ton more options. Tips and Tricks: -On the stern side of the ship on decks 16-10, follow hallway all the way down to the window and there’s a secrect private balcony you can use for amazing private photos. -If you are traveling with a companion, at the buffet, find a table together and have one sit, while the other gets what they want to eat, and vice versa, to make it a little easier to find a table (One time we had to sit in the smoking section on the pool deck just to find a table to eat) -If you take stuff out of your mini bar (like water when you wake up in the middle of the night hungover 😂), ask for the same thing at the bar later on to replace them to avoid getting charged by the end (It seems like probably besides Yacht Club (which has mini bar included) that they don’t check/refill it until the end of your cruise). Overall I loved this cruise and would definitely do it again, but trying it on the World America (and their future World Ships! I think there are 2-3 more planned but not sure what else they would do besides World Asia)!Embarkation
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