Nunagoras

It is indeed spectacular. Hope the "software" to be up to par with the huge "hardware" they have here!... Welcome to Europe. In May don't forget to bring an umbrella because there might to be some rain at this side of the pond from time to time. Nights may be quite cold as well, so be prepared! You'll enjoy a great time. Have a nice day!...

Yeah, that it, sadly, but my main concern lies on crowd control measures. I hope that all goes for the better. For day time the ship is wonderful. For night time, maybe, may not... Crowd control will make for changes and extra charges. The bumper cars will be an extra charge if the MSC's rational remains the same as for other fun activities though.

Many thanks! Very odd itinerary to be sure! They'll change it as far as they can on the next months I suppose...

Well: Let us not to confuse discreet service with uneducated one. I accept and actually I prefer discreet service level, but I wouldn't want uneducated one. For me a nice "Hello! sufixes most of the time once I interact. I don't expect proactive interaction. Nice, but not intrusive, if I make me understandable. This is something that generally MSC does well. I hope they don't go the other way, but I understand that the talent base at their disposal comes mostly from "American style" trained individuals these days. Same for 4*/5* land hotels elsewhere these days.

Many thanks to the nice insider info! I can't locate the itineraries anywhere. Can you give us a glimpse of it, Sid, please?

Out of the whole current MSC fleet, only 4 ships in 21 - Lirica class - are reaching their 20+ years old and out of standards for current mainstream market. The oldest Musica class is 16 years old right now and all ships from her onward are truly up to par for current mainstream cruise market. That said, and unless one of those ships suffers from some severe under the hood structural problems nobody can assess apart the operational teams involved, I see no reason for them to roll out any ship. Surely the Magnifica seems now decommissioned after the world voyage in mid 2023, but I'm certain they'll to get her redeployed elsewhere. Sure: They're not that reliable for now, at least for us, regular cruisers and regular CC members, but it would to be great to note that, so far in advance their booking numbers might to be somewhat low. Here in CC reports are that most US sailings are going on the 50%-75% occupancy rate. Perhaps no need for another ship there, occupying an odd berth/slot while they don't have a proper terminal in Miami to host more ships, let alone destinations. Growing pains, and 21st century problems, surely. But their value is there and the day they have actual conditions to deliver, I believe they'll be a great competitor in the region. For now let them to use the Magnifica where they can make a profit and deliver a service. Main European booking "wave" is from mid-February to mid-April. Perhaps they can cram another ship here now that they're reporting huge booking numbers for this, indeed lower season, despite inflation and the ongoing EU economic crisis.

Maybe; now that most of those Eastern Europe countries are experiencing some nice economic growth, their long term Eastern Europe workers are returning home, and MSC is just hiring more on those Filipinos or Indians, most of them coming from either way the 4*/5* hotel industry or other more Americanized cruise lines. That may explain your sense of better onboard service, but for me the Eastern Europeans were great, and in some ways more assertive/attentive on their interactions than the Filipino/Indian crowd we have now elsewhere tourism industry wise. Simply; I don't want my servers to be my "best friends" for the day or for the week. I want them just to deliver what I ask timely and in order. A nice "Hello" suffixes as per conversation beginning. Apart that I wholly agree with what you say.

Yeah! I'd say that here in western Europe pretty much all the below 35 years old generations will speak some reliable English. All the other ones you may encounter as a tourist will speak it as well on both crew, hotel, airports, main larger shops etc. Taxi drivers might to be an exception on places, but yes, language barriers are not the largest problem anymore.

Yes, they have! First of its all let's to consider Barcelona itself. A wonderful city enjoying a very favorable market condition, unique monumentality, coupled with one of the EU largest airport and land hotel facilities! That said, and as others have said, different ship classes and different itineraries to go with, and guests will come from a multitude of ports. Barcelona, Marseilles and Genoa seem to be standard ones, with some others in the mix. If you have never come to any of the ports, perhaps the Poesia may be intersting, once it might have some more interesting places to visit at barely the same price. Otherwise the WE might to be wonderful for the experience itself. If it was my turn to choose, I'd perhaps to choose the Fantasia for the well balanced ship size/amenities/value, unless I wanted the WE novelty experience... Bear in mind though that, at least from the videos I'm watching the Poesia is not in pristine conditions right now. It's the unique Musica class vessel that wasn't retrofitted yet on the most recent times. She'll need to undergo her mandatory 5 years dry dock next year though, so, I believe she will receive the same renovations and tweaks all her sisters have received lately.

Wonderful review, congrats!... Incidentally by reading your nickname and thread title, I'd think this would to be such a different sort of review on a far more humoristic side of the pond! It is wonderfully well documented though. Some pro tips for you and for others reading this: When cruising to Europe, you can purchase alcohol on the duty free shops after security on both the embarkation or any other port of call and consume it inside ship with no problem at all. Companies rely on the port's authorities and will "close their eyes" on said purchases granted the bottles or the boxes where bottles are supposed to be have the port's authority stamp on them. Regarding gangway opening advice: If you want to know if gangway is open or not; enter a lift and see if the gangway signal is turned on near one of the gangway decks. On Allure they had the deck number flashing in orange color, as I remember. The newer ships with LED touchscreens might have it signaled differently, but it will be signaled there.

This, exactly. Musica and Orchestra are great ships I went on back in the day. According to videos I'm watching both retrofitted during the pandemic (full color LED lighting on the atrium, high efficient LED lighting elsewhere, new theater equipment, LED theater scenario projector, new carpeting, some color adjustments in areas, renovated buffet area, at least some cabins fully redone, new TV's, etc.). The Armonia is becoming somewhat out of standards these days: Lack of balcony cabins, lack of attractive venues, and go on. IMHO; if MSC happens to purchase some of those Genting Capital assets (among others the in building mega ship) it would be time for MSC to roll out the old Lirica class. They're mostly on their 20 years old already, so let them to rest in peace.

i also agree you'll be fine on the Divina. It's a classy ship that I can to describe as a X/Princess lite experience, say, classic ship with mainstream service like RCL, CCL or NCL. Weather permitting, activities on MSC use to gravitate to the pool deck. Too loud for you? Plenty of unused lounges just to read a book while enjoying some soft ambiance music. By night those lounges will be full of pretty different music experiences to enjoy. Theater shows are enjoyable even though short on their 35-45 minutes long design. Never been on Divina, just on Fantasia myself. Yes; they have poker machines on Fantasia class, but I don't remember them to have any poker tables.

Not all "older" ships are lower quality ones. While certainly no YC, and Musica class, the Magnifica is actually a class of its own ship with 13 years old, fully refurbished in 2018-19, pretty much up to standards for mainstream cruising industry. Simply she sports a retractable roof on one of the pools, making her appropriate for less than stellar climates. MSC may use her on the Nordic seas, Alaska or elsewhere where a covered pool may be a selling point, and the US is not MSC's top market at the moment, nor a covered pool is a selling point there.

As stated, I believe the 11AM train is doable, 10AM not so much, once on Genoa ships used to arrive very early with gangway open by 8:15 or such. At cruise beginning, ask guest services if they permit you self-debarkation there. If not tell them you have a train by 11 and they'll likely to give you early debarkation slot. Several years have passed since I was there, but as I remember the port's authorities there used to offer a bus transfer from port to main train station.

It may be an MSC's "nightmare", but Fincantieri is making delays to all clients due to supply chain constraints right now. NCL just today announced such an year delay on their Prima+ class justified on such Fincantieri's inability to build on time. While MSC is Italian, no way for me to think it is different from NCL's perspective... Sadly, pretty much everything is experiencing those constraints right now on our worldwide society...

I understand the WE is a brand new ship, the excitement and such... But November is out of season with schools in operation, EU not doing economically that well, etc. Come next May, just after the March-April EU holiday booking massive wave for 2023 and the leftover cabins will be there. If you're patient enough, maybe, at that time you'll have such a nice outcome, even if on a lower category stateroom than your original one. They usually start the "leftover" promos elsewhere in mid-May...

Yeah! Sorry for the ones affected, but at least on the Magnifica case it is sort of understandable. MSC seems simply not able to fill all the ships they already have there at the US, to let alone a newer one coming. No dedicated terminal which is under construction right now and relying perhaps on secondary berths/slots elsewhere they can to find one. Now EU is their main market source, so... But yeah: This current messing up ships can't last forever so that won't become a severe operational and reputational risk management event, nobody wants...

Explora will definitely go to Alaska ASAP, if there aren't more delays on Fincantieri's part. I don't know how busy is Southampton next year, but I'm sure, if they can snag a new slot, even if the oddest, less desirable one, they won't last the opportunity!... Simply they can now to fill her there!... What is my summer dream itinerary for a ship like the Magnifica? Think something on the likes of "Lisbon (Portugal)-Sea day-Funchal (Madeira, Portugal)-Sea day-Ponta Delgada (Azores, Portugal)-2 sea days-Vigo (Spain)-Lisbon (Portugal) for the regular weeklong experience... But the combined Spanish and Portuguese markets alike seems very small for the adventure to come true!... And yeah! I'm not understanding this ever day messing up ships on MSC's part. What part of that business is not going well, if their cargo ship venture that is financing most of the cruising venture seems to be so well oiled out?... It seems we have (sadly!) very interesting times ahead to discuss here in CC...

How I understand you, but they operate mostly like land hotels here. When you arrive, you normally are asked to sign a contract paper. They retain that model of sorts instead of all electronic right now. Yes, things could have been more developed these days. I believe this has something to do with the need for further verification on non-Schengen pax, sadly, among other EU hotel regulations they're asked to fulfill.

In theory that could to be doable, if you self-disembark with your luggage and catch a taxi. Bear in mind though that you may be required to pass immigration in Copenhagen on your connection flight instead of or despite doing the same in Munich to exit the Schengen agreement area, that will add its time. If that is the case, I believe it is a bit risky. I believe all pax whose final destination is out of a Schengen agreement country must pass immigration at their beginning point, even if they're on a connection flight, and this is one of the few exceptions where passport control is done inside the "shared" territory. Better for you to get some more information from your TA or any of your local EU countries representatives place.

Sad for the ones already booked, but I'm not particularly surprised on this outcome. Just by reading these CC MSC boards, it seems pretty clear that MSC is currently filling their ships mostly from the UK, Brasil, Germany and Spain, even more than from Italy or elsewhere, and they're far from full capacity on the ships that are there on the US. I know they have plans for the MSC world America to go to Miami, but again: Their new terminal is under construction, and they'll need more time living up from likely less than stellar temporary terminals. TBHH; I'd like to see the Magnifica redeployed to Alaska... But that won't probably happen. They'll just to redeploy her for Southampton, Barcelona or elsewhere. Good if they had my own Lisbon as an option, but I don't believe so whatsoever. Have a nice day!...

As per my experience, all hotels in Europe will provide you a printed copy of your documentation, and make airline check-ins if needed. Airline check-ins are free elsewhere. Printing support may be free or at a small nominal fee.

Hi, may I come in? Perhaps nobody would know me here once I'm more prevalent on the MSC boards, once MSC is my favorite cruise line to date. Never been on Princess (P) or Carnival (C), but there is something that captures my attention on this current thread: Different price tags and market levels for both companies, consequently different people traveling each one's ships: Contemporary mainstream for C, classic premium for P. C will likely to attract a broad cruiser audience, on the young side of the pond. P will attract a more select travel audience. That on it would explain the changes. C is on the press for not so good reasons lately. Brawls, fights, and other incidents, especially on those 3-4 night "booze" weekend getaways. P is solidly running the premium market with no notice at all of themselves. One will only to change if something needs to be changed. CCL group won't apply such an anti-waste measure where there isn't waste like on P. But they'll to try to discipline where necessary like seems to be the C ships. Regarding the 3rd entree surcharge, I'm mostly in favor. Obviously, if you have some food allergies that make you to chose an entree instead of a starter and then proceed your meal, that is a thing to be dealt separately. Someone in need of 3 entrees after starters, that opens an alert sign on me, even if "minimal" plates are on offer. Either way: Need more food after your meal? The buffet or the main coffee place will surely serve you!