KKB

As the cruise has gone on…port days r VERY quiet on the ship & sea days VERY busy. As with the Divina, areas are overfull on sea days—after dinner EVERY bar was full, many waiting at bar to order a drink. Faster to go to pool bar to get a drink—it had gotten much cooler so it was just the smokers up there. Sailing solo when most passengers do not speak your language is a bit different! But my table mates are lovely solo ladies who all speak English; of course all the crew does as well, and they have been so nice. My dad ended up in ER last night & I quite nearly booked my flight home for this week out of guilt. But he would feel bad if I came home early & he is doing well now. My brother & my husband are taking care of things fine.

Are u sailing US or Europe—and if Europe, what part? The menu has been different here. More fish-forward in the Caribbean. It has a more Northern European feel here.

It is quite as bad on this Europe sailing…but still worse than other lines I’ve sailed from US

Thank you for the Greenock tips! SHAME on that American in the elevator—I was raised to show others courtesy! Apparently my fathers British background is there as well—lack of courtesy of others has been stunning on both cruises. I didn’t remember that from my month in Europe during high school! Med cruise on NCL in Aug & N Europe on Princess in Oct. It will be interesting to see the differences. Sadly other than the pizza, the buffet is nowhere as good as on the Divina.

Day 4 Dublin: tender port Lesson learned: DO NOT but any timed tickets ahead of time. 2 ports, 2 missed times. Having cruised Caribbean (MANY times) , MX Riv & AK, I foolishly thought booking things 1.5-2 hrs after scheduled port arrival would be sufficient. Nope 2 hour late arrival yesterday. Today I have an early tender ticket—1.75 hr after scheduled arrival. Again, it is what it is. My 1st MSC Europe cruise—are other lines like this? I will soon find out—BUT I will book excursions via the ship or wander a port with no timed tickets. And book those excursions as soon as u know what u want to do, as they can sell out (this, I knew) Not complaining—a lesson learned. A difficult one as I was told by numerous people to book times tickets ahead of time or you won’t get in. Either way, NOT getting in. Sadly NO Greenock/Glasgow/Edinburgh MSC excursions available…and availability at port is minimal. I have a private excursion booked in Invergordon. Departs 2 hours after scheduled arrival. I could cancel now & get half my money back…at a loss as to the best decision. Had a lovely time at Rob Roy pub in Cobh. And it was gorgeous out to boot. So missing plans often has a silver lining—but I’ll skip the extra expense of that lining in the future!

Oh I always let them know! again…different. bad? No great? No hoping they listen so they can be better!

Day 3. We port in Cobh at 330. VERY rocky this morning…needless to say public areas are much less crowded! Sitting at Rob Roy in Cobh…great pub, highly recommend! Needless to say, have met people who are VERY unimpressed with the sailing. We arrived 2 hrs late, it was a bit of a cluster getting off—but that would be the case on any ship! Reminded me…there are levels of us Those that LOVE the cruise Those having a good time…a few issues Those who r MISERABLE Never been on a perfect cruise…never been on one we HATED. So I guess we r somewhere in the middle Happy to be here!

Day 3. We port in Cobh at 330. VERY rocky this morning…needless to say public areas are much less crowded!

Preziosa is not a smart ship so it is not on the app. Actually it is one of their smaller ships. i said that the weather could not be helped—that was just an observation. My complaints were regarding making simple things complicated—have extra planners & excursion forms out where people do not have to wait in long lines to ask for them (as other lines do); list available excursions so people do not have to wait in long lines to find out they r full (as other lines do). Simple measures to alleviate much frustration by many.

Day 2 a bit of a mess. No daily planner in my room. No English planners out; settled for French (took in HS) Excursion desk. No rhyme or reason to lines, reps take 3rd person in line, people just jump to front. Form to fill out behind desk. Wait to find out the ones I want are sold out—perhaps use the screens to show available ones? Miserable out so EXTREMELY crowded EVERYWHERE. Large Safari Lounge being used for UK “face to face” with each passenger so that does not help. Is what it is—weather & local requirements cannot be helped. But simply having papers out so people need not wait in line to get them & posting available excursions would alleviate much frustration. Also, create a line at excursion desk as they do at guest services so people are waited on in the order they came. Now: buffet for coffee—no seats/crazy lines at coffee shops! On plus side my interior cabin is spacious & I forgot how well I sleep in those dark rooms!

Took 5 day + 7 day in Feb

Odd, had 2 different rooms in Feb (B2B), both had pumps as does mine today on Preziosa (same ship)

Sailed MSC for the 1st time on Divina in Feb to Bahamas/Caribbean I had a mixed review. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Definitely different than other mainstream lines. On MSC Preziosa now in Europe. (Same ship as Divina) Overall my impression is much better, at least on Day 1. Much more organized, no supply issues as of yet. Activities pretty this this evening—musicians dominate. But Day 1 is usually more tame on any line. Always find great crew & befriended 2 bartenders as soon as boarding. One appears to be a budding mixologist & was plying me with his creations. Seems I’ll be well taken care of for the next 21 days! Enjoying Europe for the last few days even as I struggled thru jet lag. Will try to pop in daily for continued observations.

I was in Divina in Feb. Soap is by the sink—it is a dispenser with a pump. Adding credit card took a couple minutes. Odd but is what it is. Divina is a 20 yr old ship so does not have app capabilities. Solarium seems a lot like the paid adult area on NCL—no pool. But much pricier on MSC I agree pizza is fantastic & food overall quite good

My lack of sleep getting here has my brain muddled… thx

We r due to dock at 8am. Is an 1115am flight unlikely to work?

I may need to get off my ship in Alesund to fly to Barcelona. What is the best was to get from the pier to the airport? Thanks!

Thx! No higher altitudes so fingers crossed. Puffer stayed home. My bag is right at 22lbs per TAP Portugal max carry on weight & decided backpack is full enough!

Private island Oh rude passengers everywhere—it was the sheer numbers that floored me. On both sailings (5+7 B2B)

You make a good point. Hmmmmmm.....lemme see what I can do.

Yep, gonna be rainy a lot & typical spring temps (more like March-April) Looks like my thoughts of layers look to be on point. Taking carry one only, every item needs to be a must. I prefer a hood to the hassle of an umbrella--plus if it's windy, an umbrella is an even bigger hassle. HATE winter caps--they make my head sweat. I can always put my hair in a pony tail if it gets wet--it's my glasses that are more annoying in the rain. Huh, maybe DH has a water resistant baseball cap...not my fav, but would keep my glasses clear.

Ok my puffer coat didn’t fit. I have many merino wool layers: short & long sleeve tees, crew neck sweater, cardigans, several warm scarves plus puffer vest & hooded rain jacket. That was plenty warm (often too much) in AK in Sept with similar weather tho not really windy. Am I going to want that puffer coat?

Ok my puffer coat didn’t fit. I have many merino wool layers: short & long sleeve tees, crew neck sweater, cardigans, several warm scarves plus puffer vest & hooded rain jacket. That was plenty warm (often too much) in AK in Sept with similar weather tho not really windy. Am I going to want that puffer coat?

Stylist just sailed them w/ her DH. Seasoned cruisers, mostly Carnival. They weren't impressed with anything except the PI. The spoke of the many rude passengers as I encountered on Divina in Feb.

None of those things were deal breakers. And the lack of common courtesy by far too many passengers COULD be in the future, if it is truly a pattern. But I try not to judge based on one experience--could be situational. 3 weeks coming up on the Preziosa in Europe--guess I'll know by the end of the month! (then again comparing Caribbean to Europe cruises...not quite the same either, is it?)