J_Boss

Good Morning! We are set to board MSC Opera in Bari on 10 June for the Greece itinerary. Unless I'm missing something, does Opera not have a specialty restaurant? If this is the case, do you receive anything in lieu of the specialty restaurant perk with Diamond status? I see the option to book the thermal area pass, but what is available on Opera as far as the thermal area is concerned? We've seen what is on offer on Grandiosa and Virtuosa and just want to make sure we aren't wasting our money. And finally, how is it for photographers on the ship? We've always gotten the unlimited photo pass, and there are ample photographers on the larger ships each evening to get lots of nice family photos. Again, just want to make sure we aren't throwing money away. Bonus question, are there any bars that do 2-for-1 drinks on board in the evenings? Thanks everyone! Jordan

*Post-Cruise Update* Our Inside room (9304) was at the very aft end of Deck 9. The room itself was great and well thought out. It appears that a second closet was added based on videos I watched from early in Grandiosa's life, and that was great. We opted for the hanging shoe organizer for the kid's clothes and it worked quite well to offset the lack of drawers. The ONLY negative to this location that I didn't pick up on from the deck plans was that the Carousel Lounge was below our room. This led to some loud music until about 2330 each evening. Not enough to cause issues with falling asleep, but a little annoying. We didn't opt for the laundry onboard, but did get the all-inclusive photo package. With my Gold discount it was quite reasonable and a lot cheaper than on the Virtuosa at Christmas. We ended up dining at the Butcher's Cut, Kaito Sushi and L'Atelier Bistro. They were all good with Butcher's Cut being the clear standout. We opted for lunch at all of them and were stuffed twice, and satisfied with the sushi. You may want to get more sushi if having dinner there. Bonus shoutout to the 2-for-1 drink specials every day at Hola and each evening at L'Atelier Bistro. Those go a long way to cut back on the bill shock at the end of the cruise LOL Just booked a final cruise from Bari going to the Greek Isles in June on the Opera. Should be a good time and can't wait to check out the *much* smaller ship.

Wow. Thanks for the feedback. I'm usually very careful to avoid these situations, but I guess it is hit-or-miss as to what you get. I'm thinking we'll be keeping our middle deck interior. At least it's a known quantity. Thanks again!

Upgrade email came in. At 280 euro to upgrade to the Seaview, it is tempting. Confirm though that you get whatever leftover rooms they have? I certainly wouldn't get to pick my new room? Cheers, Jordan

Good Evening! We've just booked for 28 March on the Grandiosa out of Palermo in an Inside cabin (very aft end of deck 9). We've sailed twice on the Grandiosa and once on Virtuosa, always in a Balcony cabin. We are a family of 4 with 2 smaller children (7 and 4 years old). My biggest question is can it be done reasonably? From the videos I've seen it appears a lot of the built in storage is missing from the Balcony cabins (desk drawers, most of the closet drawers, etc) and the overall space seems much less. Any tips on maximizing the space? We're considering magnets and a hanging organizer for the wall, and don't want to resort to living out of bags under the bed 😄 Otherwise, I have a couple other MSC questions that I meant to ask on our last cruise and forgot: - Can you book a laundry package once on the ship? We did the 40 piece pre-booked last cruise but are wondering if you can book it with the Voyager's discount on the ship. - Has anyone done the Teppenyaki restaurant? We're going to book the 3-pack of specialty restaurants and are wondering if this particular one is worth it. Definitely doing Butcher's Cut and Hola. - Has anyone found a good site to buy the ship models off the boat? We were going to get the Virtuosa on our Christmas cruise a couple weeks ago, but it was 50 euro and they didn't do the MSC 50% sale like I've seen on our other cruises. That's it for now. We'll be keeping an eye out for the upgrade email, depending on your answers 😅 Cheers, Jordan