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Do NOT choose the Magnifica!!!!! We just got off a 21 day transatlantic on the Magnifica This month. Nice ship, BUT it was missing so much. Every day we heard so many complaints, and it seamed like those who choose not to complain kept justifying the lack based on the lower cost of the cruise. I won’t get into it all, but trust me, choose the seascape !!! Most people said they would not cruise MSC again, but anyone who had cruised on other MSC ships ( including ourselves) said that their previous experiences were good. All of those individuals talked about the newer bigger ships, all being great. Even the crew would say “not on this CLASS of ship”. Look up the reviews, they are accurate!1 We’ve heard great things about the seaside . Seascape. I would NOT book the 2 older / smaller class MSC ships again unless the price was rock bottom. The Divina/ Splendida class and ABOVE will be good. We were actually grateful that our upcoming Orchestra cruise was canceled and we were able to move our booking to a better ship.

ADMIN please adjust. I am wondering why there are so many pages stuck at top. It took me many visits to realize this problem, I went several months assuming no one ever posts to anything MSC, because of this. Can some of these be removed and go to the top only when commented on as normal posts do?? I believe this will definitely help the MSC page to be more active, and if needs all the help it can get. Lol. Some of these Sticky posts have no recent comments. thanks for your consideration!

Just call them and add it. I did this through my TA, however he put me on a 3 way call with msc, in which I basically communicated directly with msc. I was able to pay in my local currency, which is what I wanted.

Hey everyone, we were booked on Orchestra April 7, Egypt to Rome. I believe we were the last of the canceled cruises due to conflict I. Israel. I believe the first canceled cruise was Nov 7, traveling the reverse. So Nov to April canceled. Can others please share their experience with rebooking, / moving to another ship / itinerary. Our cancellation email was vague. Was told we could switch to a 7 day Middle East departing Dubai (virtuousa, or opera ) or “any other same number of days” our cruise was 9 days, which I couldn’t find any thing . And they just say comparative pricing…. What ever that means. My other question is where will the Orchestra go?? I would assume it would stay in the Mediterranean. Which I would think would make the most sense to rebook on.. anyone know?? I think shared experiences will be of help to the rest of us who need to decide. Thank you in advance for your reply.

Our April grand voyage on Orchestra Egypt to Italy was canceled, received email last night.

There will definitely be some cooler days, Rome is milder than north Italy, so light jacket and pants. Definitely a mix of temps, but less days for shorts than pants. We did Rome to florida with carryons a few years back, it’s all about packing smart, layering and folding tight. Enjoy!

If you’re from North America and booked via North America website not European site, then you get free “water package” still or sparkling with dinner. From what I read you can also get bottled water throughout ship. Water should be listed on your booking under drink package “water package “. We have 2 MSc Europe and transatlantic cruises this year, both show included. .

Head to Rome. I recommend heading to train station, grab a ticket ( cheap) and enjoy a comfortable train ride into Rome. Rome has so much to see and do, even if you skip all the main tourist sites, there’s still so much around every corner.

Buy on arrival, it’s easy and fast. You can grab the next train To leave without stressing about time

I agree with the suggestion to buy a ticket on arrival. We’ve done this on both of our trips to Rome. On the way back, yes termini big, but we just asked and found someone to help us. We found people to be helpful. My tip…don’t overpack 😉 I saw way too many exhausted people struggling with big bags at the train stations .

Egypt accepts US dollars and Euros pretty much everywhere. In fact hotels are not permitted to accept Egyptian pounds from tourists. No problem tipping in Euros.

We were in Egypt in October. We attempted to watch sound and light show from a rooftop restaurant ( amazing view) but although we tried 2 x both nights it didn’t operate. So if you know it’s happening Then I suggest choosing one of the many rooftop restaurants and enjoy an amazing view . Personally even without the light show I was amazing experience.

Oh… and for those talking about transfers etc… UBER!!! is the way to go In Cairo, or cairo to port. It made traveling Soo simple, cheap, and removed the scam attempts.

We were in Egypt for a month in October, did Everything DIY, never felt unsafe. When we saw police they were just making sure we were ok. But we never felt it was needed as we felt safe. You will just get harassed to buy stuff, I learned a siimple response of “HAVE A GOOD DAY” from a local guide, which for most part actually works, and they stop. Alexandria- we spent 3 nights, and Loved it! Food there was the best we had in all of EGYPT, find a desert shop and make sure you get a mango smoothie.

My Husband and I did a transatlantic on the NCL, Epic in 2019, as well as celebrity in 2018. We LOVED them both. We heard other passengers that got a bit stir crazy ( board) with all the sea days, but we enjoyed those well deserved lazy days. Make sure you give yourself a minimum 3 days in Rome, unless you have been there previously. Personally I think you can have a wonderful time on any ship.