All aboard??

I'm sure it will all come together in the end, we will have an epiphany and we'll mark the date for posterity!

I await with bated breath...

I'm enjoying his comparison, I think he has some interesting points.

My main issue is that the OP hasn't tried MSC and so is incapable of comparing food. Interiors; design etc yes; but, food deals with taste, a sense that sight can not imitate and can only be justified and compared with by experiences.

I find his dedicating two and a half pages to something that is sensory with only 50% of the experience that is needed for a fair comparison discredits his "innocent intentions".

Have to say that the Eurodam buffet looks just like the Diner we were in last November in Fort Lauderdale! the Divina looks far better.

I will concede that the breakfast buffet on Nieuw Amsterdam was superb; but that was where it ended; the rest was overcooked, unimaginative, oily and flavorless.

An important subjective note:

The portions are bigger on HAL; I do not dispute this, however there is more flavor in a traditional MSC dish than there is in any number of HAL MDR dishes.

I don't consider myself a "foodie" but I can claim to be extensively well traveled with five of the seven continents already under my belt.....at 32 nonetheless; and from street vendors in Singapore to two starred restaurants in Belgium I have never been as disappointed and left wanting in food as I was when I ate in the MDR on HAL.

I must say that the glass elevators were a major plus in my books; to the extent that even my cabin assignment was such as to enable me to use them as my main form of transport between decks.

All aboard ... The first photo looks very much like the Queen Victoria Dining room but in different colours!

I had no real problem with the design of venue, however the decor would result in spontaneous bouts of indigestion and nausea.

Oops, my bad Cruisetrail; misread your original post; I thought you were inviting others to join in - post away.

No, I haven't mentioned anything about a wrap around balcony; but I am sure we will hear all about it :rolleyes:

Signature Class Sea View Pool

Fantasia Class Sea View Pool

Signature Class Atrium

Fantasia Class Atrium

Siganture Class Balcony Cabin

Fantasia Class Balcony Cabin

I will start......

Signature Class (HAL) dinning room

Fantasia Class (MSC) dinning room

The cruise voucher states that it can only be used on cruises of 7 days or more.

That is why I am testing it......how does MSC perceive B2B2B cruises?; if they apply the voucher to the first cruise then it is clear that they perceive it as one cruise, if they apply it to the last cruise (the seven nighter) then they clearly perceive it as three separate cruises; which in the latter case I would expect my club entitled champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for each of the three cruises.......there is method in my madness ;)

I got one when I was on Fantasia in March and, after locating where I had safely stored it have sent it several days ago to my TA (German) to have it applied to my B2B2B cruise this December....

I will let you all know the reply they get from MSC, especially that the cruises are compiled 4 nights: 3 nights: 7 nights - I wonder if they will only apply it to the seven nighter or if because I am doing the three as B2B if I will get it on the first cruise.

Why don't they just increase our fare by 10 USD / EUR and just give us the OBC when we book ;)

There is an internet charge in Yacht Club - if my memory serves me it is 120 EUR / USD for 24 hours - logg on logg off situation.

Tim....do you think they will send me Donny if I ask?

On another note I am hoping to finish my posts (yes a week late) when back in Wimbledon Village this evening...... that is if the snow in Berlin doesn't cause me too many problems.

On our return to the ship we could see a lonely figure in tails waiting eagerly for our bus, it was Darwin, Wendy and Vincent’s Butler, waiting for our arrival so that he may escort us aboard.

Once onboard and on the advice that Donny was having some R&R I arranged with Vasant, my original butler a cheese and wine soirée in my suite in celebration of Joanne’s birthday, which soirée was an astounding success, even with folk dancing by Joanne after Keith (not her husband) Keith spilt red wine on my living room floor. Having been in discussion for several days earlier about the auspicious occasion Wendy, Vincent and I had decided that we would treat Joanne and Keith (her husband) to a dinner at L’Etoile. So, after everyone had left my suite Donny was summoned to escort us to dinner; and with three subtle knocks on the door Donny was there, with a friend in tow……..Darwin. So, with one butler leading and the other taking up the rear five of us were escorted along deck 7 towards the rear elevators which would take us to L’Etoile. On arrival, no less than three waiters clambered around us to ensure that everything was perfect, which the evening was.

At this time I would like to just thank the staff and crew of Fantasia for the excellent, above and beyond service I have received. Deven, the Hotel Manager and his staff have really pulled out all the stops and irrespective of my venting in an earlier post I continue to maintain that MSC Cruises is a good value for money and elegant product and as such my cruise line of choice, however in the event that Mr. Vago or even Mr. Aponte is reading this thread, which seems to be getting a lot of hits I would just like to comment that a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link and until such time as your head office starts realizing that you are moving passengers and not cargo MSC will continue to attract negative comments.

Venting aside I had best continue…….

The last of the 6 consecutive sea days was remarkably colder than what I was accustomed to and as a result I elected to remain indoors. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner are seemingly to merge into one extended, varied meal offering additional assistance to my growing waist line.

I seem to have entered into a bit of a routine, breakfast in L’Etoile, lunch with Angela, Keith and Tim in “The Golden Circle” and dinner in L’Etoile, often with Wendy and Vincent, with the time in between being spent……well I cannot actually say exactly what I do during my “free time”, I don’t know myself but you can rest assured I am busy enough for the time to fly by. MSC is definitely a cruise line for people who are able to entertain themselves. The daily program is not nearly as busy at that on a Holland America cruise but to be honest I never liked Holland’s excessive selection as I believe it to be reminiscent of my time in pre-school an age group where necessity requires it. At 32 I fall into the younger spectrum of solo cruisers and perhaps it is my age which disables me from understanding why people need to be entertained constantly throughout the day and as such are incapable of entertaining themselves.

Yacht Club guests are able to book private excursions through the Concierge and on the final of the six I decided to take a car for Madeira and take Angela and Keith along as company. Soon after Wendy and Vincent arrived in The Top Sail Lounge for a quick coffee while informing me that the excusion that they had booked had just been cancelled with the explanation of not enough English speakers for the tour to be made in English. Noticing how livid Wendy was with the situation; and who can blame her, I suggested that we change my car for a van and we spend the day together. New instructions were conveyed to the concierge who then proceeded to arrange everything from there, our tickets were waiting for us in our suites when we retired.

Awaking to the popular tunes of bad vibrations by the bow thrusters I opened my drapes and watched as we rotated into our dock………….the weather looked awful. After my usual breakfast in L’Etoile and cigarette in The Top Sail Lounge, where I met up with Vincent and Wendy my butler Donny arrived and we were on our way off the ship via the coffee bar where Angela, Keith, Elizabeth and Stan were waiting. Whisking them away with us Donny led as we climbed off the ship and walked through the cruise terminal towards the waiting bus, where coincidentally the head butler was waiting to assist further.

This was one of the best private tours I have ever done….the driver, whose name eludes me was ex Portuguese Secret Service who regaled us with everything from local culture, property prices, history, politics and even went so far as to translate a song that was playing but was in Portuguese. Having never been to Madeira before we said that he was to decide what, how and when save for the fact that at 14:30 there was a wine tasting and that lunch was to be had at a restaurant where the locals go and not the tourists.

I don’t want to bore you with the intricate details but all I can say is that everything was excellent, as expected. Interestingly though while talking, the driver did indicate that his boss had phoned him to reiterate that we are to receive the absolute best service as according to the information he received from the ship we are VVIPs.

Thank you Tim for conveying my apologies……

Good afternoon from my usual perch in the Top Sail Lounge here in Yacht Club. Regrettably, I have fallen behind schedule and given that the days have merged into one my catch up may end up like a piece of Swiss Cheese.

Before I begin a little background on an issue I had in the beginning of the cruise. As mentioned earlier there was an issue over flowers I had pre-booked for my suite. These flowers were to commemorate the first anniversary of the passing of my mother and given that I had quite particular requirements the hefty sum of AUD90.00 was agreed upon. You can imagine my disappointment when I embarked and there were none however, given that it was still early I was hopeful that they would make it into my cabin before the CC Meet and Greet as it was my further intention to distribute some amongst the ladies in attendance.

This was not to be.

Several days passed and no flowers had appeared and by this stage the insult to my mother’s memory was unacceptable and as she had never condoned mediocrity I decided to express my disgust at the situation and proceeded to cancel the flowers as their late arrival would merely add insult to injury. I further took this opportunity to convey my expectation of compensation in the form of on board credit. It has become evident that all issues financial in nature need to go through Napoli, whose service I can best describe as incompetent arrogant and delayed.

Had this been an isolated issue perhaps it could have been overlooked, however Wendy and Vincent, also travelling in Yacht Club, with experiences on Seabourn were left to their own devices in Sao Paulo (and we all know how dangerous Sao Paulo is) irrespective of the fact that they had paid for hotel and transfers through MSC. They too had been waiting several days for Napoli to return regarding their added cost of taxi and inconvenience suffered which, and it saddens me as a fan of MSC to say this is indicative of Napoli’s attitude that the client does not come first.

Being patient people we decided to give Napoli a week to respond and it was with a sore heart that I eventually felt the need to have a chat with the Hotel Manager, Neven and so on the last sea day I attended at his office to, amongst other things reminisce about Durban and all the MSC kids I had attended school with, the old MSC Symphony (ex Enrico Costa) and the issues that had now become a joke. It was at this meeting that it became apparent that Neven, and his staff have been trying their hardest, within the restrictions, as I can only imagine dictated by Napoli to ensure that we, including those associated to us via the original invitations that I had sent out for the Meet and Greet were treated like VVIPs, some of which experiences you have already read and some more are to follow as I catch-up.

However, and irrespective of the fact that we have opted to try and enjoy our cruise, a bitter taste remains as on our return from our tour of Madeira we were informed that we would be reimbursed our costs with additional USD10 each, which given that we have paid in excess of USD5000 for our cabins I find insulting and totally unacceptable.

Supplemental..........Donny was informed this morning that things like this will result in the perpetrator being hung from the foremast......

Sitting here in the Top Sail Lounge I can confirm that “the pointy end”, as it has affectionately become known as, experiences more of a pitching motion than anything else. The Top Sail in bad weather, especially during the day is not a great place to be if a person is prone to “the sickness” that plagues so many an avid cruiser. Looking through the large forward facing picture windows you have moments where you just see sea and then moments where you just see sky – for me, one of the joys of cruising.

My cabin on deck 12 has a similar effect, however with enough closet space for Liberace the free hangers are insistent on clanging out of tune throughout the evening as Fantasia makes her way north. Today I have a date with Angela to go and try out the 4D cinema and Formula 1 Racer, which I believe will make for interesting reading in the morrow.

But for now back to Tuesday.

After only having managed to surface for the occasional meal the previous day I awoke feeling tired, a side effect of too much sleep as well as an indication that my body can no longer process excess amounts of alcohol like it used to. Making my way the full length of the ship towards L’Etoile for breakfast I noticed a distinct nip in the air – Europe was getting closer. Breakfast was the usual of eggs benedict, sausage and bacon washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice.

After a several cigarettes, coffees and juices in the Top Sail Lounge I realized it was already time to track down my CC friends in steerage for a spot of lunch in “The Golden Circle”. As Tim has indicated previously, Virgil from Romania is fantastic and being of the opinion that praise is to be given where praise is due I was interested to learn that he had been allocated to L’Etoile, however after one day he requested to be returned downstairs as the pendulum effect of the upper decks failed his constitution. So in short, if you are lucky enough to be allocated Virgil in the MDR you will be fortunate enough to receive a similar silver service experience as we receive upstairs in Yacht Club.

Anyway….back to Tuesday.

Lunch was uneventful and it was soon time for me to return to the exclusivity of Yacht Club. I made my way up to the The One Pool where I decided an afternoon of sunbathing was in order. It was here where I discovered that photographic evidence of my participation in the Neptune Ceremony existed and, albeit I needed to wait until after the cruise for it to come per email I could get my hands on it. Being a bit of a heffer I am not partial to pictures of myself, expecially without my shirt on, however these where not half bad and once I have received them I will upload same on this thread.

I get easily bored sunbathing and it was not long before I decided to make my way to my cabin to have a nap, however as I walked in, through my large picture windows I saw two land masses directly ahead……….land! We had been notified in the daily program that we would be navigating through the islands that make up Cape Verde and grabbing my camera I headed back to the pool. A Limao Caiparinha was soon in my hand while I waited patiently for us to approach the islands. There was an air of excitement amongst the Yacht Club passengers and staff and the same excitement seemed to extend to the rest of ship.

As vantage points in steerage became scarce the usual Yacht Club gawkers emerged on deck 18. I am constantly amazed at how many people are unaware of this ship within a ship and the attempts to open the glass door forming part of the glass divide between us and the rest amusing.

Up until we entered the waters between the islands the wind had been relatively well behaved, until, being the operative word. Although The One Pool is relatively sheltered there are areas where you can experience gusts that can make life a little difficult and at this stage the staff started feverishly in the background trying to secure our wicker loungers, tables and chairs while the Yacht Club Members blissfully took pictures of the two islands.

Not realizing that while I was taking photos I was simultaneously taking a lot of sun my high pressure shower at first was fairly uncomfortable, and it was not long until I was in the Wine Bar on deck 7 regaling Angela, Keith and Tim on my afternoon. Dinner in L’Etoile was as expected and the group met up again at The Glass Bar on deck 14. You would think that being on the same ship for a week at this stage there would be nothing to discuss…….however MSC have managed to give us enough intrigue in our cruise and by now everyone has their own hypothesis as to what why and whom is sending the food.

On my return to my cabin I noticed an invitation on my bed from the Captain for a special cocktail event the next day, and without thinking too into it I retired for the evening.

Having slept past the closing time for breakfast of L’Etoile I decided that I would rough it in the Buffet. I can honestly concede that the breakfast buffet on Holland America is superior, but that is, in my honest opinion where the superiority ends. Irrespective the buffet breakfast was adequate and it was easy to find an open table. I made my way up to the Gaudi bar on deck 15 where I bumped into Tim and Keith.

Earlier in the morning I had asked the concierge if the invitation I had received was for repeat guests to which he had responded “yes sir”. And it was a result of this that when I saw Tim I had asked him if he had received the invitation to which he responded “no sir” and after spoken to Angela and devised a cunning plan Boldrick, Tim went off to reception to ask if they were to receive the same invitation as himself and Angela were clearly repeaters. I am informed by Tim that they indicated that the invitations had just been sent off for delivery. Simultaneously in the Top Sail Lounge my butler, Donny had informed me that the cocktail is only for VIP’s and not repeaters – his reasoning being that of his allocated cabins only myself and a black card member had received the same invitation……the intrigue deepens, but perhaps I thought to myself he could be wrong.

Soon enough it was time to get dressed for the evening, deciding that it was about time for a shave I had an epiphany and now I brush my teeth in one sink and shave in the other. Opting to forgo a tie because I was of the opinion that by shaving I had made enough of an effort I summoned Donny to escort me down to the soirée. I cannot reiterate enough how much I hate formal evenings, country club casual is much more amenable to my body type and so, moaning with face cloth in hand Donny escorted me downtown aft. It was on my arrival at the allocated venue that something was indeed afoot. The Cocktail Party was for Black Card Members and VIP Guests. Did Amomondo (sorry sp) have something to do with this? It had soon become apparent that all the guests from my CC Meet and Greet soiree had been invited, even the first timers.

The event was similar to that we had had in Yacht Club save for the fact that here the animation team doubled as dance hosts, and it had an air of even more exclusivity. The Captain, Hotel Manager, Ships Surgeon, Chief Engineer came round table by table to introduce themselves and have a quick chat. On their arrival at our group the Hotel Manager quirked to everyone that him and I were best friends and I can only hope that he is of the same opinion after our meeting this afternoon over several issues which I have been patiently waiting for Napoli to come back on.

Joining Wendy and Vincent for dinner in L’Etoile I regret not having my camera with me. Garlic infused goats cheese with marmalade followed by salmon roses, followed by crayfish, followed by the most wonderful steak with green pepper sauce. Wendy and Vincent regaled me about their experiences aboard Seabourn and indicated that the Yacht Club experience could easily equate, save for several differences. After dinner and once we had joined the rest of the gang our attention turned to the evenings earlier festivities……..I can report that although I received my invitation the night before; everyone else, including Vincent and Wendy who, as you have read are also travelling Yacht Club received theirs only several hours prior to their required presence. This compiled with a question posed by the table companions of Joanna and Keith has only added to the intrigue further…….

Hi all on board,

I am sorry to hear you have missed Salvador Bahia. Having been both in Luanda and Salvador Bahia, I would not think both are similar. I can see you enjoy having good food. After visiting the charming old town and admiring Bahianas and Bahianos you could have enjoyed very good Bahia food in one of the local restaurants. For example, there is a magnificent hotel close to the main square which I am sure would have suited your fine taste (it used to be a convent). Maybe the crew members are not the most adequate people to provide advise on the ports. I thought you had a concierge. Was he or she in Salvador Bahia or does he/she have the same limitations than most crew members, who very offen do not get the chance to visit the ports.

By the way we love your country South Africa. We use to visit it several times when we had a house in Stellenbosch.

Thank you for your kind words regarding South Africa. I will be honest I am disappointed that I did not get to the Old Town in Salvador but realistically the stories I heard from passengers who did try and go there makes me thankful I didn't attempt the journey. I note they building a new cruise terminal in Salvador - perhaps they should look at running a cable car / tram system straight up to the Old Town so that us tourists can avoid the hotspots in the port area.

Since my last post all media and communication from the outside world has been nonexistent and today, as we approach Cape Verde we are back online – thank goodness, as I was starting to go through withdrawals.

Waking on the second of six sea days I was content in my decision not to partake in Neptune’s, Crossing of the Equator Ceremony and proceeded to the The One Pool to take a bit of sun. I can’t recall when I had the moment of enlightenment, however while lying in the sun I decided that Neptune’s Ceremony was something which I needed to do – a life experience if you want to call it that.

Registration was at 10:45, it was by now 10:40 so I figured I would need the assistance of my butler to cut a few lines at the Vomit Venue as Tim so eloquently describes the Liquid Disco. The concierge was intrigued that a Yacht Club guest was willing to be creamed and egged, and Donny; my new butler; was paged to assist me in my mission. The Liquid Disco was a hive of activity, tables for registration and various points where the animation team were doing body painting. Donny, as expected completed my registration on my behalf and caught the attention of a member of the team of body painters as, according to him I “needed some paint”. All painted up and nowhere to go I handed my camera, cigarettes, cruise card, shirt and flip flops to Donny and arranged that when I called the concierge after the ceremony was complete a butler would bring me a towel etc.

It was shortly thereafter that Neptune himself surfaced, together with his daughter Ariel, who I can only describe as being heavy with child….several minutes passed and we were off, paraded like the heroes we were to become - I am of the opinion that my voluptuous body shall soon adorn many a Facebook photo album – our group of willing participants ended up sitting on the edge of the pool…..and then it started. Champagne, Milk, Whipped Cream, Coco Powder, Tomato and finally Raw Eggs where poured, scattered, dumped and cracked on our heads culminating in Neptune giving his blessing for us to cross the equator and in doing so; and I am amazed at how it was timed, the ship suddenly began blasting her horn at which point we all climbed into the pool which had already become and interesting shade of grey.

Climbing out I called the concierge and soon enough one of the Junior Butlers arrived, robe, towel, flip flops, cigarettes and cruise card. He too expressed delight at the fact that a Yacht Club guest had taken part in the ceremony and assisted further in advising where I had missed a spot while rinsing off further at the pool deck showers. It was also at this time that those of us who had taken part became heroes…..the weather having rather threatening before had now miraculously cleared and what had started out as nothing special had become one of the best days we have had to date.

Angela had arranged for us all to meet at 15:00 at the Gaudi Bar for afternoon drinks, which venue was changed to my suite as the heavens opened…..the sight of all of us walking the full length of the ship down the corridor on deck 12 can only have been something to amaze.

I called for a butler and one arrived, interestingly not mine but Wendy and Vincent’s, but not being fussy I ordered several glasses of red wine for the wine drinkers and opened a bottle of Preseco……several minutes later more CC members arrived followed by my butler and that of Wendy and Vincent. Donny arranged a further bottle of Preseco as well as some canapés while the rain poured down outside.

By 17:30 everyone had left as it was a big night in Yacht Club…….meeting the Captain. I had experienced it previously on Fantasia that when travelling in Yacht Club you don’t go to the Captain, the Captain comes to you and so dressed country club casual I joined Wendy and Vincent in The Top Sail Lounge for some drinks and canapés……..

Talking to the Hotel Manager it became evident that he had lived and worked in Durban, the same place I grew up, culminating in us discussing some of the persons I went to school with whose parents are now in the upper echelons of the MSC Group – which seemed to have left the Captain slightly shocked…..after all I am just a young man from South Africa.

I joined Wendy and Vincent for dinner where I encountered the most interesting dish to date……purple risotto.

I believe I should have retired after dinner - and prefer to not go into too much detail -, but unfortunately I didn’t and a boozy afternoon, became a boozy evening, became a boozy early morning in the night club which became a boozy 04:00 in The Top Sail Lounge…….

……..the third sea day was spent comatose.

I awoke the morning after departing Salvador at 09:30 and having missed breakfast at L'Etoile I opted for the continental option in The Top Sail Lounge. With smoked salmon piled on my plate and a view of the Atlantic as far as they eye can see I enjoyed the change from eggs benedict, sausage and bacon - pictures will follow as I collect them over the remainder of our crossing.

Discussion with my fellow Yacht Club guests covered airport security, duty free allowances, the differing price of cigarettes globally and whether Tag Heur is worth the money paid.......

By now it was 11:15 and I decided to go and find Tim, Keith and Angela with the intention of joining them for lunch. I don't believe any of us intended for a boozy lunch, but it soon turned out that way. Elizabeth and Stan were directed to our table and so four became six and three bottles of wine later (one of which was my own doing :eek:) we all decided that perhaps it was time for a little afternoon siesta, however...........

En route to my cabin I figured I would go past the casino "just to have a look"; an hour later and after depositing further 100 USD into the MSC coffers I decided that a sleep was necessary if I was to make anything of the evening ahead.

Waking at 17:30 I was not excited at the prospect of having to put on my suite for the evening festivities, however sucking it up I proceeded to conform to evening's dress code. Feeling like a stuffed suasage and sweating profusely I made my way down to the wine bar to catch the gang before dinner. With my captive audience I reiterated continuously how much I hate formal evenings and that I would much prefer a country club casual take on dress code - much I am sure to Tim's horror. It is unusual to see tuxeedos and bow ties on MSC cruises however last night there was a sea of penguins.....errrr waiters.......errrr elegantly dressed gents; except in Yacht Club, where it was very much a situation of dark suits.

I opted to decline Tim, Keith, Michael and Angela's invitation to join them at their table as, having caught a glimpse of the menu for L'Etoile I gathered there would be no comparison.

The menu was compiled for MSC by a two Michelin Starred chef and consisted of:

Prawn marinated in passion fruit

Tandoori scallops with grapefruit

Seafood risotto

Fillet of beef with a balsamic reduction, roasted peppers and pineapple

Coconut ice cream topped with a chocolate biscuit and hot chocolate sauce