Sthrncrusr

I’m a little concerned about the smoke as well. Great idea with your cabin on WE! We too are leaning towards a ship tour in Malta as options will be slim while we are in port.

thanks!

thank you!

we’ve been on the Seaside, Seascape and Seashore. Some of those have received horrific reviews too so I hear you and take your advice! Those ships didn’t have walking tracks so I’m hoping I’ll use this giant ship as a canvas to get my walks in each day. Does this ship have a true walking track or do I have to get creative again?!

Planning to spend most time in port in the cooler weather so hopefully I won’t notice the insane crowds onboard or at least too tired too care. 
What was your typical weather like? We start in Barcelona but imagine it’ll get a bi sunnier and warmer as we head south…

1 minute ago, alserrod said:

 

Which days?

You can look for extra Christmas events in all port of call

 

The week of Christmas! Dec. 20th - 27th.

some of the fun things in Malta don’t open until later afternoon at which point we’d need to be making our way back to the ship. Could do a fancy hotel breakfast but figured we’d save money by eating on the ship….

On 4/9/2024 at 11:59 AM, AlmiranteChurruca said:

Hello helenb and be most welcome to my homeland!

 

Another difference with US itineraries I would not overlook is the possibility of enjoying a more relaxed lunch at the MDR on embarkation day. While on US itineraries only the madhouse (er, the buffet, sorry) is open for lunch, on European ones you will see that one of the MDRs will be open.

 

Not everybody is aware of this since on the daily programme they will not mention it and the crew will ALWAYS try to steer you on the way to the buffet. Why? Because (company rules) the MDR is supposed to be available ONLY for guests who already boarded on a previous port.

 

However, being previously aware of this, on our last Xmas cruise on the World Europa from Barcelona my party and me disregarded the "go to the buffet" instructions and went straight to the open MDR (again, not on the info provided upon embarkation, you will have to go and have a peek by yourself) and were happily accepted and promptly seated. I was worried that upon scanning our cards they would reject us because of our just-boarded status, but had zero issues and managed to enjoy a nice meal with table service away from the buffet mayhem.

 

True, the buffet area may not be so crowded on Europen loop crusises, but still not the place for me to go, particularly when boarding on one of the two main hubs (Barcelona and Rome).

We too will be on the World Europa this coming Christmas and would love any extra information you could share with regards to that week on board!

thanks!

I hope y’all will come back to post about your thoughts and experience! We’ve really come to enjoy MSC with our tweens over the years and are headed back to Europe (this time the Mediterranean!) for a Christmas cruise over break in December. Won’t be the sweltering heat we are used to in the summer there but hope to do lots of excursions in the cooler weather. If you do anything on your own or through an excursion company, please don’t hesitate to share! I’m in full on planning mode over here 🤪

Awesome. Thank you. I’ve been in touch with them. Going to ask about tailoring our tour this way. We too will have a 12 and 13 year old in tow and need to keep them interested and fed with local snack stops 🤣

CCJack,

do you recall who you used in Genoa for your tour? That sounds perfect for our family!

thanks

Thanks. Yes, I’ve read your review of our ship! 

We will be on the World Europa the week of Christmas. Anyone done a similar sailing or that same one previously? We are doing a guided tour in Rome but the rest we are going to plan out and try to do on our own to make them a little more intriguing for our kids. That said, were businesses still pretty open that week? We are in Valletta (Malta) on Christmas Day. Part of me thinks these towns would rely on 6700 people docking in but am not sure. 
how was the vibe of your ship that week?!

Not our first time but it is their first time in all these cities except for Barcelona. 
I like your idea! Thanks!

They’ll be 12 and 13 but very petite! Haha may mistake them for age 10 🤣

forcing them to make some friends in the young club which always seems to help keep them entertained in the evenings!

looking at independent tours and waiting for msc to release theirs so I can compare prices and details.we too are planning to do excursions I think. May be able to do one or two cities on our own but want the kids to see major highlights where they can and feel excursions can do that better than me!

Ports of call: Barcelona, marseille, Genoa, Civitavecchia, Palermo, La Valletta, Barcelona.

Ive been searching the boards for any tips on whether (clothing tips for the ship and tours), tours, etc. it will be the week of Christmas. 

Good to know! Did you happen to do any tours or DIY days with kids? Mine are tweens and looking to fill our days with tours: walking, food, city highlights, etc. it’s going to be chilly but hopefully decent to bundle up and walk in! 

Same! Parka for me 🤣

Oh geez. I should clarify, we do the Disney Parks at Christmas. It too is beyond crowded. We can deal though. Hoping to be off the ship most days touring. My kids will slide no matter the temps as long as they’re open. Definitely going to purchase some long sleeve swim shirts to help!
. I’m more concerned about the height requirements! Can’t find them anywhere…

It had one usb port by the bed. I plugged in my iPhone with an American charger. But there were multiple by the vanity/desk area of both Us/EU charging stations.

We always just bring passports for them! 😳 I’m assuming that’s fine since they’re our kids and not grandkids?!

I need to read the fine print….

any other Americans sail with minors? What did you do?

Thanks. Yes we’ve seen some videos. Heard there were height requirements with the slides and bumper cars. Wondered if you had details. We are booked and typically do Disney at Christmas so not sure things could get any more crowded than that! We are prepared for the masses. I
was a little worried about weather temperatures as so much of the ship is outdoors. Assuming it will be in the 50s maybe 60s on our sailing but who knows! Is it safe to say that is typically standard around then? 

Due to my husband’s Diamond status, we were Zone 2. Thus, had to be out of our rooms by 7am. Went to the buffet for breakfast and then to our meeting spot in the Sports Bar. Within 5 minutes they called our zone. We were down by our luggage within 10 minutes but just as we were all walking over, the port authority folks put up a temporary barricade to deliver a few rounds of luggage for other zones. The woman apologized for the slight delay and explained they just have to keep us and our kids safe by halting passengers for about five minutes. They were quick! They do force you to use a porter and there were a ton of them. Carry some cash to tip! He brought our luggage all the way to our car in the parking deck. Super friendly. We were pulling onto the highway by 8:26am if that helps! Not sure if this was the case with everyone else but it seemed to be a well oiled machine as far as getting people in and out quickly. We had no complaints.

Hi,

we are booked on this for a Christmas cruise next year. Did you happen to check out any of the kid /fun spaces? Arcade, water slides, teen clubs? Just curious if anyone has pictures or details to add! Thanks.

We did not. We had requested early seating, but were assigned late seating, but the late seating on the ship was 7:15 and we were super happy with that. The main seatings are 515 and 715 but I also noticed there was one dining room dedicated to 915 seating on the little dailies but I believe that was for a very small percentage compared to the overall people cruising. Again, I think this ship had mostly Americans on it because on our last few MSC Cruises, there was definitely a solid super late dining time which is what we didn’t want since we were sailing with our kids. 
I don’t think that helps you too much!

I wrote a review and am waiting for CC to post it so in the meantime, if you have any questions, I’m happy to answer. This was our 3rd MSc cruise, all on their larger, newer ships. Previously, we’ve sailed Disney, Royal and Carnival. Had a Fantastica Balcony but are Diamond members via status match years ago when they really tried to enter the US market. Food was very good. Surprisingly so actually! We did notice they have edited their menus to be a little more American geared on this ship/sailing. We met mostly Americans on this ship whereas last sailing my kids met others from Belgium, Spain, etc. Staff friendly and helpful.  Kids made friends in the teen and juniors clubs! Shows were really great too. Overall, we had a great week. Not sure about all the negative reviews. 

I’m with you Bob. We are seasoned cruisers and we couldn’t understand all the bad reviews. This was our 3rd msc trip all on their larger ships. Seaside, seascape and now seashore. Food was very good. Had a surprisingly excellent meal at the revolving sushi spot which for anyone wondering also has different noodle and rice dishes available. Really good pricing and also offer all you can eat specials. Did a Diamond meal at butchers Cut which was great too. I wrote a quick review I’m hoping cruise critic will release to post soon because we were so discouraged going into it and it was fantastic. Entertainment has changed some too. The shows follow their themed titles lol. Really talented group of singers, dancers and various artists. Can’t say enough great stuff!

Thanks so much. 

Did you happen to see an arcade or just a few virtual reality machines? The Seascape had a great arcade and my kids are hoping for that again!