Suites of Lirica or Opera

Does anybody know how big the suites are on either the Lirica or Opera? The brochures describes them as bedroom, living room, dining room, etc. Wouldn't this be awfully big?

They aren't described as such in my brochure but it's only last year's. Certainly not as big as that sounds. I don't know the actual size, but a friend had a balcony suite on Bellini Deck in March on Lirica and you can view his photos on my site here. He was very pleased with the cabin & size. If you want to compare to a standard inside you will find links to my photos of one [and many others of Lirica] on this page.

Pam

They are NOT real suites... Just very large, nice cabins, as you can see from Pam's pics.

LIRICA and OPERA were not designed for the US market and probably their biggest design weakness in that respect is the lack of suites and balcony cabins. The latter has been rectified to some extent on OPERA but neither ship has real suites.

It will be interesting to see what the next newbuilds from MSC have in the way of suites and other premium accommodations... I'm sure they'll be making plenty of changes as they obviously are very interested in the US market. I just hope they don't over-Americanise and loose their main distinguishing characteristic which is that they aren't a mass market American line.

Doug Newman

Cruise Critic Message Boards Host

e-mail: shiploverny AT yahoo DOT com

We had a suite on the Lirica last year and they are really only big cabins with nice baclonies. The balconies have 2 chairs and a small table but still have the space to accommodate a lounger. They hold no extra perks like with US based lines.... never the less it was a very nice cabin. Even the sofa bed was very comfortable. The walk-in closet was really great. The bathtub wasn´t really a must have. The top deck was also not really a problem as the deck above is seldomly used. Little tip for the Lirica on deck12 there are 2 small "public verandahs" on the front of the ship that is really great for watching the ship come in to port (esp. when not on the port going side)

The balconies on deck 12 have a plexiglas front which allows you to see through but still protecting you from the wind. The cabins on deck 10 only have rails.

I too was very puzzled at the description on the msc website of Opera Categorx11 suites having bedroon, sitting roon, living room, oversized whirlpool bath and separate shower stall. On the Opera Deck plans Deck 12 looks identical to Lirica. Opera Deck 12 is only Category 11 area. On Lirica Deck 10 balcony cabins were identical to Deck 12 and also Category 11. Again though Opera Deck plans show that Deck 10 now has interior cabins and as a result the outer balcony cabins seem reduced in size.

It is months away but I have reserved 12003 on Opera for the Return to the Old Continent sailing 2nd April, 2005. At that time I will have my answers but no doubt info and reviews will be out before then.

As I wrote in an e-mail to Pam (Magwa) can you imagine the howls of outrage and the beating that msc is going to take if the description is not accurate!!

I suppose my big questions would be : "When is a suite a suite? What defines a suite?". In Europe and the Far East when I have reserved a "suite" in an hotel it has always comprised a separate sitting area and bedroom although often connected with very large sliding doors so that the area can be almost open. One exception Radisson in Krakow which is one large area. In North America however a "suite" has normally simply been a larger room with a sofa and chairs included with the bed - rather like Lirica in fact!!

One nightmare experince was the 4 star Miami South Beach horror where the "suite" was one large but very dirty and knocked about room!! That hotel could not even spell "service" let alone provide it!!

Barry

Hallo everyone MSC now has 4 ships out of the same mould BUT the cabins are different on evry one of those ships....If you have a different discription in your broshure have you TA check that will find what you expect and are not disappointed

Hallo everyone MSC now has 4 ships out of the same mould BUT the cabins are different on evry one of those ships...

The SINFONIA is heading for drydock so who knows what they will do to her there......

We have just booked the Lirica, May transatlantic crossing. The category 11 suite looks very much like the "larger ocean view" cabins on Royal Caribbean - with the addition of the large whirlpool tub and the walk in wardrobe!

A suite implies at least a seperate seating area - and in the brochure they refer to seperate "living room and dining room" !!!! Still I agree with Doug they look quite comfortable, we are happy to have the balcony and got a great deal with skyauctions.

Kathy and Andrew

Kathy Hi

Please DO NOT expect a whirlpool bath in your balcony cabin on Lirica. They are not there and neither are the seperate dining and living rooms!! I cannot understand WHY MSC have used completely false descriptions. It will only cause them huge problems and possibly even legal action of "Trades Description".

The balcony cabins are very pleasant indeed and we loved ours during our cruise. We look forward now to Opera 2005 when we do cross atlantic in April. There we have Cabin 12003 which is one of the two over the bridge. We are hoping that we made a good choice but although it should be great for arriving in Port have no idea what it will be like when at sea!!

czechmate those cabins are great BUT they are rather windy when the ship is sailing. They are however rather quite the only thing you will notice is that your balcony does not go right to the front of the deck -the area is however roped off so there isn´t anyone walking or standing in front of your balcony or incroaching on your privacy. I am not sure but I will look to see if I took a photo of that area...... I just can´t remeber right now...

Hi Moeve....thanks for that info. It answers a question I had.

Pam (magwa) took pics of those cabins on Armonia for me and I was rather shocked. Could imagine putting on a cabaret for the watchers every evening :-) Was wondering if should switch to the side cabins instead.

Will leave things as they are and hope there are no limbo dancers aboard!!

On Lirica our starboard balcony cabin was also windy when at sea.

Moeve hi there

All day kept thinking about your words and going to Pam (magwa) pictures.

Those pics. really were a HUGE disappointment and did not fit the mental image we had. The security angle was also worrying - most especially when in port.

We had loved the balcony cabin on Lirica so much and kept making mental comparison with that and Pams pics. Finally made a phone call to USA travel agent and switched cabins. The ONLY Deck 12 cabin MSC had remaining for Opera 2nd April, was 12005. That suited us fine and so we took it.

At least now when on the balcony we only look out to sea!!

Thanks again for your words of wisdom and Pam for the pics.

Proves once again how useful this message board is.

Would love to see your review when you return particularly your opinion of the balcony cabin you have reserved. Planning a Med trip in September 2005 and would like to learn of your experiences.

Thank you.

Kathy, In the new brochure...." queen size bed, bath with tub, a large common space with sofa bed, guest seat ( I guess Andrew can't set here), coffee table and desk with internet port."

On their web site it list it as a king bed. No where do they list the sq ft of the stateroom.

Marge

A suite implies at least a seperate seating area - and in the brochure they refer to seperate "living room and dining room" !!!! Still I agree with Doug they look quite comfortable, we are happy to have the balcony and got a great deal with skyauctions.

 

Kathy and Andrew

great reviews bdintertech.

now i fear a possibly "touchy" (meaning would we be crawling over each other lol) question about the "suite" sizes. presuming the only balcony cabins aboard are called suites...and brochure as stated on board earlier indicates roomS (living, bedroom dining, bath, etc.) but i know better by the configuration of the cabin that it's going to be just one probably rather narrow room. the rep told us the "suite" is 365 sq feet including balcony, but a telephone call to reservations produced a lady that said the room was 248 sq ft with an additional 48 ft for the bathroom. nowhere in the brochure or on the msc website do we see sq ft mentioned. so now to the BIG disussion and question:

we have been presented an amazing deal for the ll day new years cruise from fort lauderdale...buy two fares (at a group rate) and get two free. so that would be FOUR IN THE SUITE. she said they have a king (but i think queen) bed and a sleeper sofa that will sleep the other two. knowing that the sizes might be small, do you think it would be even POSSIBLE to cohabit with four adults in one of these accomodations? it looks like the opera only has 28 of these suites, all on the top passenger deck. are they possibly larger than those on the lirica, which has two decks of these type rooms? we need to find out if we could survive ll days with four...as it cuts the cost in half, of course. would really appreciate feedback, either here or to our email at "gaup7@aol.com" as we are considering inviting two others but wouldn't want to misrepresent based on the brochure description. thanks for any info.....mike

Hi Mike

I have sent you an e-mail with some of my thoughts. Hope that you will receive it. If not and you are still interested let me know and I can write again.

Did you check out the Lirica pics on Magwa (Pams site) following her post above? They will give you a good idea of what to expect on Deck 12 balcony cabins on Opera - if everything I have been advised is accurate.

Two thoughts I have had since writing my e-mail. Not sure what will happen at nights with the occassional table that sits in front of the sofa/bed. It could take up a great deal of floor space at nights. Also think (never tried it) that the person who draws the short straw and sleeps on the french doors side of the sofa bed might not have room to walk at the foot of the bed and might have to clamber over the other body if they needed the toilet/etc at night.

My conclusion is that if you are tolerant have a good sense of humour and really understand and enjoy the company of the other 2 persons it might be possible.Think tidiness at all times would be essential. As I said in the e-mail the 4 adult persons (2 male 2 female) who had an adjoining cabin to ours on Lirica said that for them it worked fine and was worth the saving they made.

Best wishes - Barry

barry--so nice of you to take the time to give such detailed information. as i wrote to you in email reply we probably will do a 3 instead of a 4 person...would not be the great savings for four but still take advantage of the 3rd person free. and as i mentioned the issue is, if anyone has info, the sq ft on the opera deck 12 cat. 11; it just might be a bit larger than deck l0 lirica if i am correlating information correctly (still confused that the regional msc sales mgr. said 365 sq ft and the reserevationist said 2148 + 48 for the bath).

Mike it is a pleasure if it is of any help.

I am annoyed with myself that I did not actually measure!! Have been trying with the aid of the pics. and measuring items around the home to calculate the possible size. I have decided that the 248 + 48 is more accurate. It is my feeling that the 248 would include the balcony and the 48 would include the entrance "lobby" outside the bathroom. For sure the bathroom alone is NOT 48 sq ft.

On Lirica the balcony cabins on Decks 10 and Deck 12 were identical size. We were on Deck 10 and our friends Herbert and Gisella were on Deck 12 and we saw both cabins so we know this is correct.

I am advised by my USA travel agent that the Balcony Cabins on Opera Deck 12 are identical size wise to Lirica Deck 12.

Of course there is possibility this is incorrect but when I study deck plans of both Lirica and Opera I conclude it is correct.

Best wishes Barry