Mac Fantasia Or Orchestra

I've been following this thread for a while now and most posts seem to be about MSC Divina..? Has anyone else sailed on either Orchestra or Fantasia? Or am I constantly looking at a Divinia thread. Would love your thoughts on these boats. Thanks

I've been following this thread for a while now and most posts seem to be about MSC Divina..? Has anyone else sailed on either Orchestra or Fantasia? Or am I constantly looking at a Divinia thread. Would love your thoughts on these boats. Thanks

Here's a link to my review of a 28 day cruise on Orchestra, 5 weeks ago, in an Aurea Cabin

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=270

Pete

I've been on Fantasia twice and also on other MSC ships. All absolutely brilliant. I've not been on Orchestra but from what I've read she's a good size, between Fantasia and Lirica class.

Fantasia is a large ship, however feels more intimate due to the way the bars are laid out - there's always something going on and if you don't like the music or entertainment in one area there are plenty of others to choose from.

The food has been comparable on all MSC ships I've sailed on.

Why not look at the itineraries and make that one of the more deciding factors?

Cheers for the replies... We are booked on Fantasia and orchestra next month. Like most of us, just looking for lots and lots of info to tame my excitement.

Cheers for the review link Pete. I loved it.

🍻

Oh fantastic, how nice!

I have two favourite parts of Fantasia - one is the Piazza St Giorgio which sells delicious cakes, it's in the middle of the ship and feels like a Roman square.

The other is the Gaudi bar all the way at the back of the ship on the top. It is themed around Parc Guell in Barcelona.

If you have the drinks package, a common complaint is that you can only have Heineken draught beer. If you go to Cantina Toscana you can have the other two beers on draught :)

Enjoy your cruises :) also maybe have a look at http://www.shorebee.co.uk for any information on the ports you're calling at

I've been following this thread for a while now and most posts seem to be about MSC Divina..? Has anyone else sailed on either Orchestra or Fantasia? Or am I constantly looking at a Divinia thread. Would love your thoughts on these boats. Thanks

My family and I sailed on Orchestra in February 2015 from Dubai and thoroughly enjoyed visiting the UAE ports. My son and his family are based in Dubai and it was their first cruise - I have cruised extensively with Princess, Royal Caribbean, NCL and MSC. Some of the first cruises my late husband and I did were on the smaller MSC ships (Rhapsody, Melody and Monterey) and I have also sailed on Lirica and Poesia. When we docked back in Dubai Orchestra was then making its first sailing from there to Australia.

The family so enjoyed their cruise and we are now booked on Fantasia for the 17th December sailing, again from Dubai and are looking forward to visiting places we did not manage to see last time and also re-visiting some of the favourites.

We loved Orchestra and the good reports we have read of Fantasia are nice to read.

I am sure you will enjoy Orchestra. Cannot comment on Divina as I have not sailed on that ship.

Good Luck with your plans

Suzanne

Cheers for the replies... We are booked on Fantasia and orchestra next month. Like most of us, just looking for lots and lots of info to tame my excitement.

 

Cheers for the review link Pete. I loved it.

🍻

I feel the same way! I want to know more about the Fantasia.

I feel the same way! I want to know more about the Fantasia.

What more would you like to know :) I'll try and answer any questions for you

What more would you like to know :) I'll try and answer any questions for you

Did you have any vouchers for the 4D cinema, simulator and bowling? There have been posts indicating that MSC have introduced a voucher system for these at 55 Euros per cabin. If this is the case it would be a lot cheaper than paying individually for these attractions. Could it be that this is only on offer to American market and not us here in the UK and only on certain sailings?

Will be on Fantasia 17th Dec from Dubai. Have sailed many times with MSC

(in the early days of the smaller ships on Rhapsody, Melody and Monterey and latterly with Poesia, Lirica and Orchestra.

Any tips on Fantasia would be welcome and hope you can clarify voucher query above.

Suzanne

Did you have any vouchers for the 4D cinema, simulator and bowling? There have been posts indicating that MSC have introduced a voucher system for these at 55 Euros per cabin. If this is the case it would be a lot cheaper than paying individually for these attractions. Could it be that this is only on offer to American market and not us here in the UK and only on certain sailings?

 

Will be on Fantasia 17th Dec from Dubai. Have sailed many times with MSC

(in the early days of the smaller ships on Rhapsody, Melody and Monterey and latterly with Poesia, Lirica and Orchestra.

 

Any tips on Fantasia would be welcome and hope you can clarify voucher query above.

 

Suzanne

Hi Suzanne, I'm afraid I can't, that's one of the few things we haven't done onboard!

One of my favourite parts of Fantasia is sitting on deck 6 overlooking the atrium and listening to the band after dinner - they tend to play more easy listening stuff and classical / opera. It's a really nice way to relax before hitting one of the noisier dance bars!

During the day the Gaudi bar at the back on deck 15 is very nice and tends not to be anywhere as busy as the main pool bars.

We sailed on 17th December last year and got a little tired of some of the Christmas tunes played outside though haha!

If you will be onboard for Christmas Eve, the evening meal is incredibly special, as is Christmas day lunch :) a much superior menu to usual, which I've always loved anyway!

Hi Suzanne, I'm afraid I can't, that's one of the few things we haven't done onboard!

 

One of my favourite parts of Fantasia is sitting on deck 6 overlooking the atrium and listening to the band after dinner - they tend to play more easy listening stuff and classical / opera. It's a really nice way to relax before hitting one of the noisier dance bars!

 

During the day the Gaudi bar at the back on deck 15 is very nice and tends not to be anywhere as busy as the main pool bars.

 

We sailed on 17th December last year and got a little tired of some of the Christmas tunes played outside though haha!

 

If you will be onboard for Christmas Eve, the evening meal is incredibly special, as is Christmas day lunch :) a much superior menu to usual, which I've always loved anyway!

Thank you for the information on Fantasia. We actually dock back in Dubai on 24th so will miss out on the evening meal. We could not take a later cruise because of my twin grandsons holiday dates - they return to school in Dubai a lot earlier than children in the UK.

As for the query re simulator, cinema and bowling have managed to establish that the cabin pass can be purchased on board so that it another thing sorted.

Thank you again

Suzanne

Thank you. One question is- What type of outlets and how many are in each stateroom? -

From memory there are about 4 or 5 european standard two-pin sockets.