Bravo! Orchestra! Review with pictures of Med Cruise April 18-29, 2018.

So power outages and kids home from college changed my plans yesterday. But today it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled programming [emoji41] It’s cruise day!

Wednesday, April 18 - Cruise Day!! GENOA

We were woken up a few times during the night because our kids were texting about their exciting lives. [emoji23]There was an also loud noise like trash trucks starting around 5 am. Even so, we were both awake early at 0645 and ready to get on that ship! But first breakfast – where I actually made it through an entire meal without eating bread. I wasn’t sure it could be done. [emoji57]Not that I was deprived in any way – the smoked salmon, eggs, bacon and yogurt were the perfect start to my day - along with a couple of macchiatos.

We settled the bill (256 E including hiking passes)then shopped for a few minutes at the open air market across the street. So that was what all the noise was about this morning! We bought some clothes, then hefted our backpacks on and made our way to the train station.

We had the same problem here with our previously bought tickets not showing – even using the great wifi that the hotel had. Yesterday we showed the travel voucher number I had in my pdf to the station attendants and asked about having the train station office print them for us. Turns out they don’t have a printer. They said “Don’t worry, its fine, you have the ticket number..” It felt a little dicey, but we went with it. I was not going to buy more tickets! They were right; the conductor looked at my phone and carried on with business. Whew.

Our assigned embarkation time was 2:45pm. Since our train would arrive about 11 am, our plan was to drop off our bags at the ship and go explore Genoa until our assigned time. Except that everyone at MSC just kept stamping our papers and waving us on. We arrived at the port about 1130, and were in the dining room having lunch at noon! The view from the table we parked at for a couple of hours-

The back of the buffet area- coffee bar and more tables outside. Hardly ever crowded the whole trip.

I walked around and quickly took some buffet pictures. I felt stupid at the time. Now I wish I had taken more..

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Oh well, Genoa, we owe you some attention another time. There was no way we were getting off this beautiful ship with cool a/c, and a large salad bar with so many vegies and lunch options. We needed an easy day.

We had many opportunities to buy a beverage package, so don’t worry, if you want one you can easily get one!

Our cabins were released exactly at the scheduled time of 2:15pm. We were in stateroom #11245 Interior with the Fantastica Experience.

The size and layout of the cabin worked well for us. Enough storage space and 2 power outlets at the desk. I emptied the mini bar by piling contents behind the TV to make the fridge available. 4 closet areas – 2 with hangers and 1 with 6 drawers and the safe.

The bathroom was the usual small size, but no complaints. As the week went on we did have an issue with the shower draining slowly, but a call to customer service fixed that.

We met our room steward briefly, and I asked for ice to be in our room every day. While our room steward was kind of somber looking, he did the job and the room was always tidy and clean. My husband’s one problem was that he didn’t leave extra supplies like toilet paper or tissues. I would call customer service and they would send some quickly, but Ray was determined to teach our guy to stock our room. He would leave notes in the empty tissue box when we went out for the day. After a couple of days it seemed to work, and we had an extra roll of TP and box of tissues in the cupboard.

The best thing about our room was the location. It was so easy to pop right up the stairs a flight and be outside at the Aft deck. One more flight and you were at the tables in the rear of the buffet. This was our favorite place to sit, especially for breakfast, and hardly ever crowded. I was concerned that we would feel the ship’s movement too much, or it would be noisy when docking, but those things didn’t turn out to be a problem. I was woken up one day by a docking noise, but I was happy because I wanted to be up early and outside. My husband can sleep through any noise in the morning.

Unpacking and organizing was done quickly and we set off to explore the ship.

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Deck 15, running trail. Kids play area is on this deck too. You can see it if you zoom in. Not many kids on this trip. I counted about 30 when they paraded around doing activities. On the other side and up a level is mini golf.

I’m pretty sure this is the deck for Aurea guests only, after 8 or 9 am. So of course I had to go up and look around.

The gym and spa was open for tours. I bought a pass for the spa tubs and saunas for the whole cruise for $65 online before the cruise. It was always quiet and peaceful in here. I can’t find pictures of the hot tubs, but the pictures on the MSC site looking out big picture windows is totally accurate. Didn’t do a massage, but here is a photo of one of the rooms.

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The muster drill was at 4: 15pm and took about 20 minutes. We had to bring our life jackets up the lounge with us. They scanned your cruise card as you entered. It was done in multiple languages, but went fairly quickly anyway.

Port of Genoa-

Ray hung out and watched the ocean while I made a quick escape to the spa to enjoy the hot tubs. We back on deck to enjoy the sail away at 5:20pm.

The people next to us were feeding the seagulls. Not something I would do, but interesting to watch the birds fly so close.

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How exciting! Thanks for taking the time to post your review!

How exciting! Thanks for taking the time to post your review!

Thanks for reading![emoji41]

Here is the Daily Program-

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Thanks for reading![emoji41]

 

Here is the Daily Program-

 

 

 

 

 

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Saw on the hours pg for the spa open 7-9am for use without swimsuit guessing that mean the nudist time?

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Saw on the hours pg for the spa open 7-9am for use without swimsuit guessing that mean the nudist time?

That is my assumption too, I was never there that early to find out [emoji15]

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Thank you so much for your report! I will be boarding the MSC Seaview next month for my first ever European cruise and I am very excited!

Question: What would you recommend doing as a day trip in Genoa or Valletta? I cannot seem to pinpoint anything for either of these two ports. I will be with my grandmother, so we can't do anything too strenuous, and she has a fear of small boats, so we are avoiding any small boat tours. Thank you in advance, and thank you again for writing this stellar report! :)

Thank you so much for your report! I will be boarding the MSC Seaview next month for my first ever European cruise and I am very excited!

 

Question: What would you recommend doing as a day trip in Genoa or Valletta? I cannot seem to pinpoint anything for either of these two ports. I will be with my grandmother, so we can't do anything too strenuous, and she has a fear of small boats, so we are avoiding any small boat tours. Thank you in advance, and thank you again for writing this stellar report! :)

Thanks so much for reading along. I will look through my notes and give you some ideas tomorrow. Your first trip to Europe is so special. And we especially loved Valletta!

Continuing the review at dinner on our first night-

I took pictures of the menus in the dining room, but forgot the food shots!

Tonight I ordered the seafood carpaccio (very good), salad (mine was watery, Ray’s was fine), the fish dish with extra vegies (good) and the cheese plate for dessert. Ray ordered the turkey and the chocolate cake, and liked both. At first we thought we wouldn’t have enough to eat, but by the end of the meal we were both fully satisfied. Dinner took 1.5 hours. We had a free water package that included a large bottle of still or sparkling water for each of us. We usually drank half at dinner, and then put the rest in the fridge for the room or excursions. Other than that we had a total of 24 drink coupons to use as our Fantastica experience perk.

After dinner we explored more – there is music everywhere on this ship. The production show was at 9pm and we found it to be well done, occasionally cheesy, with great sound and colorful costumes. It was along the line of “Americas got talent” and we found it enjoyable. More music hopping before we crashed out – leaving the TV set to the bow channel so we will have a view in the morning.

Thursday, April 19 – Cruise Day 2 - MARSEILLE

I woke to the engine noise change at 0645 and saw the sun rising on the TV. I went up the back stairs to the buffet and had a cup of coffee before going up the Deck 15 to run. One lap, including the stairs at each end, was ¼ of a mile. Way more fun than having to run 12 or 13 laps per mile like on our last cruise!

We had breakfast at the buffet, sitting at the tables outside before getting a fairly early start to leave the ship. I had read so many things about this port, and made plans to walk and take the free port shuttle, but all that changed with a bus strike. The bus strike was announced overhead, along with the caution to allow extra time to return to the ship. Lucky for us, MSC would be happy to take us on a 5 minute ride to the gate – for E15.90 each. Whatever. I like to walk, but it’s not allowed. And looked like a boring waste of time anyway.

The Orchestra [emoji16]

This whole strike thing turned out to be the best luck for us! For on this bus we met L&L, an Australian couple on their first European cruise also. We ended up talking on the bus, and walked into the city together after spending several minutes trying to figure out where we were and where we were going. They don’t call that free map the shuttle gives out a “Rough Guide” for nothing! Our location was off the map… thank goodness for helpful strangers!

DIRECTIONS – From the cruise ship walk to Port 4 and take the free city bus to Joliette. Or take the ships shuttle; it drops off at the only exit gate. When you exit, turn left. There is a Marseille History museum and a large, modern, indoor shopping mall. There will be tram train tracks that end at the shopping mall. Follow those tracks to the right and they lead to the Old town/Port. I’m guessing it’s about a half hours walk without stopping. We stopped a lot. [emoji41]

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I gave up my initial plans to take the free walking tour and visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and went with our new friends, walking and exploring.

We shopped, tried different foods and got to know each other.

The strikers were playing loud peppy music in the main street/plaza area, taking selfies of themselves holding picket signs – and occasionally setting off fireworks that sounded like bombs. Yup, smoke and everything. Except no one was screaming or running, so we figured it wasn’t a real bomb. Rather disconcerting though. Asked the police about it and they shrugged, “It’s safe. They strike for no reason here.” OK then.

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Vieux Port

We stopped for coffee and free wifi, ate a casual first lunch of very fresh sandwiches from the counter at Monoprix, explored the old port area and started walking back.

We were back on board at 2:30pm. Ray and I had a nice cold lunch at the buffet (it was hot today!) then I hit the gym and the spa before we met up at the pool for a mango mojito before dinner.

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It was Mediterranean night for dinner, which we like, but service was a little slower. I remember the bouillabaisse as standing out for extra good flavor.

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Yes, we did get three desserts. And an extra entre, didn’t want to risk leaving hungry!

Again, the other 4 people didn’t come to dinner. We chose to sit closer to the South African couple, hoping we would converse better. Meh. Sometimes you just don’t hit it off with everyone. We told them our plan for the next night was to stay out late in Barcelona and eat at the buffet.

The show tonight was Opera. We like live shows, so why not? The show was interesting, and it was nice to see the theater so full and the audience engaged. Saw our new friends there and made plans to spend the next day together in Barcelona.

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Thank you so much for the review. I never have been in cinque Terre, so your fotos are very helpful for planning a trip. Interesting, you found a bow channel on tv, I searched but couldn’t find it. Our Orchestra Experience was some days later than yours in cold weather, so I find some differences in behavior of people and lovely places on the ship. Waiting for the next days. :)

Question: What would you recommend doing as a day trip in Genoa or Valletta? I will be with my grandmother, so we can't do anything too strenuous, and she has a fear of small boats

Hi Oceans,

Although we didn’t end up doing any sightseeing in Genoa, what I had planned was to go on the funicular. I got information online. “Zecca-Righi is the more popular one (Funicolare)among tourists as it brings you all the way up to Righi – an area with a stunning panoramic view of Genoa’s port and city, as well as a breath of fresh air in a natural reserve park. It’s a great place to go for an afternoon walk and there are even a couple of typical Genoese restaurants up there.” http://italyproject365.com/riding-funicular-railway-genoa/ We were going to hike, but you could walk a bit and eat/ drink instead. We talked to people that walked around the old town, and that took the HOHO buss and they each had a good day also.

In Valletta we loved going to Mdina. That will be easy to do by taxi or bus. I m going to describe our journey in a couple of days.

Have a great trip. Ask me anything, I’m glad to help.

Kathy

Marseille Dailies-

I starred the things we did, because it’s so easy to forget!

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Daily specials

Next up? BARCELONA!

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Thank you so much for the review. I never have been in cinque Terre, so your fotos are very helpful for planning a trip. Interesting, you found a bow channel on tv, I searched but couldn’t find it. Our Orchestra Experience was some days later than yours in cold weather, so I find some differences in behavior of people and lovely places on the ship. Waiting for the next days. :)

Thanks for following along! I felt like there was almost too much information about Cinque Terre, it was confusing to wade through it all. So I tried to give an idea of the timing of the day to help those on a cruise or land day in the area.

My husband found a bow and an aft channel. Sometimes we could see the performers practicing for that nights show too.

Hi,

we sailed Armonia last year and did the MSC excursion to Cinque Terre--we also took a boat into Portofino. I am loving your fabulous photo's..so much better than any I took!!. Great review.Thanks

Hi,

 

we sailed Armonia last year and did the MSC excursion to Cinque Terre--we also took a boat into Portofino. I am loving your fabulous photo's..so much better than any I took!!. Great review.Thanks

Thank you! I will pass the photography compliments on to my husband. Most of the food and menu pics are from my iPhone, but he took all the rest on a real camera. 2440 pictures!

Friday April 20 – BARCELONA

When we were planning this trip we decided that we would choose only one highlight item in each port. The rest of the time would be spent eating, drinking and wandering around. That highlight in Barcelona was La Sagrada Familia. I bought tickets about 6 weeks prior. That was a good decision, since admission times were sold out until 4:45pm when we got there. I bought the tickets that included admittance, the 1030 am Passion façade Tower elevator and audio guide.

We met L&L at 0840 at the breakfast buffet, and were waiting in line to get off when the ship docked. Since our main concern was to get to La Sagrada Familia for our 1015 early admittance the 4 of us decided to take a taxi there, then take our time exploring while making our way back to the ship. L&L had gone online last night to try and buy tickets to the Basilica, but they were sold out until late in the day. They were hoping to buy tickets at the door.

Debarking was easy. Walk off the ship, follow the crowds outside (pick up a city map at the counter as you go by the tourist desk) and there is the taxi stand. It was a posted fixed price – E25, with an added port charge of 6E. This all went so smoothly that we were there at 9:35 am! Plenty of time to walk around the block and take pictures.

And to find out that the only entrance tickets available were E80 pp for a guided tour. That’s $250 Aus! No Way. I took their camera in and was their official photographer for this part of the day. They wandered around for the 1.5 hrs we were inside.

Meanwhile, we were having our own ticket drama. The Sagrada Familia makes it a point to say that you have to print the tickets out, no phone tickets allowed except those paper tickets were still in our cabin! Whoops. Lucky for us they have moved into this decade and phone tickets were perfectly acceptable. So feel free to ignore that part of the website!

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We thought the Basilica was beautiful! The lighting from the stained glass windows was stunning.

It wasn’t too crowded either. We walked rather quickly through to the Passion Façade elevator for our timed admission. The elevator lets you out at the top, and you make your own way down the curving stairs. It was fun to see the city spread out below, and to really be able to notice all the details in the carvings of the building.

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When we were back down, we went inside the Basilica again to explore. I listened to most the audio guide - an interesting but dry and long winded presentation. Ray lasted 2 minutes and took off to explore on his own.

When we were ready to go we walked and headed left to the small museum about the building and Gaudi.

If you keep going past the first, long bathroom line, there are more bathrooms right before the entrance with no line. [emoji6]

We met up with our friends and started our own walking tour – first to see more Gaudi architecture at Casa Mila, then over to Placa Cataluña and the journey down Las Ramblas to the Columbus statue near the port.

City sites –

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