Jump to content

Opera Review; 2/11-2/18/06


bthorn1108

Recommended Posts

I will preface this by saying that my husband and I have been on 20+ cruises on many different cruise lines, therefore I would consider myself a veteran cruiser.

 

SHIP

The ship is beautiful and was kept spotless throughout the voyage, with an abundance of brass, glass and mirrors. It is reminiscent of the older ships, prior to 9 story atriums. The public spaces were all on deck 5 and 6 and provided a variety of options to meet and mingle with old and new friends.

 

CABINS

We had an ocean view cabin, which was small, but well designed and appointed. There were 2 closets, a dresser with 6 drawers, 2 night stands with shelves, shelves behind the vanity mirror (along with the safe), and 2 cubbies at the vanity. Storage was not a problem. The room seemed more spacious with the beds made into 2 twins, as opposed to a queen sized bed. The bathroom is average sized, with little storage. The shower is TINY and presented a problem to many.

 

STAFF

The staff were (for the most part) friendly, helpful and always smiling. We did run into a grouch at the Currency Exchange desk. The service is on par with what you would expect from Celebrity or Holland America., from white gloved attendants bringing you to your cabin on embarkation day to an attendant helping my disabled mother with her plate in the buffet line (this happened every day). They were always busy, never standing around, and were a pleasure to be around. I went to the Reception Desk on several occasions and always found them pleasant and helpful. We did not use the Shore Excursion desk, so I cannot comment on that. The ships officers were very visible throughout the cruise, and were more than willing to spend time talking to you. I cannot find one bad thing to say in this department.

 

FOOD

Dining Room

The food was almost always delicious. The menu was very International and sometimes hard to understand. Our waiter was very patient and explained everything to us. The lobster wasn’t great, but I never find cruise ship lobster to be good (we’re from the Northeast, once you’ve had Maine lobster, nothing else compares). The beef was dismal the first evening, but improved immediately by the second night and was fantastic for the remainder of the cruise. The Spaghetti Bolognese was terrific and I enjoyed it almost every night, except when they had Lasagna, which was also wonderful. The soups were very flavorful and always served piping hot. The desserts went from mediocre (Crème Brule) to awesome (Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce). Our party also enjoyed the ice creams and sorbets each evening. We also had lunch several times in the dining room, and enjoyed the same quality and experience as dinner.

 

Buffet

Breakfast and lunch are available on Deck 11, as a buffet. We only had breakfast a few days (they closed breakfast at 9:30 am), however, it was your average cruise buffet breakfast, with a fried egg/omelet station. We ran into people looking for things like cream cheese and regular pancake syrup. Everything was there; you just had to ask for it and would be shown where it was. I cannot stress enough, if you don’t see what you want, ASK FOR IT, and you will most likely get it. Lunches were typical cruise line food, with a pasta station, carving station, pizza, grill and various salads and hot foods. The pizza was good, but a little bland. The hot dogs were good, but we didn’t enjoy the hamburgers. The pasta station was always a good choice, with a salad (which was always crisp and fresh). Hot tea and coffee were available until evening and juice was available during breakfast. IMHO, they should turn the juice machines to Lemonade and Iced Tea, once breakfast was over. There were never any cold beverages available on the buffet, except milk and water.

 

ENTERTAINMENT

These were the best shows we have seen on a cruise ship, top notch and very enjoyable. MSC does a great job of appealing to the different nationalities that sail with them, which is no small task. The shows ranged from Cirque type acts to magicians, dancers and singers, all of whom were very good. There isn’t one show I wouldn’t recommend. There were also performers of different genres (soft rock, jazz and classical) scattered throughout the ship, all of them very good.

 

CASINO

The casino was very small and never very busy. Additionally, it was not opened as much as what you might be accustomed to. Also, they did not have any casino tournaments (slot and blackjack). The dealers were nice and some very friendly and we enjoyed the time we spent in there.

 

ENTERTAINMENT TEAM

These are the Cruise Directors staff, and are great. They take care of the daily activities onboard, ranging from Italian lessons, to trivia and zany deck games. They were always fun, energetic and very approachable.

 

DAILY ACTIVITIES

There were activities scheduled to appeal to everyone. Some of them were arts and crafts, bridge tournaments, trivia contests, Italian lessons and crazy deck games. While there was enough to keep you busy, it was not non-stop action. This lends itself to being a more relaxing cruise, allowing more time to laze in the sun or relax with a good book. If you need 24/7 entertaining (think Carnival), this is not the cruise line for you.

 

GOING ASHORE

As I previously stated, we did not use the services of the shore excursion office. In San Juan, we got off to shop a little and use the internet cafe. We have been here many times and didn’t see the need to get off for just a few hours. In La Romana, we went to Casa del Mar on our own (this can be arranged though the shore excursion office, however, as a travel agent I went with other travel agents to do a site inspection). In St. Marteen, we just shopped at the pier. I think next time we’ll take the water ferry to downtown (cost $5.00 roundtrip). In Cayo Levantado we took the tender to their private beach. It is a beautiful, white sand beach with plenty of shade and beach chairs. Shopping was available from local vendors and a bar-b-que lunch was provided (not very good). There were also a few bars spread out, where you could purchase drinks with your ship’s card (very convenient).

 

INTERNET SERVICES

While there is an internet café onboard, it is very expensive. Charges are $.60/minute, with a minimum 10 minutes each time you sign on. They do not provide package plans and the computers seemed to run pretty slow. I would not plan on keeping in touch by e-mail on this cruise.

 

TIPPING

This has been a hot topic on these boards, so I feel the need to address it. While I understand that $12.00 pp/per day is more than usual, it is well earned. The customary tips do not take into account all of the excellent staff that work on the Lido deck and throughout the ship. I was more than happy to pay an additional $14 for the week for the service I received. I don't even care if the money goes to MSC, who then turns around and pays their staff a decent wage. Obviously, the staff is happy and it shows. If the cruiseline were to increase their fare (to pay the employees a decent wage) and then state a "No Tipping" policy, it would go the way of Holland America (higher fares and now tipping is expected). I know I'm in the minority here, but I've worked in the service industry and tend to be generous with my tips.

 

All in all, it was a very enjoyable cruise, which I would repeat again, without hesitation. I would recommend it for people looking for a relaxing time who are opened minded to cuisines and citizens of different nationalities. All information (both on the PA and printed matter) is in at least 5 languages. If you are looking for a totally busy, totally American cruise, this cruise line is not for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beverly, I would agree with everything in your review. I wanted to include an example of the outstanding service. On the first day I went to lunch in the buffet. One of the wait staff noticed I didn't have a drink so he came over to ask if I wanted some water. I sheepishly pulled out a little bottle of Diet Coke I had brought with me (I bring my own supply on ship with me). He smiled and disappeared. Seconds later, he appeared with a cup presented to me on a small plate. The next day, as soon as I sat down for lunch, he appeared again with the cup and plate. This occurred every day. I never saw where he came from; he would just appear, smile, place the cup in front of me, pour my diet coke into the cup like it was the finest of wine and disappear. Some people on previous posts have said the staff appeared dissatisfied. I would say that a dissatisfied staff would not provide that level of individualized service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bev! You beat me in starting this thread!! I'm glad to see that you've given the Opera a good review. It definitely deserves it. All in all, I agree with everything you've said, but I'll go ahead and add my version......

 

I'll start by saying I've been on many cruises, probably more than 30, with most of my cruising being done in the last 10 years, an average of 2 a year.

 

First, I'll go over THE NEGATIVE......frankly, not much!!

 

DRINKS are overpriced, but since they are very lax about what you bring aboard, this is easy to remedy. I even brought wine brought from home into the dining room!

 

JUICES are only offered during the morning hours for free, overpriced during the day. Solution? Bring a BIG plastic mug, and fill it up each morning as we did. If you enjoy mixed drinks and bring your own booze, this should provide you with a few good drinks while sitting by the pool, or elsewhere!

 

There was a charge for the ICE CREAM available by the pool, which was terribly disappointing! Needless to say, we did not see many people enjoying ice-cream during the day. Most of us would have loved a nice, refreshing scoop, but not at $3.50!

 

If you play BINGO, don't buy too many card. Caller way too fast and they do not have a Bingo board on which to display the numbers. Very frustrating!

 

Some miscommunication with regard to PORTS OF CALL/EXCURSION INFO. In La Romana we were told the shuttles into town were free and they weren't. Prices to beach area overpriced when the ship gets in, but if you wait an hour or two, which should be fine since it's an all day stop, you can negotiate a much better price. Bayahibe was a nice public beach if you aren't interested in the all-inclusive option. Another frustration was that we are scuba divers and didn't know they had diving excursions until we asked, on the ship. They weren't on the excursion info, which makes no sense! Finally, tours in Cayo Levantado were prematurely cancelled due to bad weather at 7AM which turned gorgeous by 8:30AM. Cruise line made no attempts to reinstate the tours that could have gone out with plenty of time to get back to the ship. Bad call! A lot of unhappy people!

 

Now, THE POSITIVE....Obviously, all the above is relatively minor. All in all, a terrific cruise. Loved almost every minute of it.

 

Quickest and easiert EMBARKATION & DISEMBARKATION I've ever done on any ship. Maybe it was just luck, but that's the way it was. We were on the ship within an hour of showing up at port. Our luggage was delivered to our cabin within 2 hours of being on the ship. Upon disembarking, we were home, in Ft. Lauderdale, by 9:45AM, and we were among the very last to leave the ship!!

 

The ENTERTAINMENT CREW were among the best on any ship I've ever been. They were very friendly and tried there best to keep us laughing and just having a good time. Very personable, warm people.

 

I thought that they could have offered more indoor day ACTIVITIES for those who don't like to be outside in the sun, but this is a cruise, and activities in the sun should be expected as the norm. There were plenty of places to sit out of the sun.

 

Speaking of the sun, best lounge chairs I've ever seen, anywhere! Love the built in sun shades each chair had! And there were plenty of lounge chairs!

 

The SHOWS are terrific. Simply superb!! Look forward to great entertainment every evening.

 

The ship itself is close to emmaculate, including public bathrooms. The staff was constantly cleaning up behind us. The CABINS are "roomy", with more than ample drawer space than I've seen on other cruise ships, refrigerator and hair dryer. We were also pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to a room on a higher floor.

 

The MEALS, by far, were very good. Yes, I had a few mediocre meals. They weren't always terrific, but overall, very good food, especially the pastas. The buffets were also very good, with a good variety of food offerings. The waiters were generous in offering more than one serving of anything when requested, or offering substitutes if you didn't like what you ordered.

 

About 3 MIDNIGHT BUFFETS, with appetizers & sandwiches offered in all lounges the other evenings. Personally, I would have preferred more chocolate offerings, but in all honestly, I don't need it anyway, so it was probably a good thing in the end.

 

CAYO LEVEANTADO was surprisingly enjoyable. I'm not a lover of private islands and we were supposed to scuba dive, but I ended up enjoying the island. It's well thought out, lots of beach lounging chairs, lots of chairs in shady areas, lots of picnic areas, beautiful beach with snorkeling spots. A very nice meal was served. An open air market with lots to browse and buy. Frankly, I was sorry they didn't stay longer!

 

All in all, we had a great time. We met some terrific people, mostly through cruise critic, so do your best to form a group meeting on the ship. We met the first day, at about 2:30, at the Cotton Club. The people we met, primarily through cruise critic, made the cruise more enjoyable for us. We had a blast with them and I'm hoping we've made some life long friends on this cruise.

 

Still, either way, it's a great ship, great staff, great food. I just don't see how anyone can regret MSC as a cruise option, and frankly, I just don't understand the majority of the poor reviews I've read. They just didn't apply to the week that we cruised the Opera! You should have, not just a good time, but a great time!!

 

Don't think I've forgotten anything but who knows. Any questions, e-mail me at CountessP@aol.com

 

Millie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Millie, thanks for picking up on a few points that I left off. I forgot about the drinks, since Steve and I don't drink very much. Way overpriced, $6.95 each :( Remedy: you can purchase liquor in the duty free shop onboard and they will allow you to bring it back to your cabin, make your own drinks. In the end, it will be much cheaper than the drinks you purchase on other cruise lines and you don't have to smuggle on the liquor :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For drinks - be sure to check out the 1/2 litres of wine at dinner. They have a house red and a house white for 8 bucks each. You get probably 4 glasses from each pitcher. My dinner table really enjoyed those wines (a little too much maybe?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just returned from the 2/11 MSC Opera Eastern Caribbean. Will post some thoughts for all of the questioners out there who are considering and/or reconsidering their cruise plans. My husband and I are in our 50’s, 4-time cruisers. 2-HAL and 1-RCCL and now MSC. Would I do it again? Yes, at the price point we paid for this cruise it was worth it. And here are my GOOD and NOT SO GOOD observations:

THE GOOD

1. The ship is unbelievably clean and sparkling. There’s polishing, cleaning, scrubbing, wiping, etc. etc. etc., going on 24/7. It’s the cleanest ship I’ve ever been on.

2. The crew. Although I found the officers unapproachable (not unfriendly, just sort of aloof), the real crew that serves you daily is fantastic. They are friendly and work unbelievably hard to please.

3. The "want to please" attitude in the dining room. If you’re not happy with what’s being served (even after it’s already arrived at your table), something else can be ordered and will be brought to you in minutes. This even applies to creating your own type things. Read the menu completely. Even on the facing page there are items you can order and there’s steak, salmon (bones included, be careful), grilled chicken available EVERY night for dinner. The crew is very creative to bring you something you will like. And will get you a second portion if you feel you just must have one.

4. The entertainment. We enjoyed each and every show that was presented. There was classical, magic, musical, dancing. The professionalism and enthusiasm of the stars of the shows was catching and the audience gave standing ovations for their work.

5. The ship’s decor and layout are both outstanding. The usual bars with entertainment but many nice quiet areas to enjoy yourself. Make sure you check out the small decks aft, especially the one outside the Disco on deck 12.

6. The embark and disembark was a BREEZE. Got there at 10:45am and were in the cabin with the luggage already there by 12:30pm. Upon return, got in port earlier than 7am and were in the car, with luggage, on the way home at 9:15am (even though we had a disembark color near the bottom of the list). Very efficient - they get a 10 for this one.

7. The pools and the pool decks. Nice chairs, plenty of space and chairs even on the walking deck above and around the pool and on the small aft decks.

THE NOT SO GOOD, but bearable

1. The food. You will not go hungry but you will not experience gourmet dining. I can’t quite go the "high-school cafeteria" bad but I was disappointed. Don’t eat the meat course on the first night - bad steak covered by the now-famous brown sauce?, gravy?, what is that stuff? Order the eggplant on Tuesday night (it’s called aubergine-something). And the spinach lasagna another night was great. Sort of pick and choose to your liking. The risotto that was raved about was waaaaay tooooo al dente for me. One night the salad (just plain lettuces) had what they called "sun dried tomato dressing" which tasted like yesterday’s cold meatless spaghetti sauce. Yuk. Lots of odd salads at both breakfast and lunch on the buffet in LeVelle. Like octopus and other unusual ingredients. But the bread is fresh and tasty and if you’re creative, pick up some great bread from the buffet line, take it outside to the grill line on Il Patio and make yourself a wonderful rosemary grilled chicken sandwich. Never ate a burger (scared away by the CC board on those) or a hot dog. Desserts in general tasted like some grocery store bakery chef is in charge. Not creative, much of the same day in day out. Nothing to shout about, for sure.

2. The drinks situation is what it is. At 6am you can get coffee near the grill on Il Patio. Also hot water for tea. Bring your insulated big coffee cups, you'll use them. There’s orange juice in the morning (in those crazy small cups). But really, there’s nothing else around to drink (free that is). We had read about this and brought a case of bottled water for ourselves, (easy, since we drove to the port and just put it in a small roll on suitcase). It lasted the week. We just emptied the mini-bar refrigerator and filled it with our water bottles. The de-caf coffee is also scarce. Only Sanka on Il Patio but insist on brewed de-caf at your dinner table if you want it, they actually make it, even though I only found out on the 3rd night.

3. The port calls. San Juan late and short (arrival in port was early but it gets dark pretty quick for doing much sight seeing.) San Juan is really not a port call as much as it is an embark and disembark point. People get off here and new cruisers get on for a 5-day cruise to Ft. Lauderdale. St. Maarten is a jewelry shopper’s delight. But that’s about it. La Romana - what can I say. What we did see here was a bunch of smoke stacks adjacent to the pier, took a $6pp tour bus to The Marina (saw a hundred pairs of PRADA’s ladies!!! It’s an EXTREMELY expensive yachting marina/condo development) but there was a grocery store where you can buy Dominican coffee for about $2.30/lb. Then on to Altos de Chavon which was interesting for about an hour. Lots of hawkers for the "starving artist" type of Dominican paintings, tables full of jewelry. Then the bus takes you back to the ship. The ship’s cruise entertainment director did not recommend going into La Romana, the city, during his spiel on the night before the port call. But I heard of several people that did (for a $4p/p Roundtrip taxi fare) and they enjoyed it. It’s a strange place to be docked from 10am to 11pm at night, especially with the spewing smoke stacks right next to the pier. Don’t even know what they manufacture there - maybe it was a sugar processing plant????

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

We only took one ship tour and it was the whale watching at Cayo Levantado, $68p/p and proved to be well worth it. The day started with downpours but cleared up quickly and we were blessed with sun during the adventure. It was rough in Samana Bay and quite a few people got seasick. We luckily don’t suffer from that and were amazed by the whales we saw. At least 3 to 4 dozen, jumping out of the water and spouting. It was worth every penny. Afterwards we tendered to Cayo Levantado and enjoyed a few hours of sun and swimming. We did not eat the lunch on the island.

The demographics of the cruisers was decidedly 50’s and up and up. We had a late 20’s couple (first time cruisers) as dinner tablemates along with a couple slightly older. The youngsters kept asking what line to cruise on next for a more compatible demographic. They said they enjoyed themselves, considering the price of the cruise.

The cabins and bathrooms are small. I think all cabins are exactly the same size and differ just slightly in layout. There is sufficient stowage space if you don’t overdo your packing. The weird shower is pie-shaped and you need to learn how to adjust the showerhead so that the spray doesn’t quite get too near the curtain and then clings to you. I heard many people say they just left the shower curtain wide open for extra showering space. Virtually NO counter space in the bathroom, two very small corner shelves above the small sink. Great big huge towels a plus.

FOR THE SMOKERS:

MSC has a strange unpublished policy but it sort of goes like this: They consider all cabins to be non-smoking (unless you have a balcony and then you can ONLY smoke on the balcony). They have many public smoking areas, as indicated by ashtrays on tables. On Il Patio the port side is smoking, starboard is non-smoking. The casino is a smoking area. Outdoor areas are considered to be smoking - but there are no ashtrays anywhere unless you take one off a table on Il Patio and take it with you. People smoked on the pool decks wherever they wanted to but did the steal-the-ashtray thing and no one ever bothered them. I’m not sure what they’re aiming at, it’s sort of a trying to appeal to all sides situation. I don’t think that cabin smoking has been eliminated since there is often a lingering smell of smoking in the passageways.

Yes, we would definitely cruise with MSC again. We read the CC boards, which proved to be helpful but don’t feel intimidated by all the negative posts, give it a go and you won’t be disappointed.

M&R/JAX, FL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello fellow cruisers of Opera 11-18th.

We were on with 6 other friends and we all agreed how much we loved this cruise.

While the food was at times mediocre, we found it to be quite tasty and plenty of choices. We would all sometimes order everything on the list and have a taste and then order our own according to our individual tastes.

The staff as stated was great and they mirrored our positive and upbeat complements and praise, doing everything to ensure our happiness.

We had an inside room# 9134 and were extremely happy as it was center ship!

We would find the back decks so beautiful when we wanted a quiet spot away from the pool. Deck 12 was our favorite aft, and there were plenty of deck lounges to go around. Most of the lounges were empty and quiet, perfect for seclusion and just to relax and enjoy the views. The entertainment unbelievable and one can only hope they will be there on the next cruises. The 26 year old opera tenor was outstanding. The ships entertainment crew were constantly getting you involved even when you didn't want to be, you still enjoyed it. My husband was King Neptune looking for a wife, and I happened to be in another contest the girls against the boys, getting down to the last round with an incredibly talented Italian man who out sang me by far!:o

Puerto Rico was a quick stop for us to pick up some handmade items and extremely good liquor deals.;)

In St. Martin we grabbed a cab to take us to the Ferry to Pinel Island on the French side and stayed on this beautiful private island, snorkeling and sunning. They had bathrooms and food and drinks, but the chairs were for a small fee. We sat on our towels. There over 30 beaches on the island of St Martin and certainly something for everyone. Gorgeous place and anyone wanting to see pictures can go to my email and request me to send some.

While La Romana is not known for their beaches, we took a cab, splitting the $35 cost to Canoa Coral Hilton Resort and paid $45 each to spend 6 hours enjoying all you can eat, drink and beach. And oh what a beach! If anyone wants to see the resort and beach, please email me: mdeno@yahoo.com. We loved every minute there. The food almost better then the ships and the grounds and beach were emmaculent!

Our cab, for a little more on the way back, took us to Alto De Chavon which was completely empty at that time of day,around 5:30, getting ready for the evening show. Breath taking views and worth going after hours, as you do not have to pay to get in if your cabby knows how to get in the back way. Make sure you get one who speaks English, which we requested.

He then took us on a grand tour of Casa de Campo with the views of incredibly gorgeous homes and Sammy Sosa's two homes. Then we went to town and bought a few trinkets. All and all a wonderful time!

At Cayo Levantado, when we saw the rain at 7:00 am, we decided to take the Whale Watch last minute. Since we were on a waiting list and the other two boats were full, we took a small 24ft uncovered boat along with 10 others for a magnificient adventure. The waves were at least 7-12 ft and everyone on board was entertained by my screaming as we crested each top only to plunge down to the next valley.:D The whales were performing beautifully and this is a trip not to miss!

We were back by 11am and ready for a day on the island with perfect weather and fun snorkeling. Our friends found 4 gorgeous 7 inch star fish and again, email me for the shots.

MSC like many things including ourselves, can always improve, and if you are one to complain and look too closely at the small inconveniences, you will find them. For those who look at life as to the view as the glass is half full and not half empty, you will reap precious memories and good times no matter where you go or what you do in life.

Ciao,

Maryann

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were first-time cruisers on this 2/11 Opera Cruise and cannot agree more with Beverly, Millie, Deb & Hal and Maryann.

I was embarrassed to hear a fellow Canadian (and veteran cruiser) mention that this was her least favourite ship because of the food quality and also that it was ‘too international’. Get a grip, please.

For us, the entire experience was fantastic. I would like to thank the aforementioned along with the other Deckchair members for their guidance in helping us have a great vacation!

It’s also no secret that between my checked and carry on luggage, I brought on 36 beers, 60 ounces of Rum and four bottles of wine, no questions asked. We bought two bottles at the Ships’ duty free and consumed all of the wine in the dining room. Judging by some of the lengthy statements that I saw at check-out, I was glad. Any duty free Liquor purchased off the ship at Port (the prices at San Juan and St. Martin are incredible) and taken on Ship will be held.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy the same incredible sight as us - as the Ship departs Cayo Levantado on Thursday afternoon and leaves the bay, pay particular attention to the water and you may be treated to many Humpback whale sightings!

We recorded constructive feedback for MSC and it is echoed by the following points:

1) It is a crime for MSC to charge a 3% commission on US traveller’s checks at their cash office so, be forewarned and visit a bank at any of the Port stops. Also, I agree with an earlier comment of the surly attitude of those who man the cash desk. The rest of the staff was wonderful.

2) Despite what the Ship’s Itinerary tells you (in two separate listings) about free shuttle service in La Romana and for Alto de Chavon, it simply does not exist. Furthermore, get ready for frustration if you ask for pricing for a taxi because, the pricing changes by the minute. If you wait until Noon the price really decreases. Good negotiating skills are essential. It also helps if you speak Spanish (thanks, Millie).

3) Although we believe this to be political, we would have enjoyed the beautiful MSC-owned island-stop of Cayo Laventado to be the full day and the La Romana stop just part day. The beautiful sunset at La Romana was spoiled by the smoke stacks from a Sugar Cane factory.

4) We gained weight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds to me like the staff of Opera might be reading the evaluation cards and making improvements where they can. Don't you think it's conceivable that MSC may be working through some of the kinks instead of accusing previous cruisers of having a poor attitude? I think it's a great sign that the reviews seem to be coming in a much more positive note. By the time the staff gets the Eastern Caribbean route figured out, they will be off to the Mediterranean again (sigh). Hopefully for next Winter, they will remember everything they have learned this Winter and maybe replace La Romana with a port that has a few more activities and a lot less smoke?

 

-yergie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to hear the good and bad..I always look for the positives and hope the negatives are isolated events..sounds like we are perfect candidates for the Opera..We Love Italy, Eggplant parm and Italians..hope its doesn't become too Americanized..I'll post my thoughts upon return

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Donna - you are right. The boards are working! Instead of getting scared off, we just prepared ourselves. We all brought our own mugs, tea bags, etc and filled up with water or juice in the morning. One gentlemen brought a huge 120 ounce (at least) mug with him and had the waiters at breakfast and lunch keep bringing him glasses and glasses of juice and he'd just take the glass and dump it in his giant mug. It was hysterical. It took 3 of us to lift the mug to his lips so he could drink, but it owrked well for him!

 

Thanks to everyone for all the previous comments. It really did help make my vacation perfect!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings to lifelong friends Deb, Steve, Sheila, Mark, Tina, Bev, and many others......

 

Can't imagine who you may be talking about, Deb, but I bet he loved it every time you raised that mug to his lips!!

 

So how's Hal doing??????? I know you treasure the day this cruise brought you both together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And to all you future cruisers, if you go onto this cruise with a positive attitude, a bit of booze and a big mug, guaranteed you'll have a great time. Obviously opinions differ with regard to food and ports of call, but with perhaps a few minor disappointments, which I've had on every cruise, there's just no reason you shouldn't have a wonderful week of cruising!

 

Millie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my wife and i had a wonderful time on this cruise (our 8th). keep an open mind. order the pasta and fish dishes and try to skip the buffet.the mixed drink prices were a little high. be careful in la romana and the casa de campo resort. my wife had her diamond bracelet stolen in the altos de chavon village by a street vendor who shook her hand. security was of no help at the resort. have fun

 

ed from mass

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my gosh, my mom & I had a GREAT time on the Opera!! We were a little nervous after reading the prior reviews before going on our trip, but I do remember saying, that for the price we paid and the very fact that the only thing we expected was peace & quiet and SUN...that we should do OK. And boy did we! This was my 2nd cruise (the first was Carnival with 2 girlfriends of mine) and I think I am now spoiled for any other cruiseline. This was my mom's 5th cruise and I know she had a lovely time as well. She has always used Holland America...she likes both now.

 

The food was OK, the cheesecake with chocolate sauce and the tiramisu that same evening (6PM buffet because we were going to the Kandela show that night) was really good. We're from NYC so I guess we're spoiled in that respect (food-wise). Service was outstanding. The crew was very nice, attentive...and attractive!

 

We were disappointed not to be able to do the Salto di Limon (sp?) at Cayo Levantado (rain) but the whale-watching excursion was AMAZING. The entertainment on the ship was awesome and also, don't miss the Kandela show at La Romana!

 

Speaking of La Romana, we were advised to avoid La Romana proper - just a port, not much to see/do, so those who said they went there and were disappointed....that's their own fault! I personally thoroughly enjoyed our last stop there...we went to the Marina (not much to see although they said it's a good place for a nice sunset), then to Altos de Chavon (nice views of the river, a lot of artwork - it's an artists' colony) and then we took a cab to the beach...instead of Bayahibe, we went to Dominicus. The restaurant/dive at the beach was CHEAP but seemed like siesta-time, very slow...grab a Presidente and hit the sand!! That water was WONDERFUL. I could've stayed there for the rest of the vacation...and no beggars...I hate when people say there were "Poor People" - come on now, really.

 

I've been to San Juan before, it's really built up since I was there last - again, I overheard many people say it was dirty. WHAT?? They obviously would NOT do well in New York. San Juan is GORGEOUS.

 

St. Maarten, I wasn't impressed. However, I only saw Marigot (French capital) and Phillipsburg (Dutch side)...there's so much more to see! I would go back to explore the coasts...I also don't shop so the fantastic jewelry deals meant nothing to me. The drink stand right before you get back on the pier...have a frozen drink...yummy!! Ask the guys to float some rum on top...The beach looked really nice too but my mom bought some chocolate at the Belgian Chocolate shop and we didn't want the chocolate to melt...

 

I will DEFINITELY be cruising with MSC again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beverly, I would agree with everything in your review. I wanted to include an example of the outstanding service. On the first day I went to lunch in the buffet. One of the wait staff noticed I didn't have a drink so he came over to ask if I wanted some water. I sheepishly pulled out a little bottle of Diet Coke I had brought with me (I bring my own supply on ship with me). He smiled and disappeared. Seconds later, he appeared with a cup presented to me on a small plate. The next day, as soon as I sat down for lunch, he appeared again with the cup and plate. This occurred every day. I never saw where he came from; he would just appear, smile, place the cup in front of me, pour my diet coke into the cup like it was the finest of wine and disappear. Some people on previous posts have said the staff appeared dissatisfied. I would say that a dissatisfied staff would not provide that level of individualized service.

But a flirt would!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reviews buy both Beverly and Millie are exactly as I would have wrote them.. I have to admit that after reading numerous reviews before cruiseing with M.S.C. I too was quite nervous about sailing Opera.. Its my conclusion that most where just not true.. The staff, the food, the entertainment, where all up to par. The ship is as clean as a whistle.. Yes there are things that they can improve on, but isn,t there always something that could be done better on all cruise ships?? In summary, My wife and I will sail with M.S.C. again in the future, and hopefully meet the wonderful people that made our cruise so special..Thanks guys, and thank you M.S.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am soooo happy to see all these positive reviews, sounds like MSC is listening and getting their act together, I am thrilled, both the Opera and Lirica are beautiful incredibily clean ships and I am looking forward to sailing with them again in the future when they come back my way to see how things have changed for the better:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having previously posted an Opera review with both positives and negatives, I am happy to hear that there seems to have been some improvement. As someone else mentioned, maybe several cruises worth of comment cards have led to a better experience.

 

Anyway, I do detect a "tone" from time to time in this thread that previous reviewers are wrong, have a bad attitude, or don't know what they are talking about. I spent hours constructing a review with honost opinions for the betterment of those booked on future Opera cruises (or for those with any interest in my humble opinion). I feel it is entirely possible that my review and others posted were accurate for the 1/14 cruise and that the current positive reviews are also accurate. One month presents great opportunities to improve. Kudos to MSC on that score.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can assure you that I wanted to have a fabulous cruise on the January 14 Opera cruise but it wasn't. It seems that now you have read good reports you feel that you can disregard what we reported. After the cruise I wrote the cruiseline and I wrote my TA who in turn put in a complaint as did many other TA's after hearing of their client's experiences on that cruise. Let us hope that our complaints were heard and improvements put in place. But how dare you suggest that many of the problems we wrote about were untrue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...