Americans on Splendida 11-2009

[cakeordeath]

Well, I guess we will be categorized as one of the “MSC Cheerleaders”…and that is OK with us.

We returned about a week ago from our second MSC vacation. Our first was on the Lirica in the Caribbean last year. We posted a review for that one too.

We are still trying to get settled back in …in the midst of Thanksgiving and the impending holiday season.

I will be posting in segments and would be happy to try and answer any questions.

We are an American couple in our 40’s. We traveled with our 10 year old son for his first cruise. I have been on many of the American lines and this was the second cruise for my husband who has only been on MSC…and I think is now spoiled!

More to come…

[cakeordeath]

A few pre-travel tips:

If you are traveling to Europe from the US and if it is possible in your schedule/budget I highly recommend that you arrive a few days prior to sailing to adjust to the time change. We gave ourselves 4 days to visit some friends and adjust. It really helped us enjoy the entire cruise from day 1. We got on the ship rested and ready to go.

Knowing we would be on several flights for long periods of time I decided to invest a little time and energy in finding a good travel pillow and not just pick up one at the airport. Boy was this a great use of my time! I highly recommend the “Core” travel pillow from Core Products…you can Google them. It was the most comfortable pillow I have ever used. I used it for the entire flight and arrived with no stiff neck after sleeping most of it. Worth every penny! And it slid into my carry-on. It is filled with that memory foam and not the little beads.

For the ladies I also recommend a lightweight Pashmina type wrap. I can’t use wool so mine is made from natural fibers. It rolled up and fit in my purse but was great to lay over me when it was chilly on the plane. I used it everyday on the trip…as a scarf, a shoulder wrap, to block the wind, a blanket…a small thing…but very useful.

Allergies: My son and I have several food allergies…including everyday foods like wheat and eggs. I was a little concerned about the language barrier and being able to order food that is safe for us. I found a website (https://www.allergytranslation.com/Home/home.php) where you can purchase custom food allergy translation cards. You check off your allergic foods and the languages for where you will be visiting, pay online and then receive it instantly. I printed them out and had them laminated. I only needed to use them a few times and our allergies aren’t severe…but something like this might come in handy for anyone on a special diet.

[buggins0402]

Cake!

 

Welcome back - I was wondering where you were and what you thought about the cruise! Look forward to reading your review!

 

BTW - I was wondeing which restaurants the November Splendida cruisers were assigned and which sitting. We were first sitting lower level La Reggia. As you entered left side, we were just left of the bottom of the steps. I know Rhea was in our general vicinity with the same dinner seating.

[AmoMondo]

Hi Cake

welcome back - glad ypu had a great time. Just out of interest, how did you find the Slendida compared to the Lirica?

Until I went on the Fantasia easrlier this year, I'd only been on the Lirica class ships. Whilst i found the fantasia definitely had the wow factor and more choice, in some ways I think I prefer the smaller ships as they seem more friendly. i'd be interested on your opinion in the comparison

[cakeordeath]

Cake!

 

Welcome back - I was wondering where you were and what you thought about the cruise! Look forward to reading your review!

 

BTW - I was wondeing which restaurants the November Splendida cruisers were assigned and which sitting. We were first sitting lower level La Reggia. As you entered left side, we were just left of the bottom of the steps. I know Rhea was in our general vicinity with the same dinner seating.

 

 

Hello!

Yea took me a while to carve out a little time to post.

 

When we got on the ship we were assigned to La Reggia...but that afternoon got a note in our cabin that it had been changed to Villa Verde. We were a little dissapointed because the other was so close for us but we decided to try it for the night.

 

We did not have good service, had screaming babies all around and it was far away from our cabin...kind of hard to get to. So we went directly to La Reggia and asked to be moved back. They were very nice and moved us on the spot.

 

We sat inside the left door, upstairs...a table for 3. We had Lauro and he was wonderful! It all worked out and we were really glad we switched.

[cakeordeath]

Hi Cake

welcome back - glad ypu had a great time. Just out of interest, how did you find the Slendida compared to the Lirica?

Until I went on the Fantasia easrlier this year, I'd only been on the Lirica class ships. Whilst i found the fantasia definitely had the wow factor and more choice, in some ways I think I prefer the smaller ships as they seem more friendly. i'd be interested on your opinion in the comparison

 

 

Hello!

 

I have to agree with you. This ship was beautiful in every way and we really enjoyed our trip but I think I would like something a bit smaller next time too. Not for any major reason...but just personal preference.

 

For my son's first cruise and our first time in the Med. I think this was perfect as we were out exploring the ports everyday. It wasn't that type of cruise where you settle in and hang by the pool and get to know your entertainment staff. It was a busy trip.

 

With this being my husband's last leave from Afghanistan, we just wanted to be together...we weren't looking to socialize. I think if we had been looking to do that we might have been disappointed. This felt more like a big, beautiful resort...as opposed to an intimate hide-away.

 

I think our next will be in warm weather...beaches, lounging, etc...most likely on MSC

 

This was just what we wanted and expected for this trip...

[cakeordeath]

We embarked in Barcelona.

After a brief stay in Switzerland with some friends…we flew to Barcelona and stayed over night at a hotel in Plaza Catalunya called the Oliva Plaza. A great feature was that we could take the Areo Bus from the airport to the plaza right in front of the hotel for about $5 each. The bus was right there waiting and very clean and comfortable.

We thought the hotel location was excellent…right on Las Ramblas and in the middle of everything…perfect for our short stay. Walk to most and all of the tourist buses stop right in front. In the plaza was a large department store and the entire lower level was a huge market and pharmacy which was handy for last minute items. It was closed on Sunday but I was able to run over there on Monday before taking a cab to the port. (the cab was about $10 + $10 for luggage…about 8 minutes)

The hotel was very modern and pretty but privacy could be an issue. The bathroom was a little different…the toilet and the shower share a sliding door and the “walls” are frosted glass. It was fine for us for one night but any longer (while traveling with our 10 year old) would have been difficult. It would have been fine if we were alone…then not as much need for that privacy.

We arrived at the port at about 11:30 a.m. to no line or wait. We checked in and when right on.

The ship:

The ship was as beautiful as we thought she would be. Spotless and elegant. We had booked our cabin based on wanting an outside and the lowest price. We were really pleased. It was larger than we expected and had great storage. The bunk was down for our son and he was very excited. Our cabin # was 5023 which was on the same level as the main lobby. WE found this to be a perfect location as it was easy to get to everything…and to find your way around. The stairs with the Swarovski crystals are spectacular…we just kept finding reasons to walk up and down them. They sparkled like diamonds and took my breath away.

Dinning Room:

When we arrived we were told we had seating in Il Reggio for the first seating but later that afternoon we received a note in our cabin saying our table had been changed to Villa Verde dinning room. We were a little upset because Il Reggio was on the same level as our cabin…but figured we would try the new one out for the night. For us, it was a little hard to get to and our service was not great. We were also surrounded by crying babies…so we went right to the Matre’d at Il Reggio and asked to be moved back and they did it immediately, without question. It was a great thing too…we had the most wonderful service and the room was beautiful.

note - My son and I have several food allergies including wheat, eggs and dairy. We were so pleased that they we able to adjust the meals to suit our needs and we loved the food. They had many options for bread and pasta that would fit our plan. They never minded all of the questions we needed to ask to make sure food was safe for us and they often offered suggestions that we wouldn’t have thought of.

[cakeordeath]

Tunis

 

We didn’t book a ship excursion as were trying to save money…so we weren’t sure what we were going to do here. We had read some posts on this site about just finding a cab outside and going it alone. As we walked out of the terminal there was a line of cabs with a woman matching people up with the cabs.

We stood there for a minute to see how it was all working and to read the fares and she yelled out that they were looking for a foursome…we said we were three. It turned out that there was a foursome from Malta looking to share a tour with another foursome to bring the price down per person…so we went with them. They spoke English so that was great. I think it ended up being about $20 per person with the tip.

They took us to Sidi Bou Said and we walked around and shopped for about an hour. Pretty to see the white buildings and blue trim…but the vendors were very pushy and that was unpleasant. It was also raining on and off. We drove by Carthage…was too quick and then on to Mdina which I would have preferred to miss altogether. It was getting late and dark and there was a ton of city traffic. We were all concerned about not making it back to the ship…that we could see in the distance. We ended up making it back with no problem but the stress of that last hour or so prompted us to go right in and cancel our private excursion in Rome and to book a ship sponsored one! I did not want to be an hour and a half away from the ship and have some unforeseen thing happen to make us miss it.

We really felt like the best part of Tunis for us, was getting the Africa stamp on our passports! We had a good time but it was not one of my favorite ports.

[cakeordeath]

Malta

 

We LOVED Malta!!! The Maltese we toured with the day before gave us some tips which were great.

We got off the ship and walked into the city…a bit of a walk and it was raining but it was fun to see the city before it was awake. You walk off the ship towards the right and just keep going until you see the big gate opening. Then up some stairs and narrow streets. The first place we went was St. Johns Co Cathedral…all I can say was AMAZING.

The perfect place to take a 10 year old boy…you are walking over the marble mosaic tombs of 400 Knights! What could be cooler than that. It was beautiful…breathtaking. There was a very long line that scared us but then we realized that was for tours and took the shorter on to the right for singles. They gave you an audio tour device to use with the cost of your ticket. No hats or high heels! I think this is a MUST SEE.

We wandered around town and went to the Armory in the Palace of the Masters. Again perfect place for young boys…all old armor and weapons. It was a little expensive but we thought it was worth it.

Then we walked towards the buses…we just asked someone the directions. It wasn’t far at all. We took a bus to Mdina for a couple of euro. We just asked which one to get on…I think there were three going there (#’s 80, 81 and 84 I think)

The bus drops you about two blocks from Mdina’s walls. Mdina was very pretty and interesting. Another beautiful church. We did it quick as it was raining but I think it is worth seeing. The bus back to Valetta is about a block away…we just asked which one to take. That dropped us back where we started.

Then we took another bus back to the port. It was very easy, very cheap and convenient. I think we paid under 2 euro for all three of us.

It was great…even with the rain!

[buggins0402]

Oh Cake! Such a wonderful read! Looking forward to the rest.

 

How fortunate your son was to get a great European vacation at age 10!

Glad to hear he enjoyed himself.

 

Gosh, we were probably walking around Sidi Bou Said at the same time.

[Rhea58]

Cake; couldn't agree more re Malta. Such a lovely country.

I had spent a week in Valletta & another on Gozo on a land

vacation some time ago and it was great to see it again.

Also, I had to recon Marks & Spencer.

 

However, I fell in love with Barcelona. The only ship-sponsored

excursion I took (had to see Park Guell for Gaudi) also

featured the magnificent Sagrada Familia and we got to

see the inside...Have to go back for the opening of the 2026

services!!! Talk about job security...those 400 folks have

been working for years.

[hat776]

However, I fell in love with Barcelona. The only ship-sponsored

excursion I took (had to see Park Guell for Gaudi) also

featured the magnificent Sagrada Familia and we got to

see the inside...Have to go back for the opening of the 2026

services!!! Talk about job security...those 400 folks have

been working for years.

 

Rhea - our tour guide said that the gov. was wary of forking out all the money needed to start work on the building. There is a Gaudi association and lots and lots of people who work in Barcelona have a small sum deducted from their salaries each month to help with the building. They feel , and rightly so, that they all have a share in the Sagrada Familia.

[cakeordeath]

The holidays sucked up a bunch of time!

I am back to finish our review...

 

Messina...

 

The time was short so we decided to walk and explore the town. We got a map for free in the terminal that had two walking tours on it.

 

We used it as a guide but just sort of wandered around. We saw the Duomo Plaza and the church. It was so different from all we had seen but still beautiful. We walked the side streets then back to the plaza.

 

We sat outside at a cafe called Dolce Vita and has coffee and a snack. We had our small laptop with us and were able to get free wifi there with a code from the cafe. It was warm and sunny and very nice.

 

The church bells chimed and the gold figures rotated in the bell tower. It was a short walk back to the ship...a nice relaxing day.

[cakeordeath]

Civitiveccia/Rome

 

After the stress of getting back to the ship in Tunisia we decided to cancel our privately booked tour of Rome and book a ship sponsored one. There was one listed onboard that seemed different from the ones on the website that I looked at before we left on the trip.

“The Grand Tour of Rome”

It had an internal tour of the Coliseum which was important to us and was the main reason we originally didn’t want to do a ship excursion. All of the others you just saw it from the outside.

It was a great decision!! It ended up being cheaper and was a wonderful tour. The bus was very comfortable, clean and perfectly on time. The bonus was a fantastic, Italian lunch that was hassle free and included in the price of the tour. (Papa Rex near the Vatican)

We had a great overview of the city and the Vatican…which was amazing. We would highly recommend this!

[cakeordeath]

Genoa

 

We were on a budget so we had to limit our ship excursions. From all we read about Genoa it seemed easy to tour on our own. Everyone talked about the aquarium…which I am sure is wonderful…but we live in “the ocean state” and have been to many large, amazing aquariums…so we choose not to go there.

This is what we did…

After getting off the ship, there is really no guidance. We walked towards the large building facing us which we found out was the cruise terminal. We were looking to get a map but it was almost empty…in a spooky sort of way. It is not obvious how to walk into the city.

We headed towards an escalator that went up…and was working. We found a small shop and a large rotunda. Straight ahead were two big doors and through them we saw a large fountain. Next to the fountain on a bridge was one of those topless tour buses that were at every port.

We decided to hop on and take a tour of the city. It was 10 Euro for each adult and 5 Euro for our son (which he ended up not charging us for). We had comfortable seats and headsets to hear the tour in our language. It was perfect and very informative. We saw a lot of the city.

After the tour there was a street called Via Septembre that we wanted visit so we grabbed a taxi and headed back there. We walked around and bought some gifts to bring home. We also visited the Oriental Mercat open market. We had a great lunch outside at a place called Tim’s Café on one of the side streets up near the Plaza Ferrari.

We took a taxi back to the aquarium to see the pirate ship and walked through their shops. We walked back towards the ship, up some industrial looking stairs and ended up right on the bridge where we originally took the bus tour. We went back through the cruise terminal and bought some stamps at the small store. There was a mail slot o we sent off our post cards right there. We headed back to the ship…it was another great day!

[cakeordeath]

Marseilles

 

We took the ships shuttle bus into town for 10 Euro each

It drops our 2 blocks from the view port…very convenient!

You just walk towards the water.

We got in line for the Petite Train even though it wasn’t to start running for about 15-20 min. It was a good decision as the line grew very quickly! The suggestion we read to sit on the right side for good picture taking was true. There were two trips…we took the tour that went to Notre Dame De La Garde.

Ours was a tour of the city and the church. Amazing! I would say it is a do not miss. There were services going on because it was Sunday but that made it special to see it in working action. The inside is beautiful and so colorful. Worth the walk up! There is a small café too.

We took the train back down and explore the town on foot. We went to the Espace De Mode (Fashion Museum) which I had read about. They had a wonderful exhibit that we toured.

Across the street was a beautiful old carousel that we rode. It seemed like a lot of locals out with their children. After we walked about a block down towards the water and found a entire alley filled with cafes. We chose one randomly and had a wonderful lunch.

On the way back to the shuttle bus we found a small shop that was open and I purchased some soaps for gifts at 6 for 10 Euro. They smelled yummy!

Then we took the shuttle bus back to the ship. Another wonderful half day.

[cakeordeath]

About the Ship…

 

There were a few (VERY few) negatives for us…

Now I know I am a little wimpy when it comes to cold pool water but their pools were even to cold for my husband and son! My husband ice dives and my son will go swimming ANYTIME. My son went in the indoor pool once and we didn’t go in at all. Too cold.

Along the same lines…the hot tubs were not hot. They were warmer than the pool but we only used them once. It would have been nice after all the walking to come back to a “hot” hot tub.

The ships stores did not have a big selection of sundries and personal items that guests might forget or run out of. Only the pool shop had Band-Aids and seemed to have odd open hours. I needed some bobby pins or any kind of hair accessory and they didn’t have any.

We thought the ships photos were expensive. We didn’t remember them being that much on the Lirica but maybe they were. The actual pictures weren’t great so maybe the price stood our more.

Other than that we had a beautiful vacation and would…and will…sail with MSC again!

[cakeordeath]

About the Ship…

 

Some personal notes…

We realized that we didn’t drink enough beer (my husband) or eat enough ice cream to warrant purchasing the packages. We had tickets left over and probably wouldn’t buy those packages again in the future.

The entertainment…

Some was really fun and some just wasn’t out cup of tea. Others seemed to enjoy it so it might just be us…or a cultural thing. Maybe some of it wasn’t great because the ship is so new. Overall we had a great time.

[Capricruiser]

We leave on the Splendida next week so I really really enjoyed your review, however segmented! With most Splendida/Fantastica reviews I've read, everyone seems to have had their cabins on the medium to lower decks. Ours will be on deck 12 and I'm just wondering if the higher decks are to be avoided for some reason???

[AmoMondo]

Hi cakeordeath

Completely agree with you about Le Petit Train in marseille being unmissable. the views on the way up were amazing and the Basilica itself well worth the 200 stair climb!

 

Glad you had a great time overall.

[buggins0402]

Cake,

 

Thanks for taking the time to post the review...it brought back many wonderful memories!!!!

 

 

We leave on the Splendida next week so I really really enjoyed your review, however segmented! With most Splendida/Fantastica reviews I've read, everyone seems to have had their cabins on the medium to lower decks. Ours will be on deck 12 and I'm just wondering if the higher decks are to be avoided for some reason???

 

We were on 12 (inside 12009), near the front (probably as far from the MDR's as one can get.) No problem for us. It's a big ship so anywhere you want to go seems like a bit of a hike (the fitness center would be a hike for those at the back on a lower deck). Avoid the central elevators and use the stairs when able and you won't have a problem. If you're up in the front on Deck 12 perhaps you'll get our wonderful steward - I know he had at least 4 more months on his contract.

[Capricruiser]

Thanks Buggins. Did you have any problems with sea movement up there?

[buggins0402]

Thanks Buggins. Did you have any problems with sea movement up there?

 

Sailing in and out of Barcelona was pretty rough seas (even staff was commenting about the crossing to Tunisia). We did feel the cabin rocking (and heard a ton of creaks - ship was barely broken in by November). But it didn't seem any worse than we felt elsewhere on the ship while walking around. I have a tendency to some sea sickness, but had no problems (did take remedies to prevent though).

[AmoMondo]

Hi Capricruiser

 

We were also on deck 12 on the Fantasia (late Apr/early May). Our cabin was towards the back of the midship section. We had absolutely no issues with movement at all. We did have fairly calm seas though

[Capricruiser]

Thanks Buggins and Amo. While I would never take an low inside cabin unless it was the last one available, they say that the mid-ship insides on the lower decks are the most stable. These two ships are so huge you would think it would take a tidal wave to move them about. Living on an island, I'm pretty well conditioned to rough winter seas but the problem comes into play when it's time to eat and the glassware and utensils start bouncing off the table.