Just back from the Splendida!!! Any questions?

[bigilla]

Hi. We

I just came back from a very nice cruise (not without faults). We had fun except at night...cause we found bad weather almost everywhere.

 

If you have any questions...ask!!

[PC168]

Hi bigilla,

Welcome back. We have a couple questions to ask you, hope you can clear for us:

1. Are there actually no evening free-of-charge (FOC) buffet at all?

 

2. Formal night for men, can they just dress a polo shirt and kakhis (long pants), without suit & tie? Is this ok?

 

3. In Marseille, shuttle to port, do we have to pay MSC to take this shuttle and what is the cost?

 

4. In Barcelona, what does MSC dock, is it walkable to the Columbus Monument or we have to take the Blue bus, how far is it?

 

Many thanks. Appreciate.

 

Carrie

[bigilla]

Hi bigilla,

Welcome back. We have a couple questions to ask you, hope you can clear for us:

1. Are there actually no evening free-of-charge (FOC) buffet at all?

 

2. Formal night for men, can they just dress a polo shirt and kakhis (long pants), without suit & tie? Is this ok?

 

3. In Marseille, shuttle to port, do we have to pay MSC to take this shuttle and what is the cost?

 

4. In Barcelona, what does MSC dock, is it walkable to the Columbus Monument or we have to take the Blue bus, how far is it?

 

Many thanks. Appreciate.

 

Carrie

__________________________________

 

Thanks.

 

1) No there is no free evening buffet.

 

2) I saw many men dressed like you said (with a shirt rather than a polo). The Gala nights are no great event. They are just normal dinners. In fact many people seem to know this and dress casual. The few of us that dressed elegantly felt akward believe me. On one gala night you can share a word and take a photo with the captain and crew. But this is not done in the dining rooms. If you want to do so, perhaps you can consider dressing more elegantly.

 

3) I m sorry I can t help you here cause the ship did not go to Marseilles because of the adverse weather conditions. Instead we went to the port of Toulon.

 

4) In Barcelona we took a taxi to go to the zoo and back. Therefore I m sorry but can t help here either.

 

If you have any more questions which i can answer, I would gladly do so.

[Rhea58]

There was a Pay for bus shuttle for Marseille which was one block from

the harborfront so quite convenient...and there is a Galleries Lafayette

there if you are so interested; but it was Sunday so my credit card did

not get a workout!

 

Also for Barcelona; however I took a tour there so did not use a shuttle.

I think you might need trans for the Columbus monument.

 

 

My notes are home but I think the Marseille shuttle was 8 E.

 

those were the only 2 ports that required one to pay for a shuttle.

the rest of my cruise one could walk ashore.

[Satincruz]

 

In Barcelona, what does MSC dock, is it walkable to the Columbus Monument or we have to take the Blue bus, how far is it?

 

Many thanks. Appreciate.

 

Carrie

 

 

In Barcelona--if it's a nice weather day--you definitely CAN walk to the monument (I've done it before, pulling a suitcase!) It's a couple of miles, but it's a nice and safe walk. Just go up the ramp out of the port, and then walk east along the water. Once you get to the statue, from there it is an easy walk to Las Ramblas and/or to the boardwalk and aquarium. Later, if you're tired after a long day of walking, you may want to catch the blue bus back (I think it costs about 2 euros). Here's a map and info page:

 

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/barcelona-cruise-port.html

 

And a google map:

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=columbus+monument+barcelona&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Columbus+Monument,+Pla%C3%A7a+del+Portal+de+la+Pau,+08002+Barcelona,+Spain&gl=us&ei=MnojTO34GY7rnQf4yowB&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA

[LoriL1109]

Hi,

I was just wondering about dressing for dinner on regular nights. I read somewhere that jeans and or shorts were not allowed.

 

Did you find that to be the case or did people wear whatever they wanted for dinner. I don't mind dressing a little fancier if I have to but, I'm traveling with 2 small children and if I'd be fine without extra dress clothes, I'd rather pack lighter.

 

Plus, my husband is not a fan of dressing up so, other than maybe 2 pairs of khakis, most of his pants are jeans.

 

Thanks in Advance!

[Zignewt]

Jeans are fine for casual nights. I don't recall anyone wearing shorts. I wore capris a couple of nights and my daughter wore jeans.

[mihaikolf]

__________________________________

 

Thanks.

 

1) No there is no free evening buffet.

 

 

Did you asked for details ? I cannot believe that the buffet was there only for the time of my cruise !

[Zignewt]

There was no free evening buffet when I was on board - from June 11 - 18.

[bigilla]

Nice jeans are ok for casual / informal dinners. I saw no one wearing shorts (not nice to be seen in in the lovely dining rooms).

 

Unfortunatly no, there was not an alternative buffet in the evenings!!!

[alanwexford]

In Marseille, shuttle to port, do we have to pay MSC to take this shuttle and what is the cost?

 

 

When we were on the Splendida at the end of april The Marseille shuttle bus cost 15 euro each return.

 

Taxi one way is about 25 euro.

[PC168]

Thank you very much for everyone's help.

 

One thing is I can't believe MSC shuttle is so expensive per person. (Heard that in Mykonos, MSC charges 15E for shuttle per person to town and taxi is only 5E) and our Musica will dock at 8pm to 2am! :confused: There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

No evening FOC buffet is very disappointed.

 

Hi biggila,

Going back to the water question, I know someone might say this is old news. However, from your last week's experience on the Splendida, did you see them serve jug of ice water in MDR? Was it a hassle to ask?

Thanks.

[bigilla]

Thank you very much for everyone's help.

 

One thing is I can't believe MSC shuttle is so expensive per person. (Heard that in Mykonos, MSC charges 15E for shuttle per person to town and taxi is only 5E) and our Musica will dock at 8pm to 2am! :confused: There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

No evening FOC buffet is very disappointed.

 

Hi biggila,

Going back to the water question, I know someone might say this is old news. However, from your last week's experience on the Splendida, did you see them serve jug of ice water in MDR? Was it a hassle to ask?

Thanks.

__________________________________________

 

Yes the shuttle fees are very expensive. In fact we always did the excursions on our own. We went to Genova Aquarium and Barcelona zoo by Taxi. It was more worth it. It cost about 10 Euros one way.

 

I did not see waiters serving jugs of water in the MDR.

[Satincruz]

Thank you very much for everyone's help.

 

One thing is I can't believe MSC shuttle is so expensive per person. (Heard that in Mykonos, MSC charges 15E for shuttle per person to town and taxi is only 5E) and our Musica will dock at 8pm to 2am! :confused: There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 kids.

 

 

Hi PC168,

 

I hate those high shuttle fees too :mad:

 

As far as Mykonos--it does seem that that is also a short walk into town (even shorter than the Barcelona walk), and at that time of night, it should also be cooler :)

 

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Mykonos.htm

 

And you may also find these reviews generally helpful:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/ports/mykonos-cruises/

 

Hmmn--Marseille DOES sound too far to walk, from these reviews:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/ports/marseille-cruises/

 

But I think that from many of the ports, you actually may be able to walk instead of using the shuttles.

[Rhea58]

I went home & looked at my 11/09 cruise notes and the

Marseille Shuttle was 10E...they have bumped it to 15E

Alan Wexford says above....WOW!!!

 

Personally from a public relations standpoint this is a pisspoor

company policy...because she is too big to dock at some of the

regular docks, the pax are penalized!!!! hmmmmmm.

Or should one accept this as part of the "european culture?"

[PC168]

This sounds good, we will pack a couple pairs of jeans for other nights in the MDR, especially my 14 year old, all he wears is jeans.

 

Personally from a public relations standpoint this is a pisspoor

company policy...because she is too big to dock at some of the

regular docks, the pax are penalized!!!! hmmmmmm.

Or should one accept this as part of the "european culture?"

 

Well, if she is too big to dock, then I prefer tenders, it may sound taking longer time but if she dock far from town and people have to take transit, this cost time & money too, tender sounds better. May be MSC wants to make money in every possible way?! Say statiscally 10% of 3000 pax take the shuttle, they make quite some profit.;)

[Capricruiser]

Regarding the port shuttle buses, it's a misnomer to call it a "MSC Shuttle" because the service is furnished not by MSC but by the port authorities, whether in Barcelona, Malaga, or Marseilles. I seem to recall the price being €6 for a round-trip ticket. In some ports they don't even allow walking from the ship to the port exit but in this case the shuttle is usually free. In others you can walk but if it's a long distance you can easily use up to an hour of precious port time just walking back and forth between ship and town.

Regarding dinner dress in the restaurants, MSC has three separate dress codes: Casual, Informal, and Gala. Jeans are fine for casual nights, while dress pants and a nice shirt would be best for the informal. A suit or sportcoat and tie is all that's necessary for gala nights unless you want to deck out with a tux or long gown. Otherwise if you're "nicely dressed" you won't be turned away, but shorts and tee shirts are definitely out.

[kathybcruisin]

Hi, family group going on Splendida in sept. and we would love to have any info re: private tours that might be arranged from the states in advance, any special info on the excursions you were on, etc.

Your input would be much appreciated.

thank you,

Kathybcruisin

[Rhea58]

kathybcruisin

Hope others will chime in w/their offerings as I am a do-it-yourselfer.

 

In Genoa just walked ashore but bring your own info as I found none there. Bit of a walk but definitely doable to go up the hill to town.

Pack tote umbrella - could rain or buy 5E one from guys on the dock.

 

Marseilles - took 10E shuttle into town which stops near the port...there is a pax choo-choo train that does excursions there plus many waterfront

cafes. Many opted for the 47E tour to Aix-en-Provence half day tour

among other MSC offerings.

 

Barcelona- Bought the 42E Gaudi tour to Guell Park & to Sagrada Familia

& guide paid for inside visit....church is a MUST See.

 

Tunis - did not go ashore. Many took waiting taxis to tour.

 

Malta- This is a vey easy do it yourself either by walking up the hill

or taking a 1E close bus which I did as it was raining. I had spent a

land vacation here & Gozo so was very familiar w/Valletta which is

a charming town.

 

Messina - very small city that you can easily walk. Tourist office

as you exit ship that will give you a map & answer queries.

 

Rome - I departed ship here for a few days in Rome.

 

If you go way back to last summer on this board there were a few

posters from Malta that were very very helpful in describing sights

as they were the first to embark after her initial sailing.

 

Re dress: found it to be very relaxed & not as formal as the ships that sail out of US ports. Hope this helps somewhat.