Lirica - Trans Atlantic

[cruising babe]

We are travelling on the 02 May sailing,:) we cruised on the Opera in October so know pretty much what expect of the ship. I am imagining it to be similar to the Opera in layout and the way it is run. Like many of you who contribute to this site, we also found inconsistencies in service and food, but at the end of the day you cannot question the overall value for money. Hence we are happy to travel with MSC again.

We have not been to the Caribbean before so can anyone tell us if the excursions are good value for money or is it possible to do your own thing. Is there much to see ?

Also if anyone has done the Trans Atlantic crossing - Is there entertainment and things to do during the days at sea ?

[MikeWitte]

Transatlantic on Lirica - last time (Jan 2005) we sunbathed,ate, drank, read books, watched the occasional movie on the cabin TV,ate,drank,ate etc etc.

Don't remember any entertainment as such but that might have been due to drinking.

Oh yes - There was Joe Magic with his craft classes, if you want to make paper flowers etc.

[czechmate]

For the shore excursions it is cheaper to do your own thing - and especially if you have another 2 people to share taxi costs.

[czechmate]

One ships tour which we did when on Melody was very interesting.

 

First from Castries we boarded a catamaran and salied down the coast visiting Marigot Bay and then anchored off a small beach so people could swim/snorkel then sailed on past the Pitons and into Soufriere. Then it was on to small mini buses for a tour of the sulphur springs then up into the hills and the rain forests for some spectacular views especially one over the coast with Marigot Bay clearly visible we also visited the fishing village of Anse Le Ray before finally returning by coach to Castries. It seems that some groups do the tour in reverse with the coach part starting the tour.

 

It was well worth while.

 

Some of the folks we knew just spent the day at the local "Sandals" which they said was wonderful and another couple had booked a private tour to the Marquis Estate which they enjoyed very much. This included a scenic tour and a ride on a river raft.

 

Not sure if this will be available to you as we headed off early morning and did not get back to Lirica till mid/late afternoon.

[tomahawk]

My wife and I are also scheduled to take the May 2nd 2005 cruise to Genoa. Look Forward to meeting other cruise critic members. We were introduced to a great group of people on the NCL Dawn repositioning cruise from Miami to New York about a year and a half ago. Setting up shore excursions yourself can be a lot cheaper and a lot more fun if you have another couple or two. On the last cruise we me a lot of fun people through when we were invited to a Cruise Critic get together and then helped them set up a excursion on the Bannana Bus in Aruba.

[cruising babe]

Hi Tom & Joan

 

We would love to meet up with you on the Lirica in May. We will be travelling out from the UK the day before the cruise and overnighting somewhere in Miami (we have not been told the Hotel details yet).

We are really looking forward to this cruise as it will be our first time in the Caribbean and our first Trans Atlantic crossing. My husband will be celebrating his birthday during the trip and it would be nice to have some others to party with.

Irene & Roger:)

[tomahawk]

Hi Irene & Roger:

 

Joan and I may have to leave the cruise in Barbados, rather than going Transatlantic. Since our son, who has been studying for his Doctorate in Theoretical Physics, is defending his thesis in April and may get his degree in mid May so we intend to be back for the Doctoral Ceremony if his defense is successful. But we still plan to make the Caribbean portion of the trip and will look forward to partying with you during that time.

 

Hold all your purchases of jewelry for St. Thomas. On a previous trip we purchased some of ours in Aruba, and then were informed, by the Norwegian Dawn's jewelry expert, that the best buys in the Caribbean are made in St. Thomas.

 

We have been to the ports of Aruba, Dominica, St. Thomas, Georgetown Jamaica, Curacao, Granada, Tortola, Cozemel, Belize, Roatan, Key West Fl, and the Bahamas. We have not yet been to the ones listed on this cruise except for St. Thomas so we are looking forward to them.

 

On our trip to visit relative in Wales, we returned Transatlantic from Southampton to New York with stopovers in Ireland and Bermuda. It seemed like a long trip because, once we left Ireland we didn't see another vessel or even another living thing, except that which was on the Rembrandt, for six days. I told Joan I felt a little like pampered prisioner. Although there were activities including dancing, bingo and Trivia and Tai Chi lessons. We also got to know several of the entertainers and staff and were even invited to go on shore leave with some of them in Bermuda. Just a little drinking at a local pub. Ha! Ha!

 

The only other problem was that we ran into the tail end of Hurricane Mitch the night before we reached Bermuda, and had 40 ft waves. Luckily we had purchased Seabands for our wrists while in London. With the proper adjustment of them, we didn't even get seasick. It just rocked us to sleep. Keep in touch and we'll make arrangements to meet on the ship.

[stowaway2k]

Hello

 

I will be crossing and cruising on Lirica May 2. I was just in the Caribbean over the holidays on QE2, calling at some of the same ports: San Juan, St. Thomas, Martinique, and Barbados.

 

I'm not sure of my plans once we get to Genoa, other than eventually making it to Paris, Hamburg, Edinburgh and Dublin, all to visit friends I have met on prior cruises.

 

I'm travelling solo, I'll be in cabin 7161.

 

I love being at sea, and I'm looking forward to the transatlantic crossing, with a little bit of "excitement" courtesy of Mother Nature I hope!

 

I still need to make plans to get to Ft. Lauderdale from L.A., with all this rain lately I should start swimming now!

 

see you all on board...

 

Kyle

[tomahawk]

Just a suggestion. Try hotwire.com to set up your plane and hotel reservations in the US. We were able to get excellent rates recently on a trip from Harrisburg, PA to Chicago and 4 nights in the Hilton Garden in downtown Chicago and back to Harrisburg.

 

I checked but Hotwire can't do one way trips from Europe to U.S. for the return trip.

[cruising babe]

Hi Tom & Joan

Sorry to hear that you may be leaving the cruise in Barbados. Thanks for the tips about shopping in St Thomas - I will really look forward to the jewlery shops, my favourite type of shopping.

We will make some meeting arrangements nearer the time - keep in touch. Irene & Roger

[cruising babe]

Hi Kyle

Thanks for your message. My Husband and I will be travelling out from the UK the day before the cruise. We will be staying in Miami overnight - MSC have not told us the Hotel details yet. On the return trip we will fly from Milan back to London without any stopover. We would love to have spent some time in Milan but have to get back home. If you have any spare time Milan is a lovely city and well worth a visit.

This cruise is going to be very special for us as we have a dual celebration, my husband has a birthday during the cruise and it is also the year of our 35th wedding anniversary.

As for excitement - well if me and my husband can find somewhere on the Lirica to boogie to the sounds of the sixites, then I think that should be just enough excitement for this cruising babe !!

[stowaway2k]

 

This cruise is going to be very special for us as we have a dual celebration, my husband has a birthday during the cruise and it is also the year of our 35th wedding anniversary.

QUOTE]

 

Fantastic! Congratulations! Please let me buy a round of drinks on both of these occasions.

 

Kyle

[cruising babe]

Many thanks - we will look forward to joining you for a drink or two

 

xx

[stowaway2k]

Hello,

 

I was just at MSC's website, and I was surprised to see that there is no information at all on Lirica's May 2 transatlantic. It just doesn't exist. Opera's April transatlantic is well featured though. If you search "transatlantic" on the website, only the Opera appears. Lirica's April Caribbean itinerary and her May 21 Med. itinerary are evident, but nothing inbetween, about Lirica sailing to Genoa from Florida. Hmmm....??

Anybody have any insight about this?

 

Kyle

[caviargal]

Hi Irene & Roger:

 

 

Hold all your purchases of jewelry for St. Thomas. On a previous trip we purchased some of ours in Aruba, and then were informed, by the Norwegian Dawn's jewelry expert, that the best buys in the Caribbean are made in St. Thomas.

 

 

IME (102 cruises and years in the industry) these "experts" receive kickbacks for the referrals so I would take this with a grain of salt and be an eduated consumer.

 

I have gotten good buys in St. Thomas but acutally did very well several times in St. Maarten. WHen I had a problem with a John Hardy bracelet I purchased in St. Maarten, their cusomer service was terrific and the bracelet was swapped out for me in their NY customer service HQ.

 

CG

[KathyJ88]

Kyle

 

We tried to book this cruise with a UK agent and they couldn't get a price from MSC. All the US web sites have it and we eventually got a great deal with Sky Auctions, but it does seem strange.

 

Kathy

[tomahawk]

Hi everyone, we probably can not make the cruise at all. Skyauction has informed us we cannont get our money back from them. But informed us that we can sell the cabin to anyone who wants to go. So if you have any friends who want to go on this cruise with you, just let us know and we can see if we can come to agreement on a good cruise bargain. We made the reservations a year and a half ago, before we knew the about our son's graduation and the arrangements that had to be made. It is an inside cabin. No airfare included. They can contact us at Thhawk@comcast.net for more informataion.

[tomahawk]

Made a mistake the E-mail address is Thhawk@comcast.net for the cruise bargain information. Thanks! Ok, was able to correct mistake in the previous e-mail address. Didn't think I could make changes.

[stowaway2k]

Hi Tom and Joan,

 

 

Well, at least it's for a very good and happy reason that you won't be cruising/crossing with us.

Whomever you sell your cruise to, please invite them to join us here in the discussion boards.

We'll meet up on the seven seas another time then!

Kyle

 

P.S.

I'm still very curious as to why MSC's website has no mention at all of Lirica's repositioning cruise, while Opera's is well featured.

[tomahawk]

Don't know for sure, but maybe its overbooked.

[stowaway2k]

Don't know for sure, but maybe its overbooked.

 

Hi

My travel agent, who I spoke to today, said that it's not sold out, and it's a mystery to her as to why there is no mention on the website.

How can it sell out, if MSC is not marketing it.

Kyle

[czechmate]

If on the msc website with the "Plan a Voyage" serach you enter "Trans-atlantic", "May" and "Lirica" it does come up. Well it does on mine!

 

Just a thought on my part:

could it be that MSC are trying to promote Opera 2nd April and fill that (they still have availability categories 4 to 9) and then once that is at sea they have a month to heavily promote Lirica in May.

[stowaway2k]

If on the msc website with the "Plan a Voyage" serach you enter "Trans-atlantic", "May" and "Lirica" it does come up. Well it does on mine!

QUOTE]

 

Hello,

 

I had done exactly that several times over the past couple of weeks, and the only thing that appeared was message saying that there was no information for the search that I specified. Then I would search "transatlantic" only and Opera April 2 would appear.

 

Until now!

 

So, it must have been just a website issue that has now been corrected.

 

Thanks!

 

Kyle

[stowaway2k]

Hello,

 

I came home to find my documents waiting for me. I didn't expect them so soon, a nice surprise!

 

Now, about our call at Barcelona. Arriving 9pm and departing midnight?

Why bother?

What with debarkation, etc., what can one possibly do with less than three hours, probably only two hours, late at night? Wander up and down the docks? No time to really see or do anything at all. This is hardly even time enough for good late meal, and even then, only if there are decent places to go adjacent to the dock.

A few more hours in Malaga, the day before, would be time much better spent.

I've always wanted to see Barcelona, I guess I'll still have to wait for another time.

Really, why even bother with this stop, as the cruise ends in Genoa the next morning?

 

There has been so much chatter on this board for the Opera's transatlantic, and a lot of silence for the Lirica's. Are we all shy, those of us sailing on Lirica?

 

See you on board

 

Kyle

[stowaway2k]

Hello,

 

 

Now, about our call at Barcelona. Arriving 9pm and departing midnight?

 

Geez, I'm so stupid!

 

Departure is NOON the next day, not midnight the same day! Duh! And Genoa the day after. I need my eyes examined!