Just returned from msc splendida western med

[tammez]

Hi all just returned from a great cruise fabulous weather! Arrived home Xmas eve. If you have any questions please feel free.

[momofmeg]

Just want to know all the good things about the ship. We are considering this ship for late next year. I'm American. Were there many Americans?

[tammez]

Hi we travelled on carnival magic in aug and in our opinion the splendida was definitely more elegant. We had nothing but courteous service throughout our 7 day trip. I would say less than 5 % Americans on our trip. The food in the MDR is Italian and varied which our family are happy to try. Providing your outlook is one of independence you will have a great time . If you require a lot of information and your hand held then this is maybe not the line for you.

I will post review next 2days.

[Invincible]

having read many negative reports on here for MSC was plased to read your comments particularly as we are doing the same cruise with the same itinery in late January from Barcelona. Did you have enough time in Gibraltar I think it's only a 5 hour stop, did you do your own thing in the different ports can you give me any tips about the ports as we do have the same itinery as I said earlier

[All aboard??]

Just want to know all the good things about the ship. We are considering this ship for late next year. I'm American. Were there many Americans?

I wasn't on the Splendida but did travel on her sister Fantasia.

 

I travelled in the Yacht Club and there, Americans were in the average mix of things. As for the rest of the ship, I don't really know becuase we didn't venture out of our enclave much (except to the Casino :o and the YC dedicated restuarant :D).

 

If you thinking about Splendida and you have the means, do yourself a favour and try the Yacht Club......you will definietly not regret it.

[tammez]

Hi here's what we did at ports;

Barcelona the MSC transfer was 13€/adult 8€ child under 14 which we thought was a bit much for a family of 4 for 5 hours. We took a cab to the bottom of La Rambla at Christopher Columbus column for 10€. Here the hop on/ hop off bus for the southern Barcelona circuit can be found. We wandered up the Rambla enjoyed the sights and took the hoho buses at the top for the northern circuit which is the Gaudi works and the neu camp football stadium to name but a few. Great day 19 degrees !

Casablanca was next we made a mistake here and followed the crowd out of port and into the town which took 45 mins. Found the tourist info but they had no maps! So gambled and followed 1 or 2 fellow travellers to a market inside a walled area. Good fun if you are assertive as you are never left alone and some funny comments etc. however the wife didn't enjoy and after 15 mins we were frogmarched back to ship!

We should have taken a taxi(not directly outside ship but about 10 mins await as they are cheaper ) and haggled for a cheap euro taxi ride to the Hassan II mosque with the tallest minaret in the world! It is not walk able.

Gibraltar tried DIY to cable car. Walk 20 mins to some arches, took no2 free bus to cable car to discover it is an houses wait to go up possibly the same to return. Cost 15 € return adult or 25.5€ including nature reserve 7.8€\17.55€ children. Couldn't the time so explored the town. With hindsight would have taken a minibus outside the ship that were offering 25 € p/p to go straight up the rock including nature reserve.

Valencia took Msc transfer 8€ adult 6€ kids. Make sure you are there early as there were only 3 coaches initially and a half hour wait before any more sowed up. The journey is about 25 mins and drops you in the centre. Travel back down road find Calle Paz road stay on until you reach the beguiling plaza de la reina. Fantastic square.

Marseille- I decided to go to Avignon which is a beautiful walled city in Provence. Took cab from ship to saint Charles station 18€. Took regional train to Avignon central 38 € 1 1/2 hour journey. Arrived back at 8 .20 as train back delayed by half an hour!

 

Weather was fantastic cloudless skies and 19 to 24 degrees!

 

Hope this helps!

[momofmeg]

I wasn't on the Splendida but did travel on her sister Fantasia.

 

I travelled in the Yacht Club and there, Americans were in the average mix of things. As for the rest of the ship, I don't really know becuase we didn't venture out of our enclave much (except to the Casino :o and the YC dedicated restuarant :D).

 

If you thinking about Splendida and you have the means, do yourself a favour and try the Yacht Club......you will definietly not regret it.

 

What is that? never heard of it.

[FatChump]

Great to hear the good news on Splendida. We booked the Yacht Club out of Barcelona for April 29th. The feedback in this thread is great, and the port info is much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Richard

[All aboard??]

What is that? never heard of it.

 

You have never heard of the MSC Yacht Club :eek:. It is the forward top three decks (above the Spa). Here are all the YC suites which are the highest accomodation categories on the Fantasia Class ships (Splendida, Fantastia and now Devina). They are beautifully decorated cabins with Eqyptian Cotton linens, Spa baths, Butler service placed around a centred conceirege desk and private YC lounge which has large forward facing panoramic windows. The YC cabins also have their own private restuarant (which is a bit of a walk but your butler escourts you so clears a path amoungst the masses of gereral population passengers). On the top deck of the YC enclave you will find a private swimming pool, bar and mini buffet (very continetal in nature of food). Snacks will also be served trhoughout the day in the Top Sail Lounge where you will receive butler service. YC also includes most drinks (in the YC areas), priority elevator calling (I really enjoyed this - if I called for an elevator it will come straight to me and ask for the current occupiers to please leave). There is a seperate check in for YC passengers and you are escourted straight onto the ship, walking staright past the long lines of passengers in teh general population. In the conceirege area you are officially checked in, your OBC activated etc. There is also priority disembarkation and bespoke private tours - limo (mercedes E class) with driver for a 8 hour Rome tour was only 450 EUR, Barcelona was 240 EUR for 4 hours.

 

Tours in general you can book last minute, and the lengths that the conceirege will go to to ensure that you are taken care of are amazing - the one night I met a group of Polish people and decided that I would join their tour the next day - not remembering which tour they were on and what their names were, I went to the conceirge and said I want to go on the same tour as the polish group and mentioned one of their names......two hours later I was sitting on the bus with my newly made friends.

 

If you have the means then I highly recomend it, look at the CC page on suites......it truely is an industry leader.

[Invincible]

Many thanks tammez very helpful, really looking forward to our cruise , all the ports are new to us although we did visit Genoa once before but it rained so hard we didn't leave the ship. We also have an overnight in Barcelona before we join the ship. Another reason for trying it is it is giving us the opportunity to try an inside cabin for the first time at a price we couldn't refuse.

[momofmeg]

You have never heard of the MSC Yacht Club :eek:. It is the forward top three decks (above the Spa). Here are all the YC suites which are the highest accomodation categories on the Fantasia Class ships (Splendida, Fantastia and now Devina). They are beautifully decorated cabins with Eqyptian Cotton linens, Spa baths, Butler service placed around a centred conceirege desk and private YC lounge which has large forward facing panoramic windows. The YC cabins also have their own private restuarant (which is a bit of a walk but your butler escourts you so clears a path amoungst the masses of gereral population passengers). On the top deck of the YC enclave you will find a private swimming pool, bar and mini buffet (very continetal in nature of food). Snacks will also be served trhoughout the day in the Top Sail Lounge where you will receive butler service. YC also includes most drinks (in the YC areas), priority elevator calling (I really enjoyed this - if I called for an elevator it will come straight to me and ask for the current occupiers to please leave). There is a seperate check in for YC passengers and you are escourted straight onto the ship, walking staright past the long lines of passengers in teh general population. In the conceirege area you are officially checked in, your OBC activated etc. There is also priority disembarkation and bespoke private tours - limo (mercedes E class) with driver for a 8 hour Rome tour was only 450 EUR, Barcelona was 240 EUR for 4 hours.

 

Tours in general you can book last minute, and the lengths that the conceirege will go to to ensure that you are taken care of are amazing - the one night I met a group of Polish people and decided that I would join their tour the next day - not remembering which tour they were on and what their names were, I went to the conceirge and said I want to go on the same tour as the polish group and mentioned one of their names......two hours later I was sitting on the bus with my newly made friends.

 

If you have the means then I highly recomend it, look at the CC page on suites......it truely is an industry leader.

 

Thank you for explaining. I have never cruised MSC. It just so happens my husband really likes the western Med ports which is why we are looking at this ship, Malta and Tunis especially.

 

I did find Yacht club prices-even though I did not know what the Yacht club was. We are middle class leaning toward upper. That is a bit steep for us, $6000 a person. We will have to be happy booking a balcony stateroom. (around $1000 a person for the cruise we are considering)

 

I would love the private pool, that really appealed to me, but not enough to give up our excursion funds and other things. I think we will be okay though. I see we have to 7 pm in most ports before leaving. I feel we will spend as much time in the ports as we can-since chances are we will never see these places again. I am sure I will be exhausted and ready for my stateroom and TV after dinner. Not sure I will do much on ship anyway.

 

One thing I wondered. What language are the shows in, and will it be hard for English only speaking to get around ship?

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

As All Aboard says, MSC Yacht Club is highly recommended if you want "something extra". I really appreciated the privacy and quietness up there. And the service, top notch:)

 

Our next YC cruise is already booked.

[All aboard??]

I did find Yacht club prices-even though I did not know what the Yacht club was. We are middle class leaning toward upper. That is a bit steep for us, $6000 a person. We will have to be happy booking a balcony stateroom. (around $1000 a person for the cruise we are considering) I would love the private pool, that really appealed to me, but not enough to give up our excursion funds and other things. I think we will be okay though.

 

I can only imagine being sisters Splendida is as good as Fantasia. There are parts which can seem crowded but I never say people walking aimlessly around looking for somwhere to sit. Everyone also looked like they were having a fantastic time

 

One thing I wondered. What language are the shows in, and will it be hard for English only speaking to get around ship?

 

The shows are more variety if I am not mistaken, English is spoken quite frequently by the front of house staff. Announcements can be bothersome becuase they are made in a multitude of languages but I feel it adds to the cultural diversity that is a MSC cruise.

[momofmeg]

I can only imagine being sisters Splendida is as good as Fantasia. There are parts which can seem crowded but I never say people walking aimlessly around looking for somwhere to sit. Everyone also looked like they were having a fantastic time

 

 

 

The shows are more variety if I am not mistaken, English is spoken quite frequently by the front of house staff. Announcements can be bothersome becuase they are made in a multitude of languages but I feel it adds to the cultural diversity that is a MSC cruise.

 

Actually, we are looking at cruises on both of these ships-the 7 day-we would only book one-itineraries are almost identical-only 1 port is different.

 

I do not mind announcement being in other languages-I just want to understand myself and others need to understand also! Besides if I am in the minority, of course there will be in other languages.

 

When I cruised the southern Caribbean, announcements were in 4 languages; English, Spanish, Italian, and German. Spanish, was because it left from San Juan, so many Puerto Ricans on the cruise; English because 55% of the PAX were from the US mainland or Canada; and German and Italian becasue of the sizable tour groups from those countries on ship.

[poplars]

We are sailing on the Splendida from Genoa on 28th Jan. Your information is great and will help us plan for our week. Did you buy your drinks package on-line through MSC website before departing, it seems after reading your review, it may not be possible to buy on board.

[tammez]

Hi yes we bought the cheers package. This is not available on board. We did this through the msc uk website. You do not pay until you are on the ship where it is added to your bill on day 1. From memory we had this package for 357 euros 2 adults and 2 children.

 

This package enables you to wine,beer and soft drinks at lunch and dinner at any MDR or the buffet but not the specialist restaurant. You only get to choose a Soave white or merlot red which are billed as 14 euros if sold separately, plus 15% service charge. The beer is a small beer only which seems mad as if you ask for a large beer they bring you 2 small beers. You can also buy free drinks from the pool bars adjacent to the buffet when the buffet is open.

 

As our itinary was the western med most ports allowed to take an early lunch so we took advantage of wine with lunch. Also we when we were at dinner we would take a second bottle out with us to drink at the many great bars with no problems. The bar staff were happy to give us glasses.

 

Hope this helps!

[The_Big_M]

The shows are more variety if I am not mistaken, English is spoken quite frequently by the front of house staff. Announcements can be bothersome becuase they are made in a multitude of languages but I feel it adds to the cultural diversity that is a MSC cruise.

 

Just came off Splendida 7 day - shows are either singing/dancing (singing is mostly Italian) or performing - we had some fantastically strong trapeze artists.

 

The final night we were meant to have a magician but the port call was cancelled and the performer was a no-show. Unfortunately the CD wasn't upfront about it and just introduced the final night's show as a "best of" i.e. repeating the previous night's shows.

[bernardinho]

...priority elevator calling (I really enjoyed this - if I called for an elevator it will come straight to me and ask for the current occupiers to please leave).

If I were on the elevator and it were programmed to give immediate preference to a call from a YC floor, I would grin and bear it, but if a recording asked me to get off the elevator and give my place to a YC passenger, I would refuse and have two words for anyone who insisted I do so. Guess what they are.

Is there language in my non-YC cruise contract obligating me to get off the elevator and give my space to a YC guest?

[All aboard??]

If I were on the elevator and it were programmed to give immediate preference to a call from a YC floor, I would grin and bear it, but if a recording asked me to get off the elevator and give my place to a YC passenger, I would refuse and have two words for anyone who insisted I do so. Guess what they are.

Is there language in my non-YC cruise contract obligating me to get off the elevator and give my space to a YC guest?

 

No you are not obliged. It just cancels any floors chosen prior to the YC guest baording the elevator and will automatically redirect itself to the floor where th YC guest is waiting.......you can even play with the YC guest if you push your floor again before they can push theirs........in this case you get the priority.

[bernardinho]

No you are not obliged. It just cancels any floors chosen prior to the YC guest baording the elevator and will automatically redirect itself to the floor where th YC guest is waiting.......you can even play with the YC guest if you push your floor again before they can push theirs........in this case you get the priority.

Am I to understand now that your prior post (in which you wrote current elevator occupants would be asked to leave) is inaccurate and that the occupants of the elevator will not be asked to leave?

[claudio]

only 450 euro($560.00) for a car and driver in rome sounds like a bargain to me

[All aboard??]

Am I to understand now that your prior post (in which you wrote current elevator occupants would be asked to leave) is inaccurate and that the occupants of the elevator will not be asked to leave?

 

The elevator itself has a recording which asks the occupants to leave - if you dont leave and stay you will just go for a ride to the YC passenger's deck first before you can reselect your chosen deck. MSC don't police it.