Trip Report MSC Orchestra Med Cruise

[Podie]

My daughter (a veterinarian) is in the Army in Italy and has lived one hour north of Venice for three years. She and her husband wanted to take a Western Med cruise before they transferred out of Italy in June.

 

She chose the MSC Orchestra because none of the American companies we had used in the past were in Europe yet (April 15th) and she liked the itinerary since it included Villefranche (she's always wanted to see Nice) and Tunisia, where my son-in-law is from.

 

Also, the price of just under $900 per person for a balcony cabin was hard to beat! Two years ago, our Celebrity Equinox cruise from Italy to Turkey, Greece, and Croatia was $2200 each.

 

All four of us bought the Cheers drink package before we left, for unlimited beer, wine, and water at the buffet and at dinner. (I also bought an additional water package for other times, but this was unnecessary as Americans received free water in the dining room each day) They also purchased two additional beer packages which was definitely necessary for them!

 

My husband and I have been to Italy many times, and had been there for more than two weeks before this cruise started, so we were well versed with Italian ways and practices. Plus, I speak rudimentary Italian and my daughter is almost fluent.

 

We boarded the ship at 2 pm on 4/15 for a 7 pm departure and there was NO ONE in line! We knew we had been upgraded two decks, were not surprised to learn MSC would retain our passports for the length of the cruise, were welcomes in perfect English by everyone we encountered, and were on the ship in 10 minutes!

 

There we got another surprise, as white gloved attendants then escorted us to our cabins! This was a first! And because MSC specified they did NOT want us to tip people outside of the 7 euros per day (about $9.40) per passenger, there were NO hands out expecting tips at any point in the cruise.

 

The cabin was lovely and we were extremely comfortable there for the seven day cruise. Our cabin steward, Ni, a female from Indonesia, spoke perfect English and couldn't do enough for us.

 

The ship is beautiful. Unfortunately our luggage was delivered to our originally booked cabin two decks down, but that was easily corrected. We went up to the buffet and started using our Cheers package right away with water and beer all around. The buffet, as was the case every day for lunch, was okay but nothing special. There were always a couple of pasta dishes that were at least warm, and the salad bars were fine, but there was also plenty of cold food that should have been hot, even if you arrived just as the buffet opened.

 

So we stuck to pasta dishes and the salad bar and the absolutely awesome bread. My mouth waters now to think of those perfectly delicious rolls!

 

We went from there down to deck 5's Bar L'Incontro ("meeting place" in Italian) which became our hangout when we weren't at La Cantinella the wine bar. Bar L'Incontro was the typical Italian bar with coffees, wine, beer, mixed drinks, and free snacks always available such as help yourself pastries and cookies. Drinks were served with potato chips and other goodies. The Italians, as usual, gulped their espressos and pastry standing at the bar, and then leaving, but we often luxuriated over drinks and goodies in this bar off the beautiful atrium. We were always serenaded by live music, often by a trio of female pianist and two violinists. La Dolce Vita indeed!

 

As was to be expected after the Costa Concordia nightmare, the emergency drill was taken VERY seriously and emergency instructions played in several languages on a few TV channels 24/7. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that ALL announcements were made in English first, and then Italian, French, Spanish, and German.

 

After that, there was an orientation for English speaking guests in one of the lounges. I was our chosen attendee and was one of about 42 attending. One of the entertainment crew who spoke excellent English was more or less assigned our liaison in case we needed help with something. I would like to stress that every single crewmember we came in contact with spoke very good English. There was never a communication problem with them.

 

The ships left the dock at 6:55 pm, 5 minutes before schedule, which became the practice each day. We never left a port later than scheduled. We reported for the 7 pm seating and had a very nice four person table to ourselves. Our waiter, Ade, was great. We saw a beautiful sunset from our table. A photographer went around and one of the few complaints I have was when you chose to buy photos, they were simply handed to you, with staple holes! On Celebrity you picked the photos and they printed new ones for you.

 

That first night I had mussels, soup, shrimp risotto, steamed fish, and lemoncello sponge cake. All were good. Our waiter told us it was nice all four of us had the Cheers package, but as long as one person at a table had it, they would bring unlimited beer, wine, and water. Good to know for the future! He opened the third bottle of wine just before we finished, and told us to take it with us. He couldn't spare glasses, but told us any of the lounges would give them to us.

 

So we took our bottle of wine and walked up to deck 7 where all the clubs were. Live music was playing at each one, and we sat down where a couple was doing hits from the '70's and '80's. (This is what played on the ship from the speakers most of the time) A waitress promptly brought us four wine glasses and two bowls of snacks, and we killed about 45 minutes there and then went to the show, called Hard Pop Cafe.

 

It was very good, mostly Queen music, and the audience sang along. The cruise director, Marco, amazed me by speaking all five languages interchangeably and excellently. My daughter said they experienced this in Italy all the time.

 

Afterward we drank a bottle of Prosecco and ate chocolate dipped strawberries on the balcony and looked forward to the rest of the cruise.

 

Part 2 to come SOON.:)

[subaru94]

My daughter (a veterinarian) is in the Army in Italy and has lived one hour north of Venice for three years. She and her husband wanted to take a Western Med cruise before they transferred out of Italy in June.

 

She chose the MSC Orchestra because none of the American companies we had used in the past were in Europe yet (April 15th) and she liked the itinerary since it included Villefranche (she's always wanted to see Nice) and Tunisia, where my son-in-law is from.

 

Also, the price of just under $900 per person for a balcony cabin was hard to beat! Two years ago, our Celebrity Equinox cruise from Italy to Turkey, Greece, and Croatia was $2200 each.

 

All four of us bought the Cheers drink package before we left, for unlimited beer, wine, and water at the buffet and at dinner. (I also bought an additional water package for other times, but this was unnecessary as Americans received free water in the dining room each day) They also purchased two additional beer packages which was definitely necessary for them!

 

My husband and I have been to Italy many times, and had been there for more than two weeks before this cruise started, so we were well versed with Italian ways and practices. Plus, I speak rudimentary Italian and my daughter is almost fluent.

 

We boarded the ship at 2 pm on 4/15 for a 7 pm departure and there was NO ONE in line! We knew we had been upgraded two decks, were not surprised to learn MSC would retain our passports for the length of the cruise, were welcomes in perfect English by everyone we encountered, and were on the ship in 10 minutes!

 

There we got another surprise, as white gloved attendants then escorted us to our cabins! This was a first! And because MSC specified they did NOT want us to tip people outside of the 7 euros per day (about $9.40) per passenger, there were NO hands out expecting tips at any point in the cruise.

 

The cabin was lovely and we were extremely comfortable there for the seven day cruise. Our cabin steward, Ni, a female from Indonesia, spoke perfect English and couldn't do enough for us.

 

The ship is beautiful. Unfortunately our luggage was delivered to our originally booked cabin two decks down, but that was easily corrected. We went up to the buffet and started using our Cheers package right away with water and beer all around. The buffet, as was the case every day for lunch, was okay but nothing special. There were always a couple of pasta dishes that were at least warm, and the salad bars were fine, but there was also plenty of cold food that should have been hot, even if you arrived just as the buffet opened.

 

So we stuck to pasta dishes and the salad bar and the absolutely awesome bread. My mouth waters now to think of those perfectly delicious rolls!

 

We went from there down to deck 5's Bar L'Incontro ("meeting place" in Italian) which became our hangout when we weren't at La Cantinella the wine bar. Bar L'Incontro was the typical Italian bar with coffees, wine, beer, mixed drinks, and free snacks always available such as help yourself pastries and cookies. Drinks were served with potato chips and other goodies. The Italians, as usual, gulped their espressos and pastry standing at the bar, and then leaving, but we often luxuriated over drinks and goodies in this bar off the beautiful atrium. We were always serenaded by live music, often by a trio of female pianist and two violinists. La Dolce Vita indeed!

 

As was to be expected after the Costa Concordia nightmare, the emergency drill was taken VERY seriously and emergency instructions played in several languages on a few TV channels 24/7. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that ALL announcements were made in English first, and then Italian, French, Spanish, and German.

 

After that, there was an orientation for English speaking guests in one of the lounges. I was our chosen attendee and was one of about 42 attending. One of the entertainment crew who spoke excellent English was more or less assigned our liaison in case we needed help with something. I would like to stress that every single crewmember we came in contact with spoke very good English. There was never a communication problem with them.

 

The ships left the dock at 6:55 pm, 5 minutes before schedule, which became the practice each day. We never left a port later than scheduled. We reported for the 7 pm seating and had a very nice four person table to ourselves. Our waiter, Ade, was great. We saw a beautiful sunset from our table. A photographer went around and one of the few complaints I have was when you chose to buy photos, they were simply handed to you, with staple holes! On Celebrity you picked the photos and they printed new ones for you.

 

That first night I had mussels, soup, shrimp risotto, steamed fish, and lemoncello sponge cake. All were good. Our waiter told us it was nice all four of us had the Cheers package, but as long as one person at a table had it, they would bring unlimited beer, wine, and water. Good to know for the future! He opened the third bottle of wine just before we finished, and told us to take it with us. He couldn't spare glasses, but told us any of the lounges would give them to us.

 

So we took our bottle of wine and walked up to deck 7 where all the clubs were. Live music was playing at each one, and we sat down where a couple was doing hits from the '70's and '80's. (This is what played on the ship from the speakers most of the time) A waitress promptly brought us four wine glasses and two bowls of snacks, and we killed about 45 minutes there and then went to the show, called Hard Pop Cafe.

 

It was very good, mostly Queen music, and the audience sang along. The cruise director, Marco, amazed me by speaking all five languages interchangeably and excellently. My daughter said they experienced this in Italy all the time.

 

Afterward we drank a bottle of Prosecco and ate chocolate dipped strawberries on the balcony and looked forward to the rest of the cruise.

 

Part 2 to come SOON.:)

Really enjoyed your review, we are looking at cruising East Mediterranean next year and looking at MSC, Norwegian or Royal Carribean, so confused which way to go.

[wilson2579]

Great review. We are sailing on the new Divina to the Easter Med in October.

[Member]

Great review.. and we've just booked our July 31 sailing (from Valencia, Spain) the last minutes. Hope more English-speaking passengers are there to fulfill its shore excursion's minimum # requirement. Good dancing venues/music for the young seniors?