Any Fantasia Questions?

[Raring to go]

We recently returned from an MSC cruise that sailed from Civitavecchia. I had a tough time finding info on this ship on the MSC board. If anyone else is planning to travel on this ship, I would be glad to answer any questions about the ship in general.

 

 

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[WA Girl]

We recently returned from an MSC cruise that sailed from Civitavecchia. I had a tough time finding info on this ship on the MSC board. If anyone else is planning to travel on this ship, I would be glad to answer any questions about the ship in general.

 

 

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Hi Raring to go, how did you find the food, some reviews I have read are quite mixed some liked the food, some didn't - thanks :)

[Becci]

Hi Raring to go- thank you for your kind offer. I'm taking my best friend and my 13 year old cousin on Fantasia this summer and as English speakers I'm hoping that it will be relatively easy for us to figure out what we need while on board. Did you find that getting along in English was acceptable or do you think we will be totally lost the whole trip? We all have a lot of patience and a great sense of adventure so we are looking forward to experiencing new cultures. I know that even if we are the only three Americans on the ship we will find a way to have a great time!

 

 

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[Raring to go]

I have actually put off on writing my cruise review because of the food issue. The food is definitely more European in nature. That in itself would not have bothered me, however, the quality of some dishes left a great deal to be desired. Breakfast was always good. Besides having the usual buffet items, there was also an omelet and egg station. There was plenty of fresh fruit, cold meats and cheeses. I loved the French toast, which was served with a berry compote and whipped cream. At lunch there were sandwiches served on wonderful French bread baguettes, a pasta dish, a carving station, salad bar, pizza, French fry/hot dog/hamburger section and various side dishes. The biggest disappointment was dinner. There was plenty of fish, most of which my husband said was pretty good. I don't eat seafood, so I tried both chicken and beef entrees. I sent both back uneaten. They were overcooked and bland. That being said, with all the other courses I didn't starve. I simply ordered a pasta course every night, and they were all excellent. The desserts were some of the best I have ever had on a cruise. No beverages were served at the evening meal. Bottled water was available for purchase, as were other beverages. U.S. passengers were given vouchers for free bottles of water when they checked in.

 

 

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Edited April 9, 2014 by Raring to go

[Raring to go]

Hi Raring to go- thank you for your kind offer. I'm taking my best friend and my 13 year old cousin on Fantasia this summer and as English speakers I'm hoping that it will be relatively easy for us to figure out what we need while on board. Did you find that getting along in English was acceptable or do you think we will be totally lost the whole trip? We all have a lot of patience and a great sense of adventure so we are looking forward to experiencing new cultures. I know that even if we are the only three Americans on the ship we will find a way to have a great time!

 

 

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Actually, English was the first language used in all of the ship's venues. While on board, I never ran into anyone who did not speak English. You will get the daily bulletin delivered each night in English. At dinner, if you are at a group table, they will be all English speakers. You will have to listen to all announcements being translated into various languages by the cruise director, but I was fascinated by his fluency in 4 or 5 languages, so I rather enjoyed that part of it. On all of the ships tours there were always English only groups. We used ship exclusions in 2 ports, Haifa and Katakolon, but used public transport on our own in the other 4 ports.

 

 

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[kadey]

Could you please tell me about the outlets in the cabin? Do we need to bring adapters and were there enough outlets around or would you suggest using a power strip? Thanks!

[Becci]

Thank you so much Raring to go! That makes me feel quite a bit more confident about this trip.

 

Could you tell me if there are drink, water dispensers available near the buffets all the time or do they close them up with the buffets? Carnival has theirs open 24 hrs/day but NCL shut most everything up with the buffets so at certain times of the day it was hard to find a drink.

[luv2vacation]

Thank you for answering questions on the Fantasia! Were washcloths provided in the bathroom? What about soap and shampoo?

[Raring to go]

Could you please tell me about the outlets in the cabin? Do we need to bring adapters and were there enough outlets around or would you suggest using a power strip? Thanks!

 

The was a plug over the dresser which had both European and U.S. type outlets. I believe there were two of each kind. I took an adapter, but only used it at our hotel in Rome. The is a hair dryer in the drawer that is permanently plugged in. We charged I Pads and camera batteries, and the in cabin plugs were sufficient.

 

 

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[Raring to go]

Washcloths, shampoo and body wash were provided. There was no bar soap. When I washed my hands in the bathroom I had to reach in the shower and get body wash from the dispenser. The latest we were in the buffet area was just after midnight, but there was water, ice, coffee and hot water for tea. They serve pizza all night long and a self serve make your own sandwich bar until the wee hours, so I assume the drink station stays open too. We took Mio to make our own flavored drinks since there was mo lemonade or iced tea.

 

 

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[Raring to go]

Sorry..."no lemonade"

 

 

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[Becci]

You are awesome Raring to go! Thanks again for your expert information. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

 

 

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[luv2vacation]

Washcloths, shampoo and body wash were provided. There was no bar soap. When I washed my hands in the bathroom I had to reach in the shower and get body wash from the dispenser. The latest we were in the buffet area was just after midnight, but there was water, ice, coffee and hot water for tea. They serve pizza all night long and a self serve make your own sandwich bar until the wee hours, so I assume the drink station stays open too. We took Mio to make our own flavored drinks since there was mo lemonade or iced tea.

 

 

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Thank you for all the info. Very helpful!

[ShatterBug]

Can anyone provide some advise on whether we should pre book our shore excursions or leave until we board ship? We are cruising the Mediterranean in early May 2014.

[kadey]

The was a plug over the dresser which had both European and U.S. type outlets. I believe there were two of each kind. I took an adapter, but only used it at our hotel in Rome. The is a hair dryer in the drawer that is permanently plugged in. We charged I Pads and camera batteries, and the in cabin plugs were sufficient.

 

 

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Thanks for the response!!

[NJFrench]

We are sailing on Sunday, April 20th! Do you know the cost for Wifi or laundry service. Website is not working for me!

 

Thanks!

[Bra_BE2014]

Thanks for the response!!

 

Hi, Please write a review on your way back, I'll do the same route in August and is damn hard to find a detailed review about this ship and itinerary! Have a fun cruise!

[NJFrench]

I will do a thread on the Kid's Club since I can't find much here!

[kadey]

Did you do any excursions or buy any drink packages?

[ctcontrol]

Hi Raring To Go. We are sailing on this ship in December from the same port. Did you find getting to the port easy? We are staying locally the day before and wondering if we will require a taxi to the port from our hotel or if we could walk it as it isn't far. Also did you stay in the Yacht Club? I'm wondering what that is like as it is quite high up and towards the front of the ship so was wondering how bad we would feel the motion.

 

How would you compare the rooms, food, entertainment, ship in general to companies like Royal Caribbean? Being from the UK I travel to Europe regularly so used to their type of food, etc. Wondered if it was the same on board the ship.

 

Thanks, Melissa

Edited April 15, 2014 by ctcontrol

[AmoMondo]

We are sailing on Sunday, April 20th! Do you know the cost for Wifi or laundry service. Website is not working for me!

 

Thanks!

 

Laundry prices are the same on all ships in Europe. They do a laundry special usually which is €25 for regular service and €40 for express for up to 20 items throughout your cruise.

 

Wifi packages vary in cost. Basically the more time you buy, the cheaper per minute it is. Do remember to logout of the session though, or your minutes will keep ticking away. Your cruise card will have a code for wifi printed on it. Just connect to their hotspot (I use an iPhone or IPad without any issues) and you'll be able to view the cost of each package. The amount of minutes quoted is for time spent online not elapsed time, e.g. 24 hours doesn't mean unlimited access during one calendar day but access for 24 hours loggOng on as many times throughout your cruise until you've used up all your time.

 

For whomever it was that asked about beverage stations in the buffet, this is available 24 hours across the fleet.

 

I personally would recommend the basic Allegrissimo for this ship. At €23 per person per day it's great value especially if you enjoy a cocktail or two. It covers most drinks except champagnes, aged single malts and XO Cognac and Armagnac and that sort of thing. It covers all the fresh fruit and veggie drinks from the vitamin bar as well and cones and tuns from the gelateria.

[kadey]

There was recently a very unhappy review about a trip on MSC Peosia. The OP stated it took 3 hours to embark,. Once on board he had to wait in an hour lone to reverify his credit card and another hour line to reverify his excursions,even though he had done all this online before the trip. Did this happen on the Fantasia cruise> Did you need to reverify credit cards and pre reserved excursions?

 

Also, any info on the ship excursion from Bari to Alberobello to see the Trulli Houses?

 

As the other OP stated, it took a long time to get people off the ship for excursions and wasted a lot of sightseeing time. Did you experience anything like that?

 

Leaving soon and feeling a little nervous! Thanks!!

[AmoMondo]

Hmm, maybe the poster was unlucky or maybe they exaggerated. 20 cruises done with MSC and never waited longer than 90 minutes to get on. Did they arrive very early or at the peak team or did the ship arrive late for some reason?. I now have priority boarding so I'm on on 10-15 minutes. Occasionally got on at that time before I had priority just by arriving a short time (not hours) before the official start time.

 

Did they really have to re verify their card or did they choose to? Did they have to do it at that time when queues were long as hundreds were boarding also with questions? I have never had to re verify my card after boarding. I did nov have my card blocked by my bank because I'd forgotten to tell them I was going overseas. I got a polite note asking me to visit the accounting desk.. I went when there wasn't a queue. I explained that I couldn't call my bank to get it unblocked until we docked but could provide another card. It was no problem, they told me just to come back after I called them. Theynstill allowed me to use my card for purchases onboard.

 

As for verifying other things, I take a print with me and go to the spa (don't do tours) when I get onboard. If there were an enormous queue, I'd just go and have a drink and go back later when the rush had died down.

 

I really seriously doubt this person spent 5 hours waiting on their first day or if they did it was partially there choice to do this.

[kadey]

Hmm, maybe the poster was unlucky or maybe they exaggerated. 20 cruises done with MSC and never waited longer than 90 minutes to get on. Did they arrive very early or at the peak team or did the ship arrive late for some reason?. I now have priority boarding so I'm on on 10-15 minutes. Occasionally got on at that time before I had priority just by arriving a short time (not hours) before the official start time.

 

Did they really have to re verify their card or did they choose to? Did they have to do it at that time when queues were long as hundreds were boarding also with questions? I have never had to re verify my card after boarding. I did nov have my card blocked by my bank because I'd forgotten to tell them I was going overseas. I got a polite note asking me to visit the accounting desk.. I went when there wasn't a queue. I explained that I couldn't call my bank to get it unblocked until we docked but could provide another card. It was no problem, they told me just to come back after I called them. Theynstill allowed me to use my card for purchases onboard.

 

 

As for verifying other things, I take a print with me and go to the spa (don't do tours) when I get onboard. If there were an enormous queue, I'd just go and have a drink and go back later when the rush had died down.

 

I really seriously doubt this person spent 5 hours waiting on their first day or if they did it was partially there choice to do this.

 

Thank you! Your thoughts mirror my own. If what the OP said was typical I felt we would have heard about this way more often.

[sidari]

Thank you! Your thoughts mirror my own. If what the OP said was typical I felt we would have heard about this way more often.

 

Kadey ... English speakers will more than likely be a very small Minority on these sailings compared to other Nationals from Europe, so reports back on the likes of cruise critic are also likely to be small in number along with reviews and roll calls.