Photo review | MSC Fantasia June 1st 2014 Venice

[Irishcruiser46]

Super review, very informative, many thanks!:)

[Elmartellama]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

I'm sorry this has come to an end as I've very much enjoyed reading your latest instalment each evening.

 

Thank you! We'll have to wait to our next cruise!

[Elmartellama]

Really enjoyed your fabulous review. Just back from your neighbour, Portugal, so was delighted to catch up!

 

Can you tell us where those beautiful coves are on Mallory, look fantastic? Ken

 

It's Cala Barques, near Manacor. It's a natural / virgin place, you have to walk a bit. But it is so worth it because of that!

Edited July 2, 2014 by Elmartellama

[CruiseIreland]

It's Cala Barques, near Manacor. It's a natural / virgin place, you have to walk a bit. But it is so worth it because of that!

Thanks a mill! Predictive text changed Mallorca to 'Mallory'! Ken

[tsahall01]

wonderful review!! enjoyed all the pictures and comments/suggestions!! They are really fantastic!! Can't wait for my cruise in November, same ship but different ports, some are the same, so I plan on using your review as a guide! Thanks again!!

[Elmartellama]

You're welcome! Have a nice trip, in November you'll be able to use the covered pool if you wish to. That's the good thing about the Fantasia class, it's quite versatile.

 

And yet another song dedicated to Italy and the Italians! It's been a great ad success by a Gelato company :D and of course recorded in Mallorca. It inevitably reminds me of our trip.

 

eokW-PjO5_Q

[Elmartellama]

...

Edited July 10, 2014 by Elmartellama

[AmoMondo]

You're welcome! Have a nice trip, in November you'll be able to use the covered pool if you wish to. That's the good thing about the Fantasia class, it's quite versatile.

 

And yet another song dedicated to Italy and the Italians! It's been a great ad success by a Gelato company :D and of course recorded in Mallorca. It inevitably reminds me of our trip.

 

eokW-PjO5_Q

 

So much better than the old UK ad of a gondolier singing "Just one cornetto...." To the tune of O Sole Mio!

Edited July 10, 2014 by AmoMondo

[catydid]

And yet another song dedicated to Italy and the Italians! It's been a great ad success by a Gelato company :D and of course recorded in Mallorca. It inevitably reminds me of our trip.

thanks for sharing the great video link! I spent two weeks in Italy last year (after a week on RC's Navigator Eastern Med). What a beautiful country, with beautiful people!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

sorry -- late for the party, but just found your review. We're off to our first MSC cruise in 7 days from now and I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review to get a feel for MSC. Of course I loved all the detailed port stories as well. Thank you so much for writing this. We live 1 1/2 hours south of the Heidepark...so if you need a place to crash next summer be our guest!

 

Stef

[Elmartellama]

Thank you!

 

We're sailing the MSC Orchestra out of Kiel for the Norwegian Fjords in June 2015.

 

In the end we'll be flying from Mallorca to Hamburg. Since there are so many flights per day, we'll leave with the first flight the day before the cruise, visit Hamburg that day, and probably staying in Kiel for the night. The embarkation day we're planning on visiting Laboe with the small boat that runs the Kiel Fjord. The ship departs at 19:00 and we'll have time I hope.

 

On the disembarking day we'll go back to Hamburg and make another brief visit until our flight departs.

 

This time, we won't be going to the Heide Park and Sylt in the end :( We have agreed on spending that money on a short 2 day trip to Ibiza or Formentera, and enjoy sunshine and beach (I don't expect 30ºC in Norway, even if we'd love that!). And also this way we don't have to leave our dog for so many days in a row.

 

But maybe another time, many nice ships depart from northern Germany now. And flight connections to Mallorca are frequent, even if a bit pricey. I bought the tickets already for next year because they cost half than if you book them some months before!

 

Have fun in your upcoming cruise! Looking forward to your review

Edited August 5, 2014 by Elmartellama

[Rotterdam]

For your efforts & thoughtfulness in putting this review together. My partner & I have sailed MSC 3x & really enjoyed the continental experience with so many different nationalities onboard.

 

Your pictures are beautiful...really! It is quite evident that you both know how to lve very well.

 

Thank you again from NYC!

[Elmartellama]

Thank you, glad you liked it :)

[beachmonkey]

Really enjoyed your review and pictures. Thank you very much for taking the time to share it.

[cruiseclues]

Very nice photos, maps and review. Did you know the

? About 30 seconds into this Youtube video you can see the cruise ship name (MSC Fantasia) if you stop the video quickly enough. :):):):)

[MishelleMcc]

Amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing so much!!!

[Elmartellama]

Thank you :)

[sidari]

El ... Just caught up with the great review at last ... :)

 

The place you called the Esplanade on Corfu is actually called the "Liston" the name came about so my Greek friends tell me was because unless you had put your name down on the List at the cafes and bars there you could not get a seat at any time in days gone by. It was and still is the place to be seen for the Greek people.

 

A shame you chose to visit the Old Fort and not the New one closer to the Port which is much better and with better views across Corfu, if you visit again be sure to head there.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Great review ! Thank you! I am looking for same cruise june 2015 on Musica :p

[Elmartellama]

Thanks, hope you'll like it as much as we did!

 

El ... Just caught up with the great review at last ... :)

 

The place you called the Esplanade on Corfu is actually called the "Liston" the name came about so my Greek friends tell me was because unless you had put your name down on the List at the cafes and bars there you could not get a seat at any time in days gone by. It was and still is the place to be seen for the Greek people.

 

A shame you chose to visit the Old Fort and not the New one closer to the Port which is much better and with better views across Corfu, if you visit again be sure to head there.

 

That's interesting. We did not honour the tradition of enjoying the Liston cafés, since we lingered at the lovely and terribly overpriced café inside the Old Fortress. The view from there however was spectacular, overlooking the church and the sea, and most importantly they offered free-wifi, very much needed at that point of the trip.

 

I liked that part of Kerkyra, it was very nice for a stroll. The only thing that shocked us was the bad condition that some buildings were in, being the town so touristic.

 

About the New Fortress, the original plan was to visit it. But let's face it, we were just tired! :D Having ascended the Old Fortress we had the feeling that it would be somehow redundant. But thank you for the advice, maybe on another occasion!

 

We loved the charm and character of Corfu town, and thankfully we used that day to relax since we had such a tight schedule the other days.

 

Next time, if we have more time in port, it would be nice to rent a car and enjoy the scenic drive as well. The green landscape it's very similar to the northern shore of Mallorca, according to what I've seen.

[jennjess]

Thank you someone for bumping this up to the first page so I didn't miss it.

 

Can wait to go cruising again now!

 

Thanks you Elmartellama for your wonderful review, really enjoyed reading it.

[sidari]

El ... I hope you manage to revisit Corfu and do the car hire because there are many great places to see other than the town, the buildings have not changed in the twenty or so times that we have visited which is part of the charm of Corfu.

 

Sadly cruise lines offer little or few tours when visiting Corfu and the East coast road going up to Kassiopi and across to Sidari has fantastic views, the New Fort is much higher than the old one hence the great views from there also.

 

Plus of course the many beaches and Achillion palace.

[Elmartellama]

I hope so, someday! I would love to spend several more hours in Corfu though to do that. Our intense cruise itinerary was very good in my opinion, but the resulting problem were the short time in ports.

[sidari]

Maybe a land based holiday there for a week would be a good starter ... :) the Greek people are really good to get on with but kick one and they all jump lol including our lawyer and accountant ... :eek:

[cruiserking]

Thank You for your spectacular photographs and your cruise review, I feel as if I've just taken a little holiday.

 

Jonathan