Kat goes on holiday - MSC Preziosa Eastern Med (5th July 2014)

[Got2Cruise]

Your carpet was worth every penny.

[oreosmile]

I bought a carpet on our cruise NCL cruise that began in Istanbul a few years back. Had it shipped and was so glad when it arrived! Wish it was a smaller wall-size one now though as it is rolled up waiting for our two dogs (the young Missy, aka little miss poopy bum and the old Byte, aka mrs puke face) to stop spewing.

 

Loving your photos - it is taking me back!

 

Reo

[AmoMondo]

 

And this is my one Kat, hanging half way up the stairs.

[Elmartellama]

Nice review, thank you for your time!

 

I would have loved to watch the Queen tribute! We had Michael Jackson's tribute on our recent Fantasia cruise, it was a very good performance, but to me maybe not as moving as it could have been Queen's.

 

Which was your favourite port of call?

[Katgoesonholiday]

[ATTACH]321130[/ATTACH]

 

And this is my one Kat, hanging half way up the stairs.

 

That's gorgeous!

[Katgoesonholiday]

 

Which was your favourite port of call?

 

It's hard to tell. I enjoyed each for different reasons. I think though, that Istanbul would have been head and shoulders above the rest had it not been so hot and had we been able to have a decent lunch when we wanted to. I was very much looking forward to an authentic turkish lunch as I love turkish food but both days it fell through. And the heat was very draining meaning that by early afternoon we just wanted to get back to the cool of the ship.

[moomoocow]

This is such a wonderful review. I'm so happy you had a great time. And EHRHMERGERD the mosaics! We are history fiends, Mr Moo more so than I as he studied Ancient History and he's also enjoying this review immensely.

 

I'd do a Divina review but it'd just be drinking, sweating, eating, eye rolling, laughing, drinking, gossiping and sleeping for 19 days. Not much history in the Caribbean.

 

I do need to know when you've booked your next MSC cruise as I seem to share your opinion on most things and think I'd enjoy your company :-)

[Katgoesonholiday]

 

I do need to know when you've booked your next MSC cruise as I seem to share your opinion on most things and think I'd enjoy your company :-)

 

I could go a week of drinking, sweating, eating, eye rolling, laughing, drinking, gossiping (though possibly not sleeping) with you! :D

 

We have a future cruise certificate that we got last month on the Preziosa. However we have already booked a Disney cruise from Port Canaveral on the assumption that our boys are the perfect age range (7, 8, and 13) for Disney and we are saving our next MSC cruise for July 2016 when we come back to Europe with the kids. I have been looking at cruises on the Divina for when we are in Florida in Dec but I can't quite swing a Disney cruise AND Yacht Club and I am not sure I can quite manage anything less only 6 months after our amazing experience on the Preziosa! Talk about spoilt!

 

I can't wait to hear a bit more about your experience on the Divina. :D

[Katgoesonholiday]

The sixth day of our cruise was an at sea day - very welcome after the last few hectic and hot days!

 

As usual, I woke early and ordered a pot of tea whilst my husband rolled over and tried stay asleep. Our lovely butler, Suresh, had obviously decided that we needed a little extra pampering because he included a delightful continental breakfast with the pot of tea. Though once again the milk was in the teapot!

 

 

However we couldn't linger too long because today we had booked our only MSC excursion - a behind the scenes tour of part of the ship and I was very excited about it. I love the documentaries that go into what it takes to plate up 4,000 dinners for an evening meal on a cruise ship and really happens in the bowels of the ship (spoiler - a LOT of laundry!)

 

We met Suresh at the Concierge desk at 8:30am and he escorted us to the theatre where the excursion groups were meeting. There weren't many people - maybe only 60 spread over two language groups? We felt a little self-conscious when Suresh insisted we take a seat and he queued for us with our tickets. But given that I hate queuing I managed to swiftly quell any discomfort at being treated like a first class passenger and simply settled back for a spot of people watching.

 

Soon we were split into an English speaking group and a German speaking group. I understand that in the afternoon there were tours for Italian and also Spanish. As the other group disappeared backstage, we were escorted up to the back of the theatre to where the magic happens.

 

I can't remember the gentleman's name (like all the senior staff he was Italian), but he is responsible for all the lighting and sound for the shows and has four or five staff working with him for each show. He demonstrated the sound system and the lights and it really was very fascinating.

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few random facts that we gleaned along the way:

• According to our guide, the performers mend their own costumes themselves and when necessary, new costumes or more major repairs are done on land.
  
• The crew with the least number of working hours were the lead performers.
  
• Performances are changed every six months (usually one new show) and the 'lead' shows are different on each of the biggest ships. For instance, Preziosa has the Avatar show and Divina has the Michael Jackson one.
  
• Every few months the performance director spends a week on board viewing the shows and rehearsals and tweaking them as necessary.

[Katgoesonholiday]

Just a note: The tour was to be focussed on just one aspect of the ship. It was explained to us that the ship can be divided into three parts: Engineering, Bridge/Security, and the largest which is Hotel (which includes dining and entertainment). Our tour was solely Hotel focussed and we didn't get to see any of the other parts. It was fascinating nonetheless!

[Katgoesonholiday]

Next we were taken a couple of decks further down and into the crew only area. All of a sudden the corridors got a lot plainer and the carpet vanished!

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

We were taken through to the laundry - first the crew laundry and then the extensive laundry that services the hotel side of the cruise ship. This was not just any items that guests sent down for cleaning - as we had earlier that morning - but the many thousands of towels, sheets, napkins, tablecloths and so on that are generated every day on a cruise ship. The machinery to deal with all this efficiently was massive! And I have nothing but sympathy and admiration for the people who spend their days feeding sheets into them!

 

 

This machine eats crumpled table clothes and spits out nicely folded ones

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

Your carpet was worth every penny.

 

Thank you! We think so too and I am delighted every time I walk past it! :D

[Katgoesonholiday]

After we had had our fill of watching the machines fold sheets, we were ushered back upstairs and into one of the main dining rooms where we were presented with a small plastic bag of 'stuff' to put over our clothes. Don't we look special!

 

 

 

We were then taken into the kitchens where the first thing we had to do was wash our hands.

 

 

Food safety and hygiene was a HUGE focus!

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

Some random photos

 

 

 

 

Making pasta!

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

This room fascinated me. This is where they prepare the raw meat and each type of meat gets its own dedicated table. Here food hygiene is taken very VERY seriously!

 

 

 

 

And the smells coming from this section were divine!

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

But here....here I had died and gone to heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

Sadly we had to leave this divine section of the kitchens and were ushered into another wide corridor of which were the massive fridges, freezers and pantries used to store the six massive trucks of food loaded onto the ship every Saturday in Venice.

 

Again, food safety was a major focus and in every area we saw racks of food marked 'first out' that showed a focus on keeping the inventory rotated and fresh.

 

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

 

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

Most of the fridges, freezers and pantries were a little on the low side as there were only a few days left in the cruise. Apparently they are packed full at the start!

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

After this we were taken through to Eataly, one of the speciality restaurants on the ship, where we were greeted with the very welcome sight of a glass of wine each. Here, one of the chefs did a strangely random demonstration where he fried a piece of meat on a hot plate, then added some lettuce and potatoes and VOILA! Instant gourmet! I was a little underwhelmed by its magnificence but since we were each served one of these dishes, together with half a glass of red wine I perked up immediately! We were also given a voucher and an MSC apron which I have since worn, along with a smirk on my face, whilst frying up steak.

 

 

 

 

[Katgoesonholiday]

Ohhhhh! I completely forgot the highlight of the whole Behind the Scenes tour!!!

 

After we left the kitchens, and before we went to Eataly, we were taken upstairs to a very special and exclusive area of the ship. Here we were told that we must NOT take any photos - it was absolutely not permitted - for the privacy of the guests!

 

It was the Yacht Club!

 

The problem was that the woman guiding us couldn't get her pass to work in the lift. We politely stood there for a while whilst she grew more desperate in her swiping. But after a few minutes it got too much so I stepped forward and pulled out my card - which worked because I knew to swipe THEN press - and we were able to get in the lift and head up to the 15th deck. Not everyone could fit in the lift so she sent my husband and I up in one lift, since we had cards and knew what to do, and then she bought the rest up in the next lift. I suspect she might have had trouble again as it took her a little while to arrive!

 

It was funny though - everyone started looking at us curiously. We were definitely the youngest in the group and dressed very casually yet we were obviously travelling in this special area.

 

When we arrived in the Yacht Club reception the concierge thought this was a hilarious joke - as did several passing butlers - and my husband and I were warmly 'welcomed' to the Yacht Club for our little tour!

 

After the TopSail Lounge, we were then taken up to the OnePool and OneBar on the 18th deck for a very quick tour. Quite a few people were sunbathing and we were greeted by many who had become familiar faces over the week.

 

It was interesting seeing all this spacious splendour from the perspective of people who hadn't been travelling in it all week. The others in our tour were VERY impressed and I think MSC was successful in generating quite a bit of new interest and business for this section of the ship. We ended up fielding a lot of questions from the others who were absolutely fascinated with what it was like.

 

After this we went down to Eataly for our cooking demonstration.

[Katgoesonholiday]

After this we decided to skip La Palmeraie for lunch and head up to the OneBar for drinks and maybe a bit of buffet lunch. This was a sensational plan and we had a very relaxing time. Later we returned to the cabin to download our photos and my husband took a snooze. I was feeling restless so I went and checked out the spa and ended up getting a lovely relaxing massage. Bliss!

 

This night was Gala night and so when we had got dressed we headed down to the TopSail Lounge where we found our friends H&M and spent a very pleasant half hour comparing notes.

 

We decided to head to La Palmeraie together and the wait staff were able to accommodate us in a table for four. It was really nice sharing a meal with them, especially since it was their honeymoon and we didn't want to encroach. But we had had some wonderful experiences together and it was great fun to sit and chat and enjoy the time together.

 

 

It was windy up on the deck!

 

I haven't included any photos of H&M because they are still on holiday and I don't have their permission to post.

 

At dinner, I made sure to try some of the delectable treats that we had seen being prepared in the kitchens earlier.

 

 

 

On the menu for the gala was also lobster - which I ordered but didn't enjoy as much as I hoped I would. Apologies for not taking a menu photo. The wine was free flowing and the conversation was wonderful so photos took a distant second place.

[Katgoesonholiday]

After dinner we walked along the deck to the show

 

 

 

Excuse the crazy hair - it was WINDY!!!

 

 

Nutella crepes anyone?