MSC Fantasia: a first time cruiser adventure!

[Bra_BE2014]

The ship was supposed to be quite early in Santorini, around 8:30 AM and we were supposed to be at the theatre at 8:15 AM to meet our group for our half day excursion. So today it was only breakfast, no jacuzzi!

 

Our group was what bigger, 22 people if I remember correctly. It was once again split between English and German speakers. We went together to catch our tender boat and found a nice spot on top for a few pictures. One of the purchases I did specially for this cruise was a small waterproof bag - it was big enough for my wallet, Iphone and cruise card. I had it with me this day since a big part of the day would be on the beach.

 

Anyway, as our tender docked in Santorini, I then really started paying attention that the island was quite tall and full of winding roads around the cliff, Oh-Oh..... I already had my poker face on anyway because internally I was tense of being so close to a volcano; Then I noticed the big buses going up through the cliff - Oh boy, My heart was racing like mad while my mom was blissfully oblivious cheering 'we are going to the beach!!!' grrrrrrr

 

We got to our seats on the bus and my praying-to-all-saints marathon started. Some of those curves really couldn't have a hair strand next to that bus, only the precipice - really, I clung to my guardian angel like never before! After 40 minutes more or less due to traffic we got to Oia. I really had to control myself not to kiss the floor - the joy of being alive! I saw some ashen looking people getting off the bus as well so I bet I wasn't the only one petrified :D

 

Oia was gorgeous like nothing I've seen before. It was 29°, hot and sunny and full of picturesque houses and shops. We could walk around for 45 minutes before having to board our death trap again.

 

It was then beach time! I was looking forward to go to Perivolos beach since we booked this cruise. This thing we have on the Belgian coast doesn't qualify as beach on my books, I'm afraid :D

 

We would have 2,5 hours to enjoy the beach followed by lunch on the nearest tavern. We got some much needed tan and had a fun time eating the delicious Santorini tomato balls, their specialty. We were also supposed to have some time in Fira but the traffic was really bad and it took us almost 1hour to get to Fira. Our guide led us to the pathway to follow for the cable car down as he thought it was too risky too wait longer to get in line.

 

By then the sun was really hot and I had to wrap my wet beach towel around me to avoid taking too much sun. I could see people transforming to tomato red before my very eyes while in line but my towel-wrap saved me from the same fate though it might have looked silly.

 

By the way, our guide was right! We were a while on that line and eventually Mom and I took the last tender that was leaving back to the ship at 4PM. The cable car ride takes only a few seconds but it is not without emotion if it's windy - you hear a few cracking sounds along the way but you reach the bottom too quick for panicking, ufffff.

 

Once back on the ship we went for a much needed strawberry daiquiri to sooth my nerves. I wasn't feeling 100% by then so we took a nap in the zen area and didn't get to the pool anymore. When we woke up, disaster struck: My nose was blocked, my throat was hurting and I was dizzy: Nooooooooooo :eek:

[Bra_BE2014]

We then decided to skip dinner in the MDR in favour of a quick bite in the buffet. The dinner selection was very good, I had some pasta, fish and potato gratin.

 

We went back to our cabin for a long rest before the show: tonight it would be 'Pirates' and I really didn't want to miss it. Thankfully I had some medication with me so I took some ibuprofen for throat pain and headache and used some spray to clear up my breathing. I crashed in bed and when it was time we headed to the theatre.

 

Looking back I was kind of stupid: the air conditioning on the theatre was crazy strong and I was wearing a dress every night. Big mistake! The contrast with spending a day boiling in the sun finished me off so by then I was feeling awful. I loved 'Pirates' though :D

 

That's the main issue with booking shore excursions in advance - I knew I would be better off staying on the ship the following day to recuperate but I would never forgive myself if I missed Athens. So Instead of a B-52's I had a lemon tea (aaaaaah) and straight to bed. There is a small pharmacy on deck 6 so I went there and bought some tablets for my throat. It wasn't as expensive as I thought, I paid €6,50 for the box. I knew that the ibuprofen 600gr would fight any fever or flu inflammation I could have so I was more or less not worried about being in the middle of the ocean feeling like s#@t.

 

For Athens we were supposed to leave the ship at 8AM so at least I would have 7 hours sleep until then.

[Bra_BE2014]

We are first time cruisers on Fantasia in October and I'm loving your review. Any further tips would be great. I loved the ones so far about how to get away from the crowds. I'm also interested to know how disembark went in Venice and when you were off the ship, though if you have your flights/transfers through MSC I guess you get priority.

Eagerly awaiting the next instalment of your review!

 

Hi! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I didn't have anything pre-booked on disembarkation day as we spent that day in Venice and only flew back the day after. So I will cover that too!

[Bra_BE2014]

Thanks for the review I am first time cruiser on Fantasia in a few weeks so appreciate the tips :)

 

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Forums mobile app

 

Thank you so much! Writing this review is helping me to keep the post-cruise blues away!

[Bra_BE2014]

Thank you :) We actually enjoyed the sail-in the following week much more, as there were not as many people on lido deck.

 

A pity that we missed the El Zorro show, since sail-away was delayed and it was our priority thing to do.

 

Glad you had a good time, keep it coming! The MSC Fantasia had such a good itinerary this year! What a lovely cruise we had.

 

Your amazing review kept my spirits up in anticipation of the cruise! MSC Fantasia is a wonderful way to have a first introduction to cruising. I would chose sail away over Zorro too :-)

[Bra_BE2014]

DAY 5 - Athens (Piraeus)

 

I woke up feeling better - I realised I didn't have a cold or a flu but it was more like a reaction to air conditioning. The excursion buses and the theatre were always freezing and the contrast with spending the day in the sun didn't suit me well. As I live in Belgium, my body didn't know what proper sun was for a long time :D

 

Anyway, We got ready for Athens! This were the port that we were dreamed about since day one and we were supposed to spend the day in the Acropolis then visiting the Athens museum.

 

This was the one excursion I got annoyed with our tour guide - not for something she did but because of what she didn't do - but I'm getting carried away! Well, it all started when we boarded the bus. We had two guides that day: one only for the English speakers and a separate guide just for Italian but all sharing the same bus.

 

When we were supposed to leave, I see the Yatch Club butler bringing a couple to our bus. They enter and look surprise that the first chairs were occupied as they expected it would be reserved for them. So lesson number one: There are no Yatch club privileges on shore excursions! Inside a bus we are all equal, hahahaha! Everybody was a bit annoyed but by then the guides started their story on the city.

 

I was touched by their explanation on how Athens has free dogs and not street dogs. We all noticed some dogs walking around the city, crossing streets together with the people and lying about in the acropolis. They looked clean and well taken care of so our guide explained that the city of Athens fed them, provided vaccine and ID's, and that the people of Athens respected their space. Aaaaaaw, so cute! They seemed like happy dogs!

 

Athens looks like a good place to spend a few more days around, it looked modern and clean, with the eventual ancient monument here and there. The Acropolis site was full of people but it was organised chaos. I was pleasantly surprised that most tourists were behaving well and avoiding photo bombing each other :)

 

There were some slippery steps, so we were extra careful to go slowly until we reached back the meeting point to go for the museum. And guess what? The museum was also freezing cold..... Oh boy....

 

We were there about one hour then we had 40 minutes free time to shop around the surrounding streets. My mom and I went for some Ice cream, aren't we predictable? hehehehe.

 

At this point, the Yatch club shenanigans struck again; we were supposed to meet at 2:15 PM to ride back to the ship. The all aboard that day was at 3:15 PM. At 2:30 PM everyone is waiting and where are the YC people? No sign... Then there they come, slowly and oblivious and tell our guide to wait a bit more as they still need to buy some ice cream. Hummm?!! The guide says 'okay'! No lady, it's not okay!!!! I then told her if we hit traffic we will miss the ship. She looked a bit nervous and said we would be okay if we left right at that moment. She panics and starts shooing people to the bus like chickens. We eventually reached the ship at 3PM - a bit too close for my taste....

 

Once back on the ship, we went for lunch in the buffet. We went to the kids corner again as they had the best french fries of the buffet! I got a burger and some chicken jerk and we opted to nap in the main pool deck 14 where it was less windy.

 

We decided to not shop in port and instead to buy our souvinirs and presents to give away in the logo shop, so before dinner we went there and got a few items. The prices were very reasonable and it would get even cheaper on the last day. Once again, we preferred to take our time on the buffet instead of the MDR. Tonight was casual with the 60's, 70's and 80's as the party theme.

 

We were very tired after walking the whole day so we decided to check out the 3D Cinema - A bored looking young employee was there scaring people away. If you asked a question, he would say 'you can check yourself' and pointed the movie list in your face. I looked surprised and asked f he was okay :D

He looked stunned and said he was sea sick that day. Ah okay, then! Weird....

 

It was the only issue I had with service during the cruise. It was just so funny that later on I saw him dancing around by the pool, he was part of the entertainment team. He had the decency of blushing when he saw that we could see him full of energy, hehehe.

 

With pain in our hearts we skipped the show tonight - it was supposed to be parfum d'orient, with an acrobatic French cancan. Oh well! My throat thanked me!

Edited September 14, 2014 by Bra_BE2014

[Bra_BE2014]

DAY 6 - Corfu

 

Today I woke up feeling much better, skipping yesterday's show was the right decision. The Daily said that arrival in Corfu was expected for 12:30 AM, which was a relief after being in a hurry two mornings in a row.

 

When planning what to do in Corfu, I struggled between booking a beach excursion and a sightseeing excursion. As we were also going to the beach in Dubrovnik, I finally decided to go for the Paleokastritza monastery excursion. The wether was only so-so with a forecast of Maximum 25° and rain. I didn't want to take any chances to get my throat any worse, so I went about wearing my sarong as a scarf - it did the trick! My apetite was back so we had a huge breakfast!

 

After eating, we took the morning to walk about our favourite lounges for some pictures. The ship is truly magnificent, so pretty!

 

Anyway, at 11:30 AM we thought it would be a nice idea to try the MDR for lunch. We read on the daily that you could chose an 'express' lunch, meaning all your plates would be served within 30 minutes. Sounds great! We didn't regret it, it was all hot and fresh. The concept of 'express' was really respected, the waiter would ask you if you were there for normal seating or express and assigned you a table. The 'express' menu had fewer items then the regular lunch menu but it still had a meat, a fish and a veggie option.

 

The lunch was held in the smaller of the two MDR's called Il Cerchio D'oro; We hadn't been there before and it was interesting to see that the views were nicer then at our usual Red Velvet restaurant.

 

The key lime pie for desert was to die for:

[Bra_BE2014]

We finished our meal happy with our choices and went to the exit to follow our group. This time we were back at sharing our guide with the Italian speakers, which was always fun! Except that it was raining rather hard, so Mom and I stayed inside the bus chatting while the other spent 1 hour walking in the city center in the rain :eek:

 

I just didn't want to risk getting worse again and my mom is also not a fan of walking in the rain, so no drama there.

 

At the stipulated time, we went to the paleokastritza region - according to our guide it is considered the Capri of Corfu. The starting point of the climb to the monastery was at a pretty little beach with the bluest of waters. The weather Gods changed their mines and the sun returned full force. (sigh) Everyone was about to start a mutiny to run to the beach and forget all about the monastery, hahahaha. Sadly, we had no bathing suits on and the nudity thing is not for us :D

 

I was wearing a jeans bermuda so at the entrance I was required to put on a skirt they had there for such occasions. I didn't mind, it matched my outfit! It was a nice visit, some great views! There are 8 monks currently living there and they even grow some grapes onsite, cool!

 

On the way back, I heard that the beach that was part of the beach excursion wasn't as nice as this one so in the end we were quite happy with how we spent our day. Tonight would also be the second gala night, well, actually the daily mentioned 'formal' night. So no nap today, as soon as we were back we went to get cleaned up and dress for the evening.

[Bra_BE2014]

Tonight would be the last chance to dress up and It would be the last gala menu on the MDR. One of our table mates went to the specialty restaurant Tex Mex and they enjoyed it a lot.

 

The food on the MDR also didn't let us down:

[Bra_BE2014]

Tonight was also the baked alaska parade but as I took no picture the one you see is from the tiramisu parade :D

 

The baked alaska was delicious, I got banana and raizins flavour and my mom got pistachio - there was a bit of tension on our table because our portions were 3 times bigger then the rest of them, oh well!

 

The show of the day was Starwalker, a tribute to Michael Jackson. It was packed, people had to sit on the stairs. We were there 20 minutes before the show so we got good sits. We would always be there early to enjoy the entertainment team doing lithe sketches and pranks to entertain the audience.

 

The show was amazing and Michael jackson DID NOT have an Italian accent as some posted here!

[sokeeffe]

Hi,

 

I am loving your review, i am a first time cruiser aswell.

We are on the Fantasia in October. i am so excited.

Looking forward to reading some more of your wonderful holiday :)

[Elmartellama]

Tonight was also the baked alaska parade but as I took no picture the one you see is from the tiramisu parade :D

 

The baked alaska was delicious, I got banana and raizins flavour and my mom got pistachio - there was a bit of tension on our table because our portions were 3 times bigger then the rest of them, oh well!

 

That certainly happens! But you can always ask for another one. We loved the Tiramisu so we asked for 2 more. The waiter said no problem and brought 2 for each one! We had to laugh with him and told him that 3 tiramisu pieces was maybe a bit too much! :D I could write a very negative review or "how bad the service is" for that incident... bla bla bla, but we just laughed and had a wonderful time instead!

[Bra_BE2014]

Hi,

 

I am loving your review, i am a first time cruiser aswell.

We are on the Fantasia in October. i am so excited.

Looking forward to reading some more of your wonderful holiday :)

 

Thanks! I wish I could day I would be back in October :D You're going to have a wonderful time!

[Bra_BE2014]

That certainly happens! But you can always ask for another one. We loved the Tiramisu so we asked for 2 more. The waiter said no problem and brought 2 for each one! We had to laugh with him and told him that 3 tiramisu pieces was maybe a bit too much! :D I could write a very negative review or "how bad the service is" for that incident... bla bla bla, but we just laughed and had a wonderful time instead!

 

More food is always a plus in my books ;-)

[Bra_BE2014]

Everything we ordered was delicious. I was the only one of the table that wanted to give a go on the sea food risotto. It was a big portion, hot and steaming. They all regretted not ordering it! I thought it complemented the fish balls from the first course very well.

 

Here is the picture to prove it:

Edited September 18, 2014 by Bra_BE2014

[PathfinderEss]

Enjoying your review, and your great pictures.

[Bra_BE2014]

DAY 7 - Dubrovnik

 

Croatia was in our radar for a while - In Belgium, it is a popular destination for vacations so it was one of the reasons I booked this cruise. Dubrovnik in particular was not familiar to me, I only knew that I didn't want to miss a chance to go to the beach in Croatia and that I should keep an eye out for Game of Thrones characters walking about!

 

It was a bitter sweet day as it was our last full day on the ship, we really wanted to make the most of it! We chose an excursion with a short city tour and 3 hours on the pretty little St. Jacobs beach. Wow, it was paradise! You can also see our 'taxi' for the day: to get to the beach we had to go by boat around 40 minutes and it was great to see the city walls and buildings from the water.

[Bra_BE2014]

Enjoying your review, and your great pictures.

 

Thank you!

[sokeeffe]

Thanks! I wish I could day I would be back in October :D You're going to have a wonderful time!

 

Thanks, i hope you don't mind but i have a few questions.

 

When you boarded the ship in Venice, did you get your room straight away or did you have to wait.

 

Also we have booked the first sitting for Dinner in the MDR, if you want to go to the Buffet instead, is that ok ?? do you have to tell someone ?

I have heard that the service is very slow in the MDR? how did you find it.

 

Sorry for all the questions :)

[Bra_BE2014]

Thanks, i hope you don't mind but i have a few questions.

 

When you boarded the ship in Venice, did you get your room straight away or did you have to wait.

 

Also we have booked the first sitting for Dinner in the MDR, if you want to go to the Buffet instead, is that ok ?? do you have to tell someone ?

I have heard that the service is very slow in the MDR? how did you find it.

 

Sorry for all the questions :)

 

No worries, I'm glad I have the answers :-)

In Venice we could go straight away to the room to drop our carry ons but they warned us that the rooms would only be fully ready after 2PM.

 

The first sitting started at 7PM and we were usually done with our 3 courses around 8:30 PM. After walking around the whole day, I found this pace soothing and didn't mind. When you finish you have to sign a paper to acknowledge what you drank even if you have he package. So don't just stand up and leave! You can eat in the buffet whenever you want, no warning needed. Have fun!

[Bra_BE2014]

Continuing our day in Dubrovnik!

 

One important details about the beach both in Greece and Croatia is that instead of fine, white sand it is mostly composed of rocks - small and big, some pointy. I got a very good tip on Trip advisor that I should wear water shoes. It was the right decision. I saw some people struggling to enjoy a swim because the pebbles would hurt their feet. My mom also had water shoes but she made an elementary mistake: The pair she bought had large wholes on top, crock style, so the pebbles got inside her shoes defeating the whole purpose....The ones I had were great and it looked like this:

[Bra_BE2014]

It was only EUR 10,00 at a local sports shop here in Belgium but I've seen it on Amazon too. It is definatly worth the investment!

 

There were 3 ships on port that day - I liked that they timed the excursions well, since the beach was quite small. The grow coming from the next ship arrived when we were about to leave so it never felt crowded. The port was inside the city so I imagine it would have been quite easy to just get off the ship and take a taxi to the city centre. I wish we've had more time for sightseeing but the all aboard was scheduled for 1:30 PM. I guess I'll have to go back then :D

 

We returned with the same taxi boat and it stopped right next to the ship, so in a few seconds we were aboard again. We headed to our room and there it was: the daily for disembarkation!!!! Nooooooooo! It gave us a heavy heart as this meant we needed to pack. We decided to go for then short pain and pack directly. We obviously left a change of clothes for dinner and for the next morning out to avoid embarrassing situations, hahahaha. I read in a review about a couple that left the ship in bath robes because they forgot to leave a change of cloths out when they put their bags outside. :eek:

 

We chose to spend our last afternoon having one of our beloveds strawberry daiquiris in our balcony. It was sunny but very windy so the pool decks were uncomfortable. We sunbathed for a while in our private little bubble and then cleaned up and changed for dinner.

 

We wanted to enjoy the MDR one last time to be able to say good by to our table mates. We swapped email addresses to be able to share pictures afterwards.

 

After dinner, we went to honour our routine to enjoy a different bar every night. The only one left was the piazza, which gave us the perfect excuse to taste one of the deserts. We picked two 'baba', which was not included in the allegrissimo but was very cheap at EUR 0,80 each so we went for that. It was delicious!

[Bra_BE2014]

We went to the theater early as usual and we had a blast - The entertainment team was there offering 'free hugs' to everyone, we had a good laugh seeing people's reactions. The children were so sweet and really went for huge, bear hugs!

 

The show was called 'Moments' - It was an okay show I guess, it didn't have the same visual impact of 'pirates' or 'starwalker' but it was nice. It was several short numbers, a bit of ballet, a bit of acrobacy, etc.

 

Daniella took the stage one last time to thank everyone and to give some DVD's as a gift. She asked if we could guess how many people work in the photo corner and who got it right won. As this was the second show of the night, it was quite obvious that the winner had inside knowledge from the previous round, as the number was 'guessed' in a rather unconvincing way.

 

Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves and went back to the room to meet the deadline to put the bags outside: midnight.

 

We went to sleep a bit sad that our journey was almost done but we still had one night in Venice to look forward to!

Edited September 21, 2014 by Bra_BE2014

[sokeeffe]

No worries, I'm glad I have the answers :-)

In Venice we could go straight away to the room to drop our carry ons but they warned us that the rooms would only be fully ready after 2PM.

 

The first sitting started at 7PM and we were usually done with our 3 courses around 8:30 PM. After walking around the whole day, I found this pace soothing and didn't mind. When you finish you have to sign a paper to acknowledge what you drank even if you have he package. So don't just stand up and leave! You can eat in the buffet whenever you want, no warning needed. Have fun!

 

Thank you for the information you are most helpful and really love your review. Croatia is a Beautiful country, we honeymoon'd in Dubrovnik 10 years ago. So we are really looking forward to going back ;)

[Bra_BE2014]

DAY 8 - disembarkation day

 

How did that happen! I spent months planning this cruise and suddenly it was over, very surreal.

 

The ship arrived in Venice early and it was already docked when we woke up and peacked through our curtains. It looked like a nice sunny day, so at least we had an overnight in Venice to look forward to. We had one last breakfast in the buffet and it was the most civilised meal I had there, ever: I guess everyone was a bit blue.

 

The 'daily' paper instructed that people with 'green 1' colour tag like us should go to the casino to wait for our turn to leave. We went back to our room one last time to pick up our carry on bags and triple check the safe and drawers were empty. We headed to the cassino at 8:15AM as indicated by the daily and waited for our turn.

 

For some reason, I thought they would announce it over the tanoy so I kept waiting for a 'voice' to announce it. Then I finally notice that all TV screens were changing colors - aha! No announcement needed, you just needed to wait for your color to appear advising you could go. After around 15 minutes we could finally go with fun memories and a sense of wanting more :D

Edited September 24, 2014 by Bra_BE2014