MSC Orchestra

[chippy4t]

My first time with MSC cruses and as far into the future that I can see it will be the last. my wife and I were on the Orchestra 14/10/2014 for 11 nights.

To start with because of my invalidity we were lead into the priority line which included disabled, club members and any one not happy to see someone making better progress, with no introversion from staff it became even more hazardous to be in this line, onboard ship, cabin not ready, so we went for a snack in the cafeteria, The food was lukewarm at best, only thing hot was the soup, the service was nonexistent unless you wanted drink from the bar, when I struggled with self service there was absolutely no help,

on other ships a waiter would help not so here, on several occasions we struggled to find a clean or non chipped mug, at least they were ceramic, the rest of the plates were all plastic old and discoloured.

the dining restaurant was much better, service was generally very good food was ok.

we were advised to use the restaurant morning and afternoon but on doing so found the service slow, the day we tried lunch it was nearly 1&1/2 hours to get a bowl of soup.

we complained on several occasions no explanation or apology.

This trip was in celebration of our 40th anniversary this was the first ship I have been on not to recognise such events.

[sidari]

Such a shame to hear that the cruise was not what you had hoped for,it may be that as the ship is due to head to drydock after its current cruise that plates etc that should have been up to scratch are being replaced during the Drydock before it re-positions to Dubai.

 

Sadly organisation is one of MSC failures but Italians are not usually good at it anyway and not just MSC, the airports can be just as bad.

 

The same complaints appear regarding the food it seems on most if not all ships, the issue with staff could also be that they are nearing the end of their contracts and have become weary but that is just an observation.

 

Cabins are not usually ready until around 2pm, the strange thing is you could sail on the same ship again in 6 to 12 months time and think you were on a totaly different ship.

[scampi]

We were on the MSC Orchestra sailing just before yours & absolutely loved our cruise! but not the embarkation process!!

 

I understand how upset you probably were with embarkation out of Venice but the main problem was mainly with Venice's security. When we were dropped off in front of the cruise terminal, a MSC staff member spotted me with a cane & directed us to the priority line but from there

on we didn't know what to do with our check in luggage & we felt that our luggage should have been taken from us at that point (that certainly would have improved the process & it was difficult maneuvering our way to where you handed the check in luggage to the Venice porters to be sent through the screening machine downstairs.). Upstairs was bedlam!! & the fault lies with Venice Security itself. You would have thought you were going through airport security. They had videos overhead directing all of us to take out 3 oz liquids & to remove belts, etc. to put in trays. One elderly lady's jeans fell down in front of us as she tried to pass through security. The Venice security agents didn't assist us in giving us the trays & people were fighting for them.

 

2 weeks later we left on the Regal Princess again out of Venice & embarkation wasn't much better. But again I blame the Venice security for a horrible embarkation process. However, Princess employees were better prepared at taking our check in luggage from us as soon as we arrived near the docks. It was upstairs again that bedlam broke out.

 

I must add that MSC's disembarkation process was the BEST process we have ever experienced. Our colored tags were numbered. The same numbered tab of each luggage tag was able to be glued on to our Cruise cards. I appreciated how a staff member led our group off the ship waving a colored flag. Thankfully we were done with Venice security at that point & easily made our way to our luggage & out of the Venice cruise terminal.

Santa

Edited November 8, 2014 by scampi

[scampi]

We found the MSC staff to be very personable & helpful. Hopefully, we'll run into several of them in February when we board the MSC Orchestra again for our Dubai to Freemantle cruise. The ship was spotless with cleaning, polishing & vacuuming going on nonstop. We took out the Alegrissimo package & felt it was great value. Enjoyed new cocktails & wonderful gelatto & specialty coffees.

 

Our meals for breakfast & lunch were at the buffet. We had no trouble there with lines... we just took the advice of other Cruise Critic people & went to the aft area where there were fewer people lined up and more tables available. We loved the fresh pasta & pizza, the salads & fresh fruit but found most of the other food just o.k. We had the best dining experience nightly with a wonderful group of British/Scottish/Moroccan passengers who also spoke English & the food was very good.

 

The entertainment was great...enjoyed the diversity of many cultures on our cruise...made hopefully some lasting friendships & we're looking forward to boarding the MSC Orchestra once again on Feb. 21st.

 

scampi (Santa & Bob)

[sidari]

Hi Santa and Bob,

 

What you described at Venice is the exact same as what we experienced last November for the Divina TA, there were people here who said we were being Negative easy to do of course when you have never experienced it!

 

Orchestra is currently in the Trieste shipyard undergoing a spruce up before it heads to Dubai from Venice.

[AmoMondo]

I think you cannot judge a cruise line or air line by Venice port or airport. They are both nearly always chaotic. Don't suppose it helps when several cruise ships are embarking or disembarking the same day. Add I. To the mix that Italians don't have the same queuing traditions as the Uk or US and it easily becomes a hot sticky mess.

 

For passengers with disabilities it is even more stressful.

[sidari]

Mairi ... Venice is just not geared up to handle large numbers of passengers due to the size of the buildings, Barcelona is not much bigger but organisation is far better as we found for our Poesia sailing to FLL.

 

The best to date has been FLL and the Oasis sailing where we went from Kerbside to Cabin in just 10 minutes. If only all ports were this well organised.

Edited November 9, 2014 by sidari