Just off the Armonia (Cuba/Christmas)

[lmfinney]

Friday Dec 28 (Cozumel)

[lmfinney]

Saturday Dec 29 (Havana 1)

[lmfinney]

Sunday Dec 30 (Havana 2)

[lmfinney]

Monday Dec 31 (Disembarkation)

[lmfinney]

One other thing I forgot to say in my review is about excursions. There are more excursions available on the ship than are available for advance booking. However, for those that are available early, there appears to be a discount for booking early.

 

For example, we booked the Tulum outing in Cozumel in advance, and it was $338 for our family. That same booking would have been about $410 on the ship.

[Beamafar]

Greatly appreciate you posting the planners, Imfinney - thank you!

[Reds4life]

AWESOME! Thanks so much

[spamwhiches]

Thank you Imfinney!

 

you have made a lot of people happy today. 

[Cauzneffct]

2 hours ago, lmfinney said:

One other thing I forgot to say in my review is about excursions. There are more excursions available on the ship than are available for advance booking. However, for those that are available early, there appears to be a discount for booking early.

 

For example, we booked the Tulum outing in Cozumel in advance, and it was $338 for our family. That same booking would have been about $410 on the ship.

 

That’s annoying.  We’re likely going to book private excursions (except Tulum for the same logistical reasons you mentioned), but I was surprised by the dearth of MSC options for Havana and Roatan.  I guess it makes sense to hold open some slots for people to book on board, but I don’t get the benefit of keeping whole excursions hidden from pre-booking.

[lmfinney]

23 minutes ago, Cauzneffct said:

 

That’s annoying.  We’re likely going to book private excursions (except Tulum for the same logistical reasons you mentioned), but I was surprised by the dearth of MSC options for Havana and Roatan.  I guess it makes sense to hold open some slots for people to book on board, but I don’t get the benefit of keeping whole excursions hidden from pre-booking.

 

Would it help if I posted pictures of the Havana excursions that were available on board? There were 10 of them, and I think there were only 4 available in advance. Of course, there's no guarantee that they would be the same on other sailings.

 

Our itinerary didn't go to Roatan, so I can't offer the same for that.

FYI, we were able to get a walking tour and a driving tour through havanacar for much less than the price of the driving tour alone through the ship.

[Beamafar]

It's possibly to do with the 20% discount offered for pre-booked excursions ... maybe they only select a few to be included in the offer.  🤔

[Cauzneffct]

22 minutes ago, lmfinney said:

 

Would it help if I posted pictures of the Havana excursions that were available on board? There were 10 of them, and I think there were only 4 available in advance. Of course, there's no guarantee that they would be the same on other sailings.

 

Our itinerary didn't go to Roatan, so I can't offer the same for that.

FYI, we were able to get a walking tour and a driving tour through havanacar for much less than the price of the driving tour alone through the ship.

Sure, if you don’t mind.

 

ive looked into a few companies Havana, and they’re definitely better/cheaper than the MSC excursions I’ve seen thus far.  But, like Tulum, if MSC offered something that travelled outside the environs of Havana, I might go with them.  

 

 

[Cauzneffct]

26 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

It's possibly to do with the 20% discount offered for pre-booked excursions ... maybe they only select a few to be included in the offer.  🤔

Maybe?  But I’d still figure they’d list the others so people didn’t book privately.

 

Maybe a large number of passengers wait to book on board and MSC figures they don’t lose much by not offering them ahead of time?  I have no idea

[lmfinney]

4 minutes ago, Cauzneffct said:

Sure, if you don’t mind.

 

ive looked into a few companies Havana, and they’re definitely better/cheaper than the MSC excursions I’ve seen thus far.  But, like Tulum, if MSC offered something that travelled outside the environs of Havana, I might go with them.  

 

Las Terrazas is the only one that seems to go outside the Havana metro area.

 

 

[Cauzneffct]

Thanks for those. 

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, Cauzneffct said:

Maybe?  But I’d still figure they’d list the others so people didn’t book privately.

 

Maybe a large number of passengers wait to book on board and MSC figures they don’t lose much by not offering them ahead of time?  I have no idea

 

The problem is that you could end up pre-booking an excursion, only to find even better ones being offered onboard.

 

Our cruise booking came with 2 Havana excursions included;  paperwork from our TA indicates that if we want to change when onboard, we will be given $50 credit for each item towards another excursion.  I've no idea if that applies for each of us or a total of $50 off per excursion.  The ones included are ones that can be pre-booked ... they're not terribly attractive and we certainly wouldn't have chosen them.

[lmfinney]

20 hours ago, Cauzneffct said:

Which Family Cabin were you in?  We’re booked in 9003 a ways out and the deck plans keep changing; it used to indicate that the 3/4 beds were a sofa bed and a pull down, but lately it’s shown “bunk beds.”   It may not matter either way, but I thought it was odd that they may have/will take out the sofa.

 

I just realized I can post videos. Here's a (hasty and poor-quality) video I took when we first got into our cabin. Take the mirror image for 9003.

[Reds4life]

Imfinney, the room looks pretty nice. It looks clean and fairly updated as well. Is that true? A few reviews I came across online said the rooms were a little run down. I know this is being very particular, but do you remember if the bathroom had a glass-type rounded shower door (we had that type on Divina) or a shower curtain?

[lmfinney]

1 hour ago, Reds4life said:

Imfinney, the room looks pretty nice. It looks clean and fairly updated as well. Is that true? A few reviews I came across online said the rooms were a little run down. I know this is being very particular, but do you remember if the bathroom had a glass-type rounded shower door (we had that type on Divina) or a shower curtain?

 

The cushions on the sofa needed to be replaced - that's the only "run down" that I noticed.

Unfortunately, it's a shower curtain 😞

The main advantages of the cabin (for us) were privacy (separating the kids from the adults) and so much storage space.

[Beamafar]

22 minutes ago, lmfinney said:

 

The cushions on the sofa needed to be replaced - that's the only "run down" that I noticed.
 

 

On that subject ... When we were on Poesia last September, our cabin steward came into the cabin one day (late into the cruise) and asked if we'd mind if he took the arm off the sofa as it needed replacing.  The next day, a new arm was installed.  I wonder if a word with the Housekeeping manager would work if one felt that the cushions (or other parts) needed replacing.

[Cauzneffct]

2 hours ago, lmfinney said:

 

I just realized I can post videos. Here's a (hasty and poor-quality) video I took when we first got into our cabin. Take the mirror image for 9003.

Thanks.  Was there anything outside of the “bedroom” window?  Some photos I’ve seen of 9001/02/04 make it look like there’s a railing (and a deck/walkway?) outside

[lmfinney]

53 minutes ago, Cauzneffct said:

Thanks.  Was there anything outside of the “bedroom” window?  Some photos I’ve seen of 9001/02/04 make it look like there’s a railing (and a deck/walkway?) outside

There's a partial obstruction for 9003 and 9006 from a structural element, and there's a deck below (accessible from 8).

 

Here are a couple pictures that show the view of the room from the deck below and the view from inside with the structural element blocking the right edge of the view from 9006.

 

 

[FGJones]

Did anyone in your party bring a curling iron of hair straighter and was there any issue?  The UK website explicitly states these item are fine but the US site does not call them out. 

 

Thank you

[mexico8]

Imfinney:  I also thank you for all the pictures and information on your cruise.   We are taking the same one in April and our roll call is practically non-existent.   Not much information is shared there so I appreciate all the work you went to here.   

We took our first cruise with MSC on the Poesia last year and it was fine and the status match is great.    We got black status and it gives us some nice perks.

 

Thanks again for all information.   Much appreciated.

[lmfinney]

2 hours ago, FGJones said:

Did anyone in your party bring a curling iron of hair straighter and was there any issue?  The UK website explicitly states these item are fine but the US site does not call them out. 

 

Thank you

We didn't bring any, so I have no information.