Armonia leaving tomorrow ask away...

[mwhite991]

2 hours ago, lifeasme123 said:

Any idea what they are doing for dry dock?

They said they will be in dry dock for 3 weeks. The staff didnt know what they were doing. I

[pizza123]

I would guess they would be doing ALOT!  We just returned - the staff was wonderful but the ship was the worst one out of 31 cruises we have been on.  I heard people complaining that there was no AC in their cabins. The forward 7th floor had a water main break and was totally flooded out. The water dripped down to the theater and the last 2 shows were delayed until it was cleaned up. Elevator buttons didn't work half the time. The pool decking was in the worst shape we have ever seen. A lot of the public restrooms were out of order at some point in the cruise. The mini golf had 5 clubs and 3 white balls that were available to play with.  But hey - the cruise was cheap and like I said the staff was wonderful. 

[mwhite991]

The ship definitely needs repair. It was very clean I figured out that if you left your bathroom door closed the ac was better in the room. I felt the Crew kept us informed of any issues. I found a chair by the pool daily. The buffet did not have enough seating indoors but I prefer to sit outdoors on a nice day anyways. I really enjoyed the crew hosted shows. Getting on and off the boat was a breeze. 

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your comments!

[L2float]

We had a wonderful cruise on Armonia in June. As other posters have said, the staff was wonderful! It had a small ship charm. We did not experience any of the outages of ac, water problems, etc. We were in an Aurea Suite and enjoyed the private sun deck, but wished for more shade. If you love the sun... it will be awesome! Our only disappointment was the spa area. The thermal area was run down. Nothing worked right. ( sauna, steam room, etc.) I truly hope they improve this during dry dock, as the thermal area is usually one of our favorite cruise activities. However, we recieved a massage or other spa treatment almost daily and they were all excellent. 

 

The food was good. I did have one meal that I didn't enjoy, but our waiter quickly replaced it with another meal of my choosing. Wine and water glasses were kept full at lunch and dinner. The service in the restaurant  was excellent. Breakfast service was not as good, but acceptable.

 

If you sail on her soon and find Ryan Felix bar tending , ask him to make his special! He will go above and beyond if you make any special requests. We don't spend a lot of time in bars, but he made us wish that we drank more!

 

Armonia is a great, relaxing ship. Just don't expect a theme park or modern, mega ship experience!

 

 

[Fishwife2016]

On 10/15/2019 at 9:22 AM, lstockford said:

Best shows?? Did you do any of the movies?? Did you do any excursions through MSC and what was your experience.  Cruising for the 1st time with MSC on the Armonia in March.

What is your sailing date in March?  We sail the 30th.

[hotlipss]

On 10/15/2019 at 11:48 AM, mwhite991 said:

Ochoa Rios we did river tubing (loved it). Grand Caymen we did the sting Ray's (loved it) in Costa maya we took a taxi to the beach . I think it was 5 dollars. It was a very nice day and the beach was empty. We had food and drinks and a great massage for 20 dollars. We loved the cruise..The staff reallty made the difference .There are no zip lines or water slides. It depends on what your looking for. The boat was very easy to navigate.i have been on about 18 cruises and I am 60. We have been on some of the larger boats but now prefer the smaller ships. There were definitely some negatives but the positives outweighed them

Do you know the name of beach in costa maya?can u order buckets of beer?The showers look crazy small almost unusable for someone bigger is this true?Was the entertainment in English?Thanks so much ..very curious about this cruise 

[cellfree]

Regarding Showers on Armonia: we were an Inside Cabin and they are small and have a curtain. However you can forget about the curtain and direct the nozzle appropriately and then shower with little cleanup/mess. Worked for us perfectly. That way you also do not have a wet shower curtain clinging to you. 

[hotlipss]

2 hours ago, cellfree said:

Regarding Showers on Armonia: we were an Inside Cabin and they are small and have a curtain. However you can forget about the curtain and direct the nozzle appropriately and then shower with little cleanup/mess. Worked for us perfectly. That way you also do not have a wet shower curtain clinging to you. 

That sounds like a plan..thanks for that info..how did u find this cruiseline compared to others? Was there much entertainment?

[cellfree]

We have sailed on MSC Divina and Seaside and Meraviglia as well as Armonia and although all different have enjoyed them all.  "Never met a ship I didn't like." However on these Boards you will find what someone loves someone else hates! I did write a review of our September cruise. Entertainment? Shows are enjoyable. Appreciated music throughout Ship but again that varies from person to person. Embarkation and Debarkation a breeze. Enjoy.  We would sail Armonia again.  She is coming to Tampa the end of 2020 so are looing forward to that.

[aprilF]

11 hours ago, hotlipss said:

Do you know the name of beach in costa maya?can u order buckets of beer?The showers look crazy small almost unusable for someone bigger is this true?Was the entertainment in English?Thanks so much ..very curious about this cruise 

 

10 hours ago, cellfree said:

Regarding Showers on Armonia: we were an Inside Cabin and they are small and have a curtain. However you can forget about the curtain and direct the nozzle appropriately and then shower with little cleanup/mess. Worked for us perfectly. That way you also do not have a wet shower curtain clinging to you. 

 

This will be my first MSC cruise but on all other lines Ive tried I usually shower in the gym.  Often my cabinmates and I are all getting ready at about the same time and so its just easier to go and use the gym showers.  They are usually bigger and nicer anyway, the bad being that youve got to lug your stuff up to the gym.  Hoping that I will be able to do so on the Armonia and then the Seaview for the cruises I have [planned. 

[cellfree]

We have found that on MSC ships there are not showers available to use such as there are on Carnival. I often use the spa/gym showers on Carnival as we choose a cabin close to gym. Sorry to be “bearer of bad news.”

[mwhite991]

12 hours ago, hotlipss said:

Do you know the name of beach in costa maya?can u order buckets of beer?The showers look crazy small almost unusable for someone bigger is this true?Was the entertainment in English?Thanks so much ..very curious about this cruise 

The showers were tiny with a shower curtain that I did have a fight with. I did shower most days in the shower in the spa area. The only down side was there was only one shower each in the mens and ladies room. You had to know those bathroom existed...They were near the cold room. Take a tour on the first day and look for them.  The name of the beach in Costa Maya was Mahahual Beach.

[aprilF]

17 minutes ago, cellfree said:

We have found that on MSC ships there are not showers available to use such as there are on Carnival. I often use the spa/gym showers on Carnival as we choose a cabin close to gym. Sorry to be “bearer of bad news.”

 

1 minute ago, mwhite991 said:

The showers were tiny with a shower curtain that I did have a fight with. I did shower most days in the shower in the spa area. The only down side was there was only one shower each in the mens and ladies room. You had to know those bathroom existed...They were near the cold room. Take a tour on the first day and look for them.  The name of the beach in Costa Maya was Mahahual Beach.

 

Thanks to you both for the heads up.

[mwhite991]

8 hours ago, hotlipss said:

That sounds like a plan..thanks for that info..how did u find this cruiseline compared to others? Was there much entertainment?

The entertainment was typical cruise type stuff with plenty of singers and dancers. I particularly liked the cruise staff hosted performances and game type shows. Because of the size of the ship I met and got to know many other passengers and the crew. The food in the buffet was adequate and I really enjoyed their carving station. The dining room food was more enjoyable for me. I loved the gelato .The casino was fun.

[Wor1dTrave11er]

2 hours ago, mwhite991 said:

The showers were tiny with a shower curtain that I did have a fight with. I did shower most days in the shower in the spa area. The only down side was there was only one shower each in the mens and ladies room. You had to know those bathroom existed...They were near the cold room. Take a tour on the first day and look for them.  The name of the beach in Costa Maya was Mahahual Beach.

 

Were there any free steam or sauna areas available on the ship, perhaps near the showers?

[mwhite991]

1 minute ago, Wor1dTrave11er said:

 

Were there any free steam or sauna areas available on the ship, perhaps near the showers?

There is an area called the Thermal spa. There is a fee associated with it. I paid 275 for 2 for 14 days and 2 thirty minute massages. I booked it before I went on the cruise. If you booked on the cruise it was 100 per person per week.

[Wor1dTrave11er]

Thank you @mwhite991, good to know!

I imagine it will be the same on sister ships like Lirica.

[SaturnMom]

Thanks for all positive comments about MSC Armonia.

 

I found a good deal yesterday, so I booked it right away without doing any research. My bad, but the deal just hard to pass.

 

Right after I got my confirmation, I came to Cruise Critic and read lot of bad reviews on this ship 😱; I felt like I made a big rookie mistake and ready to cancel the trip. But thanks for all the positive comments, I finally feel better and ready for my first MSC cruise. 😁

 

 

[cellfree]

SaturnMom, we had a wonderful time on the Armonia in September and would book it again without hesitation. We have never “met a ship we didn’t like” and have sailed MSC on Divina and Seaside and Meraviglia just last week. Yes, the Armonia is a grand old ship and we loved her. It is always a mystery to me how there can be such varied reviews. Enjoy your cruise. Crew is great. The Captain, Meinhardt Hansen, is fairly new to MSC and a great Captain. If not too late sign up for the CC Meet&Mingle do so - a great event and you will meet the Captain. 

[SaturnMom]

22 hours ago, cellfree said:

SaturnMom, we had a wonderful time on the Armonia in September and would book it again without hesitation. We have never “met a ship we didn’t like” and have sailed MSC on Divina and Seaside and Meraviglia just last week. Yes, the Armonia is a grand old ship and we loved her. It is always a mystery to me how there can be such varied reviews. Enjoy your cruise. Crew is great. The Captain, Meinhardt Hansen, is fairly new to MSC and a great Captain. If not too late sign up for the CC Meet&Mingle do so - a great event and you will meet the Captain. 

Cellfree,

 

Thank you. I am going to read your review. This will be my first cruise with MSC, do you have any tips for me? Is the list everything in EURO instead of USD?

[cellfree]

Everything is in US dollars. As I said we thoroughly enjoyed the Armonia, it is a grand old ship. The buffet is not as large as others but fine just the same. Pizza which is just outside the buffet (an outdoor open seating area) is delicious. The Burger station is on other side of ship just outside the buffet also and just as great. The worst time is upon Embarkation when everyone is trying to hit the buffet. We found a table near the Pizza and settled there. You will have many times to experience the buffet without all the exhausting crowds. Other tips - we really enjoyed the Sports Bar which is at the bottom entrance to the Theater, other venues very nice also. We felt ship was immaculate considering it’s age with the only obvious thing needing change being the flooring outside of/around the pool but I suspect that is something that was done during dry dock the last two weeks. Enjoy the Armonia and then try the Meraviglia and Divina and Seaside!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SaturnMom]

Hi all,

 

As I mentioned before, I am total new to MSC and I have a few questions for my upcoming cruise:

 

1. I downloaded the MSC for Me app then found out it is only for the newer ships. When we boarded, is there any app I can use on my phone to check daily schedule and activities? Husband don't want to carry the paper daily anymore 🤣.

 

2. Excursion - can anyone tell me the 20% off excursion is a promotion or it away like this. I don't want to book the excursion too early, but don't want to miss the 20% off either. Can't believe they don't offer anything Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for someone already booked 😤.

 

3. Easy Drink Package - both husband and I not a big drinker, but want to buy the easy drink package as it is my birthday cruise.  Can I order a glass of juice and a cocktail at the same time? Any limit on how many drink in a day?

 

4. Can you use the mini fridge in your room to store extra beer?? I don't think the drink package include the drink from the mini fridge.

 

Thank in advance.

 

 

 

 

[mwhite991]

2 hours ago, SaturnMom said:

Hi all,

 

As I mentioned before, I am total new to MSC and I have a few questions for my upcoming cruise:

 

1. I downloaded the MSC for Me app then found out it is only for the newer ships. When we boarded, is there any app I can use on my phone to check daily schedule and activities? Husband don't want to carry the paper daily anymore 🤣.

 

2. Excursion - can anyone tell me the 20% off excursion is a promotion or it away like this. I don't want to book the excursion too early, but don't want to miss the 20% off either. Can't believe they don't offer anything Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for someone already booked 😤.

 

3. Easy Drink Package - both husband and I not a big drinker, but want to buy the easy drink package as it is my birthday cruise.  Can I order a glass of juice and a cocktail at the same time? Any limit on how many drink in a day?

 

4. Can you use the mini fridge in your room to store extra beer?? I don't think the drink package include the drink from the mini fridge.

 

Thank in advance.

 

 

 

 

1 I dont think the app worked on this ship. There are screens all over advertising the evening show.

2 The excursions were definitely a good deal if booked online beforehand.  The price was 20 per cent hire on board.  MSC did a nice job with the excursions and you met in the theater instead of outside in the heat.

3 I ordered soda and water many times with a cocktail. Some of the bottles of water are huge. It also includes the espresso and mineral water .The beer was miller light bottles and Heineken draft. We drank a fair amount on the cruise and do not know of a limit. I had at least 2 special coffees, 3 or 4 waters,a soda or 2 and a few cocktails everyday.

4 You can put what you want in the mini fridge. Just be careful no to drink what's in there because there is a charge. I actually emptied mine so I wouldn't get confused.

[eelgirl97]

I’m getting on the Armonia next Monday and am wondering a few things. 1. Do they have bingo on the ship? 2. What should I expect for daily activities? And 3. Is the food in the MDR good?