Mediterranean Cruise Info

[hallasm]

6 minutes ago, RobinKY said:

Do they have smoking sections in dining rooms?

Onboard MSC, smoking (including e-cigarettes) is not permitted in dining rooms, lounges, cabins, balconies or anywhere else unless clearly indicated with the appropriate signage.

[Markanddonna]

MSC has all of that sort of food. Please try MSC and don't listen to those who complain about the differences. My very favorite place to get a dessert was a deli that also featured Italian Creme Cakes. To die for!  

 

As far as smoking, they have pretty much the same rules on MSC as do the typical cruise lines. There is no smoking in the dining room,  If they had allowed it, I would have never booked another cruise on MSC, but have three more now in the future. That said, expect a LOT of smokers while you are on land in Europe. That was something that shocked me on my first visit to Europe.

[slidergirl]

I say go for it!  You GF is looking for an Italian cruise/vacation, not an American vacation with a couple of hours a day in Italy, right?   It does depend on your comfort level, of course.  I do not speak Italian, German, French and I can speak a smattering of Spanish.  I have never come across totally confused or ignored in my European travels.  Google Translate is now my friend (I traveled before smartphones and those wonderful international apps).  

Your kids can find spaghetti and pizza anywhere in Italy in a tourist restaurant.  You'll find sandwiches in every "bar" on your walks (you'll see them in the windows, my favorite places to eat in Venice).  You can even find a McDonalds (or a McD clone) for a hamburger fix.   If you start in Barcelona, be sure to go into La Boqueria - the big marketplace on Las Ramblas where you can see all the different foods available and, if you get adventurous, even sample some!  That's where I tended to go for lunch every day I was in Barcelona.   

Take lots of time to research your port stops and your embarkation/debarkation ports and see what there is in each place.  There is a boatload (yes, a pun) of history that you have only read about, but seeing is totally different. If you can't get over your discomfort, you can always book private car/mini van tours in each port - you can keep the "American" bubble with you then. 

[DarrenM]

On 10/24/2019 at 3:15 AM, navybankerteacher said:

Indeed - but that is the shape of large ship cruising today — big apartment buildings on barges — surrounded by thousands of people who seem to like the look.

I like that description "Big apartment buildings on barges".

 

I suppose they are all like that now, but when they design these things you would think the designers would still like them to look as attractive as possible. The same as an architect designing a high rise apartment block.

 

This particular ship is almost gruesome to look at.

 

Having been on celebrity Edge, not the prettiest, but stunning to look at, and seeing a very attractive Princess ship in port, at least they have designed them to look somewhat streamlined and grandish. But that MSC ship is neither.

[DarrenM]

Oh and Disney Magic in 2001 -2002 was a beautiful ship.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

I like that description "Big apartment buildings on barges".

 

I suppose they are all like that now, but when they design these things you would think the designers would still like them to look as attractive as possible. The same as an architect designing a high rise apartment block.

 

This particular ship is almost gruesome to look at.

 

Having been on celebrity Edge, not the prettiest, but stunning to look at, and seeing a very attractive Princess ship in port, at least they have designed them to look somewhat streamlined and grandish. But that MSC ship is neither.

I suppose when the design calls for a maximum number of balcony cabins, that apartment house look is unavoidable — Cunard’s QM 2 does it a bit better than most - having the superstructure a bit narrower than the hull seem to help.

[DarrenM]

25 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

I suppose when the design calls for a maximum number of balcony cabins, that apartment house look is unavoidable — Cunard’s QM 2 does it a bit better than most - having the superstructure a bit narrower than the hull seem to help.

That really is a beautiful looking ship.

[DarrenM]

I am on this next. I like this too

 

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I suppose when the design calls for a maximum number of balcony cabins, that apartment house look is unavoidable — Cunard’s QM 2 does it a bit better than most - having the superstructure a bit narrower than the hull seem to help.

 

I don't think I would consider any cruise ship as having beautiful lines.   They all kind of look like container ships actually.  

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

I don't think I would consider any cruise ship as having beautiful lines.   They all kind of look like container ships actually.  

Certainly the mass market lines - but many smaller, higher end ships still have shape and lines — C&MV’s Marco Polo (actually not high end) certainly looks like a passenger ship, as do a number of Crystal, Azamara and Oceania ships.  It is generally the lines which focus on economies of scale and provide space for thousands, rather than hundreds, of passengers that wind up with the floating housing projects.

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, DarrenM said:

I am on this next. I like this too

 

Yes, the older smaller Celebrity ships still have lines - too bad that so much of their promenade decks look like industrial warehouse spaces.

[ldubs]

6 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Certainly the mass market lines - but many smaller, higher end ships still have shape and lines — C&MV’s Marco Polo (actually not high end) certainly looks like a passenger ship, as do a number of Crystal, Azamara and Oceania ships.  It is generally the lines which focus on economies of scale and provide space for thousands, rather than hundreds, of passengers that wind up with the floating housing projects.

 

I agree -- the designers have to put all of us passengers and "stuff" somewhere!  Haha.

 

I like you use of "passenger ship" to describe more appealing lines.  And I agree that the Marco Polo has a more appealing shear line than a lot of others.   Out of curiosity I was looking at various cruise ship images.  Not too many would I categorize as having nice lines.     

[c-boy]

4 hours ago, DarrenM said:

I am on this next. I like this too

 

is that #3 for you ?

[Tapi]

On 10/24/2019 at 10:18 AM, BaumD said:

You should check smoking policy of European lines vs. US lines. Lots more smoking allowed on European lines.

 

On the MSC Meraviglia we found it to be opposite to what our expectations were. We barely smelled any cigarettes during the entire cruise. Less than on US based cruise lines. We found their smoking policies and venues to be much better and more welcoming (at least for non-smokers). We went prepared to be overwhelmed by Europeans smoking everywhere on the ship, but that never happened. On land it was different though. You couldn’t sit at any restaurant with an outdoor patio without being smoked out by every table around you. 
 

In my humble opinion, the worst offender is Carnival. We always get smoked out when we sail on Carnival. If the OP can handle that cruise line, then they can handle MSC.

[DarrenM]

5 hours ago, c-boy said:

is that #3 for you ?

It certainly will be. My experience will have gone up another 50%.

 

And a 4th about to booked.

[swaddy]

Why not try a British ship as a compromise. No coming and going at the ports, announcement s in English, eat European in port and come back to more familiar good in the evening. Cunard  or P and O  cruise out of Italy for example. 

[wowzz]

8 hours ago, swaddy said:

Why not try a British ship as a compromise. No coming and going at the ports, announcement s in English, eat European in port and come back to more familiar good in the evening. Cunard  or P and O  cruise out of Italy for example. 

I think you'll find that P&O  only cruise out of Malta  (and Southampton of course).

[vet6691]

I honestly wouldn't recommend P&O, I cruised with my husband on the Azura and if it had been my first cruise I don't think I would have ever cruised again.   The upside was, it encouraged us to get off the ship and explore much more.   

[wowzz]

43 minutes ago, vet6691 said:

I honestly wouldn't recommend P&O, I cruised with my husband on the Azura and if it had been my first cruise I don't think I would have ever cruised again.   The upside was, it encouraged us to get off the ship and explore much more.   

Can I ask what you didn't like about Azura? I have never been on her, so will be interested to know.

[vet6691]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Can I ask what you didn't like about Azura? I have never been on her, so will be interested to know.

First the good thing, we had a nice cabin and the steward was good.  

 

The food wasn't good in the MDR and the buffet was awful.   The service generally wasn't very good, we had the feeling that a lot of the staff weren't happy.   One day we witnessed a "chef" telling off a server, he seemed to be taking delight in humiliating him in full view of the passengers.   We complained about it but heard nothing from P&O.   

 

The entertainment wasn't really to our taste.   Dancing to a cd in the atrium was an evening high light and whilst lots of people seemed to enjoy it, it wasn't for us.   

 

There was an outbreak of norovirus on the last three days of the cruise.   I know these things happen but there was no announcement made until the last day.

 

We have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess and Cunard and enjoyed all of those.   The Azura cruise was about five years ago, so things may have improved but I'm not prepared to chance it.

 

I think I enjoy having a mix of nationalities on a ship.

Edited October 27, 2019 by vet6691
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