Poesia, Splendida, or World Europa?

[bundtkate]

We have found ourselves with cause to be in Europe for a few days in mid-October so we're looking to book a Med cruise to extend our trip. Due to the timing of the event we're attending, availability of flights, as well as a work thing I have at the end of September, we've found ourselves with few options that fit our schedule and, perhaps unsurprisingly given they allow you to embark at any port, all of the best fits are on MSC. We loved our one MSC cruise, but I know MSC in Europe is different and we have no experience in the Med at all -- MSC or otherwise -- so I'm curious what y'all would choose between these three:

1. 11 nights on Poesia visiting Genoa, Civitavecchia, Polermo, Piraeus, Kudesi, and Istanbul.
2. 10 nights on Splendida visiting Bari, Trieste, Corfu, Katakolon, Piraeus, Kudesi and Istanbul.
3. 7 nights on World Europa visiting Valetta, Barcelona, Marseille, Genoa, Naples, and Messina.

Cost is about equal across the board and I have reasons to prefer and dislike each of them. Poesia is obviously the longest trip, Splendida has my preferred itinerary, and World Europa is a new ship I'd be really interested to sail on. But World Europa is comparatively pricey given it's just a 7 night and both Poesia and Splendida are older and smaller ships. On the other hand, I'm pretty much guaranteed to like World Europa and may find I'm not fond of the older ships. But, maybe that's okay on such port-intensive itineraries. As you can see, I end up talking myself in circles. And so I look to you, MSC cruisers. What would you choose and why? Help me stop being indecisive before all 3 are sold out and I'm left to make do on land. 🙈
 

Edited June 7, 2023 by bundtkate

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I just got off Splendida in March and the ship is wonderful. If that's your preferred itinerary, go for it.

 

Poesia is the smallest of the three.

 

I personally would do World Europa because it's brand new and I've been on the other two and I don't normally repeat ships.

[40yearcruiser]

We spent 18 days on the World Europa repositioning cruise in March/April. If you are looking for the WOW factor, the Europa has it. The ship is stunning with a variety of venues. We thought the shows in both the theater and Panorama Lounge were very good. You have to reserve them in advance and the reservation windows open the day before the performance. You can book each show only once, although we found that if you wish to see a show a second time just show up at the venue 10-15 minutes before the performance and if the theater isn't full they will let you in (or at least they did on our sailing.) Since you are from the US you need to be prepared that all the announcements are in multiple languages. We found that the food was good but nothing outstanding. One irritation was that throughout the cruise the crew was continually pushing the specialty restaurant packages. I could understand this the first couple of days but it continued throughout the cruise and became quite annoying. The internet service was spotty, which seems to be the norm on Med cruises. On a short cruise it won't be as much a factor as on a long one, but there is no library and very few spaces to just sit and read or listen to music.

 

I, personally, also prefer the itinerary on the Splendida but I understand the lure of a brand new ship.

Whichever you decide should be a great cruise.

[perakcruiser]

Clear call for me, if you like sea days take the Poesia, if you like seeing places take the Splendida. Her itinerary is amazing. 

[sverigecruiser]

18 hours ago, bundtkate said:

What would you choose and why? Help me stop being indecisive before all 3 are sold out and I'm left to make do on land.

 

I should choose World Europa because I prefer a newer ship and avoid to go to Turkiye.

[adam7392]

Just returned from doing that exact sailing on Splendida and it was fabulous.  Thouroughly enjoyed all stops (we did round trip from Trieste, Bari and Istanbul are also offered as embark/disembark points).

 

Bari and Trieste are both lesser known destinations but are great stops with lovely old towns to wander around, for Trieste the ship is literally a couple hundred yards from the main square and Bari old town is 10 min walk (don't be swayed by the MSC suttle offer at 10 euro that says it's a 15 min drive - it probably is by road but by foot you get there in a much shorter distance).

 

Katokolon is a short train ride to Olympia the site of the original olympic games.  Piraeus we took public transport to Athens very easily and cheaply.  Corfu likewise has a local  bus from the port to the old town or its  a 15/20 min walk.

 

Then the two Turkey stops gives you Kusadasi which is interesting enough to walk around but gives access to Ephesus which is an amazing ancient site and finally Istanbul.  For Istanbul there is a tremendous sail in bettered only by the night time sail out at 11pm.  MSC allow enough time to do lots.  We walked off the ship and within 30 min we were at the Blue Mosque and had time to do that, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Tokpaki palace, Grand Bazar and the Spice Bazar before walking back across the river to Taksim Squate and finally back to the ship.  (37k steps!)

 

The 2 sea days are needed for a bit of rest.

 

Ship itself was great, plenty of space, we went during a school holiday but end September will probably mean much less demand so fewer on board.  Food in MDR was v good.

 

Can't really speak for the other ships/itinaries but Civitavecchia is quite a way from Rome and probably means doing a very rushed ships tour of Rome itself that I doubt will be very fulfilling.  Naples is a great stop, again ship will dock right by the city allowing easy self explore of option for visiting Pompeii  and/or Vesuvius.

 

Of the three itinaries the Splendida one is the best.

 

[Nunagoras]

Both Poesia and Spendida itineraries are actually very similar in some ways to the main attractions provided. If coming to Rome is a once in a lifetime dream for you, then the Poesia is the itinerary for you, especially if you can have some 3-4 days before or after cruise for that. If not, the Splendida is in my opinion slightly better ship than the Poesia in what crowd management concerns. JIMHO; while as an European, the World Europa would be my holiday of choice as it is a destination of its own where I can stay for a week without even going outside those ports, most of them I traveled vastly in the past, on the other hand, for someone that needs a so long flight to come to their holidays here, I firmly recommend such a better itinerary than the one offered by the World Europa! If you intend to come second time to Europe, save that itinerary to then and enjoy one of the others as your time permits!...

[bundtkate]

Thank you all so much for your feedback! I think you've sold me on the Splendida and if I'm honest that's probably what I was hoping for. The itinerary looked amazing and I'm pretty thrilled to hear I'm not over-hyping it. We've been to Europe before, but never Italy or Greece so most places on that itinerary are new to us. I've been to Istanbul, but my husband hasn't and honest I was afraid we'd never get to go since it has changed quite a bit since I visited in 2011. Stopping there on a cruise is probably about the only way I'll feel comfortable going back so having that option is nice.

I definitely agree with everyone about what an amazing ship World Europa seems to be. It looks like MSC's take on RCI's Oasis-class ships and I absolutely adored Oasis, but I think I'd rather wait for a Western Caribbean route on the forthcoming World America where I'd be more inclined to stay aboard.

I want to extend a special thanks to @adam7392 for the detailed rundown of the ports. Your summary really convinced me because we absolutely love self-exploring and the fact that most of these ports make that easy is great. I'm also glad to hear Bari is charming in its own right as we're going to have to arrive the day before embarkation. We'll be flying in from Malta where we're attending an event a few days before so there just isn't much choice on flights and those available day of would cut it too close for comfort. As Americans, we're easily impressed by pretty much any Old Town in Europe so I'm sure we'll be delighted to spend a day walking around.

And with that, I think I'd better email my TA. Just took a peek and found Insides and Oceanviews are all gone today so I'd best snag my balcony before they disappear too. Thanks again, y'all!

[bearette]

I know you decided but I wanted to add.My two cents that I agree you choose correc!ty. I think Europe if you come from.America is.more about the ports and value which you get both in Splendida.

my port recommendations:

Ephesus is a must 

Olympia can be done easily with a rental car too and it will allow you to stay a little later or detour over to the beach if you do Olympia quickly.

Pireaus and Istanbul are easy to take public transportation and do on your own - not the sites early to beat the crowds.

In  Corfu, we rented a car and did it on our own too. Very easy and we could see the sites without crowds outside of the city, though to it over I would probably just go into the old town as there was so much to do.

[michelle028]

On 6/8/2023 at 2:28 PM, adam7392 said:

Just returned from doing that exact sailing on Splendida and it was fabulous.  Thouroughly enjoyed all stops (we did round trip from Trieste, Bari and Istanbul are also offered as embark/disembark points).

 

Bari and Trieste are both lesser known destinations but are great stops with lovely old towns to wander around, for Trieste the ship is literally a couple hundred yards from the main square and Bari old town is 10 min walk (don't be swayed by the MSC suttle offer at 10 euro that says it's a 15 min drive - it probably is by road but by foot you get there in a much shorter distance).

 

Katokolon is a short train ride to Olympia the site of the original olympic games.  Piraeus we took public transport to Athens very easily and cheaply.  Corfu likewise has a local  bus from the port to the old town or its  a 15/20 min walk.

 

Then the two Turkey stops gives you Kusadasi which is interesting enough to walk around but gives access to Ephesus which is an amazing ancient site and finally Istanbul.  For Istanbul there is a tremendous sail in bettered only by the night time sail out at 11pm.  MSC allow enough time to do lots.  We walked off the ship and within 30 min we were at the Blue Mosque and had time to do that, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Tokpaki palace, Grand Bazar and the Spice Bazar before walking back across the river to Taksim Squate and finally back to the ship.  (37k steps!)

 

The 2 sea days are needed for a bit of rest.

 

Ship itself was great, plenty of space, we went during a school holiday but end September will probably mean much less demand so fewer on board.  Food in MDR was v good.

 

Can't really speak for the other ships/itinaries but Civitavecchia is quite a way from Rome and probably means doing a very rushed ships tour of Rome itself that I doubt will be very fulfilling.  Naples is a great stop, again ship will dock right by the city allowing easy self explore of option for visiting Pompeii  and/or Vesuvius.

 

Of the three itinaries the Splendida one is the best.

Thank you SO MUCH for your detailed post! I will be on the Splendida next month and your tips are very helpful!

 

Quick qs...

 

How was the embarkation and debarkation  in Trieste?

 

How did you find the food in the buffets? Was there alot of ethnic choices like Indian/Chinese options?

 

 

 

 

On 6/8/2023 at 2:28 PM, adam7392 said:

 

 

[adam7392]

2 minutes ago, michelle028 said:

Quick qs...

 

How was the embarkation and debarkation  in Trieste?

 

How did you find the food in the buffets? Was there alot of ethnic choices like Indian/Chinese options?

Embarkation - we were given an embarkation time of 4pm, not sure if that was because we only had  an inside on Bella level (lowest of the low! - but it was as cheap as chips!!).  However our train from Venice arrived at Trieste at 9:50am so we walked the 15 mins to the ship, dropped the luggage (no queue)  then had a few minutes wait at the terminal door.  Then into the hall and checked in.  We were so early we had to sit and wait with about 30 others - including priority boarders - for about 20 min before boarding.  So by around 10:45 we were aboard and in the buffet which only had a snack section open at that point as it was between breakfast and lunch.  A bite to eat then off the ship for a walk around Trieste.  Back on board around 4pm and our case was at the door. I noticed when we got off the ship to go into Trieste and on the return the queues were a bit longer at luggage drop and the terminal door but nothing horrendous.

 

Debarkation - We had a 3rd party 10:30am mini bus pickup from right outside the terminal to take us to Venice airport so we elected to keep our one large case with us.  This can be left in a guarded area on deck 5.  With that done we had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room then sat in a lounge for a while  before picking up the case and walking off.  I did notice that if we had stuck to our assigned debarkation time (10am)  and left the case outside the room that it would have been waiting in the terminal hall.

 

Buffet food was generally good, they had an ethnic counter serving mostly Asian foods, usually with several dishes to chose from and I'm sure some of the other stations had indian food at times.  There was always a carvery station, burger/dogs/fries station and fruit station at the entrance then all the other stations were mirrored on the port/starboard sides.  Couple of times it did get very busy but always got a table.  We had breakfast there everyday except the last morning, lunch on both sea days and twice for evening meal (Corfu and Istanbul when late departures kept us off the ship beyond our early seating time in the MDR).  

[perakcruiser]

3 hours ago, michelle028 said:

How did you find the food in the buffets? Was there alot of ethnic choices like Indian/Chinese options?

The "topic" changes everyday. Cruises from/including Southampton have more Indian food, in the Med less. 

[michelle028]

For Anyone who was on Splendida: did you do any excursions from the ship?