Musica Review October 2023

[CruiseIreland]

Looking forward to your trip report, Bea! Bon Voyage! Getting very nippy here so enjoy the Mediterranean weather! Ken 

[Beamafar]

Crazy busy pool deck.  Pool is packed out - with ONE person.  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 

 

 

[Beamafar]

I have found out why the ship seems so quiet.  There are only 1700 onboard (capacity 3223).  So almost at half capacity 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

14 minutes ago, CruiseIreland said:

Looking forward to your trip report, Bea! Bon Voyage! Getting very nippy here so enjoy the Mediterranean weather! Ken 

Hi Ken.  Thanks.  Yeah - 24 degrees here today.  Perfect 🤩. 

[Beamafar]

Real butter. (Oh, no, not Buttergate again,  I hear you cry. 🤣🤣)

 

[Beamafar]

Our lunch choices.  The filling in the sandwich was piping hot. 
 

 

 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar

[Beamafar]

For those who like Italian food:  There are Italians at a table directly behind us. One woman ordered the fregola sarda and is encouraging her table mates to try some of hers.  Mr B certainly enjoyed his. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by Beamafar

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI Bea!  Great to hear from you again and thanks so much for doing this review.  

[perakcruiser]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

I have found out why the ship seems so quiet.  There are only 1700 onboard (capacity 3223).  So almost at half capacity 

Not bad for a cruise that is fully booked for months 😄

That is the problem for MSC, they cannot sell the "Haifa" cabins, because these cabins are not available for the whole week. And they are not prepared to embark people in Rhodes or Marmaris, anywhere, nobody would go there for starting a cruise in a few days. 

[Beamafar]

4 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Oh that's useful to know regarding the menus Bea. I'll test that next week.

It’s under ‘Things to do’.   Scroll down to ‘Restaurants’ and tap on that.  Your assigned restaurant will come up.  Tap on it and the week’s menu list will show. 

[Beamafar]

7 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Not bad for a cruise that is fully booked for months 😄

That is the problem for MSC, they cannot sell the "Haifa" cabins, because these cabins are not available for the whole week. And they are not prepared to embark people in Rhodes or Marmaris, anywhere, nobody would go there for starting a cruise in a few days. 

They have arranged to embark them in Limassol, P, and there are 112 being embarked in Kusadasi, according to Guest Services. 

[perakcruiser]

4 hours ago, Captain-John said:

I have to say those MDR menus look better than the current Celebrity menus (a line I've been following closely as we are booked on Millenium in Japan next May). A real surprise for me as I have always embarked on an MSC cruise 'despite' the food and always held Celebrity to a higher standard but things have slipped there lately.

 

So do I as we will sail Celebrity again in January after a 11 years break. Everything I remember is GONE. Their MDR menu I checked on the app cannot even compete with MSC. All the signature dishes have disappeared. I hope the buffet at least is as good as I remember. And 20$ for a Filet Mignon and others, very funny for the premium line. 

 

Well, need to be fair, these cuts should not be too surprising as the rate per day is cheaper than this MSC Musica cruise. But one thing is guaranteed, if Celebrity wants to fight with MSC, this fight cannot be won. Sure, their Elite members will continue, but that´s it. 

 

 

[Beamafar]

2 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

HI Bea!  Great to hear from you again and thanks so much for doing this review.  

Hi CGT. Nice to see you about the place, too. 

[perakcruiser]

1 minute ago, Beamafar said:

They have arranged to embark them in Limassol

Oh, that will be interesting to see. Defintely a logistical masterpiece. 

[Beamafar]

1 minute ago, perakcruiser said:

 

So do I as we will sail Celebrity again in January after a 11 years break. Everything I remember is GONE. Their MDR menu I checked on the app cannot even compete with MSC. All the signature dishes have disappeared. I hope the buffet at least is as good as I remember. And 20$ for a Filet Mignon and others, very funny for the premium line. 

 

Well, need to be fair, these cuts should not be too surprising as the rate per day is cheaper than this MSC Musica cruise. But one thing is guaranteed, if Celebrity wants to fight with MSC, this fight cannot be won. Sure, their Elite members will continue, but that´s it. 

 

 

They’ve removed the butler service from Sky suite guests, though the fares for that category are still way more expensive than YC.  

[perakcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

They’ve removed the butler service from Sky suite guests, though the fares for that category are still way more expensive than YC.  

Celebritys pricing makes MSC look logical. And with all their confusing promos and the OBC the prices almost change daily and crazy in all direction. 

 

Example from today for a 11 day cruise from Barcelona:

 

Inside 1203 €
Oceanview 814 €
Balcony 1443 €
Concierge 1437 €

Retreat 3880 €

 

Who chooses the Inside, please raise you hand 😄

 

[Beamafar]

I see that MSC has finally increased the prices for room service items.  For a long time it was €5 for 2 items;  it’s now €6.  I still think this is very good value.  Many a day I enjoyed the chicken wrap on our 28 day odyssey to South Africa on Sinfonia.  Seeing the list here has brought back some great memories of that trip. 
 

[Nunagoras]

Many thanks @Beamafar for what a lovely review of what was my first ever cruise ship!... Fond memories of an itinerary that wasn't too much different than yours, other than starting in Venice, oh, well, no cruise ships through the great channel in Venice anymore...

 

With tons of balcony cabins those ships on the Musica class aren't way out of today's cruise standards. Of course you'd have to compromise on some of those "little nothings", maybe no USB ports in cabins being just one of those. I don't know how they have handled the quite recent renovations on the Musica, but if it was like on the Magnifica you might have an USB hub linked to the new larger Samsung black TV sets (on the Magnifica those were installed in 2018 during my TA from Brazil to Portugal, so I had the older system for half of the cruise and the newer one from half onward). Otherwise if they still have the older grey, if my memory doesn't fail Philips TV sets, you'll have no chance... Nor the ability to watch your account or services like that from TV either... Wonderful to know the Musica is in a nice shape at least!... The Musica class ship's atrium is my all times favorite venue. Hope they still have the wonderful piano music by the late afternoon onward.

 

Many thanks also to the menus you've shown. Fortunately and after those so many years in the industry MSC has decided to follow a simple step they should have used for years: Let us to have a number on the left side of each dish to cope with the all the language barriers they are being challenged. Now the poor waiters may have more chances to be assertive than not to deliver. Better late than nothing!...

 

As per comparisons with X... It is worth to understand the current trends in the market. Basically all the tourism market is being sadly Ryanairised in some ways. You'll have a baseline fare that gives you basically an entry to the venue. From there you build your experience. If you go for the "classic" all inclusive experiences, then the distinctive Premium price tag will still be there... Baseline X prices are starting to be sometimes lower than MSC, that's true... But with less and less inclusions. Even MSC won't escape the trend. And 2024 with 2 significant wars in the world and no FCC's to redeem anymore will be another hard one for the cruise industry where only MSC seems to have the resources to survive, out of their deep pockets on the shipping business...

 

Have a wonderful cruise!...

[Beamafar]

You have to scan a QR code from a card in the cabin for the menu.  I’m sure you can get a printed copy if you ask your steward. 
 

Speaking of:  There was no spare toilet roll in the bathroom on embarkation, nor was the one on the holder full.  Notepapar was provided, but no pen.  Well, both turned up this morning in the cabin.  I wonder if, after meeting us, our steward felt we were trustworthy enough to have a spare roll.  🤣🤣🤣

[Beamafar]

As usual, @Nunagoras you make some great points.  I’ll respond to you more later on.  Haven’t checked the TV out.  The app has hugely improved and shows your onboard spending so you can keep track.  Thank you for your good wishes. 

[Beamafar]

Just seen that they have a ‘Beatles Forever’ tribute in the main lounge at 9pm.  That’s so not fair on those of us who have that as our allotted dining time. 😡😭

[JAGR]

8 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Crazy busy pool deck.  Pool is packed out - with ONE person.  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I hope you didn't have to ask the guard to remove that person's towel if they were chair hogging!😉

[Beamafar]

There’s no point in posting last night’s dinner menu as stated on the app as was wrong.   Strange thing is that the app on our dinner companions’ phone was correct (both iPhones).  Mr B ordered a chicken dish and I had braised beef. 
 

 

[Beamafar]

We had a very enjoyable night, last night.  We went to the show, Blinding Lights, in the theatre, before dinner.  We both agreed that it was the best show we’d ever seen on a ship.  I have a video clip which I can’t upload at the moment as I only have the Browse internet package.  I’ll add it in later. 
 

We met our table mates at dinner, who are a lovely couple, also from Ireland, and went to the Crystal (aft) lounge afterwards.  There was the usual Entertainment team ‘game’ and then dancing to a great band that was playing there.

 

Speaking of bands:  There was a live band playing the music on stage at both shows we’ve been to (I remember reading comments on here from people complaining that MSC shows only used backing tracks). 
 

 

 

[perakcruiser]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We had a very enjoyable night, last night.  We went to the show, Blinding Lights, in the theatre, before dinner.

Wrote down in my planner 🙂

If you catch the information when the opera night is happening (if) please let me know also. They have a talent that you easily miss it and there is only one chance per cruise.