Review - March 9 to March 20 Lirica

[mkazmer]

Review of MSC Lirica

Sailing Date of

March 9 2006 to March 20 2006

 

 

 

What a great time we had on this beautiful two year old ship! MSC was a different experience for us and we loved it! I warn you now that this review will be long since everything I had read prior to sailing on the Lirica was so mixed. I wanted to give you a good feel for our experience – albeit from our perspective.

 

 

Let me give you a little background. We started cruising in the mid 1980's and are veterans of 27 cruises with most major lines represented – we have cruised with Commodore, Premier, RCCL, Costa, Carnival, NCL, HAL, Celebrity and Princess in the past – some many times and truly enjoy cruising. We lived in Naples Florida for 10 years and cruised multiple times during the year since the ports were so easy to access. We love good food – and we were especially looking for something a little different from the normal mass market cruise this time. Since we now live in Chicago, and we have to fly to the port it was important to us that we book a little longer cruise and one we thought we would really enjoy since we aren't cruising multiple times in a year now.

 

 

After researching MSC we decided that the international flavor of the line and the size of the ship and its age would all be pluses and we were looking forward to the experience. We booked about two months out and booked an inside guarantee cabin. Our documents arrived about two weeks prior to departure and our cabin wasn't assigned at the time. A day before we were to leave, I called the travel agency and was given our cabin assignment – it turned out to be an inside cabin – an upgrade from what we booked and a handicapped cabin. This turned out to be a real plus because the cabin was about twice the size of a normal one and the bathroom had no ledges and a huge shower! The location was on Deck 9 forward and was perfect for either going up or down on the ship.

 

 

Cabin 9052 – beds were on each side of the room with tons of closet and storage space as well as a vanity and mini-bar (which we didn't use) – Towels were huge – and replenished as needed. Shampoo and Body Gel and Bubble Bath were in the bath and there was a hair dryer that was good for short hair. Not many electrical outlets – so bring a strip if you need to plug in battery chargers etc. Very quiet cabin. Fresh fruit daily.

 

 

 

 

 

The MSC Lirica is a two year old ship – and the max passenger capacity using all berths is 2065. Double occupancy capacity is 1560 passengers. The line is the second largest shipping company in the world and branched out into the passenger cruise business and has seven cruise ships sailing today with two more to come. The Lirica was designed for International sailing and this is the second season I believe that she is in the Caribbean along with her sister ship the Opera. Reviews from passengers have been mixed – but all agree that the ship is a beautiful, clean ship with a true mix of passengers from many countries.

 

 

The officers are all Italian as are the upper echelon in the dining room and the style and flavor of the ship is Italian. The Captain on this voyage was Mattia Manzi and the Cruise Director was Andrea Olivieri. The Entertainment Team that he oversees was excellent. All the staff are multilingual. The few announcements that are given are in five languages and entertainment is in five languages. The mix of passengers on this cruise were from Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Canada, USA, Great Britain, and other countries as well. Menus in the dining room are in different languages to accommodate those passengers who do not speak English.

 

 

Let me take you through our experience with the Lirica. It almost didn't happen – we had a very early morning flight out of Ohare – we got to the airport and looked over the luggage and realized that we were missing a bag – my husband had to get back into the cab and make another round trip to our home to get it as it had all his dress clothes in it – I had gotten our boarding passes on line the night previously and was able to check our other two bags in curbside to Fort Lauderdale. I waited anxiously for him to return and he just made it – we sprinted down the concourse, had to plead our case to security, got through it and made the plane with about 5 minutes to spare – not a good start – but the only bad thing to happen. Once in Fort Lauderdale, we took our time, got some coffee, and then a cab to the port once we retrieved our luggage. Since this was an 11 night cruise, we were sailing on a Thursday and returning on a Monday and the airport was not crowded with cruise passengers – just two other ships were leaving from Port Everglades that day and we would be the last to depart. We got to the port about 11:45am – left our bags with the porters and got a number for boarding. The check-in lines opened right at noon and we were one of the first to be processed. Other than the fact that the person processing us in was doing it for the first time, it went very smoothly and we were on board in about 15 minutes. We were greeted with a staff member to lead us to our cabin and were settling in quickly. There was a welcome aboard lunch being served – but it was delayed by a surprise inspection – a footnote – the Lirica has scored 100 on all inspections – it is probably the cleanest ship we have ever sailed.

 

 

We decided to acquaint ourselves with the layout – we had a great map of the ship and started at the top. There are 13 decks – and we started at the top and worked our way down. Deck 13 is for sunning forward and aft there is a miniature golf course. Deck 12 is an additional sunning deck and also is the walking/running track – with 8 times around a mile (by my calculations). Deck 11 is the buffet restaurant all the way aft – with a grill on the port side and a pizzaria on the starboard side – directly in front of that is a bar and shaded seating area and forward of that are two beautiful salt water pools with space for sitting all around. The lounge chairs had shades on them. Forward there was a place to get ice cream (extra charge) and then the gym, saunas, massage etc were all the way forward. Decks 10, 9,8, and part of 7 were passenger decks. Decks 6 and 5 are public decks with lounges and restaurants and shops and reception etc on these decks. With the exception of Caya Levantado we disembarked in each port from deck 5 forward.

 

 

 

 

The itinerary for this cruise was as follows – two days at sea, San Juan Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Grenada, Barbados, Antigua, Tortola, Caya Levantado (private island), day at sea and back to Port Everglades. We spent a good amount of time in each port – the only one we could have done without was Grenada. Caya Levantado is absolutely beautiful – it is a small island off the coast of the Domican Republic and the seas were gently rolling – the day was beautiful – a great beach day. Since we have been to all these islands a number of times we were familiar with them- in the past we have explored each of them and have places we like to return to – we like to shop and enjoyed each port thoroughly. We always walk into the town – great exercise and usually an easy walk. Each port offered us something different – and we thoroughly enjoyed them. Our weather was exceptional each day except the day we were in Grenada – it rained and we didn't care – we were only off the ship for about 15 minutes anyway. There were a number of excursions offered in each port – we haven't done those for many years so I can't comment on them.

 

 

There were three formal nights and the remaining were a combination of informal and casual. The Captain had a welcome aboard party for the first formal night and another party for the last formal night. Not everyone adhered to the dress code – but the majority of passengers did. There were very few children on this cruise – I can't comment on the facilities for them.

 

 

We checked in at the dining room immediately after settling into our cabin. We had requested late seating – which we got – and we wanted to request a table for two. The Maitre D' was very gracious in granting our request – we were later told that early seating was full – but late seating was not. Our waiter was Windia – his assistant was Agus – both from Indonesia – our Table Supervisor was Salvatore – and the supervisors and the Maitre D' and his assistants were very visible all the time – the service in the dining room was excellent – leisurely since it was late seating and that suited us very well. There were menu items that you could order each night, there was always a choice of appetizers, soups, a pasta of the day, choices of main courses and desserts. The portions were very nice – not huge – but if you wanted more than one thing or something not on the menu – all you had to do was ask. We rated the food overall as good. My husband had one meal that he had to send back – it was a pot roast and the meat was not acceptable – but other than that we had no problem with choices – we tried things we had never had and we enjoyed MSC's version of dishes we were familiar with. We ate only two meals in the buffet – the welcome aboard lunch and one breakfast – all other meals we ate in the dining rooms. We were assigned the LaBussola dining room for dinner so we ate breakfast and lunch in the Ippocampo dining room. Both rooms are beautiful – and the service was excellent in both. The wait staff was comprised of Indonesians, Italians, Romanians, and some other countries. The Maitre D' and his assistants and most of the table supervisors were all Italian. First seating for dinner was at 5:45pm and second seating was at 8:00 pm. Breakfast in the dinng room was served from 7:00am to 10:00am and lunch from Noon to 2:00 pm. On deck the hours were a little longer – and there was afternoon tea from 4 to 5 pm each day. Continental breakfast was offered in your cabin and there was a small room service menu available 24 hours a day. Much has been written about the food on MSC. Our overall assessment is that the food is good – breakfast was great – lunch very good – dinner was very good – we found the pasta dishes to be somewhat bland – the beef was always prepared to our order and very tender – lobster was excellent – as were the soups. Desserts were good – some great – the baked alaska was some of the best I have ever had. Food is so subjective – I can tell you that you won't go hungry – there is something for everyone.

We found the crew and officers and staff to be exceptionally friendly – always a smile in greeting – the Entertainment Team was exceptional too. We didn't attend all the shows so can't comment on most of them – the Entertainment Team had something going on each night on Deck 6 and they were lots of fun – they were out by the pool during the day – there were food demonstrations, there were Italian language classes, there was dance music for every taste, some Bingo, there was an Art Auction (not well attended), there was a small display of Inch of Gold (very unobtrusively) – the shops on Deck 5 were nice – very low key. Drinks were not “hawked” on deck or in the lounges – if you wanted something all you had to do was ask – but you were not approached time and time again – announcements were kept to a minimum – you were expected to read your daily program to find out what was going on and when. It was very relaxing.

 

 

Some additional items – there was a $12/per person tip amount added to your bill each day – you could remove it if you chose to and tip each person yourself – we did the automatic tipping and it seemed most people did this. I did see a number of people giving extra money to their cabin stewardess or steward and some to the waiters – tips are automatically figured into drinks on deck and in the bars. There are wine packages that can be purchased and glasses of wine were reasonble. There is an Internet on board – it was $6.00 for the first 10 minutes and 60 cents a minute after that. If you travel with a laptop, there are prepaid packages you can buy and the ship also has 3 laptops equipped with WI-FI that you can rent. The Library was on the honor system – you could just walk in, take a book and return when finished – there were books in multiple languages.

 

 

I know this is long – I tried to cover everything that would have been important to me in a review. Please feel free to contact me at melnbobkaz@wowway.com it you have additional questions. We would sail MSC again in a heartbeat – the feel of the ship – the ambience – all of it was just great – taking a longer than 7 day cruise was so nice – Embarkation and Debarkation were a breeze - I tried to learn some basic Italian prior to cruising – that was always received well. All in all it was a perfect vacation for us.

 

 

 

:)

[asctony]

Most cruise lines have repeater perks. Does MSC have repeater perks for anyone on their 2nd or more MSC cruise? Thank you!

[theblond00]

First off, let me say that I am also a seasoned cruiser, this having been my 10th cruise. I selected the MSC Lirica because of the wonderful itinerary as well as the reasonable price. My experience on the ship, sailing the exact week as the previous poster, is quite the opposite. Much of what they say I can agree with. It was a small ship (only 1500 passengers) and a very clean ship. The staff did try to make the cruiser happy..that is IF they understood what you needed or wanted! Most of the staff spoke broken English, even at the reception desk where all problems were handled.

 

My dining experience was quite different that of the previous poster. We ate at the early seating (5:45) with the same waitstaff. Windia was quite attentive, but Agus, as friendly as he was, was never available for water or coffee refills or promptly removing plates. He worked very hard running back and forth to the kitchen, but it was really Windia who serviced us. The ship is Italian, so we expected Italian food. I don't know what region of Italy it represented, but there was no garlic, oregano..nothing that would suggest it. Yes, there were pasta dishes to select from, some good, some fair. All were al dente...almost tough. And how do you ruin a lobster tail? So many were being returned to the kitchen it was pitiful. My guess is that they were overcooked. What a tremendous waste. The pastry chief should be fired, without question. The dinner rolls were the same nightly, cold hard rolls. Garlic bread was served on the last night after we complained to Salvatore, the head waiter. He made it especially for our table. The other writer also forgot to mention our table assignment..How would you like to sit next to a glass partition overlooking the bussing station? 3 inches separated our table from the disgusting

disposal of unwanted food. There were no other options for tables for 2, so nightly we had to endure the clanking and removal of plates. The only desert worth eating was the ice cream and cheesecake. Very very sad compared to the other 4 cruise lines that I have been on. Since the dinner meal was the only one you had assigned, we ate alternately between the two dining rooms for breakfast and lunch. On more than one occasion the waiter spoke no English. He didn't even know what an omelet was and had to ask the head waiter! On a side note, disciplining the waiter by the head waiter in front of the passenger is truly uncalled for and happened multiple times.

 

You previous poster said that they did not go to the evening shows, yet mentioned how wonderful the activities onboard were. I would love to know what other activities. The theater was large and had comfortable seats. Since it was the ONLY entertainment other than going to a lounge, it was standing room only nightly. My mother and I went to all shows and walked out of all but 3! After being on other ships as well as living in Vegas, these shows were, at best, good enough for lounge acts, not the main show. The last night was talent night combining crew with passengers. This is how desperate they were for something to entertain the passengers with. They had 3-4 acts of bad singing crew members, intermixed with an older couple who, in their prime must have been talented, but should have quit years ago; a 7 year old doing summersaults; and a preteen jazz dancer, who was the hit of the evening. During the week they had the same ventriloquist, magician, and juggler act repeat at different shows. So sad. Bingo was mentioned...gee, 2 games for $10. What a deal NOT! During the day they had line dancing lessons, Italian lessons, talks regarding the ports and where to shop. Boring! The tv in the room had cnn, cnbc, 3 or 4 spanish channels, the island tour talk, the view from the bridge, TNT, TCM, and a movie channel of obscure movies and poorly selected times. Entertainment on this ship was the worst ever, in my experience.

 

The cabin was booked as an inside guarantee, just like the previous poster. We were also upgraded to the 10th floor, inside cabin..but we were in a regular cabin. Our bathroom was so tiny that when using the toilet, your arm it the shower curtain, and when taking a shower, you had no room to shave your legs without your head and rear extending out! (it was also triangular in shape and smaller than any other ship I've been on).

 

When making the cruise arrangements and discussing the MSC line with the travel agent, I was forewarned of the international cliental. 3/4 of the ship were Canadians or Europeans. My guess is of the 1500 or so passengers, about 1% were black and 2% under the age of 25. They did have a play room for the kids, but what I saw was unsupervised kids running around the theater and screaming in the dining rooms. I think that given the fact that the crew had to make so many people from different lands happy, they had an uphill battle to begin with. Every announcement, every show, every menu..all had to be done 5 times over. And let's also face the fact that foreign people just don't like Americans.

 

All in all, it was a nice cruise. ALL cruises are wonderful. Nothing can take away the pleasant experience of the sail or the delight in waking up to a new port daily. Would I recommend this ship? Not to an American. The Europeans and Canadians all loved the experience. The above poster is one of few Americans that were favorable regarding their cruise experience. I spoke with plenty Americans onboard, and none would repeat this cruise! Be forewarned, this cruise is NOT for seasoned cruisers or Americans.

[Oxo]

Oh my, same ship, same experience - different date. We cruised Lirica in Jan 2006. This sounded so much like the experience we had on the Lirica, too. We selected MSC for the same reasons as theblond 00 stated. We are also seasoned cruisers with over 50 cruises.

 

We had late seating and a different wait staff, however, we experienced the same service, poor. Asst. Waiter was never around and was never available for water or coffee refills or promptly removing plates.

 

Agree with the statement about the food. For an Italian cruise line with Italian staff at the top positions, where was the Italian food? Deserts were very poor in selection and quality. Agree - Very very sad compared to the other cruise lines that I have been on.

 

Disciplining the staff by the head waiter in front of the passenger is truly uncalled for and happened multiple times even on our cruise. This is one of the worst things that we saw nightly in the dining room. We felt embarrassed for the waiters, asst. waiters, bar waiters in the dining room, too. No one was off limits. We saw this too often. This is management 101. We even saw the staff shouting back at the managers, too.

 

We thought the evening entertainment was very good and never did encounter a problem finding seating, but we were always early and were not on the same cruise. We did not attend a passenger talent show on our cruise. There was no live band when they had the production shows or entertainers performing. They did have a big band one night in the main showroom. Why didn’t they play for the other shows? Even the singer we talked to was displeased performing to canned music.

 

TV was really poor and they only show movies on TV, not in a theater. Agree --- The tv in the room had cnn, cnbc, 3 or 4 spanish channels, the island tour talk, the view from the bridge, TNT, TCM, and a movie channel of obscure movies and poorly selected times.

 

Totally agree about the cabin. We were upgrade to the 9th deck. However, all cabins are the same size, inside or outside cabins. So, what is really an upgrade? We must have had the same cabin only on a different deck. LOL

 

I still am trying to figure out what the International flavor, food and service is for the Caribbean cruises? Most of the waiter staff was from Bali, few from Romania and bar staff from the Philippians. International cliental was not a problem at all. We have been on many cruise lines with many different nationalities. However, 5 languages for announcements? We have only seen that on Costa. No other cruise line we have been on such as Celebrity, Princess, HAL, NCL, Royal, RCI.

 

The staff does not get the auto-tipping money that you leave on your charge. That goes to MSC directly. The staff gets a set salary. If you want the staff to get your tip, give it to them directly, do not use auto-tipping. That is why they do not push drinks or anything, no money in it for them.

 

Did we enjoy the cruise? Yes, but it was not what we expected or what was published by MSC in their Literature. It is different........

[antcyd]

I am right behind you two, same ship, same ports, same experience... different date, my sailing was Dec 17, 2005.

 

Activities onboard were almost non existant, entertainment in showroom were somewhat amatuer and reduntant. I am not one to watch alot of TV on a cruise but when there is nothing else to do you do what you can, well on MSC even that wasnt an option, a few stations already listed above and a movie each day in everything but English.

 

Staff at reception desk spoke very minimal English and were of no help whatsoever, actually were downright rude. Waiters were constantly reprimanded in front of passengers.

 

From some of the comments I have read recently some things have improved foodwise, on our sailing it seemed the beef was from Argentina and inedible most of the time, seems some people think the beef is excellent and I am told now is USDA meat, could be different than my sailing. Risotto's were overcooked and hard. Most food was bland and had few spices added. Buffet selection pathetically minimal and just not food most American's would eat and if you have more than half a ship filled with American's then I think you have to adapt a little, baby octopus and head cheese just isnt something most American's will eat. Breakfast was only served til 9am and there was no other food available until lunch, definitly a problem for those who slept late on the sea days. Agreed that noone seemed to know what an omelete was, rolls for dinner were cold and stale though others have stated the bread was excellent so not sure if that has gotten better. Desserts were not worth the calories with the exception of Baked Alaska. I can tell you how lobster gets totally ruined, they take a whole lobster, not just the tail, but a whole lobster, slice it lengthwise, throw some bread crumbs on top and broil it til the breadcrumbs brown, therefore drying the lobster out so much its inedible. I have read on here that lately some people have just gotten lobster tail so not sure if things have changed on that end as well.

 

I keep seeing posts about how inexpensive and good the drinks are, not sure when you all sailed last on MSC and if it was a Caribbean cruise(because there does seem to be a difference in things) but on my cruise, the drinks were the highest pricest yet smallest drinks I have ever seen on a cruise ship!!!!

 

The ship itself was very clean, the wait staff tried extremely hard but they were overworked and had too many tables to handle and too management to deal with at the same time. Cabins were small but efficient however I have to agree with theBlond00, there was no way to shave your legs in that shower, you have to put your leg out the door to do it therefore making a mess. And I have seen comments stating.."what do you people expect, showers that fit 6 people?" NO...I just want a shower that will fit a normal size people remotely comfortably, jeez, what about people that are extremely tall or overweight??? How awful must that be for them???

 

I again have to agree with theblond00, was it a horrible cruise, no. I enjoy the sea, waking up in a new port, having my bed made for me etc. Would I sail again with MSC, doubtful unless I see some more changes taking place but that is why I keep coming back to this board, to read the posts and see what others are experiencing. I wouldnt rule it out totally. But bottom line is exactly what theblond00 said.......

"Be forewarned, this cruise is NOT for seasoned cruisers or Americans.

I agree with that 100% and thinks that sums it us for most Americans that have sailed with this line, not all but most.

Again, just my opinion and my experience.

[theblond00]

I forgot to mention one additional IMPORTANT comment. If you are handicapped, this is NOT the ship for you. All of the chairs are extremely heavy and close set. It would be almost impossible to get around in a wheelchair in most public seating rooms. Even in the dining room, they put a wheelchair by the window..therefore making passengers who were eating, get up and move to accommodate the wheechair getting around. As far as tours available for the handicapped: 52 tours offered threw the ship, only 5 were recommended for the handicapped! The theater had handicapped seating all the way in the back, which btw, the last 5 rows you could not see the stage clearly. The main part of the theater was via steps, and we know of 3 folks who fell on those steps, including my mom because of poor lighting and multi length steps. One of the folks that fell fractured 2 bones and tore her rotator cuff. The doctor just bandaged it...no xrays etc and sent her to Puerto Rico for a followup. To make matters worse, the injured was told that the ship was not responsible for her fall even though she had taken out the "insurance". When signing in at embarkation, you sign away your rights, even though you are told that you are signing for your visa charges and room key.

 

A comment on the lobster, it was NOT a tail. My slip of the tongue. It was 1/2 split down the middle and dry. The meat was always covered with a "sauce". This is one ship where you don't gain 10lbs!

 

I'm sorry to hear that others were disappointed, but I'm certainly not surprised!

[mkazmer]

It is always very interesting to me how many different experiences people have on the same ship - either same sailing or different date - same ports etc. I think that researching the line and the ship makes for fewer dissappointments.

 

We knew that the food could be an issue - and I have to agree that some of the Italian dishes were not what we would have expected - especially since we live in Chicago and have WONDERFUL Italian restaurants all over the city and suburbs and we LOVE Italian food - but we tried it - some we liked - some we didn't - our lobster was a lobster tail - Salvatore fixed Bruschetta for me one night and it was fabulous - all I had to do was request it - He also made us a dish his Mother makes - and it was excellent - as for not being able to communicate - I know a little Italian and it went a long way - smiling and pointing and using my fingers for the number of items I wanted (ie one pain au chocolate) worked well too!

 

We don't go on cruises for the shows or for the TV programs or the entertainment. We go to relax - I got three books I hadn't had time to read - read on the cruise - of course the people watching was fabulous - and we enjoyed the cooking demonstrations - the activities by the pool and in the lounge on Deck 6 after dinner - we did see two shows - not the best we have ever seen - we did enjoy the magician -

 

I would agree with those of you who say that this is not a cruise line for "typical" Americans - please don't cruise with MSC - if you want an eclectic and different experience - then book MSC.

 

We saw very few children - we booked at a time when there was little probability of there being a lot of children on board - and I have to agree that if one is handicapped, it would be somewhat difficult to navigate the ship and getting on and off at ports - if one researched the ship thoroughly prior to booking, it would be apparent that both the inside and outside regular cabins are small and the same except for the window. All reviews that I read indicated that and that the showers were small. We were expecting that kind of cabin and were very surprised at our assignment.

 

We have cruised a lot on many different lines and ships - we have never had a bad cruise - just some we enjoyed less than others - the worst experience we ever had was on a Carnival ship - it just isn't a line we enjoy - we cruise Princess and Celebrity frequently and we also like HAL (they too have crew/passenger talent shows) - we love to cruise and we truly enjoyed our MSC experience - as I stated before, we would book with them again!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

[stowaway2k]

I'm wondering how many of the people judging the "Italian" food on MSC have ever actually had Italian food....food IN Italy.

Have you ever even been to Italy? (no, those one-day coach excursions don't count)

It's a large country with diverse cultures and foods...there is no one singular Italy. Italian food in Milan is going to be different than Italian food in Rome or Naples.

From the Alps to Sicily, do you really expect everything to be the same?

Your idea of what Italian food is...from typical middle-American experiences of Italian food in the local "Little Italy" or the family owned restaurant down the road who's name ends with a vowel, just does not define what Italian food is.

Any criticism that the food on MSC is not Italian because it's not exactly like the "Italian" food you're used to at home is meaningless.

The Olive Garden is NOT Italian.

To expect an entire country's cuisine to fall into a narrowly defined idea of what you want it to be, and then to expect MSC to match that exactly, is simply absurd.

 

Just enjoy it for what it is...even if you judge it to not be "Italian".

 

Funny how one does not hear the Italian or other European passengers whining about the food not being "Italian" enough.

 

As for the public announcements in five languages...it amazes me that this upsets people. What are you afraid of...learning something?

I enjoy hearing the announcements in English and then repeated in four other languages. It's a great opportunity to pick up on words and phrases.

 

An earlier poster made the statement that "foreigners" don't like Americans. It's not Americans...it's narrow-mindedness. It's more truthfull to say that Americans don't like foreigners, or anything "foreign", which is anything outside of the shopping-mall mass-market lowest-common-denominator mind-set.

 

The complaints about the television programming...You gotta be kidding! You're on a cruise! If TV is that important to you...stay home.

[mkazmer]

I'm wondering how many of the people judging the "Italian" food on MSC have ever actually had Italian food....food IN Italy.

Have you ever even been to Italy? (no, those one-day coach excursions don't count)

It's a large country with diverse cultures and foods...there is no one singular Italy. Italian food in Milan is going to be different than Italian food in Rome or Naples.

From the Alps to Sicily, do you really expect everything to be the same?

Your idea of what Italian food is...from typical middle-American experiences of Italian food in the local "Little Italy" or the family owned restaurant down the road who's name ends with a vowel, just does not define what Italian food is.

Any criticism that the food on MSC is not Italian because it's not exactly like the "Italian" food you're used to at home is meaningless.

The Olive Garden is NOT Italian.

To expect an entire country's cuisine to fall into a narrowly defined idea of what you want it to be, and then to expect MSC to match that exactly, is simply absurd.

 

Just enjoy it for what it is...even if you judge it to not be "Italian".

 

Funny how one does not hear the Italian or other European passengers whining about the food not being "Italian" enough.

 

As for the public announcements in five languages...it amazes me that this upsets people. What are you afraid of...learning something?

I enjoy hearing the announcements in English and then repeated in four other languages. It's a great opportunity to pick up on words and phrases.

 

An earlier poster made the statement that "foreigners" don't like Americans. It's not Americans...it's narrow-mindedness. It's more truthfull to say that Americans don't like foreigners, or anything "foreign", which is anything outside of the shopping-mall mass-market lowest-common-denominator mind-set.

 

The complaints about the television programming...You gotta be kidding! You're on a cruise! If TV is that important to you...stay home.

 

THANK YOU Kyle - I couldn't have stated it better!!!

[theblond00]

It's funny how we all were on the same ship and have varied opinions. It is true that I have not been to Italy. Having lived in Chicago most of my life, I base my Italian food experience from the ethnicity of those restaurants, and this ship doesn't come close to what I know as Italian. Come on, garlic is a given with Italian food! I am surprised that the 2nd seating for the lobster dinner got tails when we got split lobsters. Could it be that so many lobsters during the first seating were sent back that the chief wised up?

 

I agree that I did not go on a cruise to watch tv, however when the main entertainment of the evening was so pathetic that you walked out, and there is nothing left to do except drink at a lounge... reading and tv were the only options. Very sad.

 

I was certainly not offended by the fact that this is a foreign ship with foreign passengers. I found "people watching" quite interesting, especially seeing non-Americans so free with their bodies. Seeing 300lb men in speedos and similarly sized women in bikinis (hairy pits and all) brings a chuckle to us Puritans every time.

But you have to admit, for English speaking passengers, communicating with non English speaking staff can be very frustrating, especially if you are having a problem, let alone ordering something as simple as an omelet!

 

I wrote the above review as a warning to future passengers. I still stand by my opinion that as far as I'm concerned the MSC line does not hold a candle to the experiences that I've had on CCL, NCL, Princess and Holland America. All cruiselines have tiny cabins that go to exotic islands but it is the food, entertainment, staff, and the ship itself that makes one cruise vacation better than another. Selecting a cruiseline is like buying a car. A Ford will get you to the same destination as a Lexis, but which would you rather ride in to get there?

[stowaway2k]

Hi

 

All opinions are of course valid. I'm sure that you wanted to enjoy your cruise more.

 

Like you, I really enjoy people watching. Your comment on being free with the body was funny. You've got to hand it to them...to be so free from the burdens of vanity and self-consiouseness. Oh the sights to be seen poolside sometimes!

Here's one for you....two ladies...both easily 65 years plus...both in leopard print thongs. Yikes! Well, you go girl!

 

I don't bother ordering lobster on any ship anymore. No matter the ship, the lobster never fails to unimpress. Lobster is meant to be served fresh, and by necessity, all seafood on ships is frozen. (unless it was delivered to the ship in port that day) Freezing simply ruins a lobster.

 

One more food note...per a previous post mentioning having to make a special request for garlic bread...of all my meals in restaurants througout Italy, not once was "garlic bread" served.

Just like dining out in Beijing or Shanghai...there's not a fortune cookie, chow mein, or orange chicken to be found anywhere! LOL

 

Chicago is a wonderful city for restaurants...you must be able to have some wonderful dinners out about town.

 

I like the saying..."a bad day on a cruise is better than a good day at work"

[berry22192]

 

When making the cruise arrangements and discussing the MSC line with the travel agent, I was forewarned of the international cliental...And let's also face the fact that foreign people just don't like Americans.

...Would I recommend this ship? Not to an American. The Europeans and Canadians all loved the experience. Be forewarned, this cruise is NOT for seasoned cruisers or Americans.

 

Oh dear.

Now why would Canadians "love" the experience on a MSC Italian Cruise line but not our "American" reviewer? Is it because some Canadians may be more adventursome souls, appreciating that an Italian ship will tend to do things in the Italian manner? Your travel agent (knowing your likes and dislikes) should have steered you clear of the MSC ship with its "international clientele." Perhaps you didn't tell your TA that because you were an American you didn't expect to be liked by Italians and other "foreigners." [!]

It sounds to me that your cruise experience was doomed before you ever set sail.

Trust you have a better experience next time.

 

Chris

(USA)

[njreo]

Oh dear.

Now why would Canadians "love" the experience on a MSC Italian Cruise line but not our "American" reviewer? Is it because some Canadians may be more adventursome souls, appreciating that an Italian ship will tend to do things in the Italian manner? Your travel agent (knowing your likes and dislikes) should have steered you clear of the MSC ship with its "international clientele." Perhaps you didn't tell your TA that because you were an American you didn't expect to be liked by Italians and other "foreigners." [!]

It sounds to me that your cruise experience was doomed before you ever set sail.

Trust you have a better experience next time.

 

Chris

(USA)

 

While I think the remark about "foreigners" on an international ship is out of place, I have to say that I sat with some Canadians at breakfast, 2 mornings, who had a worse impression of the ship than I did (believe it or not) .. so not "all" Canadians liked it. These people, who had just come from a Princess cruise, hated it!

[Magwa]

If anyone actually 'hates' a ship then they should remove themselves at the first port of call. If they didn't disembark, then they didn't 'hate' it. Hate is a strong word... perhaps they didn't enjoy it as much as whatever Princess vessel they were on, but they sure didn't hate it that much if they stayed the duration.

 

There is no reason to hate any cruise as a whole... one may dislike certain aspects of a particular sailing, but to 'hate' overall would infer one does not like anything to do with any ship or the sea.

[bigmike7]

Yo-

 

We have just gotten off of the March 20 to 31, 2006 'Lirica' cruise - and our experiences are very similar to yours-

 

Will write a review when rested and over the jet lag-

 

Thank you for your fine efforts-

 

Sorry to see that a couple of 'naysayers' have disputed your tastes, verasity and experiences-

 

Mike

[msbptg]

I'm wondering how many of the people judging the "Italian" food on MSC have ever actually had Italian food....food IN Italy.

Have you ever even been to Italy? (no, those one-day coach excursions don't count)

It's a large country with diverse cultures and foods...there is no one singular Italy. Italian food in Milan is going to be different than Italian food in Rome or Naples.

From the Alps to Sicily, do you really expect everything to be the same?

Your idea of what Italian food is...from typical middle-American experiences of Italian food in the local "Little Italy" or the family owned restaurant down the road who's name ends with a vowel, just does not define what Italian food is.

Any criticism that the food on MSC is not Italian because it's not exactly like the "Italian" food you're used to at home is meaningless.

The Olive Garden is NOT Italian.

To expect an entire country's cuisine to fall into a narrowly defined idea of what you want it to be, and then to expect MSC to match that exactly, is simply absurd.

 

Just enjoy it for what it is...even if you judge it to not be "Italian".

 

Funny how one does not hear the Italian or other European passengers whining about the food not being "Italian" enough.

 

As for the public announcements in five languages...it amazes me that this upsets people. What are you afraid of...learning something?

I enjoy hearing the announcements in English and then repeated in four other languages. It's a great opportunity to pick up on words and phrases.

 

An earlier poster made the statement that "foreigners" don't like Americans. It's not Americans...it's narrow-mindedness. It's more truthfull to say that Americans don't like foreigners, or anything "foreign", which is anything outside of the shopping-mall mass-market lowest-common-denominator mind-set.

 

The complaints about the television programming...You gotta be kidding! You're on a cruise! If TV is that important to you...stay home.

 

I couldn,t have said it any better!!! Foreigners love americans..its our government that they hate..

[asctony]

'Funny how one does not hear the Italian or other European passengers whining about the food not being "Italian" enough.'

I really don't think that people are judging the food as being 'Italian' or 'European'.

They are complaining that the food was not very good, not served hot, and not up-to standards of other cruise lines.

We were 3 couples who have cruised many times. The couples were from the USA, Canada and the UK. We all had the same complaint. One of the couples stayed on the next cruise and the food was still not good.

 

As for TV: I don't go on a cruise to watch TV only. However, I do watch it while the wife is getting dressed. Others may want to watch it for other reasons. That is like some people who watch movies on-board. Is there something wrong with that? No, people pay for their cruise and do what they want on the cruise.

 

Sorry, but all opinions do count and that is ours, 3 couples from 3 different countries.

 

Happy Cruising!

[PompanoFL2007]

'Funny how one does not hear the Italian or other European passengers whining about the food not being "Italian" enough.'

I really don't think that people are judging the food as being 'Italian' or 'European'.

They are complaining that the food was not very good, not served hot, and not up-to standards of other cruise lines.

We were 3 couples who have cruised many times. The couples were from the USA, Canada and the UK. We all had the same complaint. One of the couples stayed on the next cruise and the food was still not good.

 

As for TV: I don't go on a cruise to watch TV only. However, I do watch it while the wife is getting dressed. Others may want to watch it for other reasons. That is like some people who watch movies on-board. Is there something wrong with that? No, people pay for their cruise and do what they want on the cruise.

 

Sorry, but all opinions do count and that is ours, 3 couples from 3 different countries.

 

Happy Cruising!

 

All opinioins DO count and I think your posting was right on the money. It really has nothing to do with being Italian or European. I've had wonderful food all over Italy and the rest of Europe. I've had terrible food in some of the same cities. There seems to be a group of MSC affecionados who ride rough shod over anyone who talks about their own experience on the vessel, if they say anything negative. Personal attacks won't make the food better. It was really terrible on my voyage. Was it Italian enough? who cares! It was dreadful!

 

People go on cruises looking for different things and one cruise line can't be everything to all people. For those who really like MSC I say go for it. It gives you what you desire. I'm not putting you down by saying that it isn't for me. I respect your feelings about this line. Please respect mine and the others I've seen lambasted by some of you MSC groupies. We had a bad experience on your beloved MSC. Get over it! We are the ones who had the terrible time and we have to get over it!

[PompanoFL2007]

If anyone actually 'hates' a ship then they should remove themselves at the first port of call. If they didn't disembark, then they didn't 'hate' it. Hate is a strong word... perhaps they didn't enjoy it as much as whatever Princess vessel they were on, but they sure didn't hate it that much if they stayed the duration.

 

There is no reason to hate any cruise as a whole... one may dislike certain aspects of a particular sailing, but to 'hate' overall would infer one does not like anything to do with any ship or the sea.

 

I'm just wondering if you are a psychologist. You are certainly trying to get into the head of another human being and make decisions for them. Hate is a very strong word, but if they hated it, they hated it. It's very expensive to just get off of a ship. You lose your money for the balance of the cruise then have to pay one way airfares for the return. Maybe they were traveling with friends? Maybe there were other reasons. It was their experience. I say, let them have their experience and not try to decide what they should have done or felt with their experience.

[asctony]

All opinions DO count and I think your posting was right on the money. It really has nothing to do with being Italian or European. I've had wonderful food all over Italy and the rest of Europe. I've had terrible food in some of the same cities. There seems to be a group of MSC aficionados who ride rough shod over anyone who talks about their own experience on the vessel, if they say anything negative. Personal attacks won't make the food better. It was really terrible on my voyage. Was it Italian enough? who cares! It was dreadful!

 

People go on cruises looking for different things and one cruise line can't be everything to all people. For those who really like MSC I say go for it. It gives you what you desire. I'm not putting you down by saying that it isn't for me. I respect your feelings about this line. Please respect mine and the others I've seen lambasted by some of you MSC groupies. We had a bad experience on your beloved MSC. Get over it! We are the ones who had the terrible time and we have to get over it!

You must have misunderstood my postings. I am not an MSC groupie. I have said that the service and food was bad!!!!! I respect others opinions and that is why I posted on this board to let others have my opinions as to the food and service. We did not have a terrible time, just did not like the food and the service was very poor. Happy Cruising on any cruise line you go on. Thank you for posting your experiences.

[asctony]

If anyone actually 'hates' a ship then they should remove themselves at the first port of call. If they didn't disembark, then they didn't 'hate' it. Hate is a strong word... perhaps they didn't enjoy it as much as whatever Princess vessel they were on, but they sure didn't hate it that much if they stayed the duration.

 

There is no reason to hate any cruise as a whole... one may dislike certain aspects of a particular sailing, but to 'hate' overall would infer one does not like anything to do with any ship or the sea.

 

I think you may have been too harsh. People do use the word 'hate' without meaning the worse possible. However, to answer you and for others information:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=324692

This is a Thread on Leaving the ship in a foreign port.

Happy Cruising!

[Magwa]

There's only a problem with leaving if one doesn't have a passport or it's another US port, where a fine of $300? would be payable. As that thread shows, many people disembark early for a variety of reasons. I just read a review today on Tahitian Princess... if the couple hadn't have been 8000 miles from home and spent $7000 on the cruise, they would have left too...

[njreo]

There's only a problem with leaving if one doesn't have a passport or it's another US port, where a fine of $300? would be payable. As that thread shows, many people disembark early for a variety of reasons. I just read a review today on Tahitian Princess... if the couple hadn't have been 8000 miles from home and spent $7000 on the cruise, they would have left too...

 

I thought about leaving the Lirica several times during the 11 days I was on it, but the fact that I would be leaving many friends behind, not seeing some of the ports I really wanted to see, and the expense involved held me back. My first instinct, due to problems I had originally, was to leave the ship before it sailed and quite frankly I wish I had, but I can't go backwards, I can only learn from my mistakes and I have. If other ship's staffs seem to have the attitude that the reception desk did on this ship, when I had the problem with mold (which I'm deathly allergic to) in my assigned stateroom, I will leave the ship immediately.

 

Live and learn ...

[shipshapegal]

sigh...... I simply HAVE to stop reading these boards! We went on the Lirica in February and had a wonderful cruise. I loved almost everything and hated NOTHING..... Any time I didn't like something, which was rare, they simply exchanged it for another choice and did it happily and graciously. The chilled soups were my favorite in the dining room. The fresh fruit in the cabin, the beauty of the ship, I could go on and on.

 

It simply amazes me how people can have such different experiences on the same ship. I believe you when you talk about the problems you had, but did not find them to be the case for my trip. There will never be a time when everyone has the same opinions, thank goodness, but I do plan on going on the Lirica again next winter.

 

We sailed on the Carnival Legend in March and are leaving on the Costa Magica on the 28th of April. Happy sailing all..............