MSC Lirica - 10 day Caribbean - 1-29-2/8 review

[cruisingtheword]

Just off the Lirica last Friday. Beautiful ship - very clean - I would see the staff polishing the same brass edge of the outdoor steps almost every day with a very small brush. Needless to say, all the brass was always shiny and smug free. Liked the size of the ship - lots of areas to go to quietly read a book or get a group together for a small "private" party.

 

One warning - on deck 7 there are 14-15 cabins that are obstructed view (by the lifeboats) that are a good bit smaller than the average inside and outside cabins (140 sq ft). We received one of these, room 7109, and it would have been impossible for us to unpack. My dh roughly measured and it appeared to be about 108 square ft. Instead of having 3 closets (one of which had 6 drawers and some shelf space), it only had 2 and no drawers. The room was so narrow, if the 2 beds were together, you could not get around the bed without climbing over the corner of the bed. The already small bathroom was even smaller with no storage space around the sink. We went to customer service - the women behind the desk had a standard reply that the ship was sold out and all the non-suite cabins were the same size. With our insistance, they radioed the Chief Housekeeper who was ashore and told him we needed to speak to him. He knew which room we were talking about and told us again that the ship was sold out but after the last passengers boarded, if he had anything available he would try to switch our room. The last passenger came aboard about 7:35 p.m. and we hurried back to customer service. He came up about 10 minutes later and switched us to an unobstructed view outside cabin that was the standard 140 sq. feet. We had only paid for a guaranteed inside cabin and had told him we would be perfectly happy with an inside cabin as long as it was the standard size. So all ended well for us. We saw him the last day of the cruise and thanked him again for fixing our problem cabin. I dont know if he remembered our names but he said, "I moved you from 7109 to 7167 - so he remembered our situation. We drive to the ports in Flordia so we had lots of luggage and would had been up a creek if he hadn't been so helpful.

 

As with any cruise, there was good and not so good dishes served. I definitely think the fish and chicken outshone the beef and lamb as my husband (who is Australian) called the lamb tough and too old to be called lamb. The beef was often fatty and just did not seem to be one of the better cuts of beef. We had some wonderful appetizers, soups, pasta dishes and chicken and fish. The lobster was small but well cooked (not rubbery). I enjoyed the pizza bar and the fresh pasta cooked at lunchtime. The only thing I looked for at breakfast that they didn't have was grits even though it was on the menu, but I could forgive them for that. Who goes on an italian ship and expects grits?

 

The entertainment was also good and not so good. The two groups that another reviewer mentioned (the 3 piece classical) and the two guitarist and a harpist were both wonderful. They would get standing ovations from the lunch crowd on days at sea when lots of people were up on deck. There was not a good solo pianist, however, something we enjoy because my husband teaches the piano and plays professionally. Also there was no live music for the evening entertainment shows which we missed as well. However, the dancers and costumes were lovely, the the aforementioned (in the other review) acrobat couple and Chinese acrobats, as well as the juggler were very good. The lead singers had nice voices but not always the best music selections to showcase their voices.

 

We loved every port, we had been to several but enjoy going to the beach and went to beautiful beaches in 5 of the 6 ports. We mixed the ship's excursions on islands we had not been to with using taxis and buses on islands we had previously visited.

 

We rarely saw our room steward but the room was cleaned consistently the fastest I have ever experienced. We received a complimentary fruit basket the first day and fresh ice twice a day and when I called for extra ice, he brought it within 3 minutes. The shower was the smallest we have ever experienced on a ship, but the bath towels are very large and plush.

 

My dh missed having any enrichment lectures and also missed having hardly any entertainment between 5-7 p.m. We like the late seating so we don't have to rush back from ports, but this timeframe was a little too quiet. Made it too easy to enter the casino which was small but adequte for me who only plays the slots a little. Bingo was normally at 9:45 which was good for me because I didn't need to waste my money losing at bingo and we rarely got out of the dining room before 10:00 p.m., not because of bad service (actually the service was very good at dinner) but because we so enjoyed our dinner companions, we were always one of the last to leave. (Hello Pat and Bill and Sharon and Frances).

 

All in all we had a great time, it went too fast and we would sail MSC again with no qualms. Okay, they don't put chocolate on the pillows but they are very generous with the cocktails during the Welcome and Farewell parties - as much as I love chocolate - I'll take martinis and manhattens any day - cheaper for me to buy my own chocolate. It is a very low key ship - they don't try to force you to buy a drink if you are sitting in the lounge but they also don't try to entertain you 24 hours a day. There were definitely people on the ship who felt the ship was not up to par - didn't feel the service or food was of a high enough quality but we have sailed on Holland American, Celebrity, Carnival and Costa and frankly had a great time on every trip and had likes and dislikes on every ship. That's part of what makes it fun - it would be a little boring to know how everything was going to turn out and exactly what to expect.

 

Hope this is helpful.

 

Susan and Neil

[earthfaries]

Thanks so much for the review, it was great and very helpful!!!

We just booked Dec. 3rd on the Lirica Eastern Carribbean and I know we'll love the ship:)

[MaestroHog]

Thanks so much for the report.

Michael

[rabelgirls]

Thanks for the review. I am taking my girls on this ship for Christmas. I am so looking forward to it. Good to know that it isn't as bad as some has stated.

[jakummerle]

rabelfirls...this morning we just booked our cruise for Spring Break March 14, 2009...this would be our second cruise with MSC - we went on the 11 day Caribbean on the Opera in 2007 with our two kids (son was 8 / daughter was 9 at the time). After squaring that away I was still perusing MSC's website and noticed the cruise on the Lirica during Christmas and told my husband about it. He thought I meant to change our dates --- no that's not what I meant - I meant to book this one as well! For just over $1600.00 we are on the Lirica over Christmas. We can't wait...as we are transplants from California to Texas we don't have family here - so the choice was to go "home to Cali" this year for the holidays which is really not a vacation, spend another quiet Christmas in Texas...or for less than I spend on gifts for the kids go to the Caribbean again.

 

So...out of curiosity -- how old are your daughters? My daughter will be just shy of 12 - and my son will be 10. Is this your first time on MSC...I see you've been on Carnival and RCCL...MSC is very nice - but nothing like either of those cruise lines. We loved it last year and actually purposely picked it because of the price - kids sail free then and still...and the beautiful ports we visited and will be revisiting some and going to new places here at Christmas and Spring Break!

[GJClay]

rabelfirls...this morning we just booked our cruise for Spring Break March 14, 2009...this would be our second cruise with MSC - we went on the 11 day Caribbean on the Opera in 2007 with our two kids (son was 8 / daughter was 9 at the time). After squaring that away I was still perusing MSC's website and noticed the cruise on the Lirica during Christmas and told my husband about it. He thought I meant to change our dates --- no that's not what I meant - I meant to book this one as well! For just over $1600.00 we are on the Lirica over Christmas. We can't wait...as we are transplants from California to Texas we don't have family here - so the choice was to go "home to Cali" this year for the holidays which is really not a vacation, spend another quiet Christmas in Texas...or for less than I spend on gifts for the kids go to the Caribbean again.

 

So...out of curiosity -- how old are your daughters? My daughter will be just shy of 12 - and my son will be 10. Is this your first time on MSC...I see you've been on Carnival and RCCL...MSC is very nice - but nothing like either of those cruise lines. We loved it last year and actually purposely picked it because of the price - kids sail free then and still...and the beautiful ports we visited and will be revisiting some and going to new places here at Christmas and Spring Break!

 

Our family has been on only Carnival and RCCL, and are very unfamiliar with MSC. What are the differences in MSC compared to the other mentioned lines? I am interested in MSC Opera, due to it's seven night Northern European itinerary. I would appreciate any information. Thanks in advance.

[MMDown Under]

Thanks so much for your informative review.

 

We are booked on MSC Lirica's repositioning cruise from Genoa, Italy to Fort Lauderdale, departing 15/11, arriving 3/12.

 

Well done in getting your miniscule cabin changed, as you are entitled to get what you paid for. Glad your persistence paid off with an unobstructed view cabin on the same deck. MSC should change those cabins to single cabins, as this must happen every cruise and is not good for MSC's reputation.

 

I agree with your Aussie husband, lamb is delicious and never tough. If it is tough, it is either hogget or mutton, which needs slow cooking.

[macruise]

"Well done in getting your miniscule cabin changed, as you are entitled to get what you paid for."

 

The original poster did get what she paid for, since she booked a guarantee. I think that the guaranteed stateroom is very misunderstood. What it means is that if you book a guarantee in a particular category that the cruise line will guarantee that you get a stateroom in at least that category.

So you need to be very careful when booking a guarantee. You might get the exact category that you booked or you may get lucky and get an upgrade, but that is not guaranteed.

On a recent cruise booking, I decided against a guarantee because I saw some stateroom in that particular category that I didn't want to be in. I chose my own stateroom just to avoid getting something that I didn't want.

If you book a guarantee, be sure to see exactly what you will get and even check on the cabins a few categories above. Examine the deck plans carefully. The guarantee is a real gamble.

I give lots of credit to the Lirica folks for moving the original poster to a new stateroom. They were not obligated to do that.

 

FYI - I saw those deck 7 cabins and they were really tiny.

Caveat Emptor

 

macruise

 

Hope this helps.

[MMDown Under]

I agree with your comments, if they had paid for a guaranteed stateroom, eg any cabin MSC provided.

 

However, I understood that they had paid for a guaranteed inside stateroom, which was 140 sq ft, so they were entitled to get what they had paid for.

 

An obstructed view outside cabin is a different category and smaller than an inside stateroom.

 

It pays to take with you a copy of the brochure/information provided when you made your booking.

 

It all ended well, as they were lucky the Chief Housekeeper upgraded them to an outside stateroom.

[cruisingtheword]

"Well done in getting your miniscule cabin changed, as you are entitled to get what you paid for."

 

The original poster did get what she paid for, since she booked a guarantee. I think that the guaranteed stateroom is very misunderstood. What it means is that if you book a guarantee in a particular category that the cruise line will guarantee that you get a stateroom in at least that category.

So you need to be very careful when booking a guarantee. You might get the exact category that you booked or you may get lucky and get an upgrade, but that is not guaranteed.

On a recent cruise booking, I decided against a guarantee because I saw some stateroom in that particular category that I didn't want to be in. I chose my own stateroom just to avoid getting something that I didn't want.

If you book a guarantee, be sure to see exactly what you will get and even check on the cabins a few categories above. Examine the deck plans carefully. The guarantee is a real gamble.

I give lots of credit to the Lirica folks for moving the original poster to a new stateroom. They were not obligated to do that.

 

FYI - I saw those deck 7 cabins and they were really tiny.

Caveat Emptor

 

macruise

 

Hope this helps.

 

I did study the deck plans MSC put out thoroughly. If you look at deck 7 on the plans, it is impossible to tell that these cabins are smaller. Also, throughout their literature they state that inside and outside cabins are 140 sq ft, nowhere does it state that the category 6 obstructed view cabins are smaller - by the fact that they are considered a 5 category upgrade, you would assume that they were also 140 sq ft. The customer service staff even told us on several occasions that all the rooms except the suites were 140 sq ft and they didn't even know about these smaller rooms. Most of the rooms around us were crew quarters which is what I believe these rooms were designed to be. If MSC wants to sell some of these rooms, I believe they should sell them as single cabins.

 

We have always been very lucky with guaranteed cabins in the past, 3x's have been upgraded from inside to outside cabins and the other 2x's have been perfectly happy with the inside cabin we paid for. It made no difference to us this time if we had an inside or outside cabin, we just needed room to unpack. Also, if we had had to stay in the tiny room, we would have figured it out somehow and still have had a great cruise. The room really is not that important to us, but in this case we did think MSC was a little deceptive in their advertising and fortunately for us they resolved it which only made us think more of the cruiseline.

 

Susan and Neil

[macruise]

Susan and Neil,

You definitely did your due diligence looking at the deck plans and seeing all the OV and Insides listed as ONE size. It was definitely not appropriate for MSC not to mention that they had those cabins on Deck 7 that are so small.

I looked at one and recall that they didn't have a desk and that the bed almost touched the bathroom wall. I know that I would not have been pleased if I had booked a guarantee, thoroughly checked out the deck plans, then got a surprise like this.

I think that Carnival's 1A cabins are bigger than these.

 

I wonder how many others have booked those cabins thinking that they would be the same size. MSC really needs to make note of these smaller cabins in their deckplans. Maybe they could use some very small asterisks.

 

macruise

[cruisingtheword]

Susan and Neil,

You definitely did your due diligence looking at the deck plans and seeing all the OV and Insides listed as ONE size. It was definitely not appropriate for MSC not to mention that they had those cabins on Deck 7 that are so small.

I looked at one and recall that they didn't have a desk and that the bed almost touched the bathroom wall. I know that I would not have been pleased if I had booked a guarantee, thoroughly checked out the deck plans, then got a surprise like this.

I think that Carnival's 1A cabins are bigger than these.

 

I wonder how many others have booked those cabins thinking that they would be the same size. MSC really needs to make note of these smaller cabins in their deckplans. Maybe they could use some very small asterisks.

 

macruise

 

I actually read in another of these boards that someone paid extra to book an "obstructed view cabin" rather than get an inside cabin. It would be very upsetting to pay extra for this cramped space. I believe there are only 14-15 of these rooms, so it can't be that much of a financial gain for MSC. If they are going to be marketed to the public, I think they should be up front about the size and market them to single passengers at a lesser price than the standard 140 sq foot rooms. That way, people would know what they were getting and have no room for complaint.

 

Susan

[MMDown Under]

For Carla's amusing comments on her experience with these cabins read -

 

Carlalena1 on 12th March on MSC Cruises - Rooms on Lirica.

[macruise]

Susan,

I think that the person who paid extra for those obstructed view cabins will be in for a big surprise. Like I said before, MSC needs to alert passengers to the size of those cabins. They would make great single cabins.

 

MM DownUnder - I read Carla's remark about the shower. Our shower was definitely too small for leg shaving. In fact, I think that anybody just a bit overweight might have difficulties doing much in there.

 

I took a photo of the shower and will be posting some photos from the Lirica very soon.

 

macruise