Well, I said I would get around to it in a few days, but I'm overtired
and can't sleep....
The GGC this year was on MSC Opera from 1/28/2006 through 2/4/2006,
sailing from Fort Lauderdale, FL.
This review is not meant to cover each and every little thing, just some
overviews of what I saw or experienced.
The ship - Absolutely beautiful! It is nearly new and shows it, and the
constant cleaning that is going on keeps it in tip-top shape. She rides
moderate seas quite well, which was a plus, as that is exactly what we
were sailing for the first 2 days. A bit bumpy up in the forward part
of the ship where my cabin was. But aft, things were pretty darn
smooth. I didn't notice anyone getting seasick the entire time.
MSC makes excellent use of the public space on this ship. The theater
is well laid out with no blind spots. There are plenty of small bars
throughout the ship, some no smoking for those that can't tolerate
smoke. Overall an A+ for useage.
The pool deck is very open, with two pools amidship with 2 hot tubs
separating them. The first two days, the pools didn't see much use as
the water was pretty darn cold. The hot tubs were all in use most of
the time. The pizza and hot dog/hamburger buffets are just aft of the
pools, and the regular buffet is aft of that.
Cabins - smaller than most, but well laid out, imo. I had an inside
cabin and never felt cramped. Plenty of storage, too! The shower is a
bit smaller so you get 'caressed' by the shower curtain unless you are
very small. But water pressure and temps were steady, much better than
I had seen on any previous ship.
Staff - I met more ship's crew on this line than on any previous. I
found the staff to be very pleasant and willing to work to communicate.
Lots of Italian staff, and many others from other foreign countries. To
me, the language and accents was a big plus, it made you feel like you
were on a European cruise ship, which is exactly what you were on.
The 'Animation' or entertainment staff were great, lively and fun to be
around. Heck, they even got my fat butt up to join in on some
activities and I never do that! I was told that the Animation team also
acted as dance hosts in the disco, but I don't do disco...
Food -
Dining room - Overall excellent quality, with the Italian dishes being
the best. I really didn't find anything I tried to not be well
prepared, even some things that I ended up not liking. The dining room
was excellent, with a very competent, friendly staff. I have no
complaints with the dining room at all.
Buffet - Here things are a bit different. The quality of the food in
the regular buffet was fine, selection wasn't as wide as on some, but
was pretty good overall. The biggest problem with the buffet, in my
opinion was time open.
Even if I get up very early, I don't want breakfast until later in the
morning. But the buffet is open for breakfast from 6AM to 9:30AM.
After that, the only food available is from the very limited room
service menu or Croissants and such. I think they need to extend the
hours for that morning through lunch. I heard that same complaint many
times including from the Europeans that were on the ship. I left that
on my comment sheet for them, hopefully they will change that.
Hot Dog/Hamburger buffet - I didn't care for the hamburgers at all. In
my opinion the beef just had a different flavor that was not to my
liking. From observations, that opinion was not shared by all.
Pizza - Very good to excellent. Not Carnival quality for sure, but
interesting combinations of ingredients and well cooked.
Shows - OUTSTANDING! I saw one, a magician (and I don't even like magic
acts), and it was great. And comments about the rest of the shows said
the same thing. I heard exactly zero complaints about the shows. It
was almost the only thing that I didn't hear someone complain about.
Ports.... are ports. We went to San Juan, St. Marteen, La Romana and
Cayo Levantado (actually Samana). San Juan and St. Marteen held no
allure for me, so I'll skip over them.
La Romana, Dominican Republic - Enjoyable port, but somewhat limited for
those that are not tolerant of extremely poor countries. A group of us
went to the town on a quest for Dominican Coffee (Excellent, btw!) and
it was obvious that this is a poor country. 2nd poorest in the
Caribbean I've been told, second only to Haiti, which shares this island.
But the people are some of the friendliest in the Caribbean. This was
my 3rd time in the DR, and I hope to go again soon. Twice on cruises
and once for a week on the beach closer to Santo Domingo, the capital.
I went to the evening show at the 'Art Colony', Kandela. It was
basically a musical review of the various Caribbean songs and dances.
It was energetic and absolutely worth seeing. How those entertainers
could be that active and still be standing at the end of the show was
amazing.
A funny thing happened here, with the group of us on the great coffee
quest. Finding coffee in the shops turned out to be no problem, but
finding whole bean coffee was a problem. We finally were told to go to
the Jumbo store, kind of like a super walmart of the caribbean. We
loaded up on coffee and proceeded to the checkout. Well, couldn't check
out as the computer was down, so we decided to wait for it to come up.
An hour and a half later, we decided to hell with this and left.
We walked across the street to the Internet shop, and lo and behold,
they had bean coffee. Not enough, but they sent a runner to their other
store to get the balance of what we needed. Made for a nice ending on a
very nice day to do some walking.
Cayo Levantado - is a small island of the shore of Samana. This was a
beach day and the Opera and Lyrica were in and had rented the entire
island. Those that went to the beach said it was very nice.
But I went whale watching! Great fun! Saw plenty of whales, but
getting pictures was a trick! The damn things would not pose or do
their thing on schedule. I shot about 60 pictures, and maybe got 3 good
ones. Others reported the same.
But the neat part turned out to be when we left. I saw about 6 whales
on the way out.
Drinks -
Cola cards are only available for the kids. I don't remember the price,
but it seemed reasonable.
Otherwise, soda was $2.15 with tip included
Beer was $3.50 and $4.50 tip included
Mixed Drinks $6.50 and up, tip included
They don't separate the tips from the drink price, so you don't get
those weird numbers on your invoice.
Complaints - Yep, there are some. But keep in mind, I consider these
extremely minor, but some might consider them to be real irritants.
1. Buffet times as I said.
2. Iced tea is ONLY available in the dining room during dining hours.
You can't buy it or get it anywhere else on the ship.
3. Ice Cream - $3.50 for a softserve ice cream cone. Heck, I paid that
for Hagen Daaz on Golden Princess. There is no other soft serve
available, and regular ice cream is only available in the dining room.
Or at least that is what I saw.
Additionally, there is some confusion on the ship. The docs stated late
seating at 8:45, but it was really at 8:15. Instructions on the last
day said 2 copies of the invoice would be provided and that one was to
be signed and taken to the purser's desk, but it wasn't really required.
Those are just two examples, there were others.
But realizing that this was an Italian ship and that confusion is nearly
a national pastime in Italy made it just a quirk.
Overall --
This is definitely NOT an American cruise line, and for that I am very
grateful. The differences were enjoyable, funny and quirky. Truly a
very different experience from any of the other lines I have sailed in.
I read other reviews prior to going on this ship, and I can definitely
see the reason for either loving it or hating it. If you decide to sail
with MSC, you cannot expect, nor will you experience the same things as
on an American company's ships. It just is not that at all. It is
unique and if you go and expect it to be unique, you will most likely
love it. But if you think it is just another Carnival, Princess,
Celebrity, et al; you probably won't.
Would I sail MSC again! Damn straight! Even if they don't change
anything.
Lloyd |