MSC Opera Review

MSC Opera - Eastern Mediterranean

Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on MSC Opera

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Sail Date: Mar 2007

My husband and I boarded the MSC Opera with an open mind. This was our 12th cruise, therefore I think we are fairly experienced when it comes to cruising. I went to cruise critic several times prior to sailing just to learn more information and gather some tips to make our adjustment to the Italian line a bit easier. I have read a few reviews from some people that sailed on our sailing and it does not surprise me that they were quite satisfied, they are foreigners. Here is an American's perspective. For those who are curious our ages range from 39-46. Embarkation went fairly smoothly. We arrived early to the pier after flying the red eye with the understanding we would have to wait until boarding time. We flew all the way from the west coast, WA State. Check in went well and we were greeted on the ship with a smile and shown to our cabin. Our cabin was nice, clean and functional with plenty of storage room. The bed was probably one of the firmest I have ever slept on. I read other reviews complaining about the shower. Yes it is smaller! No matter what they say it is smaller. The shower curtain design should have been more rounded. I had to turn the water to the corner, open the shower curtain to shave my legs. From what I witnessed on deck, this was probably not a problem for the French women....yikes! Public rooms were very clean. My daughter, her boyfriend and some friends from Connecticut traveled with us. All of us agreed this was an extremely clean ship. This was my daughters fourth cruise, her boyfriends first and the second for our Connecticut friends. So between all three couples I think we can give a pretty fair opinion.

Entertainment: We really only went to two shows, both of which were excellent. The entertainment group that many speak of do a good job throughout the day. My daughter was kind of bored throughout the day and thought there should be more activities, such as ping pong tournaments daily, pool games 2-3 times a day, and possibly something else. Most of the poolside entertainment was some kind of dancing, and yes it was usually foreign to us Americans. The miniature golf is also policed. You can not just go play on your own, it has to be an organized game by the cruise staff. Spa & Fitness: We utilized the steam and sauna rooms and both were wonderful. On certain days we were exposed to a little more flesh than I care to see. Lets just say the foreigners are not modest people and they don't pay no mind to how they sit while enjoying the sauna. I found it a little uncomfortable turning my head to talk to my girlfriend only to be staring at some ladies crotch! I did not use the fitness center. However my girlfriend used it almost daily and felt it was too small and not enough equipment options. Shore excursions: we only booked one excursion through the ship. We took a snorkeling/beach trip while in Grenada. It was a good trip. Not as many tropical fish as I would have liked to seen but overall it was a good time. We have learned over the years to book our excursions online independently or we just wait until we are in a port and search out an excursion with one of the locals. We have not been burned yet and the price is usually half that of the cruise ship.

Dining: This is where I have to say we were extremely disappointed. I will start with breakfast. The scrambled eggs. Ok, if they were to add some real eggs to the concoction rather than powdered eggs, might be an improvement. I do not care for eggs that can be sucked through a straw. I tried an omelette out at the grill, not bad. My only suggestion is do not put cheese in it. The cheese tastes like icky soy cheese and it does not melt. The fresh fruit, toast, yogurt all ok, but nothing to rave about. Lunch buffet-oh my! Apparently the Europeans eat fish in every possible way. Octopus salad, herring salad, squid salad, scallop salad......are you getting the picture here? They did offer green salad, but even the toppings they offered were limited. AND, this ship sailed from America, where the heck is the ranch dressing? If we had some ranch dressing we may have been able to drown some of that fish! We did not eat in the dining room for breakfast or lunch. I did hear it was pretty good, but again the hours are limited so pay close attention to open and closing times. Dinner: overall I can say dinner was ok. Not great like we are expecting when we cruise, but ok. Again, the Europeans must eat a lot of fish. You are only offered three main entrees and one of them is guaranteed to be fish of some sort. Pork also was a biggie. I think it was offered at nearly every meal. Lobster night was a disappointment too. I am not sure why they can not cook it like all the other cruise lines. Our service in the dining room was ok. We found we were always the last served and the last to leave the dining room. Our plates would sit on our table for nearly 15 minutes. I have never experienced that on our previous cruises. Back to the buffet line. One cruiser made mention that ice tea is not available 24 hrs. Not only is it not available, when it is available you can only have a ration of it! The small plastic cups only hold apprx 3 ounces. Try quenching your thirst with that. I agree with a past passenger, and I think they lock the ice tea in a vault. No eating by the pool! And believe you me the pool Nazi will seek you out and tell you to leave the pool area. The pool Nazi, aka the towel Nazi is a bit much. You have to check out towels and check in your towels, it is not a good system. You can go in the sauna, use the big blue towel and take it back to your room and nobody seems to care. The sauna towel stayed in my room on the chair for four days! Drink prices are outrageous. $2.50 for a coke is a bit much. Glad I did not have any small children with me. The cocktail waitresses poolside are nearly non existent. They are out there but they are silent! You better be watching for them because they are not going to let you know they are there. The drinks in the nightclub are also pricey. Oh and did I mention smaller! $9.25 for a well drink, and again your lucky if it is 2-3 oz's. A bit of advice, utilize your safe. For the first time ever we had our camera stolen. Brand new, only owned it a week. We believe somebody entered our room while it was being cleaned or the door had not locked all the way. Overall, our trip was not bad. We went to eight ports of call on our 11 day cruise and that was well worth the price we paid. Will we cruise with MSC again? Would I recommend anybody to take this cruise line? I can answer that easily with a quick "NO!" We will stick with Princess and Royal Caribbean.

Cabin Review

Cabin 6
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