MSC Lirica Review
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MSC LIRICA out of Venice: We have always cruised on Norwegian and didn't think MSC would be much different, since the price is about the same. BOY WERE WE WRONG! The food was terrible! You have to dine at your designated dining time in the same restaurant every night. There are only two dining rooms, but they are the same menu. The food on the menu is quite limited. There is a cafeteria, but the food is just as bad and just as limited. The bar staff is rude. We went to one of the "parties" and waited 30 minutes for a waiter to take our drink order. My husband finally went to the bar and asked for a drink and they told him they would come and we waited another 30 minutes. The bartender will not take a drink order from passenger, a waiter must take order. The cabin just felt dirty. My bedspread had a patched hole. The TV was the old tube kind and was small and missing a button. The shower was so small you couldn't shower without the moldy shower curtain touching you. The fellow passengers were rude, and the children unruly. We couldn't go into the hot tub because it was filled with children. They charge you for water at dinner unless you have tickets and they charge you for tea if you have it with dinner. There is no coffee with desert in the dining rooms after dinner. The staffing ratio to passengers was inadequate. The staff was untrained and had a language barrier that contributed to their issues. Disembarkation was a fiasco! They make you check out of your room at 7:30 and will not let you disembark until much later. Our luggage was not available until 10:00 and the Venice port authority will not let you take your luggage off yourself.
Cabin Review
The bed was two beds combined, which is not unusual in Europe, however, usually there is a mattress pad on top so that you don't fall into the crack. There was no mattress pad. I asked our attendant for a mattress pad and received a blank stare. The bedspread had a patched hole; the TV was the old tube kind and was missing a button; and the shower was so small the mold shower curtain kept touching us.
Port Reviews
Venice
Who doesn't know about Venice? It can be a bit smelly and humid in the summer months, but wasn't too bad in May. We have stayed in Venice a couple of times. I would strongly advise not staying by the Grand Canal as the hotels are a bit old and run down; and the rates a bit expensive. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, halfway between the airport and the Tourist area. There was a bus that took us into the Tourist area for 1.5 euro. The room was much nicer and the hotel was newer with a pool.
Split
Split was beautiful there wasn't much to do or see. Don't take an excursion into town, you can walk into town. We also went to Zadar and Dubrovnik. These towns had a bit more to do.
Mykonos
We went there at night which was kind of nice. It is beautiful. We were hoping to dance a bit, but the night life starts later at about midnight. Plus it was Tuesday night. The restaurants looked interesting.
Santorini
It was beautiful, we took the cable cars/gondola instead of the donkey. Found a nice restaurant on top of the hill overlooking the cruise ships and harbor. Picturesque. Shopping was the usual tourist stuff.
Dubrovnik
Loved Dubrovnik. It was our favorite port. We took the cable car up to the old fort that was built by Napoleon. There was a museum detailing the 1991 conflict. The town itself is beautiful. There is a bus that takes you from the port into the city for 12 kunas, which about 1.5 euros. They don't take euros, so you will have to convert, but it is definitely cheaper than the shuttle the cruise offers or even splitting a cab between four people.