MSC Orchestra Review
This is the best way to see the Mediterranean sights!!
Rating by category
Additional details
We are a family of 4 (parents with 16yo girl and 12yo boy) from Australia. We first cruised the West Mediterranean on MSC Fantasia (which was so spectacular) and then we had free transfers from one ship to the next (Genoa to Venice). The transfer was well organised and we got priority boarding on Orchestra being part of the transfer passengers. The ship was very tastefully decorated in comparison to the ships we have been on in Australia (a P&O one and a Carnival - both very gaudy), but not quite as fancy as the MSC Fantasia (larger sized ship).
The shows in the evening were brilliant, the costumes were gorgeous!! The itinerary was so good, every morning waking up in a new port is so fun, you never get bored. I recommend looking up private tours for some of the stops (we did an Olympia tour and Athens tour). We did do one cruise tour which was in Santorini. This cruise didn't have as much to entertain us during the days etc but that's because you're in port most of the day so it didn't matter. Be prepared that on some days around 5pm the bars/lounges close down while they do the muster drill for the new cruisers (because not everyone embarks on the same day). We think maybe they could keep one bar open for those that have already done the emergency program. The cocktails were very good value at around 7euro and you could also buy books of vouchers that we found good value too (we bought vouchers for beer, soft drinks, mocktails/milkshakes and coffees, we bought the water package on the first cruise but didn't use it all so didn't buy it on this cruise). The kids loved the cruise also but the kids clubs (they were in the 12-14yo and 15-17yo groups) were pretty much non-existent but not because of the cruise, it's teens and them not giving it the go they should so no-one was ever there. We found they spoke English first over the speakers most of the time so we never felt in the minority group. We had lovely waitresses in the evenings as you are seated at the same table each night. This is great as you get to know them and they get to know your likes and dislikes, they remember what you like to drink, etc. They are also careful with who they seat you with and we couldn't believe they found a family for us to sit with that were exactly the same as us (Aussie family of 4 - 16yo girl and 12yo boy, same as ours!) The embarkation and disembarkation was always very good, occasionally you have to wait in line (obviously when there are over 3000 passengers) but they were very efficient at getting us all onboard as quick as they could. Going on 2 weeks of cruising I cannot believe how much we got to see, this really was the best way to travel some of Europe.
We would definitely go on another MSC cruise in the future.
Cabin Review
Balcony Stateroom
Our cabin was one of the balconies right at the back of the ship. This had a big bonus when departing Venice as we could see both sides of the canal when leaving which was absolutely breathtaking. The downside to this cabin was occasionally it was very loud with engine noise. I think we could also feel movement a little more but only noticed that one night when it may have been a rougher sea night.
Port Reviews
Venice
We finished our tour in Venice and stayed for a couple of nights before flying home to Australia. It was beautiful, we stayed at Hotel Arlecchio in the Roma precinct which was near the port (we took the People Mover from the port for 1.50euro each which took us about a 3 minute walk to our hotel!) It was a lovely area, we pre-bought public waterbus passes which worked out great as they included a free trip to the airport which we needed and the bus station was only about 3 mins away from our hotel too. I don't know how we would have done it as easy if we stayed near San Marco plaza. We went to San Marco plaza by waterbus, it was so crowded but amazing. Gondola ride was definitely worth it too, costing 80euro for half hour (standard pricing). Would love to go back to Venice again.
Bari
After reading reviews I thought we would just walk from the port to the town so we did this but because I didn't research more than that we didn't find anything of interest by just wandering around aimlessly, it seemed quite slummy what we saw but didn't give it much of a chance to be honest. We didn't feel really safe and so we decided to walk back to the ship after about 1/2 hour or so. I recommend doing some research or at least looking at a tourist map beforehand, I wish we had.
Corfu
Having 2 kids with us (12yo and 16yo) we thought it would be a great idea to skip sightseeing in Corfu and go to Aqualand water park instead. We organised a return taxi at the port (it cost 75euro return from memory) and the water park for a family of 4 cost us 80euro plus 20euro on food there. We had a fantastic time, very relaxing, the family all loved the waterslides while I enjoyed the lazy river and we all had fun in the wave pool. This is only a great idea if you have kids though.
Kotor
OMGosh, we woke early to see the ship come into port, it was amazing!! It looked like what you expect the Scandinavian Fjords to look like with such calm waters and mountains on either side. The cutest little villages along the way, I'll never forget it. Then we weren't sure what to expect but the little town was so close and it was absolutely gorgeous! The church there looked like something you'd find in Austria, everywhere was beautiful and we would definitely love to visit this town again, probably doing a tour next time as one family from the cruise said the tour was brilliant and they saw much more than we did.