MSC POESIA REVIEW

We were just on the MSC Poesia (pronounced Poh eh see ya) for an overnight to check out the ship, the food and the service. What follows is my review: The first thing that you notice when you get on board is that the ship is GORGEOUS! One of the prettiest that I have ever seen. When you embark on the ship, you are greeted with white glove service. On many ships, you must wait for an announcement before you can go to your cabin. On MSC, a room steward takes your bag as soon as you get on the ship and escorts you to your room. When you arrive at your cabin, you must put your key card in a slot near the bathroom to turn on the lights (you don't have to leave it there). Many European hotels have the same system. The cabins are similar to those on most other mid level cruise lines. Inside cabins are 151 square feet, outside cabins are 183 square feet and balcony cabins range from 199 square feet to 234 square feet. Furnishings are brand new and okay, but nothing out of the ordinary. The double closet has ample room for hanging clothing. You have a room safe. There are 6 drawers in one closet and a few other drawers in the desk and in the two night tables. It is okay for a one week cruise, but not for a very long cruise. I found a hair dryer in one of the desk drawers. The bathroom has an electric outlet above the mirror, sink, toilet and a stall shower. The sink has a liquid soap dispenser. The shower has dispensers for shampoo and body wash. If you prefer a bar soap or use hair conditioner, I would suggest that you bring your own. We went to the show in the Carlo Felice Theater. Acoustics were excellent. There were virtually no columns to block your view and the stadium seating made it easy to see from any seat. The seats were comfortable. They had no tables or cup holders for drinks. I have been to theaters on other cruise lines where waiters were bringing drinks to patrons and interrupted your view of the show. I was pleased that there was none of that on our ship. The show started with a very talented magician. There were two excellent acrobatic troupes. As good as any I've ever seen. The dancers were energetic and talented. The costumes and sets were very pretty. They finished with two excellent opera singers. I feel that the shows on MSC are wonderful. We went to dinner at the La Fontane restaurant. The service was excellent. We started with a very good shrimp cocktail (jumbo shrimp, nice and firm). We then had a wonderful eggplant parmesan appetizer. I had prime rib. It was cooked the way I asked them and the accompaniments were very good. The prime rib was good. I am not a big fan of beef on cruise ships. This was as good as others that I have had on other cruise lines. My wife had pasta with lobster and a light tomato sauce. She said that the sauce was tasty, but the pieces of lobster were small. We finished with an excellent tiramisu and coffee for my wife and Earl Gray tea for myself. We were happy with our dining experience. After dinner, we went to some of the lounges. The Zebra Bar had plenty of room and had a combo playing dance music and singing. My Pina Colada was excellent. The standard wine and champagne were fine. Drinks were very reasonably priced (5 oz glasses of wine started at $4 per glass). We then went to the Bar de Poeti where we listened to a piano player and his combo play jazz. By the atrium, there was a piano player and some violinists playing beautiful music. We walked into the Pigalle Lounge (where they permitted smoking) and left right away. We then continued to the S32 Disco where the place was hopping. The following morning we went to a buffet breakfast in the Villa Pompeiana dining room. It was comparable to other breakfast buffets that we have had. MSC is a quiet ship compared to many other cruise lines. Announcements were few and far between. The crew is multilingual. We had no problem communicating. In summary, we were very happy with the MSC Poesia and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.