MSC Poesia Review

4.0 / 5.0
508 reviews

Our first MSC Cruise; definitely not our last!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on MSC Poesia
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okroxyk
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

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Sail Date: Mar 2010

We booked our cruise in January for a March 17, departure. We were able to secure very good rates and this is the main reason that we chose this cruise line. This was my third cruise, my son,Ted's second, and his girlfriend Karin's, first. After reading the on-line reviews of MSC cruises, I must say we were quite concerned, as they appeared to fall well below average in all areas of cruising. We decided to keep an open mind and judge for ourselves. And, if nothing else we were leaving the Pacific Northwest weather behind! How bad could it be?

We stayed in Ft. Lauderdale for two nights prior to our cruise. We stayed at The Hampton Inn and it was super. Check in time was 3:00 p.m., but we flew in at 6:00 a.m., so we went to the hotel to leave our luggage. The desk clerk rearranged his reservations so that we could get our room right then and there was no extra charge. They have a great, complimentary, breakfast buffet every morning from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and we totally enjoyed that. Everything from ham and eggs, omelets, cereals, pastries, toast, and make your own waffles. Coffee, tea, juices, and milk. It was a fantastic way to start the day.

We had originally booked inside stateroom guarantee, with no specific cabin assigned. Imagine our joy at discovering that we had been bumped up to a cabin with a huge window and great view for myself, and Ted and Karin were bumped up to a balcony! What a great way to start. Embarkation was fantastically quick and easy. We arrived around 11:30 and were in our cabins by 12:30. We had the option to carry our luggage on, which was never offered on our other cruises and it was very reassuring to have everything with us. We had a lost luggage issue on our last cruise and that did scare us a bit. (We also were able to leave the ship first at disembarkation and carry our luggage off. This was great as we had an early flight. We were off the ship and on our way to the airport by 8:00 a.m.) Upon embarking, the lunch buffet was a few minutes behind, as the U.S. Health Department had boarded and was doing an inspection. The Captain made an announcement after they left to apologize for the delay and to thank the crew for passing with a 100% grade. The food was very good, hot, and plentiful. The selection was wide and varied. It continued to be completely wonderful throughout our trip.

Cabin Review

Cabin 05

Larger than usual, larger bathroom, very quiet, very nicely stocked, great black-out drapes. The view was through the lifeboat area but was still a good view. Large closet, lots of drawers, large vanity with cupboards in bath.

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