Having read varied reviews we went on MSC with low expectations but hopeful, as my husband understands Italian we may find experience better than others who have reviewed it. In fact the announcements on this trip started in English followed by German, Italian & more! I guess it depends on which nationalities make up the passenger list.
Boarding-Very swift. We waited for 15 mins seated and then ...
We took a 14 night cruise in June 2015 from Rome to Istanbul. The itinerary included Rome, Naples, several Greek islands, Athens, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. We traveled on the Ruby Princess in 2012, and the Emerald Princess is its sister ship, featuring many of the same amenities and services. We were impressed by the quality and variety of the food, the service of the staff and the ...
We loved:
the excursions and the quality of the guides that led them;
the excellent speakers on topics linked to the region we were visiting;
the range of activities and facilities on the ship;
the friendly service from the helpful crew.
We disliked:
the amplified music that generally resounded through the lounges
and the wailing songs that screeched around the buffet dining room.
Although ...
Black Sea cruising is usually offered in a limited time period. Since cruise itinerary is my most important criteria for cruise selection and the Celebrity Constellation filled the bill, I booked myself and several good friends (a total of 6 brave souls). In this writing, I will briefly review the ship, list the ports and include a few details of our pre and post cruise adventures.
I have sailed ...
Let's start with the cabin. We paid for a verandah, but when we got on the ship, our 11th floor room had a small 'Romeo & Juliet' balcony without furniture. There was room for two to stand on it, and there were no dividers from the adjacent rooms (no privacy when on the balcony). We were disappointed and went to get the room changed but were told that since we booked through Expedia, we could not ...
MSC has some pretty bad reviews, and I'm pleased to report that we had a very pleasant time on board Opera. However, it was not all plain sailing, if you'll excuse the pun. So let's start with the bad points and if you feel you can stomach those, I shall move on to the good points.
The biggest minus for us was the very poor vegetarian food. Meat and fish eaters are very well catered for, but poor ...
The ship is sharp and well laid out . . . it is actually the same ship as the Carnival Legend/Miracle twins with a bit classier decorations and fittings.
Costa out shines everyone on embarkation proceedings . . . but is in the "not ready for prime time" class for food and tours.
Food . . . well prepared but dull compared to other cruise lines such as NCL and Royal Caribbean . . . and with poor ...
We have cruised many times on Celebrity and chose this itinerary because it had a combination of ports that we wanted to see again, ports in the Black Sea that were totally new to us, and because the cruise sailed round trip from Istanbul, which we had always wanted to visit. We were joined by 3 couples we met cruising the Adriatic last year. I call it a cruise of two halves because the first few ...
We are elite level Captain's Club, traveling in concierge class with an interesting group. Overall, we found the experience not near what we have previously experienced on Celebrity. This was not a premium cruise, and not close to luxury. However, this review will show both the unexpected above and beyond responsiveness of the crew to some truly adverse conditions.
First, a weird gout-related ...
On the 7 September a group of four embarked on Azura for a 24 night cruise titled Eastern Med and Black Sea. Our first port of call was Lisbon. We walked from the ship and got a taxis outside the station which we hired for the day for 120 euros. Considering there were four of us and we started our tour at 10.00 am and we were dropped back at 4.00 pm we thought it was an excellent tour and we had ...