MSC Fantasia Review

Good but not Fantastic

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on MSC Fantasia
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skoteinogenitos
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Sail Date: Mar 2009

We had a very interesting cruise of the Western Mediterranean (March 09) on board of MSC's Fantasia. This sturdy new ship is large (130 K tons) but nevertheless manageable, that is if you have a good sense of orientation. I will give you a summary of the ship in case you are considering it for future cruises. In general terms, the ship is nice with many but many lounges , bars and other public rooms, mostly decorated in sober good taste, a few are somewhat tacky or eclectic, ie. Disco. The Library is miniscule for the size of the ship (although it was not much used in this port-intensive cruise). The internet corner in the library is very small, but you could get a computer immediately if you went late at night, early morning, or when everybody was busy on land. Cabin: We had one with balcony, mid-ship on the 12th deck, approximately 190 square ft, it was very comfortable and practical. It featured a sitting area and sufficient storage space, flat-screen TV, phone, hairdryer, and a safe. The bathroom is small but adequate, the shower stall is ok, but has an unpleasant curtain that seemed to be in the way all the time. Very occasionally, a mild tobacco smoke could be felt coming either from the next door cabin or from the ventilation system. Cabin service was excellent, unobtrusive and thorough. The balcony was also very comfortable with two chairs and a table. In summary the cabin was nice, new and quiet.

Dining: It is not outstanding, just marginally ok. I found the food to be healthy, and abundant but not exciting. One would expect a better cuisine from an Italian line. The ingredients are mostly fine, but the preparation was inconsistent sometimes good, sometimes tasteless. Service in the Dining rooms was impeccable, especially when provided by East-Asians and Indonesians, Italians were a little less attentive. There were vegetarian options on every lunch and dinner menu. Breakfast and lunch buffets are also served in the buffet (cafeteria style, you serve yourself) and were passable or mediocre. We went twice, and after the experience, equivalent to a poor or average cafeteria in Europe or North-America plus several hundreds/thousands hungry passengers out of control, we took all our meals at the main Restaurants. In these venues, even the lunch and breakfast experience was slightly better, probably due to the excellent service provided by the waiters. Interestingly, the sanitizing Purell stations were not of compulsory use, a rather unusual and risky policy of MSC. In summary, if food is your number 1 priority, this line is not for you.

Public Rooms and Others: There are many and you never got a crowded feeling (although the ship was full). One nice feature is that there are few announcements (although in many languages) and the music is not blaring all the time as in some other cruise ships. Everything looks very clean and tidy. MSC Fantasia has a nice gym, with many treadmills and exercise bikes, , etc. There is a spa installation aboard. There are several swimming pools, the indoor pool is large and was used a lot in this Winter-cruise, I did not like it because of the over-chlorination and the smokers. The out door-pools looked much better but it was too cold to use them.

Cabin Review

Spacious, approximately 190 square ft, it was very comfortable and practical. It featured a sitting area and sufficient storage space, flat-screen TV, phone, hairdryer,and a safe. The TV set was modern but was placed very high. Sofa for 2-3 persons was very comfortable. The bathroom is small but adequate, the shower stall is ok, but has an unpleasant curtain that seemed to be in the way all the time. Cabin service was excellent, unobtrusive and thorough. The balcony was also very comfortable with two chairs and a small table.

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