Our party consisted of three, my husband and me, both retirees in our mid 60's, and my husband's sister who is in her 80's. We have been on several cruises, both with MSC and other major cruise lines. We travelled to Florida two days before the cruise to enable us to get over the 9.5 hour flight and enjoy some Floridian sunshine.
Embarkation - The ground staff at Fort Lauderdale were really fantastic. We had a slight problem where my husband managed to loose me and my sister in law. The port officials were friendly and helpful in assisting him to locate us. Once we were reunited we did not experience any long queues and were on board within 30 minutes.
The Ship - The Poesia is truly a beautiful ship. The lounges (apart from the Zebra lounge) are tastefully and comfortably furnished. The layout of the ship is virtually identical to the Musica and the style of furnishings and colour schemes are similar to other MSC vessels. As with all of the MSC fleet the ship is kept spotlessly clean; mirrors and brass wear sparkle and any finger marks are quickly cleaned away.
Cabin 9227 aft on deck 9 - Small amount of vibration in normal sea conditions, however if the sea was rough this could potentially be a problem. Very little noise when the balcony door was closed, however when the door was open or when sitting on the balcony the noise of the wake was so loud that you could not hear people speak. The balcony was well sheltered from the wind and was a sun trap all afternoon. Inside the cabin there was no disturbance from neighbouring cabins.
The cabin was pleasantly decorated and furnished, the king size bed was very comfortable. There was only just enough storage for two people (this was a 16 day cruise).
The actual size of the cabin was quite small. The bathroom was compact but adequate, there was always plenty of hot water.
The position of this cabin meant that it was along walk from any of the entertainment areas,but we were aware of this and it was not a problem to us, however there was a back lift that took us directly to the rear of both restaurants.