The ship is not giant which I liked, not brand new but clean and in good repair Cabin was good size with king bed and unobstructed window-lots of storage space. In room fridge with beverages to buy-we didn’t but there. We had a really comfortable bed/pillows/pleasant room-service on the room was great. Shower that many have made comments on- we did not have a problem-small but just watch the curtain The spa lash pad. Servers were attentive and there were no long waits for bar service, and servers were generally very pleasant. Food- pizza very good, grill hamburgers and hot dogs, fries also very good, buffet I will give a good but leave off the very mostly because I don’t care for buffet food and the hustle around serving yourself. Seated dinner, was well served, good food not gourmet. But considering the price.... you can upgrade but we didn’t Pool area- two pools with deeper areas and section for shallow kiddie splashing-very clean. There is also a great little splash area for little ones fun. Several nice bar areas some with musicians- we liked the rum bar and Carib music. Casino plenty large and some times with lower minimum for betting3-5 dollar blackjack. Casino staff were all pleasant. We went to two evening shows and choose not to spend additional time at them. They were okay not my thing. Activities were available during the day for those who did not go to the shore. We did not partake of any spa service so I cannot comment on them. Going ashore- like many cruise ships precedence is given to those who booked through the cruise line so expect that. In Cuba we got in line an hour ahead of time with plans for a private tour and were shuffled in with those who had a msc excursion so that was nice. I am an American so used to when you stand in line you take turns..with a large group of people with different cultural backgrounds you see the differences here. People cutting in or pushing ahead. MSc staff tried to control bu there are just some who think they should take priority over everyone else and these tended to be non-Americans, sorry but that is my observation. I enjoyed the different cultures all the time except when waiting in line. We met some very nice people. In Mexico be aware people will ask for and expect tips. Ports-costa maya private beach day booked outside of cruise, very quite, very secure, small private resort- included transportation paid ahead of time and bonus no one trying to sell you stuff. This was really a great day. I spoke with someone else who did not have the same experience at another beach resort with the taxi driver demanding a $100 Tip to take them back to port at the end of the day, so play close attention when booking Cozumel-private excursion, discover dive, rum tasting, lunch and Jeep tour-nice dive,, lunch okay, tequila tasting fun but high prices. We bought but probably paid more than it was worth. The guide told us the weather was bad on the other side of the island and kept hinting that the tour would be shorter due to weather. We insisted on the tour anyway and surprise there was no rain or wet roads when we got there. So we ended up a little suspicious about a desire to cute the event short. There is beautiful ocean views and very nice to get away from the tourist area. It was so nice that we are pretty sure that my husbands iPhone decided to stay on the beach there or in the Jeep. It was time to upgrade anyway. Cuba- the reason we booked this cruise. Havana was very interesting and again we booked privately, having the same guide for two days. Don’t miss the classic cars, jazz club, local restaurants. Souvenirs seem to have pretty much set prices. We came away with Panama hats and rum. You will take a hit when exchanging American dollars for CuC. Every one treated us pleasantly and Cuba was a great experience. I would recommend this cruise to others and hope my comments help others.. Read Less

This was our 25th cruise and 4th with NCL. It was a last minute cruise booked directly through NCL. At no time in the booking process were we informed that the tips per day were increasing from $14.50 pp to $20.00 pp. Upon receiving bill under door on day of departure, was the first I would see this change. I immediately called the cruise line on the car ride home and was put on hold for one hour. Getting no satisfaction from the agent I called back again and was put on hold for another hour. Finally, I was told that we could have prepaid the $14.50 before April 1. This we were never told upon booking directly with NCL. The agent gave us a $50. Credit towards another cruise if we book within 2 years. I doubt we will be on NCL again any time soon. My assessment of this cruise is the following: Ship: Nice renovation and very clean. Small public rooms which made for congestion. Food: C- The buffets were less than average with few bake goods. No cookies, croissant, danish, etc. the entire 4 days until the very last morning. Baker must have been sick. Crossing dining room was good with excellent wait staff. Food was average. Entertainment: Fabulous shows! Cabin: Porthole, small but functional. Very pleasant & efficient Cabin person. Destination:Cuba is very interesting and will return for another visit. Private island was nice. Passengers: Too many drunken passengers taking advantage of their bar packages. I doubt many of them will even remember they were on a cruise. Read Less

A friend and I decided on a last-minute cruise, as we both were looking for a week's vacation that required little planning. We booked about three weeks in advance and we were able to get an ocean view room. We were nervous because the room was on the 5th floor, same as the two main dining rooms, and near the elevators, but it ended up being a great location. Quick and easy to get everywhere, and we didn't hear any noise from the elevators. The ship was refurbished this year and it was done very nicely. Just the rooms can use an update!! Havana was a fun experience. I recommend the 'Best of Havana' six hour tour. We wouldn't have known where to go without doing a lot of research (and since we didn't have cell service for directions). The tour was half bus ride/half walking. We ended up being on the bus a little more due to the rain, but our tour guide was great. We also got to do rum and coffee tastings, and time to purchase cigars as well, if you wanted. After the tour we wandered to the hotel where Hemingway spent his time and sat in the lobby bar drinking mojitos and listening to a wonderful piano player for an hour or two. It was fantastic. The indoor market isn't worth going to. It's about 100 booths with tourist tchotchkes. The next day was a ship/cruise day. Unfortunately it rained a bit and was cloudy, but we still enjoyed some sun on the deck. Not too much great entertainment on the ship, but that was expected since it's a smaller ship. We spent most evenings at the mojito bar or the local or at the karaoke bar. Great Stirrup Cay was wonderful. If you plan to lay by the beach all day, I recommend trying to get out on one of the first tenders so you can get chairs by the water. Floats are only $16 to have all day, and we had a $50 credit that we used towards them. Getting on the ship and disembarking (in Havana as well), was run very smoothly. We never waited in a line at any point. Even exchanging currency in Havana. I've been on cruises we're you're in line for a long time. I recommended keeping your suitcase and walking off with it on the last day. Again, there was no line, so we walked right off! Read Less

I was very upset that RCI cancelled one of the Cuban ports and switched it to Cozumel (along with 1500 other people). I really, really liked Cuba. I liked the small ship but I'm not a huge cruise fan and I do not like the mega-ships so that's just personal preference. I met so many nice people because the ship was small. :-) The staff were generally very nice and helpful. I did not care for the dining room food - it was just blah. The volume of the music on the pool deck is too loud!!!!! The entertainment was good though the regular singers/dancers were "okay". Loved the coffee package as I am a coffee lover. If you know it is the oldest and smallest ship and you accept that, then you will have a really nice trip. The Chichen Itza excursion is not worth it. We were there for only one hour at high noon. The Botanical Gardens excursion in Cienfuegos was very nice. The Free Havana Walking Tour I found on TA in Havana was EXCELLENT! Read Less

We chose this cruise as it was very reasonably priced and it was our first time with Norwegian.. Embarking was quiet an experience with the staff shoreside being quiet short and abrupt if you had a question to ask. Once onboard we went straight to the outside restaurant on deck 11 for a snack and drink, the bar staff seemed very rushed and a tad rude, probably due to the amount of people they were trying to serve, so put it down to work overload. Our reservation was deck 4 mid ship, I didn’t like the fact that we could only access it from either end of the ship and the aft access was via 1 small elevator or small staircase. After spending the night in the room we simply had to move, the AC noise was, at the very least annoying. We upgraded to a balcony on deck 8, this was much more roomier and not quiet so loud, much easier to access and better located. We were allowed to choose which restaurant we went to for dinner, thankfully this was the case s the 1st one went to was awash with the smell of smoke, seven seasons on deck 5 aft. We then went to Four seasons, deck 5 mid ship, although the smell of smoke was all around the atrium it didn’t creep into this restaurant too much. Our service in this restaurant was excellent, although I think the menu could have been a bit more varied from day to day they did try to please us. We found the layout of the ship very disjointed with having to go up and over to come down again just to get to somewhere next door on the same deck, very weird. The worst part of this ship is the smell of smoke on some days, I think most was coming from the casino and maybe because of the age of the air handlers it seemed to spread far and wide, it really was quiet sickening and I found I couldn’t sit in many places due to this awful smell. I did make it know to customer services how unpleasant I found it and it seemed many others were of the same opinion, the ship did try to pump air fresheners thru it’s system but they we short lived. Our cruise was only 6 days and we were ashore for 4 of them so we didn’t have much time for the entertainment but the daily activities was a little bare. In brief, if you are not handicapped and if you don’t mind the exercise then you will overcome the ships layout.. if they stopped smoking in any indoor areas or upgraded their air system this was a very pleasant cruise. The staff were very welcoming and helpful and the service at dinner was excellent. Read Less

I, like many of my shipmates, chose this cruise specifically because it visited three Cuban ports: Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba, and Havana. As MANY others have noted in previous reviews, RCI advertises these ports, knowing full well that for at least the past six months, they cannot port in Santiago. They continue to advertise three Cuban ports, and then literally as soon as final payments are paid, the RCI website is updated to show that in fact you won't be visiting Santiago: the ship will stop somewhere else instead. In our case, it was Cozumel, Mexico. Since most Caribbean cruisers have been to Cozumel before, this wasn't a particularly attractive alternative. RCI doesn't do its guests the courtesy of notifying them of this change. I only found out via the CruiseCritic roll call for the cruise. So if you are interested in this cruise, be forewarned: you will probably NOT visit three ports in Cuba. There was, for us, only one positive about this cruise: the crew. With the exception of the cruise director (whom none of us saw at any point in the 7-day cruise, even being out and about all the time!), the crew were friendly, helpful and really just an amazing bunch of people. They made up for many (but not all) of the many shortcomings of this ship (and RCI in general.) MANY NEGATIVES: where to begin? Let's start with the cabin. We had an inside (see below). Another problem? The food is average AT BEST: and often downright bad. We're not fussy by any means, but of the seven meals, 3 of them were awful (we couldn't even eat them), 2 meals were mediocre, and only 2 were average in taste and quality. Our dining room waiters did their best: always asking if we wanted something else, and so on, but we don't like to waste food, so we just figured (on several nights) to have a bit of a "fast"..... The dining rooms (both the main Starlight areas and the Windjammer buffet) are horribly overcrowded, with tables pushed so close together that you literally had your neighbors' chairs up against the backs of yours. They are also VERY understaffed: they need at least 50% more servers in both areas. We like to talk with our servers and get to know them a bit, but they were so busy that they rarely had time to even slow down, much less stop! The swimming pool is a joke. First of all, it's a uniform depth of 1,80m (a bit over six feet). It is VERY small and because it has no shallow area, older people tend to just sit on the edge with their legs in the water. This makes getting into and out of the pool a real challenge, and once you're in the pool, you have to keep swimming, because you can't stop anywhere on the sides (with all those dangling legs!) Maybe 20 people (if they crowd close together) can sit around the sides, and only 10 or so can "swim" (by which I mean tread water in a very confined space.) Finally, it's a salt-water pool, so if (like us) you don't care for salt-water pools, you won't enjoy this one. We went in on the first day and never went back: it was always very crowded. The casino onboard has an interesting two-level design, which we liked. There are a couple of things you need to know about the casino, however. First of all, it is completely non-smoking. Not a problem for us, but for many, this will be a disappointment. The other thing we didn't care for was the fact that about 75% of the slot machines are old: and I mean 20+ years old! Some of them still use coins, believe it or not, that's how old they are! Many have buttons that don't work, or are out of order for "maintenance". If you plan on playing the slots, you cannot charge to your "SeaPass" card. You have three options: bring cash (USD) with you; use the ATM to get money (for a $6.95 fee); or go to the cashier and charge it to your SeaPass (for a 5% fee). So if you are going to get more than $107 to gamble with, use the ATM. The fee is actually better than getting it at the cashier's. Generally, though, we were bored with the selection of machines after 2 days. Honestly, going to this casino is like going to a small "locals" casino in Las Vegas: lots of old, tired machines, and really low payouts. Another irritating aspect of this cruise is the way RCI has two levels of customer service when it comes to shore excursions. This is particularly true in Cuba. If you are booked on an RCI excursion, you get off the ship first. But if you have made independent plans, tough luck. You have to wait on the ship until all of RCI's "customers" (as they put it) have left the ship. Then you can go (unless you are in Cienfuegos: then you have to get a "tender ticket" and wait even longer for your turn.) So for example, we arrived in Havana at 0700. Because we had private tours, we couldn't get off the ship until 0930. So you may want to schedule any private tours for later in the morning (i.e. when it's getting hotter!) because if you had an 0900 tour, you'd probably miss it in Havana. We did one ship excursion, the "Chichen Itza Mixed Reality" tour from Cozumel. We had not been to Chichen Itza, and it's a long trip, so we thought a ship tour was safer in terms of getting back in time. The description of the tour is quite a bit different from the reality: the virtual reality they offer is in fact a slide show on a tablet, that you do with the guide on the long bus ride to the site. The guide and driver were excellent, but we only had 90 minutes at the site, out of an 8-hour excursion. As to the Cuban ports, the town center of Cienfuegos is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, though I honestly can't imagine why, unless perhaps UNESCO felt like Cuba ought to have a site or two. The best way to see the "sights" in Cienfuegos is to hop on the little Transtur tourist (covered open-air) train that departs every 45 minutes or so from the pier. It's a 40-minute tour, costs 5 CUC (Cuban convertible pesos), and makes a lengthy stop at Jose Marti Square (where all the "UNESCO" sites are located.) Then it continues on to Punta Gorda, where all the rich government officials and other revolutionaries live, and goes past some of the beautiful old hotels and the Palacio Valle and along the Malecon. You can walk to Jose Marti Square from the pier, but many of the roads are rough, unpaved, and you have to run the gauntlet of touts selling pedi-cab or horse-drawn carriage or "classic car" tours. We found Havana to be amazingly underwhelming, and certainly not deserving of the hype we'd read before our trip. Again, a few well-maintained (tourist-oriented) streets surround by squalid, dirty, rather smelly neighborhoods with decaying buildings and a lot of poor people living the socialist dream. No, we're not political at all, but the irony to us (as Europeans) of the failure of the revolutionary ideals was very sad. Embarkation and disembarkation were fairly lengthy experiences. Long lines, long waits, and once you did get on the ship, all of the cabin areas were closed off, with signs saying, "Cabins will be available after 1330." Our luggage did not arrive until just before dinner. RCI transfers are a joke. At disembarkation, we did "self-assist" so as to catch the schedule 0815 transfer to Fort Lauderdale airport. We waited in line for 30 minutes, then finally got off the ship and walked to the bus. We sat on the bus for 90 minutes before leaving at 1000! The ship itself is old and very tired, despite the fact that it just came out of a "refurbishment" at the end of March 2019. We couldn't see much that looked like it had been upgraded or updated: perhaps they just put in more tables and chairs in the dining areas, and renovated the cabins for the officers and the cruise director. To us, Empress of the Seas seemed like a ship that needs to be completely rebuilt, possibly for one of the luxury lines. It certainly is nothing more than a cash cow for RCI, because they don't seem to be spending any money on facilities or crew. Read Less

Just finished an MSC cruise on the Armonia to Cuba...I will never be sailing with MSC again. The ship is looking "long in the tooth:" dirty stained carpets, worn finishes, and just all-around looking tired and old. Cabins didn't have enough outlets, and the crew - while generally "fine" - was not exceptional in any way. In short, there was nothing on this cruise the blew my socks off: not the entertainment, not the accommodations, not the food, not the service. Everything was just kind of "meh." The food in the restaurant was unexceptional at best, and thrown-together at worst. Buffet: way too small for the size of the ship. Entertainment, especially the shows, was mediocre compared to other cruise lines. None of the crew - including the entertainment - appeared happy to be on this cruise, and everyone was simply going through the motions. Worst: we sat on the tender boat to get back on the ship for 45 minutes because their re-boarding process is INCREDIBLY inefficient. MSC isn't ready to do battle with Carnival PLC's cruise lines or Norwegian or RC. Won't be making this mistake again...! Read Less

I picked MSC because if the price and I’ve never sailed with them before. I chose the Fantastica room level. Embarkation was super easy and fast! You have to go to a kiosk to put your credit card on your cruise card, just explore the ship and when you see one of the kiosk free pop on. It’s super easy and fast. Food: Food was plentiful and tasty. Mind you, buffets are buffets. The food is not piping hot by the time you find someplace to sit. The dining rooms food wasn’t piping hot either. I think I had one meal that let off a little steam and I was so happy. But despite the Luke warm food, it was all still very tasty. In the dining rooms if you didn’t like something, our wait staff would get you something else quickly. They were trying to make sure we enjoyed our meals. Our water glasses were always full of cold water too (but I think that depends on which area you get). Rooms: I had an ocean view room and it was spacious! I’ve been on 14 cruises and this was by far the roomiest ocean view cabin I had. Plenty of storage spots, if it looks like a cabinet it was. Bathroom was ok - plenty of toilet space and sink space. Shower is tiny with not so fresh shower curtain. Bring your own $1 liner and put it up. Not gross when it’s a fresh new liner trying to get close and personal during your showers. Drinks: with the fantastica package you get drink vouchers. No where on any paper work does it tell you to take the one piece of paper that says **Fantastica Drink ... to guest services. Make sure you do this on embarkation day so your literal vouchers are delivered to your state room. Those vouchers get you one non-premium drink per. I’m not a big drinker so it’s all I needed. Water: bring a stainless steel water bottle and fill up (with one of the cruise cups) with ice and water daily. Tastes great. Or use a voucher for the $5 bottle of mineral (spring) water or sparkling water. Entertainment: I’m going to be honest, the regular theater singers are not that great. If you’re easily pleased you may love it. We started skipping shows because they were poorly directed and cast. The acrobats were excellent, wish there was more of them. Examples... a single dancer or pair of dancers would have made the karaoke like performances pop, some solo songs had all dancers on stage doing nothing and that was a shame, the acrobatic parts were weaved around the staff dancers/ singers which was often distracting and off-putting. The bands/acts in the loungers were amazing! So much better, just pick a type of music you love and stay in that lounge. The onboard event staff were all super friendly and trying real hard to make sure everyone was having a good time - do the events with them. They were great. Cuba: the ship makes it seem you have to do one of their excursions in order to get off in Cuba. This is not true. As long as you are spending money on people to people activities you can get off. Customs doesn’t check that, they only want your passport and visa. The people to people requirement is more for USA citizens. If you get off the ship in Havana, directly across the street from the port is a hotel, in there they have amazing excursions to beaches and all the fun stuff not offered by the cruise line. You can take these! Get Cuban cash before leaving the terminal, there are exchange places at the bottom of the stairs with no lines. Unless you have a credit card that does not originate in the USA you need Cuban dollars for everything. Take that into account when getting your travel cash. Oh and Canadian money didn’t exchange higher than the American dollar the day we were there (people with us were not happy with their Canadian exchange). All in all it’s a small ship with some nice distractions. It’s very relaxing and clean. If you’re looking for a ship with constant activities and partying pick another ship. If you’re looking to relax and just go with a good flow, this ship is a good choice. Read Less

I've sailed several times on the Divina and Seaside and was a little hesitant to sail on the Armonia due to her age. Boy, was I wrong! What a great ship! It was absolutely in tip top shape and the staff were all so friendly and helpful. Our cabin steward Jasna seem to work none stop in keeping our cabins clean and stocked. The food was fantastic and the NY Strips were thick cooked perfect. The only thing I was disappointed in was the shrimp Cocktail's. Our waiter Rony gave us great service and made recommendations that were always right on the money. The main entertainment was mostly musical's, not really my cup of tea, but the skill of the performers was top notch!! I'm more a set in the Bar and listen to a singer or small group. That's where I spent most of my time. I went to Guest Service's several times with a question or request an they handled them all very quickly. I have sailed about 16 times and for me this size ship is what I like best. I have always enjoyed RCCL's Grandeur but this may be my new favorite. Read Less

MSC Armonia vs MSC Meraviglia, old vs new, small vs large, Caribbean vs Mediterranean So far this year I have taken two MSC cruises -- on the beautiful new Meraviglia in the western Mediterranean and on the nicely refurbished Armonia in the Caribbean (including Cuba). Both cruises were very enjoyable, and each ship has its strengths and weaknesses. This review is a brief comparison of both. The bottom line is that I prefer the newer larger Meraviglia for transatlantic and other itineraries with many sea days because of its stability and numerous onboard venues; and I prefer the older smaller Armonia for port intensive itineraries because of the excellent personal service in the dining room and public areas. The Armonia is the oldest and smallest ship in the MSC fleet. It was enlarged some years ago and was nicely refurbished more recently. Like most older ships, the cabins are a bit smaller and there are fewer balconies than on the newer ships. The fewer number of passengers on the Armonia is a definite advantage in the public areas and theater. More important, the service is more efficient and more personal, especially in the main dining room. Although the menus are comparable, the quality of the ingredients is better in the Caribbean than in the Mediterranean, probably because good meat and produce are so much cheaper in the USA (Miami) than in Europe (Genoa). The exception is fish, which was always the best item on the menu in Europe but was cooked until dry (American style) in the Caribbean. Both ships suffer from an old-fashioned buffet layout, with straight cafeteria-style lanes that make for slow going. The Armonia buffet area is too small for a ship of its (later enlarged) size, but extra dining areas have been set up on the open decks. The dining room service on the Meraviglia was disappointing not because of the wait staff but because of the enormous size of the dining rooms. My table was so far from the galley that delivery was quite slow -- I tended to order fewer courses than on other ships just to save time. Also, passengers in Europe did not respect the dining start times, but wandered in gradually during the first half hour. As a result, the Meraviglia waiters did not even take orders during the first 20 minutes, and this was further slowed by the waiters' bulky touch screen order pads. In addition, the wait staff work station for my table on the Meraviglia was located up some stairs and around a corner, so I was invisible to the wait staff during most of the meal. Last but not least, passengers on the Meraviglia are not allowed drinking water with dinner -- if you want anything at all to drink with your meal, even water, you must buy it. That would cause a mutiny in US waters. Both ships have MSC's philosophy of unbundling services and charges, to the point of having different levels of service and different fares for otherwise identical cabins. Airlines now do the same, so this is not surprising. For economy-minded cruisers like myself, this is fine. One related frustration that I experienced on both ships was that delivery of a pre-purchased drinks package (coupons) was delayed for two days on each cruise and was proffered only after a few calls and visits to the reception desks. Make sure you take your pre-cruise documents to prove what packages or services you paid for prior to your cruise. Perhaps my favorite thing about both cruises is that MSC offers reduced prices to solo travelers and very reduced prices for late bookings on some itineraries. You may get a little less gourmet dining than on some cruise lines, but the pleasure of a MSC cruise is equal to almost any of the ten other cruise lines I have sailed. In summary, MSC offers great values on very enjoyable cruise ships. Give it a try if you find the right itinerary at the right price. Read Less