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A lovely cruise, but MSC organisation is lacking! |
| Reviewed By: Jackson, Burnham on Crouch on 1st Dec 2008 |
| Cruise Line: MSC Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: MSC Armonia |
Sailed:
September,
2008 |
| Destination: Northern Europe |
Age: 65+ |
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Our trip on the MSC Armonia in September this year started off on the 'wrong foot' so to speak! when we were told to be at the Port of Dover by 11;00 hrs instead of the scheduled "booking in" time of 13:00hrs. We had to travel from Essex and on arrival at the port at aprox 10:45hrs we found that the port was 'closed' and that we should return later? However the security officer on the gate allowed us to go in and park our car in the car park. On further enquiring we were told that the Armonia would not be berthing till at least 16:00hrs, and to cut a 'long story short' we were eventualy on board by around 5:30 pm. what a carry on! no one could give us any reasonable explanation as to why the ship arrived late, but we were told to the day before departure to arrive two hours earlier than scheduled? why?.
We have cruised on the Armonia before so we did not have too many problems with the ship, it was clean and the staff were always pleasant and helpfull.
We were not happy when we were refused our request for a jug of water to be suplied at our table! This is a new policy itroduced on all of their ships to encourage you to pay for small bottles of water [50cl] at high prices. Coffee is also not given after your meal in the dining room! [I may add here that on our last cruise in Nov 2008 to Santos SA we did ask for coffee and we got it !!]
We were also not very pleased with the visit to Gibraltar, for only 4 HOURS on a Sunday from 8pm in the evening until midnight, not good for a shopping excursion!!
Secondly you will now fing that when calling at Malaga most of the cruise ships are not allowed to 'dock' near to the main Avenida as in the past. The Spanish Port authority have now made new berths available way out in the larger harbour and it can take you a good 35 minutes walk to get to the port entrance. Not good, some of our friends could not be bothered to walk that far. A pity really as Malaga is lovely City and has a lot to see within 5 minutes walk from the port entrance.
Question? Why don't the Spanish Tourist people arrange for a FREE shuttle bus to ferry visitors to the centre?? There was a shuttle bus available from the ship courtesy of MSC, BUT for US $7 After all it's to Spain's benefit with hundreds of customers arriving to buy gifts etc etc. This question should be asked of other countries where the tourist trade is of great importance to them. Please try you only have to ask.
We will be cruising with MSC again in the future as they are good value for the money you pay.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| In the main dining room. Meats and fish, and least pasta etc. | | Entertainment |  |
| The shows were all spectacular, all were audio or visual. They have to be! to cater for all the nationalities that travel with MSC | | Shore Excursions | |
| Lisbon. Marseille | | Staff | |
| The cabin steward, nothing was too much trouble when asked to do extra things,i.e. Fresh ice was always put in the ice bucket this during the day and in the evening. | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Yes, but not all were to our personal choice. | | Cabins | |
| Yes,Very good. | | Overall Rating | |
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