Maiden Voyage |
| Reviewed By: Pallas, Sunderland on 3rd Jul 2008 |
| Cruise Line: MSC Cruises |
Times cruised before: 1-2 |
| Cruise Ship: MSC POESIA |
Sailed:
April,
2008 |
| Destination: Mediterranean |
Age: 36-45 |
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We sailed on MSC Poesia on her maiden voyage in April. Like all cruise ships there were good and bad things.
We felt embarkation at Dover, was brilliant. We arrived at 12 noon, ans were on bourd by 1 o'clock. It was a really nice touch to be escorted to your cabin, but as the ship was brand new, even the staff got lost!
Our inside cabin was very nicely designed feeling light and airy. There was ample wardrobe and drawer space even though there were 4 of us in our cabin. The bathroom was very well appointed again with plenty of storage space and a fantastic shower. Our cabin steward was lovely, very polite and courteous.
On the second day we had our lifeboat drill. I felt this was very well organised, and like all other announcements etc, kept very brief and to the point.
We were on second sitting in the restaurant. We enjoyed all of our meals there, and as we were seated quite close to the kitchen, our meals were always hot. Our waiter said he always ensured that the plates be heated as he felt that was a problem for other diners. We found that there was plenty of choice, yes lots of pasta or rissotto's but it is an Italian cruise line!
We, really liked the pool area, plenty of sun beds, but the pools are salt water and not heated, so even on beautiful days were mainly unused. The jaccuzzi's however are heated and are always full. Both the pools and jacuzzii's are drained each night and covered with netting. There were 2 table football tables and 2 table tennis tables, in this area, but equipment had to be collected from reception which is 6 or 7 decks below, so often left unused.
We have two sons, aged 14 and 10 who really enjoyed kids club last year with P and O. This year our youngest, mainly enjoyed going to kids club, but he did say that they treat the kids like babies. Our oldest son, reluctantly went to kids club, where he met some lovely friends, but once again, he felt it was too babyish, so often arranged to do things amongst themselves.
The entertainment during the day was mainly craft activities or dancing. On a night the main theatre held some excellent shows, the costumes were fabulous. There were also several opera nights which I had heard were very good, from other passengersbut it's not really my cup of tea so can't comment. the other entertainment, I felt was pretty poor. The magician was so bad he made us laugh. I felt that the other show bars could have been put to better use, as they could have had comedians, quizzes or smaller shows on. I know that there is the problem of different languages, but you could have a german act one night, English the next, Italian the next, etc.
We didn't do any of the MSC excursions as prefer to make our own arrangements, We did hear some good and bad acomments from passengers who had done them though. I felt that the shore guides although interesting, could have included maps and more useful information. I felt, that there was sufficient time in each port, and we usually arrived earlier than stated and left slightly later.
Disembarkation, was a little slow and disorganised, but it was the first cruise. After a few hours looking around Venice we returned to the dock for our transfer and flight package which was quite straight forward.
I don't know how other cruises on MSC Poesia will compare to ours. As this cruise left from Dover, there were 1700 English speaking passengers, so we didn't really notice a problem with pushing in etc. I did feel that MSC sell you a cheap cruise, but then try to get extra money from you, once on board. But you can drink the water in the cabins, we took a travel kettle to make our own teas and coffee's if we wanted to. We asked for iced water in the restaurant so only bought drinks on a night. I thought they were expensive, but you can buy beer or pop tokens which gives a small discount.
Overall, we really enjoyed this cruise. We met some really interesting people from all over the world and MSC Poesia really is a beautiful ship. Yes MSC could and should improve some things, but I would sail with them again.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| We ate breakfast and lunch in the buffett restaurant. It could be busy but we found the further aft you went the quieter it got. We ate in the main restaurant each night. Both options had plenty of choice. | | Entertainment | |
| We really enjoyed the Atlantis show, the costumes and dancing was fabulous. We hated the magician | | Shore Excursions |  |
| We didn't do any organised excursions as prefer to make our own way, usually by train. However we did have to pay for shuttle buses in Barcelona and Dubrovnik. | | Staff | |
| Our waiter and cabin girl were always friendly and helpful. | | Children's Facilities | |
| Both our son's thought the kids clubs were babyish and could have gone on for longer. Personally I thought they were on long enough, 9 - 12, 3 - 6, 8- 10.30. | | Onboard Activities |  |
| I felt there could have been more day time activities, but again this could prove a problem due to language difficulties. | | Cabins |  |
| Our cabin was great. We were on deck 12, so only one deck below the pool area. | | Overall Rating | |
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