MSC Cruises Reviews
Tuesday 7th Feb 2012
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MSC Poesia Eastern Med - Go With The Italian Flow
MSC Poesia Eastern Med - Go with the Italian Flow |
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Reviewed By: Kirk, York on 31st May 2009
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| Cruise Line: MSC Cruises |
Times cruised before: 1-2 |
| Cruise Ship: MSC POESIA |
Sailed:
August,
2008 |
| Destination:
Mediterranean
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Age: 36-45 |
| Cabin: Outside |
Occasion: Family holiday |
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I am a member of the MSC club, and also checked in on-line, this enables you to use one of the premium check desks (no queues) and also get on the boat early. We checked in at 10.00 and were on the boat at 10.30, although needed to bully the staff a bit to let us on , even though check in staff had told us we could board . I would recommend early embarkation as it allows both a good look round the boat whilst it is still empty and also means that you can get into the cafeteria for lunch early and easily. Luggage was also delivered to the cabin before 1400.
Overall you need to remember its an Italian boat leaving from an Italian port , hence there are a lot of Italians and hence although there are a number of nationalities on board it is very much Italian …!!!
Overall not enough space on deck when its hot, not enough space in the two small pools , need at least another pool.
Food not as good as in previous years , although volume fine, very cramped tables. No coffee available as part of meals , apart from breakfast . I would recommend eating in the restaurant at lunchtime, much better service , still quite quick rather than the scrum that is the café , which is also not big enough for the volume of people. Also unlike MSC Opera there is not a separate Pizza and burger bar which to lessen the concentration of people.
Evening shows were good , allowing for the fact that it is difficult to get something that appeals to all nationalities. The best feature of the boat by far was the wine bar in the evening with the jazz band playing …quiet… refined … relaxing.
Although there was a similar children’s club to our previous MSC cruises, our children did not like it as much , because due to the large number of Italian children it was too focussed on them to exclusion of other nationalities… no real fault here just a fact of life.
Excursions generally good , not cheap, but poor organisation when returning to the boat in Izmir, early departure from the port meant everyone arrived back a the boat at the same time for lunch …complete chaos . Also in Dubrovnik, although everyone was given a tender number the Italians ignored theirs and just pushed in , crew did not stop them , and insisted on sending us to our designated boarding point which was crammed even when others were empty .
Overall staff generally good , ship spotlessly clean at all times. Our cabin , a restricted view outside, quite big enough for four . Overall an enjoyable cruise , the places we visited were what we went for and did not disappoint, the cruise itself was Italian through and through so you need to go with the foreign flow… finally beware of smokers , although reasonably well segregated there are some areas that although marked as non smoking seem to allow smoking .
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Volume fine, Quality OK , ate in the La Fontane restaurant , 1st sitting , cafe at lunchtime over crowded . Neve saw anyone in the Sushi bar apart from the captain ... | | Entertainment |  |
| Evening shows were fine all things considered, Sin City by far the worst !!!...most bar bands very similar apart from the Jazz band in the wine bar ..nice... | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Not cheap , but generally well organised , guides good , I would suggest booking all excursions on the TV set in your cabin , saves having to battle with the queues at the excursions desk | | Staff | |
| We had an Italian waiter for dinner , who was very good ... the rest generally fine | | Children's Facilities | |
| See comments above , children clubs available but too Italian dominated for our children , who just did their own thing instead | | Onboard Activities | |
| Range of activities but all with a very Italian flavour, had no reason to want to watch the TV so couldn't tell you what was on it | | Cabins | |
| Restricted view outside on deck 8 (Tasso) , 4 people sharing , clean , plenty of space and quiet | | Overall Rating | |
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