I’ve just returned from the MSC Fantasia

I have just returned from a 7 night cruise on the MSC Fantasia.  The cruise was a Western Med cruise from Genoa to Genoa.

This is the largest most modern style of ship that MSC offer and I was interested to see how it compared the the Armonia that I had sailed on previously with MSC which is smaller and of an older design type.

I did sail on the Armonia prior to it’s refurbishment but all I can say is wow, the Fantasia was in a completely different class.

I am not going to knock the Armonia as I had a great time on that cruise but the Fantasia is so much more luxurious and modern in comparison.

The ship was just beautiful to look at and it took us ages to get our bearings and explore all of the different areas of the ship, there were plenty of  “wows” to be had as we went around.

I liked that each bar and lounge had it’s own design and they were all unique to each other, kept things interesting.

There was a very diverse mix of clientèle on the ship which I quite liked.  There were plenty of younger and older passengers as well as families and quite a mixture of nationalities.

The atmosphere was very good on board the ship, I didn’t really hear anyone moaning or anything, everyone seemed to be having a good time. The clientèle also seemed a lot more polite is time also, there was plenty of pushing and shoving on the Armonia cruise last time but I didn’t really notice that type of behaviour this time.

The service on board the ship was spot on. Our cabin was serviced faultlessly at least twice a day, we pretty much got served in an instant every time we wanted a drink even though we had an all-inclusive drinks package (which was amazing value by the way at £22 per person per night).  The waiters at dinner time in the main dining room were happy, friendly and very fast and efficient, I couldn’t fault them at all.

The ship had a lot of character it certainly wasn’t bland or boring.

The embarkation and dis-embarkation at the beginning and end of the cruise as well as at the various ports was very well organised, especially considering this ship holds 3900 passengers.

The main pool areas on deck 14 had some form of entertainment on during the day but we preferred the area at the rear of deck 15 as it was a quieter area with separate pool and hot tubs as well as another bar, we had everything we needed close to hand.

There is also an indoor pool and hot tub area to the rear section of deck 14.

We did watch a couple of shows, an Italian musical night and Star walker which was a Michael Jackson tribute, both were very good and the entertainers and singers were very talented. On both occasions there was a standing ovation at the end of the performance by the audience.

Food was better on the Fantasia than it was on the Armonia, especially the buffet. The quality and selection of food in the buffet on Fantasia was vast and I was really impressed with it. The food in the main dining room at dinner was also better than the Armonia and was fine although not up to the standard of let’s say Celebrity cruises for example but never the less we enjoyed it every night.

This was my girlfriend Sarah’s first cruise and she was asking when the next one would be within 24 hours of embarkation, it didn’t take long for her to catch the cruising bug !

To sum up my experience was very positive indeed and I would sail on this class of ship again with MSC in a heart beat. Thank you to all of the crew on board who made this such a wonderful experience for us and also it was lovely to meet you both for dinner Marcus and Jane if you get to read this.

Here are some of our photo’s which will help you get an idea of our experiences.