MSC Wows Again

What a fantastic week we have had.  I firstly must tell you about my flights. We flew from Newcastle to Rome but because of the flight times we could not get a flight with Jet 2 and therefore had to go via Amsterdam with KLM.  I must admit I was a bit wary as they are very short connections but hats off to KLM – we did manage to catch our flights, and our luggage, despite a “dash” on the way home – that is another story!

The Preziosa is still as wonderful as she was last year.  We had a great balcony cabin, beds are really comfy and the showers have a door (I know I keep on about this but I hate a curtain!).  The food was even better then last year, a great choice every evening. We had one gala evening and another evening we had a “Italian” night which was fantastic. Dancing the conga around the restaurant, singing songs, waving our napkins, such a great atmosphere!  We hit lucky on the table too. Table for 8 which was us and the rest were Australians – I think we have made some friends for life.

Once again we went for the drinks package, which I think is still very good value for money.  It has changed slightly since last year though. If you wanted a hot chocolate or a special coffee this was not included and a lot of the beers were also on the higher package which we hadn’t paid for. We did discover if you like beer, you can drink in the Pizza bar area and those beers were included in our package – a bit late for us, but if your travelling on her – then don’t forget.

Entertainment was in whole,  good.  We watched a couple of good west end show type of performances, they were a mix of singing, dancing and a few acrobats , flinging themselves around the stage – how do they do it!

The big difference I found was how busy the ship was – and when I say busy, I mean it was really busy!  Cant expect anything else going in the height of the summer though. The pool area was jammed packed. One thing I do not like (dare I say it) is the sunbeds are far too close together and as it was so busy you became friends very easily with that other person lying next to you!  We actually escaped from the main pool and went higher up, which was quieter but the noise from the entertainment team did get on our nerves at times!  In the afternoons we went to the Garden Bar which was at the back of the ship. I would recommend this bar, it is close to a smaller pool area, but a good place to sit, drink and watch the world go by.

We only did one excursion which was in Sicily, as we had never been there before.  I did not like Palermo much though, quite run down and a very busy city.  I would say the best places we went to was Sardinia and Valencia. Nice and clean and really beautiful.

Would I go with MSC again? In an instant I would.  I read somewhere this week that one of my colleagues had said MSC was like Marmite – you either love them or hate them. I would say to you all, give them a chance. Our ship was beautiful and really does have the wow factor. The food is really very good, staff are very friendly and great accommodation – excellent value for a 4 star ship.  Please don’t let negative comments about MSC put you off, I am one picky person but in all honesty I have been well and truly converted.

Bravo MSC!