There was often a singer in the White Lion pub in the evenings. It did give the pub more atmosphere and he wasn’t a bad singer at all, it did make me smile though because his foreign accent was so strong, it definitely gave the songs a different personality.
There was also an animation team on board the ship who would always be around trying to encourage people to dance and have a good time (not forcibly). There would be lots of exercise and dance classes up on the main deck in the daytime also.
The On-board experience
The experience I had on the MSC Armonia was different to what I had experienced to British and American cruise liners that I had been on previously. If I were to describe this I would say, imagine if you were staying in an American or UK hotel and then compare that to a Mediterranean hotel. MSC are different but I didn’t find that to be a bad thing at all. MSC are trying to capture the feeling of being in a Mediterranean, multi-lingual and fun floating hotel resort.
Like in the Med the atmosphere is very laid back and relaxed. For example when it came to the first gala evening on board I put on my dinner suit and bow tie and went down to the Red Bar for pre-dinner cocktails. When I went down I saw that many people on the ship were still in casual clothes like jeans. I thought this was a little odd to begin with based on my past experiences but I thought to myself that I quite liked that the whole thing wasn’t too regimented and you didn’t have to dress up if you didn’t want to.
Announcements on the ship are made in about five languages but they didn’t come blaring into the cabin and they are relatively in-frequent anyway. Most often the entertainment hosts will talk in a host of different languages but again I quickly got used to this and I felt it just added the the Mediterranean feel.
I like to have fun and don’t always take life too seriously and because of that I was happy with the whole ambience on board the ship. I always felt relaxed and happy which to me is how I would like to feel when I am on my holidays.
The Service
I personally found the crew to be very good on the Armonia. There was a nice mixture of crew from lots of different parts of the world. The service was on the vast majority very good and the crew seemed happy and cheerful. The crew seemed to often have a good time and I would see them sometimes having jokes with one another, I liked this. Many of the crew members had lots of personality and it was nice to get to know a lot of them over the duration of the cruise.
Our cabin steward was a nice fellow and our cabin was well kept and serviced many times on a daily basis.
The service at dinner time was generally efficient but it was the only time that I felt that there was a language barrier, again it didn’t bother me, I was relaxed, happy and having a good time.
The service at the bars around the ship was fantastic, the waiters and waitresses were fast and very friendly. I would like to thank all of the staff that we dealt with on our cruise, thank you for making sure we had a fantastic time. I have to do a shout out to the barmen in the Starlight disco especially Komang he was a top barman a true credit to MSC.
The service charge on the ship was 7 euro per person per day, I know some people like to have this removed and do their own thing but I just pre-paid the tips and was more than happy to do so after the service I received.
The Dining
Marco Polo Restaurant
We had dinner every evening in the ships main restaurant, the Marco Polo Restaurant to the rear of deck five. We were very fortunate to have two really lovely couples share the dining table with us, we were more often than not the last people to leave the restaurant as we were still sat talking after our meal.
The dinner each evening was from a different theme like Italian night, French night etc. The menu selection each evening was enough but not as expansive as I have seen elsewhere, it was sufficient though.
Whilst the quality of the food on the Armonia wasn’t the best that I have experienced on a cruise ship, I did think that it was of reasonable value when you consider the comparative price of the cruise. The food was at times very good, others not so good and I would say that overall that the food was satisfactory. It just didn’t give me the “wow factor” that I have experienced on other ships previously. I did however enjoy the dinners, the mood in the restaurant was good and we had a lovely time with the other couples on our dinner table.
One thing about the food that was noted is the fact that it more often than not isn’t served hot. This is how it is in the Med and wasn’t a problem with me but is worth bearing in mind.
On Italian night there was a big procession of chefs coming through the restaurant followed by a big people train dancing around the restaurant.
La Brasserie Cafeteria
The Brasserie Cafeteria is situated to the rear of deck eleven. The Cafe has ocean views on both sides of the ship and a small al-fresco dining area on the rear. The selection of food was more than enough for breakfast and lunch and I loved to sit out on the rear of the ship in the sun to eat. Once again the food was of a satisfactory standard. There are stations for coffee and soft drinks available in the buffet area also. There is also a midnight buffet open till just after 2am although this was mostly sandwiches and soft rolls which were very good actually.
Deck Grill
I ate most of my lunches on the cruise from the Grill situated on the open part of deck eleven. There are two main stations, one serving freshly prepared Italian pizza (which was very good) and the other serving burgers, hotdogs and fries.
Also during lunchtime hours there would be a chef that would cook fresh pasta for you. It was lovely to sit in the sun in the fresh sea air having lunch.
The Allegrissimo Drinks package
Although there are other drinks packages available on MSC cruises I would like to talk about the one that I purchased on board the Armonia.
This drinks package in my opinion is an absolute bargain, a hidden gem of the cruise industry !
This package would normally cost £20 per person per night if pre-booked with your agent, as I didn’t know I was going on this trip till shortly before I left I was too close to sailing to add it before-hand so I paid 23 Euros per day with an extra 15% added for gratuities.
The drinks package included unlimited amounts of the following :-
Soft drinks, bottled water , speciality coffees, smoothies and freshly squeezed orange juice from the vitamin bar, draft beer (Heineken, Newcastle Brown ale and Murphys), a massive selection of cocktails, house wine by the glass (I drank the red and it was very good for a house wine), a large list of premium spirits and liquors and ice cream from the ice cream bar.
The spirits are served in 40ml servings as opposed to the 25ml or 35ml in the UK. Doubles were ok as well so for example I would order a double Jim Bean and coke, this would normally cost 13 Euro by itself, two of them took me over the price of my package alone !!
I would personally say that the drinks package is a no brainer even for people that drink little or no alcohol. If you do like to drink alcohol then not taking the Allegrissimo package would be missing a fantastic opportunity in my opinion.
Overall verdict and thoughts
As MSC are different in some respects to other cruise lines I have experienced, I found it took me a day or two to get my bearings and work everything out. Once I was settled in to life on-board I must say that I really loved my cruise experience on the MSC Armonia and it is on that I will look back on fondly in the future.
The ship was not without faults and the food wasn’t as good as I have experienced on some other ships. What I would say though is that the cruise was really good fun, laid back and had lots of charm and personality. I came away from the cruise feeling that I had really enjoyed it.
Whether you would enjoy an MSC cruise really depends on your personality, outlook on life, sense of humour and expectations. I personally had a fabulous time sailing on the Armonia and I would definitely sail with MSC again !
I’m really glad to have found your blog Richard. It’s refreshing to find someone who has something positive to post about their experience. I have booked a surprise week aboard the Armonia for my family during the first week in March, as we have two young children aged 4 and 9 it’s nice to read that there is more of a relaxed atmosphere aboard. We’ve never cruised before so I’m really excited. As part of the surprise I was going to call up after Christmas and book us all on the Premium all-inclusive, after reading your blog I don’t know if I’m just wasting money because the ‘premium’ is nearly twice the cost of the standard all-inclusive (£39 for adults and £19.50 for kids) You seemed to have been very happy with the standard package. My favourite drink is either JD or Jim Beam (also by the double) and if the Jim Beam is included in the standard then happy days! Did you notice any great difference in the two packages?
Thanks again for cheering me up, I read so many negative posts (most of which I take with a pinch of salt) I started to think I’d made a big mistake.
Hi, from what you have said I think the standard all inclusive package would be fine. I like JD or Jim Beam, JD is not included on the standard package but Jim Beam is no problems.
I would say the Premium package is good if you want more higher end spirits and a larger wine selection, I personally didn’t think the Premium was worth the extra amount over the standard package as I personally found I could have what I wanted on the standard one.
I hope this helps.
Wow, nice to know..your information were a value
a vey helpful support. I will take it on next January, 2014. We will take 2 of them. A back to back cruise.
Thanks a lot your valuable and complete information.
Wil
Hi, thank you for an excellent review. The funny thing is I’m staying in 1090 on Friday, after reading your review I’m definetly going to purchase the standard all inclusive package.
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