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	MSC Armonia Cruise Ship Reviews
	MSC Armonia Ship Information A medium sized vessel of Superior rating. Built in 2001. Carries a maximum of 2965 in 783 cabins, 379 of which have ocean views. Four cabins have wheelchair access. Cabins are medium sized with outside cabins being spacious with frindge, air conditioning and minibar. There are two show lounges, a library and a casino on board.

Holiday-Truth Readers Reports
Patricia Dixon from Lichfield sailed on MSC Armonia with booked direct on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2007
Patricia Dixon rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Patricia Dixon said: Our cabin was fine however the cruise had sold over 85% of its occupancy to Brazilian tourists and the cruise was only aimed at this sector. Virtually all announcements were not made in English so we were unaware of what was happening on most occassions. We paid $110 for a trip were not droppped of in a good part of town and were told to make our own way back they were not going to take us and had to pay again. Also the entertainment was poor I travel on many cruises and feel that this was the only one that didnt care a about customer satisfaction. Dress codes were not adhered to people eating in swimwear and the likes. The cruise was sold to many nationalities but was only prepared to cater to the majority share which was very sad it spoilt our holiday. The cabin and restaurant staff were lovely and most helpful the only ones on board who were. I complained to MSC Armonia twice as they have not had the courtesy to respond to me at all. If you take the cruise and have any problems dont expect any form of response as I have found they will not acknowledge you. Patricia
Alan from Cheltenham UK sailed on MSC Armonia with Travelsphere on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 9 2007
Alan rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Alan said: As a first time cruise , we were a little dubious, given the reviews for this ship.We could not have been more pleasantly surprised. The booking in proceedure was a bit of a chore,but once aboard , and after being shown to our cabin (on deck 10 with a balcony and a BATH!!)we soon settled in . We sailed out of Venice with the sun going down and the church bells ringing(how romantic is that),and the ships tannoy system playing opera, UNFORGETTABLE! If you like good food , you will love this ship.You are spoilt for choice , whether it be in the two restuarants , or in the self service diner on the top deck. The waiting staff cannot do enough for you,they are quick and efficient,and always willing to advise about the food and wine. As this ship is staffed by a mix of nationalities ,some were not greatly versed in English,but all are very friendly and we managed to get by. The cleanliness of the entire ship is unbelivable , there were even staff whose sole job was cleaning the stairways all day/night.The towels in our cabin were changed TWICE a day , and sheets were changed daily.Our cabin steward , who incidentaly came from Bali(?)made sure our cabin was always spotless. The entertainment at night was of a high standard , the "acts" were different most nights , including singers (One wonderful tennor),an unbelivable trio of young female contorsionists who made me wince, but at the same time amazed me , some very good dancers , and a brace of resident male singers.Now for the only "Gripe". The daytime entertainment was geared mainly for our european cousins , and as the "Octoberfest" (yes I know they hold it in September)was upon us , Oompah bands ruled the deck bars.With much singigng and clinking of Steins of beer.If leiderhosen is your thing ,you will be spoilt. We met some wonderful people , some of which will be friens at home .Try this ship , or any other of the line , you will not be dissapointed Alan & Chris.
Brent Collins from Minneapolis, USA sailed on MSC Armonia with Armonia on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006
Brent Collins rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Brent Collins said: I'd like to share a few things I wish I'd known in advance. 1) The amount of actual time on shore was limited. Many might find the times ashore as rushed. Trying to get to the Parthenon and back in just a few hours was quite an adventure. 2) Musical tastes are quite subjective but it seemed to me that the synthesized keyboard music and the whole MOR choices (Lionel Ritchie!)left much to be desired. Las Vegas lounge stuff. The same could be said of the evening performances...plenty of enthusiam but not that good. Those who went to the shows did enjoy them however. 3) The big surprise was that the food was only so-so. We expected to experience some good Italian cuisine but found the food's quality on the level of a good cafeteria. 4) A ship this size guarentees that when you go to port that the areas you visit will be major tourist areas and definately on the beaten path.
Keith Battery from Ballaugh/Isle of Man sailed on MSC Armonia with Dargal.com on a singles holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2005
Keith Battery rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Keith Battery said: Magnificent Ship, excellent hard-working staff but sadly MSC = Mediterranean "Smoking" Cruises. If you are a smoker or don't mind it a bit, you will have a great time. If you either hate and/or are physically affected by smoke like me then avoid. Only the restaurants and limited areas are non-smoking, most of the excellent bars are 2/3rds smoking, you just can't get away from it! Other gripe, no dress code in the sauna/spa, anything goes for some of our european cousins. A very professional product spoiled by a very old-fashioned attitude to health & comfort/safety.
Andrew R from London sailed on MSC Armonia with TravelSphere on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2005
Andrew R rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Andrew R said: I have to agree with most of the reviews above - the Armonia is a fantastic ship and very well appointed. This was my first cruise, so I didn't really know what to expect (but got loads of information from the Masseys' web site): http://www.magwa.co.uk/armonia/armoniaphoto.htm On-board entertainment was a bit disappointing - the shows in La Fenice were uninspiring (unless plate spinning floats your boat!) but some acts were quite humurous (possibly unintentionally!). The entertainment in the Moulin Rouge piano bar wasn't to my taste - the entertainers there seemed a bit jaded. But we enjoyed the Cha Cha and Merangue lessons - after you have learnt the basic steps just watch out for the magic word 'Cambio' (change partners!!). The boat had a very wide range of nationalitites on board - mostly Italian and German - but a healthy proportion of Brits, and they were all very friendly. Dining in the Marco Polo was a great experience - the waiting staff were very efficient and friendly, and the food was very varied, high quality and lots of it! We had a fine itinerary of ports of call (Venice, Bari, Corfu, Santorini, Athens, Olympia and Dubrovnik). Although not really scheduled to stop long enough at Venice for a tour of the city, we managed to get a few hours there by taking a Vaporetto from the cruise terminal round to St Marks Square, then walking back to the ship - lots of fun, and squeezed in a Gondola trip too! Bari was disappointing - not much of interest, but the other stops more than made up for it. Don't do the expensive organised tours, unless you have money to burn or a mobility difficulty. With the exception of Olympia, all of the ports can be visited under your own steam, as long as you like walking and don't mind taking local buses, taxis, whatever. as a case in point, the Athens trip was 46 euros, I think - but you only have to walk a mile from Piraeus port to the metro and take a 60 cents ride to get to the Acropolis and Plaka. If you are a student, use your NUSD card to get into the Acropolis for free (and save 12 euros!). Santorini and Dubrovnik were the high points of the cruise for us - both unmissable and fabulous weather for the time of year. Only minor niggles about the ship are that the TV didn't work too great (not much on the info channel about the ship), and the 'quiet' areas of the ship were often invaded by kids. But all in all a really great trip, and thoroughly recommended. Oh, and by the way, thankyou to Travelsphere for arranging an impromptu sightsseing trip to Bergamo when we had four hours to kill between disembarking at Venice and getting our flight from Milan.
John & Michelle from Northants sailed on MSC Armonia with We made our own way on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 9 2005
John & Michelle rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	John & Michelle said: This was our first cruise and certainly won't be our last. We can honestly say it was one of the best holidays we've ever had. Thanks to people who have previously commented for all their advice and especially to Magsy. As many people have already commented in details on this cruise, we'll try to add something new. Flights The MSC price is supposed to include return flights from the UK but we booked late and were told we'd have to pay a supplement. It rocketed from £70 each to £250 each because it was the Venice Film Festival and flights on the Sunday were very busy. So we flew Ryanair instead which (apart from excess baggage) actually saved us money overall because not only were the flights very cheap but we also got a rebate on the cruise price. We'd heard all sorts of things about Ryanair but the flight was very pleasant. Be warned though that Ryanair only allows you 15 kilos of hold baggage instead of the usual 20 although they do allow you 10 kilos of hand baggage instead of the usual 5 so it's worth putting shoes etc into a hold-all. With packing jackets and stuff for a second week we were 10 kilos overweight which cost us £45 each way but even so it was still much cheaper than if we'd used the MSC flights. Ryanair flies to Treviso which is a very small airport about an hour away by coach. The coaches are timed to connect with the flights and are very cheap. You buy your ticket in the arrivals hall. Make sure you've got a few Euros when you arrive). The journey was pleasant and you arrive at the bus station in Piazzale Roma. Because we were early the shuttle buses to the terminal hadn't started so we got a taxi. It's only about half a mile but cost us 12 Euros (including baggage) but he dropped us right by the check-in point for the baggage. Embarkation The procedure has been explained by other people but you should know that the "number" that's used to call you forward is a little label stuck on the part of your ticket that they give you back. There's no point in getting to Venice too early as embarkation doesn't start till about 1.00. If you get an early flight best is to get to the terminal, leave your luggage and then check in. Keep your hand baggage to minimum. Then go into Venice using the shuttle boat from alongside the terminal building and go back to the terminal later. Cabins We had an outside cabin on deck 9 which was very comfortable and there was loads of storage space. They serve complementary tea and coffee to your cabin so we had tea in bed every morning. Remember to ask for cold milk though and it's worthwhile keeping a few extra tea bags from breakfast if you want a second cup. Food Absolutely fabulous especially if you like Italian food which we do. When we had lunch on board we usually ate in the Marco Polo which is much more civilised than the crowds in the buffets on deck 11 although the standard there was very pretty good. The meals in the Marco Polo were excellent. There's a pretty good choice and you can pick and choose from the menu in any order. The service was excellent. We followed someone else's advice and always asked for a glass of iced water as opposed to the expensive bottled water. They feigned surprise but after the second day they brought us the iced water without being asked. Some of the wines are a bit pricey but the local wines are very good and pretty good value (about 14 Euros) and there's also carafe wine at 6 Euros for half a litre. Meal sittings In an ideal world there'd be room for everyone to eat at 8.00 but there isn't so there's a choice of 7.15 or 9.30. Although we'd asked for first sitting we were given second sitting which was far too late for us so we asked the Maitre D to change and it was very easy. We used to go to the show after the meal which was fine for us. Clothes I agree with Steve and Anne's comments but from the other viewpoint. The literature does recommend that men wear a jacket and tie for "informal" evenings and dark suits or DJ's for formal nights but I don't go on holiday to wear jackets and ties so after checking with Magsy (thanks again) I decided to take a blazer for the formal nights and to wear casual for the other nights. This turned out to be good advice as almost all the men wore open-necked casual shirts on the ordinary nights and some did so on the formal nights as some people hadn't brought a jacket at all. I have suggested to MSC that they change their literature to recommend casual for most nights. The ship itself The ship was spotless. The staff were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble for them. It got very busy round by the pool and, yes, people do reserve sun-beds with towels but one English guy sorted that out. He found a bed with only a pool towel on it and called out "is anyone using this bed?" In the absence of a reply moved the towel and got on it. I tried this the following day and a young Italian lad said "no" so I moved the towel and got on. It turned out that he was supposed to have "reserved" 4 beds for his family and (although I couldn't understand a word) they were slagging him off something rotten when they got back (although not me). I just carried on with my crossword. This might be a bit more difficult if people have left things other than pool towels. I used the gym once. It's well-equipped and useful for getting rid of some of those excess pounds. Photographs You get your photo taken many times and they put them up in a gallery. At 19 Euros they are incredibly expensive. We bought one posed portrait taken on a formal evening which was OK but quite honestly I think that our own photos were as good. There was a guy in Dubrovnik who took your picture on the city walls with a digital camera and then put it in a picture postcard. This was 3 Euros. Onboard Entertainment We went to the show every night. The standard was reasonable although some nights were better than others. It's nearly all visual which was fine. We didn't go to the disco which didn't start till pretty late. The animation team worked hard although some of their stuff was in pretty poor taste. My only complaint was that the sound from the day time activities by the pool is broadcast on speakers along the whole of the sun deck so you couldn't get away from it by going to the other end. TRIPS The organised trips were very expensive and, thanks to the advice from previous posters we only booked on one, to Olympia. We regretted it though, partly because you spend so long listening to the guide that you don't see much but mainly because our coach was about 50/50 Spanish speaking so the guide had to say everything twice making it even worse. If you're reasonably capable of finding your own way round we'd recommend doing your own thing following advice of previous posters. They also give you maps of each place but reception staff know nothing about public transport (e.g. public buses from the ports to the town centres) so it's best to check. Quite a few people preferred to stay on board in some places and it's very nice and quiet when everyone's gone. Santorini We followed other suggestions and decided to get the public bus up to Oia. If you do this it's best to try to get an early tender as time is quite limited and there's quite a queue for the cable-car up to the town. The bus journey was an adventure in itself. The so-called "bus station" is just a yard where loads of buses arrive. The timetable is at best an approximation and worst a joke as although buses to Oia are pretty frequent they just seem to come and go when they want. Don't bother asking the man in the office about times as he'll just quote from the timetable and we missed one bus by listening to him and going for a drink only to find that it had been and gone in the mean time. We had 25 minutes to wait for the next one and sat in a shady shelter with a few other people. What we didn't realise was that loads of people were waiting for the bus on the other side so when the bus arrived there was a mad rush. You can get on the bus at either end and we found ourselves between the two. We decided to wait for the next one as the driver said it would only be about 10 minutes to wait. 10 minutes later another crowd had gathered and there was the same rush. Although I haven't played Rugby since my school days very many years ago my experience as a front row forward was invaluable as we dived for an entrance and got on. None of this "after you" stuff this time! Oia is beautiful but a real tourist trap and they know how to charge. If you have a drink in a bar high up overlooking the bay (beautiful view) walk past the first few as it gets cheaper further along. There were loads of people at one end waiting for the sunset with special cameras etc so we decided to get the bus back beforehand. We waited for ages and more and more people came so, as Michelle didn't fancy a repeat performance in the scrum, we decided to share a taxi with another couple. The taxi cost 17 Euros to the cable-car which was well worth while as it was getting dark by the time we got back to the ship. Other ports of call Other people have described them in great detail so the only thing we'd add is that there are two types of taxis at the ports. Some want to be booked for the day and they take you to all the good places and wait for you. You pay when you get back (so we were told by an experienced cruiser we talked to). The other kind are ordinary taxis which will take you to the town, or Metro or whatever. It's impossible to tell which is which but the day ones seem to be nearest to the ship. At Corfu the drivers of the all day cabs directed us to the other ones. You can get a bus to the town from outside the gates if you want. In Piraeus it's about a 20 minute walk to the Metro. There would have been no problem getting a taxi but when I told a driver that I was going to walk he claimed it was 5 kilometres to walk when I said no! If there's a few of you it's probably best as it's only 5 Euros. It's incredibly cheap into Athens by the Metro and if you know your way around it's pretty easy. Dubrovnik is fabulous. Because they were expecting bad weather (which actually didn't happen) the ship didn't anchor off the old town but in the main port a couple of miles away so we didn't disembark on tenders. The company laid on shuttle buses to the old town (5 Euros return). The town is fabulous and you can see everything you want in plenty of time. People who paid for the trip were very rushed. We could write loads more but reckon that you'll have switched off by now so we'll finish by saying once again that MSC is a great company, the Armonia is a great ship and we can't wait for our next cruise.
Steve and Anne from St Annes on Sea sailed on MSC Armonia with Archers/Cosmos on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 9 2005
Steve and Anne rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Steve and Anne said: Had a fantastic holiday on the Armonia following a week's coach holiday also with Archers. Got on boat in Venice and loved every minute of it. The food, variety, availability, quality,presentation and service were all excellent. The British were in a minority - around 2500 passengers of whom 300 approx. were English speaking (incl. USA, South Africa, Australia etc). My only tiny complaint would be that we were told to take formal clothing for the gala nights so packed up dinner suit, posh frock etc. and really not necessary as the vast majority wore smart dresses for the ladies but any suit or even shirt and tie for the men. It would have been nice if everyone had made the effort or we hadn't been lead to believe it was necessary to carry all the extra clothing round with us! The cabin was an inner, lower deck for two people and though small was well set out, spotlessly clean (serviced by staff twice a day with fresh towels etc) and very comfortable. The pool area could get busy with everyone jostling for sunbeds but we never had a problem finding a spot somewhere. All in all, a wonderful holiday - we met some lovely people and can't wait to travel on the Armonia (or one of the other Crociere ships) in the future. Highly recommended
Abi from Staffordshire sailed on MSC Armonia with Cosmos on a family holiday. There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 8 2005
Abi rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Abi said: I thouroughly enjoyed my cruise. Although one pedantic complaint would be that it was called an Eastern Mediteranean Cruise when the seas we travelled on were: The Adriatic, The Ionian and the Agean. Although this was not a problem at all because we knew exactly where we were going. Embarking on the ship difficult but through no fault of MSC. We couldn't find the way from the coach which took us from venice airport to the ship but this was the fault of our tour company, Cosmos, who throughout the whole holiday only made us go and pick up our tickets (which incidentaly they made a mess of) and organised our flight which we could have done ourselves. Boarding the ship seemed to go hand in hand with having your photo taken twice and many more photos were taken aboard the ship which at first could be annoying but at the end of the holiday i saw why they did so that people have a choice of photos to choose from the ones that they liked. We were shown to our room by a friendly member of staff and the ship was very clean. After we went to our room which was spacious we were at first annoyed to find that we had a double bed ( i was sharing a room with my sister) but we were quickly asked if we wanted the beds separated. The food on board was excellent. The pizza and pasta on offer in La Girisole buffet restraunt was nice and the waiters there were friendly often asking how my day was. The food at night was also nice although it took me a day or two to get used to having a few small courses. I was annoyed about some of the meat looking, to me, almost raw and red but i know that is how mnay posh restraunts have it and the chefs were willing to do me my beef more well done when i asked. The staff that cleaned the room made an excellent job and me and my sister both found the way the pyjamas were folded whilst we had tea quite amusing. The on board entertainment was excellent although we never saw a full theatre show. We spent every night in the Moulin Rouge Piano Bar (always when Edo was playing his set) and the music in La Girisole was also good) I was frustrated by the fact that even though passengers were told that they could not save sun loungers everyone did by leaving their belongings or towl on them. Once I was thrown of what, before i lay down on it, was an empty sun lounger by an angry Spaniard who insisted it was his sun lounger even though everyone was informed they could not save sun loungers. I thought the crew should have at least tried to do something about this.
Abi from Staffordshire sailed on MSC Armonia with Cosmos on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 8 2005
Abi rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Abi said: I thouroughly enjoyed my cruise. Although one pedantic complaint would be that it was called an Eastern Mediteranean Cruise when the seas we travelled on were: The Adriatic, The Ionian and the Agean. Although this was not a problem at all because we knew exactly where we were going. Embarking on the ship difficult but through no fault of MSC. We couldn't find the way from the coach which took us from venice airport to the ship but this was the fault of our tour company, Cosmos, who throughout the whole holiday only made us go and pick up our tickets (which incidentaly they made a mess of) and organised our flight which we could have done ourselves. Boarding the ship seemed to go hand in hand with having your photo taken twice and many more photos were taken aboard the ship which at first could be annoying but at the end of the holiday i saw why they did so that people have a choice of photos to choose from the ones that they liked. We were shown to our room by a friendly member of staff and the ship was very clean. After we went to our room which was spacious we were at first annoyed to find that we had a double bed ( i was sharing a room with my sister) but we were quickly asked if we wanted the beds separated. The food on board was excellent. The pizza and pasta on offer in La Girisole buffet restraunt was nice and the waiters there were friendly often asking how my day was. The food at night was also nice although it took me a day or two to get used to having a few small courses. I was annoyed about some of the meat looking, to me, almost raw and red but i know that is how mnay posh restraunts have it and the chefs were willing to do me my beef more well done when i asked. The staff that cleaned the room made an excellent job and me and my sister both found the way the pyjamas were folded whilst we had tea quite amusing. The on board entertainment was excellent although we never saw a full theatre show. We spent every night in the Moulin Rouge Piano Bar (always when Edo was playing his set) and the music in La Girisole was also good) I was frustrated by the fact that even though passengers were told that they could not save sun loungers everyone did by leaving their belongings or towl on them. Once I was thrown of what, before i lay down on it, was an empty sun lounger by an angry Spaniard who insisted it was his sun lounger even though everyone was informed they could not save sun loungers. I thought the crew should have at least tried to do something about this. ps: incidentalt does anyone know how/if you can contact any of the entertainers on board the ship to congratulate and thnak them for there entertainment? email abby00uk@yahoo.co.uk if you do.
Abi from Staffordshire sailed on MSC Armonia with Cosmos on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 8 2005
Abi rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Abi said: I thouroughly enjoyed my cruise. Although one pedantic complaint would be that it was called an Eastern Mediteranean Cruise when the seas we travelled on were: The Adriatic, The Ionian and the Agean. Although this was not a problem at all because we knew exactly where we were going. Embarking on the ship difficult but through no fault of MSC. We couldn't find the way from the coach which took us from venice airport to the ship but this was the fault of our tour company, Cosmos, who throughout the whole holiday only made us go and pick up our tickets (which incidentaly they made a mess of) and organised our flight which we could have done ourselves. Boarding the ship seemed to go hand in hand with having your photo taken twice and many more photos were taken aboard the ship which at first could be annoying but at the end of the holiday i saw why they did so that people have a choice of photos to choose from the ones that they liked. We were shown to our room by a friendly member of staff and the ship was very clean. After we went to our room which was spacious we were at first annoyed to find that we had a double bed ( i was sharing a room with my sister) but we were quickly asked if we wanted the beds separated. The food on board was excellent. The pizza and pasta on offer in La Girisole buffet restraunt was nice and the waiters there were friendly often asking how my day was. The food at night was also nice although it took me a day or two to get used to having a few small courses. I was annoyed about some of the meat looking, to me, almost raw and red but i know that is how mnay posh restraunts have it and the chefs were willing to do me my beef more well done when i asked. The staff that cleaned the room made an excellent job and me and my sister both found the way the pyjamas were folded whilst we had tea quite amusing. The on board entertainment was excellent although we never saw a full theatre show. We spent every night in the Moulin Rouge Piano Bar (always when Edo was playing his set) and the music in La Girisole was also good) I was frustrated by the fact that even though passengers were told that they could not save sun loungers everyone did by leaving their belongings or towl on them. Once I was thrown of what, before i lay down on it, was an empty sun lounger by an angry Spaniard who insisted it was his sun lounger even though everyone was informed they could not save sun loungers. I thought the crew should have at least tried to do something about this. ps: incidentalt does anyone know how/if you can contact any of the entertainers on board the ship to congratulate and thnak them for there entertainment? email abby00uk@yahoo.co.uk if you do.
Julie from Newcastle sailed on MSC Armonia with Cruise control on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 7 2005
Julie rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Julie said: I'll have to keep this short unfortunatley because I'm a terrible typist and it takes me forever , but I feel that everybodies reviews apart from one is exact and I would only be repeating what they all say. The cruise was fab.... take infomation of others reviews for excursion advice, we managed to do all on our own and its very simple and much cheaper. We found the food lovely and entertainment very good considering they are catering for all nationities. We booked a basic cabin and found it more than adequate, it was absolutely fine for the amount of time that is spent in it. The cruise was very Italian orientated ie 2000 italians and 200 English so you need to expect it. Overall we had a fantastic time and we would certainly book again.
david & dawn from burnley sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 7 2005
david & dawn rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	david & dawn said: As this was our fifth cruise we like to think of ourselves as experienced cruisers. We have just returned from the Geek Island Cruise on board the MSC ARMONIA. Arrival On arrival at Venice Airport we were greeted by the rep from MSC and directed to the coach, the coaches then proceed to the cruise terminal at Venice, about twenty minutes away. At the terminal we found this to be totally unorganised with very little guidelines on how to proceed. Eventually we arrived at a large building No 103, inside the building the same unorganised chaos continued with passengers waiting for their number to be called before they could embark the ship. At this we complained to a steward and they let us board straight away. Once on board the ship we were escorted to our inside cabin on deck 9, on arrival we found the cabin to be very well furnished and spacious compared to other cruise lines we have sailed with. Prior to the ship setting sail all the passengers had to attend the lifeboat drill, with the staff being very helpful to assist passengers in the direction of their muster stations. Once this was finished the ship set sail with a commentary of the landmarks of Venice as we sailed past them. Dining We had been allocated first sitting for dinner, which was at 7.15pm. The dinning room we were allocated was the Marco Polo, this is very elegant, and we shared a table with four other guests. The staffs in the dinning room were very friendly and only to happy to assist. The food was of a very high standard with a wide array on the menu. The Buffet bar is on deck 11 and served food most of the day, offering a wide choice, but it would become rather crowded at lunchtime, so we preferred to dine in the main restaurant. Drinks All drinks seemed to be reasonably priced, half a carafe of house wine for Î6, wine and beer from Î3. Entertainment The entertainment in the evening was also very enjoyable, because there are a lot of different nationalities with many language barriers on board, the entertainment was kept mainly to dancers, jugglers or magic acts, but the shows were spectacular. Trips Like most cruise lines the trips seemed expensive, so we did not partake in any preferring to make our own way when we went ashore. In Dubrovnik, and Santorini the ship supplies a tender to shore, and passengers have to obtain numbered tickets from reception, and only allowed to disembark when their number is called. Sun beds Like most Continental destination, the sun beds were quickly snapped up by our European cousins, with them putting their towels on in the morning then going off ship until mid afternoon. Conclusion We very much enjoyed the cruise, the ship was very opulent, spotlessly clean, plenty of good food, drinks at a realistic price, and we shall be returning in the near future.
Cheryl (Raych) from Essex sailed on MSC Armonia with Risebiggazz@tiscali.co.uk on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 7 2005
Cheryl (Raych) rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Cheryl (Raych) said: The Armonia surpassed all my expectations, and I had a truely wonderful holiday. I enjoyed every aspect of cruising, the freedom to be as hectic or as quiet as you wanted and to have the safety and the organisation of the excersions, or just to find your own way. I chose to have a mix of all of it as I hate to miss out on anything, as the other HTers will confirm!! My flight and boarding went like clockwork. I met Anne and Kay at Gatwick and Alison in the cruise terminal. We arrived at the port early so had numbers under 50 for boarding, so were on ship by lunchtime.They were selling wine packages etc in terminal and 3 of us purchased the honeymooners package, a snip at 38EURO It included a bottle of champagne 2 special cocktails and 6 cocktails.We worked out when we were going to use our vouchers only to find out later that the 6 cocktails were NON ALCOHOLIC, needless to say we demanded our money back, and the bar manager brought us all cocktails as compensation for the misunderstanding. I have cruised twice before, on Thompson Topaz and Airtours Sunbird. The Armonia had the WOW factor for me. I found the ship very impressive. My inside twin cabin deck 8 was spacious nicely furnished with a modern bathroom. I didnt hear any noise from neighbouring cabins and only occasionally heard people passing. The sailaway was my first sight of Venice and as I looked down along the Grand Canal and St Marks Square I could hardly believe how lucky I felt. 4 of us HTers had early sitting for dinner in La Pergola restuarant, which I felt was the nicer of the 2 restuarants, it was smaller and the chairs had arms, as it was not open for breakfast or lunch.I chose to take most of my other meals in the Marco Polo restuarant as I prefered the relaxed atmosphere and being waited on in lovely surroundings, AND the ice cream and sorbet with desert. Although the food was good in the self service buffet, the fruit was delicious, it was very hectic and noisy most of the time. I found it just as quick to eat in Marco Polo and be pampered as they were never busy. Ports of call. Monday Bari I walked into the old city with the other HTers in search of a supermarket.There is a fort there which you can go into, we found a cafe to wait for the shop to open at 5 oclock and had ice coffee as thats what the locals were having. We went into the new city then visited a couple of churches in the old city as these were now open.They show a video of people on excersions that day, and although I enjoyed my day in Bari I would say that the trip to visit the Trulli houses looked lovely.Very picturesque. Tuesday Corfu We walked to the old town which is not advisable, it is too far and too hot, get a taxi, or Kay got a bus back to port from the town. The old town is nice, good shops. Kate and I took the land train from the park 4 euros, it went around the bay the other side of town then inland past archilogical sites to a 7th century church where you could get off for 5 mins to take photos. Wednesday Athens We walked to metro as taxis wouldnt take us, they were only interested in getting fares all the way to Acropolis, however others that left the ship later than us managed to get taxi to take them to Metro only.The Metro was cheap and easy and very clean.Only 1.4 euros return. Acropolis hot but worth seeing if you've not been before, there is also a small museum at the top which gives relief from sun, I was grateful not to be part of tour there as you would have had to stand in groups listening to guides in intense heat where as an individual you could move on or come away if you had had enough. Again we found difficulty in getting a taxi back from metro and couldnt find where to buy bus ticket for no 843 bus. The bus driver took pity on us and beckoned us on and gave us a free ride. But I would advise never to travell on any public transport without having a valid ticket that you have to validate in machine before travel, or the buses had validation machines on them. We saw 4 young girls get on the bus at the airport in Venice without a ticket and the police were called to arrest them if they didnt pay on the spot fine of 30euros each and he wouldnt accept any arguing about not knowing the system etc. Thursday Santorini I loved Santorini, a photographers dream, not at all what I expected, on approaching it I couldnt believe that this was Santorini. It doesnt look very beautiful from the sea, 2 towns of white houses along the top of a big black rock.We went ashore on our own and walked through the narrow streets of Fira the capital to the bus station and took the bus to Oia. Very easy and cheap to do this under your own steam and we passed the tour buses heading back from Oia as we were going so when we got there it was really quiet. I dont think it would have been quite as majical with coach loads of people there all in camera shot. We had a glass of wine in a little taverna overlooking the sea, perfect. Friday Kotokolon Alison and I took the trip to Olympia, which I enjoyed as the countryside was pretty very green and fertile and the guide was good explaining all the piles of stones with little stories. I found it interesting as I work in a sports centre and Dean Macey the Olympic decathlete is a personal friend. The journey was about 40mins each way so I think it would be difficult to do on your own, and the coach dropped us in the small town to look around the shops for about 20mins. Saturday Dubrovnic I did the 2hour walking tour. The guide was very good, and people on the trips get off the ship first avoiding the rush. Dubrovnic has a lot of history and a lot of churches.We walked around the inside of the old city and went inside 3 buildings. The guide then pointed us in the right direction to walk the walls on our own and said to go half way up the spanish steps and turn right for the oldest original remaining buildings and very good photos. Venice disembarkation I made my own way off ship, I changed my luggage lable to a different colour, but in hind sight should have kept the colour I had and got off when told. We had to collect our bags from carousel in cruise terminal which come off the ship in colour order and if you are not there ready to collect your bag when the next colour comes along they remove your bag from carosel and place it to one side for collection.After negociation we got on the transfer bus to the airport and left our cases in leftluggage 4.5euros each bag. we then purchased a 10.5 euro 24hour transport ticket for certain buses and water buses. we took no5 bus from airport to depot to get water bus no 1 along Grand Canal to St Marks Square. We had a wander through the streets and over the canals and found a little square over the Rialto bridge where Kate and I had a 4 course lunch for 13 euros each + 4.50e for 1/2 caraf of wine and it was fantastic. Then we took the boat up and down the Grand Canal again going over to the Lido and back to the depot for the bus to the airport, it did however take 1hr each way and we thought it was going to be 1hr round trip so we were getting a bit nervous that we had cut our timing fine, All was alright and we got to the airport in plenty of time. Entertainment I havent mentioned much of the entertainment as we didnt bother much with it, just popped our head into see what was happening in the shows from time to time.What I saw looked very professional with lovely costumes and the dancers were good. The compare cruise director was a bit frantic he got on my nerves perhaps I missed the joke and he was supposed to be funny. The evening we looked into the disco it was very busy and everyone was having a good time. I joined in the mambo lesson one evening that was good but only lasted about 20mins. We found quiet areas of the ship to sit and talk and wind down after a buzy day, we often wonderered where everyone had gone as it was so quiet, but I think they must have been in the Casino or playing bingo or discoing, but we did find areas of the ship at the end of the week we hadnt found before. The midnight buffets were impressive, lots of photo opportunies even if you couldnt eat another thing. All I can say is bring on the next one and if its MSC I shall be happy, and this one was so enjoyable I would even do exactly the same one again. Please
Alison from West Midlands sailed on MSC Armonia with Rise Travel/MSC on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 7 2005
Alison rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Alison said: Well where do I start? I had a fantastic time on the Armonia – the ship, the company and the surroundings and ports of call were all excellent! I flew out a day early to Venice – which I fell in love with and plan to return to. I left my hotel on Sunday am and made my way to the Plaza Roma bus station, no MSC busses about so hopped on a Costa coach. When I arrived at the terminal I checked my case in at the luggage building then went to the MSC building to check in. I was met by a nice young man who directed me to a check in person – this was easy – they do ID cards and swipe your credit card. I then went to get a free juice and looked about for the other HT ladies – who I spotted (Ann had a HT flag!) We gazed at the Armonia – a wonderful site! It was great to meet the others so soon – thought id have to wait til 5pm at the agreed bar, We all walked to board the ship together – nattering away! Once on board we were taken to our cabins by a friendly, helpful member of staff. I was very impressed by my cabin – a king sized double bed – and so much space, I spent a few mins just exploring the cabin, thinking how lucky I was! The mini bar is big enough to store your own drinks in. The ensuite was fine, couldn’t fault anything! Then we all met up and went to explore the ship – very easy to get lost as its so big! We found the maitre d as we had different table reservations (but all given 1st sitting) after a chat the maitre d moved us all to La Pergola for dinner, this is the smaller of the 2 restaurants and we all felt much nicer a more relaxed one than the bigger Marco Polo. We also began hunting for Kate to say hi but missed her for the first couple of eves as she was on late dinner sitting. If you are meeting others make sure you have cabin numbers before hand! After this I recall we explored more then we went to the welcome meeting with Nicky the English speaking hostess – Nicky was great so friendly a real star! We didn’t find any more HT people despite Anns flag waving! The meeting is really useful full of info for the week, but Nicky is about all week for info. After this it was a rush to get lifejackets and go to the drill, which was routine, but everyone has to go. I managed to ignore the photographers! You will meet the photographers everywhere both on and off ship. The photos are good quality and you don’t have to buy. Smaller photos were 15 euros , larger ones 20 euros. I brought a couple. I will now go through things in areas! Dinner/Food All excellent quality and the presentation was superb. Breakfast and lunch were either taken in the buffet where I went daily or in Marco Polo where some of the HT girls went – waiter service and a set menu. Im a really fussy eater – vegetarian going vegan who has food intolerances (egg and dairy) I went thinking id have problems but no I ate well all week! There is lots of selection in the buffet – cereals, fruit, yoghurt, toasts, cooked breakfast, cakes, juices. I took my own soya milk daily for cereal. At lunch there was a grill, carvery meat, salads (veggies beware lots contain fish/meat so do ask!) pizza , pasta (veggie every other day!) fruit salad or cake/pud for afters. You help yourself to juice, water or hot drinks. During the day there are other foods out – cake hour or pizza hour! We loved La Pergola – our waiters were brilliant – explaining the menu to us and offering me salads or vegetables without dressing. I couldn’t eat most of the veggie meals as they were not vegan so had spaghetti and tomato sauce most nights! Luckily a dish I like! I also had the vegetables of the day. One eve I fancied a change so took a tin of greek beans in which were cooked for me! Some of the HT gang had 2 main courses or puds as they couldn’t decide which to try! I had sorbet for pudding. You stay at the same table each night – we shared with a husband and wife and her mum. Don’t miss the midnight buffets the captains and gala night being the best – great for photos. The ship Loved it! There were plenty of bars – where we were to be found in the evening! Good choice of drinks – we did well for free champagne but did buy some cocktails! The shops were good – I brought a dress in the dress shop sale really good quality linen for 30 euros. The duty free had great offers – top brand vodka was 4euros 90 a litre!!! We didn’t use the internet, amazed I lasted all week without HT !!! The pool area was good too – we stuck to top deck for sunbathing – you do need to grab the loungers as early as possible and get towels from the one end of the pool area. I used the gym which was quite well equipped, nice view to open sea from the treadmill. The spa was over priced in my view but good selection of treatments, I had a tour of the spa but you do get the hard sell. The thermal suite – steam/sauna looked good. The staff All the staff are so nice and so hardworking, the staff are very friendly and will stop for a chat, my cabin staff were quite shy so I didn’t see much of them! The animation team can be very funny – very sweet too! There are some real characters on board like Marcello the head of the casino (“ciao, ciao baby” eh ladies!) As I said earlier Nicky the English hostess is great. Entertainment Hmmmmm! The shows were ‘interesting’ silly at times but not to my tastes, we didn’t stay for those tending to make our own entertainment! We ended up in the bars after dinner, or had a wander round ship to chat to the staff, or browse in the shops. There was also a singles party on Monday night – we were the only ones there!!! So plenty of free drinks again, and several male staff and officers popped in to say hello! Colin and Vilma were invited to the Captains dinner one evening which was really good to get some of the HT on the captains table! Ports of call Will try to keep this short as im very good at waffling!! Bari – least fave of mine nice enough but everywheres closed til 5pm. We had a wander got a drink and stocked up on drinks at the supermarket. Corfu – very hot ½ hour walk to town, we all split up in town, I spent ages in the shops and town then walked to the fortress and back along the coast road, caught a cab back to ship. Do have plenty of cold drinks and wear a hat! Santorinni – My fave place – we got on an early tender then braved the cable car to the top – bit bumpy but we did it! Didn’t fancy walking or going via donkey! We found the bus station and went to Oia village which I a must – so many wow views everywhere. Then we spent ages in a great bar overlooking the sea, before getting the bus back to Fira (20 mins 1 euro) The grill takeaway in the square is worth a visit! We split up in Fira to go shopping, then I met Kay and Kay had a wow slice of cake and I found a juice bar. The sunset was amazing. On ship there is a buffet, but plenty of places to eat in Fira for a change. Athens – didn’t want to pay 60 euros for the trip so walked to the metro ½ hour – taxis refused to take us??? We then got the metro to the Acropolis for about 1 euro 40, nice and clean, validate your ticket in the machine. Entrance is 12 euros to Acropolis – free for students which pleased me! Its great to see but so hot – no cold water or shade at the top and was over 100! We were worn out after the climb so headed back to ship after ½ hour at the shops.The duty free at the port is the cheapest for ciggies. Katakolon – Cheryl and me took the coach trip to the museum and Olympia – very good visit – really liked it there. On the way back we got dropped off in the town – 2 streets of nice shops and bars. Dubrovnik – another snap happy trip for me, it is really beautiful there. We had early tender tickets but it was terribly unorganised – a free for all rugby scrum which at times was dangerous (we did complain about this) Kay and myself walked the walls – wonderful views, then found a café for a drink and I had a huge bean salad (nice veggie change from pasta!) We then did our own thing – shops for me. The tender was choppy on the return. Venice – We swapped our luggage tags so we were last off and stayed together! Due to this it was hard to find our cases, after this we took the MSC transfer coach to the airport (I didn’t have a transfer booked but we managed to ‘talk me on’! This took 20 mins and we left our cases at the airport left luggage 4.5 euros per item. We got a all day ticket for 10 euros and got the public bus into town – do validate any tickets before you get on a bus – 4 young girls didn’t have a ticket and the fine was 30 euros – the police were called when they wouldn’t pay! Kay had an early flight so Cheryl, Ann, Kate and me caught the waterbus round Venice, walked round San Marco and Rialto, then I had to head for the airport. My case was 28kg – but Easyjet didn’t charge me – very lucky! I had a 21/2 hour delay, but had a drink and tried not to fall asleep! Again flight was fine. I had more hassle once back in the UK! My taxi was late then my train was cancelled – I got home at 12am! Well hobbled home after dropping my suitcase on my leg! Conclusion – I loved it, had a brilliant week and made some great friends – Kay, Cheryl and Ann. Also Hi to Kate, Colin and Vilma. Id go again tomorrow and think MSC will take off on the British market. There are no doubt lots of things ive missed out…..thanks to the HT gang who were excellent company! If i start saving now i might get back next year! Hope you’ve not fallen asleep reading all this! Any questions please ask via PM - thanks for reading! Alison
Cardiff Girl from Cardiff, Wales sailed on MSC Armonia with R***/DE offer on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 6 2005
Cardiff Girl rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Cardiff Girl said: Overall I had a wonderful holiday, and I still haven’t come down to earth. This was my first proper cruise and I would recommend MSC and the Armonia to most people. I’ll try not to repeat what's been said before below and include costs where I remember. It's fairly long so do skip to the bits which interest you. I’m happy to answer PMs if I can. I understand points from previous reviews – it mainly went like clockwork, but in an international ship that size (1,700 passengers on board on my cruise) there will be occasional issues. I often couldn’t find a sunbed, so I should have asked the towel boy to sort it out. I found Italian reception staff responded best to clear Qs like ‘How do I get to town?’with request to mark map with route. Cabins were spacious and gleaming. Play with air-con until you’re comfortable with it. I used the minibar to store my own water, chocolate and my pre-dinner Bailey’s – if you need fresh ice, coffee or tea don’t be shy to ring for it! There’s a bottle opener just inside bathroom door – wish I’d taken corkscrew. TV had BBC World (channel 8, I think), also films, which I discovered on last day – watched Van Helsing in English with bizarrely translated English subtitles! Channel 1 was view from bridge, safety info on 2, then details of ports of call repeated in various languages. Food I think it’s improved since early reviews. I loved all of it, though some people didn’t understand descriptions & got things they didn’t expect – you can study menu on wall in advance if that helps, or ask waiter. Also, replace anything you don’t like, skip courses, try two appetisers, desserts, etc – no problem! I chose first sitting at 1915, as some evenings the 2115 sitting people didn’t finish till nearly midnight. We were always back from port in time. The shows are repeated to fit both sittings. Good advice from Magsy to get a table near a porthole, though we talked so much we would have missed most of the views! I only had breakfast in dining room on last day & they had more choices - smoked salmon, porridge - but I found it noisy and hard work. On Deck 11 at breakfast I enjoyed the fresh fruit and other choices. The big plate acts as a tray to put bowl and small plate on. (Payable) freshly squeezed juice was delicious. Entertainment The staff worked hard, but it must be hard to suit everyone’s tastes on such an international ship. Most acts were non-verbal, to minimise announcements in Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portugese (even some Japanese!). Some acrobatics were stunning. I had a laugh and met people learning the daily dance on Deck 11 with the Animation team. Noisy, and not to everyone’s taste, but they work from dawn to dusk to entertain. Health Centre, deck 11 Good gym with stunning views. I loved the stretching class 0830 – great start to day. I was less impressed with the Balinese spa. I had a 30 min Balinese massage + use of sauna/Turkish bath area for €55 -check offers on daily programme. The massage was barely OK, but two thermostats were broken in solarium and someone could have been scalded. I didn’t like the heavy sales pitch or the pushing of products. One lady agreed €35 for a blowdry ahead of gala dinner, then found they’d charged €47 ‘for shampoo and conditioner’! When she complained they removed it. They’d also sold her an expensive thickener as ‘she had thin hair’ (she didn’t). It’s easy to charge things to your card then get a shock at the end of week. However, others said pedicures were great at €40, and went on longer than agreed 30 mins. Excursions Other people enjoyed them, but I thought they were overpriced - €34 for city tour you could do yourself. After first one I made my own arrangements. Communications I should have rung other people’s cabins rather than try to text – doesn’t work at sea, costs more - Smithy & I missed each other most of the week. Take an international phone card – phone booths don’t seem to take cash any more, so I got a Greek €4 card and used mobile in Italy. Phone on ship is satellite so expensive. Sunday, Venice I arrived Saturday evening, then spent Sunday morning looking round Venice, meeting up with Magsy who was leaving as I was arriving for a coffee (yes, she’s just as wonderful in person!). Having read about other people’s embarkation horror stories, I was expecting long delays. In fact, since I’d packed quite light, I was allowed to carry my own bags on and went straight through - from arrival, through check in and security, photos, a short walk round to our magnificent ship then being taken to my beautiful cabin took just minutes! So, after a year of planning, it was really happening! After admiring my room I set off with my deck plan to tour the ship to get my bearings. You’d have to be pretty jaded not to be impressed. There was a buffet all afternoon on deck 11, despite the info pack saying our evening meal would be the first we have on board. Then it got busy – do carry your daily programme. Get bearings, queue to get your table, 1645 welcome briefing with Nicky (where I met JoP by texting each other to stand up!), 1730 lifeboat drill, 1800 sailaway – don’t forget your camera! Then ready for dinner at 1915. Whew! Monday Bari 1500-2000 Went on Alberobello excursion to see the ‘trulli’ houses. This was €43 euros for one hour drive to walking tour of pretty historic town (guide spoke English and German) with drive round Bari at end. Other people enjoyed pottering around old town – daily maps available on reception. Tuesday Corfu 0800-1530 Best to share a cab to old town – don’t pay more than €10 euros between you. Locals would pay less than 5, though 10 is standard off the cruises - they’re expert at parting us from our €! I had a hot, uncomfortable walk in, cheered up after a frappe (long ice coffee) and Marks & Spencer’s! The Old Town is charming & I found a lovely café outside an art gallery overlooking the bay. That evening was the first gala dinner. Lots of photos before the Captain’s cocktail party at 1800, with free champagne and (strong!) martinis. We took our own photos out on the deck – I found the photographers a bit pushy, and I thought €9.80 was a lot for one photo. Wednesday Santorini 1300-2130 Queue early at reception for ticket for tender, which takes you straight to port near cable car, taking you up to main town Thera/Fira – €3.5, very fast and efficient. It was quite crowded and hot, so I found an internet café to speak to people from home. I’d saved addresses from my home computer to my Hotmail account before I left. I was shocked when bill came to €9.5 – my fault for not asking in advance. I got local bus 1 (€1)to Oia (pron eey-ah) – quite an experience! Great views, lovely village, buses every half hour, take about half hour. Later I decided to skip dinner and sat in bar near cablecar watching the sun go down over ship. When I got back there was a buffet on deck 11 (only night of cruise). Thursday Athens 0700-1730. We set off early to minimise (unavoidable) heat and crowds, paying €20 between four for cab to foot of Acropolis. Entrance is €12, which includes the Parthenon, museum, amphitheatre, etc. It was steep and hard work, but worth it when we got there, though exit was dangerously congested. We walked round the shops in the Plaka, and enjoyed Greek salad and moussaka in a shady square. Metro back from Monastiraki was fast, cheap, cool and easy to work out, then we got cab back to ship – just €1.7 on meter. Good value duty free shop. Great photos at midnight buffet, but no need to join scrum at front of queue, tons of food. Friday Katakolon 0800-1330 After Athens, I didn’t have energy for Olympia, though others shared a taxi and found it fascinating. Instead I walked round small village (most shops and bars in two streets) then found a charming courtyard half way down the main street to write postcards. Internet café in newsagent (first shop you come to) was cheap. Some unusual jewellery. Second formal night not clearly marked on programme. Lobster, free champagne and a parade of Baked Alaska. Saturday Dubrovnik 0830-1400 I queued for tickets for the earliest tender we could get to a port in front of the old city. I walked through crowds to the far end of city, from where I walked the walls. It got hot, and you can only enter and leave the walls at two points, so I would recommend you do it first and take water, though there are refreshments and loos up there. Unmissable views - you can get an idea of the damage in the war by the different coloured terracotta tiles. Good restaurant in the harbour (near where you catch tender) offering huge, good value servings of fish, etc. Wish I'd skipped lunch and stayed longer. Sunday Venice Arrived 0700, all disembarked by 0930. My case was damaged and placed on floor near carousel, which meant I spent ages looking on carousel before spotting it, then getting form filled in about damage. Conclusion I met great people, ate great food, saw beautiful places, had lots of laughs, got spoilt rotten. Overall a fabulous experience which I hope to repeat!
Magsy from Scotland sailed on MSC Armonia with Rise/Daily Express on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 6 2005
Magsy rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Magsy said: Well, MSC Armonia, what can I say that hasn’t already been said! Perhaps I should start with what happens before boarding! When getting to the port independently you can get an MSC shuttle bus from Piazzale Roma in Venice to Terminal 103 where you first hand over your luggage in a communal cruise line luggage building. MSC signs are there and you can’t miss the bright red MSC rep uniforms. You then proceed to Terminal 103 which is behind this building and go to the first floor using the exterior escalator. On arrival your passport and tickets are checked and you are given a numbered ticket which denotes when you should board. You then go to a check in desk where your credit/debit card is swiped and they take your picture!. I believe this may also be the stage when you hand over your Euro deposit if you aren’t using a debit/credit card because at this time you receive your key card which acts as your cabin key and your onboard charge card – take good care of it! You are then asked to take a seat in the waiting area and you can get free fruit juice and tea (Cold perhaps) For the smokers among you, there is a large outside terrace! Also at this time you can book the wine deal, 7 bottles and 7 bottles of water, however forget the €99, it was €118.90 on Armonia! (still a good deal!) Numbers appear to be called in groups of 20 (I had number 39 so was in the second group) At this stage, you may need to push yourself to the top of the queue because when it was my turn, there were certainly at least 60 people ahead of me and I could see the chap in charge turning people away. That was when I realised I had to push ahead (not literally you understand!) You then proceed out of the building and bang! The first photograph posed against a backdrop! The first of dozens I might add! You then walk along the quay to the ship which is gleaming white and very impressive. I would estimate this walk to be around 300 yards. Up the gangplank and on to the ship where you are greeted and someone is allocated to take you to your cabin. At this stage I was just gazing around at the opulence before me, everything sparkling just as it remained for the duration of my cruise. You arrive at the cabin and your escort takes your keycard and opens the cabin and ushers you in, following with your luggage. One cannot help but be impressed by the cabin – almost as large as a standard hotel twin bedroom, all fitted out in very light wood. Tons of storage, a safe behind the dressing mirror, oodles of mirrors including one full length one, a TV sitting on a cupboard which contains the mini bar. I didn’t find any English channels except for one which gives information on excursions and ship safety and BBC News 24 (I didn’t look very hard!) Channel 1 is always the web cam on the prow of the ship so you can see what the weather is like before you dress! Now a little tip on using the key card! You put it in the slot (barcode facing you) and pull it straight out again (the light on the lock turns green when it works!) The shower room is perfectly adequate for anyone’s needs. The clinging shower curtain is a slight pain but I managed to shower very comfortably and had tons of hot water no matter what time of the day I showered. Tons of space for all your toiletries both beside and under the sink and in the shower cubicle. Lots of toiletries provided, soap, shower cap, bath/shower gel and shampoo. There may have been a sewing kit but I never saw it! The hair drier is also in the bathroom, hotel type with the head attached by a vacuum style hose. I never used it so I can’t comment. Tissues are fitted to side of washbasin and a waste bin is fitted inside the cupboard under the basin. There is also an Ashtray! The noise of vacuum flushing is slightly alarming at first but you get used to it! Oh, there is also a waste bin beside the dressing table (Power points are under the dressing mirror and you will need a continental adaptor to plug appliances in) Towels are changed as soon as you use them and bedding is changed daily. You will find a card with your dinner table number and sitting on your dressing table. Take this with you on the first night when you go to dinner. Should you find you wish to change it, you go to the Maitre D at the Bar del Duomo on Deck 5 as soon as you can. You will also find your Daily Program which gives you lots of information about what is happening where on the ship. (Each evening you will receive a program for the following day) All of the public rooms are well furnished and lit with a lot of use of glass, crystal, chrome, steel and mirrors. I was lucky in that our dinner table in the Marco Polo restaurant was beside a giant porthole (Table 140) and there were invariably magnificent views, especially sailing from Dubrovnik, hundreds of tiny islands on a sea which was orange from the setting sun! (or was that Santorini! Or both!) The restaurant is beautifully set up for meals, gleaming glass and tableware and crisp linens and dozens of nice young men in yellow jackets attending you. I found them to be very attentive and eager to please, without exception! Personally I found the food exceptionally good, wherever I ate on board - a great choice and an incredible abundance! Something to suit every taste I am sure! I never had a problem with food temperature either. Apart from the main restaurant where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner, there is a buffet restaurant on Deck 11 (at the stern) outside and inside! On the outside beside the food counters, you will find the Tea, Coffee and iced water. This is available free all day, on a self service basis (but mostly assisted!) I also saw someone drinking milk too. Lots of different teas, all Twinings! I only saw one source of coffee but I wasn’t looking for Decaff! The two outside taps on the hot dispenser are coffee and the middle one is hot water. Do not go to the Girasole or Lido Bars on deck for coffee or tea unless you want to pay! The same goes for all of the interior bars! Afternoon tea and Midnight buffets are at the Girasole/Brasserie, midnight snacks are served in the various lounges. Most people gravitate to Deck 11 during the day (the main pool deck, two pools and a bar at each end, lots of sunloungers, shaded areas down each side, full sun areas closest to the pools. You get a towel at a table to the side of the Lido Bar and then select your lounger. Sometimes you might find it hard to find a lounger, lots of empty ones but all with towels on! Should this happen, go to the towel boy, he will sort everything out for you. There is also a gallery sun deck area above the pool deck for serious sun worshippers! All of the daytime entertainment takes place beside the pool at the Lido Bar so if you want peace and quiet, don’t sit near here! I found it quite entertaining! Although there were lots of children on board, I didn’t find them a nuisance at all because most were busy in the children’s club! I never saw the pools overcrowded. The pools are saltwater but there are showers between the two pools for rinsing off. This is also where the Jacuzzis are – I never once saw them being used! There is another Jacuzzi at the prow on Deck 7. I also never saw the climbing wall in use! Disembarkation!!! Before describing this in detail, just a little bit of advice! Do take a small holdall with you because you will need one, or at least a carrier bag! You have to have your case packed and placed outside the cabin by 2am of the morning of disembarkation so you will need it for your night clothes, toiletries or even what you were wearing the night before if you are a late owl! Do go to the meeting with Nicky the English hostess at 5pm the evening before leaving. I know of some people who didn’t go and who were subsequently in a state of confusion! This is where I met two other DE couples (both of whom were on 2-4-1) Anyone who has MSC transfers included is called a Priority passenger and they will find luggage labels in their cabin the day before leaving. Labels have different colours which have different significance. Mine were green and signified that I had a flight departing before 4pm. You will receive a detailed note in your cabin about what each colour means. All Green label passengers had to gather in the Moulin Rouge piano bar at 8am! They also had to report back to the Terminal for 12.30pm for 1pm coaches to the airport. Once formalities have been completed (in the background) you are then asked to leave the ship and proceed to the luggage carousels on the ground floor in the terminal building. Collect a luggage trolley (free here unlike the Airport where you need a €1 coin) for your cases and either make your way to the coach departure desk outside or deposit your luggage in the MSC left luggage office for a fee of €2.50 per case. This fee covers you until 2pm. I assume that you can pay more for later collection! You can then (assuming you have some free time!) either take the free shuttle bus to Piazzale Roma or you can catch a Vaporetto to St. Marks Square (€5 I believe!) The latter option may be quicker because I believe it goes directly to St. Marks Square without stopping. The Vaporetto back to Piazzale Roma (for getting back to the port) takes around 40 minutes! Then you either find a shuttle bus or take a taxi to the terminal (€10) I haven’t covered any excursions because I didn’t take any, just did my own thing! I did play bingo about 5 times trying to win a cruise for two people if you call within 41 numbers! It costs €10 a time! I went to 2 shows and I can honestly say they were equal to or better than I have seen on other ships! I visited the casino but didn’t have a flutter, bingo was enough! They have blackjack, roulette and poker plus lots of slot machines. The English pub was the quietest place on the ship and that is where the cigar room is too. There is live music in all the other lounges. I didn’t visit the Disco so can’t comment but I did hear it was quite lively later on at night! They also have a talent contest for budding artists! The rules must be different for US waters but you couldn’t buy a bottle for use in the cabin. It was retained until the end of the cruise. You can however take bottles on board and cigarettes. British cigarettes are around €19 for 200 in the on board shop but remember the shops are always closed when in port, as is the Casino. The shops are fairly standard for cruise ships, nothing ultra special except for some fairly expensive jewellery. They didn’t run an end of cruise sale like I have seen on other ships. I did visit the Beauty Salon and had a pedicure. It cost €40 but was worth it! It lasted an hour and a half! They offered lots of massage therapy including Shiatsu, stones and Balinese, but it was quite expensive, however I am sure it would have been good – will budget for it next time! They offer all the usual Beauty Salon treatments including manicures, facials, make up and hairdressing. In conclusion all I can say is that I can’t wait to sail with MSC again! The sooner the better! No complaints from this lady! Feel free to PM me with any questions – I am sure I have forgotten lots of things! I have also scanned some menus, Daily Programs and Port Information sheets which I will happily email to anyone who would like to see them. PS My 4* rating for entertainment isn't just for the shows which I would rate 3* but includes the Animation Team in general all of whom work incredibly hard at amusing everyone!
Christine Jeffries from Ross on Wye sailed on MSC Armonia with Rise Travel on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 6 2005
Christine Jeffries rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Christine Jeffries said: addenda to previous report - just realised I had omitted the star rating whoops! Now added all five stars.
Christine Jeffries from Ross on Wye sailed on MSC Armonia with Rise Travel on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 6 2005
Christine Jeffries rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Christine Jeffries said: Ship was extremely clean, sparklingly. Food, plenty of it and a choice for everyone, including fussy vegetarians (I had one with me). As it is an Italian ship, there is a lot of pasta and Italian based food but lots of other food too. Plenty of choice. Staff, invariably genuinely friendly, helpful, unobtrusive Entertainment: I only saw the Magic Show but this was excellent, spectacular with lots of special effects. Also watched the animation team who did an excellent job in all sorts of areas from dancing classes on deck to tableaux -Piratical! Sometimes catching people by surprise. Would I sail on this ship again, Yes. Tomorrow!
Pablo from Halifax sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 5 2005
Pablo rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Pablo said: Hello All you cruisers!! I apologise now for my long review, but I would rather give you all as much info as possible to assist you before you go on your cruise. Should anyone require further information please do not hesitate to post this on the MSC Armonia Forums 15/05/05 or send a message to my private mailbox and I will happily respond to you questions. Happy reading!! Just Returned from the Greece & Croatia Cruise 15/5/05 On arrival at Venice we were met by a rep from MSC, just look out for them with their clipboards, they are just outside the baggage collection area. After a short wait for the transfer coach we were on our way to the port, the journey took around 20 minutes. On arrival we were dropped off in the coach park and our cases were off loaded, not much information in fact none was given on what to do with our bags or where to proceed to check in!! After all our bags had come off a baggage cart appeared and the porters started to load our bags on it, hopefully the next time you see them will be in your cabin! It turned out to be about a 5 min walk to the main building and up some stairs to finally check in for the cruise! On arrival you need to present your cruise ticket and you will be given a number, we were 130, I would say get there as early as you can, but it will depend on what time your flight arrives, after that you proceed to the check in desks where a cash deposit or a copy of your credit card will be taken to set up your onboard account, once the formalities have been completed you will be given your cruise embarkation card, you need this to board/ disembark the ship at all times so keep it safe. Then all we had to do was sit and wait till our number was called!! I Felt like I was in hot & large overcrowded bingo hall!! 2 Hours Later our number was called, we proceeded to a rather large an un organised cue and slowly proceeded thorough security! At last we were on our way to boarding the ship but not before you have to cue up once again to have as your photo taken by the onboard photographer and some glamorous girls! Once aboard there are lots of staff on hand to direct you to your cabin so don't worry about having to find it. Our cases were already outside the cabin on arrival, we proceeded down to the Maitre D' to make our table reservations for dinner, this was not necessary as a reservation had already been made and was already in our cabin, we had been booked on 2nd sitting when a request was made at the time of booking for 1st, we managed to change to the 1st but had to make do with eating at 9pm for the first night, be prepared for a long wait to enter the restaurant, we eventually got our meal at 9.45pm and after a long day travelling a lot of passengers were not suited and requested to change to the first sitting the following day. We were allocated in the La Pergola restaurant which caters for approx 250 passengers, compared to 350 in the Marco Polo, La Pergola is normally allocated to passengers in suites so we were quite looky to be dining here, the atmosphere seems more formal and relaxed than that of the Marco Polo, plus there were hardly any kids, like there were in the Marco Polo. Reading previous reviews on the ship about the quality of the food I was left with an open mind until I’d actually sampled it for myself. I must say My impression that night was disappointing, I ordered tomato soup to start with followed by steak and chips as not much else appealed to me on the menu, the soup tasted like it had just come from a tin, the steak was saturated in oil and there were no vegetables or salad served with it! I've never eaten in a restaurant where they don't serve this to accompany the meal, well I guess I had asked for steak and chips and that’s what I got! The desert was poor, the waiter recommended the strawberry profiteroles and strawberry sauce, I wish I hadn’t bothered as nearly everyone that ordered this left it! The sauce did not resemble strawberries it was more like a ready made sauce from a packet, not much inspiration and certainly not what you would expect on a cruise but what you would probably find on the desert menu at a fast food restaurant! Looking at a quote from the MSC website, about the dining “ Our well-trained dining staff serves regional specialties creatively prepared from scratch by our chefs as well as classic favourites”. I will say no more. Thankfully the food did get better on the remaining nights, although the deserts lacked inspiration and the majority were made with tinned fruit and not fresh, I couldn’t understand this as at lunch & breakfast there was a plentiful choice of Fresh fruit available. On the last night I ordered trifle and was given a knife & fork to eat this with !! What had I ordered? Do the Italians have a different meaning for the word “trifle”???? When it came it was more like a slice of trifle with tinned fruit and encased in pastry! In summary the food was adequate and if you were looky would get it served hot, but on occasions the food was nearly cold, someone on our table ordered plaice for starters one night and it was still frozen! Don’t go expecting 5 * food because you won’t get it. For Lunch, try the on deck grill that serve burgers/steaks/hot dogs & pizza’s, there is also an extensive buffet, a lot better choice and its all self service plus you can eat to your hearts content! There are a couple of Gala nights with midnight buffets held out on deck, one night is a pastry nights, serving cakes etc and the other is the Grand Buffets, Very impressive. Out on deck next to the self service restaurant Girasole II, there is a water & ice machine, you can also get complimentary Tea & Coffee through out the day. Just a point to remember when you take your evening meal, if you would like a drink of water to ask for a jug of it iced otherwise the waiters will try to sell you bottled water which is warm and expensive, at first they acted dumb and said they did not recommend iced water, probably because its free and they don’t make any money on it!! The ship itself was exceptional, very clean, and quiet, on most days the sea was so calm you could barely tell that you were moving, the cabins were very spacious and there was plenty of storage space, cabin service was twice a day and towels were changed twice as well. There are 2 pin US and continental plug sockets in the room too. Room service is available but not free, although you can order complimentary Tea & Coffee, water or Fruit juices, this can take up to 20 minutes to arrive, you can also have continental breakfast delivered to your cabin. Entertainment was good, with professional shows and dancers in the evening. Also plenty of organised, games & activities to keep the whole family entertained throughout the day Apart from Santorini & Dubrovnik the ship docks in port, At these ports you will be taken ashore by tender boats, a point to note that the brochure does not tell you is that you need to get a numbered ticket to get off the ship by tender, if your like me and want to be off the boat pretty much as soon as it docks I recommend cueing up at reception in the morning to obtain your time slot to leave the ship otherwise you may find you have a couple of hours wait before you can leave the ship. Anyone on excursions is given naturally given priority in leaving the ship. All in all I was pleased with the cruise, its just a shame that the food let the ship down, I did overhear one of the waiters telling some passengers at dinner that the chefs they had onboard were cowboys and the food had gone down hill since they came aboard, he had worked on ships for Cunard & P&O and had never come across poor food like this in the restaurants. Maybe its time they recruited some more chefs!!!! Happy Cruising Pablo
Andrew Williams from South Wales sailed on MSC Armonia with Rise on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 4 2005
Andrew Williams rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Andrew Williams said: Here's my review of the MSC Armonia cruise departing Venice on the 22nd April 2005. Boarding Boarding was very well-organised and easy. You drop your luggage off at the luggage shed opposite the cruise terminal and if you've already filled in the luggage tags which were sent to you with the tickets, the whole process takes less than a minute. You then proceed to the cruise terminal and go up the escalator to the first floor. You are given a boarding number, your cruise card which acts as a credit card on board and cabin key. You then go on to the check in desks where they check your passport, photograph you and take a credit card imprint if you elect to pay your bill by credit card. You are then free to wait in the lounge, smoking is permitted on the balcony, until your boarding number is called. You then proceed through security and walk to the ship where a room steward shows you to your cabin. Cabin I had an inside cabin which was well designed and spacious. There is loads of storage space and the cabin doesn't feel at all claustrophobic. The bathroom is slightly on the small side but adequate. The air-conditioning which is temperature controlled is excellent. The Ship The ship is well designed and spacious and of a similar feel and standard to the P&O Aurora. There are plenty of bars and lounges and the only area than sometimes felt crowded was the self-service restaurant on deck 11. If the weather is fine there is plenty of seating outside on the deck but if it's raining, the restaurant gets packed and the ship was only 75% full on the week that I went. The decor is by and large tasteful, a bit glitzy in some of the bars and very well cleaned and maintained. Restaurants One of the biggest drawbacks for me was the fact that there wasn't 24 hour eating. The main restaurants and the self-service restaurant have set opening hours which change daily. If you are on the late sitting for dinner (9pm) there is a period from 5pm when tea finishes in the self-service to 9pm when you can't get any food unless you order from the limited room service menu which you have to pay for. There is nothing for vegetarians on the room service menu so a couple of times I had a rumbling tummy! The standard of the food was disappointing. Several times in the main restaurant our food arrived cold, all the vegetables were overcooked and the menus were pretty unimaginative. If you are expecting a culinary experience you will be disappointed. I couldn't be bothered ordering a nice wine most nights because the food was just adequate. VEGETARIAN WARNING - the rolls that they serve with dinner sometimes contain salami or pancetta, check on the menu before eating! Likewise some of the salads which they serve in the self-service restaurants may look like coleslaw but can contain ham. Labelling for vegetarians is poor and the waiting staff don't really understand people who don't eat meat. The infamous vegetarian rice strudel turned up on the menu. This disgusting concoction has been served to on every cruise ship I've ever been on - Thomson and P&O also serve it. It's obviously supplied by some cruise ship catering company and should be outlawed. The 9pm late sitting may be OK for continentals but it's probably a bit late for us Brits. Try to get on the early sitting if you can. It was usually 9.30 by the time we got our first course. Another drawback is that because the only food served on board in the evenings is in the main restaurant, parents have to bring their kids into the main restaurants to eat and it can be a bit like Saturday afternoon at McDonalds. I asked to be moved after the first night as there was a table with 3 children running riot next to us, banging metal wine coolers, crawling under tables etc. Sorry if I sound like the Child-catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but there's a time and a place. Don't think that after a certain time in the evening you are safe from wailing bambinos - they schedule children’s events such as chocolate parties at 10.30pm. At least it's only the parents who have to deal with the fallout from hyper-active choc-guzzling kids when they get them back to their cabins. Entertainment Don't make me go there... I saw the beginnings of 2 shows. If the Chuckle Brothers had been cloned to produce a whole troup of entertainers, this is what it would be like. I understand that a lot of the entertainment has to be non-verbal because of the various languages used on board but the kindest thing I can say about it is that it's not sophisticated. Some of my fellow passengers claimed that some of the featured acts were good but I'm afraid that I couldn't stay in the theatre long enough to find out. The bands in the lounges were quite good but be warned they play everything LOUD which makes conversation difficult even in the piano bar. Staff The cabin and bar staff were superb. Really friendly and helpful. Disembarking This went fairly smoothly. You are called to disembark by luggage tag colour and the luggage is off loaded into a large shed where you pick yours up and then make your way to the coaches which are outside. There is a left-luggage facility in the shed (2.50 euros per piece) if you have a later flight and want to explore Venice. Overall I wouldn't rule out another cruise with MSC. Certain aspects of the cruise were terrific, not least the itinerary and the ship itself but some parts were disappointing. At least if I were to go again, I would know what I was getting.
Paulette from London sailed on MSC Armonia with Ember Travel on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 4 2005
Paulette rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Paulette said: Andy and I met on board (tables located close by at dinner) and I largely agree with his comments. Except that I would defintely sail with MSC again indeed was looking as soon as I got back! I am a single lady and was a little concerned about being on my own but the table allocation meant I was sat with some other lovely single ladies who made me laugh throughout dinner! I had a suite with a balcony and the room was excellent including a bath in the bathroom. Drinks were well priced and food was fine - not what you would get in great restaurants but more good quality home cooking and if you didnt like what you chose first tome they would happily change it. I arranged my own flights and therefore arrived early and left late and wanted to leave my bags on both occasions. This was easy to do. There is a pick up point right by the ship for transfers to and from St Marks square so getting into the centre of Venice and back was a pieve of cake. Iw ould definitely recommend spending a few hours wandering around it if you get the chance. The people on board ranged from 35-70 with one or two exceptions and the majority were very friendly. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, if you are about to go then I am very jealous! Enjoy!
Gary Dodge from Bournemouth sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC on a singles holiday. There were 1 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 4 2005
Gary Dodge rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Gary Dodge said: I sailed on the Armonia 17/24 April,on arrival at Venice airport the trasfer took about 2 hours to get to the ship then another 2 hours to actully board,after that little irritation the rest of the cruise was fabuolous,the cabins clean and tidy and made up twice a day,the showers a little cramped ,but i am 6ft4 and over 16 stone so no complaints really,the food i thought was really good with a wide veriaty and you can eat from 7am untill midnite at one place or another,all the staff really friendly,the entertainment was in some parts hilarious and in other places lost the plot,but if it was an English ship im sure that Italins might find it a hard to keep up with English humour the ports off call where great,especially Saterini and Dubrovnik,i would definatlly sail with MSC again,all in all 9 out of 10
David from Rio de Janeiro sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC Armonia on a couples holiday. There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 1 2005
David rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	David said: I disembrked the MSC Armonia in Jan 4/05. We sailed 7 days from Rio to Salvador and back. For anyone thinking about booking on this line my advice is to do some homework to make sure my experience was atypical. I have heard from others that when sailing in european waters the Armonia is diffrent than what I endured. If the european Armonia experience is anything like it was in Brasil I would recommend you choose a different cruiseline. I have been on about 35 cruises on most lines from premium ones like Seabourne and Crystal to the more mass market lines like Orient, HAL, Carnival, Celebrity, and Royal Carribean. Accordingly, I believe I am knowledgeable and qualified to render an opinion. I am not a snob and have no axe to grind. This was my first MSC cruise. It was by far the worst cruise I have ever been on. As we sailed over the new year prices might have been somewhat higher than the usual. An inside cabin cost me about $300 per day per couple. One can usually get outside cabins on Carnival Corp and RCCL companies for that price or lower. Without regard to price, the food was horrendous. The only breakfast available from room service was a continental one of bread and coffee. Other room service came with a modest charge. The breakfast buffet consisted of scrambled or hard boiled eggs only(no omelet station) sometimes accompanied by reheated hot dogs and/or greasy bacon and/or other unappetizing cold cuts. Amazingly (since we were in Brasil) the fruit was mostly canned except for melon. Only white toast was offered- forget about english muffins or bagels. The fruit juice was like koolaid. As this was Brasil where amazingly good fruit is abundant the absence of same was a virtual giveaway that corporate management must not have a clue. There was no variety day after day. Lunch buffet was not much better. It seemed like the food was recycled. Desserts were just plain bad. So~called pizza was offered, but for Italians they ought to be ashamed of what they called pizza. It was worse than any badly cooked frozen pizza I ever had the misfortune to encounter. At the poolside grill poor quality hotdogs and hamburgers were served but without options for a cheese or veggie burger. Even the usual condiments like pickles and relish were not furnished. I often spotted food handlers not wearing gloves so it was not a total surprise that I got the runs my last day. Curiously in the buffet lines and at the grill there were no food trays so one had to use an oversized plate for all selections as well as drinks and utensils. This was quite challenging for even the most dexterous of passengers. Forget about service. The waiters were there to clear the tables, nothing else. My wife and I played cards for 4 hours at a poolside table one afternoon and were never once approached to see if we wanted a drink. The pool attendants were not all that available either. That is a little too laid back for my tastes. There was a poolside ice cream/juice bar but it was never operable. I was told by a staffer that it wasnt profitable so it was closed. Dinner in the dining room was BAD. Service was marginal at best, a shortcoming I attribute to senior dining room staff. That level of senior management incompetence was forseeable after an incident that occurred the first afternoon aboard ship. Through no fault of our own my wife and I failed to be assighned a dining room table. I called Reception to obtain one, but after a couple of follow up calls I was instructed that I had to go to the dining room to get a table assignment from the dining room manager. I was required to wait in line for about an hour right after a horrible embarkation experience (see below) just to get a table assignment, not to change one, mind you, just to get one. While the dining room service was marginal it was nowhere near as bad as the food itself. OK, it´s an Italian line so one can expect lots of pasta and risotto, but the pasta was available only with the same rather mundane tomato sauce each and every meal. Breadstick and roll ordinary - no bread tray. Soups all tasted same no matter what they were called. Over salted food. Meat as tough as shoe leather. Fish served with the scales not all removed (this at the buffet). Some plates were downright inedible. My tablemates concurred. Entertainment...the ship´s dance company were okay performers, but the production values of the shows were poor. Costumes, lighting , and props were all amatuerish... so the final product was not very entertaining. Music in the lounges was limited and ordinary at best. We like to dance and have a cocktail before dinner and couldn´t find a decent spot to do so. There was absolutely no functioning library or card room to speak of. On the last sea day the library was open 1 hour. It consists of about 2 feet of english paperbacks probably left behind by passengers. There was one spanish language scrabble set. The cabins were smallish at 144 sq ft , but had adequate stroage space some of which would have been better devoted to making the uncomfortably tiny shower larger. There was a fridgibar - good for keeping your own drinks cold, although the price of drinks aboard was reasonable.TV in the rooms advertised pay movies. These were not available in any language. There wasn´t much programming at any time though we did get CNN for a while on one day. The shops kept limited hours, but that was no problem as there wasnt that much offered. I thought the layout of the shops was disorganized. The underutilized casino had a couple of roulette and 2/3 blackjack tables. I don´t remember a craps table although there was ample space to install one. A modest amount of one armed bandits. The pool was always crowded because on this South American run there were loads of kids...to whom I have no objection. Just that it was noisy and crowded. There was smallish gym with minimal weights and cable machines. It cost extra to use the steam room and sauna - a first in my experience. The cabin attendant provided the best and in this case the only decent service. An oasis in a sea of incomptence and poor quality. Embarkation ...don´t ask. We somehow got left off the passenger list. A friendly land agent of MSC (I later learned) who didnt want to acknowledge his affiliation told me to go F myself as we frantically tryed to convince MSC staff we had indeed paid for this fiasco ( had I known what was in store I would have happily stayed ashore). After boarding I complained to the Hotel Mgr who asked for a written memo recounting the incident. I subbitted a detailed memo. The Hotel Mgr thereafter wrote me a note saying the memo was forwarded to the home office and they would get back to me. Two weeks after the cruise I emailed the US home office and was told my memo had been misplaced. I was asked to resubmit one. I did. Despite my follow up emails not only was no apology forthcoming I was never given an answer to either why we were left off the passenger list or why we were abused by an MSC rep who apparently was not being reprimanded. There has to be a better way to spend your money. MSC started as a freight moving line. I predict that they will get out of the passenger business in a couple of years. They will not be able to sell their product to or in the north american market...and I can´t see europeans forking over cash for this product when there are other options. CAVEAT EMPTOR.
Carolina from Berlin sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC on a family holiday. There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2004
Carolina rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Carolina said: Hello Magsy,please write me an e-mail so that I'm able to contact you because I would like to ask you something about the MSC Armonia. Thank you caro_nanny@yahoo.de
Carolina from Berlin sailed on MSC Armonia with MSC on a family holiday. There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2004
Carolina rated the MSC Armonia as follows: Ship Cleanliness Crew Ship Food Onboard Entertainment	Carolina said: sorry,cruise was great!