MSC Opera Reviews

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

MSC opera baltics. we sailed from Southampton an may 3rd 2012. embarkation - we were on by 1pm bit chaotic as there had been a delay with customs (not msc) hence all the moaning started (from minute we got to terminal to minute we got to car Brits moaning if msc that bad why book, price that's why as other liners go to same places....) opera is lovely ship smaller than our previous cruise but still lovely clean and bright. first impressions good. room good better than had on princes (proper wardrobe lots of storage) mini bar well stocked. bathroom ok shower small almost triangular but still workable.(and i'm a size 16) food was good to fab lots of choice no not as much variety as others but still good. the bread is amazing as was ice cream meaning one very happy young man (my 13 year old son). choice in mdr good 7 courses if want good job small portions we never went over 4 courses could not manage anymore. drinks good variety prices comparable with princess. we had 24 hr all inclusive at ??38 adult ??19 child per day well worth it and no added service charges. happy days.. cocktails very very good. and hot choc very nice especially the luxury ones. staff good to very good always polite and smiling. got daily charges taken of no problems. special mention to aroma bar staff as they were the best also towel guys who had to sit out in all weather just in case towels needed. entertainment staff good cleaners brill always cleaning and polishing. we only booked 1 excursion to st petersburg done other stops by our selves . shows good although only saw 2 left 1 as opera son /hubby not like no class lol. guy small but workable spar expensive as always they did have very good deals on throughout Cruise (50% off towards end) staff at spar lovely uniform oriental very pretty. we had a ball will definitely sail again with msc. will try bigger ship next time. the worst thing for us was all the negativity from some British passengers it started at terminal and finished at terminal. some of it was well out of order,the passengers who verbally abused the dancers should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves but i bet they not. also the passengers in luggage hall pushing staff. very yobbish behaviour and no they were not young men , women they were almost all pensioners made me and several other British passengers 35-45 years old very ashamed to be British. hope they all keep their word and don't sail with msc again and let people who wish to sail with them enjoy their cruise in peace.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Embarkation was total chaos - it took an age to be called from the reception hall to check-in, then the check-in seemed very long winded. The cruise began with a four hour delay in sailing from Buenos Aires due to problems with the ship's engine(s) which meant we "missed our slot" on the River Plate. The following day brought another delay as unfortunately a passenger was taken ill and had to be airlifted by helicopter to hospital. We all received a letter explaining that as a result of "a force majeur" we would no longer be visiting the port of Cherbourg. This was a problem to those disembarking there but as this affected very few passengers it seemed to be a logical decision. The letter also stated that we would get 20% off our next cruise booked before 30 April 2013. MSC have no obligation to offer this for a missed port, however the letter didn't seem very official as it was not on letterhead and there was no signature and it was printed on pink paper, so goodness knows if it's worth the paper it's written on. Our cabin stewards were very efficient and we found the ship to be generally clean. Despite the the public rooms having hand sanitizers positioned outside them there was no one to enforce their use. Mind you, very few of the sanitizers seemed to work until the last day when we had heard that inspectors were due on board. The first morning we had breakfast in the buffet but it was so chaotic that for the remainder of the cruise we had breakfast in the MDR. By the second day our waiter knew our breakfast requirements exactly and had no need to bring us the menu. The good thing about having breakfast and lunch in the MDR on MSC was that, unlike other cruise lines, we were not forced to join other people at their table and could choose to sit where we knew there would be an excellent waiter. Unfortunately we weren't so lucky with our waiter at dinner who was uncommunicative and not interested in how we were enjoying our meals. We don't appreciate being pestered all the time while we are eating but not once did he ask if the food was ok. He didn't acknowledge us at all when we saw him in the MDR at other times, however we made allowances for him and decided that either his English was poor or that he was shy. He still received his tip at the end of the cruise. The ship was made up of a great number of Argentinians whom we felt, generally, were very polite and who always took time to greet people in the corridors or lifts. There were a number of Brazilians, about 60 Brits and a handful of Aussies, Kiwis and Europeans. My wife and I have travelled extensively as had the majority of the Brits on board but we don't go around bragging about where we've been. We couldn't get over the attitude of so many of the Brits who came across as the biggest braggarts we've ever met. They all seemed to be trying to outdo one another with stories about all the places they had visited. Two songs came to mind when speaking to these people "Anything you can do, I can do better" and "I've been everywhere man". They were such bores, the worst of these were the Black Card Holders who thought they were MSC Royalty and were invited to dine with the Captain. Whoopie Ding!!!! I wouldn't say anything if they were travelling on a 5 or 6 star cruise ship but a 3 star budget cruise line? Most of them only travel with MSC because it's so cheap and they don't have to pay a single supplement. We decided after our last MSC cruise 9 years ago that we wouldn't cruise with them again but the itinerary attracted us with the added advantage of sailing from Buenos Aires to Southampton, therefore only 1 flight. On the whole we enjoyed the cruise itself, the meals were generally nothing to write home about but the lunches were pretty good. The bar staff were excellent and the passengers we chose to spend time with were extremely nice people who didn't feel the necessity to show off. The ports of call were great, Rio being the jewel in the crown but it was also interesting to see other parts of Brazil - Salvadore and Recife. Unfortunately due to the delay we hit Recife on a public holiday so there was nothing open apart from a prison which had been converted to a shopping centre/craft market. Crossing the Equator in the rain was an experience, especially for those who took part in the King Neptune ceremony. The city tour of Mindelho in Cape Verde was a rip off at $71 each and very little to see. MSC certainly try to get their pound of flesh. Las Palmas, Gran Canaria was great to see from the open top bus tour, especially on a lovely warm day. Lisbon was visited on a damp day but it is still a very interesting city. Our last port of call was Vigo in Spain, we had been before so there was nothing of great interest for us there. Another public holiday so apart from the local shops in the old town nothing else was open. We had a number of days at sea and the deck games were so silly. Luckily the weather was good most of the time so we were able to relax with a book. However when it became colder and the weather worsened there was next to nothing organised by the entertainment staff on board. I was not at all impressed with the cruise director who just seemed to be showing off introducing the shows in 6 languages, just because he could. It was evident what the show was about, he didn't need to spend about 10 minutes before every show. At the end of the show many passengers made a sharp exit rather than having to sit through more of his "jabbering on". We felt that MSC really need to get their act together as far as organisation is concerned. On port days it took ages to disembark the ship because only one exit was open for passengers who were not on tours. People queued for about an hour to get off, it was ridiculous. The disembarkation process at Southampton was farcical. We had to be out of our cabins by 7.00 am but did not arrive at port until 8.15 am. Luckily we got to breakfast early because it was manic later in the morning. We were told to wait in the public areas until we were called but it was around 10 am before the first people were called. When we got off the ship the luggage had only just started appearing in the luggage hall. Normally when we have disembarked at Southampton everyone's luggage is waiting for them and it is extremely organised. This was the worst we've ever experienced on 25 cruises. After 2 lines of luggage had arrived everything came to a standstill. There were no announcements made about the delay and noone from MSC to be seen. The Port Authority staff could only tell us that there were inspector aboard the ship. We don't know what was happening because the ship was also inspected in Las Palmas and Lisbon - what must this tell you about MSC? Around 200 passengers were waiting in the luggage hall for approximately 2 hours with no announcements and no MSC representative present. Passengers began slow hand clapping and whistling to try to draw the attention of MSC officers on the decks but we were ignored. Eventually, after a 2 hour wait, our cases started to appear but still no explanation/apology from MSC. I don't think we'll be using our 20% discount to book another MSC cruise!

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We had a lovely holiday but for various reasons we will not be cruising with MSC again. The included travel to Southampton from Edinburgh with 2 children included a 2hour stay in Heathrow bus station in the early hours, only to be left with all our luggage at another bus station a taxi-ride away from the port - which we had to pay for ourselves, so beware. The ship itself was lovely and the staff were very attentive. The kids club was also very good. However, if you wanted a sauna, you had to pay $100 for the pleasure of going anytime for a week. The spa was also extortionate. Food - the dining room was lovely and being an Italian company, the menu was from a different part of Italy each night. Nothing was too much trouble, especially for fussy children. I'm vegetarian and there was plenty choice. There was always a good veggie main dish which was hot in the buffet restaurant but the breakfast and dinner were always cold. The outside pizza/burger bars were good. We didn't like that passengers joined and left the cruise at each port, we've never been on a cruise like that before. Also, they charged everyone for transfers to the towns from each port. Again, we've never experienced this. Finally, the travel arrangements from Southampton to Edinburgh were ridiculous - a 12 hour wait in the port with a couple of vending machines to

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

ITINERARY--We were on the MSC Opera's Eastern Mediterranean cruise from October 19-31, 2001. The ports of call were Bari & Venice-Italy, Piraeus/Athens & Katakolon/Olympia-Greece, Yalta & Odessa-Ukraine, Istanbul-Turkey & Dubrovnik-Croatia. THE MSC OPERA is not a glitzy or gaudy cruise ship. It is a modern, clean ship with solid quality--a lot of brass & glass (mirrors). The cruise had an outstanding itinerary with sites of great historical & cultural significance. The cost was very reasonable. OUR BALCONY ROOM was well-designed, clean & comfortable. It was a pleasure having relatives in an adjoining room to share balcony visits & meals. MEALS--After reading the comments on Cruise Critic we tried to avoid the buffet. With a couple of exceptions, the 4 of us ate our meals in the formal sit-down restaurant where we had an excellent table location, great service & very good meals. The menus for each meal had a large variety of dishes from which to choose. The best entrees were fish/seafood & the weakest were beef/pork. The appetizers & desserts were very good. SHORE EXCURSIONS did a very brisk business. It seemed that a very high percentage of the passengers were interested in seeing the sites/sights (tours thru MSC or self-arranged). CLIENTELE--Most of the passengers were from 50+ years--we were about average age for this group. There were only a couple dozen kids under 12 years of age & very few teenagers. Most of these younger passengers were Russian or Ukrainian. There very few passengers from 20-50. ENTERTAINMENT tended to be highly visual (no stand-up comics) & relied on international music & dance (pop hits--English & Latin, opera/classical..), traditional Italian music & gymnastic performances. The 2nd show at the Theater ended about 10. By 11:30 the public areas were quite empty & the ship was very quiet--never any noise from rooms, hallways or balconies. LIFE ON BOARD the MSC Opera was very relaxed--not pushy in selling drinks (drinks not even allowed in the theater), very limited selection of MSC logo merchandise, no cheesy art auctions, no highly intrusive photographers... The predominantly older clientele enjoyed going on tours, visiting, playing cards, reading, dancing, drinking tea/coffee... PASSENGER LANGUAGES. On this cruise the breakdown seemed to be: German-40%, Italian-30%, Russian/Ukrainian-10%, Japanese-10%, English & Others-10%. CREW-NATIONALITIES: Indonesia- 40%, Honduras-20%, Other: Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, Montenegro, India, Bulgaria, Madagascar... ANNOUNCEMENTS were generally made in 5 languages. One particularly important announcement was made in 7: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Russian/Ukrainian & Japanese. BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE: In order to avoid feeling isolated, we would strongly recommend that English speakers travel with English-speaking friends &/or be very fluent in one of the major passenger languages.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Let me start by saying what is good about this ship as its a short list. The entertainment was the best I have ver experienced, not the round the pool stuff which was largely sub butlins quality, but the evening shows and the regular artists who sing in various bars were very very good. The ship was also very clean in the public areas and the cabins. The duty free shop is excellent value. What is bad about this ship. Fundamentally everything else I am about to describe comes from the management culture on the ship, which is rude, exploitative of their staff, and everything you ask for the answer is "Its Impossible". This caused so many upsets amongst so many passengers. I am British and naturally I mostly holidayed with fellow brits, and almost none of them were happy. I was offered an all inclusive booze deal by my agent. When I went to book it at an additional cost of approx ??300, I was told to buy it on board. When I got on board I ordered two beers which are approximately 2/3rds of a pint each. That came to ???12, which was going to make my week very tricky as I was taking my disabled mother recently widowed away for a week. I asked at the bar to buy the all inclusive package, "its impossible" most of the public area staff like bar staff were from Nepal, the Phillipines etc and spoke poor english, so language was a real barrier all week and led to many misunderstandings when ordering drinks. My extras bill at the end of the cruise (and trust me I didnt want to pay for anything extra on board came to ??750. if you enjoy a drink and dont have the package that could easily add up to ??2000. So be warned! I escalated my complaints through various stewards and members of the pursers dept, who seemed more intent on gaining a tan and looking cool than helping to solve customer queries. Eventually I was taken to reception and met the Customer relations manager, a young woman in her early 30's. She was immediately confrontational and initially refused to even entertain my request, until I lost it and began to shout, as I had been promised by my agent I could buy this package on board. As I was making a scene she eventually took me to her office behind reception and was soon joined by the stuttering and frankly weak assistant purser. By this time I was angry that all anyone said to me was its impossible. I assured them it wasnt and all they needed to do since their authority was so limited was contact head office and ask, which at the time they refused. They preferred to tell me why I was unreasonable, rude, and thoroughly put me in my place. I later learned upon returning home that they informed the Dutch Police and I suspect expected me to be arrested whilst wheeling my disabled mother ashore at amsterdam. Fortunately it didnt happen. The customer relations manager in particular, had no skill whatsoever in dealing with customers. She behaved like we had been press ganged and we were there to follow her orders, she had zero ability to calm somone who had been offended by te actions of her staff. I suggest MSC give her a job in the engine room where theres no danger she would upset any other paying customer. For she certainly did upset many throughout the remainder of the trip. With the exception of a Dutch girl who was charming most of the staff on reception, were generally unhelpful but practised at saying "its impossible". The following day they agreed to my request and I did purchase the all inclusive package, without so much as an apology for causing so much upset. Myt story began to circulate amongst the british passengers and before long I had a queue of passengers with gripes who seemed to want me to act as unofficial shop steward, which I declined as I was on holiday. When I approached the customer relations manager to arrange a meeting to hear their complaints ie all of them together she simply refused. Talk about not listening. general gripes of most passengers: Food, was no better than average, and was quite rushed in the evening sittings, frequently over cooked and canteen style mass catering rather than the experience I have come to enjoy with other lines. The service in the restaurants was frequently surly, with the wrong order being delivered because of language difficulties. Breakfast and lunch were particularly difficult, rather than the regular servcie you get from your waiter at dinner, they were OK. Excessive pricing and charging for everything. A pot of tea (without the package) was ???5 each time you want a cup of tea!!! nothing free except a Luke warm urn which didnt make proper tea after midnight on the 12th deck! They were using an italian brand of "english Breakfast tea" which was soo weak it couldnt make its way out fo the cup, it was dreadful. I approached the head of catering, who to be fair did listen and did take on liptons at the next port. Not proper tea but at least it was passable. Drinks were a massive rip off, hence my fuss about getting the all inclusive package. otherwise its a good place to send an alcoholic to dry out, as they would go broke before getting drunk! 28 channels on TV, not one of them in English. When we were in Southampton I asked if one could be switched via their satellite receiver to english - you guessed it.. Its impossible! No cinema! and one yes thats right one cartoon in english on the TV for the whole 8 day cruise. That was the entire choice of films on the ship. The layout of the ship was also awkward when you are with a disabled/ mobility impaired passenger. The public areas were on floors 5 and 6, and 11, 12 and 13. so you are forever waiting for lifts, and frequently needing to travel from one end of teh ship to another, exhasperating. The cabins are between those areas. health and safety; Muster stations was the most ridfculous affair I have ever attended. Many passengers didnt bother at all which didnt seem to alarm any of the crew. Those that did were kept standing on deck for 90 minutes as thats how long it took them to get those that cared to attend counted, we would have been dead long before they had managed anything in a real crisis. The general bursars staff, waiters, cleaners, etc were very poorly paid, came from countries that are poor. They told me No tips taken by the line were passed onto crew. All of it went to enrich MSC. That is disgusting. They were made to wrok minimum 11 hour shifts 7 days a week for 9 months, which is illegal in Europe, which they get around by being panama registered. Therefore their wages were exploitative. The european commission should take action against this kind of sharp practice! The main theatre at the bow of the ship, was almost all staired, meaning my mother had to find a seat while the ship was rolling with not a hand rail in any aisle, naturally she fell, and was very shocked and shaken. No crew member came to her aid, just me and some other passengers. Not good enough. No midnight feasts! on the last night of the cruise before returning to southampton the chefs laid on a magnificent banquet, with carved fruits and a visual and culinary treat. The rest of the cruise.... absolutely nothing. and no explanation. when asking reception why theres no midnight feast ... Its impossible! Assistance embarking and disembarkation, sometimes chaotic, with long queue's at the bottom of impossibly steep gang planks, or when actually able to get a wheelchair up the gang planks, no assisatnce at all was offered. Constantly being ordered to come along for a meaningless briefing such as how to pack a suitcase for disembarkation. deductions for tips from each passenger with opt out. ???12 per day per passenger, and none of it goes to the staff! many brits opted out and like us chose to individually tip those staff members who had given good service. You are allowed to opt out, which they dont advertise. In the end on this cruise so many opted out, they refused to allow others to do so when they requested it. Also they would only deduct the charge from the day you chose to opt out which again is sharp practice in my book. All in all remember you have a choice when booking a cruise. My advice would be choose a different line!

Hide this review