MSC Splendida Reviews

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Ive decided to write a review because of all the bad reviews about MSC.I wanted to put people in the picture of what it was like for me.We booked this cruise for my 40th birthday,My wife and 2 kids travelling (Daughter 13,Son 11).After booking through MSC website I decided to look up the Splendida,only to find 9 out of 10 Bad reviews,i started to panic! what have i let myself in for?.Before booking with MSC make sure you realise its a ??500 deposit which you will lose if you cancel!First thing i didn't like about the Company. The cruise itinerary was ,Genoa,Barcelona,Tunis,Valletta,Messina,Rome(Civitavecchia).As we booked direct we bought or flights separate,going to Rome (CIA).Easy Bus/Train to Rome Termini(10 Euros)all of us.and then train to Civitavecchia,(16Euros )then short walk to port to catch coach.On arrival very busy,drinks soft drinks laid on, took a bit of time boarding.on first impressions looks impressive,Rooms were very nice couldn't fault them. hairdryer,minibar nice king size bed 2 fold up beds for kids which came down when we went to dinner.That was my first complaint,As we had kids with us it seemed the cabin porter was just waiting around outside every night for us to leave.it seemed to put you in a bit of a rush,instead of relaxing,after all I'm on holiday,was a bit regimented like being in the Army.We had the All inclusive package (Allegrissimo).Which was needed with 2 kids.Cocktails,beers.spirits,wine by the glass, were included,Ice cream,cakes,smoothies for kids.

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Having read some very mixed reviews on the MSC product I decided to try it for myself on the magnificent Splendida and write my own report. I love to cruise and dont believe it is possible to have a bad time on a cruise ship and find that some people tend to exaggerate their experiences a little. My feeling is that all the big cruise companies do a pretty good job, some better than others. Boarding in Barcelona, the check in process was quick and simple and all passengers are escorted to their cabins by a cabin attendant, a very nice touch. I had a balcony on the 12th floor which is comfortable and well appointed. A good bed with a decent sized balcony, bathroom with an excellent shower and impeccably clean, as is the whole ship. The Splendida is a huge vessel at 130.000 plus tons and is well laid out. I had my first lunch in one of the buffets and the rest in the full service main dining rooms. They do a 5-6 course meal for lunch and dinner and you are expected to choose all courses with your initial order, not a problem. I found the quality to be reasonably good throughout if not excellent. Dont forget that this is an Italian cruise line so the focus is very much on Italian food and it was all nicely presented. I have to say that the coffee served at breakfast time bears no resemblence to coffee I have tasted anywhere else. It is coffee coloured but thats about it. Same thing with the juices, imagine juice concentrate from a bottle of undiluted cordial and thats what you get for breakfast. Of course proper coffee and capuccino is available for a fee in one of the bars. MSC likes to charge you for everything, drinks is fine but this includes water with your meals. Yes you get a bottle of San Benedetto but you spend much of the cruise signing bills for expenditure. I wish they would just charge a little more at the outset and then include water and coffee in the total. You get the distinct feeling you are being nickle and dimed at what I find to be excessive prices. 3.00EUR or almost 4USD for a Coke is not reasonable. I also found what I ordered for the 1 room service breakfast was missing items I had placed on my order which was a disappointment. The entertainment team put on a show for 6 of the 7 evenings and I have to say that these are some of the best shows I have ever seen at sea. Their dancers, acrobats and gimnasts are all superb and deserve credit for some excellent performances. These shows however, are all introduced in 5 languages and instead of keeping them to a minimum, they become long and overbearing. The Splendida has a magnificent and huge theatre at the front of the ship as always. I think the language issue also equates to their being being little entertainment during the day that you get on many of the US cruise lines, talks about subjects of interest or about the places we will visit just dont happen. I found the English speaking guide uninformed to the point of not even being able to pronounce the place names of some of our destinations correctly. The ports of call are interesting, Tunis/La Goulette with a visit to the ruins at Carthage and the village of Sidi Bou Said, spectacular and beautiful Malta, Messina for Taormina or Etna, Civitavecchia for Rome and Genoa for Portofino. Some wonderful seamanship with 180 degree turns in limited spaces in a 1000 foot vessel is fun to watch from the top deck. The pool area is impressive and having the kids disco up on the 16th deck in the centre of the ship is also good design. Yes there is cigarette smoking on board but I wasnt bothered it unduly. MSC charges well over the odds for excursions but you can find cheaper and better options locally in each port. The front of this ship is home to MSC Yaught Club and offlimits to us mortals with accomodation elsewhere. This means you cannot get to a location on the ship with a forward facing view and that is something I missed. This is the first cruise I have been on where the ships collects and disembarks passengers at various points and I am not a fan of this process. It means that the central lounge areas are often full of people waiting to leave the ships and therefore not a place you want to be if you are not leaving the vessel. It also means there is a lot of commotion and noise and very little down time or restful periods. MSC does a 25EUR laundry service for the week with up to 30 items for the price which is a no brainer for me. It means not having to take so many items of clothing with me and comes back washed and neatly folded every day. Baggage handling to and from the cabin on embark/debark days is proficiently handled and as is often the case, my cabin attendent was superb. I also saw some excellent service in the dining rooms and one Maitre d looked after me superbly each morning at breakfast. However, I didnt get the feeling of the crew being the happiest at sea in general and this was noticeable after experiences on a couple of other major lines recently. I like it when crew members greet you and that doesnt happen here. So in conclusion I had a great week on a superb ship with some fascinating points of call. MSC could do some things differently which would improve the product greatly but I wouldnt let that put you off. If the itinerary was right, I would go again.

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This was our first cruise and before we departed we went from high expectations to it cant be that good for the price we paid ( ??349 ). Well overaall the cruise surpassed our highest expectations and like people have said before, cruising is addictive and yes we are hooked, looking to go again in October and December. So let me tell you about our trip and not all was great but most of it was. Embarking : Smooth as only 72 of us embarked at Valletta with everyone very friendly and welcoming. We were then showed to our cabin again by a white gloved staff member who chatted all the way and showed us around the cabin on arrival. Cabin : We were worried that an inside cabin may be a bit claustraphobic, no need to worry it was great quite spacious and spotlessly clean with everything we needed. All introduction information was spread out neatly on bed and our luggage was waiting for us on our arrival. The cabin steward introduced himself and was great all week for extra pillows and bits of advice. Towels wer changed at least twice a day and again we were more than happy with the cabin. Staff : Every single time we passed a staff member they said hello or how are you, excellent from the housekeeping staff amazingly friendly and yes it does make a difference. The restaurant staff were great as well, we eat in the La Reggia and quite simply they could not do enough for us even having our wine and water ready after the first day, we are creatures of habit but that to me is amazing service. The reception staff were not so good, even a little rude at times but that was one of the few things that left a bad taste in the mouth. Ship : Splendida it is indeed, your first thought is the pure size as you see it in port and when on board it does not dissapoint,the public areas are always very clean and are up to 5 start hotel standard. Great idea to put kids area and disco up a tower and out of the way. Pools clean and well maintained. One thing I was impressed with and we dont smoke was the fact that certain internal bars allowed smoking these areas were well marked. The shops were wll stocked and not overpriced again well done MSC. Food and Drink : The bars were all very inviting and same as above the drinks were very well priced ???6.75 for a cocktail and also the snacks, cakes, icecreams etc were all well priced so once again well done MSC you have a captive audience and it is not abused. The restaurant was top notch 7 courses for lunch and again for dinner, not big courses but you dont need them, the food was of top quality nothing was a let down. The buffet was as expected a dog fight and was always busy, so we elected to eat at the restaurant. Why do people never go to the restaurant and eat in the buffet all the time? Entertainment : The shows with one exeption were excellent and entertaining, there are 2 girls from Mongolia and 2 men from Ukraine who are very very bendy and strong was incredible to see, good variety entertainment from a sand artist to a hand shadow artist and jugglers, magicians, singers, acrobats and of course dancers. The quality was overall very good and each show was well attended. I enjoyed the fact that one night the kids from the kids club came on stage big moment for them and they will remember that for a long time. Ports : We departed from Valletta and went to Messina, Rome, Genoa, Barcelona and Tunis. We did not take any tours as we found them expensive eg to Rome ???45.00 for trip to Rome and Map on the train it was ???9.00 and pick up a map anywhere.In Messina and Barcelona you can walk or get bus really easy.In Tunis even easier walk and get a taxi ( ??? 20.00 return to Tunis ). Disembarkation : Bad weather meant we could not dock at Valletta at 9 am so we waited until 5pm and the weather was the same so we were taken to a harbour on the south of Malta and taken off by Tender, maybe a few morw annoucements would have helped but they very kindly let us keep our cabin until 3pm and authorised an extra lunch in the restaurant, the real test comes when unusual circumstances occur and with the exeption of maybe 1 or 2 more annoucements MSC dealt with the situation very well. Overall we reccomend a cruise on the MSC Splendida as the ship surpassed our expectaions and hooked us on cruising, afew tips we learnt and are happy to pass on. 1.We prefer to tip individual service and asked the ???7.00 per day per person service charge to be removed and this was done easily and without fuss. 2. Get a drinks package either the cheers which we did ???115.00 each but we had receipts for nealy ???400.00 or the all inclusive. 3. Eat in the restaurants 4. Dont take the tours, do it yourself its more fun 5. Go to the shows they are worth it 6. Room service at breakfast is free, so have a pre breakfast breakfast, a cup of brown and a croissant. Starts the day nicely 7. Relax and enjoy yourself

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CABIN (YC1) -No DVD player, radio, or VCR (as advertised) -Laundry and Dry cleaning was supposed to be free but was not. -Room service: When you place your order from the interactive TV system, takes at least 50 minutes for delivery -Too much wind noise coming in from the balcony doors +Room cleaned and tidyed up twice a day +Towels changed twice a day +Minibar is free + refilled twice a day +Newspaper service every morning (available for most countries) +Routine newsletter distribution. Well communicated activity schedule. +Perfect craftmanship and very high attention paid to details during construction. Very obvious. Great room decoration. TOP SAIL LOUNGE -Very few assortment for snack buffet -Can't even find Butlers around (as advertised) -Lounge windows not cleaned during 1 week. Covered with salt. Limited visibility. +Quality and quick service +Interactive maps and screens on each table +Tables, carpets, couches cleaned very often +The most silent and relaxed area of the whole ship +Very nice fore sight (when windows are clean) +Greatest staff of the Lounge: RAJIV from Mauritus! Always smiling and always ready to serve! GENERAL -There is no real Butler service. They just welcome you and clean your room. That's it. -Outdoor pool water not heated. Only jacuzzi's are heated and very crowded. (except for the One Pool area reserved for Yacht Club members) -Did not dock in Valetta due to storm. Instead wandered around for 6 hours and then went to the Marsalock bay for a technical stop. Why didn't they stop in Marsalock at first instead of burning thousand of liters of diesel wandering around? +Very nice decoration and perfect craftmanship. The ship looks so new! +Always a cleaning going on. Very clean. L'OLIVO RESTAURANT +Reserved for Yacht Club members only. +Very silent and relaxed atmosphere ++Outstanding personalized service!!! Two big plusses for this one! Can't get this level of service in any restaurant in a european city! +Great food! Great kitchen chef! Great Menu! +Sommelier always available. Great wine selection. EXCURSIONS -Nightmare... Especially if the tour guide was an english speaking italian woman! -Most excursions in two languages, with bad english accent and high speaker volume. No need to shout! Very annoying for long bus trips! -Bus in La Goulette was so dirty inside. Try not to touch anywhere in Tunisia!

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For those of you who don't know already, we were lucky enough to win a ticket to an MSC Splendida cruise departing from our charming island, Malta. It was short notice so my partner and I were forced to check what dates we could take leave from work. We settled on 11th to 18th April. It was my 3rd cruise but my partner's and our 2 ? 1/2 year old daughter's first cruise. Embarkation We were told to meet at Magazino (the Maltese departures port) at 12pm. Of course, we arranged to be there a little bit earlier, worrying that we could find traffic and be late. They made us wait till 12.20pm because they needed permission from onboard the ship but then the check-in was really quick. Our group consisted of around 50 people and there were about 4 people doing the check-in at a time. We were on the ship in around half an hour. Everyone was very nice and helpful as they even took our daughter's stroller up the ramp themselves. We ate lunch at the Bora Bora at noon and we were given a quick emergency drill later in the day. If you are usually seasick, do take medication with you. My partner took a Meclizine based medicine once a day and was fine for the whole trip. He is usually seasick even in the calmest sea so we were prepared. We had a lot of rough sea on our cruise, especially in Malta and between Rome and Barcelona. Ship The Splendida is really huge, I mean it took around four days for us to get used to where things and places were. They, of course, provide you with a detailed map of all the deck plans so I carried that in my handbag. Our daughter loved the ship! She loved the crystal staircases which I'm telling you, the pictures don't do them justice. They are really beautifully detailed in teardrop crystals arranged all over the steps. As others said, it was impeccably clean, with staff vacuuming, dusting and polishing all the time. Do yourself a favour and go around the Piazzetta for bargains. They had nice designer jewellery and handbags at great prices everyday. Also, we found the Logo shop to be well priced. We bought some stuff including a metal repica model ship of the Splendida for just 18 euro. Staff I found the staff very eager to help in general but I found it strange that some people that were behind the reception desk couldn't speak neither english nor italian. We never had a problem with any of the staff really, they were all very nice especially to our daughter. A lot of staff actually played with her, even as she passed them. She's very outgoing so maybe that's why. Other Passengers Let me tell you something, if you don't like kids don't go with MSC. We weren't cruising during holidays, yet there were a lot and a lot of kids, from babies to teenagers. Most of them were well behaved but a very small number were unruly, especially early teen age kids. They will try to skip lines, especially near lifts. There were a couple of times where they closed the lift on us, even though there was ample space. One time we managed to get in and the little bastard even had the audacity to snarl when we made it in. They will also squeeze in when the lift is completely full even for just one floor. But seriously, you cannot expect teens to be considerate so we just took a deep breath and went on enjoying our cruise. Some people really have no manners and contrary to what was said before, it wasn't italians that were rude. We had a couple of times when people jumped the queue at the lifts and they were never italians. Some spoke Spanish, French and even other languages which I didn't recognise but I experienced absolutely no rudeness from Italians. Italians are loud, it's true, but so are Maltese so we're kinda used to that. The Food Breakfast We had a couple of breakfasts at the restaurant and then decided to try the buffet. We actually preferred the buffet here since there were a lot of choices and it was tiring ordering every single thing we wanted on one plate at the restaurant. It was very busy most of the time but most people are more than happy to share their table. If you go very early it will not be that busy. It is always the same but there was a lot of variety so we never had a problem deciding what to eat. The sausages are absolutely horrible and so is the fried ham. It is sliced canned ham and it tastes of preservatives. I do suggest you take your own mugs since I found a washed cup that still had lipstick on it and a few others that had coffee stains all over and still smelled of the stuff (I detest coffee and the smell) Lunch We preferred lunch at the restaurant since it was so much less frantic and more refined. You can notice though that some items on the menu are a variation of the previous night's menu. Still, the waiters got used to us and it was nice to be served for a change. Dinner We were in the first seating at 6.30pm in the gorgeous Villa Verde restaurant. Food ranges from good to excellent. There were only a few things I ate that I thought were nothing special. As others said, don't expect lobster or even a nice thick juicy steak. A lot of frozen vegetables used but they do dress them nicely. They even managed to make me like canned mushrooms which I absolutely hate. I couldn't, however, swallow the new potatoes, which from their powdery consistency, I realised they were from frozen too. There was an instance where I was served food in a chipped plate and even a chipped water glass. Since chipped china harbours bacteria I think this was unacceptable. It was just one time though so maybe they slipped the checks. Food service was generally at a nice flowing pace. You were neither rushed nor left waiting long periods before your next course. I really recommend Sunarta, he was happy to serve us and nothing was really a problem for him. The portions are small, we are used to larger meals in Malta. Our 2 year old ate a bowl of soup, half a plate of pasta and dessert. We always ordered the appetiser, soup, pasta/risotto, two main courses and dessert each. By the end we would be full of course. You will find a lot of seafood on this cruise but strangely enough they don't provide a lemon wedge with them. I absolutely loved the seafood tempura and please don't miss out on the limoncello cream cake. WOW!! The waiter saw how much we loved it and he brought us another one! I did find a very dirty prawn on my plate. Unfortunately, I had already eaten the other two and it did give me an (tmi) urgent watery number 2 toilet trip. So be careful. The pasta is horribly plated, just thrown on the plate and served. Other courses are nicely plated. Don't miss out on the Focaccia bread on the Gala nights (which were in Messina and the At Sea days). Activities There weren't nearly enough activities on the ship. The only things that we went to were two Arts and Crafts, Bingo and the shows. The first time I went to Arts and Crafts it was really nice. We made a paper flower which was really lovely and my daughter really enjoyed it. On the day we were at sea the Arts and Crafts was so busy, with around 20 people trying to understand what one single entertainer is showing them. I spent half an hour waiting for supplies to start (since they started earlier than planned) and got fed up and left. Bingo was 10 euros a card. Only played it once. Kids Activities The kids area is not that big but they do organise a lot of activities for the kids in one of the discos. Unfortunately, since my daughter is under 3 years old she couldn't participate in any of them, even under supervision. They told us that she could use the play area, which has some big soft shapes and a small ball pit, between 9-10am, supervised by a parent, when we are docked...so practically...never. Did they really expect us to stay aboard just so she could play in there? They did let us in on the At Sea day for that hour and told us they're closing at 10 due to safety reasons. I do understand that since the sea was a bit rough and my daughter fell over a couple of times due to the sway. Just a small note, the splendida is said to be 'La nave dei Bambini' (the Ship of Kids). Yet you cannot find a single diaper on sale on this ship. We were delayed by 9 hours on our disembarkation day and I couldn't find any for sale. Just plain stupid. Shows The shows were all nice and surprisingly my daughter loved watching all of them and was eager to go every night. I thought she would get bored or something. They mostly consisted of musical shows that required no translation of course. We especially loved the one in Genoa called Prestige. The juggler was having a bad day, but the hula hoop girl and the hand puppeteer were amazing. The acrobats in Olympo were great too. We had one night where we didn't have a show, and they also did a show just for kids which was nothing special. In fact, that was the one my daughter least enjoyed. I found it disappointing that there aren't any ramps in the lower part of the theatre. They only have a small gallery upstairs where someone with a wheelchair could watch the show. We used to leave our pushchair at the entrance and then walk our daughter to the seat, but for someone who cannot do so it is very sad. The announcements ARE annoying. In 5 different languages even in the theatre. I understand important information being relayed in all the languages but not the introduction to the show. We were annoyed and insulted that nothing was said in Maltese, not even a thank you. They were even said in Chinese and Japanese, but not in our language. Other Maltese said the same thing. Messina We decided to walk around the city since we had been to Taormina just a year ago and never to Messina. We went to see the Tempio Votivo the Kristo Re (Votive Temple of Christ the King) which had a fantastic view of all Messina. We got lost on the way, thanks to Google Maps stating there was a street when there was just a huge wall. It was a long uphill walk but well worth it. Then went to see Messina Cathedral and watched the clock tower at noon. Not as impressive as the one in Venice. If you've never been to Taormina do so since Messina is really nothing special; Taormina is. Civitavecchia Decided to take our daughter to the Rome Zoo since our partner and I had already been to Rome. Took the free shuttle to the port entrance. We took the train to Rome which was relatively easy, the way back wasn't that much since we decided to board at Roma Termini and it is a huge station. We asked several staff members were to go and all told us different things. Finally, we took Montalto train and reached Civitavecchia in time. Took a taxi to zoo (about 9 euro) Anyway, zoo was really nice. There was a lot of work being done, so some exhibits were empty but we enjoyed it just the same, especially our animal adoring daughter. It started raining and we opted for a taxi back to the station instead of walking around Rome. Genoa Rain was predicted here too so we opted for the aquarium and were really pleased we did so. We walked to the Cathedral first which was really amazing (about 30 minutes walk from ship) Then we headed to the aquarium and spent a good 3 hours there. It was Saturday, so it was quite busy but we saw everything and had a really pleasant time. We especially loved the penguins and the sting rays Walked around the old port where there were some stalls with local produce and crafts. Walked back to ship since it started raining. Barcelona Took the local shuttle for 3.50 euro. There was a long queue for it but we didn't wait long since when one was full and left, another one came by and started taking people on. The MSC shuttle was 8 euros which was ridiculous. We went to MareMagnum mall since we're visiting Barcelona again next August. We did some shopping and decided to go walk around Barcelona. We visited the Catedral (not Sagrada Familia) which was fantastic. It was raining heavily by then so we decided to go back. At Sea Bored to wits end since activities are limited and hardly interesting for my daughter. Indoor pool is tiny for all the people to fit in. At one time, there were around 13 people crammed into one jacuzzi. La Goulette As we came down from the ship we found camels waiting there so me and my daughter took a camel ride for 5 euros (not even 5 minutes) My partner took a photo with a falcon for another 5 euro. Both a bit of a rip off but we did them anyway. We were going to take a stroll around the town when we realised there is absolutely nothing to see. We had decided not to take a taxi for safety reasons since there was some unrest lately in Tunisia. But it was such a beautiful sunny day that we decided to risk it just not to waste it. We were very lucky to find a very nice taxi driver. He took us to Sidi Bou Said, Carthage and Tunis. Sidi Bou Said was exquisite. We found a small market at the beginning of the entrance and we were amazed at the beautiful handcrafts and souvenirs. Be aware that the local vendors will pester you to the limits of your patience, but we found that if you don't look at them and just keep walking, they'll stop. Don't take their first offer. We had a vendor that went down from 45 euro to just 5 euro on a leather handpainted drum. Carthage was nice. Go to Tunis only if you want to shop. Be forewarned that prices are not cheap. Only food is. We decided against Medina since even the driver told us that they grab at women, and by then, it started to rain heavily yet again and we went back to the ship. If I were to do it again, I'd only go to Carthage and Sidi Bou Said. Disembarkation We were delayed to disembark by 9 hours since the ship couldn't enter the Maltese port due to strong wind and rough seas. They told us to go eat lunch and to keep our rooms till 3pm. Some people were told by cleaning staff not to use the beds since they would have to remake them. We weren't told anything so we took a nice nap and at 3 pm went down to meet the others. We were sent to shore at Marsaxlokk (south of Malta) instead on Valletta (East of Malta) by life boats. We arrived to shore at around 6pm. Terribly tiring day. We did have some ups and downs on our cruise but all in all enjoyed it since we already knew what to expect. I am willing to cruise with MSC again, as long as the itinerary is very busy, without days at sea and not in school holidays. So, after this horribly long review...any questions?

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