7 Nights Mediterranean from Venice - Marghera Cruise

A thoroughly pleasant experience in every way

We were first-time cruisers, being 60+ and from South Africa. I cannot fault the cruise line at all, everything was perfect. We were not looking for a party cruise with lots of bright lights and noise. The ship is maybe a tiny bit dated decor-wise, but I feel this made it more welcoming. Everything is in perfect condition and spotlessly clean. The crew were amazing, everybody goes out of their way to make your stay pleasant, and they are very helpful. You can see how much preparation goes into all aspects of your cruise, on and off the ship. The food was excellent, with a wide variety to choose from. The buffet is a bit of a zoo, and you need to time your meals there. But the range of food and quality was excellent. We didn't take part in any of the on-board entertainment as we were too tired from the day's exploring. It did look like fun, though. My only small gripe is about the students, particularly the male students who were noisy and disrespectful. Not all of them, but enough that you make sure to avoid being in the same space as them. All in all, a thoroughly pleasant experience in every way.

A Wonderful Surprise

My Western Mediterranean cruise in November from Rome to Rome on the MSC Lirica was one of the most enjoyable of my many years in cruising (I have taken almost 70 cruises, on all the major cruise lines from Carnival to Silversea). The MSC Lirica is an older (2003) medium-sized (2k passengers) ship that has been beautifully refurbished and is well-maintained. It does not have all the options available on the recently built megaships, but that suits me fine. When I cruise, I do not expect a floating amusement park — I want good service, good food, and interesting ports of call. MSC Lirica exceeded my expectations in all three categories. Best of all, the price was very reasonable. I think that MSC now provides the best value in the cruise industry if you choose the right departure date and itinerary. MSC is especially kind to solo travelers like myself. On most cruise lines, couples usually get a big discount on the second passenger, but solos must pay the full 200% (or more). MSC does not penalize solo travelers — I paid about 140% (of an already low cruise fare) for a solo inside cabin and even received a major upgrade before departure. MSC also excels in itinerary flexibility for its European cruises. Instead of a fixed embarkation once a week, MSC allows groups of passengers to embark at each of the ports of call. This avoids the crowds and headaches usually associated with embarkation day and allows passengers to tailor their start and finish dates to their own schedule. Keep in mind that means that disembarkation at the end of your cruise will begin about an hour after docking, so that excursion and other transit passengers can disembark first for a full day ashore. I enjoyed my MSC Lirica cruise so much that I have booked two (back-to-back) cruises on the MSC Seashore in Florida this January. It is a new megaship that has gotten great reviews on youtube. I am sure it will be a new experience for me, and I will be happy if it is even half as enjoyable as my Lirica cruise was.

Great ship, Ideal size, not overcrowded, great crew

We choose this our first cruise after recomendation from freinds, the boarding process was painless and easy and our room cards etc were all in our room on boarding all of the regsitertaion process had been done prior to us boarding and so there was none of the usual stampede for the reception desks. The cabin was ideal with a decent size balcony and we spent the at sea days relaxing on the balcony enjoying the sun and the sea air, we opted for the Fantastica experiance which we found to be well worth the addional cost with an Aurea suite. We selected the date of the trip around our aniversary and did all the usual photos onm the winding staircase etc, the photographers were very professional and we purchased several of the phjotos in colour and in black and white and the staircase photo we had framed and has pride of place in our lounge a memory of a truly fantastic 7 day jaunt arount the eastern med, most of the places on the itinery we found insteresting, one of the stops we would not bother getting off the ship again for but on the whole the locations visited were interesting and we had detailed information on each of the ports visited delivered each previous evening which we found informitive and helpfull. We were so impressed with this experiance we decided we would do again, which we did with MSC and the experience could not have been more disappointingly different!!