MSC Armonia

Don't read the bad reviews!!!!

After reading the previous bad reviews I must admit I was very worried. Well, all I can say is as a family ranging from a 1 year old to a 70 year old, we have had an absolutely wonderful cruise. The staff are very attentive and friendly, and great at remembering your name and order. From the bar staff, table servers and room service. The food was lovely. Always plenty of choice, always hot and fresh and never a shortage of anything at all. We had no problems ordering drinks. Sometimes at theatre show times the bar was busy and there was a wait, but that is understandable. Gym was great and clean, spa great, entertainment 1st class. Free sunbed towels everyday. The only downside was lack of sunbeds on sea days due to some guests putting towels on and not using them. Apart from that we can't wait to come back.

Great experience

We have cruised with MSC Armonia in May 2022 from Venice in the eastern mediterranean. Embarkation was well organized. We checked-in at the cruise terminal in Venice and were brought with small passenger ships to the industrial harbour Marghera where the cruise ship was docked. The staff on board of the cruise ship was really friendly and outstanding. We did a cruise with MSC Seaside in 2021 but were disappointed by the service, this time it was different. The crew was really motivated and friendly all over the ship. No waiting time at the reception in case of any questions, friendly cabin steward, outstanding servers in the restaurant. The ship is one of the oldest of the MSC fleet but well maintained and modernized. We had a balcony cabin which was compared to other cruise ships quite small. There was no couch in the cabin and the bathroom was really small, but overall the cabin was fine. On the first day we had problems with our door which was not closing properly but after reporting to our cabin steward a maintenance person from the ship came and quickly repaired it. The food itself was nice, international meals with focus on italian dishes. Both buffet and regular restaurants were not to crowded. Thats the main thing which made the cruise so positive, it was really cozy. Not too many passengers and a nice athmosphere. The entertainment was not really spectacular, some average shows in the evenings and live music in the bars. Summary: I really like the MSC Armonia, even though its one of the oldest in the MSC fleet it was a great experience and cruise and I had a better cruise than on a newer MSC ship.

Excellent ship and phenomenal entertainment staff

Definitely a more European feel, so maybe not suitable for American families with young kids. The food was wonderful with a buffet running most of the day and several dining rooms. We were in the Marco Polo dining room which had amazing and tasty food each night. The waitstaff doesn't bend over backwards for their guests, which I assure all you boomers is not actually rude, and a lot of them speak limited English, so just be smart about how you order things, and don't expect them to run around the ship getting you fancy drinks that aren't available in the dining room, get them yourself. The pool felt a bit crowded on the days at sea but get yourself a spot on the upper side decks with a view of the ocean and it's absolutely amazing. The bars are quite nice and well placed outside of the dining areas and theater. I think the entertainment and nightly shows were my favorite part. The shows usually featured signing and dancing and the acrobatics were very good. If you get a chance to see the Addams' Family show definitely go for it as it absolutely blew me away. The entertainment staff is a lot of fun and definitely works super hard to make your time not in port a memorable one. Again, just keep in mind that this is a more European feel if you're an American boarding for a Caribbean cruise and all will be perfectly fine. Also the guest relations are some of the most resilient people I've ever met, so don't expect a room upgrade under any circumstances; my cruise was during the COVID-19 outbreak with a much lower number of guests than usual and even so the best we got were chocolate covered strawberries after asking 3 days straight haha. All in all this was an absolutely amazing cruise and I think next time I'll skip out on Carnival and Princess and go for an MSC cruise.

Great Cruise on the MSC Arrmonia

This was our third sailing on the MSC Armonia. We needed a handicapped cabin and were fortunate to get one on this cruise. It makes it so much easier on my husband so he does not have to climb a step into the bathroom every time he enters the bathroom. The bars around the shower were very helpful and having a chair in the shower was wonderful. Our cabin steward, Mohammed, was amazing. Our room was kept so clean and neat, everything in its place. We had a sleep timer on our remote control, just a little hard to use since it was in a foreign language. Our cabin steward always asked if there were any special needs whenever we saw him. He provided us with distilled water for our Cpap machine, extra blankets to keep us warm at night and he even filled my ice bag every night. We went to the life boat drill and were glad we did not have to stand during the drill. We went to our Sail Away Party that I had set up thru Cruise Critic after the drill was over. Not too many showed up but we celebrated our voyage by going to the Gelato Bar and had free cones of gelato with sprinkles. We met about 6 cruisers from our roll call. Difficult to talk because the band was so loud. We all compared notes about the Meet and Mingle Party that I had set up for the first sea day at 10 AM. So glad the ship stayed on our time to avoid confusion. The Meet and Mingle Party was spectacular. Robert Moik, The Hotel Manager arranged for the party to be held in a large lounge. Robert had a sax player entertain us before the party started with some beautiful songs. Miguel, our cruise director, opened the party and spoke to the over 41 roll call members who attended the party. He was a true delight and very informative. Miguel had me on stage and asked me to speak to the crowd and welcome them to our cruise. I was completely unprepared but somehow the words just came to me and I was so overwhelmed by the reaction of the crowd. Robert had a beautiful strawberry shortcake sheet cake prepared for the Cruise Critic Group and served free drinks to all who attended. At least ten officers attended the party and we all posed together around the cake while a photographer captured a photo of the entire group. Robert had an 8 x 10 photo sent to everyone who signed up for the party. What a great party. Immediately after the party we went to the casino for a Slot Pull Party that I had set up with Jeffrey, the casino manager. Jeffrey was so helpful planning the party. He awarded prizes to the top 3 cruisers who had the highest scores and he also awarded souvenir bags from the casino which also contained souvenir baseball caps from the casino along with 2 floating keychains to all who attended the slot pull. Since we were Diamond Card Members we were invited to dinner in the Surf and Turf Restaurant. Brenda, the manager of the Surf and Turf Restaurant, arranged a large table for the 7 of us who decided to have dinner together. The service and food were excellent. Brenda, surprised us with a sheet cake as an extra dessert. The food in the main dining room was good. Our waiter, Kishawn Wilkerson, was excellent. The best service we ever had on a ship. This was his last week on the ship and we do hope his contract will be renewed. The pool was too cold for us. The pizza on the pool deck is the best on the high seas. The hot dogs were great as well as the burgers. The buffet was very crowded and the food was not that appealing except for the wraps. They were yummy. We really missed the stracciatella gelato that was always there on our last 2 voyages. Best flavor of gelato!! We had to settle for the chocolate. How do like that “Settle for Chocolate”. We played trivia 3 times a day and enjoyed every minute of it playing with Tom and Gerry (the most travelled cruisers with MSC Armonia) and our friends from Florida, Doris and Gene whom we met years ago on another MSC Ship the Poesia. We also played the Pub Trivia game which was a real challenge. We came in second place. Very disappointed with the prizes that were awarded for this week long game. Only gave a prize to the first place winners (champagne) but nothing for 2nd and 3rd place. Surely they should have been given a token gift for all the dedication to appear every night for a week. The shows were very good. Abyss was the best show and so was The Time of Your Life. Did not care for the Adams Family. The Crew Talent show was excellent. The ushers with the bowler hats were hysterical before the last show (Abyss) And finally the Armonia has the best staff upon the sea. What a great cruise! Overall we had a great time. Well done MSC Armonia.