MSC Poesia Feb 2010 1st time cruisers on this Cruise Line

[shanicans]

Hello,
This will be our first time cruising with this cruise line. We have cruised on Holland, Carnival, RC and Celebrity. We're a little nervous about what to expect. Any info would help re: Food, entertainment, staterooms, tips, etc.?

[valtime]

Haven't been on the Poesia (do sail on her Dec. 10th) but were on the Orchestra last Feb. We loved it. They had the best entertainment we had seen in 50+ cruises. The theatre is beautiful and the Poesia is the sister ship. One drawback, so to speak, is language. Everything is given in 5 different ones so no commedians - no big deal. The meals were great everywhere. Met many wonderful people (workers) so all in all would definately recommend it. More when we return on the 20th of DEc. Hope this helps.

[mapsmith]

Another MSC Fan here. One thing about MSC. They do not have the Non-Stop Food like other lines. Breakfast ends about 9:30-10. Lunch is about 11 to 2:30. Dinner starts about 5:30 in Buffet. They usually have a gala Mexican Buffet at Midnight one night. It is really good.

As to the food. There is a Risotto at every lunch and dinner that is absolutely spectacular. One of the best dishes on board any ship. Don't miss it. However, there very seldom is chocolate deserts. (Yes at the Mexican Gala Buffet) but limited at other times.

Enjoy. And ignore negative comments from any other boards.

[Mickeymom923]

To keep it brief, we just got back from the 5 day MSC Poesia doing the Western Caribbean. The ship is beautiful and spotless. That's the only good thing I have to say. I am a travel agent and I never see the negatives - only the positives. This cruise changed my mind about that. The food was terrible and the service was worse. There was hardly any activities. No one went out of their way to do anything. The food was overcooked, not cooked. To quote others on the cruise "the things that can't be ruined MSC found a way to ruin". We heard horror stories. Juices were watered down. Soap dispenser in bathroom was watered down. They ran out of food on formal night. They closed the pool early around 7pm. Room service menu hardly had anything on it. Honestly, this could be a great cruise line if changes were made. They gave out numbered tickets the night before we arrived in Grand Cayman to board the tender despite people traveling together. Embarkation and debarkation were about 2 hours each. They collected our key card upon leaving the ship. No other cruise line has ever done that to us before. The language barrier made things really difficult. I personally would not sell this cruise to clients at this time hoping that changes would be made. If they could turn it around, and I saw it for myself, then I'd recommend it. Hopefully by the time you go, things might be better. Just go with an open mind and don't mind losing weight on this cruise.

[nlb1050]

We have been on the Lirca twice and would definitely sail with MSC again. Yes there are a lot of differences between MSC and Carnival/RCI/NCL/Holland etc but there is one thing we found great about MSC, the crew (all) that interact with the passengers have to be the friendliest of any cruise line. Yes many freindly on other lines but can not compare to MSC.

Everynight there is some type of late night snack, some nights the waiters will walk all over the deck which has the casino and serve snacks, some times in the buffet and others on the pool deck. So even though ther is no 24 buffet you will not starve.

Both of our cruises were 10 nights so you can see we do like MSC.

[valtime]

We sail next Thursday and know we will enjoy ourselves. 50+ cruises and not a bad one yet. We don't sail until 7p.m. but assume we can board before one as usual. Do they have robes in the cabins - can't remember from the Orchestra. 10 days of doing nothing beats the heck out of being home.