MSC Musica - Onboard

Onboard:

The ship, like the other MSC ships we have seen, was beautiful.  So elegant and tasteful…lush and comfortable. Completely spotless and gleaming at every corner. The public spaces were well thought out and never felt over crowded even though our sailing was sold out.  The pool area was crowded but we were always able to get a deck chair. The hot tubs were over filled with people so we didn’t use those much. I didn’t find smoking to be as big of an issue on this sailing as previous ones. The smokers really seemed to stay in certain areas and mostly outdoors.

The Food:

We loved the food in the dining room. I don’t think I have eaten that much bread in a long time. There were many options and I think out of the entire week there were only about 2-3 meals that I didn’t find something I loved. We loved all of the different risottos and my kids tried lots of new seafood. We had the cheese plate often. I didn’t care for the buffet as much. It was crowded and there weren’t many options that I liked. Other people seemed happy with it tough.  Room service was limited but we did have it a few times more as a snack while waiting for the late dinner seating. I thought it was priced fairly at one item for 3 euro or two items for 5 euro. They had salads, sandwiches and desserts. We only did the continental  room service breakfast the first morning…it was late and wrong so we decided it was just easier to go to the buffet.

The Cabin:

When I originally booked this cruise we knew we did not want an inside cabin and at the time, all that was available was a cabin with an obstructed ocean view. I took it hoping something else would open up. I called MSC every few days to see if there had been any changes and a few weeks later all of those calls paid off! Not only did a balcony cabin open up (which is what we were really hoping for) but it was an aft cabin…which is off of the back of the ship! Yea! We were 4 people (a quad as they call it) so we were really lucky to get any cabin, let alone an aft balcony. This was our first balcony, now we are spoiled.

As I mentioned before, this was out third vacation with MSC and we have been happy with our cabin each time. We think the storage is ample and well thought out. The cabins feel spacious (as spacious as a cruise cabin can feel) and we never really felt overly crowded. The bathroom isn’t huge but it was manageable.

The use of color and mirrors really added to the comfortable feel.

The Activities: This trip was so port intensive that we didn’t really participate in many of the onboard ship activities and games. We watched some and did a few but this trip, for us, was more about the ports and excursions. I know that those that did participate looked like they were having a ball. The Animation Team that organizes and hosts the games and activities were young, friendly and fun. It never ceases to amaze me at their ability to rattle off instructions or bingo in five different languages so easily. It is truly impressive.

The Entertainment: We like the MSC entertainment overall. We enjoy going to the shows and think they help kick-start our evening. This trip we did the late dinner seating for the first time so it was a little strange going to the show before dinner. This trip was mostly singing and dancing but some of the shows had specialty acts and magic. The theater is beautiful on the Musica and they are able to create many different effects to enhance the shows. I was impressed with the quality of the lighting, lasers and special effects.

The Services: We didn’t really utilize many of the additional services. We didn’t eat at the al la carte restaurants and we didn’t use the spa or gym. My daughter and I did have our hair washed and blown dry for the first gala evening. That was a treat not to have to do it ourselves after the first day of excursions. We both have long, thick hair. I wouldn’t normally use the hair salon on the ship but they had a gala night special for the wash and blow dry…about 30 Euro for each of us or if you purchased any two Kerastasse hair products the wash and dry is free. I chose to do that since I like Kerastasse products. They did a nice job and the convience was well worth it.

The Staff/Employees: As on our trips before, all of the employees and staff we came in contact with were friendly and helpful. We didn’t have any issues with the quality of service we received.

Minor Complaints: There were only a few and nothing big enough to effect the enjoyment of our trip.

* We didn’t think the professional pictures were as good on this trip and we think they are too expensive. We did purchase two but didn’t care for the price.

* Our air conditioner didn’t work well and it took the first 3 days to get it fixed. Even after that the cabin never really was very cool.

* With the late seating not being until 9:30 we found that we wanted something light to hold us over from lunch that we would eat around noon and there were no options between ,say, 3:00 – 8:00. Only ice cream or room service, which was very limited and had an extra fee.

* The time in port was too short for almost all of them.