MSC Fantasia Review
Fantasia is not a Fantasy - it was just 2 Weeks in the Sun aboard a Nice Ship
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BACKGROUND: My wife and I are British and have cruised MSC since 2004. They are not the best and not the worst, but they always represent good value for money. We choose cruises based on 1) Itinerary, 2) Price and 3) Cruise Line. We have sailed 11 times now on 6 MSC ships, the latest being these two back-to-back cruises around the Arabian Gulf. We have also cruised 16 times on 12 other ships from five other lines (Holland-America, Festival (now defunct), Cunard, P&O-UK & Princess). So I guess we have a reasonable insight about what to expect on medium rated ships.
Our two cruises aboard Fantasia were each one week long and sailing out of Abu Dhabi (UAE). Week 1 went to Sir Bani Yas (UAE), Doha (Qatar), Manama (Bahrain), Dubai overnight (UAE) and back to Abu Dhabi. Week 2 continued on to Muscat (Oman), Khasab (Oman), Sir Bani Yas again, Dubai overnight again (UAE) and back to Abu Dhabi. We know Abu Dhabi and Dubai reasonably well and enjoy them, but we chose this combination for Qatar, Bahrain & Oman, which were new to us. We also wanted a couple of weeks of winter sunshine.
TRAVEL & EMBARKATION: In 2016/7 season MSC offer joining in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The difference is that with a one week cruise Dubai embarkation gives you one full day each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Whereas Abu Dhabi embarkation gives you two full days in Dubai but no quality time in Abu Dhabi. We chose Abu Dhabi as with back-to-back cruises it gave us 4 full days in Dubai and 1 in Abu Dhabi.
Cabin Review
Balcony Stateroom
Fantastica B2 grade cabin over the wake. We like this position on all ships, where possible. It is a standard sized double cabin (larger compared with many other ships) with 6 ft bed, sofa and ample dressing table. Cabins over the wake tend to be considerably deeper than along the sides of the ship. We could have done with sun-beds (plenty of room), but had to be satisfied with two chairs and a table/foot stall.
Everything was in excellent condition. The TV is small and the choice of English-speaking channels is very limited. Films are chargeable. The shower room/toilet is the standard economical size, but everything was in good order. The wardrobe storage area is a little small - especially drawer space. We take our own slim clothes hangers to supplement the bulky ones provided by the ship.
We had an excellent cabin steward - friendly but unobtrusive and towels were changed morning and night, whether we asked for it or not.