MSC Lirica Review

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Review for the Eastern Mediterranean Cruise on MSC Lirica
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Mtompkins
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jul 2018
Cabin: Fantastica Balcony Stateroom

We had never heard of this cruise line but ran the Eastern Italy and Greece and it fit our schedule. We didn’t have a lot of expectations of this cruise but it turned out to be one of the most fun cruises we have ever been on! As Americans we were concerned that we would not understand what was going on, but we actually did just fine as they make announcements and daily information letter in English and other languages. There is a wonderful show every night that was highly entertaining! Very talented performers! They also have a entertainment staff that run all the activities throughout they day and into the evening. They were so funny and engaged the guests with so much energy! They put on their own comedy show every night that had very few folks at the first night but by the end of the cruise there was standing room only! You could tell they loved their job! We met several staff members on board that we formed a relationship with which always makes a cruise more enjoyable. Our favorite bar was the Pub. Really have only a few negatives we found on board. Breakfast was not the best meal for sure. We only had lunch on board 3 times and that was good but found we liked eating in the dining room better for lunch. Dinners were fantastic! There was probably on 2 dinners that were not a good as others. We traveled with 4 of us and almost always each of us had something different so got to taste a lot of the food. The elevators are very slow, so we tended to walk up and down instead. Getting off the ship in ports could have been better. People can start this cruise at several ports so there was folks going on shore for the day and some leaving the cruise. For the most part we didn’t notice unless it was a port where there was a lot of guests disembarking like in Venice. They should have had a separate exit off the ship for those going out for the day as you had to wait in line to get off the ship along with everyone else. Takes away from your port times. Some of the ports had such a short time in them that was not fun in some of the ports. Some of them a few hours were enough, others, we would have loved a full day.

The buffet area is not good! Way too small and hard to get around with the layout they have. Food was good, but it was really hot in the dinning area and very narrow. Not a good feel up there. Like I said before, we liked eating in the dinningroom for both Breakfast and Lunch better. Just a better feel. You could order off menu or go through the buffet in there. Overall, we had a blast on this cruise. Felt a little “fish out of water”the first day only because we felt like we were the only ones on board that spoke English, but by day 2 we were just fine and met folks from all over Europe, and had a blast trying to communicate with them! Just added so much to our experience! Give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised!

Cabin Review

Fantastica Balcony Stateroom

Cabin B2

Cabins are small but have lots of storage. The bed was super comfortable. The show is one of the smalles I have ever used on a cruise ship and had trouble gettin the door to seal. But nice bright clean room. I liked the colors. We had the first balcony so only had 1 neighbor. The balconies can open to each other if you are traveling with others. We found this to be a fun place to hang out and have a drink

Port Reviews

Bari

We booked an excursion through Viator Bari bike and pasta tour. This was one of the coolest things we did! So much fun! Meeting the Italian ladies and watching them make pasta by had was great! Trying it our selves was funny. Got to eat a pasta lunch before riding back to ship!

Mykonos

Mykonos the village was so beautiful! So amazing! But outside the city is not pretty! We did take a bus to Paradise Beach and that was beautiful and fun. Not the best port on this cruise to spend the most time. Don’t take the ship shuttle here as you pay 7 euros each for round trip. Taking the port shuttle is only 2euros

Crete (Heraklion)

Did the hop,on hop off bus..... not good! Hardly any place that it actually stops and not a very interesting city. We could have skipped this port and been ok

Dubrovnik

Most beautiful city! All I could keep saying was WOW! Walked the wall and rode the cable car. Needed way more time in this port for sure!,,,,

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