Cruise Review - MSC Mediterranean

	by Heather Holman on Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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I was going to wait to release this article, but with recent events I think the cruise industry needs a little pick me up. Cruising is much safer than flying or driving and much more pleasurable!

While there is a lot to be said about traveling to a country, renting a car, staying a week or two and getting to see the places off the beaten path as well as the top tourist destinations, sometimes you just don't have the time! When you don’t have weeks to spend in other countries and want to get the most out of your vacation, cruises are for you!

The benefits of cruises are that you get a small sample of the port destinations without the hassle of having to worry about transportation, hotel, food – which are the most expensive part of traveling.  The money and time you save far exceed some of the disadvantages of cruising such as, small cabins, sea sickness, crowds, lines and dated ships. MSC Cruises does the best out of any cruise line to minimize these inconveniences and make the experience more like staying in a luxury hotel for a week then opposed to staying on a ship.

MSC Cruises have the most modern cruise fleet in the world and consists of mostly ecofriendly state of the art cruise ships. All 11 of the ships in the fleet were built after the year 2000, with the exception of the MSC Melody which was refurbished in 2001. MSC, which stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company, is no stranger to sailing the seas - it is the world's largest shipping line in terms of container vessel capacity and has over 463 shipping vessels. The company brought their experience of sailing the seas to the cruise industry in 1989, when it purchased the cruise ship operator Lauro Lines which later became MSC Cruises in 1995. The cruise line is now the 4th largest in the world and safely ships over 1.2 million passengers per year.  I personally hadn’t even heard of MSC until searching for a cruise to take in Europe.  MSC Cruises blew away the competitors pricing and quality, so I booked a cruise of the Mediterranean on board the MSC Fantasia. With the money I saved, compared to the other cruise companies, I was able to book a spa package for my husband and I to each receive a massage every day of the cruise 8 day cruise! If you have kids you can save even more money as kids under 11 are free! Want to be really VIP? Book a suite, get access to the VIP areas and get your own butler!

The check in process was relatively easy with a small queue to get on board in Barcelona. The ship actually boards passengers in each of the cities as the ship is constantly sailing around a circle of the Mediterranean which minimizes the check in lines. The MSC Fantasia was a very impressive ship, it is the largest ever built by a European ship owner. Greater in length than the height of the Eiffel Tower, it has 1,637 staterooms, 80% oceanview, many with private balconies. I personally need a balcony room as I get a little sea sick from time to time and being able to breathe fresh air is a must! Since the ship was so large I actually hardly felt us moving and only got a little sea sick once during the whole cruise. Luckily the reception desk had motion sickness medication as I left mine at home by accident!

The first thing you will notice boarding the MSC Fantasia is the Swarovski Crystal Staircase which is a massive main staircase that has real crystals of all sizes in between panes of glass.  The ship has nearly 300,000 sq feet of public space, including the luxury MSC Aurea Spa, 5 restaurants, casino, theater,  4 swimming pools, 12 hydro-massage pools, coffee bars, shops, a children’s area which includes a swimming pool with waterslide, a Formula 1 simulator and an interactive 4-D cinema. There are plenty of activities aboard, in fact so many you may not be able to do them all! Free activities like as quizzes, crafts, games, aqua park, gym, bowling, mini-golf, running track, tennis, badminton, waterslide, kids fun,  Broadway style shows, nightclub, library, workouts and dance classes. Plus fun paid activities like aerobics, pilates, yoga, shopping, art auctions, casino, cigar room, internet café, bars, spa treatments, hair and beauty treatments, arcade and plenty of duty free shopping.

The next thing you will be impressed by is the stateroom. We booked a balcony stateroom with king sized bed. It was actually very roomy compared to other ship rooms I’ve stayed in. The bathroom was also impressive by providing plenty of storage room for your toiletries and great lighting. It also had a makeup table/desk near the balcony with a blow drier. The room was also spotless. I can’t say enough in praise of the house keeping staff, we actually came to know our room steward, Sofia, who treated us like family and made sure we were always comfortable.

Our favorite part of the cruise besides the experience of all the great cities was the FOOD! You eat like royalty! The main restaurants feature free seated service with three courses for breakfast, lunch and   five course extravagant dinners. The soup courses were seriously the best soups my husband or I have ever had. They offer different options on a pre-fix menu and are a little flexible if you don’t like the options. Then if you are in a rush you can always head to the Zanzibar Café for a free buffet at breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can get room service in the morning with coffee and pastries at no cost. There are also several specialty restaurants available at normal dining costs if you are in the mood for something different.  Whenever possible we at the main restaurant Il Cerchio d'Oro, where the wait staff were incredible and very attentive.  There are assigned tables so you get the same wait staff each night. Our waiters remembered we liked margarine instead of butter, my husband was vegan and to bring our bottle of wine every night! Our table was right near the window and we could watch the sunset as we ate. There were also two formal dinners with special activities that were super fun! I would take an MSC Cruise again just for the food and great service!

My next favorite thing besides the food was the Aurea Spa! I bought the couple’s Golden Jasmine Package which contained 2 free welcome cocktails, entrance to Turkish bath for whole cruise, two 45 minute bali massages, two 60 minute bali massages with foot reflexology, 2 facials, and two bali body scrubs. Everyone in the spa was so nice and the masseuses were excellent. We actually loved the spa so much we bought two more 60 minute massages and I had my hair styled at the salon for one of the formal dinner nights.  I don’t think I would have loved the cruise as much as I did had I not been so relaxed from all the spa treatments! It helped deal with the stress of travel and tourism in the cities. I recommend it to anyone taking an action packed cruise. As I mentioned earlier the price savings between MSC and their competitors allowed me to purchase the spa package! So be sure to treat yourself when you book!

I was so pleasantly surprised by MSC Cruises I will definitely travel with them again. I loved this cruise in particular so much I might even take it again! I actually wrote a guide to go along with this article called the MSC Mediterranean Cruise Guide which would greatly benefit someone taking this cruise to read beforehand! I go through the details of each port and give tips on the on board experience.  MSC Cruises are already big in Europe. I hope to see them become a top name in the United States.

For more MSC Cruises Check out their website: http://www.msccruises.com

Going on the MSC Mediterranean Cruise? Check out my guide: MSC Mediterranean Cruise Guide