MSC Fantasia Review
Rating by category
Additional details
After deciding that we would cruise this year for our summer holiday it became apparent that there were only two options and we went for MSC Fantasia based on the itinerary, dates and price (for the price of a balcony on NCL we got a suite on MSC - the space was really important as we were travelling with our 16 year old daughter).
We flew to Majorca with Ryanair getting into Palma for lunch on the ship by 1.30pm. Embarkation was easy and even though we were supposed to have priority this didn’t appear to be available - although there was only two families in front of us so it wasn’t a big issue. This is where the loss of the star lies too, passing on information is not a priority of MSC, we only knew that our cruise cards would be in our rooms as we overheard somebody else’s conversation with a member of staff, we weren’t told that we had to authorise our card (however I had found this out before hand after researching on here), we had AnyTime dinning but this really isn’t anytime you still need to decide wether you will use the early or later time slot - it’s anytime within your chosen time slot, not anytime the restaurant is open. There was also a lack of information about the spa and the included massage. It would also have been nice to have a map of the ship in the room. I honestly think a welcome pack is in order - it wouldn’t take much.
Our room was just about ready when we got onboard - our room attendant was just finishing it off so we had a walk round and found a quiet little area at the back of the ship that became our go to place for port photos. Once in the room it was clear that it was immaculate, with a lot of storage space (including a hidden cupboard behind the mirror on the dressing table), the room had everything we needed including a walk-in wardrobe, hairdryer, robes and slippers. The bed was enormous and the sofa bed was very comfortable. The only complaint about the room and it will be the same for all the rooms in the vicinity is that it is very noisy when docking - sometimes this is as early as 6am so these no need for an early alarm!
Cabin Review
Suite
Lovely large cabin in really great condition. Walk-in wardrobe, full bathroom and loads of storage space. The only issue is that as it is at the back of the ship it is noisy in the morning when docking, no need for alarm calls!
Port Reviews
Florence (Livorno)
We had a tour of Livorno booked through MSC as we’ve done Pisa and didn’t really want to go to Florence. However it was cancelled due to there not being enough English speakers booked on at the last minute. So this turned out to be a bit of a bust for us - wondered round the city but It’s nothing to write hem about, we were handed info about a HOHO bus but the person who handed it out disappeared so quickly we weren’t really sure about the details.