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Mediterranean Shipping Cruises

MV Armonia

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: John Mulcahy
# previous cruises: 21 to 30
Date of Trip: August 3, 2005
Itinerary: Transatlantic

The 18 day trip was from Rio in Brazil to Genoa in Italy, with calls along the Brazilian coast, at the Cape Verde and Canary islands, and in Morocco. The weather was wonderful, even approaching wintry Europe, the ship was big and beautiful and very well run, and we had a great time.

The ship is only a couple of years old and is kept immaculate. There is a complete deck of lounges, plus a double-storey theatre, a disco on the top deck, a cafeteria and coffee shop, and the two formal dining-rooms . Despite there being nearly 2000 passengers on board these public spaces never seemed crowded. The interior decoration was a little bit glitzy, in my opinion, with a fair bit of polished stainless steel and primary colours which I tend to avoid, but there were some restful and soothing corners if you looked around. I particularly liked the San Marco lounge, and regretted that its windows were not French doors opening out to the promenade deck in fine weather.

The food and service were excellent. I think Italian cuisine is the second best in the world (after French) and the "Armonia" 's kitchen staff kept very high standards. My travelling companion was a retired Italian chef who agreed with me on this point!

Our cabin, a standard outside one on Deck 8, was delightful, and was kept spotless by the attentive cabin staff. The cabin and the ensuite were small for a hotel but quite good for on board a ship.

We attended the show after dinner most nights and found them surprisingly good, especially the Italian tenor and the Brazilian and Argentinean dancers.

My way of filling in the days at sea is to find a quiet spot on deck, sometimes in the shade and sometimes in the sun, and to catch up on my reading. I was able to do that on this trip, and got through three novels. The pools and games areas and gym did not attract me but seemed very popular with the other passengers. The shore excursions we did, in Salvador and Agadir, were well run and interesting. There seemed to be very adequate child care/teenage facilities on board and children were never obtrusive or a problem.

I think that 30% of the passengers were South Americans, 30% German, 15% French, 10% other European, and about 15% Anglo-Saxon (from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA). I am Australian and had indeed chosen this ship partly because of my preference for a change of language/culture/cuisine when on holiday! I certainly got what I wanted and enjoyed the European atmosphere and rarely hearing English spoken! I would be delighted to have many of my fellow passengers, and crew members, over for dinner....but would worry that my offerings would not compare with the wonderful meals on the "Armonia"!