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Mediterranean Shipping Cruises

m/v MSC Lirica

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Reviewed by:John Richard
# previous cruises: 3
Date of Trip: October 10, 2004
Itinerary: Mediterranean

Obviously after reading some "nasty" reviews of the MSC Lirica we were anxious to see for ourselves.

Our verdict is however simple, it`s a very nice (medium sized) ship where all the negatives mentioned in reviews before are totally over-exaggerated.

Yes, there are things that can be changed, embarkation was great, disembarkation at the cargo Harbour in Venice was just one huge mess.....but Venice is known for this as they are running out of space fast.

In other words, watch out for MSC....they are catching up fast and I`m sure they will be a factor to reckon with in the near future especially with the planned new-builds coming soon.

We enjoyed it, it was well worth the money ...and we can recommend it.

I would generally describe the Public areas of the MSC Lirica as simple Italian elegance. The general impression was one of shades of pink and brown marble mixed with gold trim. This colour scheme gave the ship a soft, elegant touch which can`t be more different than the Carnival "Fun Ship" decoration.

In my opinion, one of the nicest areas, especially for a pre-show drink, was the Lord Nelson Pub situated on the Verdi deck with a stair leading direct up to the Broadway Theatre.

Another pleasant area, especially to watch the sea go by in the daytime , was the Blue Club which was however hardly ever used, even in the evenings. This was probably due to the fact that there were not many children or Teenies on our cruise.

On the one hand, If one is used to the American way of service where the plates are whisked away before you`ve put your fork and knifes down, then you may define the service on the Lirica to be slow.

On the other hand, this is an Italien Ship with a predominately Italien crew and they do things differently. Eating in Italy is an "Event" where time is taken to talk and consume.

We had the early 7pm Seating and where seldom finished and out before 8.30 or 9pm......the gelatti, the expresso, the Grappa etc....all good things take time.

But as said before this is the European way to enjoy things and if one comes with an open mind to accept other cultures and other ways of doing things then the event of "eating" on the MSC Lirica can also be (very) enjoyable.

We were fortunate to be able to book one of the Suite Cabins with Balcony Nr. 12016 on the highest deck Rossini.

This cabin was without doubt the nicest I have ever had on a cruise ship. It is spacious, has a walk in Wardrobe to "hide" all the suits and suitcases has a nice (although a little small) toilet with a bath. A nice touch is the safe behind the mirror which can be operated easily.

Generally if anyone has the chance, book one of these cabins it just helps to "make the cruise" that little bit more enjoyable than it already is.

We visited the shows each evening and generally they were very professional and entertaining. In my opinion the time frame of one hour was" just right".

On of the best of the whole cruise was the Magician...what a show!!

The cruise we went on was the Eastern Med from Venice with Stops at Bari (pick-up passengers), Dubrovnik , Corfu, Rhodes, Kusadasi and finally Katakolon before returning back to Venice.

Generally we are not the "tour" people and like to tour the cities and islands on our own. Maybe this was a mistake however can be recommended for Dubrovnik (take the shuttle offered at the tour desk), Corfu, Kusadasi and Rhodes as all these cities are in walking distance from the ship and offer good shopping possibilities.

We however heard from fellow passengers that the tours to Olympia (Katakolon) and Ephesus (Kusadasi) were interesting and well worth it. Generally the feeling was that all tours were reasonably priced at Euro 35 to 50.

On our cruise, there were out of a total of 1700 passengers a majority (900) from German speaking countries with a large contingent of Germans, Swiss. and some Austrians. The next largest group apart from the Italians themselves were a group from Japan.

Generally however this is an International ship with a total of 27 Nationalities on board with people from England, Australia and also quite a few from the USA.