Cruise the Eastern Mediterranean! MSC Preziosa!
Cruise the Eastern Mediterranean! (one)
Venice - MSC Preziosa - Bari - Katakolon - Izmir - Istanbul - Dubrovnik - post-cruise Venice - Prague - Marianske Lazne - Karlovy Vary.
After our first cruise, we didn't think about going straight to the second one. We liked this type of holiday, but road trips attract more so far. And only in the summer there was a desire to go on a cruise on an autumn vacation, and with the exit from Venice.
There was very little time to think, because I flew to Russia for 3 months ...and now the route was chosen, MSC again, only another ship, the newest Preziosa.
I looked through all the sites known to me, the prices for the cruise were not encouraging. I wrote inquiries to cruise agents, including German ones. From whom the price was the most attractive, they ordered from him. The difference in prices on European and American sites is significant, for us it was about 500.00 euros, which is why the cruise was booked through an American agent.
Since we are not experienced cruisers, the liner for us is nothing more than a floating hotel, we perceive the cruise and the liner as a means of transportation, for the sake of new countries and cities. Maybe when this type of vacation becomes more common, we will consider cruises in a different way: a cruise for the sake of a cruise.
“And finally the day of departure has come ... ”, no, I didn’t think so, but quite the opposite: “God, are we leaving tomorrow already? ” There were only 3 weeks for preparation, including choosing and book 4 hotels, so due to lack of time, one of them turned out to be completely unsuccessful.
So, we landed in Venice, at the Marco Polo airport. To get to Piazzale Roma, we need the ATVO express buses - blue in color, which stop is located to the right of the exit. This has been written about on various forums.
We left the arrivals hall to the street, well, we need to go somewhere to the right, look for a stop. There were no buses in sight.
We go, we don’t find anything, a road, a barrier, parking lots ...a couple of buses arrive, but it’s not them, one is from Slovenia, the other is also “alien”. We go in circles, looking. We went on, some stops. We ask where the stop to the square. Rome, and we are asked in response: what hotel are you in? What difference does it make in which hotel, if we are up to pl. Rome, I think. We stood and waited, as it turned out later, these were shuttle bus stops from certain hotels. We are not here, where next?
The husband says, well, that's it, tired of running around all the parking lots, we go back to the airport building and there we learn about this ill-fated stop. Before we got to the entrance, we saw blue buses.
The stop is DIRECTLY in front of exit "C"!! ! Exit the building, cross the wide road, and here it is! No right, no left.
Maybe we would have seen it ourselves earlier, if it had been light, and there would have been a bus there, otherwise it was already dark, there were no buses there, and I was oriented to go somewhere to the right.
We bought tickets from the driver, 6.00 euros, he validated them for us himself, you can do it on the street, you can do it on the bus itself. And we went to Venice ...Somehow it was not very joyful in my soul ...because of this stupid running around. Usually I double-check all the information, but not this time, there was not enough time. They thought that now everything would go topsy-turvy, but thank God, this did not happen, except for a couple more trifles, the rest of the journey went perfectly.
From sq. Rome to the hotel, I managed to walk with the "yellow little man", so I was guided very well.
Review about the hotel here: http://www.turpravda.en/it/venecija/Dolomiti_Hotel-h44717-r105836.html
2. MSC Preziosa
Boarding the ship in Venice.
We stood in line, there were a lot of people, we advanced for 10-15 minutes. First you come to the tables, there were several of them.
They check the documents, give the queue number for boarding the liner, and also give you to fill in the honey. form. We didn’t have tags on our suitcases, we attached them ourselves and indicated where to go to drop off our suitcases.
We checked in our luggage and went up to the second floor to check in. Photographers are attacking here ...passed by, stood in line. The queue is alive, they also stood for 10-15 minutes. While you are standing in line, the company's employees offer packages of drinks, excursions, spa treatments ...There were a lot of check-in counters, literally everything, I did not see empty ones. Came up, registered, cruise printed tickets were taken from us. They also gave out cards/keys and an envelope with coupons for free mineral water. This applies if the cruise is booked through US agents or US. site.
Now we have gone to a hall with armchairs where you can sit down, where various free drinks are also offered. Now we are waiting for our turn to control and board the liner itself.
Our queue number was 4, the number lights up on the electronic scoreboard. The wait was not long, 5-10 minutes. Passports and cards/keys are checked again. Next, hand luggage for inspection, through the frame yourself and in front of the corridor to the ship.
Our landing was not tiring, I was preparing for the worst, for a long standing in lines ...In the cruise documents, we had a landing time of 12:00, but we arrived much earlier, and at the beginning of the first we were already on the ship.
Immediately at the entrance, the stewards greet you with a greeting, but first they ask from which country. I said I'm from Germany. The greeter went through his papers / cribs in his hand and read something in German to me like: welcome to the ship, your cabin is not ready yet, now you can go up to the restaurant on deck 14 ...you can go to the cabin after 14:00 ...have a happy cruise.
The husband stopped and said, and I'm from Russia. He again went over his notes, and read the same thing in Russian.
Not solemn, of course, but pleasant nonetheless.
Brief overview of the liner.
Why is it short, because we didn’t have time to visit everywhere, 7 days, alas, is not enough.
I will not describe all the different technical parameters of MSC Preziosa, they are available on the Internet in sufficient quantities, I can only say that it is very similar to MSC Splendida, but this is not surprising, because this is another twin sister.
This time, a cabin with a balcony category Bella No. 8128 was ordered. There were 3 options to choose from: at the bow, in the middle and aft, all on deck 8. On the bow, I did not like the cabin because its balcony was not transparent, but steel. At the stern there would have been an excellent view in all directions, but something that was often found in the reviews was embarrassing: pitching, vibration, etc. were felt more strongly. We chose the middle of the ship, not far from the atrium.
Below, on deck 7, there is a promenade area, right in front of the cabin - boats, this, of course, spoiled the view a little. But if you look up a little, then only the sea and the sky are ahead.
I especially liked to contemplate such a picture while lying on the bed, here the boats hardly interfered.
Sunbathed on the balcony a few times. When the ship goes to sea, I was cool on the upper decks because of the wind, but on the balcony there is grace, and there is no wind, and the sun is shining, and complete peace. We made sure once again that a cabin with a balcony is the right choice for us, exactly what we need.
After lunch on deck 14, we arrived at the cabin even before 14:00. She was already ready, they looked around, here instead of a sofa there was only an easy chair, wardrobes are located opposite the bed, I liked it even better than if they were in the corridor, in the bathroom instead of a shower - a whole bathtub, also good. Detergents in bottles screwed to the wall. Also, as usual, there was a small refrigerator - mini / bar and 2 bottles of mineral water: with and without gas, all this for money.
The air conditioning in the cabin works great and you can regulate the temperature yourself. On the inside of the front door there is a safety instruction, in 6 languages, there is no Russian, but everything is clear there anyway. In a word, we liked the cabin.
I noticed the slightly sagging mirrors, the window at the balcony door, the lower part of the coffee table...and the bed, how carelessly made...well, I can't stand it.
When we went to the uppermost deck to watch the exit from Venice, we met our steward in the corridor, and I needed him. And since he does not speak either Russian or German, I showed him a sign to follow me. And also in the cabin pointed out what I did not like. He understood everything, by the evening of the same day everything was already sparkling. Well, I don’t like it when mirrors or glass are zalapany. In the future, there were no more claims against him.
Dismantling the bed for sleep, he twisted different figures for us, but not every day, every other time.
What else pleased me in the cabin was the presence of a blanket with a duvet cover, somehow I don’t really like sheets, they always move somewhere.
This time we missed it. At first we settled very well on the upper deck for the contemplation of Venice when we leave it. There were already quite a lot of people here. Then a drill was announced several times, many left, others remained. If we left, we would no longer be in our wonderful railing seats. At the time of departure, the people were already standing in 5-6 rows, not that it was possible to photograph something, but even just to see something standing behind was not possible. And we enjoyed this spectacle to the fullest.
On the same day in the evening we received a reminder that tomorrow at 14:00 we need to go through this briefing.
We prepared for this, sitting in the cabin with vests in our hands, waiting for the siren to sound. And she is not and is not. After 15-20 minutes, we went to the reception to find out what was the matter? And everyone is already running around in vests. They asked, we were told that there was no siren, just at the agreed time everyone gathered in the theater ...well, we didn’t get it. No more letters of reminder were brought to us.
Swimming pools and water slides.
I really liked the not deep pool at the stern, with a glass side, the depth of which is only 1.35 meters, so there is a sign - diving is prohibited. The pool is built on the principle of infinity edge pool and if you look a little from afar, it seems to merge with the horizon. We did not swim, we are too thermophilic, but the water there was still cool. But to sunbathe - sunbathed. There were always enough sunbeds. MSC ships have such infinity pools only on MSC Divina and MSC Preziosa. On the right side of the pool is the Garden Bar and some sun loungers, on the left side - only sun loungers.
In addition, in the middle of the ship there is a large swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a stage where animation shows take place. We were there a couple of times when there were performances by artists with incendiary Latin American dances and when various figures were cut out of fruits and vegetables. For a long time I dreamed of attending such an event, but everything turned out to be somehow too simple.
I imagined it a little differently: there are tables, chefs cut out figures, you can walk between the tables and look at everything and take pictures as much as you want.
Here, everything was different. The tables were on the stage and they were not allowed to approach them, everyone stood / sat at a distance. The animator picked up some fruit / vegetable, approached the tourists, asked from which country, and how this fruit would sound in the language of this country. And then everyone in unison should pronounce this name. Then he also approached another, third, etc. So they occupied the curious while the figures were cut out.
As soon as the first figurine was ready, everyone rushed to take pictures of it, but everyone was literally driven back. I still don't understand why it wasn't possible to shoot.
We could not stand there for a long time, the noise from dozens of voices pronouncing the names of fruits was unimaginable. Two figurines were made in our presence, and then we left.
Even a deck above there are only sun loungers, there is a lot of space. In the pool area under the retractable roof looked only briefly.
There is a 120-meter VERTIGO water slide with a transparent pipe segment in the middle of the descent, the children rode it to the fullest, they did not see adults. It is located aft on decks 15-16, behind the branded pipe with the MSC emblem.
Evening shows at the theater.
Evening shows are held at the Platinum Theatre. Theater for 1600 seats. We went every evening, did not miss a single performance, we were completely delighted. The two shows "PANDORA" and "WONDERLAND" are simply unique, and they are made specifically to be shown so far only on MSC Preziosa.
A full house and long applause for an encore, it really was very cool. And we also liked all the other performances very much.
Captain and his team
For the past 5 years our captain Guiliano Bossi has been the first to bring new MSC liners to the oceans and seas with his longtime girlfriend Sophia Loren on inaugural voyages. They are like the "Godmother" and "Godfather" of the latest generation of MSC liners.
We did not meet anyone from the Russian-speaking staff at the reception, but it was enough for us that they speak German. We went to the reception on the very first day, at first they wanted to know if it was possible to upgrade the cabin. We had a cabin with a balcony of the "Bella" category for the "Fantastica" category, to which in response it was said that the liner was almost completely redeemed, if it can be changed, then only for the yacht club. We didn't even ask how much it cost.
Then they asked that the daily newspaper be brought to us in German, if not in Russian. On the very first evening, the newspaper was replaced by a German-language one.
There was a Russian-speaking girl in the travel department, in the perfume shop, in photoshop, the cruise consultant also speaks some Russian...
General captain's reception and separately for club members.
On Sunday, October 20, there was a captain's reception or Gala Cocktail and then Gala - evening. We didn't sleep this time. Cocktails and drinks were on 3 decks: 5.6 and 7 around the atrium. You can go to any bar counter and choose something for yourself. Then we found a cozy sofa and settled down there. The waiters also walked around and offered different drinks, you could try everything without even getting up. In the photo with the captain there was a long line, they did not stand.
After dinner, as usual, the theater hosted a performance by the top managers of all departments of the ship.
The captain gave a welcoming speech in many languages, in Russian briefly, approximately: ladies and gentlemen, welcome on board, thank you, goodbye.
The captain's reception for MSC members was held at the Safari Lounge. Most of all in this bar I liked the chandelier, just a miracle.
The night before, an invitation was brought to the cabin for this welcome cocktail at the Safari Lounge at 5:45 pm, 45 minutes before dinner, that's how long it took. They ask for invitations before entering. I began to open my purse to get it, and seeing that we had it, they let us into the bar. Pleasant music played there, the lights were slightly dimmed, smartly dressed passengers sat at the tables. You can choose any tables you like ...from the free ones. The waiters served champagne, cocktails, juices...all sorts of canapé s, the atmosphere around was very pleasant.
Then came the captain with officers, cruise director, cruise consultant...
The captain said a welcoming speech, then everyone could take a picture with him. And there are few people, there is no queue, well, here we could not resist the temptation to capture our loved ones as a keepsake with him.
To be continued.. .
