Here's a collection of my musings while sailing on the Crown Princess in February 2020... to follow along with these in real-time, be sure to join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parodeejay/
Crown Princess Day 1. We arrived at the port early and snagged that sweet boarding group one. Their terminal is surprisingly pretty inside with a big digital wall for welcome photos and a cool little tunnel you walk through into the main seating area. We started moving around 11:40am and were enjoying a leisurely lunch in the Da Vinci dining room at 12:00pm. Easy peasy. Our first taste of Princess cuisine was pretty glorious. Everything was well-seasoned and I couldn’t find a single fault. I even tried to order the strangest sounding dessert, a trifle of cake, fruit, pudding, jello, and whipped cream... and it was dang tasty, hah! The cabins were ready at 1:00pm sharp, and our bags were waiting for us when we got there. The cabin is pretty big, the bed is super soft, there’s a nice walk-in closet, but the shower... it’s not looking so good. Not only is it small, but the shower head is short and doesn’t detach or adjust. Looks like we’ll both be doing squats in the shower to get our hair washed! We aren’t fans of the schedule on the app just yet... it’s a strange little system that you have to scroll both sideways and up and down to read everything, and it’s easy to miss activities. They don’t seem to have an option to read the schedule in a chronological list on the app, but maybe we’ll come across an option to change it eventually. Muster was inside but still standing up, but was relatively painless and involved lots of satirical interpretation of The Love Boat theme song. Next up was the sailaway party on the lido deck, involving the singers & dancers. Quite lively, but the crowd was too chill for all that noise, so it seemed to die down quickly. We explored the ship a bit, laid on our comfy bed a bit, then headed to dinner. The food was really good again overall in the dining room. I ordered the flourless chocolate cake thinking it would be similar to a melting cake, but it wasn’t. It was like... a cake. Go figure! The evening entertainment schedule wasn’t too full, but we opted for a fun Jeopardy-style trivia followed by a singer/comedian show. We’re adjusting slowly to the “relaxed” vibe of this cruise, hah... we haven’t heard the wobble once, but we’re still hoping!! :P
Crown Princess Day 2. We’d heard rumors and legends of the buffet on Princess, and breakfast didn’t disappoint! The selection was huge, everything was tasty, the silverware was waiting for us on the table, and they had roving waiters refilling coffee tableside like crazy. After breakfast, we hit a random trivia, and then it was time for steel drum class. The drum is the same model I have at home, and I got picked to play in the lead group. Whoop! There are three or four practices, followed by a group performance in the lobby on the last day. The afternoon brought a line dance class for Dancin’ Dee, where they electric slid, cupided, and a handful of other boogies. We took a cue from our fellow passengers and returned to the room for naptime, then got fancied up for formal dinner. The shower turned out to be not as bad as expected, but I’m not doing any line dances in there anytime soon. They do recommend a suit & tie for formal dinner, though it’s not required. I did witness a gentleman being turned away for wearing shorts and a polo though. Dinner was really good overall, other than one pasta dish that was overcooked. Post dinner entertainment included a champagne waterfall with free glasses abounding. The evening show was an original musical crafted by Broadway’s Stephen Schwartz especially for Princess, featuring some of his more popular showtunes, and a few we’d never heard. It was a strange mix of magic with Broadway, but it was aight, hah... We closed out the evening by watching the Marriage Match game show (yep, like Love And Marriage), then Dee auditioned for Voice Of The Ocean which is a partnership between Princess and The Voice TV show. We’ll know in three or four days if she made the cut! Whoop whoop!!
Crown Princess Day 3. We started our day with breakfast in the dining room and were a little disappointed in the small selection. The pastry tray was enormous though, hah. What we had was fantastic, but we might tend toward that huge buffet of awesomeness for our morning cuisine from now on. After a fruit & veggie carving demo in the piazza, we headed to steel drum practice where I scored not only another lead part, but a bonafide solo at the performance on the last day. Whoop! We stopped by the British Pub Lunch for a bite, which was fantastic and flavorful. The afternoon brought more line dancing fun for Dee, then we headed back to the cabin to gather some laundry to cleanse in the passenger laundromat. Fresh undies for the win! The shower continues to underwhelm, and I’ve found myself hitting my head on the showerhead a few times because I’m smooth like that. Dinner was also a winner, and we haven’t found much in the dining room that hasn’t been excellent. After dinner, we got our first taste of Movies Under The Stars... padded loungers, buttered popcorn, what a treat! Our evening came to a close with a trivia win, the prize being a Princess journal, and a magic show. Huzzah!!
Crown Princess Day 4. We arrived in St. Thomas and received clearance at 7am. Our plans for the day were very freeform, so we weren’t in a rush to leave the ship. Breakfast came from the smorgasbord of a buffet and was great as usual. We set our sights not on St. Thomas itself, but on the neighboring island of Water Island. One taxi to Crown Bay, one ferry to Water Island, one safari truck to Dinghy’s Bar, and we found ourselves at Honeymoon Beach. Snorkels. Turtles. Bushwackers. All was well in the world. Reverse the process and we found our way to the ship again. Lunch came from the buffet, which never ceases to amaze, with a bonus stop for a slice of pizza and a couple of ice-cream cones. A couple of slightly-cramped showers later and it was trivia time. We lost to a team that’s on a B2B2B2 (who knows how many loops) that always seems to get perfect scores. Dinner in the MDR was fantastic... Dee found what she thinks might be her favorite dish at sea ever... the Bahamian Fish Stew with Jonnycakes. Yum! The evening show was a singing and dancing extravaganza of disco tunes. While waiting for the show to start, I decided to download the Ocean Casino app which lets you gamble from anywhere on the ship. Dangerous! But two spins later, I was up $47 and decided my streak was over so I quit, ha ha... The show was a more traditional style of straightforward singing and dancing, and the talent was quite good. The evening brought a flurry of fun, including the Majority Rules game show, karaoke, and a trivia about six decades of music. Whew! Good night!! :P
Crown Princess Day 5. We arrived in Dominica at 9am, and we were surprised to see they docked us at the container port rather than the pier downtown. After grabbing some buffet breakfast, we headed outside to figure out how our independent tour would work, as the meeting point was supposed to be across the street from the cruise pier... the one we weren’t at... which is a few miles away. We had booked independently with Waitukubuli Tours to do a snorkeling excursion, but they emailed us yesterday to let us know no one else booked with us, and asked if we would like to join a waterfall hiking tour. We figure we’re always up for a little adventure, even though their website mentioned a 45-minute hike. The container port offers a free shuttle, but they told us a Waitukubuli Tours rep had come over to pick folks up. Turns out he was there gathering folks for a city tour, but our guide Hubert agreed to come over and pick us up. He said the ship size probably put us at the container port. We had one other couple on the tour with us. Our first stop was a scenic overlook where Dee bought a turtle-related souvenir from a local vendor. Next up was the actual hike to Middleham Falls, and oh man... this was quite the hike! One and a half miles up an intermediate trail made up of streams, rocks, logs buried in the ground for traction, tree roots, and mud. This was the most extreme physical excursion we’ve ever undertaken, and with a few rest stops to actually breathe air, we did it! Hubert was amazing, pointing out the best footing, and even finding a big branch for me to use as a hiking stick. I can’t express how satisfying it was to make it to the end. The only problem? The one and a half mile descent back down the same trail. The trek up had taken the wind out of us, but the trek down was a logistical minefield of “which rock/log looks good to step on where I won’t slip off the side of a mountain”. There were points I wanted to tell them to send a helicopter in to lift me out, but after a few thousand carefully placed steps with Jello legs, we reached the bottom. Cue that satisfied feeling of accomplishment once again. The third stop was a refreshing dip and swim to the Ti’tou Gorge, where you can bathe in the chilly waters underneath a different waterfall. Such a nice way to cool off after that hike! Hubert dropped us off at the container port, and we headed back onboard to shower and lay down on that dang cozy bed for a minute. The warm shower was so nice that I ignored the fact that the showerhead is permanently set for the height of a small child. I felt so manly getting ready for dinner that I didn’t even shave my face. What an adventurous animal! Dinner in the MDR was pretty much amazing. One of the best overall meals, and they’ve all been really good. The evening found us challenging our brains at a movie music trivia (we won a bottle of champagne), listening to the house band Exxile, and ending with round two of Voice Of The Ocean auditions. Yes, Dee rocked it and got a spot in the final “live show”. You knew she would! After much stuff & things, we’ve earned a sleep. Good night!! :D
Crown Princess Day 6. We had a strange combination of early and short port time in Grenada today (7am-2pm) so we decided to take it easy after the extreme adventure from yesterday. We slept in, grabbed a leisurely breakfast from the buffet, and headed ashore. Our original plan was to check out Grand Anse Beach, so we had messaged our friends at the Grenada Discovery Train (see our Breeze vlog series for that adventure) for more information about the local water taxi service. We eventually decided to skip all that and take a ride on the train around town again, and we got to hang out with Donisha and Sebastien... such a fun way to see the city. Their tour is normally $25 and includes admission to a fort and a museum, but since we were in on a Sunday a lot of things were closed. They had dropped the train tickets to $15 with no admission included. We wandered around a bit at the port, then headed back to the ship. Back onboard, we snagged lunch at the International Cafe, including a sampling of four flavors of cookies. We actually spent some time outside-ing during our sailaway from Grenada, and snuck in a quick livestream over on the YouTube machine. Our afternoon adventures included a session with the Princess Pop Choir (similar to the “Glee Club” on Carnival Journeys cruises), afternoon trivia, and a Voice headshot photo session for Dee. We opted for dinner at the buffet both for speed sake and the fact that it was India & British themed cuisine. There were some really nice choices there, and we were surprised to see placemats and rolled silverware, as well as roving waiters offering drink refills. The evening found us at movie poster trivia, the yes/no game show, karaoke, and a brand new semi-adult-oriented game show called punch line knockout where you compete to give clever captions to photos, etc. All that fun left us ready for the cozy bed, so that’s a wrap!! :P
Crown Princess Day 7. Our port of call for today was the beautiful island of Bonaire, but we weren’t due to arrive until 1pm. We hit the breakfast buffet, then rambled around to Zumba, sudoku, trivia, pop choir rehearsal, and such shenanigans. The captain got us into port a bit early and we headed ashore around 12:45pm. Our plan for the day was to ride over to Klein Bonaire with Caribe Watersports again, and their service was exceptional as usual. We caught their 1:15pm water taxi, stayed over there about three hours, Dee saw many many fish, declared it officially her favorite snorkeling spot ever, and we caught the 4:45pm ride back to the ship. Dinner in the MDR was Italian-themed, and was pretty solid. After dinner, we joined a trivia halfway through and got 11 out of 11 right, hah. The Liar’s Club game was next, where you had to vote on who was telling the truth out of a panel of three staff members. The panelists made up definitions for raunchy-sounding words and it got a bit PG-13, hah... not that it’s really an issue with this crowd! We closed out the evening with some 70s music trivia and the Love Boat 70s Disco Deck Party. This is a tough crowd to get dancing, but the staff and dancers did a good job, ha ha... and then it was time for bed!! :D
Crown Princess Day 8. We reached our last port of call at 7am, which was Aruba. One happy and windy island. We ordered breakfast to the cabin then headed out to catch a taxi to MooMba Beach. We decided to revisit one of our favorite excursions from our Carnival Conquest days and become pirates once again aboard the Jolly Pirates ship, this time on their 9am morning snorkel with lunch included. Dee snorked all the snorks, we drank all the rum, and ate all the food. The water was much clearer and the wreck of the Antilla was much better this time around. After four hours of plundering and dancing, we returned to the beach and caught a taxi back to the ship. Insert rum-induced naptime here. We woke up, did some squats the shower to prep for dinner, and enjoyed our meal once again. The tamarind-glazed salmon put up quite a fight in the battle for Dee’s favorite entree of the cruise. After dinner, we caught a magic show, listened to the house band, played in the “10 In 60” game show, and wound down with some karaoke. Whoop whoop!!
Crown Princess Day 9. We had our first lazy sea day headed back to Florida, and we decided to sleep until our bodies said “hey, get up and get coffee”. That happened around 9am, so we hit the buffet. After breakfast, we rambled around to Zumba and trivia, then went our separate ways. Dee had Voice rehearsal and I had steel drum rehearsal at the same time. Getting involved in all the stuff and things is becoming quite the logistical puzzle, as Dee has Voice rehearsal tomorrow in very close timing to my steel drum concert, but we’re only playing two little songs plus an encore, so I don’t expect it to take more than about 10 minutes, hah! The afternoon brought some line dancing, lunch at International Cafe, pop choir rehearsal, and tea time. The scones are not to be missed. Holy moly. We played some trivia, digested as hard as we could, then hit the Seafood & Fisherman buffet for dinner. It was decent, although slightly disappointing at the lack of abundant seafood options. I guess the fisherman had a bad day. The evening entertainment was a show called “Encore”, consisting of Broadway tunes, opera, and so forth. They had a fly-on lead soprano belting out some of the tunes, in addition to the regular singers and dancers. I must say, the show was phenomenal, and it was the first time I felt like I’d been to a proper cultural event on a cruise ship, rather than just a show, hah... We wrapped the evening with more trivia, a game show, and karaoke. We’ve got one more sea tomorrow for all the stuff & things!!
Crown Princess Day 10. Our last full day aboard the ship was mostly consumed by rehearsals and performances. We hit the breakfast buffet, pop choir rehearsal, steel drum rehearsal, pop choir performance, snagged a quick bite at International Cafe, then went to the steel drum performance, and Voice Of The Ocean rehearsal. By the time we made it through all that, it was already dinner time, hah... the MDR was solid again, then we slid off to the Voice performance. Dee did exceptionally well, getting all the chairs to turn and making it into the top three, but was edged out in the end. There were a few technical scandals involving the voting system, but we’ll leave all that for later, ha ha... After the Voice, we popped into a magic show, followed by a crazy movie game called “Hollywood Hiccups” where the cruise staff dressed up and acted out bits of various movies. Back to the cabin for a bit of packing, and it was time to turn in. We still have parts of the ship we haven’t seen, hah... but maybe we can wrap all that up tomorrow morning... yikes!! :P
Crown Princess, The End. We had to be out of the cabin by 8:45am, so we buffet-ed it up for breakfast, did a little last minute exploring of the areas of the ship that we’d missed, and headed out. The hotel shuttle service was efficient, but when the driver decided he could be nice and take us to a different partner hotel to hang out until our flight rather than making us wait at the airport, and then get us over to the airport later... his boss was not amused and got a bit belligerent in the hotel lobby. But here we sit anyway, with the actual hotel staff being very accommodating, despite the fact that we didn’t even stay here. Anyway... I digress... Overall, we got off to a lukewarm start to our Princess experience, rather unsettled with the lack of activities and shenanigans, but over the first couple of days we transitioned into the slower pace and routine that was the Crown Princess. People walk slowly. They go to bed early. Public spaces fill up, especially at events in the lounges, because like us... they’re mostly early arrive-ers who don’t mind sitting for an hour for something to begin. There are enough fun events to keep you occupied, but it’s a very quiet experience overall. Calm. Relaxing. Quiet. The ship is super easy to navigate and seems to flow well. The food in the dining room was probably the best and most consistent we’ve ever had on a cruise, though we’ve almost always had great experiences with Carnival as well. Same family, slightly elevated food. Bread is served stone cold, alongside iced butter, which I found strange. Their dessert game is super strong! Funny thing... the more we cruise different lines, the more we come to realize that we just love cruising. We can find highs and lows for most any experience, and if there’s no fun to be had, we’ll try to make some. We are definitely keeping Princess on the list of lines we intend to cruise in the future!! :P
Showing posts with label live journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label live journal. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2020
Monday, February 24, 2020
MSC Armonia: A Day-By-Day Live Journal - February 2020
Here's a collection of my musings while sailing on the MSC Armonia in February 2020... to follow along with these in real-time, be sure to join our Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parodeejay/
DAY ONE
First impressions of the Armonia... she’s smaller and older, but looks well-maintained. Gives you sort of a vintage cruise nostalgic feeling. Lunch buffet was surprisingly solid (I selected stroganoff, curry rice, shredded chicken, beef roast, and a few other things) and MDR dinner was good as well. Gelato is free with four rotating flavors each day. Muster drill was not as painful as I had feared and once all the passengers finally showed up, we were done in about five minutes. Staff is beyond amazing and entertaining, engaging with the audience constantly and getting folks involved. Main theater show talent was fantastic, with their vocals and dancing. The onstage scenery and costumes were simple, but the talent made the show worth seeing. Sound mixing was excellent, and the music didn’t overpower the vocals. Cabin size of a standard interior is smaller than average but not terrible, and storage is adequate. Hard sided suitcases did not fit under the bed, and ended up in the closet. The shower needs to be destroyed and never spoken of again, although I became more than good friends with the shower curtain. They have two nice-sized 6’ pools, plus two kiddie pools and two hot tubs. All things considered, based on day one, I think we’re gonna like it here!! :P
DAY TWO
MSC Armonia Day 2. Breakfast in the MDR was okay, but we weren’t a fan of the scrambled eggs. Methinks they could be powdered? Everything else was tasty. Sea day has loads of unique activities, tons of dance classes, and lots of things going on outside. The ship has SO much outside space and it’s easy to feel connected to the ocean, which is a plus for us. Pizza is hands down the best I’ve had at sea, although it’s not 24 hours. Chocolate cake in the steakhouse is the best Dee has had, land or sea. The theater show was a French revue with a touch of Cirque, and the strength acts and dancers continue to dazzle. Gelato is still free, though the flavors didn’t change from yesterday. We still don’t discuss the shower. Just don’t. The staff continues to engage folks and get them involved in everything. The cruise director gave a fantastic talk today about how MSC sometimes gets a bad rap, and folks may not understand the difficulty in operating out of the US while still providing entertainment and cuisine that’s thoughtful toward their worldwide clientele. It’s definitely a unique feel... you won’t be doing the wobble or cupid shuffle at the deck parties, but if you jump in with a little salsa and rumba flavor, you can party the night away!! :P
DAY THREE
MSC Armonia Day 3. Montego Bay started out as a maddening blur of delays, crowds, and confusing expensive taxis, but ended with a very pleasant beach day at the Hard Rock Cafe. Many sea creatures were seen. As for ship life, we’ve had the shower permanently removed from the cabin, in favor of spraying ourselves with Febreze twice a day. Breakfast in the dining room was solid, with Dee opting for hard boiled eggs (even though they arrived medium boiled at best). Dance classes in the Jamaica heat are very fun but very hot, as one would expect. We opted for lunch in the MDR, and both my Spanish-themed quiche appetizer and good ol’ American burger were super solid. Dinner in the MDR was hit or miss... Dee’s guacamole app was nice but the chips were stale. Her fish entree was overcooked and dry. My Jamaican beef dish was tasty but the cuts of meat were fatty. There was a nice rum cake dessert, but they applied a slightly overwhelming chocolate frosting, which we removed so as to actually taste the rum cake. Not a terrible meal by any means; but our least favorite overall dinner thus far. The evening show was an Addams Family themed show and once again, the strength acts and a unicycle-riding juggler stole the show for me. Even the CD announced that it was a bizarre show, but promised we would be entertained, and we were. One thing we’ve realized is there are no comedy shows onboard, but I imagine it would be difficult to gear comedy toward such a diverse audience. The staff continues to be phenomenal and we are definitely enjoying that retro small ship familial feeling.
DAY FOUR
MSC Armonia Day 4. Our excursion in Grand Cayman was canceled so we had a super relaxing ship day. We were only in port from 8am-1pm, so we opted not to secure a replacement tour. The ship was abandoned, so we soaked up some sun in the glorious 6’ deep pool and the whirlpool. Breakfast pizza from the buffet is a must-try, though it’s simply a cheese pizza with the addition of a fried egg yolk on each slice. Their tomato sauce is mighty tasty though, and I’d love to see a ham or sausage option for breakfast. (Maybe they do rotate and we just haven’t seen it yet.) Lunch came from the grill section of the buffet, and their burger is pretty solid. The patty was thick, well cooked, beefy, and not dried out. Fries were simple but delicious. They also had grilled chorizo sausage, which was a pleasant surprise. It tasted a bit like pepperoni and I was tempted to put some in my pocket for later, but decided that would be a bad idea. We continued the relaxation theme into the rest of the day, spending much time outside-ing. The ship has so many wide open outdoor spaces for lounging, eating, and being at one with the ocean. Dance classes and live music rule the daily schedule, but there are a high number of fun poolside games and activities that we’ve never seen anywhere else. Dinner service in the MDR was lightning fast. Dee’s caprese was on point, and they offered olive oil and extra balsamic to drizzle. The asparagus in my app was overcooked, but the hollandaise was the best I’ve tasted in a long time. Entrees were strong with Dee opting for rigatoni & meatballs, while I had braised short ribs plus probably the best Indian dish I’ve ever had at sea. When I told the headwaiter how good the curry was, he offered to go to parts unknown to locate some chicken curry that wasn’t even on the menu, normally reserved for Indian guests. It. Was. Phenomenal!! Dessert was also very good, with the highlight being the opera cake. Super chocolate goodness. As usual, there’s a show every evening (yep, they do a different themed stage show every single night), and tonight’s theme was rock & roll. No aerial acts, no silks, no hoops, no strength acts... just song and dance. The hits rolled through The Beatles, Elvis, and Queen, among others, and the vocalists were quite strong. The evening party usually happens inside one of the bars, but has moved out to the pool deck for white night. I plan to speak with guest services to see if we can have a 6’ deep pool installed in our cabin to replace the shower that we had removed. Pretty sure our impromptu ship day has been one of our favorite days so far!! :P
DAY FIVE
MSC Armonia Day 5. Our day in Costa Maya found us at Maya Chan, which is a funky little all-inclusive beach club we discovered via CruiseTipsTV. Super chill, laid back, and uncrowded, as there were only two ships in port. We arrived at 11am and the folks from the NCL Getaway were leaving at 1pm, so we basically had the place to ourselves. The snorkeling was hit or miss, but the food, drinks, and service were amazing. Each party got a covered area with loungers, day bed, and hammock. We were greeted with a welcome drink, plus chips with salsa & guacamole. Lunch was an awesome buffet spread of beef, chicken, fish, and pork for tacos, plus rice & beans. All sorts of water toys, snorkeling gear, and lockers were included, as well as taxi fare to and from the port. For $59/pp, this is definitely our new hotspot in Costa Maya, hah... one of our favorite beach club experiences! We spent the entire day ashore, but in ship life, breakfast in the MDR was solid. Dinner was an Italian-themed menu and as you would imagine, they did it up right! Calamari, arancini, ossobuco, tiramisu... everything was pretty near perfect. My new friend brought me a fish curry as promised, which was also very good. The evening show was also Italian-themed. As we entered the theater, a fellow guest who had just seen the show said that it gave him goosebumps at some points. The four vocalists shined as they powered their way through an array of Italian classics. After the show, the entertainment continued in the main theater with a staff variety show. Our steward informed me that the new 6’ deep pool we had installed in our cabin bathroom is proving too difficult to clean, so he closed it down and put a net across it for now. I’ve considered taking “birdbaths” in the toilet, but every time I get close to the thing, it activates and eats my washcloth. Those things are like $20 a pop, so I won’t make that mistake a twelfth time...
DAY SIX
MSC Armonia Day 6. We rock and rolled through the night, as it seems we were passing through a cold front. Not terrible, but the smaller, older ships usually come with less stabilization and more motion. Breakfast in the MDR was solid. We intended to spend the morning on the Top 13 Solarium (basically an upcharge “Serenity” deck), as MSC had gifted us two passes, but it was closed due to high winds. Maybe we can check it out tomorrow while we’re in Ocean Cay. The activity schedule was full of things both inside and out, and we spent the morning on the pool deck with games and dance classes. Lunch brought us back to the pizza buffet followed by a trip to the gelato station, both of which were again fantastic. We spent our afternoon catching up on work and napping. :P Our post-nap adventures took us to MasterChef At Sea, followed by a loyalty party (we status matched into) with the most potent drinks in the history of the universe. Seriously... two rum sours and you’ll probably be on the floor. I had four. Don’t do it. Just don’t. Dinner was solid again, including another special chicken curry dish from my headwaiter friend. Dee had a salad with some amazing dressing, as well as a pasta dish. I had spanakopita plus a salmon dish crafted by an award-winning chef. The rocking of the ship caused them to cancel the evening show, which relied heavily on the strength & balancing acts, but they postponed it until tomorrow. The staff jumped into action, adding a movie to the indoor theater as well as a name-that-movie-tune game with the cruise staff in one of the bars to fill the void. We stopped by the buffet right at the end of dinner service for some snacks and desserts, and everything we tasted was great. Meatloaf, curry chickpeas, brussels sprouts. The brownie stack rivaled the cake from the specialty restaurant as Dee’s favorite chocolate dessert at sea! The captain informed me that their sonar located the wreckage of our cabin shower on the ocean floor as we passed back by Cuba, even though I was certain I tossed it overboard in a spot where it could never be found. The recovery efforts begin tonight...
DAY SEVEN
MSC Armonia Day 7. We snagged a quick breakfast in the dining room and watched the ship coming into their private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. The cruise director had a seminar explaining that the island just opened in December and we would be seeing it in its infancy. Baby palm trees, freshly planted plants, not much in the way of shade yet. The island and the surrounding water are gorgeous. The snorkeling was basically zero on the two beaches we tried. Lunch from the buffet was delicious and ranged from things like burgers and dogs to jerk chicken and ribs. They also have included food trucks with vegan options, which we didn’t get to taste. There’s a tram around the island and we rode it for one full loop at the end of the day before returning to the ship. Overall impression of the island is that it’s beautiful and we can’t wait to see what it grows into in the future. The only real negatives are a lack of clear navigation signs and map boards to help you find your way. There are a few, but more would be helpful. Also, we didn’t see any sort of footwash on the island, but perhaps we just missed it. One other positive note: there are bathrooms everywhere! You can’t turn a corner without finding one, hah... it’s super nice. Onboard, we made one last stop for pizza and cookies, which are both beyond amazing. We finally made it up to the upcharge Deck 13 Solarium for a breathtaking view of the island, and we saw a school of fish and a baby stingray at the one beach we didn’t snorkel. Psssh. There are no water features at the solarium, but it seems nice for sun-seekers who want some quiet time. We hit dinner as soon as they opened our dining room at 6:00pm, in an attempt to make the one-and-only show at 7:15pm before the island festivities started at 8:00pm. Dinner had its highs and lows... Dee’s appetizer salad was overdressed but tasty. Her shrimp cocktail was disappointing, with mealy shrimp. My cod croquettes were solid though. My headwaiter buddy brought some butter chicken that was out of this world! I’m still trying to see if we can bring him and the Indian chef home with us somehow. The normal menu entrees were decent, but Dee described the texture of her chicken as “foodservice chicken”, hah... it tasted good but it had a soft-ish, strange texture. Desserts were pretty dang good though. After dinner, we headed up for part of the “Abyss” show, which was focused on the strength acts, contortionists, etc. After that, it was outside time for a spirited Junkanoo parade on the island, a LED light show on the lighthouse, and a beach party straight out of Ibiza! We got back to the cabin to find that the shower had been reassembled and reinstalled, which is a pity for the next guest... at least it gave me one more chance to film a feature segment all about the joys of experiencing its majesty... coming soon to a screen near you!! :P
THE END
MSC Armonia: The End. Debarkation was one of the fastest ever. We weren’t in a hurry, so we waited until about 8:00am, caught a quick elevator down, and walked straight off with virtually no line. Customs was also a quick walk-through with no line. Amazing! Once outside, we knew to head to the rental car pickup area, but two other vendors tried to talk us into taking their shuttle and/or guiding us to the wrong zone. Weirdos. But that’s not MSC’s fault, hah... Final thoughts: we loved our MSC experience. It’s a good bit different from the mainstream American experience and that’s a lot of what we liked. There’s so much live music, culture, dancing, varied cuisines, and most of it is fantastic. You’ll have a few hit or misses, but that’s to be expected with any land or sea vacation. My only real drawback was that silly shower, but I was able to use it for seven days without going crazy. Would we sail MSC again? We’re already trying to figure out when we can sneak one in. Would we sail the Armonia again? We would. The staff was beyond amazing. The food overall was strong, especially the pizza, pasta, gelato, and Indian food. The shows were good but I can see how folks say they get repetitive quickly. But hey, seven nights of shows? Sign us up. There’s no comedy shows. The bread at dinner is never warm. The main theater feels a bit like a school auditorium. There are tons of small things you could pick on, but overall... we had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again!! :D
~Jay
DAY ONE
First impressions of the Armonia... she’s smaller and older, but looks well-maintained. Gives you sort of a vintage cruise nostalgic feeling. Lunch buffet was surprisingly solid (I selected stroganoff, curry rice, shredded chicken, beef roast, and a few other things) and MDR dinner was good as well. Gelato is free with four rotating flavors each day. Muster drill was not as painful as I had feared and once all the passengers finally showed up, we were done in about five minutes. Staff is beyond amazing and entertaining, engaging with the audience constantly and getting folks involved. Main theater show talent was fantastic, with their vocals and dancing. The onstage scenery and costumes were simple, but the talent made the show worth seeing. Sound mixing was excellent, and the music didn’t overpower the vocals. Cabin size of a standard interior is smaller than average but not terrible, and storage is adequate. Hard sided suitcases did not fit under the bed, and ended up in the closet. The shower needs to be destroyed and never spoken of again, although I became more than good friends with the shower curtain. They have two nice-sized 6’ pools, plus two kiddie pools and two hot tubs. All things considered, based on day one, I think we’re gonna like it here!! :P
DAY TWO
MSC Armonia Day 2. Breakfast in the MDR was okay, but we weren’t a fan of the scrambled eggs. Methinks they could be powdered? Everything else was tasty. Sea day has loads of unique activities, tons of dance classes, and lots of things going on outside. The ship has SO much outside space and it’s easy to feel connected to the ocean, which is a plus for us. Pizza is hands down the best I’ve had at sea, although it’s not 24 hours. Chocolate cake in the steakhouse is the best Dee has had, land or sea. The theater show was a French revue with a touch of Cirque, and the strength acts and dancers continue to dazzle. Gelato is still free, though the flavors didn’t change from yesterday. We still don’t discuss the shower. Just don’t. The staff continues to engage folks and get them involved in everything. The cruise director gave a fantastic talk today about how MSC sometimes gets a bad rap, and folks may not understand the difficulty in operating out of the US while still providing entertainment and cuisine that’s thoughtful toward their worldwide clientele. It’s definitely a unique feel... you won’t be doing the wobble or cupid shuffle at the deck parties, but if you jump in with a little salsa and rumba flavor, you can party the night away!! :P
DAY THREE
MSC Armonia Day 3. Montego Bay started out as a maddening blur of delays, crowds, and confusing expensive taxis, but ended with a very pleasant beach day at the Hard Rock Cafe. Many sea creatures were seen. As for ship life, we’ve had the shower permanently removed from the cabin, in favor of spraying ourselves with Febreze twice a day. Breakfast in the dining room was solid, with Dee opting for hard boiled eggs (even though they arrived medium boiled at best). Dance classes in the Jamaica heat are very fun but very hot, as one would expect. We opted for lunch in the MDR, and both my Spanish-themed quiche appetizer and good ol’ American burger were super solid. Dinner in the MDR was hit or miss... Dee’s guacamole app was nice but the chips were stale. Her fish entree was overcooked and dry. My Jamaican beef dish was tasty but the cuts of meat were fatty. There was a nice rum cake dessert, but they applied a slightly overwhelming chocolate frosting, which we removed so as to actually taste the rum cake. Not a terrible meal by any means; but our least favorite overall dinner thus far. The evening show was an Addams Family themed show and once again, the strength acts and a unicycle-riding juggler stole the show for me. Even the CD announced that it was a bizarre show, but promised we would be entertained, and we were. One thing we’ve realized is there are no comedy shows onboard, but I imagine it would be difficult to gear comedy toward such a diverse audience. The staff continues to be phenomenal and we are definitely enjoying that retro small ship familial feeling.
DAY FOUR
MSC Armonia Day 4. Our excursion in Grand Cayman was canceled so we had a super relaxing ship day. We were only in port from 8am-1pm, so we opted not to secure a replacement tour. The ship was abandoned, so we soaked up some sun in the glorious 6’ deep pool and the whirlpool. Breakfast pizza from the buffet is a must-try, though it’s simply a cheese pizza with the addition of a fried egg yolk on each slice. Their tomato sauce is mighty tasty though, and I’d love to see a ham or sausage option for breakfast. (Maybe they do rotate and we just haven’t seen it yet.) Lunch came from the grill section of the buffet, and their burger is pretty solid. The patty was thick, well cooked, beefy, and not dried out. Fries were simple but delicious. They also had grilled chorizo sausage, which was a pleasant surprise. It tasted a bit like pepperoni and I was tempted to put some in my pocket for later, but decided that would be a bad idea. We continued the relaxation theme into the rest of the day, spending much time outside-ing. The ship has so many wide open outdoor spaces for lounging, eating, and being at one with the ocean. Dance classes and live music rule the daily schedule, but there are a high number of fun poolside games and activities that we’ve never seen anywhere else. Dinner service in the MDR was lightning fast. Dee’s caprese was on point, and they offered olive oil and extra balsamic to drizzle. The asparagus in my app was overcooked, but the hollandaise was the best I’ve tasted in a long time. Entrees were strong with Dee opting for rigatoni & meatballs, while I had braised short ribs plus probably the best Indian dish I’ve ever had at sea. When I told the headwaiter how good the curry was, he offered to go to parts unknown to locate some chicken curry that wasn’t even on the menu, normally reserved for Indian guests. It. Was. Phenomenal!! Dessert was also very good, with the highlight being the opera cake. Super chocolate goodness. As usual, there’s a show every evening (yep, they do a different themed stage show every single night), and tonight’s theme was rock & roll. No aerial acts, no silks, no hoops, no strength acts... just song and dance. The hits rolled through The Beatles, Elvis, and Queen, among others, and the vocalists were quite strong. The evening party usually happens inside one of the bars, but has moved out to the pool deck for white night. I plan to speak with guest services to see if we can have a 6’ deep pool installed in our cabin to replace the shower that we had removed. Pretty sure our impromptu ship day has been one of our favorite days so far!! :P
DAY FIVE
MSC Armonia Day 5. Our day in Costa Maya found us at Maya Chan, which is a funky little all-inclusive beach club we discovered via CruiseTipsTV. Super chill, laid back, and uncrowded, as there were only two ships in port. We arrived at 11am and the folks from the NCL Getaway were leaving at 1pm, so we basically had the place to ourselves. The snorkeling was hit or miss, but the food, drinks, and service were amazing. Each party got a covered area with loungers, day bed, and hammock. We were greeted with a welcome drink, plus chips with salsa & guacamole. Lunch was an awesome buffet spread of beef, chicken, fish, and pork for tacos, plus rice & beans. All sorts of water toys, snorkeling gear, and lockers were included, as well as taxi fare to and from the port. For $59/pp, this is definitely our new hotspot in Costa Maya, hah... one of our favorite beach club experiences! We spent the entire day ashore, but in ship life, breakfast in the MDR was solid. Dinner was an Italian-themed menu and as you would imagine, they did it up right! Calamari, arancini, ossobuco, tiramisu... everything was pretty near perfect. My new friend brought me a fish curry as promised, which was also very good. The evening show was also Italian-themed. As we entered the theater, a fellow guest who had just seen the show said that it gave him goosebumps at some points. The four vocalists shined as they powered their way through an array of Italian classics. After the show, the entertainment continued in the main theater with a staff variety show. Our steward informed me that the new 6’ deep pool we had installed in our cabin bathroom is proving too difficult to clean, so he closed it down and put a net across it for now. I’ve considered taking “birdbaths” in the toilet, but every time I get close to the thing, it activates and eats my washcloth. Those things are like $20 a pop, so I won’t make that mistake a twelfth time...
DAY SIX
MSC Armonia Day 6. We rock and rolled through the night, as it seems we were passing through a cold front. Not terrible, but the smaller, older ships usually come with less stabilization and more motion. Breakfast in the MDR was solid. We intended to spend the morning on the Top 13 Solarium (basically an upcharge “Serenity” deck), as MSC had gifted us two passes, but it was closed due to high winds. Maybe we can check it out tomorrow while we’re in Ocean Cay. The activity schedule was full of things both inside and out, and we spent the morning on the pool deck with games and dance classes. Lunch brought us back to the pizza buffet followed by a trip to the gelato station, both of which were again fantastic. We spent our afternoon catching up on work and napping. :P Our post-nap adventures took us to MasterChef At Sea, followed by a loyalty party (we status matched into) with the most potent drinks in the history of the universe. Seriously... two rum sours and you’ll probably be on the floor. I had four. Don’t do it. Just don’t. Dinner was solid again, including another special chicken curry dish from my headwaiter friend. Dee had a salad with some amazing dressing, as well as a pasta dish. I had spanakopita plus a salmon dish crafted by an award-winning chef. The rocking of the ship caused them to cancel the evening show, which relied heavily on the strength & balancing acts, but they postponed it until tomorrow. The staff jumped into action, adding a movie to the indoor theater as well as a name-that-movie-tune game with the cruise staff in one of the bars to fill the void. We stopped by the buffet right at the end of dinner service for some snacks and desserts, and everything we tasted was great. Meatloaf, curry chickpeas, brussels sprouts. The brownie stack rivaled the cake from the specialty restaurant as Dee’s favorite chocolate dessert at sea! The captain informed me that their sonar located the wreckage of our cabin shower on the ocean floor as we passed back by Cuba, even though I was certain I tossed it overboard in a spot where it could never be found. The recovery efforts begin tonight...
DAY SEVEN
MSC Armonia Day 7. We snagged a quick breakfast in the dining room and watched the ship coming into their private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. The cruise director had a seminar explaining that the island just opened in December and we would be seeing it in its infancy. Baby palm trees, freshly planted plants, not much in the way of shade yet. The island and the surrounding water are gorgeous. The snorkeling was basically zero on the two beaches we tried. Lunch from the buffet was delicious and ranged from things like burgers and dogs to jerk chicken and ribs. They also have included food trucks with vegan options, which we didn’t get to taste. There’s a tram around the island and we rode it for one full loop at the end of the day before returning to the ship. Overall impression of the island is that it’s beautiful and we can’t wait to see what it grows into in the future. The only real negatives are a lack of clear navigation signs and map boards to help you find your way. There are a few, but more would be helpful. Also, we didn’t see any sort of footwash on the island, but perhaps we just missed it. One other positive note: there are bathrooms everywhere! You can’t turn a corner without finding one, hah... it’s super nice. Onboard, we made one last stop for pizza and cookies, which are both beyond amazing. We finally made it up to the upcharge Deck 13 Solarium for a breathtaking view of the island, and we saw a school of fish and a baby stingray at the one beach we didn’t snorkel. Psssh. There are no water features at the solarium, but it seems nice for sun-seekers who want some quiet time. We hit dinner as soon as they opened our dining room at 6:00pm, in an attempt to make the one-and-only show at 7:15pm before the island festivities started at 8:00pm. Dinner had its highs and lows... Dee’s appetizer salad was overdressed but tasty. Her shrimp cocktail was disappointing, with mealy shrimp. My cod croquettes were solid though. My headwaiter buddy brought some butter chicken that was out of this world! I’m still trying to see if we can bring him and the Indian chef home with us somehow. The normal menu entrees were decent, but Dee described the texture of her chicken as “foodservice chicken”, hah... it tasted good but it had a soft-ish, strange texture. Desserts were pretty dang good though. After dinner, we headed up for part of the “Abyss” show, which was focused on the strength acts, contortionists, etc. After that, it was outside time for a spirited Junkanoo parade on the island, a LED light show on the lighthouse, and a beach party straight out of Ibiza! We got back to the cabin to find that the shower had been reassembled and reinstalled, which is a pity for the next guest... at least it gave me one more chance to film a feature segment all about the joys of experiencing its majesty... coming soon to a screen near you!! :P
THE END
MSC Armonia: The End. Debarkation was one of the fastest ever. We weren’t in a hurry, so we waited until about 8:00am, caught a quick elevator down, and walked straight off with virtually no line. Customs was also a quick walk-through with no line. Amazing! Once outside, we knew to head to the rental car pickup area, but two other vendors tried to talk us into taking their shuttle and/or guiding us to the wrong zone. Weirdos. But that’s not MSC’s fault, hah... Final thoughts: we loved our MSC experience. It’s a good bit different from the mainstream American experience and that’s a lot of what we liked. There’s so much live music, culture, dancing, varied cuisines, and most of it is fantastic. You’ll have a few hit or misses, but that’s to be expected with any land or sea vacation. My only real drawback was that silly shower, but I was able to use it for seven days without going crazy. Would we sail MSC again? We’re already trying to figure out when we can sneak one in. Would we sail the Armonia again? We would. The staff was beyond amazing. The food overall was strong, especially the pizza, pasta, gelato, and Indian food. The shows were good but I can see how folks say they get repetitive quickly. But hey, seven nights of shows? Sign us up. There’s no comedy shows. The bread at dinner is never warm. The main theater feels a bit like a school auditorium. There are tons of small things you could pick on, but overall... we had a blast, and can’t wait to do it again!! :D
~Jay
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