MSC Fantasia - A mini review

So, a few people have asked for some info on the ship and what it is like on board. Today is a sea day (kinda - we get to port at 9pm) so I thought I would put up some pictures and tell you a little about the boat.

The ship has 16 stories and holds 3900 passengers and 1313 crew. 

Once on board the defining feature of the foyer is the Swarovski crystal staircase. 

Most people just stop by to get their picture taken on the stairs. If you want to use it to move between floors be warned - you will be blinded and disoriented by just how sparkly it is! 

The foyer also features the Fantasia Bar which has it's own resident piano man.

Speaking of bars, there are a LOT of them on the ship. You have a choice of the sports bar (where there is always a soccer game on)

There is the Manhattan Bar

The La Cantina Toscana wine bar (which is a great place if you want a snack with the drink - there were lots of savoury nibbles to be had each evening).

There is the Transatlantico 

There is the L'Insolito Lounge (with space for dancing - and this place is packed in the evenings). The downside (or upside depending on your views) is that this is one of the bars in which you can smoke.

All of these bars featured live music in some form in the evenings (one even had a man playing the sax!). There are also three bars on the pool decks. The Gaudi Bar down near the zen area and the two pool bars (which includes a gellataria and a Nutella crepe making station).

There is also a cigar bar (which is really only for smokers, or those happy to deal with smoke) and bars in the casino area.

For those after something a little softer there is the Il Cappuccino bar. Here you can enjoy a coffee or a a cocktail.

They also have pastries on offer on the days you can't face the buffet for breakfast.

The main gellataria, located in the shopping area serves ice creams, cakes, coffee and cocktails. They also do live music and it was not unusual for a party to break out here in the evenings. 

Believe it or not there were even more bars that we just didn't get to. There are no shortages of a spot to have a brightly coloured beverage. They also do special non alcoholic cocktails aimed at kids (not sure how I feel about that one...).

There are two main dining rooms. We were in the Il Cherchio D'Oro. This is where they also serve breakfast and lunch (the other main dining room, Red Velvet, is only open at dinner). You won't go hungry in the dining room. You can have as few as one, or as many as seven courses.

The buffet is a mad house. The food is okay (albeit a little cold at times) but there is a huge selection. Pizza, pasta, salads, burgers, hotdogs, grilled meats, vegetables, cheeses, desserts, fruits, roasted meats and soups. Be ready with your elbows in there though. It is eat or be eaten. Manners seem to go out the window in the buffet. 

There are two speciality dining restaurants where you need to pay extra to eat. We had the early dining so on nights where we missed that because we were in port we opted for the speciality restaurants given how crazy the buffet was some nights (and it was often impossible to find a table in peak hours at the buffet).The first is the aforementioned Sports Bar. Lots of snack foods to eat watching the games on the screen. I highly recommend the fried Camembert.

The other is a tex mex steakhouse. You are served corn chips whilst you wait for your food.

The food there wasn't too bad (but we only tried the Mexican, not the steakhouse side of things).

Up on the pool deck there are endless options to go for a swim, which is handy because a lot of people were keen on that activity. You can take a dip outside. This pool was often quite loud with other activities happening nearby (like exercise and dance classes or bingo). There is a quieter zen pool down at the Gaudi bar.

There are pools inside as well. 

Nearby the pools are the spa - which includes a beauty salon

The view from the spa whilst getting your nails done isn't too shabby...

There is also a gym. In the gym and spa area there is a cafe of sorts where you can get a pre-massage or post-workout drink.

There were also lots of spots to play table tennis (and even organised tournaments for those interested).

There were a lot of kids areas including a play area, waterslide and even a disco aimed at teenagers. There is a mini sports stadium on deck 16 where there were soccor matches you could watch or participate in.

Shopping on board included a camera store, perfume/cosmetics, a mini mart with essentials, jewellery, sunglasses, watches, clothing, handbags and a MSC merchandise store. 

The cabins themselves were quite spacious, and having a balcony was great for fresh air and an unobstructed view as we headed in or out of port.

There is also a theatre to visit in the evening for the daily show.

They ranged from acrobats to a Michael Jackson tribute! Something for everyone.

At most of the ports we visited we were very close to town. This was the view from my cabin Valletta

This was Naples.

This was Messina.

The only time we were some distance away really was Marseille, and there was a shuttle bus you could purchase a ticket for that dropped you into the centre of town. All others were reasonable walking distance. 

In terms of things to be wary of - English speaking guests are a minority, and so I had more than one tour choice that I could not do because of limited English speakers interested (leading to cancellation). If you speak Italian or Spanish you'll be fine, but the English and German groups were the smallest (even though they were combined).

The daily programs were also delivered quite late (often under the door after you had gone to sleep) which made it really hard to plan your day. 

A lot of the activities on board were aimed at the Italian guests, so there was a bit of a language barrier. Even at bingo you had to look at the screen to check you translated the number correctly in your head (though it was good practice!) as they didn't always say it in all languages and Italian, Spanish and German were given preference. 

We were disappointed that we spent the longest period of time in the least interesting ports (Genoa and Messina) and only a few hours in more interesting ports like Valletta and Naples. The stop in Mallorca also seems like a bit of a waste. It is 9pm to 4am tonight. Part of me would prefer we sail right through to Barcelona for an earlier arrival. 

Back to dry land in Barcelona tomorrow.