Friday 1 December Not the Cunard cruise
A good sleep and lazy start. I (Chris) had yoghurt in bed and dripped a spot onto my neck. In the course of scraping it up, I emptied half the pot over my chest. Yumm strawberry. Stephie put Lissa on Skype again and she was adorable. We lugged the kit over the humpty bridge and the unmanned monorail to the cruise terminal. This time we were lucky enough to coincide with the bus so we got a free ride to the boat. A bit of queuing but not too bad and we were on board.
We should document our resolve not to unreasonably compare this cruise with the last two on Cunard and then proceed to feel dissatisfied. We chose this one because it was cheap (and went where we wanted to go). This is far more the sort of cruise we choose to pay for. We were looking at cruises for May next year last night and it is pretty much certain that we won’t be doing any on Cunard. We were just SO lucky to have had the opportunity we did. MSC run 4.5 star boats and are by no means 2nd rate – they just don’t set out to have Cunard class. In particular, this cruise is heavily discounted because it is an end/beginning of season relocation cruise.
The Musica is a very attractive boat. As Derek said, it is noticeable that the very high superstructure starts right at the front, which raised issues in his nautical mind about the front watertight bulkhead being behind the superstructure. We are missing him already and the trivia haven’t even started yet. Ooooh our other resolution is that we aren’t going to slavishly attend all the trivia sessions every day. Having said that, I should add that we hadn’t been aboard more than 2 hours before I proposed that we could get a team of interpreters and run round all the trivia for the different languages.
Back to the Musica. It is all brass and mirrors, whereas Victoria was wood with a little brass. And the open spaces and dining areas seem to be designed in curvy shapes rather than rectangles. There are a lot of quiet looking areas around the boat, but we haven’t seen it full of passengers yet. A heckler has just told me that the style is Art Deco, but I hadn’t realised it yet. Will have to have a critical look.
It’s a bit like the Costa cruise in that all the announcements come in 5 languages, seemingly alternating in sequence. Unlike Cunard (ooh dear here we go) they broadcast all the mundane notices into the cabin areas, which is going to get a bit irritating. We also noticed that the big heavy doors between the indoor areas and the open decks need to be pushed open manually, although that other line that Her Majesty travels on has self-opening doors that anticipate your arrival.
By any standard, the lunch buffet was disappointing. Very limited selection and only one meat dish (beef stew). It was all served out of big bowls and gave the impression of mass production. There was nothing wrong with the chocolate mousse though. Ooooh and the drinks were very dismal. Yes we weren’t expecting a choice of orange, lemonade, iced tea or cranberry cocktail (God I miss Cunard) but the best you can get is cold water and ice. I have the feeling they are trying to push you into paying for bottled water or soft drinks at very high prices. Similarly, they don’t provide DIY laundry facilities “for safety reasons” and if you want to escape the tyranny of a system of $8 a day (less than other lines) being automatically added to your cruise account, you have to have an interview with the Manager and explain for each day why you do not consider the crew performed adequately. Hey I’m not making this up.
Hmmm dinner was interesting. We shared with a couple of sprightly 70 something Phillipinos who have been in California for 40 something years. They were stultified when they asked for a jug of water and were told that they had to buy it by the bottle. I’m not saying anything. We asked about tea/coffee afterwards and were told “only at breakfast”. OK. The Balinese waiter was very good but the chap from Honduras turned up and airily greeted the Phillipino gentleman (whom he was meeting for the first time) as “hello Manuel” closely followed by calling him “Pedro” or similar, which apparently is a form of casual endearment offered to Phillipino crewmates. Unusual. I think I would be just about ready to explain to the manager why I wouldn’t be recommending anyone for a medal for outstanding service on day 1. To be fair, we have received paper vouchers for about 1 bottle of water per day between the two of us. I can imagine us surviving by topping those up at the buffet.
There was a “meet the crew” presentation at 9.15. Very drawn out once the novelty of the Cruise Director speaking 5 languages has worn off, coupled with the ceaseless demands for “applauso” that we remember from Costa.
We love our room and our balcony – even the bathroom which is large and airy. The boat layout is growing on us as we become familiar with it. Not entirely sure what contemporary Art Deco entails. The dining room is low ceilinged with walls covered in bright red fabric that echoes the high-backed chairs. Tends to create a more “intimate” atmosphere as my art critic tells me. Elsewhere, there are multiple mirrors, so that you occasionally suddenly recognise yourself seen from some unusual angle. Hell I’m fat. Our room has a floor to ceiling mirror about 5’ wide placed at the foot of our bed, which J hasn’t fully come to terms with yet. We also have robustly coloured paintings of flowers and fruit. From where I sit, I can see both paintings (one twice) and simultaneous views of the top and bottom of J’s feet.
The room stewards have French Maid outfits. Ours is called Tatiana who comes from Madagascar.
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