travel
There is cruising and cruising.
Our regular explorer of the
deep seas, Malcolm Ginsberg,
hasrecently taken tripson two
fine cruise liners and here
reflectson what you might call
different experiences.
MSC Poesia – named by Sophia Loren
At the end of the day you get
isstillenoughtodo.Whenitcomesdown
what you pay for but it can also
tocostitisverydifficulttocompareships.
be argued that the bigger the AtPoesia’sfour-starlevelmostitemsarean
ship the more efficient. True to
extraandyouneedtoaddtipsat£6perday
a point but asmore and more
perpassengerupwards.Thelead-inpricefor
monster ships arrive it is
eightdaysstartingandfinishinginVeniceon
MSCPoesiainMay2009is£570ppforfull
becoming very apparent that
accommodationandportdues.Theflight
the smaller liners do present an costsandtransferswouldbeadditional.
exclusivity that is just not
Fantasiaistobejoinedbyitsequally
possible on the megaliths.
grandlynamedsistershipSplendidainJuly.
TheMSCPoesia,whichmeanspoetry,was BothwilloperateintheMediterraneanall
forashorttimeinspring2008thelatestand yearroundandbothwilloffera
MSC isa fast growing Italian
greatestoftheItaliancruiseliners. Whilstit magrodome,aretractableroofoveroneof
cruise line, essentially catering isbig,at92,000tonsandupto3,000 theswimmingpools,makingwintercruising
for the mass European market,
passengers,ithassincebeensurpassedby muchmorepleasant.MSCalsohasa
offering terrific value for you
Fantasia(135,000tonsand3,200 summerprogrammeoutofDoveronthe
and three thousand others.
passengers). 2,000-passengerLirica.Therearetwo
PoesiaisallglitzandverymuchItalian.In choicesofcruise–theBalticandSt
Goliaths of the sea. Crystal is
theeveningthebandsringoutfrom Petersburg,ortheNorwegianFiordsand
something else. Mid-sized ships numerouslounges,theship’sdesign Scandinavia,eachover12days. a73
with a total package in termsof
brilliantlycontainingthetuneswithineach
luxury travel that no hotel in the
area.Thetheatreisenormous,capableof www.msccruises.co.uk
world can complete with.
easilyaccommodatingonethousand
people.ItisatrueEuropeanship,with
Germanspredominatingonsomecruises,
Let ustake a critical look at two butalwayspeoplefromItalywithsmall
kindsof leisure on the worlds
numbersfromFranceandSpain.Themulti-
oceans.
languageannouncementscanbeannoying
thoughandonstagethecomediansdo
struggle.
MSCdoesnotofferliveportlecturesor
anon-boarddaytimeprogramme,butthere
32 the north magazine
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