MSC Opera - Northern Europe

MSC Opera - Northern Europe

I went to the show in the theatre, which was excellent in some parts but a bit naff in others. One dancer was so boney you couldn't help wondering if she was naturally thin. There is no orchestra, just pre-recorded music, some they had to mime to and often they'd forget. One problem was, although it said started at 6.45pm, you had about ten minutes of things in umpteen languages so it was really later and over by around 7.30pm. I went shopping. They had the cutest bears! Only generic MSC rather than with the name of the ship but absolutely adorable. They had no Opera models except cheap, fat ones, so bought a Melody since MSC have had her on the market a few years. They had a Lirica but she's not Opera despite being her twin, if you know what I mean. There was a huge queue waiting to go into La Caravella Restaurant. I was on table 78 with other singles - David, Brenda, Shilpa and Petronella. Our waiter was Florian from Bulgaria and his junior was Sheldon from Barbados. Only half my dietary requirement got through so I was pointed to the Always Available menu for the main course. I chose the chicken and saw it again a few hours later! Not a very good start. I was told I could only have ice cream, sorbet or fresh fruit platter for dessert, which was a first, so I opted for the former, which was quite melted when it arrived. Hopefully the next night would be better.

The wind had dropped to seven knotrs so it would be a calm night, while our speed was twenty-one knots. After a quick stop at the photo shop, it was time to go to bed and I managed to sleep fine once the chicken appeared in the toilet. Definitely wouldn't be having that again.

Morning was our first port, where new passengers would board. This was my first experience of bus stop cruising and it seemed strange after what I was used to. Nearly eight hundred had boarded in Southampton so I wondered how many would today. We were supposed to arrive for 10.30am but were there much earlier. Immigration announcements, especially for American and Japanese passengers, were being made after 9am. As I had been to the country several times before, and had a couple more visits lined up, I decided to stay onboard and got up at 10.20am. They offered a shuttle for a fee and you weren't allowed to just walk out of the port to, say, pop to the beach down the road. I had a Coke in the Piazza di Spagna as I waited for Le Vele to open for lunch. MSC do drinks packages and it's worth it if you drink a lot of alcohol, but not non-alcoholic drinks. You only get fourteen Cokes or whatever for the same €2.70 each, only saving on tax, which is a bit silly. If it had been unlimited, I'd have bought one but this was worse value for money than P&O's twenty refills. They had a very nice Waldorf salad in Le Vele and after than it was back to the cabin for a doze.

There was a muster drill for new passengers at 5.15pm then sailaway at 6pm. Costa neoRomantica was nearing the locks as we pulled away and entered open water. The weather was still glorious so we'd have to enjoy it while we could.

I looked around the shops again since the show didn't interest me then went to dinner. Now they were really taking the piss with my no salt dietary requirement. I don't know whether it's MSC policy in general to not bother or just on this ship but it really was bad. On Cunard, P&O and Celebrity (who I've sailed with since having it), they take your order the night before or make adjustments to parts of the menu so you are basically having the same as everyone else. Mind you, Cunard still gave me food full of salt so my feet ballooned. They don't do anything like that on here. I get pointed to the Always Available, which is full of bloody salt! Florian suggested past without sauce but it had been cooked in salty water. You could taste it. Others were having the risotto which was heavy with salt. The fish I ordered was rubbery and just disgusting. Again, for dessert, I was only allowed the ice cream, sorbet or fruit platter. I couldn't even get something at the buffet because it was the same food. Anyway, the empty chair was now full with the addition of Rob, a Glaswegian living in Cardiff, who had been moved from another table and was really funny.

Afterwards I hunted the wifi hotspots. It was a good job I'd visited the ship a year before because the Daily Programme didn't mention anything about wifi, or even if there was an internet manager. You would think the cyber cafe would be a hotspot but it's not. They had some good packages, so I bought the 480 minute one for €50. You can get less on other lines for the same. The connection was bloody awful though so I gave up and went to bed.

Monday was our first sea day as we ambled towards Oslo. The weather was horrible, misty with drizzle. I hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come. After all, Norway's weather is similar to the UK and I was hoping to escape that awful wet stuff. I tried the internet again after lunch, once I'd got past the tables selling stuff.

Our first Gala Night. I didn't go to the Captain's Cocktails, but as I headed towards the theatre later, I saw Brenda, who'd had a few already and had two more glasses on the table. I had my photo taken with Captain Giacomo Romano then sat in the theatre waiting. Our cruise director eventually appeared. He's actually Spanish. You'd have thought he'd be Italian. My camera batteries died just as the Captain was going onto the stage. The show was Italian magician Paulo Giua and his partner, Dayna. It wasn't bad for what it was and passed thirty-five minutes.

Dinner and for some odd reason I was allowed the same as everyone else. How can that be when it's full of salt but I'm on no salt??? Oh but I wasn't allowed to the tiramisu. The reason? It has salt in, says Florian! WTF????!!!!! Is it made from cake mix??? Tasted nothing like tiramisu as it was. A quick pop onto the Prom deck for the gorgeous sunset then up to the Caruso Lounge for the dance contest. Rather annoyingly, these things always start during second sitting so you miss the start. Only four couples entered, two from the UK, one from the Netherlands and one couple was English and Dutch. It was quite good and the entertainment team work bloody hard. I bumped into Shilpa and Rob at the end then went to bed.

Up early for our 8am Oslo arrival. I grabbed breakfast in Le Vele and hadn't expected to see tinned pears on offer. Brenda was in there and would be on my tour. Then I bumped into Rob at Il Patio, who told me Shilpa was getting her breakfast. Brenda then appeared and we all ended up watching the ship dock twenty minutes early from there. I quickly got ready afterwards and headed to the Caruso Lounge for the tour. I was on a different tour to Brenda but our numbers were called first. It was meant to be Oslo Sightseeing but everything we saw we were told we weren't stopping at, while the guide banged on and on about the ruddy ski slope, which we had twenty minutes at before returning to the ship. Petronella was on my bus but we didn't see each other until we'd made our boring stop. After we got back to the port earlier than scheduled (probably due to all those places we didn't stop), I took photos of the ship. It had been three years since I was last there on Jewel of the Seas and so needed to rid myself of the bad memories. Opera helped a lot!

Lunch was nearly three hours! First of all, it was me, Petronella and Brenda. Petronella left and Rob arrived. Shilpa then came and Brenda went a while later. It's amazing how much you can laugh. I phoned home. Our departure was 4pm only we were a bit late due to some men not turning up to let the ropes go. So the one nearest our stern climbed over the fence, ran in that direction before a car drew up so turned and climbed back over the fence. The weather was still wonderfully hot. A topless Norwegian lady sailed her little brown boat across the harbour without a care in the world while an old bloke on the deck 8 stern with binoculars followed her every move. Good job his wife was too busy adding wrinkles to her skin to notice.

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