I just got back from my cruise, and will post about it over the next few days in a diary format.
Being apprehensive about using the MSC cruise line before my vacation, I approached it as both a learning experience and as an opportunity to spend 8 days interacting with the outside world solely (with an exception or two) as Marian. And this experience didn't disappoint me, although some experiences on the ship did just that. (I'll explain over the next few posts.)
As much as I wanted to give a solid "thumbs up" or solid "thumbs down" on this ship and MSC as a whole, I found myself unable to do this by the end of the cruise. Instead, I found myself feeling that, with reservations, I would take a cruise on this ship again - but only with a limited set of itineraries.
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For someone living in New York's Northern suburbs, transportation to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal as a solo traveler is a pain in the ***. For me, when I do it again, I will try to choose as late an embarkation time as possible, but try to get there as early as possible. Why, you might ask? The answer comes with the weak links in transportation: The New York City Subway and The NYC Ferry system. Although both are reliable in their own rights in weather that is not too cold, hot, windy, rainy, or snowy; add stressful weather, awkward connections between transit modes, and scheduling issues to the mix, and a 2 hour trip could take 4 hours. For a solo traveler on a pension, this is a reasonable trade off, as I could spend only $42 (approx.) round trip between my house and the ship. Yet, for a family of 4 (including 2 young children), it can make sense to spend $390 in gas, tolls, and parking to reach the same destination. It all depends on a traveler's circumstances.
I suggest that anyone reading about the trip look for the things they like most or dislike most and comment about them. I'll answer any questions you might have, so that others like me can travel the world the ways we want to....
