MSC Lirica Cruises
Vessel: MSC Lirica
Cruise Line: MSC Cruises
Star Rating: 4 stars
Tonnage: 58,825
Max Passenger Capacity: 1560
Entered Service: March 2003
Description: The ship offers 132 suites with balconies. These have a sofa, coffee table and queen-sized bed. There are 355 outside view cabins with queen- sized beds and 355 inside cabins.
Amenities include a shopping gallery, children's club, library, mini golf, gym, sauna, jogging area, two swimming pools, two whirlpools, Internet caf, two restaurants, pizzeria and grill.
Entertainment includes a theatre, disco and casino.
MSC Lirica's 10 cruises this year of seven nights each sail during September, October and November 2005, departing from Genoa for Rome, Sicily, Tunis and Balearic Islands, returning via Barcelona and Marseille. An 11-night cruise sails to ports in Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Sicily on November 12 2005. Prices for the seven-night cruise start from $4410 per person.
For reservations in Australia, call 1800 028 502 or (02) 8270 4000. New Zealand: call 0508 42784 or 0800 cruise (278473). Website: www.msccruises.com
MSC Lirica
Latin American dance classes and great entertainment made travelling solo a real pleasure on MSC Cruises, MSC Lirica.
"Will Signora need two glasses for the champagne?"
How do I explain to the disturbingly handsome steward that I would be indulging my single self with the cabin, its queen-sized bed, bathroom stacked with complimentary toiletries and deck chairs slung side by side on a private balcony?
"Alessandro", I said to this Italian Adonis. "Don't think me squandering of such generous space. But I am travelling alone."
As for being called Signora, one had to accept that the Signorina days had gone like the face without lines. And there I was, alone on an 11-day cruise aboard the MSC Lirica, one of the newest of the MSC Cruises' fleet, and wondering if the voyage was a recipe for boredom. Yet the itinerary sounded stimulating. Departure from the Italian city of Genoa and then south via the Spanish Mediterranean ports of Valencia (host to the America's Cup in 2007) and Malaga. Our ship would sail through the Straits of Gibraltar to the Portuguese island of Madeira, and to Casablanca on the north western coast of Africa before returning to Genoa via Cadiz and Barcelona, in Spain.
Initial doubts about voyaging solo evaporated after I studied the day's activities. There was the usual list. I could stretch before breakfast in the gym, shift another kilo with a game of deck quoits after breakfast or pamper the body in a luxurious spa. I could read in the library, try my luck at bingo or learn to play bridge.
Then, and here was something, I could take Latin American or Flamenco dance lessons. Why not both? I would far rather dance a few pounds away than do battle with tortuous muscle toning equipment in a gym.
"Gyms are not well for me," an Italian passenger confided later that day when we both found ourselves inspecting the gleaming equipment in Lirica's fitness centre.
"Capito," I replied. Understood.
The MSC Lirica set off with less than her normal passenger load of 1560. Probably because it was November, her last cruise of the season, and autumn tinged the air. But fewer passengers meant more room in the dance classes. And no unseemly scrabble for deck chairs.
On a previous cruise I witnessed a passenger returning from lunch to find "his" deck chair about to be taken over. Hooking his walking stick round the usurper's ankle, he brought him crashing to the deck. This, despite the many spare chairs positioned around the ship.
It was not difficult to identify passengers who had sailed with MSC Cruises before. Italian Benito Carnevale was on his 86th cruise with the fleet and was thoroughly acquainted with the MSC facilities and hospitalit, he strode the decks with a proprietary air and was first on the dance floor with his lavishly-gowned wife at the captain's cocktail party.
No doubt Benito appreciated the many Italian influences in the ship's decor. Real wood and marble have been used complimenting the minimalism in furniture design, eclectic collection of colours and soft furnishings which come together in true Italian style.
As we sailed south the sun shone with increasing warmth. I loved the days at sea, sitting out on deck or on my cabin balcony, mesmerized by the rhythm of the ocean. The peace was engulfing and thoughts of chores left undone back home entered the mind and faded in almost the same moment. It felt luxurious to read without interruption, a rare event at home.
During those days I tried to lessen the damage inflicted by the multi-course meals at South American dance classes. It was pleasing to discover that, out on the ocean blue, the Salsa and the Merenge are not only danced by teenage clubbers.
When Flamenco dancers boarded the Liricaat Valencia I added Spanish dance to my fledgling Brazilian repertoire. The smouldering male instructor wore tight black trousers and female passengers, en route to the casino, theatre, mini golf or some other recreational corner of the ship, were drawn to the sizzling Spaniard like moths to a flame.
The dance instructors were multi- lingual, like many of the predominantly Italian crew. Flavia, the queen of Latin American dance, put passengers through their paces in English, French, German and Spanish as well as her native Italian. She is at a distinct advantage compared with so many of us from English-speaking countries who take for granted that our internationally spoken language is all we need to know. Unwittingly we stunt our understanding of other cultures in the process.
A senior passenger who danced with the suppleness of a plank took a shine to the lovely Flavia. He led her back onto the dance floor at the end of the first class and I will forever remember Flavia's face frozen in polite forbearance as he woodenly shunted her round the floor.
I can understand why Flavia and the crew looked forward to days ashore for time out. As for me, it was exciting to wake up in a new port after sailing through the night. I would rise early, open the doors onto my balcony and watch the gallant tug boats pilot our big ship into port.
After each excursion ashore when I opened the door to my commodious cabin it was like returning home. It was bliss not having to pack and unpack each time, as is necessary when travelling by road or air to different destinations. I anticipated the question from friends and family when I returned home about which port appealed most.
"Not easy to answer," would be my reply. Each of the ports of call on the voyage captured my interest in different ways. The vibrant Moroccan city of Casablanca, the happy hours spent exploring the small, white villages in the hills above Malaga, of climbing the steeples of Barcelona's remarkable Sagrada Familia cathedral and of sharing a bottle of Madiera with a cheerful band of locals on the pretty Portuguese island of the same name.
After-dinner entertainment on our Italian ship provided a generous choice, as one might expect on a ship run by the race that invented la dolce vita. In fact, Italian effervescence permeated the shipboard atmosphere. Single travellers didn't feel out on a limb. If we weren't inclined to go ballroom dancing in the Lirica lounge we could dance up-tempo with a band in the Cabaret. At midnight we could head for the disco after watching a show in the theatre.
It was good to mix with people of various ages. There were enough of the 20- to 40-somethings to make the signoras amongst us feel young at heart. Daring even.
In an intimate corner of the ship called L'Atmosphere I got to indulge my dream of singing in a bar. The pianist, Mario Messina, was resplendent in red jacket and bow-tie and as sure on the piano as he was convinced that he looked like the British actor Michael Caine. "Michele Caine," he would say pointing to his chest with a confident smile. I made the mistake of telling Mario that I fancied myself as Peggy Lee, singing in smoky bars.
"You like Fever?" Mario asked and immediately began playing the singer's famous song. I found myself plunging into Fever in that half-lit bar with the aid of two Margaritas and an empathetic pianist.
There was more than enough entertainment on board but if your cabin has a balcony you will find yourself seeking refuge there from time to time.
Out on the balcony it is sublime riding the ocean. Sometimes in the distance the form of a ship appears as if painted on the horizon. Otherwise, it feels as if you have the great spread of sea to yourself.
The faithful cabin steward, Alessandro, asked at the end of the voyage if I would voyage with MSC Cruises again. Yes, I said, thinking that there was a fair chance of again banging into Benito and his equally MSC-devoted wife, even though there is a choice of more than 100 MSC cruises in the east and west Mediterranean each year.
Benito had been quick to inform me that the MSC Lirica's even newer sister ship, the MSC Opera was launched by the Italian actress Sofia Loren. And next June the slightly larger MSC Musica will add join the fleet.
At the end of her Mediterranean cruise season on November 23, MSC Lirica will depart on her 17-night westbound trans-Atlantic cruise. Before returning to Europe in the early Northern Hemisphere spring, she will have embarked on December 17 on her 10-night Christmas cruise from Puerto Rico to Antille and the Bahamas. An 11- night New Year Cruise will follow, sailing from Jamaica on December 27 to Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico. The Lirica continues her 11-night South American cruises, which also include ports in the West Indies, Cayo Levantado in the Caribbean until her return to Europe for the 2006 Mediterranean cruise season.
Written by Susan Buckland - Issue 20 Winter 2005