JC 10 was our first (but definitely not our last) Jam Cruise. We’re veteran cruisers (9 on Royal Caribbean), but never on MSC. Here are some thoughts and reflections from the best vacation we’ve ever had:
1) All start times on Jam Cruise are approximate. This includes embarkation, sailing away, and debarkation.
2) The food is
not bad. Much of the commentary on the forums led me to believe that we should eat a hearty breakfast before we get on the ship since that would be the last time we saw good food. We thought the food in the buffet area (Deck 13) compared very favorably with the Windjammer Café on Royal Caribbean ships, and the food in the dining room was nearly as good as RC’s dining room fare. Yeah, the buffet isn’t all gourmet, but its ok, and some if it actually made it into the “wow, this is pretty good” category.
3) The elevators can get a funky (not in a good way funky) smell.
4) Around 30% of the people who try it, screw up the line “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Which is absolute truth, btw.
5) The MSC Poesia is a very nice ship.
6) The statement “There are no strangers on Jam Cruise, just friends you haven’t gotten to know yet” is fact. Everyone on board was great. It’s like Cloud 9 has some sort of asshole test that you don’t know about and if you fail you don’t get to book. There just wasn’t the normal contingent of douchebags that you get at festivals.
7) Customer service is a foreign concept to most of the staff on the MSC Poesia. Our room attendant was ok, but bar service, dining room service, and especially front desk service was very… European. No urgency, no interest in making sure you’re satisfied. This was the biggest difference between MSC and Royal Caribbean for us.
8 ) The balcony is a worthwhile upgrade. It’s nice to sit out there during some quiet time and enjoy the view. Also, our room was on 10 in the rear of the ship, and when we sat on the balcony we could hear the band on the pool deck pretty well.
9) It’s a good idea to start getting your internal clock shifted to Jam Cruise time a couple of days before sailing. Next year we’re going to start staying up to 3-4AM and sleeping late before we fly down to Florida.
10) The bed was ok, but the pillows sucked. Seriously, if you care about pillows, bring one of your own.
11) Make sure you go to check out bands that you don’t think you’ll like. Give it two or three songs before you make up your mind.
12) Internet service is not that expensive (relatively speaking) but it is soooo slow.
13) The Jam Room has a lot of variability. If nothing’s going on, give it a half hour. Go get some crappy pizza on 13 and come back down.
14) Roam the hallways to check out the door & hallway decorations. Some of them are very cool; some give you gifts.
15) The MSC Poesia seems to have a habit of running into or breaking things. See the coral reef in the Bahamas on the Holy Ship sailing, or the pier in Jamaica when we set sail.
16) Next year we need to bring more costumes and hats.
17) Make sure you catch some of the atrium sets.
Already pre-booked for 2013. Looking forward to seeing everyone next year!
--Sam & April
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