MSC Fantasia Baltic Cruise – A more relaxed MSC experience.

We cruised for 5 nights on MSC Fantasia from Kiel (Germany) to Stockholm (Sweden) taking in Copenhagen, Tallinn and Helsinki on the way. This is the smallest MSC ship I have been on, whilst still relatively large nowhere near as big as Virtuosa or Seaview that I have been on before. She is also an older ship (2008 I believe) and whilst the crew keep her spotlessly clean and she is still very sparkly there are a few bits that need looking at during her next refit and I’ll detail these at the end. However, this was a fantastic cruise. Our cabin, 9126 midships was kept spotless and our cabin steward was very friendly and always available when needed. We were allocated a shared table in the Red Velvet restaurant, we were with English speaking guests, there were not many British guests on board, though this was to be expected and despite many people commenting negatively on the multi-language nature of MSC cruises this did not bother me at all, in fact I think it adds to the charm. The food in the main dining room was excellent, the meat dishes were all very tender and perfectly cooked, there was a great selection on the menu each night and the desserts were all simply devine. We opted for the Easy drinks package which we found perfectly adequate a good selection of cocktails and all standard spirits and mixers along with a good selection of soft drinks, including bottled water and canned drinks. The musicians around the ship were great and the theatre shows spectacular. There was always no issue getting a seat in any bar or restaurant even though the ship was pretty much full, however, as it was not during a school holiday period there were very few children, other than very young children, which obviously made a difference in the total numbers on board as most cabins would only have had a maximum of 2 people in. The weather was stunning so it was nice enough to sunbath and relax by the pools and there was no issue getting a sunbed. It is a pity that the rear pool was not heated, even though the sign said it was a 26 degrees, it certainly wasn’t and was like an icy plunge pool, straight in, straight out and into the jacuzzi to warm up. As with any European cruise I was shocked by the number of smokers and this was particularly evident in the casino, which as a Brit, indoor smoking is such an odd concept now this was a bit annoying, as were the numbers of people smoking at the Gaudi bar at the rear of the ship, it made using one of the jacuzzis very unpleasant, but there was always the other side of the ship to use. Overall I was very impressed, having read a few negative recent reviews I was a little worried, but the staff, food and cleanliness as well as the ease of getting seated meant that I came away with nothing but praise and will not hesitate to sail with MSC again (though I always say I will avoid the school holidays as I get it would be a different experience with a lot of children on board). I would also add that the Fantasia seems more of a relaxing ship than one of the newer ships. Don’t expect waterslides, bowling alleys and zip lines, though there is the F1 racing simulator and virtual cinema and there is a smaller waterslide for childrne. The main and only issues being a number of the lifts being out of service, so especially during meal times they were very slow and always full, so you get a lot of steps in up and down the stairs if you are able. The rear pool was also not heated and in a couple of the jacuzzi pools the jets did not work, though they were heated. In the Aurea Spa one of the steam rooms and one of the saunas were also out of service. However, these are only tiny niggles and if you are booked on the Fantasia in the future, relax and you will have a lovely time.