NOTE:  There are two (2) photos in this post.  Photos by me (Bruce) taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro unless otherwise indicated.  (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)

FRIDAY 12 January 2024 — A test cruise on the MSC Magnifica (1/3), Embarkation & Sail Away

A subtitle for this post would be “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” (but not in that order).  As mentioned in the previous post, back in February 2023 Linda and Nancy found an “around the world” cruise on MSC for what seemed to be a very good price.  The World Cruise was scheduled to depart Genoa, Italy on 6 January 2025, head west across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil and take 116 nights to circumnavigate the globe.  Much of the trip would be south of equator, eventually coming up the Suez Canal into the eastern Mediterranean Sea and back Genoa.  The itinerary included 50 ports-of-call spread across 21 countries.  We have never been south of the equator, and this seemed like a unique opportunity to visit places me might likely never get to otherwise.  And the price seemed really fair—almost too good to be true—but it would only be a bargain if it was truly “value for money.”

Reviews of MSC from sources like Cruise Critic, and Gary Bembridge’s Tips for Travelers Youtube channel were mixed, so we had our concerns about basic cruise things like food, service, and entertainment.  But top of your list was whether we would enjoy being on this ship for that long, and especially whether our staterooms would have adequate storage and comfortable seating.  The later, we have learned in limited but recent cruising experience, is not a given.

Sometime in the intervening months, Linda found that the Magnifica was doing a 3-night round-trip sailing, January 12-15, 2024 from the Port of Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, and back.  The cruise started on a Friday and returned on Monday, which meant it was going to be a bit of a “party cruise,” but that was not really relevant to us.  We wanted to check out the general condition of the ship, especially the staterooms, as well as the food, entertainment, and service.

The Miami Cruise Port is about a 4-hour drive from Polk City, Florida.  Rather than spend that much time in a car, and pay quite a bit for parking at the Port, Nancy and Paul had decided to take the relatively new high-speed rail from Orlando to Miami, which meant we were going to take it as well.  The Orlando International Airport was about a 1-hour drive from Paul and Nancy’s house and had convenient parking dedicated to the train.  The parking was under roof and reasonably priced, at least compared to the cost of parking at the Port.  We all purchased our tickets well in advance and had reserved seats.

We enjoyed taking the train, which allowed us to relax and doodle on our iPads (or read).  The end of the line terminal in Miami was walking distance from the Cruise Port, so we decided to walk there with our roller bags rather than hail a cab or call an Uber/Lyft.  That turned out not to be our best decision of the trip; it was a warm, sunny day, and we found the most direct route blocked by construction.  We ended up walking a bit father than we originally planned, but we got there, so all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

I distinctly remember that embarkation was relatively smooth but, ABIR, we had to wait a bit to get into our staterooms.  This is not uncommon, and we found a lounge to sit in while we waited.  (Drinks are always available immediately upon embarkation.)

Sail Away was at 6 PM.  A few minutes later, the Magnifica pulls away from the MSC Terminal at the Port of Miami.  The view is from our starboard side stateroom balcony.  ABIR, we were on Deck 9, just above the lifeboats (obviously).  (Photo by Linda)

Looking back at the Miami skyline with sunset well underway.  The ship has cleared all of the buildings but has not yet cleared the breakwater.  (Photo by Linda)

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