Mediterranean Summer, 20th September 2010

I cruised on the Lirica around the Mediterranean in August 2011 and it was the most amazing experience ever. From the minute you step onboard the ship you feel like you are living in a dream of pure 5 star luxury, with one of the incredibly freindly MSC staff taking your bag to your cabin and another member of staff introducing themselves as your cabin attendant to cater for your every need. The cabin was cleaned twice daily and there seemed to be staff constantly polishing the gold banisters and mirrors on this esquisite looking ship. All the staff were amazing, helpful and got to know you on a first name basis, particularly the English rep, our waiter and the kids club staff. The children settled into the kids club straight away despite there not seeming to be any other English kids and my son cried on the last night when I said he had to say goodbye to the kids club staff as we were leaving the next day. The food was fantastic- quality Italian dishes, the only quibble is that as always with Italian food there was a lot of pork on the menu which limited choices for my children who are Muslim. The excursions, although a bit pricey, were really informative and interesting. At some ports like Rome or Majorca, however, I found it was more cost effective to organise my own excursion, but this was not possible in ports like Marseille where the ship was docked too far away from any public transport. The evening entertainment was varied and lively, I wasn't that impressed with the cabaret to start with but it seemed to get better as the week went on. Drinks and photos were a bit pricey but with quality restaurant meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner you can't really complain. You could also have breakfast brought to your cabin for free. The itinerary was really good, although some days the ship docked early at the port meaning an early start which was tiring to say the least. It was a bit of a whirlwind adventure, if I did it again I would probably not go off the ship every single day, but spend a couple of days relaxing onboard instead. Fantastic weather as well, so I got a lot of sunbathing in on the top deck sun loungers, in between dipping in the pool or sauna. Would definitely recommend :-)