MSC Seaview – day 1

Naples and embarkation

After a glass of wine and nibbles at Cafe Gambrinus – the home of espresso in Naples we made our way to the cruise port at around 1:30pm. Last year we found the Naples cruise terminal somewhat chaotic, however this year everything was well sign-posted, with a separate area for the Yacht Club.

We met with a butler who checked our passports and documentation and were then taken to a seating area and enjoyed a glass of prosecco whilst the port authority cleared the ship for boarding.

Check in was incredibly smooth and quick – within 30 minutes of arriving we were onboard. We were extremely pleased to meet Dany who we had previously met on our MSC Fantasia cruise in April. Dany escorted us onboard and to the Yacht Club area where we then met with the Yacht Club director and our butler.

Our cabin, 16036 is well appointed with much more storage space compared to the Fantastic grade cabin we had on the ship’s maiden voyage.

The Yacht Club is a different lay out to that of the Fantasia class ships, and the cabins are also different – there is no longer a walk-in wardrobe however the room does feel bigger and of course more modern. I feel the space is much better utilised on this ship. The Yacht Club area is also self-contained with the restaurant upstairs from the Top Sail Lounge, accessed by the signature Swarovski crystal staircase.

A relaxing afternoon ensued and we enjoyed drinks around the ship.

We ate dinner in the Yacht Club restaurant and enjoyed steak tartare, a Mexican inspired mixed grill and tiramisu. The menu offered so much choice it was almost impossible to decide what to eat!

The rest of the evening was spent reacquainting ourselves with this beautiful ship. It’s almost difficult to think that our honeymoon was so long ago when the ship was first launched in June.

We both had an incredible night’s sleep – the cabin was pitch black and the smooth sailing coupled together were perfect.

We’ve now docked in Messina, Sicily and will have breakfast in the restaurant before having a relaxing day onboard sunbathing and enjoying the spa area which is also included in the Yacht Club experience – I’m particularly looking forward to the snow room! We’ve decided not to take an excursion today as we will be back here at Christmas when we are onboard MSC Sinfonia.

I’ll post photos on my blog when we are back in the UK, but of course you can join our Facebook group MSC Cruises UK Passenger Forum to follow our journey!