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MSC Magnifica
MSC Magnifica is a brand new ship from MSC Musica class. It will debut in March 2010. It carries 2550 passengers in its 1275 rooms, 80% of which will be outside, of these 65% will have a balcony. Some of the features that sound appealing to me:
- 236,800 square feet of public space
- 16000 sqft Aqua Spa well-being center
- thematic children play center
- Magrodome
We have a week in Italy that we can either do Tuscany (we've been to Tuscany 4 times already) or visit Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik. When I looked at vacationstogo.com and saw these awesome itineraries to Dubrovnik, Turkey, and Greece, I almost jumped with joy to try something new. Both Royal Caribbean Inc and MSC offer 7-day cruises that fit our schedule.
The Royal Caribbean cruise departs from Venice and sails to Dubrovnik, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Santorini, Corfu, and Venice. MSC also departs from Venice and sails to Bari, Olympia (Katakolon), Izmir (Ephesus), Istanbul, Dubrovnik, and back to Venice. Itinerary-wise, I prefer MSC because I've been to Greece twice already. Plus Dubrovnik as the last stop also gives me the option to disembark and stay in Croatia for a few days. The price difference between the 2 ships is $1000 for my category, MSC being cheaper. Another plus is that the MSC Magnifica ship is brand new.
The only concern I had with MSC itinerary is that the stop at Izmir, Turkey, is only from 9:00AM to 3:00pm. Many experienced cruisers from Cruise Critics assured me that I should have enough time to tour Ephesus highlights, which include the must-see Terrace Houses. I also emailed a few local tour companies. They also concurred that I should be able to tour Ephesus in 5 hours.
Ports of Call: Read about the ports that MSC Magnifica will visit in the summer of 2010!