I was lucky enough to be invited by MSC Cruises to spend a week on board their cruise ship MSC Orchestra. It was probably the best trip I was ever on! I couldn't have asked for a nicer group of agents to be away with. Our flights were with Scandinavian Airlines in business class to Copenhagen were we joined the cruise. The ship was just amazing, plus we all got balcony suites. From the moment you get on board the staff took care of us very well and were very social with everyone on board. There was a good mix of passengers from young families, singles, right up to the older clients. The itinerary was fantastic, even though it rained for most of the week it didn’t deter anyone from enjoying themselves. We set sail from Copenhagen for Oslo. I only saw a little bit of Oslo due to the heavy rain, but it’s beautiful and very easy to get around on foot.
After Oslo, the ship headed for western Norway and the Fjords.
Up in the Fjords was breath taking, Stavanger, Geiranger, Flaam and Hellsytt were the ports of call, I have over 200 photos, I couldn’t stop clicking, the scenery was spectacular, snow capped mountains, glaciers and magical waterfalls.
MSC invited us on an excursion and to a meal in the Shanghai restaurant on board, apparently it’s the only Chinese restaurant at sea, the food was first class. Dinner every evening consisted of 6 or 7 courses and the food was delicious. Every day and night on board there is always something to do, take a swim on deck or have a glass of wine in the jacuzzi, take in a show every evening in the spectacular theatre. Then there was the midnight buffet, full of chocolates, buns and cakes, chefs specials, it was a feast for chocolate lovers like me.
We left the Fjords for our overnight cruise to Copenhagen where we spent the night. Love the city, locals are very friendly, the place is so clean, really beautiful. We found a bar to watch the Ireland v Cyprus game, cheap drinks compared to other bars, only €4 a pint where as some of the others in the group had a wander around and were paying €9 for a pint!
I could be writing here for a month, it was just a fantastic week!! I never thought I would enjoy cruising but this experience has completely changed my mind, I'm already planning my next one for later in the year...