Indian Ocean Cruise 2015/16 - On Board the MSC Opera

Geoff and Sean kindly gave us a lift to Durban docks as as we drove along the waterfront we could see the huge ship.

We enjoyed our cruise and the visits to the islands but MSC really need to do something about embarkation as, just like 4 years ago, we spent hours waiting in queues. We were told by a guy waiting to pick people up that the ship had docked late so it was mayhem from when we arrived at 9.30am as embargoing passenger had to wait until passengers has got off - and not one single MSC employee was around to tell us what was going on. Also the car park was clogged up with cars waiting to collect passengers so there was no room for people to be dropped off, we ended up getting out and walking the last few hundred metres so that Geoff and Sean didn't have to wait in the car park queue.

Most people had t o wait for 3 to 4 HOURS before they were able to get onto the ship, not the best start to the cruise - and it must have been dreadful for all the families with young children.

By the time we left Durban around 2pm it had clouded over but we could just make out the Moses Madiba Stadium (build for the 2010 World Cup) on the right of the photo.

We celebrated with a drink!

On the first evening there was a 'Leaving Durban' get together on the pool deck.

During the day our favourite place was at the back of deck 10 - nice and quiet and plenty of shade.

The only times that we used the pool was when the ship was docked in Reunion & Mauritius and we got back before the organised trips.

Mirrors on 3 sides of the lifts!

Our waiter, he served us our evening meals.

The entertainments on board during the day and each evening were very good and the cruise director, Stephen Cloete, was always amusing and a mine of useful information - he did an interesting talk about scams, showed us how we could improve our memory (and it worked!) in addition to compering quiz shows.

One evening the theme was 'Bollywood'.

The entertainers on stage and some of the ship's officers in front.

Every day we received a daily program guide. This link is an Adobe Acrobat file with an example of one of them.

On board.

Reunion.

Mauritius.

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On New Years Eve the pool deck party lasted into the early hours.