Earlier this month I was lucky enough to be one of 140 Attendees for the first ever #BlogCampOnBoard the MSC Preziosa, an annual blogger conference organised by Tots100. I always assumed that a Cruise Ship Holiday isn’t that family friendly and is more something for couples and elderly people well how wrong was I! Thanks to my day exploring the rather impressive and huge Cruise Ship from MSC my mindset has completely change and I thought I tell you 5 of my reasons why I would love to go on a Family Cruise Holiday in the near future:
1. The Entertainment: When booking a holiday the first thing I look out for is entertainment for the kids and likewise for us adults too! The kids entertainment program is pretty impressive from a Lego room (which we sadly didn’t get to visit due to the time schedule) as well as a Doremi live talent show, family discos where the little ones can go on the deck, live cooking shows and sport programs. For the older kids there are clubs to print their own 3D creations as well as make your own YouTube show as well as consoles to play on. And best of all the Clubs are all open from 9am till 11pm at night talk about a childfree day on holiday!!! Next to the MSC Doremi Kids Mascot there is also a Lego Mascot (MSC partnered up with Lego and Chicco for lots of fun for the kids on board). With 5 different Kids Club range from Baby to Teenager (Staged into Groups for Baby & Toddlers, 3-6 years, 7-11 years, 12-14 & 15-17 years) there is a Doremi Land, Grafitti’s, Virtual World, a 4D Cinema (which is not only for the kids) and the Doremi Castle kids aqua park which has the longest single-rider water slide on the seas called ‘Vertigo’. There is also Video Games Arcade & Sports Bowling & Diner, Casino and Platinum Theatre for the adults on board. There are 7 Bars to chill and lounge in, from a soothing green interior Sax Jazz Bar to an exotic looking Safari Lounge.
Image from the MSC Cruise website because we sadly run out of time to check out the kids area
2 The Food: With an impressive 8 Restaurants on board you most certainly wont get bored when it comes to trying out all the tasty culinary delights! For me Food on holiday is a big thing and when we booked our summer holiday to Malta this year we picked a hotel with lots of choice and quite a few restaurants to go to but unfortunately the freshness and quality of the food was a huge let down but fear not when we arrived at the Golden Lobster restaurant for lunch the staff was super friendly and the a la card menu had some lovely meal choices. Some Bloggers decided to go for the Buffet which had salads, soups, roast pork, roast potatoes and even sprouts! I decided to get myself some salad on the Buffet (including a proper nice Pretzel something I miss a lot from my home country) whilst waiting for my main (I done the mistake of not eating breakfast so I was starving) which was Ravioli with Spinach and Ricotta filling in butter sage sauce and to finish off I had a Nutella Cream Mille-Feuille and maybe a little extra serving of the delicious mini puddings and super fresh and rich tasting melon fruit slices who were on offer at the buffet desert table:
3. The Spa & Gym: The MSC Preziosa also has a spa with beauty and wellness treatment I mean what more could you want!I take a relaxing massage or a soothing facial any day! And yes I admit I am not a gym bunny at all although I do enjoy my weekly Zumba leassons but I could see myself having a few light gym session here and there on board because let’s be honest with food like that (see Number 2 above) it certainly wouldn’t harm me to work out a little bit!
4. Dressing Up: I found my love for dressing up in particular wearing dresses pretty late in life and other than the clothes I wore when I was a baby and didn’t have a say in that matter I wouldn’t have been seen alive with a dress on until I turned 21 and decided to give it a go! I haven’t looked back since and when I got accepted as one of the last ones to slide up that waiting list to attend #BlogCampOnBoard I had a pretty good reason to start searching for that perfect nautical themed dress and I think the outcome didn’t look bad at all and we had lots of fun in our pretty dresses on board the ship: PICS dresses I can see myself (and the kids) going all nautical and stripes (which I wear loads anyway) if I would to book a Family Holiday on board one of the MSC ships because there is nothing better than twinning on holiday right?
5. Plane-Free Holiday: I love that fact that MSC Cruises has ships like the Preziosa and Magnifica who both sail from Southampton (which is only 40 min drive for us) to Europe with destinations including France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Italy. So for our first Cruise Ship holiday we could start with a little Europe Tour before venturing out to see some more exotic places like the Mediterranean, Caribbean, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, Southern Africa, China, the United Arab Emirates and Sir Bani Yas.
At the end of #BlogCamponBoard we had a little Q&A Session with the MD of MSC Antonio Paradiso & Natalie Billington and other members of the team who were brilliant in answering our mostly family and children related question and Antonio also informed us about how eco-friendly the MSC fleets actually are when one blogger asked about it. From using the best quality fuel available in ports, to efficiency-enhancing technology, to advanced onboard recycling systems, MSC strongly believe that leadership comes with increased responsibility towards the environment.
MSC Cruises have been exploring the seas for over 300 years and have a rather impressive fleet of 16 cruise ships.There are the world’s largest privately owned cruise line and brand market leader in Europe and South America. If you want to see the ship from the inside in all its glory you can check out this virtual Tour of the MSC Preziosa where you can take it all in! Well what more can I say… I know for a fact if BlogCamp is heading on board again next year I’m IN (well I put my name on the list that is!). What an informative exiting and fun day I had with some lovely old and new Blogger friends:
Thank you MSC Preziosa for having me I had a blast!! And here is my favourite bit of the whole day, Sara-Jayne and my boomerang video of us swinging on top deck:
Comments (1)
Oh that Boomerang is absolutely genius! Thanks so much for coming along on the day, I’m so pleased you could make it, And also thanks for such a fab post 🙂