MSC Bellissima the inaugural cruise – part 1

I am just back from 8 nights on the MSC Bellissima which set sail from Southampton on the 04th March 2019 on her inaugural sailing to Genoa with my colleague Bonnie. We disembarked in Barcelona on the 12th March and if you haven’t already, please visit my Facebook Page for uploads and live videos from when we were on board.

Over the next couple of blogs I will be giving you all my views on this ship both good and bad, no stone left unturned and my honest review.

The ship itself is huge and extremely beautiful with 19 decks and can cater for approx 5500 guests. I have been on three MSC ships previously and sailed on two of them. The Magnifica for a ship visit, Preziosa for 4 nights and Musica for 7 nights. All the MSC ships are beautifully designed with that signature Italian style of glitz and glamour. But does the beauty live up to the quality?

For me the Bellissima was hands down the most beautiful ship I have sailed on. All the public areas were designed to wow and the main atrium sparkled day and night with the amazing Swarovski crystal stairs and floor.  The main hub of the ship was the Bellissima Gallery on deck 6 which has the LED dome. During the day the dome would change and was different every night. This is the main feature of the ship and dependent on the theme for the evening the dome reflected this. They would also do approx 3 x dome shows a night, showing a different theme or story to watch in amazement. This ship does have the wow factor.

There are 5 pools on the ship. You have the main pool on deck 15 and towards the forward, there is another indoor pool on the same deck. There is the 3rd pool on deck 16 at the aft of the ship, we chose to use this area as although still busy it was quieter than the main pool area. the Yacht Club have their own pool area too, but we couldn’t get access to this area, so sorry no photo or information on the Yacht Club for this ship. Last but not least another pool on the aft of deck 19 for the aquapark.

Main Pool

Indoor Pool and Spa area

Aft Pool area

Aquapark Pool

We had a Bella Balcony cabin midship on deck 8. Now the cabin was nicely decorated, if a bit bland compared to other areas of the ship, but space was good in the main cabin and also the bathroom.  Few points I picked out from the other ships I had been on was the wardrobe space, it was tiny compared to the others. With just a standard sized wardrobe and a few draws, it really was a struggle for 2 girls with 2 full suitcases! The bathroom had good shelving space but no bin! the only bin was in the main cabin. The shower unit itself was spacious and with a glass door (if you read my blogs you know a curtain is my pet hate) and a foot bar within the shower so us girls can easily shave our legs.

Watch the video and see for yourself. By the way, I found the hairdryer hiding in a slim top drawer of the dressing table and the Zoe didn’t work once!

The bars and lounges are designed nicely with plenty of seating areas and you have plenty of places to chose from where to enjoy that cocktail.

You had the Sky Loung Bar on the aft of deck 18 which overlooked the pool area and is also a piano bar. Deck 6 in the atrium you had the Edge Cocktail bar and above on deck 7 the Champagne bar. Further along the Gallery on deck 6, you have the Bellissima Lounge which is where we spent most of our evenings watching the dancing and entertainment from the in-house team. Above on Deck 7, you had the Studio bar and across from here the Masters at Sea which is a British Pub. There are also three bars on deck 15, one at each of the outdoors and indoors pool areas and also in the Market Place Buffet. You have a large round bar on in the Casino on the aft of deck 7, with another bar to be found in the sports area on deck 16 and if that’s not enough two more at the Aft of deck 18, one for the disco and one outside for the Aft pool decks. You would not go thirsty on this ship.

The Edge Cocktail Bar

Champagne Anyone?

Masters at Sea British Pub

Masters at Sea British Pub

Trying to dance in the Bellissima Lounge

Over the next few blogs, I will upload more videos so you can see the full ship and places to drink. I will also be giving my honest review on the food and entertainment on the ship.

Dawn

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