7-Days Mediterranean Sea Cruise on MSC Splendida

My unfiltered journal about my very first cruise together with my husband Maikel.

In the summer of 2025, my husband came to me with an idea about going on a cruise holiday. I was recovering from a surgery, gaining back my health and thought it was a clever idea to go on a cruise. I also wanted to add a new country to my country count of twenty-nine. He found a cruise for 7 nights (let us also say 7 days) at the Mediterranean Sea. The route would also include a new country Tunisia for both of us. The price was affordable, we could choose a balcony cabin, food package, and a drink (non-alcoholic for health reasons) package. There were plenty of other choices to add on, but we choose to keep this for the moment. The beauty of a cruise is that you can decide while booking, where you would like to start your cruise and where you would like to stop. Except for Tunisia, at all other ports, it was possible to start and stop your cruise. So, depending on where you live or where you could fly in and out conveniently, you could plan your cruise. We choose to start our cruise at Palermo, in the island of Sicily in Italy and end it there. We have been to Sicily a year before and did not have the chance to visit Palermo, so this would also be a chance to explore Palermo for a day or two and then embark on a different journey. Our route would be Palermo Italy, La Goulette Tunisia, Barcelona Spain, Marseille France, Genoa Italy, Naples Italy. After booking and confirming our cruise, flight tickets etc, I was still a bit nervous, I can get seasick, my husband said he got knowledge about booking the kind of cabins that do not give you seasickness. He is a travel agent and has had a lot of cruise ship visits last year, learning from the best in the business, so I nodded my head and told myself, let us see!!!!

We had months to go, but we were excited. My health was getting better, lost a bit of weight, so walking for a few hours was easy, this meant that I could go exploring. My husband suggested we download the MSC app (Yes, that is the cruise company where we booked). Oh, before I write further, when I say booked, it means my husband booked this via his travel company idlildi. His company is a startup, and he has tie-ups with various cruise companies through other party business to business providers. The advantage of using a travel agent to book a cruise is plenty. One of the highlights is that they know what is best for your budget, your needs and interest. They make the match based on your inputs and find you the best deal. Also, they get updates from the cruise provider about the activities on the ship, the layout of the ship, so you do not end up having your cabin right under the restaurants etc. He also got updates about the excursions offered by MSC in all the ports of this route, also during black Friday, they had sales on these add-ons. With your booking confirmation, you can quickly set up your MSC Cruise app.The app gives you all the information to prepare for the cruise, the type of clothing to wear on the cruise, the activities that you can expect . You pay with your credit card, and all your reservations appear in the app. It is very convenient and easy to use. Thanks to the black Friday sales, we were able to secure two spots to the shopping expedition excursion at Tunis, Tunisia. This is an excursion organized by MSC (so they must bring you back on time)

Our cruise was in December; the weather was not looking sunny for some of the days. We planned to step out of the ship at La Goulette, Barcelona and Genoa. The rest of the ports, we were going to be in the ship. I packed t shirts, shorts, jumpsuits to wear inside the ship during the port days and some comfortable jean pants to wear on the days outside, along with t-shirts. If you like wearing heels or other shoes than trainers, please do pack some to match the dresses, as many people did dress up for the evenings and parties. I liked the freedom to wear what you want and still also respect the rules of the ship. Our ship was called MSC Splendida, this ship did not have a common laundromat, but they do offer laundry services per piece of clothing, and you pay a price for it (20 something for washing and ironing). The cabin also does not have an iron box. So, plan and pack accordingly. Also packed an umbrella, a vest in case it got windy at the upper decks. My husband also packed quite some casual clothes, in addition to a few t shirts. From my experience, most of the people were in their sweatpants and sweatshirts after 3 days. All the wonderful food does make you gain a few kilos and the most comfortable to wear at a buffet are sweatpants! You only need to look a bit polished in the fine dining restaurant, which was also included in our food package. The app from MSC also suggested to pack something white, something with bright colours and a gala dress. This is all a challenge if you book your flights with just a carry-on luggage, so I strongly advise to book your flight tickets with checked in baggage, it is really fun to dress up for the parties and also have the photographers on board click beautiful pictures worth a lot of memories. Also pack your seasickness medication and other non-prescription medication. They do have a small shop in the ship for basics, but the prices are super high !!! apart from that, for heavy unfortunate medical emergencies, they have a medical centre inside the ship (at the lower decks mostly).

We checked out from our hotel in Palermo; our hotel was just opposite the cruise terminal. The hotel and flight were a package deal with the cruise, so we did not have to take out our credit cards here even at checkout (I insist again, use a travel agent, saves you a lot of headaches). In MSC cruise you can arrange the check in time. So, arrive at the port during that period. You will receive instructions on what to print to use for boarding. There is a person at the port/cruise terminal, that first checks in your luggage. We checked in two suitcases; the person put a number on our boarding documents and asked us to leave the suitcases with her. Once inside the terminal, another person checked the number and said, you are group 3, so please wait until your group is called. In the booking confirmation you also receive your cabin number. My husband surprised me at this point, he said we have been upgraded to a package called Aurea experience, so we must spend few more minutes at check-in, as our cabin number would have been changed. He quickly explained me that this upgrade meant, we get a bigger cabin with balcony, with a welcome champagne at the cabin, free access to the sauna and gym, also exclusive access to the solarium at the top deck. I was thrilled and nervous at the same time! after 15 mins our group number was called for boarding, in no time we were at the check in desk for Aurea members. The sweet Italian lady explained us about the upgrade and appreciated that we already downloaded the app, and our photo was recorded already, I saw that they had to make this photo for the others. The photo is tagged to your cruise pass, and they use this pass everywhere to identify you. At the check in the lady checked our passports, other details and gave a document that looked like “good to board “. The next step was security check like in airports and then straight into the ship. 45 mins since we were at the port terminal, we were inside the ship. Again, they had a number system, group 3 must go to deck seven, assembly point H, they asked us to take the elevator and meet someone there. We took the elevator, went to deck seven and found a staff at assembly point H. He looked at our document and said, welcome, if you like you can go to deck fourteen and have your lunch, buffet is open, also maybe your cabin is ready. We asked him if there were any instructions to follow from him, he smiled and said, no, you are free to do whatever you like! We should have should have told him, that it was our first cruise, but we were just excited and curious to explore. So, we went looking for our cabin, looked at layout maps, went to deck twelve, found our cabin. Now to our surprise, the cabin was ready, In the key holder were two passes, this is the most important in your cruise. The card is your cruise pass, it has all the details of your name, cabin number, the kind of package you have. Regular cruiser’s even have customized pass holders from Swarovski and wear them around their neck. I learnt this, two days into the cruise. I carried mine in my phone. This pass is used to enter your cabins, also when exiting the ship at each port and on coming back from the excursions. This pass is also used to register any purchase on board, also to order drinks from your drink package. You use this pass for everything on board, and you can pay later with your credit card using the machines on board or at the reception desk before you leave the ship on your last day. The reception is usually on the deck5, you go there for all the complaints, and they try to solve it for you. Our cabin was spacious, decent size bathroom with a shower, toilet, and a sink with mirror. We had a desk with mirror in the cabin, a sofa, and a double bed. Also had a television with some basic channels that even worked on the sea. Hair dryer and a refrigerator were also included. A clothing closet enough for two people to hang a week’s clothing. After putting away our stuff (backpacks) we went to explore every deck. We soon arrived at the atrium (it is like the heart of the ship), gave me titanic vibes, there was a piano , they did play the piano in the evenings. On both sides were the marvelous sparkling Swarovski staircases, a trademark of all MSC Cruise ships. This is also the staircase to deck six, where most of the essential information services were. The first few hours after you board the ship, after your lunch, find a place to sit, connect your phone to the ship Wi-Fi, and use the app. Once inside the ship’s Wi-Fi, the app gets updated with more information about the ship. You can find the different activities lined up for the day. So, you can prepare yourself for the evening. In the app, they update the next day schedule by 7 pm every evening. All these instructions were also left behind in our cabin. We only read it after a day. Once we were at the upper decks, we decided to explore the buffet restaurant for lunch. This buffet is 1 km long, some of the sections are repeated to manage the crowd. The main parts of the buffet are for pizza, pasta, and the daily specials. The food suits each diet and restrictions. There is food for all. Including Indian, vegetarian, vegan options. They kept filling the buffets and the number of staff working, is just massive. I have never seen this much fresh food. They also have a salad bar and a fruit section. Since we choose non-alcoholic drink package, we could choose to have bottled water, soft drinks, coffee, mocktails and fresh juices. We also can choose to dine at the fine dining restaurant. This was not truly clear to many people, these are included for everyone, but the restaurant is only open at certain times, so you need to know that, to plan your mealtimes. Even though the Aurea experience gave us the option to dine at our will, the restaurant timings were restricted. So, we preferred on some days to use the buffet for breakfast and lunch, some days we had dinner at the fine dining ala carte restaurant. We also opted for in room breakfast for our first morning, as we need to leave early for the excursion at La Goulette, Tunisia. Our cabin steward met us at the cabin and delivered our checked in suitcases (I had totally forgotten them), he was very responsive and gave us the documents required for the excursion. So, they really know our itinerary. He had also prepared our bed and set the lighting to dim, so that we can get an indication that it is about time to hit the bed and get some rest. It was dark outside, we had sailed far away from the land, could feel the gentle waves rocking us to a good sleep. In the night, the ship had sailed from Palermo and arrived in the morning around eight at La Goulette port in Tunisia and just like that, we have arrived in Africa, a new continent for me and my thirtieth country!

We got our breakfast delivered in room at 7:45 am, on time as requested. It was a continental breakfast of muesli with fruit yogurt, coffee, orange juice, and a few croissants. While we were sleeping, they already slipped the excursion tickets under the door. This is something they do to communicate, every day we were surprised to see all kinds of envelopes with vouchers or information letters appear on the door.

Anyways, the tickets for the excursions (the one we purchased via the MSC app) had a group number 7 written on them and we need to assemble at the theatre at deck seven by 9:30 am

We slowly packed our backpacks with the essentials like medication, umbrella and, we needed water bottles. This is easy in the ship, with your drinks package, you can just walk to any bar at any deck and ask for two or three bottles of water to take with you. They just need your pass to authenticate you. Also, if you bring your own water bottles, you can always refill them at the buffet.

We were at the theatre around 9:15 am, there were a lot of people going out to explore Tunisia. They had similar trips as us, but different languages. MSC is mostly inclusive of main European languages. The activities are conducted in Italian, Spanish, French and German, last but not the least, also English.

Finally, it was group 7, that is the tour in English. A 4-hour guided tour of the medina of Tunis (old town) and then to the Picturesque Sidi Bou Said. We had a MSC Staff with a board , she will be our contact person for the rest of the tour, it her responsibility to guide us through the immigration of Tunisia, board us into the excursion bus and then introduce us to the local guide. She will stay with us for the whole excursion. It is also her responsibility to bring us back to the ship.

The immigration went very quick; they just see your passport and hand it over to you. We were a group of forty people, I think. All different nationalities. Once we all boarded the nice luxury AC buses, our local tour guide from Tunisia, introduced herself.

The bus started to drive into Tunis; we were slowing leaving the port area and driving in between two lakes. Meanwhile the guide started to explain about her country, the culture, and their life in general.

She said it was their winter, so they were all wearing winter coats and sweater. We were just wearing t-shirts and jeans, still feeling warm and sweaty.

There were flamingos on the lakes, she said they are migratory birds.

We were in Africa, so I could see how different the terrain looked, it did feel like the Sahara and Tunisia is indeed part of the Sahara and Atlas Mountains. We did see a part of the Atlas Mountains.

The most interesting fact about Tunisia, was that women have a lot of rights than we are aware about. More than what we have in Europe.

The bus stopped in front of the Kasbah square, a national monument, open and wide. From here we could see all the government buildings and the old mosques of the medina.

The guide explained about the medina, a UNESCO heritage site and requested us to stick to the group as we were about to enter a maze of six hundred plus buildings and alleys.

It was easy to get lost. We were first going to the perfume makers house, or it is called the perfume Souq. On the way we passed by houses with colorful doors. Blue doors and yellow doors. Some streets reminded me of Valletta, Malta.

Our guide also informed us that in the perfume maker, we will be introduced to the base oils of most famous brands. This is an important industry in Tunisia. They produce these base oils from the flowers that grow there. Jasmine grows in abundance in Tunisia.

The place looked like a palace with a courtyard; we were guided into a room. The salesperson went around with each perfume, spraying it on us. If you do not want to be sprayed, you can indicate to him. After two rounds of spraying, they informed that we could buy five small bottles for ten euros. I was not interested in buying anything, most of us were not for some reason. We took some more photos of the house and then left.

Next stop was also a palace like house, but it was now converted into a wedding venue. It was beautifully decorated in the middle eastern style, with colorful lamps hanging from the ceiling and beautiful colorful patterned tiles on the wall. Each corner was worth a photo.

We spent a good 10 mins in this place and our guide informed we were about to enter another Souq, famous for handmade carpets. She took us to a government approved carpet and souvenirs shop. We followed her inside and after another maze of stairs, we were suddenly at the terrace of this building. The terrace is wonderful, with some left behind tiled walls and with a view of the zitouna mosque. This terrace became remarkably busy soon due to the view and everyone wanted to get photos here.

We were then taken to a room where a salesperson explained the process of making the carpets. These carpets are handwoven by the women, and it is the responsibility of the men to sell it to the world (that is what he said)

After a good sales pitch, he let us feel the carpet. We were not interested in buying anything, we do not need carpets, but it was all beautiful.

Next, we walked through the gold Souq, there were street vendors trying to sell you their jewelry and you need to be creative in turning down these offers.

The last part was the walk to the bus at the square. In 30 minutes, we arrived at the village of Sidi Bou Said. From the bus we could already see the white houses with the blue windows and doors. White to protect against the heat. blue to repel mosquitoes.

Since this is also a cliff village on the Mediterranean seaside, it is also called the Santorini of North Africa.

There is nothing much to see in this village, except a nice up hill walk which ends with the breathtaking views of the sea and mountains.

The walk-up hill was not difficult, but it got windy at the top.

We walked by some interesting souvenir shops and here they were less pushy towards the tourists. We bought some magnets. All the streets in this part of the village have cafes, so you could pick any café for a tea and some snacks.

Our guide gave us 40 minutes to get something to eat and drink, after that we must be back at the bus at 2 pm.

We spotted a café, forgot the name, but they were a modern café. I had some lemon drink that was similar to sprite. My husband was told that shakshuka was a local dish, so he ordered it. It came with some bread and was delicious. I did have not any appetite, so I went to out to pet a cat on the street.

At 2pm sharp, everyone was in the bus, the bus started its journey to the port again.

The guide was again giving us more information about the development of Tunis; we passed by the modern downtown with big buildings. We also passed by the building that was an inspiration to film Star Wars or something like that.

We arrived at the port La Goulette in 40 mins and went through a shopping village like terminal, were they again sold all the products of Tunisia (your last chance to buy something)

Once inside the ship, they scanned my cruise pass again, saw my photo pop up on the screen indicating I am back on the cruise/ship .

This was a well organized guided tour, worth the money. You do not want to be out there yourself negotiating with the local taxi drivers, also the fact that the port was very far from the city, you have a chance of missing your ship, if you are not back on time.

If you have doubts about the destination being tourist friendly or not confident about going there yourself, I suggest booking the excursion with MSC. They take diligent care of you and take full responsibility. The days that the ship is in a port, they always display everywhere the on-board time. Example, for Tunisia, everyone must be back inside the ship no later than 17:30. At 18:00, the ship will start to sail.

The next day we spent sailing, the next port would be Barcelona, so it does take a day and a night to sail from La Goulette in Tunisia to Barcelona, Spain.

A sea day is a day you spend at the sea, so you can explore the facilities of the ship and relax.

The app also lists all the activities from sun rise stretching until the last party of the day.

They also have some games. The activities and parties are not more than 45 minutes.

On some afternoons, they also had dance lessons.

On the evening before we sailed off from Tunisia, we visited the Aurea Spa. The entrance to the Spa was included in our Aurea Experience package. They advised us to book a timeslot to use the Spa facilities on a sea day. It does get busy, so if you already have a timeslot booked, you can be sure that you have the sauna for yourself.

They also have massages and other beauty treatments at this spa. There is also a hair salon on the same deck.

For massages and other treatments, they have daily offers, you can reserve a timeslot and pay for it later, the expense will be registered to your cruise pass.

The Aurea cabins also come with bathrobes and slippers, so you can use them at the spa.

They had many saunas and steam rooms, all well maintained and hygienic.

There were relaxation chairs with a view out to the sea.

Before we went to the sauna, we came across the gym. It has all the necessary cardio and strength training equipment. Also, a trainer was available to guide.

We did a brief workout with the cardio bikes (workout with a view of the sea)

After that we went to the Sauna and the steam rooms.

In the evening, they had a MasterChef competition at the theatre, we went to see it. It was not like in the MasterChef competition, but they gave some desserts to three participants and the one that decorated it the best, got a bottle of wine to take home.

We also had bought a fun pass package; this is a package that allows you to use the gaming facilities and the internet (I think so). They do have a sports bar and mini bowling.

We did some bowling just before dinner and got ourselves into a mini competition.

The idea to buy the fun package along with Internet for two devices was good, we could browse the internet sipping cappuccino along with some cake at a café in one of the decks.

A day at sea was almost ending, the theme party tonight was something about seventy’s music. We got dressed after dinner and went there at 23:00. The DJ was playing all seventy’s hits in Italy, lots of people of that generation were dancing like no one was watching.

The next day we went to Barcelona, visited it only for three hours and got back to the ship, as it started to rain.

We stayed back in our cabin after a heavy lunch at the buffet. Since Christmas was just a few days away, the ship turned into Christmas mode at Barcelona. More Christmas theme desserts appeared, and Barcelona is an international airport, so some more new passengers from America had boarded the ship.

The theatre crew had also changed and that night we had a musical show.

Since we got back to the ship early, we decided to get some photographs clicked in the ship.

MSC cruise has designated photographers near the crystal staircase and the atrium. These photographers will teach you to pose beautifully and capture life lasting memories with their cameras.

So, if it is your first time cruising and you are reading this, dress up well, put on some makeup, get your hair done and get these photographs. Just do this one evening, it is more than enough, but if you want a photograph every evening, there is no limitation. They can click as many as you want. They also had Christmas props, so you can take your family Christmas photo there.

You can also ask them to make portraits of you.

On deck number seven of our ship was the gallery. They print the photos and display them in the gallery on the next evening. The photography department works only in the evening from 19:00 until midnight.

They do charge you for these photos, if you want to take only one of the printed photos, it is twenty-two euros. Ask for a package while booking your cruise to get a discount (ask your travel agent about this)

If you did not buy while booking, you can still get the package, but you will pay hundred euros for it. The package gets you a printed album of your choice of ten photos and the access to download all your photos in digital form.

So, if you got photos done only on one night, those are ten of them, but if you got more, it is just a waste, since they are printing it all.

I asked the photographer what happens to the ones that I do not take, he said it goes to the recycle. He was kind enough to give me all the photos for another twenty euros on top of the package price.

So, my tip for first timers, either book the photography package well ahead or be smart and take photos only one evening.

Here also the cruise pass is used, they give you instructions on how to download the photos, there is a QR code and you need to be connected to Wi-Fi onboard to be able to download. Download the photos before you leave the ship.

The next day we sailed into Marseille, France. Arrived there in the morning, the weather was only good until noon. So, we decided to have a pool day. The pool was 1 m at the deck fifteen, with a view of Marseille and the sea at the back.

Since this pool was not heated and the steward suggested we try the heated whirlpool instead, we jumped into the whirlpool, and the next 40 mins was filled with bubbles and the views of Marseille.

The clouds started to appear, so we covered up and went back to our cabin.

In the evening, there was again a theatre show, paying tribute to Queen and Freddie mercury, it was an exceptionally good show.

The themed party was tropical nights, we skipped it.

The next day we sailed to Genoa, Italy. We had a view of the city from our balcony. The arrival was during dark morning, so we could not see much. After sunrise, it was a beautiful city view.

We went out to explore Genoa; the cruise terminal was small and efficient. The terminal is so close by the metro. In no time we were at the city center. We explored the Christmas markets, ate some bread with Genovese pesto, had some focaccia, some hot chocolate and seeing the clouds forming again, we decided to get back to the ship.

Once inside the ship, we realized we had just one full day in the ship. The next day we were arriving at Naples in the afternoon, stopping there only for the afternoon, and leaving from there at 20:00

I somehow had a feeling that we were going to get amazing views, even with dark clouds around.

That night, the sea was rough and winds were high, so they took precautions on the outer decks.

We could also feel the roughness of the sea that night, but nevertheless our bed was made well and we slept so good.

In the morning, we were still sailing, we had a breakfast with a view of the waves at the buffet restaurant.

Around noon we saw some land, a huge mountain. I was excited see it; it was Mount Vesuvius. Naples is indeed so beautiful to see from far. The clouds were gently touching the mountain as we sailed towards this city.

We went back to lunch at the upper deck and took a spot next to the window, to eat pizza napolitana with a view of Naples.

It started to rain again, we spent the rest of the day bowling, relaxing at the café, eating more panna cotta, and drinking espressos.

We also received instructions about the disembarkation. We need to pack our suitcases and leave them at the door before 23:00.

In the morning, we must leave our cabins at 8 am and go to the assembly area designated for our group. At 9:30 we can disembark the ship.

They also suggested to clear all pending payments on the cruise card before you leave. There are payment machines in the ship for this, if they do not work, you can just walk to the reception, and they will put it all on your credit card.

These are the important steps before leaving the ship. The suitcases will be carried out by the staff and left at the terminal for you to collect it.

In the morning, we were a bit sad, as we must leave this ship and a carefree life in exchange for to do lists and grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning.

We arrived at Palermo, and we followed the instructions for disembarkation; we waited at the lounge area with another group of twenty people. So, they made the groups small to be able to manage quick disembarkation.

At 9:15 a staff member came and guided us to exist the ship, the cruise pass was scanned for the last time, and we bid goodbye to the staff and MSC Splendida.

Once outside, we easily picked up our suitcase and began our journey back home to The Netherlands (Flight from Palermo to Barcelona, Barcelona to Amsterdam)

The staff of MSC make the experience great. They are all from different nationalities, diverse cultures, yet they respect each customer and offer their best service.

If there is no harmony and unity amongst the staff, a cruise can never function.

I must mention that the cabin is cleaned twice a day and the bed is made twice a day !!!! we got the same steward for all the seven nights, always smiling and asking us if we needed anything.

You do not get this level of value for money even in five-star hotels in some countries.

Also, the fact that we had the freedom to stay back in the ship and find time to relax, without having to worry about food, drinks or entertainment, is another positive aspect of a cruise vacation.

I also suggest this for families to spend time together during holidays. You can use all the time to bond and look at the vacation with a unique perspective.

I would go on a cruise again. A different route or the same route.

I am now a fan of MSC cruises, and I hope to see all the other Swarovski staircases.

As mentioned in this journal, my husband has a travel company and he can sell you a cruise in combination with flight tickets and hotels. If the cruise is leaving from Barcelona, he will get you a flight to Barcelona, a hotel nearby the port or in the city and can arrange a taxi to drop you off at the port. The price is inclusive of all these arrangements. If you book early, you get the best cabins and packages.

Interested?

 You can contact me (click on Contact on the top menu and send me your details), and I will get back to you.