Cruising around southern Europe on the MSC Splendida

By Keri Allan from LadiesWhat.co.uk

Southern Europe has so much to offer and although I’ve visited the region many times I’ve still so much to see and explore. So I was very excited to be offered the chance to take in the Mediterranean in a whole different way, when MSC invited me to join their MSC Blog Cruise on the MSC Splendida.

I’ve travelled far and wide, but my modes of transportation have always been land or air – the longest boat ride I’ve taken is the ferry from Dover to Calais, so this will be my first chance to take in a real cruise ship experience.

On Fri November 15th I’ll be flying out to Rome where I’ll board the MSC Splendida for my three-night cruise, which will take in Genoa and Marseille before we disembark in Barcelona.

In the past I’ve had my reservations about cruises, so I’m using this opportunity to really find out what they have to offer and to see if it’s something I’d like to do more of in the future.

I’ve considered cruises around Alaska and the Norwegian Fjords before but not been brave enough to take the leap, so here’s my chance to get a taster of the cruise experience first hand.

I’ve already discovered that’s there’s so much to entertain us when we’re on board - as one of MSC’s exclusive Fantasia class ships, the MSC Splendida has a huge amount to offer from pools and squash courts through to a cinema, theatre, bars and clubs. Food-wise I’m exciting to try out its four restaurants which offer everything from Mexican to Italian, including traditional Italian ice-cream – Stracciatella, here I come!

Who is taking part?

I’m very excited to be sharing this trip with a great group of travel bloggers, each with their own perspective that will be sure to cover lots of angles while we’re cruising from Rome to Barcelona.

I will be covering the event for Travel With A Mate and will be joined by Emma Stuart from Ladies what as well as Michael Hodson from Go, See Write, Sophie Collard from Sophie on Track, Selena Jones from Oh the Places We Will Go and Ian Mallory from Mallory on Travel.

Between us we should have some interesting stories to share!

What we’ll be doing

We’ll be cramming in as much as we can during our three-day MSC cruise including half-day excursions to Marseille, currently Europe’s cultural capital, and the cobbled streets of Genoa, enjoying the gentle clime of the Mediterranean autumn while it’s wet and cold at home!

Whilst on-board we plan to spend our time exploring the MSC Splendida to the full, and will be trying out everything from the spa and 4D cinema through to the ship’s Formula 1 simulator. Then during the evenings we’ll be meeting up in one of the ship’s several bars before heading to dinner followed by the theatre or club.

How to follow us

We’ll be busy tweeting and posting photos during the entire trip and you can follow all our adventures by: