We’ve paired up with holiday experts Thomas Cook for the ultimate guide to getting the most out of your time off. This week we’re talking setting sail on a luxury cruise. Watch the video above for some great advice, and check out our top tips for the essentials on board – dining, drinking and dancing!

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Dining

If you’re heading on a cruise holiday the one thing you can expect to look forward to is the cuisine!  No matter who you choose to cruise with the food on-board is likely to be of a very high quality and as most cruise liners offer all-inclusive options you can expect to spend a lot of time munching. Happy days! Most cruise liners will offer one main restaurant where you can dine every evening if you wish. All of your breakfast, lunch and dinners are included in the price of your cruise so you don’t pay on-board for any of your meals. Buffet restaurants are open all day long from 6am to 8pm so if you feel like a snack throughout the day these are open for you to choose from. The main restaurant is where you can dine at dinnertime and here you will be provided you with a wide variety of cuisine to choose from. They will also accommodate any dietary needs you may have, for example MSC offer gluten-free options - but make sure you mention dietary requirements at the time of booking. MSC, being an Italian cruise liner, have an Italian-influenced restaurant with lots of great Italian cuisine on offer but if you are not that way inclined don’t worry, as there are plenty alternatives also available. 

Speciality restaurants also tend to be on most cruise liners so if you feel like a change from the main restaurant you can opt for something else. MSC Cruises serve authentic Mexican cuisine from their Tex-Mex restaurants where you can choose yummy fajitas, enchiladas or tacos all washed down with a Mexican beer or margarita. MSC also have specialist Japanese sushi restaurants on-board.  The specialist restaurants are not covered in the price of the cruise however, and therefore you pay extra for any meals you order in these restaurants.

Drinking

As with any of the cruise liners available through Thomas Cook, MSC have a range of bars and lounges to choose from. This includes the coffee bars where guests can enjoy the atmosphere of an authentic Italian café. MSC also have elegant cigar rooms where connoisseurs can enjoy a range of fine spirits. If you are a Jazz fan, you might like to head to the Jazz bar for some music and entertainment. For the sports fans on board – you can relax in the sports bar where matches, Formula 1 and more are shown on large screen TVs.  So there really is something for everyone!

Dancing

The nightlife on board an MSC cruise ship is exhilarating! Dance till dawn in the nightclub where DJs play your favourite music and the night sky sails by you. If you’re feeling lucky you can always head to the casino and try your hand at Roulette, poker, black jack or the slot machines. There are shows on every night too, so if you want to start your night out at the theatre you can enjoy opera, karaoke, cabaret and more!  You’ll be amazed at the amount of entertainment available on an MSC cruise ship.

 

 

Thomas Cook currently have great cruise deals with a 7 night MSC cruise around the Mediterranean available for just €999 on board their new ship the MSC Preziosa departing on the 19th July and including return flights from Dublin. For more information please call their specialist team on 01 514 0336. The team will be able to answer any questions you may have related to eating, drinking and entertainment on board the various cruise liners and any other queries you may have.