Cruise with the MSC Magnifica-Hamburg

Friday 27.07.2018 Hamburg

I have to admit that on a rainy weekend we like to watch Sonnenklar.tv from time to time. So when we saw a daily offer, we couldn't say no. 11 days on the MSC Magnifica from Hamburg to Southampton, Le Havre, Stavanger, Bergen, Olden, and Alesund, and then back to Hamburg for 999.00 euros in an interior cabin with all-inclusive drinks package. This made us tempted to be unfaithful to the Mein Schiff fleet and try out MSC. As a reward, we were allocated a balcony cabin on deck 8.

The MSC Magnifica is the 4th ship of the Musica class. Sister ships are the MSC Musica, the MSC Orchestra that we met in Stavanger, and the MSC Poesia. The ship offers capacities for over 2,500 passengers on 16 decks, including 13 passenger decks. It is the 11th new construction project of the shipping company and was built at the STX Europe shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. The MSC Magnifica was christened on March 6, 2010 in Hamburg by Sophia Loren. The ship sails under the flag of Panama. Its home port is Panama City. It has a length of 294m, a width of 32m, and a height of 60m. It can accommodate 2,500 passengers in 1259 passenger cabins. The ship has 5 restaurants, 12 bars, the Aurea Spa with sauna and steam bath, a fitness studio, a 4D cinema, a bowling alley, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, 4 whirlpools, a theater across 3 decks, and a tennis court. Our balcony cabin 8008 officially has a size of 11.62 sqm and is located at the bow of the ship. The audience on the ship is international. Alongside German passengers, there are also English, Spanish, French, and of course, Italian travelers on board. All announcements on board are made in 5 different languages.

The best and fastest way to get from Augsburg to Hamburg is by train, which takes 6 hours. We arrived one day earlier. Firstly, we don't really trust the train and its punctuality, and secondly, we love Hamburg so much that we always enjoy spending time in this beautiful city. Contrary to all fears, our train to Hamburg arrived more than just on time at 7:30 am at Augsburg train station. While the train was relatively empty in Augsburg, it became increasingly crowded during the journey. We almost expected that it wouldn't continue to Altona as promised, but would end at the main train station.

This time I chose the Chez Ronny guesthouse directly on the Reeperbahn for our overnight stay. It was perfect for our activities, and staying on the Reeperbahn has a very special flair. The guesthouse has only 5 rooms and a very friendly host, Ronny. The rooms are cozy and decorated with attention to detail. There are also many decorative light strings that create a cozy atmosphere. Our room, Karat, also had a balcony overlooking the garden and a lovingly furnished bathroom across the hallway. Surprisingly, even with the balcony door open, we heard very little of the hustle and bustle on the Reeperbahn. It was very relaxing to sit in the foyer with a bar, kitchen, and leather sofa, enjoying free coffee. The overnight price is more than justified, even by Hamburg standards, at 100.00 euros per night. Our guesthouse was easily accessible from the main train station by the S-Bahn, which stops right outside the door. We conveniently reached the cruise terminal in Altona by bus line 111.

After a friendly welcome from Ronny and a tour of our room, we headed to the Elbphilharmonie. The visitor platform can now be visited for free without queuing. You just have to line up, pick up the free ticket, take the over 80-meter-long escalator up, and be amazed. The Elbphilharmonie was finally completed in November 2016, after more than 9 years of construction and costs that were about 11.24 times the originally planned 77 million euros. Unfortunately, we could not visit the 2 concert halls. This is only possible during the concert season and with a minimum of 3 months' advance notice, as there is only one tour in English and one in German every day. In the first year after its completion, the Elphi, as the Hamburgers lovingly call it, was visited by 4.5 million people. By the way, one of the first concerts in the Elphi was played by the band "Einstürzende Neubauten". That's what I call black humor. We admired the view in all directions from the visitor platform. Actually, it was the wrong time to think about the fact that the Elphi stands on 1732 piles deeply anchored in the Elbe soil. We treated ourselves to an "Alsterwasser" in the bar, which is what a shandy is called in Hamburg, for 3.80 euros, and then made our way back to our guesthouse. We still had time for a shower before heading to our reserved table at Henssler und Henssler.

Yes, Henssler und Henssler is expensive. Yes, the restaurant has the charm of a train station pub, and yes, the service is not always perfect for the price. But the sushi is simply heavenly. That's one reason why we keep coming back to this restaurant when we visit Hamburg. The restaurant is located near the Altona cruise terminal and can be easily reached by bus line 111. You should reserve a table at least 3 months in advance. Unfortunately, there were no tables available on the terrace, but our server was very friendly and kept bringing us cool towels to cool down. Our Henssler Special Mix for 2 people was very delicious and plentiful, with maki, inside-out maki, nigiri, tempura, and specialty sashimi.

After dinner, we went to Planten un Blomen (Plants and Flowers). I had read about the water light concert on the internet. These water shows take place in the summer months from May 1st, daily at 10:00 pm at the park lake. The water organ is played live. The colorfully illuminated water fountains move to a specially written score synchronized with the music "from a tape". The light piano has 762 spotlights grouped together. The light piano alone has 95 keys. 2 pumps draw water from the pool. The water is sprayed through 99 water jets. The main jet can reach a height of 36 meters. As much water is moved as a city with 500,000 inhabitants consumes in an hour. The show lasts about 30 minutes. In our case, the water organ moved to well-known film music. The fact that this concert is no longer a secret was proven by the masses of people who marched with us to the lake. We really enjoyed the show, and personally, I think it's even better than the fountains in front of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

After fighting our way back through the crowd to the subway after the show, we traveled to the Landungsbrücken. In the night sky, we observed the special spectacle of a 100-minute lunar eclipse. I had imagined the blood moon to be a bit redder and more luminous. It was hardly visible to the naked eye and unfortunately impossible to photograph with the phone, but it was still interesting to watch it reappear after the complete darkening. So it was very late when we returned to our guesthouse around 1:00 am.