If bridge is your cup of tea, MSC Cruises is offering you the chance on the MSC Orchestra or MSC Lirica to play bridge and cruise — plus lots more! Be sure to invite your fellow players along, because as you know, bridge is a partnership game requiring 4 players. Don’t have a regular group? No problem, there will be plenty of other bridge enthusiasts along for the sail. I’m not sure at this time how many different types will be offered, but there are many. Duplicate bridge, Chicago, Honeymoon bridge, Minibridge, and even a beer card. No matter what your pleasure, there is sure to be fun had by all.

If you want to get to Europe quickly and play, the MSC Orchestra will depart from Venice on Nov. 3 on an 11-night itinerary that calls at historic Dubrovnik before sailing onto Piraeus, to reach Athens and all the histoory that is Greece. Then it’s on to Rhodes, part of the Dodecanese archipelago. Heraklion, on the ancient island of Crete is the next stop, and then Tunis, where you can immerse yopurself in the mysteries of the Kasbah. Finally, you will arrive in Palma, capital of Majorca, Balearic Isle. Next stop is Barcelona and its exciting Ramblas, followed by Marseille, to discover pretty Provence. The cruise finishes Wednesday Nov. 14 in the port of Genoa.
For those with a little more time on their hands, the MSC Lirica departs Fort Lauderdale on March 29, 2008 on a 17-night transatlantic itinerary that calls at San Juan, St. John, Fort de France, Funchal, Vigo and Le Havre before arriving in Dover.
The bridge program combines different sessions of bridge and strategy games. There will be multilingual qualified instructors, in-depth terminology and rules, advice and tricks by the experts, as well as mini-tournaments for players at different levels of bridge and burraco.
A program of entertainment will also follow, with the magic and card games of a magician, beverages in the evenings as well as art & crafts and fun games and quizzes tied into card games.
Even if bridge is not in your vacation plans, you can make the most of the onboard facilities. MSC Orchestra offers 3 pools and 4 whirlpools in the Pool Area, 4 restaurants – including the Shanghai Restaurant with its Chinese specialties; the wine bar “La Cantinella;” and the Body & Mind Spa, with the finest wellbeing packages. On board MSC Lirica there are 3 restaurants, 2 pools and 2 whirlpools, the wellbeing center Le Terme and the sauna.
Both the MSC Orchestra or MSC Lirica are great ships, and promise not to disappoint you not matter what kind of vacation you have in mind.
Staterooms on MSC Orchestra’s Bridge Cruise are going fast; oceanview staterooms begin for as little as $1,395, per person, double occupancy. Prices on the MSC Lirica sailing begin at $1,249 for an interior stateroom and $1,549 for an oceanview stateroom.
For more information about MSC Cruises, call Destination Oceans at 1-800-374-3740 or visit www.destinationoceans.com.