[Caymus]

I'd like to share my experience with MSC Cruises, an Italian cruiseline fairly new to the American market. I took the MSC Orchestra out of Ft Lauderdale last spring. They have a dedicated cigar lounge, the Havana Club, amid ship adjacent to the atrium. Big leather chairs, good music (Sinatra, Latin Jazz, etc), cigar art, real cigar ashtrays, a well kept humidor stocked with cc's, and a bar stocked with Havana Club rum. There is an attendant there who takes great pride in "his" cigar lounge. I spent a lot of time there when at sea, and during the day I sometimes was the only passenger in there for 30 minutes or so. At night, however, it was quite busy. I came to "know" about 10 other regular cigar smokers, and we had a blast. The Italian passengers were a friendly, boisterous bunch and they enjoy their cigars too. Officers would come in to enjoy their stash of cc's, and I even met the author of a very well known series of travel books who was on the cruise doing a review. She said it was one of the top 3 cigar lounges on the seas (the Orchestra has several sister ships that also have the same lounge). Best of all was the price...kids sail free, so my wife and 2 kids went for a very low price.