I have been on many cruises lines. Celebrity, Carnival, Princess, Costa, Norweigan, Royal Caribbean but this is my first cruise on MSC. The procedure to embark was a joke. It took almost 2 hours to get on the ship. They had 7 agents for over 2000 people. The girls outside attempting to coordinate entry to the ship were rude and made most of us stand outside in the 90 degree sun for over 45 minutes because they couldn't handle the baggage properly.

Getting off the ship to destinations that required tenders was even more ridiculous. It took up to 3 hours to get off the ship because they ran 4 tenders to shore. A fight almost broke out in the waiting area because people were frustrated at the extremely long wait to get onto a tender. They have no idea how to operate at ports that require tenders. If you buy a shore excursion from them, you get to exit the ship first.

The food was marginal at best in the dining room. We ended up eating at the buffet which was actually better than the sit down dinners. They make their staff work 11 hours a day 6 days a week. Perhaps that's why the service was substandard, the people we talked to who worked in the dining room and the room service were not happy. I had the opportunity to talk with one of the officers who also complained about the way they treated their employees. They treated their customers not much better. Read more