Having never sailed with MSC before ( I have sailed with Royal Carribean and NCL ) I was nervous , especially after reading the many bad reviews on this MSC Opera and MSC in general. Quite honestly I am mystified , everything was pretty much perfect.

Embarkation at Southampton was smooth, organisation in general was perfectly fine, food was generally excellent , the ship was generally spotless , the staff were superb, yes not every passenger was english like ourselves ( although most were ) , but as far as I'm concerned thats a plus point !, yes sometimes you don't get a drink straight away but this really isn't a problem unless you're an alcoholic, and even then, if you're on a drinks package like most people just order extra drinks if you're really that bothered, not that it was generally a long time anyway even though the ship was full, but then again we always try and be nice to the staff and treat them with the respect they deserve, so maybe thats part of the problem ! its nice to sit down and be served.

We had 2 kids , 6 + 4 . The kids club was fantastic , we expected it just to simply be supervised and the kids would occupy themselves , but no they entertained the group as a group so no-one got left out. All in all considering we paid about the same as an average all inclusive holiday in mallorca I would say that this holiday was in a different league for quality , value for money and an educational experience for the kids.