MSC Magnifica Review

4.0 / 5.0
383 reviews

Awesome mini cruise from Hamburg to Southampton aboard MSC Magnifica.

Review for the British Isles & Western Europe Cruise on MSC Magnifica
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keithyweithy
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Sep 2014

MSC seem to attract a lot of mixed reviews and this worried some of our group who had never cruised before. There were 8 of us and I have now travelled with MSC 3 times and highly recommended this cruise line. I have sailed with P&O, Cunard, Royal Caribbean and NCL and I think MSC is my favourite, with NCL a very close second.. I was concerned some of our group would be disappointed after reading the reviews but everyone thought it was fantastic.

The MSC Magnifica is a beautiful ship, well laid out with plenty of options for evening entertainment and great outdoor areas. It is kept immaculate and feels like a new ship with hardly any signs of wear. We sailed from Hamburg on a mild but cloudy day, the sea was calm and we enjoyed the views as we sailed down the Elbe. We then had a delicious dinner at the second sitting (8.30pm) and the food was excellent, plentiful and service faultless. After that we visited the numerous tastefully decorated bars, no complaints whatsoever with the service. The bar staff were friendly and by the second night had already clocked our names and favourite drinks! Then we went to the disco and danced and partied until late - we all had a ball! We were lucky with the weather the next day (a sea day) and sunbathed and swam in the outdoor pool (yes September in the North Sea) - again we all enjoyed ourselves with a tasty buffet lunch with ample choices available.

Our last day was spent in Le Havre, and again we were lucky with the weather and spent the morning in Honfleur (beautiful old Normandy village) and afternoon around the ship's pool. In the evening we went to the Ametista lounge where there was a 70's disco - great fun! We all had such an awesome time and were all sad to disembark this morning. Fantastic ship, great staff, excellent food and lively evening entertainment options. We didn't go to any shows as we were all having such a great time and only had 3 days to enjoy the ship so can't comment on them. The Allegrissimo all inclusive package is the best at sea by far - great cocktails, decent wine and beer, liqueurs and aperitifs as well as bottled water, speciality coffees and bottles of fruit juice. It also happens to be best value too at 23 euros a day per person. Can't wait to book my next MSC cruise!

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