We'd previously been on cruises with Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Holland America so we're not brand loyal and we'd like to think we've experienced a wide variety of ships, styles and quality. We take overly positive and overly negative reviews with a pinch of salt and so the negative reviews didn't put us off too much. We've always had a great time on our other cruises, even on the smaller ships with an older demographic and so we recommended a cruise to our friends as a trip away together to celebrate our 30th birthdays. We'd seen the MSC Fantasia in port on some of our cruises before and were intrigued to try it, especially when we saw the photos of the modern décor inside and also how cheap it was compared to similar cruises with other lines around the same time. Perhaps we should have obeyed the old adage that you get what you pay for.
The Pros:
Every member of staff we came across was friendly, courteous and very helpful, except at guest services but I'm not sure how cheerful I would be listening to people complain all day either.
We were given this cabin by MSC after they messed up our original booking. It wouldn't have been our first choice. Pretty standard oceanview cabin but not a great view of the sea because of the lifeboats below. The usual amount of floor space and storage. Dusty, stained sofabed. Decent bathroom with a decent shower. Good proximity to forward elevators, which are used much less than the mid-ship ones. Not really close to many facilities - being mid-ship or aft would be much more convenient.