I have sailed Holland America, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Princess. Now I can add MSC to my list. I can honestly say that I have never had a bad cruise or sailed on a ship that would cause me to say "Never again". MSC Orchestra is no different. I had a wonderful cruise and several unforgettable experiences on the Orchestra. We sailed with 34 other families and the ones I've spoken to all say they had a great time and have thanked me for booking them on this cruise. Some were first time cruisers, some had cruised a few times before and at least one person has sailed over 20 times.

We arrived at the port at 11:55am and were in the buffet by 12:30pm. LOVED the salad bar- the best I have seen on any cruise. There was a very good variety of food being offered in the buffet and none of us went hungry at any time. I know that the food has been a source of debate over these past several months. I will honestly say that we always enjoyed HOT food, plenty of variety, great service and availability whenever we were hungry. There was never a time that we wanted food that there wasn't something available to us. The gelato was wonderful and we were glad to pay $2.00 for a cup or a cone each day. We were told that it is made fresh on the ship daily. The hazelnut and coffee flavors were my personal favorites! One more comment about the food.....one of the couples traveling with us felt that the food was BETTER than what they have been served on Royal Caribbean. Except for the lobster- they said it wasn't "bad", just "different". I don't eat lobster, so I can only tell you what their impression was. My daughter ordered steak nearly every night and thought it was very good. Dinner service usually took around 90 minutes- give or take. My opinion of the food? Very good, plentiful and on par with any cruise I have ever been on.

We were able to enter our cabins at 1:00. We were in cabin 11165. Friends were in 11167. My daughter, her husband and their two children were in 11161 and 11163. The balcony doors were opened between all 4 cabins, giving us the ability to walk from cabin to cabin on the balconies. Gino was our cabin steward and did a great job of keeping our cabins clean and stocked with ice. We requested all 4 refrigerators to be emptied to make room for our soft drinks and water that we had brought onboard with us. This was done with no problems at all. There have been plenty of detailed reviews of the cabins, so I will simply echo what many others have said- the cabins are a good size (ours was a Superior Balcony cabin) with plenty of drawers, closet space and under- the-bed storage for the suitcases. Since our 4 cabins were connecting cabins, we had a chair and a small table in place of a sofa and table in our cabin. That was fine, since the times we were in our cabin we mostly spent on our balconies. Read more