We chose this cruise for many reasons. It started in the U.K., an easy and inexpensive place to reach from the U.S., and also because we were looking for something where American's would be few and finally the price was very competitive. But the problems with MSC began almost immediately. Their web site is just awful! The site almost seemed designed to confuse and frustrate the user. One example, the first time you login with your name and booking number it nags you into signing up for their "Voyagers" loyalty program. So I signed up. I now had a Voyagers club users name and password, this I was told by the web site would "simplify" using the site. LOL, no it did not! I would sign in with the Voyagers club account and the first three times I had to go through the password retrieval process because the site would not remember any of the passwords I had chosen. So I returned to signing on with name and booking number, and of course it just kept nagging me to become a "Voyagers" club member, which of course I already had. Well about a month later I tired logging on again with the "Voyagers" club account and it let me in, but now the account had no record of my booking. So at this stage I have two accounts, first the one where I logon with booking number and name, and the "Voyagers" club account which has no record of any booking. Several calls to MSC never resolved the web site usage issue.

Anyway, two months before departure we contacted our travel agent and asked them to inform MSC that we would be disembarking early at Le Havre (last port of call). In a subsequent phone call to MSC (because I was unable to use their web site for anything!) they verified that they had been told of our early disembarkation plans. And this small issue turned into one of a multitude a small annoyances and hassles. This again became a problem when it came time to check in (online of course), well it didn't work..of course. So I once again had to call our travel agent, they contacted MSC and checked us in, I was told I'd receive an email with 24 hours with the tickets and other documents. Well two days later I had not received the expected email. So again I called the travel agent, again they call MSC. Finally, a day later, I receive the email with the tickets and other documents. And for each of the next FIVE days I received another email containing the same information, but oddly several of those emails were visually very different...so strange.

Anyway pressing on, we arrived in London a couple days early to do some sightseeing, then on departure day made our way to Southampton. Check-in was efficient and remarkably unwelcoming. When we stepped in front of the MSC agent at the cruise terminal we handed the man our documents and smilingly said "hello". He snatched the documents from my hand without a word and barley a glance. He spent the next couple of minutes keyboarding and staring at his laptop. Beginning to wonder if there was some problem I asked the fellow, "problem?", there was an immediate and curt "no", again without bothering to even look at me. After another minute, or so, he grabs a couple of sheets off a printer hastily stamps them and hands them to me saying "OK". Thus official "welcomed" by this warm and hospital MSC crew member ,we then made our way on board. Read more