I was quite dubious about going on a cruise as it is far removed from the holidays I'm accustomed to.

We flew from Dublin to Dubai and were met at the arrivals area by helpful MSC staff. They checked how long embarkation was taking and advised under 20mins so we got straight onto the coach and headed to the port (as opposed to heading into Dubai for the day). Once we arrived at the port, we were able to get checked in immediately - there was no queue and then straight onto the boat. I'd say the entire process took less than 30mins.

Once on board we had to wait for our rooms to become available. We headed to the canteen on deck 14 for some lunch while waiting. The food in the canteen was very american in style. A lot of stodgy pasta dishes, pizza, salads, hot dogs and some vegetarian options. The food overall was not good and it was always hectic trying to get any food at all. If you wanted a drink you had to queue up at the bar and ask for a waiter on the floor to place your order so they could pass the order to the bar staff. A totally backwards system! Read more