We chose MSC because kids were free and we had heard what a beautiful ship it was, both of which were true, but that was about the extent of the pros of this cruise. This ship has the worst customer service of any I have been on (We have been on 13 cruises, mainly Royal or Norwegian). They seem VERY disorganized on everything, the buffet area is extremely crowded and poorly designed. The ship as well seems to have shops randomly placed and the staff (with a few exceptions like our waiter in Black Crab dining) seem poorly trained and not eager to help. Even getting drinks at times is a challenge and room service for the most part is slow if at all. The ship will nickel and dime you to death. Pay the little extra for a MUCH better experience on another cruise line. Overall the cruise is a good value but I'm not sure one gets all they pay for regarding service. In many ports we seemed to get service after the other (better known) cruise lines. On some excursions we went on we had to wait 45 mins to an hour after going to the designated point before we started the trip to the excursion and in port times were shorter than I am accustomed. If your excursion is over 4 hours, do not plan to shop at port as you will not have time. I rated dining high because we ate most meals in The Black Crab after day one, the service there and food quality were FAR superior to the buffet. We tried to avoid the buffet as much as possible mainly due again to overcrowding and service, food there was good and had some variety.