First, I would like to preface this review by saying that anyone going on an MSC cruise should do their homework first and know what the line is offering. It is an ITALIAN company and employs ITALIAN officers to run the ship. Many of the support staff are also ITALIAN. So, don't expect to speak only English on the ship and be understood by all the staff and crew. Also, since this is an ITALIAN line, the dining, and entertainment are focused more on European tastes, although MSC is trying to accommodate North American clients when sailing in the Caribbean, compared to the much different clientele on Mediterranean cruises. Think of going on an MSC cruise as if you were visiting a foreign country, use courtesy, respect, and understanding, and you will have a much better experience than most on the CC board that were super critical of MSC and the Poesia (North American passengers). I think that the lower the price of the cruise, the more complainers it seems to produce. Not sure of the exact correlation, but for the money, the value, this was an excellent deal that no other cruise line in the industry could touch.

I am in my early 50s and was joined by my 80s mom who was celebrating her birthday on this cruise. We selected the cruise because it covered 2 ports that I had not been to before, Grand Cayman and Jamaica, it was priced right, and we really wanted to give MSC a try. We didn't go wrong in our decision to take join this voyage.

We live in Tampa and drove to a parking garage just outside Port Everglades the morning of the cruise. Read more