This is a case of "you get what you pay for". We travelled with our two children during their Spring Break. Most other cruise prices were much higher for the four of us so we chose this cruise though we had never heard of MSC cruises before. A travel agent that our family frequently uses did warn us in advance that MSC offers a European style cruise that may not be what we Americans have grown to expect out of cruises with the better known lines. She was right on.

The boarding process was actually very smooth though we were not able to determine the earliest time we could board. Therefore, though we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the day before the cruise, we ended up killing time in Ft. Lauderdale the day of the cruise which was scheduled to depart at 7:00 p.m. We assumed we would not be able to board before 2:00. Upon arrival we discovered that we could have boarded as early as 11:00 a.m.

The cabin was as expected. We had received an "upgrade" to the 12th deck. The room included a balcony. The only disappointment with this room was the fact that considerable banging noises occurred from above all evening, late into the night, and very early in the morning. We discovered that this was likely due to the fact that the Foosball and ping pong tables were directly above our cabin and the crew moved tables and chairs around late at night and early in the morning on the deck above us--lesson learned on cabin location. Read more