We booked this cruise because our best European friends saw that it was a new ship with a great itinerary and included Istanbul, our favorite port. After researching MSC, we were a little nervous that it would be less satisfactory than our other experiences, so we booked the most expensive accommodation, thinking that would be a hedge against this worry. This was the only mistake we made in choosing the Magnifica.

Our friends had an oceanview cabin for almost two-thirds less than our 14th deck suite. While the suite was roomy and somewhat deluxe, we used the balcony very little on this port-intensive cruise.There were no particular perks to being at the suite category, which is different from what the cruise line puts in their brochure. We had a little problem with a very loud Fussball game that was directly under us, but this was addressed after we called it to the attention of reception. If we travel again on MSC, and we'd be happy to do so, we'd look for an aft facing balcony cabin, which we discovered were lovely and very quiet on a very lively ship.

Embarkation in Venice was the most seemless we've ever experienced. We drove from Vienna and parked the car, not at Piazzale Roma, but at the port parking lot. We came after the rush and were on board in ten minutes. Disembarking took longer but was not the nightmare it can be. We were staying at a home exchange in Venice for several days after the cruise, so we weren't in a big hurry. Read more