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Probably the worst cruise that I've been on!

Paris

We chose this cruise because of the destinations.  We enjoyed each and every port and are amazed at the beautiful locations.

The ship has numerous lounges that were enjoyed by the guests.  From the exercise classes provided poolside to the dancing in the lounges, you can say that this cruise was very active on all fronts.  The theater entertainment was good and the dancers were excellent, all had beautiful costumes.  The overall best one was provided by a trio of Spanish dancers, truly a joy to see.

Dining was hit and miss.  We went to the dining room three nights in a row and the service went from 'just ok' to 'pretty bad'.  We decided to finish off our 10 day cruise by eating in the cafeteria.  The sound level was also better in there.  We are people that do not like to stay connected on board, this made it very inconvenient in the dining room, because they wanted us to check out the menu with the QR code provided.  This was the same for drink services throughout the cruise, QR codes are provided on the tables to look up the drink selections.  We don't enjoy this part of modernization, we like menus in our hands.

A couple of things that could use improvement and can be quickly fixed is the issue with tissues (Kleenex).  MSC has decided to remove all tissues from the cabins!  Really!  So what do you do in this situation... you just go to the ship stores and buy some... no... we went to three of the stores and were told that there was not one box of tissues on board to be purchased.  We had to walk around with wadded up toilet paper until we reached port.  In port, we had an excursion which did not include a shopping expedition... Not cool!

The second thing that we tried to purchase was a deck of cards.  Ours had gotten damaged (wine incident).  No cards were available for purchase on this cruise, until you arrive at Cadiz, Spain (our last port).  At which time, you can purchase them from the casino.  Let me mention that this cruise ship has a Card Room... but no cards!

Average Everything

We have been on several cruises including having used MSC before. This cruise has completely put us off cruising ever again. The positives - The cabin was fine, smaller than other ships but this wasn’t a problem   The cabin attendant was lovely, he couldn’t do enough for us. The negatives - no mandatory hand sanitizers getting on and off the ship or in the food areas. The food was poor and service dreadful, food was served cold, starters and main courses arrived at the same time. No red wine available with dinner (apparently they run out of wine by the glass). The buffet was even worse, dreadful food, people queuing to get a table. Getting on and off the ship was a pain. We sat on the tender in Mahon in the blazing sun for 50 minutes. In Marseilles there was only one security guard on duty leading to ridiculously long queues to get back on board. Every table of people had at least one person coughing and with the lack of mandatory hand sanitizers it came as no surprise that my husband came home with Covid. I’m pretty sure lots of people had tested positive for Covid. 

It appeared to us that MSC are trying to do everything on the cheap with not enough staff, poor customer service and chaos on board. One supervisor in the restaurant told us that lots of people complained about the food which he agreed was poor (!), but that management weren’t listening. A lady we met from Austria complained to customer services about the food and service and was told to just relax!!!!

Worst cruise ever

Ibiza

Cabin was small but ok.  The cabin attendant was very efficient and some of the staff were very nice and helpful, this is about all I can say positively about this ship

There was no mandatory disinfection of hands getting on and off the ship, outside restaurants or toilets. There were containers to help yourselves but quite often we’re empty. The food was dreadful, even the buffet offering was repeats of the same food at each counter. The food was served cold. Starters and mains served at the same time. Half way through the cruise menus were dropped in favour of QR codes. Service was often slow in the bars where you had to queue to get a drink. Lots of bars but mostly they weren’t all open. 

This is our 15th cruise and I’m so glad it wasn’t our first. Cut backs, lack of staff it was very disappointing. Add to that my husband arrived home with Covid. When mentioning to the supervisor how bad the food was he agreed and said management weren’t listening. Another couple complained at customer services and were told to relax!!!!

Poor customer service, food and experience 

If you are looking for wonderful food, lots of English-speaking passengers, or plentiful shipboard activities, this is not the cruise for you. If you want to access less-overcrowded Mediterranean ports for less than $100/person per day and enjoy multiple doses of opera and flamenco, this might be your cruise.

I promised I'd take my kids to Europe one day before they left for college. They're tweens, so we had plenty of time. However, when I saw a deal last summer for a 10 day Lisbon-Lisbon MSC cruise on the Orchestra in July 2023 for two adults and two 12 year olds for less than $2400, I jumped on it. I chose Lisbon for embarkation and debarkation because that was the cheapest airfare from the US east coast where we live.

It was very difficult to find reviews of the Orchestra on Mediterranean cruises and now I know why, having been on one. I'm writing this to help those who are considering the journey. As an enthusiast of culture and history, I chose this cruise for my family as a means of getting to interesting European places. We are not shoppers and my children like the beach while my husband I tolerate it. If the Orchestra's Mediterranean cruises are anything like the one we had, expect fewer than 10 native English passengers although every crew member will speak very good English. From polls by our cruise director (fluent in 4 languages) at the shows, a majority of the passengers are multi-generational Italian families on summer vacation, combined with smatterings of Spaniards, Germans, French, and Portuguese. 

After reading what reviews I could find, I told my family to expect not much more than a ferry boat with mostly passable food and excellent pizza. All four of us have been spoiled by my parents with multiple cruises on late-model Carnival and Royal Caribbean ships in the Caribbean and Mexico. My husband and I have also sailed Norwegian to Alaska with my parents. My children love sports and the kids clubs on cruises and have enjoyed this type of vacation since they were 7.

What I loved:

-Embarkation is simple because everyone is getting on different days. The two biggest embarkation days were Lisbon and Genoa. We went right to our rooms at 2 pm (1.5 day plane delay) with our luggage.

-Debarkation was simple. We were directed to a lounge by group number on our luggage and walked off at the appointed time. 

-The ship had its own resident soprano and tenor who performed a mini-opera (Carmen) and two different afternoon classical concerts. These were not main shows at night. They were both marvelous and the tenor even did a humorous piece where he interacted with the audience.

-There was a 3 person resident flamenco troupe (2 women and a man) who also performed multiple times. These performances were such a bonus. They even did some engrossing avant garde pieces.

-The entertainment caliber was high. We've seen shows on Brilliance of the Seas and Mardi Gras. I grew up less than 2 hours from Broadway and was All-State on my instrument. I mention this to be able to say I don't understand the reviews on this site calling the entertainment "samey samey." Maybe they're just used to Manchester United on the telly (talk about samey samey)? Yes, different crew members have specialties (acrobats, dancers, singers, magician, etc.) but each night has a different and cohesive show. Again, I traveled for the ports so I wasn't initially invested in the entertainment, but my kids actually asked to go each night and took more photos/videos there than in port.

- Access to most ports was wonderful. We could walk off the ship and walk 15-20 minutes into town (exceptions below).

-This ship still has a captain's gala night where you can get your photo taken with the captain, the food in the main dining room tastes delicious, and there is a free drink at the captain's cocktail hour

What was ok:

-Buffet food was plentiful, not particularly great-tasting. People had raved about the pizza- it is an Italian line, after all. The pizza was ok, except for the purple-crusted (charcoal-grilled) one, which was truly good. Maybe I just prefer NY pizza. Options on the buffet: premade salads with vegetables and sandwiches were good. I didn't try the pasta but my kids and enjoyed it. Loved their chocolate twists for breakfast. Cold cuts and rotations of ethnic cuisine were always good as were cut fruit and cheeses. They had a carving station and usually other meat in sauces as well as kid food. I didn't try the hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries, but they seemed popular. Desserts were a disappointment. Other than a Nutella phyllo dough concoction the first night, the offered desserts were dry, tasteless, or both. So many versions of colored gelatin layered with panna cotta, all beautiful, all tasted like nothing. Cakes were more like pannetone- not sweet, not moist. Again, I trhink I just prefer rich Italian-American cakes and they have to cater to their clientele, who was mostly Italian. It was good for not gaining weight. 

-There were a lot fewer activities in the daytime, port or sea day, compared with Norwegian, Carnival, or Royal Caribbean. It was mostly a rotating selection of trivia, bingo, dance lessons by the pool, sales in shops.Most passengers spent the days at in the pool or next to it eating, drinking, and smoking


What we liked least:

- Smoking was common on the ship. It's Europe.

- The main dining room food was such a disappointment, we stopped going. My husband and I are public servants, so we earn low salaries and don't eat out much at home. We save up for trips. Therefore, we look forward to main dining room experiences on ships- delicious food, multiple courses. The seafood dishes (fish, shrimp, octopus, mixed seafood) were great. Everything else was not very well-seasoned. We didn't have problems with it coming out cold. It just tasted like nothing. Our servers were kind and willing. As we are American, they would bring one complementary bottle of Pellegrino for the 4 of us, but that wasn't enough. We never got offered a second. The desserts tasted like nothing. For context, I joyously eat Golden Corral on a special occasion- great friend chicken, delicious cheesecake, at least 5 other foods there are one to which I look forward. This is to say I am not a food snob (although my husband is) and my kids eat anything. We gave up going because at least at the buffet, we all had more choices and could rely on our favorites.

-Kids club was not fun, according to our kids. There were video game consoles and foosball and the same kids hogged them all the time. Despite posted signs saying to yield to other passengers after 15 minutes of play, this was never enforced. Same thing happened to adults at the hot tubs. They had trouble communicating with the other kids as well because they are too young to have begun learning another language in school. They missed the water slides on other ships.

-Tendering was not managed well in Mahon, Menorca. A passenger waiting to board one of only 2 simultaneously running tenders back to the ship around 3 pm in the line of 18 pop-up tents (over an hour by the time it happened) fainted or had another medical emergency. Then, someone cut the line, a verbal argument ensued, the police showed up, and MSC had to capitulate and spontaneously (we hope) rent a giant two-deck glass bottom sightseeing boat to quickly get the backlog of passengers back on the ship without more incidents. Yes, it's a hot summer of climate change, but the line never should have been allowed to get to 18 tents long (with more unshielded people behind them). They do this port every 10 days; it's not a surprise.

- Of all the ports, the Marseilles dock is the farthest from the center of town, but 16E/person for the MSC bus is pretty steep. Uber was 15E for 4 of us.

-TV was small. The only shows for kids were in German and Italian and adult shows were financial and news-related. I secretly liked this. We were not there to watch tv!

Did not do/use

- Casino

- Shops

- Ship's excursions

Suggestions

-Bolt and Uber were convenient and cheap. We used them less than we should have, in retrospect.

- We did all our own excursions except for a guided tour in Sintra (from Lisbon) through Tug-a-trips and a tuk-tuk tour in Malaga through Viator. We loved both tours as they were informative and skipped congestion. It is easy to book museums in Genoa, the boat to Chateau d'If and the fort itself in Marseille, and most other activities yourself and save a ton of cash even if you don't speak the language.

- Our home phone plan didn't include any international minutes or data so we bought Orange traveler eSim plans with 8 GB of data and unlimited texts and calls for about 20E per phone. This plan gave us each a French phone number. It was useful when we got separated, needed to book tickets (can only book boat to Chateau d'If out of Marseille on day-of), or call an Uber. I don't watch videos but I was still shocked to see I used less than 1 GB in 14 days! I mostly used Chrome, Google Maps, and Uber.

-We were allowed to bring non-alcoholic beverages on the ship which was good because the only place to get anything free other than water was the buffet (coffee, tea). My husband said the coffee was bad and drank tea instead throughout the trip instead of paying for the specialty coffee. In port, a can of soda at supermarkets was .75-.99E instead of 3.50E on the ship and we put a few at a time in the mini-fridge. So great when we'd come back to the room after a port day, sweaty and exhausted.

-The phrases we used most in each of the 4 languages were please, thank you, and excuse me.

-We ate gelato everywhere and it was good everywhere, even after I stopped looking for the highly rated ones.

Ports

-Alicante: elevator line for Santa Barbara Castle was interminable even though we got there early. Find another way up.

-Mahon: Museum of Menorca was in a beautiful building and much more comprehesive than we anticipated

-Olbia: Tiramisu bakery was a highlight for the kids, lots of different delicious treats and a feast for the eyes. 

-Genoa: Strada Nuova museums (we did all three) were amazing, but not for the kids. Big old palazzi filled with the great masters. The caruggi were fun and safe to stroll.

-Marseille: Taking the boat over to the Chateau d'If and back takes almost the whole time, and that was with showing up early to the docks to book a time that wasn't too far away

-Malaga: Glass and Crystal Museum was a highlight of the trip, but again, not for the kids. Picture a millionaire of a certain age with a priceless collection in a stunning home giving you a highly informative and at times humorous private tour. Loved the tapas at Las Merchanas, no English spoken. 

-Cadiz: the Camara Oscura at Torre Tavira is a can't miss. We went to the beach where the locals go, La Caleta, and my daughter found tiny perfectly formed whorled shells here. The Teatro Romano de Cadiz was also amazing and well-curated and free!

-Lisbon: we missed most of this city's treasures due to 3 of 4of our flights being delayed or canceled. My kids loved the science museum (Pavilhão do Conhecimento- Ciência Viva), which is said to be one of the best in the world- so many hands-on exhibits and none broken.

I spent a year planning this trip in great detail and I hope my review helps readers make up their minds, whichever way that is.

Great ports on a budget

Will start off by saying we really wanted to enjoy this cruise. Had booked it for my wife's 50th, based purely on having seen MSC boats about, and they always looked quite glamorous, and something a little different from the UK cruise lines we've cruised with before. Wasn't a budget cruise, it seems good value for the basic cruise but by the time you add in the flights, transfers, premium drinks, balcony and fantastica upgrade its certainly no cheaper than any comparable competitors. We really liked some things about the ship, and the way MSC do some things, but there were a lot of bad points too. We came away overall a little disappointed I think. We had a nice holiday, but that was as much down to us making compromises as to the overall quality of the product. I'll post what we thought was bad, and then good, below.

The Bad:

Bad start, we queued for a long time outside in the heat in Lisbon for check in. Once we finally got through that and headed the long winding path from cruise terminal to jetty to ship, we got onboard only for my wife to be refused boarding, as apparently the guy doing check in hadn't completed it properly, so she got sent all the way back up there in the heat to do it again, surely something they could have dealt with, as it was their mistake not ours? Not ideal start.

Food+Drink:

My wife then found a piece of broken glass in her second cocktail onboard, scary stuff. The waiter did change the cocktail when asked to but didn't seem overly concerned.

We booked the fantastica package mostly to get the included room service breakfast, as on port days it felt like a convenient way to get a quick start then off the boat. After getting (some of) our first room service breakfast on our first morning onboard (they forgot a number of items), the few not very fresh pastries and really unappealing coffee was enough for us not to bother with it again. Shame.

We normally eat main dining room breakfast/lunch when we can on a cruise, as its more relaxed. Unfortunately on this cruise, it was anything but relaxed, even though it was extremely slow. As well as being seated on tables with random folk, as they don't have many tables for 2, which isn't much fun, as this really does impact the service because the waiting staff don't begin taking orders until the table is full, it then took well over an hour to be served a tiny slice of omelette and a cup of again, really appalling coffee for breakfast. And lunch, even though we were sat with some nice folk to chat to, which made it a bit more pleasant, was a total shambles, with none of us getting served, and almost impossible to get drinks as the waiters would always say 'I'm busy' and rush off (which ok they were, but that didn't alter the fact we weren't getting served for a LONG time, so that's an MSC staffing problem). This took well over an hour and a half for 2 courses of really average cafeteria quality food (not exaggerating at all, it was cold, unappealing and served with no grace or enthusiasm).

After that we abandoned the MDR for breakfast and lunch, and switched to the buffet. Which was a total NIGHTMARE, almost all the time. The food itself was ok, for lunch we stuck mostly to pizza, pasta, salads, and pastries, which were nice enough. Once or twice we tried other stuff, but that was generally pretty poor, cheap, and cold so we largely stuck to the safer options. Breakfast food selection wasnt bad, and quality was acceptable for a buffet. The nightmare however, was how amazingly packed and hectic it was all the time. Tried early, mid, and late breakfasts, and same with lunch, and no matter what, you spent ages walking around and around just trying in vain to find a table. The only time it was 'ok' was later on a port day when most folk were off the boat. I guess the poor service in the MDR was intentional to push everyone up into the buffet, and it worked. Most days we ended up heading back to our cabin with plates of by now lukewarm food, to eat there. The mostly round, family table layouts, and the huge amount of space wasted by the fake columns and trees, and the 2 largely unused bars in the buffet would be a lot better served by being switched to plentiful sensible 2 seater seating as well.. 

Dinner service in the MDR as a complete contrast to breakfast and lunch, felt very rushed. The staff were nice enough, but they were overly busy, and rarely seemed to have time for you. They rushed over, took orders, dashed you through course 1, 2, and 3, sometimes you were lucky enough to get offered water with your meal, sometimes not, sometimes a second glass of wine (sometimes not). And no offer of a coffee or a port at the end of your meal. I in no way blame the serving staff for this btw, they were busy enough, with the girl who was supposed to be serving drinks, bussing trays of meals from the kitchen most of her time, it seems multi tasking and labour cost saving is vastly more important than customer satisfaction to MSC. Also the quality of the meals was inconsistent. I was thinking people had been unfair on MSC MDR food for the first 5 nights, as we had generally nice meals, but then we had a few average to bad meals in a row, so I guess its really just luck or bad luck if you get good food onboard?

Generally, there are nowhere near enough eating options to make it an enjoyable dining experience. Theres only the buffet, or the MDR in included choices. If you struggle with those, youre out of luck. Nowhere else to grab a quick meal or try a more relaxed option or a break from those. For a ship this size, imo, pretty poor selection. A snack shack and SEPERATE pizzeria or similar would make a huge difference to the dining experience onboard.

Really noisy cabin, always. I've never had a problem sleeping on a cruise before, but this one I slept badly every night. Partly our own fault for picking a higher deck but the fact MSC know there are cabins there, having pool deck music blaring well into early hours, and EVERY morning at 5 am literally throwing sunbeds down directly above our room with massive crashes that woke me every time, and then dragging them about, really bad customer service.

Cabin, looked nice face value, but bits of veneer and trim hanging off wardrobes and chest of drawers, would take literally 5 mins to rectify but noone bothers. Down to the cabin steward I guess. Cabin steward was pleasant enough to speak to, but no towel change on last night when needed, and luggage tags turned up really late last evening (after we went to reception and asked), and we didn't get any disembarkation info sheet at all (which when we asked what was happening on disembarkation day at reception, they again told us our cabin steward should have left for us).

Smoking on balcony's; both our French and Italian neigbour's totally ignored the no smoking on balcony rules, which I've read isnt unusual on MSC ships, and that meant often our balcony reeked of smoke and we had to head indoors, and generally there was a smell of stale smoke in our cabin, which could be quite unpleasant especially if it had been shut up for a while. Also some areas around the ship were pretty smoky/smelly, as I guess smoking culture in Europe is still quite a big thing compared to in the UK.

Tendering off and on was horribly slow, and on, especially was disorganised shambles, stuck in the blazing sun for ages with no queuing at all and everyone literally pushing and rushing along the pier front every time a tender was spotted. It was horrible, and I will never tender on an MSC ship again.

Queueing done badly, Brits queue well on the whole, most Europeans seem to want to slide up either side of any queue when possible and work their way forwards. REALLY annoying

Pools all used by tiny kids, seeing many kids in one pool, and a woman dangling her tot in the other one put me off getting in. Kids pee in pools, its a standing joke because its a real thing. I don't want to swim in other peoples pee if I can avoid it.

Far more kids than expected. We deliberately booked outside of UK school holidays. We expected a few kids onboard of course, some younger ones, and a few parents will sneak kids away pre hols, and maybe a sprinkling of European kids too. However there were a lot. Most of the cruise demographic seemed to be European (and some US) families. Whether these have different school holidays, or just a more relaxed attitude to holidays during term time, who knows. Largely we have no problem with kids, but of course they add to the boats capacity, and contribute a lot to the overcrowding in the buffet etc. Also many kids were just left playing dangerous in bars, at any time of day and night, tiny kids climbing all over barstools grabbing at stuff off the bar and rolling around under barman's feet almost tripping them. As an ex publican I was horrified watching this going on, while the parents just ignored them and got on with their drinking.

Daily muster (in many languages). I really didn't think this would be a problem, but with people getting on and off at most ports, there were long, loud, multilingual countdown to muster announcements every day into the cabins (also every second day they had to redo muster for the people who hadn't bothered to do it on boarding day..), which when I was trying to catch up on sleep I hadn't managed to get during the night, was actually pretty annoying after a few days.

MSC foundation.. Watching all around the ship and in our cabin all the MSC self gratification videos constantly playing, about how much the MSC foundation is doing for everyone around the world. I would think seeing that its us, the customers who are being charged an extra amount on our onboard account, without being asked, that pays this, they would maybe acknowledge us in their videos, but no, its all about how generous and wonderful MSC are.. Again, annoying.

Ok, now the good.

The decor in general was really nice. A bit old fashioned, but in a pleasant retro way, and we liked it.

The bars were mostly not too busy, and the bar staff/waiters mostly pleasant, helpful and good. We especially loved La Cantinella wine bar, with its really good selection of wines, most of which are included by the glass in the premium beverage package, and we spent a lot of evenings there enjoying a pre, and post dinner glass or 2. The staff there were great. They are also really generous with snacks, with some of the best complimentary snacks I've been given in any bar, anywhere!. The Savannah Bar is great too, with its leopard theme, and good selection of premium cocktails. We also enjoyed the little bar outside the MDR, where we grabbed an espresso (and occasional port) after dinner most nights, as they weren't offered at the table, and the waitress there was really friendly and fun.

Shanghai Asian restaurant, speciality dining. What a contrast in all ways to the included dining! We absolutely loved everything about this place. The food was amazing, the staff were great, decor and ambience both really pleasant, and it was really good value for speciality dining, in our opinion. Could not fault it in any way and one of the best parts of our cruise.

The staff: Most of the staff were really pleasant, helpful and friendly. And mostly where there were issues, it was because there were far too few of them in certain places, and at certain times, which is not really their fault.

The entertainment: We loved all the theatre shows put on by the entertainment team. There was some really talented dancing and singing, and acrobatics, in the mostly variety shows, and we didn't care at all that there weren't any big West End/Broadway style productions. The afternoon classical/opera production they put on one day was great also.

Overall, would I cruise MSC again? I wont say never, but its very low on my list now. We've booked Fred Olsen, and then Princess for our next 2, and if we do try MSC again in the future, it will definitely be on a different style of ship, and for a shorter cruise. Its such a shame, because we REALLY loved some aspects of the ship, and the cruise, but there were just too many things that spoiled it for us.

Loved some parts, wish it was better overall

Cozumel

The ship is in need of an update. The cabins were OK but the balconies were uncared for and quite grubby. The glass around our balcony was so dirty that I tried to clean it with some hand soap from the bathroom and the toilet brush but couldn't clean the exterior very far down on the outside this way. The so-called "balcony cleaning" consisted of someone removing the plastic grating along the balcony floor and placing it on top of the chairs and then throwing some water over everything and then replacing the plastic grating incorrectly, making access to the balcony from the cabin, possibly dangerous because the grating was laid out without connecting the pieces together again. During this “cleaning” we were told to keep the black-out curtains of the cabin closed and put the lights on and this could be for a couple of hours as the cleaner walked along from one cabin balcony to the next and the next etc.! Why do the cabins not have net curtains for privacy?? The general lack of signage was bad, especially by the lifts, where only information regarding that floor was shown. The lifts would stick on certain floors and not come when called and then would stop on every floor even when there was nobody there wanting to get in. Once out of the lifts, you never knew if you were going towards the front or the back of the ship. The worst thing though, was the constant interruptions over the tannoy system to the cabins. If the safety demonstrations are obligatory on the day of embarkation, why was this not enforced? Why were really loud announcements sent through to the cabins of the entire ship several times during the day after embarkation, to tell the people who embarked the previous day and hadn't bothered attending the demonstration at the appropriate time that there was going to be another demonstration? This was repeated at least twice in 30 minutes both in the middle of the afternoon as well as really early in the morning of a sea-day, when people might want to have a lay-in in the privacy of their own cabin. Surely the ship has technology modern enough to be able to program the announcements to be sent to the cabins of the people to whom these messages were intended and not to every cabin on the ship? Then we had a staff training exercise that was also announced loudly through the tannoy system INSIDE THE GUEST cabins, which went on for an extended period of time and had nothing to do with the guests at all! Within the space of 7 days, we had 2 other staff training exercises that involved the entire staff being removed from their work stations and which resulted in all the bars and restaurants being closed down and which also blocked all the lifts, so people coming back from excursions had to walk up the stairs to get to their cabins and were unable to get any food or drink until the exercise was over and the next meal service was available. When I questioned this with a senior member of staff, I was told that every time more than 1,000 passengers embarked on the ship, the staff had to repeat this exercise, even though they had just done exactly the same thing three days previously!  Surely it's the new passengers that need to know what to do - not the staff members who have recently completed the same exercise? The food was basic, unimaginative, and often inedible and the buffet area on deck 13 was always overcrowded and lacking sufficient staff to clear away the dirty tables. The information claimed that there was a buffet called La Piazzetta, a Pizzeria, a Grill and somewhere called the Four Seasons but the pizzeria and the so-called grill, were just sections of the La Pizzetta buffet and we never found anywhere that was called the Four Seasons. There was no food available around the pool area and it was necessary to come into the buffet and get food from there to go out and eat it at the tables around the pool. The organisation in the buffet seemed non-existent and while there were a lot of men in uniforms wandering around trying to look important, none of the waiting staff seemed to have any direction given to them. The hot dishes served in the dining room at dinner time were rarely hot enough and we often had to send them back to have them replaced with hot food. The staff seemed to be more concerned with running around the restaurant with the "Baked Alaska Show" than they were in bringing out the hot main courses that still hadn't been served. I don't think that we'll be cruising with MSC again!

Naples

Why did we choose MSC Orchestra.   We had booked on the new MSC Europa ex Dubai to Europe, its maiden voyage but changed as the Orchestra itinerary from South Africa to Italy was what attracted us at it included a 10 day visit & safari within South Africa including visits to Johannesburg, Cape Town & Durban.   The overall value offer was very good.

It’s the little things that make the difference and the obvious cost saving procedures put in place aboard the Orchestra made the trip quite ordinary.  Examples being;  in-room entertainment – no satellite coverage meaning that in-room movies [when working]  were played over and over and over again, sometimes with sound and at times silent. [We nearly threw our TV overboard!]   Unless you went to the deck 13 buffet, no hot drinks were provided either in the room or at lunch or dinner.  Simple things like facial tissues were not provided, even though half the passengers contracted a  cold & subsequent cough. In fixed seating restaurants, table water at meals, other than breakfast, was not provided unless you purchased either still or sparkling water.  [Even two/three star restaurants provide water without cost]

Communication with staff was laughable and on many occasions only half or inaccurate information  was provided.    I can only suggest that the training & supervision of staff on this cruise was totally mis-managed. [Again cost saving comes to mind!]  Perhaps some of the key staff were ‘poached’ for the new Europa which was based in Dubai.

The food, menu choice and  service at dinner in fixed seating restaurants was very good for most meals, however the service for breakfast & lunch was less than satisfactory on many occasions.   .  The buffet selection on the 13th deck offered great variety but seating often difficult to find and the food particularly breakfast was either just warm or cold.

With the exception of several nights that included a dance crew and acrobats, the entertainment was of an ordinary standard and many passengers including ourselves walked out or did not attend.  I must indicate that the level of entertainment in the last 4 or 5 days improved but the overall score was only 3.5 out of 10.

We understand that wi-fi can be an issue at sea, however MSC have a cheek charging the exorbitant fees for wi-fi which at best is a poor service and at worst non-existent.

The on-board library.   Doesn’t have a single book in it!

Tour options were good, but at times poorly managed prior to departure, but overall no complaints.   [On one tour in the Seychelles  the information provided was inaccurate expecting a full boat cruise but subsequently being told it was a bus back to the ship… passengers including ourselves revolted and stayed upon the boat as advertised in the MSC brochures]

We have undertaken many cruises and this by far is the worst we have done.   We had previously undertaken a Caribbean cruise on an MSC vessel which was quite good.   Our previous cruise was on a Norwegian vessel which was many classes above MSC in almost every respect.  We will not ever travel on an MSC vessel again and based on prior cruise experience would recommend you consider an alternative even if the cost is more.

MSC - Must Save Cash!

We are currently on this excuse of a boat that you call a cruise ship "Cabin *81**"

Previously we have travelled with Holland America, Celebrity, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and P & O

Examples

Dinner

Ordered dinner and the vegetables were raw when we queried the head waiter he blamed the server

The menu, well I hope your not paying the head chef a decent wage because he is not dishing up a decent meal

Meat over cooked or of a poor quality, vegetables either under cooked or overcooked, mashed potato still have parts of the skin in mash, gravy/sauce have to continually ask for more etc

Always available fried seafood should be called dry oily mess,

Lunch

40 minutes to take our meal order and that by only grabbing a guy with 2 stripes on his shoulder

Drinks , Hope your not thirsty takes forever

Yesterday we had a stuffed Turkey roll the meat was that overcooked it was not editable

Breakfast

Hit and miss

Eggs asked for medium and they came hard and dry as a rock twice

Chairs in the main dining room are covered in stains and have years of dirt on the fabric 

Entertainment(This is not Broadway)

The entertainment is the worst I have seen on a cruise ship, 1 man shows and fairly poor multi person shows that last for 30-40 minutes

Us old people don't mind TV

Being Australian we are looking for the English channel which was changed from 23 to 16 and no notification was made and now back to 23 which is Chinese

Again no English shows and the smug customers service team were once again of no help

So I guess they will bring back t stock 20 & 30 year old movies they showed at the beginning of the cruise

Internet

Out again !!!! Called 99 customer service, we have no idea go see the photography booth tomorrow , they are the only ones who can help. I needed to send emails now!!!

3rd day no with no internet so off to the photography booth

And guess what today no hot water for the shower

As we have travelled with MSC before I have tried to defend the MSC Orchestra to complaints from fellow travellers but no more

This boat and its management is absolute rubbish I don't believe I will travel with MSC again

What a nightmare

Galveston

We chose this cruise as we felt it was very good value for money, and we were proved correct. We arrived at the terminal at 10:30am for a so-called embarkation at 12:00, and found at least a couple of hundred passengers ahead of us whose boarding time was later than ours. As a result of chaotic disembarkation from the previous cruise, we waited over three hours to board to receive our cabin cards, etc.

Once on board the cabin was spotless and we were able to enjoy lunch in the buffet, after which we all had to attend the evacuation drill. Once we set sail, we could relax and not have to worry about anything until we finally returned to Cape Town to disembark.

The lounges and bars are a pleasure to enjoy and every day there is wonderful entertainment in the theatre, with a different show each day. The entertainment crew keep you busy doing plenty of activities (if you want to partake) or there are ample places for you to relax in and do nothing.

There was ample food and I feel for the chefs who have to produce so much food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even 'midnight'  meals. If you are eating in the buffet, get there early as it can become congested and tables are quickly occupied.

Disembarkation was a little chaotic as all passengers had to vacate their cabins by 07:30 on the day of arrival back in Cape Town and had to assemble in a few bars/lounges/ theatre. This proved chaotic as some passengers, depending on which deck their cabin was situated, would only disembark over four hours after docking. As a result the lounges, etc, became overcrowded with passengers often sitting on the floors, while waiting. We were fortunate as we chose to self-assist (taking our own luggage off with us) so we were able to disembark before the other passengers.

However, I would definitely recommend going on an MSC Cruise.

Great, apart from embarkation and disembarkation.

Hubby and I came to celebrate my 50th birthday. We had the best time ever. The balcony cabin a must..friendly Crew..good tasty food..clean rooms..live entertainment, Jayreed rocked the place with reggae music and in no time people were full on dance floor. Chico a drummer from Philippines was so entertaining..he played those drums hard..he was amazing, friendly, interacted with his audience, remembered our names and gave us a special welcome. The Theater shows are not to be missed. You feel so respected when you see how .uch work was put into entertaining you. The Crew made this experience memorable from 5th floor customer service to room service, waiters, greeters at doorways constantly making you feel welcomed. Entertainment starts at 5pm leaving you walking around during the day looking for something to do. We occupied that free time with eating, exploring the ship, enjoying our room and having an afternoon power nap however we would've prefered back2back entertainment. I would suggest regular movies at Theater to pass time. Definitely coming back again

Awesome experience 

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