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Definitely overpaid for a simple smaller cruise than Im used to. 

Rostock (Warnemunde)

This was our introduction to the world of cruising we decided to choose MSC due to the competitive price and the ports of call.

We were travelling with the elderly so the boat needed to provide on board entertainment and that did not disappoint.

First impressions of MSC were good very well organised at the port on the day of embarkation, check in seemed to be repeated as we had already completed web check in, so we assumed it would just be a bag drop with a cruise card issued.

Once on the ship the bags were already at the cabin door when we arrived so we could start to enjoy the boat.

We had not purchased a drinks package before we boarded so the first round of drinks was a surprise two bottles of Heineken was 14 euro with a 15% service charge, total bill 16.10 euro.

At this point we decided to purchase the drinks  package 335 euro each for the premium package, To summarise the drinks package turned out to be great value for money as we spent over 900 euro in drinks saving 135 euro in service charges and 230 euros in drinks.

PROS: Cosy, Comfy Cabin

             Spotlessly Clean Ship

             Great Buffet Food

             Great Set Menu Food

             Drinks Package 

             Entertainment 

             Staff 

            Ports of Call

CONS: Queuing at the Various Bars (20 mins)

             Senior Staff ( not really interested in addressing issues)

Cruise Virgins 

Tortola

It was the only cruise boarding and disembarking from Piraeus at that date. 

First the positives.

1. Room service was very good. The room was cleaned twice per day. The whole ship kept very clean.

2. Crew was very professional always eager to assist and always smiling. Except Reception desk officers!

3. The shows in the huge Theater were excellent. It was clear that all the artists put their best effort. Beautiful shows!

Now the Negatives!

1. The food was moderate to poor! Apart from breakfast, all other meals were poor in quality (and quantity) in the 2 restaurants. There was a buffet available on the terrace were anyone could eat, but most meals were based on pasta and rice. The meats or fishes served there were all frozen. Terrible smell too!

2. The reception desk personnel was unable to resolve many issues. They were unfamiliar with many every day issues. Twice I've asked for their help with no success. First I wanted to place a call on a mobile phone from my cabins phone but the reception personnel could not provide a suitable code, so I've used another person's mobile phone for that!

3. The vessel continued the maintenance plan even when they had guests onboard. So, on the first day (August 10th) at noon there was some maintenance going on (chipping and derusting by chipping hammers) at some part of the ship. The noise in our cabin was loud. I called the reception and after few minutes they've stopped. Same thing happened on the last day at Mykonos in the anchorage (August 16th). The noise started at 11:00 and finished at 17:00. During that time I've called them twice, asking them to stop the noise so we could get some sleep, with no result. They disregard our appeals to stop the noise so we were forced to leave the room and try to find relaxation elsewhere. I understand that the work never stops onboard any vessel, but we've paid good money for that cruise and such behavior is unacceptable! 

4. The total port stay time at Venice was not enough considering the location the vessel was berthed. Returning to the ship was a torture covering by foot a lot of distance, passing through customs and baggage check at the pier AND onboard!

Never Again!

First of all, you have to pay to get off the ship? 15 euro per person. 

If you want drinks.. This is including water it is 50 euro per person per day! By the way that’s not even including alcohol.

$400 aud for wifi for 7 days that doesn’t even  work. When we asked to cancel it they wouldn’t even let us. Even one of the workers admitted this is all for the money. 

The food is disgusting. 1700 per person for a room that’s as small as a jail cell.  it doesnt even look like the photos. 

By the time you’ve gotten off the ship they’ve at least got an extra 400 from your pocket.

The staff are friendly but that’s the only good thing that comes with it. The toilets in the rooms smell like a public toilet. 

This cruise is not worth the money you pay what so ever. I am extremely disappointed and i wish i looked further into spending this money.

DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY! 

I have been on several cruises now. Carnival breeze, inspiration and one others I cant remember. Royal Carribean Adventure of the Seas and now this one. This was by far my least favorite and most overpaid cruise. We upgraded to the  Jr. Suite with Balcony since no other Balcony's were available. Room felt smaller than other ships, less space near couch area and balcony was basically standard balcony size.. I didnt feel that it had anymore room than regular balcony. 

The food was very bland... not a lot of seasoning or tasteful. I found myself disappointed with almost every meal including the more fine dining evening meals. My wife upgraded to a steak two nights because the food was so disappointing. 

The ship had one main dance / event area near the pools and there was only one show 2x per night (same show) each evening. After a couple nights, everyone on board realized this was the only real entertainment on board so it got crowded early and fast. After a while it felt like either we can hang out in a rooms, stand in the main event area or hope we can find a seat if we didnt get the 2 hours early, or go down to the bars where they have live music and some of the live music just wasnt good. 

Also the main event area had a lot of dancing lessons which was fun but that was the biggest hype. The DJ played 1-2 songs on repeat every freaking night. Lets get some new material please!?! 

Shopping on board was pretty much a watch shop, sunglasses shop, jewlery shop, a medicine and perfume shop, and a general store. Didnt feel like a shopping area either as everything is very seperated. 

We also booked an excursion months in advance that was cancelled the day before the event because there wasnt enough people. Then when I booked the same excursion for a different language, the price was not the same, I had to pay the postmarket price vs the preorder price. It was about 30 more euros. Why should I have to pay more for the cruise cancelling on me. They should have honored the price I prepaid for.. Very disappointing.

Staff was great so I tipped well beyond what was auto requested but I would NEVER sail with this ship again.

From a first time newbie cruiser:

Family cruise centered around Athens, Greece for 2 week trip.

Picked up MSC cruise at Athens, Greece in Piraeus port - 12 noon check in - very easy & fast check-in, luggage tags already provided (no need to pre-print tags which we had) and luggage delivered before ship sailed at 5pm.  

So glad we planned to arrive into Athens 2 days prior because we had a British Airways flight cancellation segment which caused a day delay to arrive.  Filed UK 261 compensation for 4 of us...

First MDR of the evening was very good - had previously joined 2 stateroom bookings into one table which allowed all of us first seating dining time. Glad we chose the Fantastica package that allowed us to choose dining time and get included bottled mineral water.

First evening in the stateroom was a VERY BAD experience - was booked underneath the kitchen of the buffet and after midnight they cleaned heavily the noises were awful - also confirmed by our neighbors. Lodged a formal report complaint with chief of boat officer who had visited our room at 3am to confirm.

First port of call: Split Croatia which was fantastic - great to see they now use Euros instead of their local currency of recent change.

Guest services complaint from first night turned into a change of cabins to a deck underneath and upgraded cabin type.

Second night was quiet and peaceful. 

Next day Guest Services delivered canapés and a bottle of sparkling wine on ice for the previous night's issue with an apology card.

Remaining days at port and sea were excellent - no complaints at all.  The water was so calm and glassy that I never needed to use any motion sickness meds that I was prepared for.

Only time ship was 100% full was the stop at Venice Italy when a huge group of Europeans, mostly Italians & Russians boarded and caused issues with queues and waiting their turn.  

Many times they would cut in front of us at the bars, lounges, guest services, excursions, boat tenders, elevators, etc... Apart from US and UK folks, I learned most Europeans don't queue.

Note about Venice, Italy: 

Eastern Italy has been undergoing major immigration issues while we were there and caused our entire group of passengers to bring their passports along - required when disembarking.

Tender boats all had to stop at an MSC island for passport control & immigration checks along with Xray & metal detector scans in order to embark back onto the ship.

Food - perfect.  Buffets were great for port days and upon returning afternoon tea & snacks were great.  Kids loved the pizza bar and late night snack bars.  MDR was excellent - great service every night and could not ask for anymore!

Drinks package - none.  Since I am the only drinker out of our group of 4, I went a la carte and paid a total of $190USD whilst a drink package would have easily cost us $1440 USD ($360 x 4).

Entertainment - excellent. Well done every night with varied shows & presentations. Last night the captain and officers all appeared before the show and a huge applause to them.

Internet package - basic 4 people worked out well for messaging and emails.  Since the ship did not have the MSC app, it was a necessity when a family of 4 were trying to communicate.

For the money, it was an excellent cruise.

Overall, an excellent cruise experience and will be looking forward to another MSC cruise in the Western Mediterranean or Middle east cruise.... 

Thanks of course to everyone on this forum for your help & knowledge.

Eastern Mediterranean cruise: excellent staff, service, and great value from a US cruiser.

Galveston

We travelled on a 30 day “Grand Voyage” from Cape Town to Venice on the MSC Sinfonia in March/April 2023. This is a 3.5 star vessel, and the onboard experience met or slightly exceeded expectations at that price point. The ship is well maintained, and the food entertainment and service are normally good. Note, this ship was cut in two and more cabins inserted. This put a strain on the facilities in the buffet, pool deck and theatre which can get very busy at peak times. We had a suite, and the cabin was large and comfortable. You need to budget for the compulsory service fee (effectively just an increase in the cruise price) and the fact that drinks and everything else are extras. Pre-purchased drink packages are reasonable value. Note: feedback from those who took the MSC excursions has been very negative. 

Now for the bad news. 

As far as we can tell, senior MSC management have little interest in customer satisfaction. Communication is extremely poor. In the words of a fellow traveller “they treat you like a shipping container”. This is especially true for those who want to arrange private excursions. 

Given the number of sea days, time in port is short, especially in key posts like those in Egypt, where an early start is essential because everything closes at mid-afternoon. 

Staff at the Customer Service Desk do their best but appear poorly informed and powerless. It takes extreme perseverance to see any person in authority (at least four in person complaints and follow ups). If you don’t persist, you are just fobbed off. 

You often get different answers to questions from different staff members even on simple questions like “will we be transferred to the passenger terminal in Venice, or some other terminal on the mainland?”. The staff on the desk gave us two mainland and two Venice answers! They had no idea. At the disembarkation briefing, the location of the cruise port was left unclear (although this was later clarified by MSC in a written note after all the complaints).

This generates needless stress, uncertainty and confusion and wastes endless time. Cruising is not to be a source of constant stress. Quite the opposite.

Our main complaints in summary, worst first:

•	The itinerary provided a day in Sokhna (2nd April 2023), the alleged port for day trips to Cairo and the Pyramids. There was no indication that normal access to the port would be denied.

o	We booked our private tour months ahead with a reputable tour company.

o	As the date approached, MSC told us that private tour companies required approval to enter the port. We consequently contacted our tour company who said they had all required approvals and provided two documents in Arabic confirming this.

o	The scheduled docking time was 7 AM which is extremely late for a day trip to Cairo because all the museums and sites close at 15.15 and the port is 2 ½ hours away from the city. Time was consequently of the essence.

o	We were told to show this paperwork to officials before departing the vessel, and went to the designated location early. The officials ignored us and we had no effective  support from MSC staff. We simply had to wait with no explanation of why we were not allowed to disembark.

o	Finally, we were allowed to leave the ship, but our authorised tour company (and that of several other groups) was not on the dock. It turned out that they had been denied entry and were waiting in a parking area. No shuttle was provided so we were stuck on the dock with no help at all from MSC. We were abandoned. We managed to pay a driver who took us to the parking place and our tour proceeded as normal.

o	On our return, all the private operators were denied access and we were stuck at the parking location fearing we could not get back to the vessel. The locals managed to organize a bus which took us back the vessel, after another payment.

o	On our return, we were told that the MSC buses travelled in convoy and had ARMED GUARDS. Apparently Sokhna port was not only a commercial port but under military control because of security issues.

o	Basically, we were never told the whole truth about this port, and then abandoned by MSC in a location which was completely unsuitable for a cruise port, and potentially dangerous.

o	Not only that, but MSC had full knowledge about the situation. I am reliably informed that passengers with private tours on the MSC Sinfonia outward trip to South Africa were unexpectedly denied the right to disembark and missed their trip to Cairo. 

o	This situation is completely unacceptable. I spoke to Guest Services on board four times, and eventually spoke to the guest relations manager. She was not responsible for the mistakes made and could not offer any explanation as to why we were treated so badly.

o	It is one thing to let clients down in such a serious way, but it adds insult to injury that the people who made the decisions hide behind front line staff and are unwilling to discuss and explain their actions.

•	Prior to boarding in Cape Town there was a great deal of confusion about Covid testing. It was very difficult to ascertain if fully vaccinated guests had to do the expensive lab test that was imposed. 

•	Embarkation at Cape Town was chaotic, with everyone standing around for needless hours wasting time a few hundred meters from the V&A Waterfront. MSC abandoned us and no one could provide information about when boarding would commence or finish. This wasted valuable time in Cape Town. We had priority booking and our waiting time was 4 ½ hours.

•	It proved extremely difficult to obtain Saudi Visas despite following MSC guidelines, and many passengers simply gave up. We persisted, but repeated requests for help on board to check the status of our visa applications were not responded to. Uncertainty about visa status for a port selected by MSC created a lot of stress. We are reliably informed that MSC had full knowledge of the difficulties. On the outward voyage, we believe many passengers had similar problems. We realize MSC cannot force the Saudi authorities to grant visas. What is unacceptable is that MSC did not give us fair warning of the difficulties and provide fulsome support and communication. 

I cannot recommend MSC. Passengers may be attracted by the headline price, but until management realizes that they need to understand and respond to reasonable passengers needs and comminate honestly and effectively, cruising with MSC will be a disappointment based on my experience.

Too many problems and poor commincation

I spent six weeks travelling through South Africa and decided to return to Europe by cruise. In spring 2023 there were exactly five ships doing this. Costa, Aida, Phoenix and two MSC vessels. Costa visited on the world cruise and no cabin was available. Aida did a fast track through the Atlantic Ocean and mainly visited ports in Europe, in my opinion no attractive itinerary. Phoenix did extensive visits on the Atlantic coast of Africa, but only had a very high priced gold suite available and besides I would have to disembark far from the final destination. So I took MSC, although I wasn’t impressed by an earlier cruise with that line. Especially taking the route along the islands in the Indian Ocean I liked. Only the stop in Saudi Arabia wasn’t necessary for me.  

Through an Austrian travel agency I got a good offer, but they weren’t able to offer anything but cruise only. According to the Austrian website of MSC I could add a beverage package except for very short sailings and those ending in China or South Africa. Also the travel agency told me that I could add after booking. But neither the agency nor me took notice of the continental drift, Venice, where my cruise should end, is obviously no longer in Italy, but in China… Only vouchers were for sale. And with these there happened fraud aboard as well. When I ordered a glass of wine from a grape and vinyard as specified in the list I got a much cheaper one. But I mustn’t complain, a white wine is a white wine according to MSC staff… 

Boarding was a combination of fog and the worst organisation thinkable. There was a little fog indeed and the ship arrived about two hours late, just after me. Fog is nothing to blame MSC for. I dropped my bags and was told that I need to wait inside for embarkation. Walking around the terminal I saw by change on the upper floor a table with an MSC sign. There I was told that embarkation would start about an hour later than my papers told me. A lie. An hour later it was postponed with another hour. Another lie. Despite being told not to go to the sitting area I ignored this instruction and sat down. More than an hour later MSC staff came into that room and put things onto desks and decided to have lunch first. When finally a group was sent in and queued I just stood up and queued with them. And indeed, embarkation started. Although vaccination certificate and negative corona test were mandatory these weren’t checked at all. And testing was difficult, because South Africa had dismantled most testing facilities already. A bit more than four hours delayed I was aboard. Zero information if I didn’t go to ask for, I got one small bottle water during waiting, because I insisted in getting one of those the staff used. 

Positive effect of travelling South Africa was to get used to sometimes quite basic accommodations in remote areas, so I wasn’t shocked that much when I boarded. The Sinfonia is not new any more, but I didn’t expect sailing on the most modern ship. I had been on much older ships, but never on a vessel in such a bad shape. If you have a problem with a broken thing it is your problem. You are blamed for the bad shape of the ship. MSC may be Swiss, but has nothing at all from Swiss quality. 

Food was just terrible. I understand the fact that cruise lines generally try to save on ingredients. But also from cheap things a tasty meal can be created. Exactly this didn’t happen. There is simply no excuse for badly prepared food. I am not used to send dishes back easily. All the time in South Africa I didn’t do a single time, not even those things I regarded as very strange but eatable. Aboard I had to pretty much every single day. I tried two slices of pizza. One burnt, the other half rare. Typical experience. The cruise was 30 days and in all this time I didn’t get fresh bread. 

The fix table waiter in the evening was friendly and quite good. One waiter in a bar was fast and attentive, but the rest was simply useless. There were two musicians who were not bad and played very limited times every day. Theatre shows - if performed at all - were so far from professional that I left early. Reception staff was trained in blaming the customer. If my cabin door can’t be opened I did things wrong. In the end the battery needed to be changed. Probably my fault as well… 

On three occasions I rented a car. To be sure that everything works well I asked MSC long before the cruise started whether there are countries that require keeping my passport aboard. On La Réunion things would have been easy, it is part of France and there my national ID card is sufficient. But on Mauritius and Seychelles things are different. Clear answer of MSC that I would keep my passport all the time. Wrong! Before arrival on Mauritius I had to hand over my passport to MSC and went out without. And it was always this procedure on Mauritius. Luckily I was able to convince the rental agency to give me the car without passport showing ID card, copy of passport and cruise card. Otherwise this lie of MSC would have damaged all my plans for Mauritius. 

Excursions by MSC are unbelievable overpriced. I took an excursion from Ain Sokhna port to Cairo alone in a private car with driver and own egyptologist as guide to the Giza pyramids and Saqqara including general entrance tickets. It was hardly more than MSC charged for the same per person in a bus, but I was allowed to visit with the egyptologist additional sites if I paid for the extra tickets involved. MSC forbade already in the description of the excursion to visit the inside of any pyramid, I was in two and was in the Serapeum. But I wasn’t brought to souvenir shops, papyrus “factories”, perfumery and so on. 

The only problem in Egypt occurred again because MSC lied against me. MSC was so cheap that they did not pay for a shuttle bus in the port of Ain Sokhna. Despite this is standard in all ports where walking is not permitted. I still have the information sheet that only official tourist companies may enter the port and that no taxis are available. I forwarded the information to the company I booked with that the needed documentation is in the car. The driver was admitted to go to the main parking area inside the port. But I wasn’t allowed to go to the parking. What MSC did not mention at all was that a national security clearance would be required to pick-up guests from the quay. A few hundred meters were between me and my car. It took two hours to convince officials to get off the ship and with other guests who stranded the same way we rented a minibus to bring us to the parking. We were 14 guests and paid a total of 70 US$ for a less than five minute drive - including security check. And of course getting back to ship was forbidden as well. While in tourism every Egyptian speaks at least some English security officers in port didn’t understand a single word. In the end a tourist bus driver took us to the ship into the high security area - of course without any check. All this would have been avoidable if MSC would have arranged a shuttle bus or simply didn’t lie against us. They do have a ship in the Red Sea during winter time and visit that very port once a week, so they know the procedures very well. When I arrived back aboard with some other guests the hotel director asked how we liked it and an Australian lady stated “I am no container and don’t want to be treated like one.” So much to the point that I borrowed this statement as title for this review. The hotel director turned around and vanished through a “crew only” door. 

In the end I was happy that MSC found the port of Venice and did not sail to China. Of course disembarkation took very long again, no information why. But I was happy to get off the ship. In the afternoon I sat on a train back home and was served a tasty (probably canned) goulash soup with finally a fresh roll. Expectations are very low after 30 days aboard of MSC.

I am no container and don’t want to be treated like one.

This was our first cruise with MSC and we were super disappointed, especially after the big hype. 

To start off, we were clearly instructed to not arrive before our embarkation time, which was 12pm. We got the just before 12, thinking it would be a smooth embarkation. We stood in 3 different queues. For 3 hours.  They don’t have any way of stopping those that arrive too early (there were people in the queue that were only suppose to board at 2) first you stand in a MASSIVE line in a parking garage, then you move on to the next queue where you get your cruise cards, and then finally after standing in another queue, you get to customs where they stamp your passport. 

Once we were finally on board, we grabbed a bite. We were barely finished when there was an announcement that a compulsory safety briefing will take place in 10 minutes and we have to move down to our cabins. This was at 3:30pm. Then you had to go to your muster station (the staff were quite helpful with that though) 

Later that afternoon, we wanted to get some drinks. We paid online for a drinks package before the cruise, but we weren’t told that we need to get ticket booklets? We found that out when we wanted to buy a drink. My husband went down to reception to get the tickets but they were already closed (at 6pm). It would have been nice to know this beforehand. 

The cabin was neat, but for some reason the staff will just come into your cabin after 2 knocks, multiple times a day to clean or to drop a pamphlet. It is nice of them, but we don’t need our cabin cleaned 3x a day and they can just slide the booklet under the door.  We never got a do not disturb card. I don’t know if we were suppose to ask for one. Most of the time we were out and about, but when we came back the bed was pristine with a booklet on it. Just keep this in mind if you want to sleep in.

The buffet always had a queue in the morning and there was never enough seating inside the buffet area. Food wasn’t too bad. Lots of variety and fruit, healthy options. Lots of deserts as well. 

Inside the assigned evening dining halls, we were seated with 3 other couples. We all clicked very nicely, but it could have been very awkward. The dinner served here is great. If you decide to have lunch in this restaurant, they still pair you with other people. I feel like they could at least let you choose your seat at lunch.

Due to a medical emergency, we had to turn around, so we didn’t make Walvisbay, but got off at Luderitz. This was chaotic as we had to use the life/tender boats for this. We were assigned to go at 10:45 but we had to wait 2 hours before we finally got on the boats. Obviously there are things out of their control, but just communicate with the passengers. Stood for another hour to get back on the tender boats. 

The entertainment in the theatre is great. No complaints there. They do a lot of effort with entertainment, but waiting times and poor service can make a trip so miserable. We definitely knew that we were on the “cheaper” experience. Oh, and take a pen and lanyard with. The lanyard will cost you $8+ and they don’t provide a pen for you to fill out your forms. These things won’t even cost R20, they can add it to the ticket price and we won’t even notice, but it would make such a difference.

Disappointing 

We went on our dream cruise on the Sinfonia out of Cape Town to Walvis Bay, we left Cape Town 2 hours late the sea was quite rough and we arrived in Walvis Bay 2 hours late and this took 2 hours of our tour of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund I was peeved of as it cost quite a lot for the tour and we had to be back on board by 14.30 to sail at 16.00. We got on our way and arrived back in Cape Town some 4 hours late I had booked a hire car and due to the late arrival the car hire company charged me an extra R400 for waiting for me being delayed.

WE had during the cruise we got badly bitten by bed mites, the so called health and safety office came to inspect with his little torch and I was told that no way will he see these animals and it can only be spotted under a microscope, they changed all the bedding first night was okay but second night we got bitten again really bad to happen on a MSC ship.

The food in the main dinning room was great and much better than the ship out of Durban and I was made aware of the problem. The facilities were okay the sauna baths were not great and not working properly, we had problem closing the balcony door it kept sliding open in the rough seas

Getting bitten by bed mites

I've been on about 50 cruises on all the major lines, and this was my first and last cruise with MSC. The itinerary was great and unique, so I had to try it, but I didn't realize the stepdown in quality compared to Royal and Princess and the other major brands. 

The food was not good. We tried the sit down dinners twice, and they were very slow and every single item was terrible, so we just had to sit there and wait with bad food that we weren't going to eat. Meat cuts were thin and dry. Soups were thin and runny. Had to specially request butter every time for the one piece of bread you get. Even the bottled water had a weird taste to me.  

So we decided to stick to the buffet, where we could try multiple things and not have to sit with a bad selection in front of us for 20 minutes like at the sit-down restaurant. Even with a buffet full of options, it was hard to find something decent, much less good.  The cuts of meat were often full of fat and gristle. A few times I filled up a whole separate bowl with fat and gristle that I had cut off trying to find a bite or two of actual meat.  Often the only options were lamb and veal, and maybe that's fine for most people, but I don't eat animal babies, so I didn't have any meat option those nights. 

The texture of the rice they used was bad. There were often no kid friendly options. 

 The desserts were usually mass-cut whipped squares of some sort. I love dessert, and usually just skipped it because none of them were good.  Even the jello was bad--tiny cup, never the red flavors, strange thin texture, and more whipped cream than jello.  There were some fruit tarts I enjoyed, but they were served infrequently.  Their every-day cheesy bread was usually soggy on the bottom. They often served meatballs with nothing to go with them. Their pastas were typically plain and boring. The burgers were all premade and soggy and terrible unless you happened to catch a fresh one.  Then they were just okay. They wouldn't make a fresh burger for you even if you asked. Same with the fries. 

Breakfast was not bad though, and the berliners at breakfast were our favorite thing on the ship.  The pizza was pretty decent as well, which was good because it was the only thing available after 9 pm. Late in the cruise we discovered the midday snack hour, which had decent scones. 

The room service menu was not very good. It cost extra, and they even charged for water. But the BBQ chicken wrap was decent, so I had that a few times. 

Overall though, I've never had food this bad on 50 cruises.  On about 45 of those I thought the food was great. On a few Princess Cruises it was just okay. But MSC was not good. The worst by far. It seemed like they were just being cheap all around. It was so bad that we were going grocery shopping at the ports and kept a cabinet full of our own food for when there was literally nothing edible at the buffet. 

One of the biggest food items I missed was the soft serve. This is first ship I've ever been on that didn't have free soft serve. I didn't realize I'd miss it so much. There was paid ice cream, but in 27 nights on this ship I never once saw a worker at the ice cream shop, and it was never worth it to hunt someone down to scoop me some overpriced ice cream. Plus the shop was visited so infrequently that the same ice cream bins sat there the whole 27 nights, so I couldn't imagine it would be good anyway. 

I bought several of the 6.50-euro protein shakes they sell, but they were all thin and watery. Kindof foamy. Not good, but edible. 

As for the ship, the decor in general was very dated and tacky.  The maintenance was not bad though, and the service was great.  God bless the crew.  They tried.  

The mini golf was sad, like it was made as a high school class project or something. But the worst was that the clubs and balls for golf and the basketball and other sports were kept in a cart three decks down and across the ship from the course and court. And the cart was only open for several odd hours in the day. And you could only check the ball out for 30 minutes at a time. So you'd have to perfectly time it when it's open, then walk 5 minutes there and 5 minutes back to the cart, to play basketball or golf on a truly pathetic course and backboard for 20 minutes.  Also, the equipment cart was never open when my son was out of kids club, so he never had a chance to play anything-on a 27 night cruise!  The sports court is also very exposed to the wind, so it was usually too windy to play anyway. I never saw a single person other than me try to use it. I bought my own foam ball so my son would have something to kick around, and that was the highlight of the cruise for him. It was sad.  One time I even tried to check out the golf clubs when my son was in kids club, then took him to play right after he got out (which is when the cart closed). We were two holes in, and watching a beautiful sunset, when somebody actually came up and took the clubs away from me so they could lock them in a closet until the next morning. I almost lost it. 

Similarly, when the kids had all made friends with each other and planned a time to play on the splash pad, they were all in the middle of finally using the splash pad for the first time, when it was randomly turned off. We went to swim in the pool instead, but the pools were both very salty saltwater, so I didn't find them refreshing. 

The shows on the ship were second and sometimes third rate. The same husband and wife were the ventriloquist and the magicians and the comedian and the sand artist on different nights. I admire their versatility, but it's tough to be funny when you literally translate each joke into 5 languages. My favorite was the sand art. 

Last but not least, there was no wifi in our room. We paid for a suite and for the unlimited wifi, and had zero coverage in our room. Like many things, MSC apparently cheaped out on the number of routers in the halls, so about a quarter of the rooms have no wifi. We drew the short straw apparently. Even with good wifi, the actual internet was very very slow. Usable, but slow compared to recent Royal and Princess Cruises we have been on.   I actually rigged my phone into a router using the NetShare app and hooked it to my doorknob so my pregnant wife could use the internet in the comfort of her bed. NetShare works on their system to share a single connection with other devices. I had paid for two devices but had to stream from my phone hooked to my doorknob, to my wife's phone and my laptop.

MSC is often a bit cheaper than the other lines, but it's definitely not worth the small savings. And we didn't even save any money because we had to get a suite after seeing the photos of the rooms. An expensive suite is the same size as a regular balcony room on other lines.

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