My husband and I chose this cruise to celebrate our retirements. It was our first time cruising and it has certainly NOT given us the “bug”!! The ship was so crowded. The food was awful, particularly not the Golden Lobster restaurant in the evening. On two evenings we were not allowed in the restaurant until 9.30 pm which is far too late. There were passengers embarking and disembarking all the time so safety drills constantly happening causing use of the ship for current passengers to grind to a halt during these times, including lifts, bars etc. The signage on the ship was poor and clearly not enough lifts available. The entertainment poor and shows were repeated for 15 night passengers. One pool was so noisy with all the naff entertainment. The so called “garden pool” was closed for 3 days. On the plus side, the majority of the staff were very friendly, courteous and helpful. Read Less

This was our thirteenth cruise which was certainly unlucky for some The food and the entertainment were no where near the standard we have come to expect from other companies. The use of hand sanitisers was left to the individual passengers and needless to say very few used them. .There were no safety stickers on the balcony windows and children and people with poor eyesight could have had a nasty injury. It was our 50th wedding anniversary whilst on the cruise and apart from an anniversary cake, organised by our travel agent there was no input from MSC. We had a drinks package but the only wine we were allowed was a cheap Italian chardonnay andthe only beer was Heineken draught. The ship was a glorified ferry and we will most certainly not sailing with MSC again and especially as we have been ill since our return two weeks ago. . Read Less

Our second Yacht Club Experience Having been on board Fantasia April 2018 Barbados back to Europe. Sadly for us it did not live up to our previous cruise. Yacht Club: One Pool Could not fault the pool boys or waiters but on several occasions we believe that there where people in the yacht club that were not members due to the door not locking this was reported by several yacht club members including ourselves,we pay for this privilege also young children in nappies going into the jacuzzi we found the sun lounges very uncomfortable, maybe they should supply cushions. Lifts: Priority for yacht clubs members in one word this does not work even for the Butlers. Cabin: Clean but find the dressing room very small no comparison to the suites on Celebrity Butler: First time we have been disappointed nice polite man kept our cabin clean but his lack of understanding English made it very difficult to have any communication with him. Dining: Well I say one word PEPE what a lovely man misses nothing staff have respect for him and if it had not been for Pepe I would have struggled with the meals he was very attentive as he was with all the guest He is a great asset to MSC. Top Sail lounge: Firstly have to say how amazing the waiters Anna Nayara and Zaheem were they kept us entertained as most often we were the only people in there including our friends after 10.30 We feel that there could be a little more entertainment not just a piano player it lacked atmosphere and very underused. Embarkation: Could not have been better. Disembarkation: Taken off too early bit of a rush, then a long wait at the airport. Summary: We have two more cruises with deposits Seaview Yacht club Nov 19 and on the same ship Dubai Dec 2020 We are having doubts whether we will be going. Read Less

MSC Preziosa - Yacht Club - 5-19 March 2019. Caribbean from Barbados via Cruise Club UK. The cruise consultant, Ian Lazarus, delivered on every promise and commitment made. He has been superb throughout the whole process and I would strongly recommend using his services if booking a cruise package. Our second Yacht Club experience having been on board Fantasia last year. We were a party of 6 taking up 3 cabins but this assessment is largely confined to mine, my wife’s and our friend’s experiences. All in all, not as positive on this occasion compared to the near faultless holiday of last year’s transatlantic. FLIGHTS We prefer to travel Premium Economy. This time on Virgin but these were chartered flights by MSC. The experience outbound was very good but inbound less so in a 23 year old jumbo with limited staff to look after 450 passengers. However, since this provision was directly by Virgin, it would be inappropriate to criticise MSC. TRANSFERS Once again, airport to ship was very good but in reverse, the coach arrived earlier than we were advised; was an elderly conveyance with poor (almost non-existent) air conditioning. EMBARKATION & DISEMBARKATION MSC (for Yacht Club) do this better than anyone (we have travelled in Suites with P&O, Celebrity & RCI). Escorted onto and off ship. SUITE No different - perfectly adequate “de-luxe type” cabin - small balcony but the huge “exclusive” top deck area more than compensates. I say “exclusive” but this year it wasn’t. Non Yacht Club passengers accessed this space easily as the two entrance doors were not secure enough. Staff never challenge (not allowed to) and I found myself escorting 5 passengers out of this private area during our 2 week cruise with others unchallenged. Small babies of an age to still be in nappies accessing the jacuzzis with their parents; young teenagers diving in the no diving pool and cigars being smoked in a smoking area next to a sign “no cigars.” TOP SAIL LOUNGE First class facilities & service. BUTLER After the faultless experience courtesy of Putra last year, we struggled with Olivier this year, mainly because of his poor English. La PALMERAIE (Yacht Club Restaurant). One word. PEPÉ There are not enough superlatives to describe this amazing man. The Restaurant Maître Di (officially the Supervisor). He misses nothing. His staff love him. The passengers revere him - in truth, they adore him. Not only is he in complete control of all that happens, he never loses focus on his customers. He is the ultimate professional but is so personable that he is never less than entertaining. The personal service we received was beyond first class as his team aspire to his own very high standards. MSC MUST retain his services because on the strength of this experience, our next cruise would be assured. Thankfully, the Yacht Club Restaurant in the new ships is an integral part of Yacht Club rather than at the opposite end of the ship. YACHT CLUB STAFF It seems unfair to single out anyone but there MUST be special mentions for our lovely waiters, Anna, Nayara (unfortunate to fall sick - hope she is OK), Durian, Zaheem, Luis and Reina (day time concierge). However, I was much less impressed with the night Concierge. Mr. Simone Piletto very much needs some guidance on the provision and delivery of effective customer service and the avoidance of the attitude he displayed toward me on two occasions. Perhaps he was annoyed I had disturbed his Facebook access. SPECIALITY RESTAURANTS Despite a complimentary visit being included for black card guests (4 of us are) we declined offers to the Sushi and Italian eateries. They simply had no appeal since the lay-out was in no way inviting. In any event, why would we miss the chance to be looked after by Pepé and his excellent staff? However, our daughter & son-in-law did pay for a visit to the Galaxy (Sushi Restaurant) and described the food as excellent. LIFTS Strange as it may seem, this was an irritating regular occurrence, even for butlers. Yacht Club cards rarely delivered the exclusive provision to decks 15-18 and we very regularly found ourselves travelling randomly up and down or the cards simply didn’t work. TO SUM UP We do enjoy Yacht Club very much, despite these frustrating instances. However, with us usually travelling as a 4 (we took our daughter & son-in-law with us on this occasion), our deposits for trips on Seaview (Yacht Club) in November 2019 (Barcelona to South America) and on the same ship in December 2020 (Dubai) are now in some doubt. These deposits are, of course, via Mr. Lazarus at Cruise Club UK. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary (12 different islands, no sea days), The ship was beautiful and both our cabin and all the public places were kept spotless. The servers we had in the dining room were attentive and did what they could to please. The food was good, but little of it was remarkable. We ate breakfast most days at the buffet as we were often preparing to head out on our day's activities. The buffet was a zoo, mostly because of the huge number of families taking advantage of great deals and the March break. The food at the buffet was good also, and the sticky buns were noteable. I was disappointed with the Easy Drink / Drink Voucher arrangement in that there were very few cocktails one could get. Even when I wanted a certain cocktail, but asked for it made with rum instead of vodka the bartender refused. In the dining room, there were only certain wines we could get, but we are easy to please and once we knew the routine, we were happy with what they brought. The musicians, dancers and acrobats in the theatre shows were extremely talented, and even though each show tended to follow a similar format, we enjoyed them. The sax player and pianist in the piano bar were good musicians, but their talents were wasted due to the noise of people's conversations. The other ensembles varied a great deal in ability and presentation, and as they did not appeal to us, we chose to go and watch the theatre shows the second week rather than subject ourselves to performances of songs that we could barely even recognize. We enjoyed our cruise because we had a very clean hotel, excellent island to island transport, good food and many beautiful, warm islands to visit. Knowing what I do about this ship, and assuming other MSC ships are similar, I would probably avoid a cruise with them that involved more time on ship. Read Less

We have never cruised MSC before but have experience many other cruise lines including a few of the premier lines. Our favourite cruise line has been Celebrity but due to their ever increasing prices have been drawn to MSC. We were offered Black Card membership due to their loyalty match although the only valuable element was the 5% discount, all other perks were meaningless for people in the Yacht Club. We choose a Preziosa Yacht Club cruise - 14 nights in the fabulous Caribbean with no sea days. The cruise included return charter flights from Gatwick operated by Virgin Atlantic which allowed for twilight check in between 5 pm and 9pm the evening prior. Flight seat selection was not available and was pre allocated by MSC and issued at Virgin check-in. Our outgoing flight was delayed by almost 2 hours and the return flight was the notorious VS610 quarantined flight mentioned in the media. Virgin Cabin staff had contracted norovirus prior to boarding the flight and we all suffered massive delays as a consequence. We had good seats in the upper deck of a 747-400 and the next time we saw our luggage was in our cruise cabin. On landing we went straight to awaiting buses direct to the ship without entering Barbados Airport terminal. Being in Yacht Club we were fast tracked aboard with no queuing which the general crowd had to endure. Everyone had the same seats on the return flight. Barbados Immigration was processed onboard at 9.30 on the final day of the cruise without any queing chaperoned by our bulter. The Yacht Club is a select area at the front of the ship with keycard entry comprising of about 70 cabins with a maximum occupancy of 160 people. It has a separate lounge and a sun deck with a small pool, two jacuzzis and a bar which also serve an extremely small buffet. The lounge also has a small area with a few snacks mostly crisps, peanuts, small pastries and fruit. This lounge provides a continental breakfast service whilst the pool deck expands on this with scrambled eggs, bacon and saugages. A full breakfast service was available in the Yacht Club restaurant which was at the opposite end of the ship which we found to be very poorly attended, maybe too far to walk for many. Lunch service was available at the same restaurant, also an extremely poor self service buffet was available at the One Pool deck bar. The accomodation was of a high standard although most YC1 suites were no bigger than a standard balcony cabin on most cruise ships. A big let-down was the shower being over the bath with an inadequate glass screen which resulted in water everywhere unless you reduced the water spray to an unacceptable level. The cabin facilities included a well-stocked free mini-bar and a small screen TV which was never used as channel choice was the worst we ever experienced. The bed and pillows were extremely comfortable as was the couch and the balcony although small was adequate for our use. Smoking is a major issue on this ship as the people smoked almost everywhere and compliance with the rules seldom enforced, including on balconies. The Yacht Club sun deck is large with plenty of hard loungers without any cushions which can be uncomfortable. There is a hand full of tables and chairs near the pool bar with most of the tables having a parasol cover but there is little or no shade for the loungers except near to the four shower cubicles on the port side which provides limited shade when the ship’s position allows but this is a no-go area as it is in a smokers paradise with shaded tables and chairs, always full of chain-smokers. During our cruise the sundeck was seldom used by most of the clientele. The Yacht Club ‘One Lounge' is a great space for relaxing, reading the paper with an excellent bar service. The design offers superb panoramic views of the ocean although sitting in the window seats can become very uncomfortable during the day and early evening hours due to the hot sun. A positive change by MSC is that the lounge is now smoke free and a great place to have a pre-dinner drink before the long track to the Yacht Club restaurant (Le Palmarie). There are two primary routes to the restaurant, one via deck 15 on the outside deck which is unappealing due to the wind and sometimes rain. The other is via deck 7 which is like engaging in a maul, fighting your way through the masses of people especially near the popular photo shop/gallery. Deck 7 design is rather poor in that you have to pass across a dance floor and along narrow link corridors between smoke ridden lounges/bars, a nightmare most evenings to get to the restaurant. You also need to get used to the ‘humming' body odour and take long breaths sometimes which we have never experienced to this level before, maybe the shower over the bath has a lot to answer for….! The Le Palmarie restaurant is said to be anytime dinning but in reality you have 2 choices either 6.30/7.00 or 8.30/9.00. We prefer the later time and on many occasions had to wait for table. The table service in the restaurant was of a poor standard due to inexperienced staff forever getting things wrong, sorry was a word often heard echoing around the room. The food in Le Palmarie was good and served at the mostly the correct temperature, sometimes excellent with a great choice of wines and off menu items were always available. The Maitre’D (PePe) is an extrovert with a great personality and always did his utmost to accomodate people’s wishes, he moves to pastures new at the end of the month so this restaurant could fall apart at the seams. Breakfast and dinner met our requirements but lunch at the One Pool was a disgrace and a major letdown. The alternative speciality restaurant onboard (Eataly) was always empty and looked like a cafeteria with uncovered white plastic tables and chairs. It was so uninviting that we never bothered with the complimentary meal offered to us, shame real. The other restaurants and buffets on the ship were so crowded that no way could it be classed as an enjoyable experience. Our 14 night Caribbean itinerary had no sea days which was very appealing, a new island everyday except Saturdays and Sundays. The cruise had three basic home ports where passengers embarked and disembarked, Barbados , Martinique and Guadeloupe. On our cruise the major passenger changes occurred at Martinique where masses of black French people embarked many local residents of Martinique which became a booze cruise, we were glad for the seclusion of the yacht club. We discovered that MSC had put out a promotion on Martinique to fill empty spaces at very discounted rates which obviously encouraged the many. Most of the Islands we had visited many times before and remain enjoyable except for Trinidad and Dominica where we stayed aboard. We really enjoyed the cruise and met great company. Finally, the question ‘Would we cruise MSC again' - Definitely not in the general part of the ship, it is too crowded with a serious clash of cultures with many shortcomings. As for the Yacht Club again probably not, the main negatives for us are MSC’s liberal approach to SMOKING and the lack of shade on the deck which is a major design flaw of this class of ship. Both could be rectified but MSC being an Italian company seams unable to adapt, so default to the status quo which will be their downfall in the British and American markets. Read Less

I chose this Caribbean cruise because according to all the adverts in the papers I thought it ticked all the boxes, how wrong can you be. Never once did it say that MSC Preziosa was a glorified tramp steamed picking up and dropping off at most ports of call, not a problem you might think. People have to be out of the cabins by 10am so that meant cases out almost every night and then sitting in the buffet restaurant with there hand luggage, which meant with new passengers on board and other passengers not off yet getting something to eat in the buffet was a work of art. Out of the four lifts up to our cabin deck 11 three where in regular use just for taking suitcases up or down. The food was ok but nothing special unless you like Pizza, but you had to get your timing right, Our dining time was 9pm but twice they put it back to 9-30 and had just one show on at the theater and if your on a fourteen night cruise you see the same shows on the second week. I was warned Italian ships are noisy they were right, On every cruise I have been on you get hand sanitizer squirted at you from breakfast to bedtime not with MSC you don't, which probably accounts for the fact when we got back to Gatwick out plane was quarantined four four hours. Overall probably the worst cruise I have been on and I think it highly unlikely I will ever cruise with MSC again. Read Less

Our cruise started at Barbados, we flew on a Virgin charter organised by MSC from Gatwick. Prior to the cruise I was concerned about the lack of information regarding selection of seats on the plane and taking additional luggage - Both MSC and Virgin were unclear, although Virgin said it was available at a cost at Gatwick. We used the twilight check in at Gatwick and slept in the adjoining hotel prior to departure. This was very convenient at MSC had many staff at the airport to assist us. The seating was allocated prior to check by MSC and we had the same upper deck seats out and return. Our luggage was delivered directly to the ship and cabin and all the passenger were transported from the plane steps to the ship by awaiting buses - Superb service - so easy and just a dream to arrive to Yacht Club service with instant boarding. Our butler was assigned and he took us later that evening to the Yacht Club restaurant for dinner. Once introduced to the head waiter we were assigned a table for 2 ( our choice) and each evening he made sure we had a table for 2 if not the same table. Food was excellent and it was possible to have more than one portion of a course you enjoyed, thus substituting the next. Wine again very good. The balcony cabin was well located within an area of the One Bar and One Lounge - very good size with a full bath and seating area. ( MSC do apply a fixed on board gratuity, we asked for this to be removed and tipped our Butler, his assistant, waiters and team members who gave great service) All of your on board spend is detailed on the in-cabin interactive TV. One board there was plenty to do......however the itinerary does involve passengers boarding and leaving at many of the ports - so this means some short stay passengers on lower priced itineraries. They, wanting to make the most of their holiday tended to be more rowdy and use the ships facilities wildly. We chose to stay in the One Bar and pool area. MSC offer some great excursions and a butler is assigned to each yacht club tour group to make sure you leave the ship first and join the tour with ease. One or two of our choices were not the best, but we made the most of our time. Departure was easy - cases out by midnight and we did not see them again until arrival at Gatwick! ( tip - dont worry about being a little over weight with packing on the way home - they dont weight them) Unfortunately our plane was held by port health at Gatwick due to some coughing passengers/crew concerns - Nearly a 5 hour wait - no fault of MSC or Virgin - just precautions. Read Less

Returned from a 14 day cruise on March 5th. Chose this cruise because of the ports of call.Flight embarkation and disembarkation to and from Bridgetown very good. We had a two week cruise with no days at sea but visited two ports twice. There was at least three ports where people embarked, this resulted in safety drills at each pick up which was annoying as everything was closed while the drills went on. Many large groups of locals got on at Martinique, we found some of these a little to noisy for us especially around the buffet and pool areas. We found the main show lounge entertainment disappointing and repetitive, although the acrobats were very good. We had an inside cabin on deck 8 which was kept clean and tidy by our friendly steward. The shore excursions which we booked before leaving were very good and well organised, although we had to go to the excursion desk on one occasion the night before a trip as we received no tickets. We did not use any restaurants as I became ill after 3 days, so we just picked our time and went in the buffets. The food in the buffets were very disappointing, the choice was poor, but worse of all many of the meals were only lukewarm or even cold. The drink urns were also awful the coffee was frequently lukewarm, and the hot water was also only lukewarm, no way could you make a cup of tea with this. I did report this to a supervisor but there was no improvement, in fact the only time you could get a hot drink was at breakfast time when hot milk was supplied to top up your coffee. Breakfast was the best meal of the day with plenty of choice. The best place to get a hot tea or coffee was in the coffee bar, or other bars, this we paid for as we had no drinks package included as we only made a late booking. To us the drinks package you could buy were excessive at 29 Euros per person per day for 14 days, there is no way we could get our monies worth at those prices. Although being ill most of the time didn't help as I had to go to the ships doctor twice I don't think we will book with MSC again, four other cruises we have been on with other companies have all been very enjoyable. Read Less

This cruise was good because of the itinerary of stopping at Caribbean islands everyday and had a good mix of Europeans and some Americans on board; not just single groups of British like on P&O or loud Americans as on Carnival. The ship is tastefully finished and kept super clean. The standard of food in the buffet was excellent and well laid out and overall the staff on the ship were courteous and provided very good service. In my opinion there seemed to be a lack of overall activities on the ship as compared to a P&O ship but I would think this is due to the multiple languages on board - English, French, Italian, German, etc - for example it would be difficult to have a comedy act and provide it in 5 languages; so overall understandable why less activities but there are plenty of bars with music to venture into. There was a good choice of shore excursions which I think were much the same price range as provided on other cruise lines. Read Less