We have cruised the Caribbean several times in the last 10 or so years mainly with P and O, but also with NCL and Thomsons. We were attracted to this cruise as it offered a slightly different itinerary which included Martinique, Guadeloupe and Trinidad. The overall package which include drinks, tips and Virgin flights seemed attractive. This is what we found: Virgin - twilight check-in at Gatwick painfully slow, took 80 mins to process a short queue by surly staff who laid the blame at MSCs door, not a great start. Flight and return check-in fine. Embarkation - ran smoothly, only negative was running the gauntlet of staff imploring us to upgrade drinks package. Cabin - generous size, clean and comfortable. Only disappointment was the lower half of the balcony was not glass making it feel a little enclosed. Worth avoiding theses which are at each end of the ship. The Ship - very well presented, nice public rooms, plenty of stairs and lifts made moving around this large ship quick and easy (are you listening P and O ?). Theatre very large, but never full. Disappointed that the front of the ship was out-of -bounds, reserved for Yacht Club members, this rankled somewhat. Dining Lobster dining room pleasant but we were tucked away in a dark corner. Self service restaurant a little congested at times, inevitable. Slightly disappointed we couldn't eat outside at the rear of the ship. service in the Lobster dining room excellent. Service for breakfast was not so good. MSC need to decide if this is self service or not, combination caused chaos, avoided after one try. Food Generally ok, but fell short of our expectations and experience. Good variety in the self service restaurant, but need to hunt around to appreciate all that is on offer. Drink Basic drinks package somewhat minimal, no discount if you wanted to select drinks over 6 euros, we made do. Could order non-alcohol cocktail and separate spirit, water bottles from the bar free, but not from mini bar. Service always very good. Itinerary Seemed good on paper, but would have preferred a couple of sea days to chill out. we now realise that MSC operates 7 day cruises out of Martinique and Guadeloupe. This meant calling at these ports twice on saturday and sunday. Nothing much to do on a sunday in Guadeloupe, maybe these were our sea days. Time in port quite adequate. MSC excursions very expensive. Fellow Passengers A lot of French speakers on the cruise, most seemed to be on for 7 days. This did not make for such a sociable cruise due to the language barrier. Lifeboat drills in several languages on several days a pain, you only need to attend once, but they are an unwelcome intrusion, made worse by the 7 day itinerary and multiple boarding ports. Entertainment Enjoyed one of best shows we had ever seen on a cruise when the team of entertainers threw everything at it. Range of shows limited by language issues, one show way to loud and we did something we had never done before and walked out of it. Ridiculous. Music in other public rooms to a good standard and refreshingly different, we liked the Spanish couple. Enjoyed this aspect. Attempts by UK cruise director to customise entertainment with a short daily quiz a little limited. TV a waste of time. Only English channel was CNN International, drove us crazy with endless talk of US primaries. Spent most of the time off. Poor effort by MSC. Disembarkation Fine Overall Not a bad cruise, but others are significantly better, especially for English speakers. Need a good reason to return. Read Less

MSC Preziosa review: was on 7 days, just got back. St Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Martinique, St Vincent, Trinidad, & got on & off in Guadeloupe. Re ship: super clean, staff always cleaning, really spotless, made everyone getting on ship & before meals use sanitizer, which was an excellent idea. Layout: was travelling with 9 others & everyone got lost at some point. Only decks 7&14 went from end to end. At one point I wandered deck 15 for an hour at night trying to find my cabin. Food: MDR on deck 6. Staff was exceptional. We had a big table of 7 & added 3 more & they accommodated us without complaint. Alex Bolanos, Amin, & Genero were wonderful. I would say the food was good quality & tasty, nicely presented, plentiful but basic- ie meat & potatos, veg & fish, even gluten-free for me, but rather bland. They had vegetarian options but no peanut butter anywhere on the ship! Read Less

It looked like a good deal BUT,! the food overall was poor, only ever warm to cold never hot and very small portions with no potatoes or veg to bulk it up. The wine was only two types offered as they had “run out”! Breakfast was a nightmare, you were literally jammed in and couldn’t get out. I asked for English breakfast tea, first they took ten minutes to get the tea, then another ten to bring the hot water then another ten minutes to wait for milk by which time the tea was cold. If you could get to the buffet most things were gone, no fruit, juice bread. Lunch buffet was the same, food always warm to cold never hot. We paid for the upgraded drinks package, which I would recommend, but I could have had 20 gin and tonics but no ice cream, you had to pay for that! At every turn it’s sell, sell, sell. Every night they take photos of you at the table even if you say no, everywhere the entertainment is full blast so much so that people walk out of the theatre and anywhere music is blasting out, it’s ridiculous and why does anyone think throwing bottles in the air, mixology is entertaining while mine host is screaming into the mike? One day as we were leaving the ship I was called stupid by one of the security staff, I reported him and was told someone would contact me, they never did. I could go on and on, pay a bit more and travel on a ship where English is the first language so you don’t have to listen to mumble announcements in seven different languages. Read Less

My girlfriend and I have cruises with other cruise lines before and thought we would give msc a try mainly due to the itinerary. What a mistake. It all started with booking. We purchased on msc.ca. The purchase of the cruise was fine but we came to learn we could not book any excursions online or shuttle transfers since the website did not work. Why launch a site if it is not ready!?!!? Online check in also did not work so we had to call. Wait time are ridiculous, around one hour on average. The people on the phone were very told and no help at all. We came to learn a week before the cruise the person who supposedly checked us in on the phone actually didn’t, also ended up having to buy all excursions on board for a higher price. Embarkation was ok, not as smooth as other ships. We had a hard time finding our room. We asked front desk to help but she essentially said she was to busy and sent us on our way again. Very rude. Food was not good throughout the whole cruise. Everything was warm or cold, nothing hot. Very bland, some meals we couldn’t even eat it. Went to to excursion desk to book excursions since couldn’t book online as previously stated. The people I talked to on the phone said the online discount was available to people who booked though the Canadian website since the website didn’t work. Staff on the ship refused to give me it. I booked 1600$ worth of excursions and offered to pay and they said I couldn’t pay my sea pass off until the last day. 20 minutes later I couldn’t get drinks even thought I bought the drink package, turns out there was to much money on my sea pass and I actually had to pay it right away. This is a common theme on the boat, no staff no what their doing. Also, drinks we terrible. Should have stuck to the beer package as mixed drinks were terribly inconsistent and bad. I always asked for club sofa and vodka and constantly ended up with vodka and water. Staff didn’t even know how to make a basic mimosa. 4 days into the cruise I wasn’t feeling well and laid down. I ended up being very sick to the point where I was passing out. I went to the doctor on the boat and ended up with a 500$ hospital bill. Doctor confirmed it was food poisoning, likely from the breakfast buffet (maybe other cases?). This was 100% the food on the ship. We did not eat off the ship since 4 days prior to this before getting on the boat. Front desk refused to refund me for the hospital and excursion desk refused to refund us for the 2 missed excursions even thought it was confirmed my sickness was due to bad food on the ship. They also refused to give me a discount on my drink package even thought I couldn’t drink for half of the cruise due to antibiotics. I was told to call msc when I got home and they could probably compensate me but when I called they refused to do anything. 2 days i was so sick I couldn’t even leave my room, the other days I was feeling good enough to leave but not really enjoy anything. Entertainment was okay, not nearly as good at other cruise lines. The only good thing I can say is the pizza is great and the ship is really nice. They guy who cleaned our cabin was also nice. I will note that that cabins are okay, but much smaller then other boats I’ve been on. Other then that, everything was trash. So bad I would have feather stayed home. Don’t waste your money, other cruise lines such as royal Caribbean are MUCH better and not much more money. Read Less

me and my wife had bean looking at msc cruises for long time and we found a nice one 14 days from barbados 12 ports which wher great lovley ship its self some staff ok food not great self service food was cold but we had sit down 3 corse meals in one of the dinner rooms .entertainment was bad . our inside cabin was nice big room plenty of room plenty of stuf for kids . my wife was using a disabled motablty scooter becase she got some helth problems , and she had loads of problems using the lifts ment wouled push past her to get in first and some wher fiting to get in them. this is really bad msc as to do loads more for disabled pepole .Disembarkation was very long meny long ques and the same getting back on the ship was full 4000 pepole so was too big for us after being on we would never go back with msc very small amount of english was on ship most wher french pepole my wifes scooter broke one day so i ask at frount desk if they couled lend me one for the 2 weeks but they said no we cant have one but they wouled just push her back to the room ,i think we need to find a smaller ships next time , Read Less

I'm not sure what planet these people are who have bitterly complained about a truly magnificent ship. Staff were second to none, polite, courteous and friendly. Our cabin kept very clean, towels flannels, changed twice every day, bedding daily, the ship was spotless, never ever found any of the general toilets around the ship dirty. All areas of the ship were kept exceptionally clean. Bar staff were excellent and prompt, always served our drinks with a smile and a chat, food was very good too. If you didn't like what was on the menu, the staff always offered you something different to make sure you were happy. Harbin Bautista and Zakir Ali in the Golden Lobster restaurant were a credit to MSC, nothing but pure professional excellent service. The general resturant on deck 14 was busy, and times and sometimes noisy, I agree with, but the choice of food could not be criticised, there is food for all tastes and always cooked very well. How can people criticise about noise etc at a place to eat which caters for hundreds of people to eat at the same time. Very varied and good daily and evening entertainment throughout the various bars, my only criticism would be regarding the brilliant theatre shows, which we would have liked to have lasted a bit longer, but having said that they needed to put in 2 shows per evening, so this might not be able to happen. So all in all, we, 2 couples, had a great time on our first cruise with MSC and look forward to many more.... Read Less

We boarded in Barbados having flown from the UK, embarkation was late due to delays with luggage at the airport and there was no welcome when we got on the ship We were on board for 14 nights and found that there was a lot more attention given to other groups when they arrived, the focus seemed to be on French guests Our cabin, a balcony on deck 13 with the Aurea experience was good, spacious and comfortable and kept clean All of the staff that we dealt with were helpful, polite and friendly The theatre shows were rather disappointing but there were lots of alternatives, ie. live music in several bars Food in the buffet was of a good quality Food in the main restaurant was, however, disappointing. There was nothing wrong with the food but it lacked any wow factor. When comparing with other cruise lines that we have traveled with (Cunard and Celebrity) the MSC came up very poor The ship itself is beautiful, very glitzy and glamorous I think it is a case of getting what you pay for and over all the cruise was fair value Read Less

Having just returned from two weeks in the Southern Caribbean on the MSC Preziosa here are some general comments from the experience. We chose the January 11th through January 25th cruise so that we could visit several new Caribbean locations. The cruise for us was actually a back-to-back cruise originating in Martinique with no sea-days. Once on the Preziosa we found that many of the passengers were there for one week or two week cruises that originated in Martinique or Guadeloupe but for British passengers, a two-week cruise starting in Barbados. Besides these three major ports there were some passengers transferring at every other port. We only performed the safety drill on the first day but there were other safety drills each day for the new passengers. The majority of passengers were French, followed by British and German. Most announcements were made in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese! There were a noticeable number of families with small children. Embarkation was unusual with a crew member taking the passengers photograph with something like a cell phone. Cabin cards were already waiting in the cabin but did not have pictures. They did have the cabin numbers on them making your cabin vulnerable if the card is lost. Security staff insisted on handling each card when exiting or entering the ship. This delayed the process and is a potential source of contamination. They also appeared the least happy of any of the all crew members. Although our first time with MSC they applied our status from another cruise line and this gave us some perks on the Preziosa. One was free water at lunch and dinner that would have been 2.90 Euros a bottle! There were some other benefits that need to be requested as they are not immediately apparent. Food in general was good but any risotto would be an exception. Breakfast in the Golden Lobster was chaotic with very close tables, too many white coats and insufficient servers. Clearing used plates was a constant problem. Our evening dining was competently handled by Eka who, like many of the catering staff, was from Indonesia. The risottos were consistently bad but Eka would happily respond to any special requests. Their was an all-white dinner night that we were not prepared for. Our Cabin was larger than those that we have been in on other cruise ships. The shower had good doors and was of reasonable size. The hot and cold water response was fast and did not appear to cross contaminate, unlike on most other ships. There were two 220-volt outlets and two 110-volt outlets. Unfortunately they are very close limiting the use of some adapters or chargers at the same time. An electric kettle with coffee and tea were included. The television was rather small for the size of the cabin. Due to the mix of nationalities and languages the main theatre production each night was extremely similar but with different themes and costumes. The Witches of Paris show was spectacular and by far the best. There were two shows each night each lasting about 40 minutes. Unfortunately they felt a need to shine spotlights from the stage into the audience during some productions. Rather than add to the performance they were detracting by causing temporary blindness. Strobe lights were also a problem in the Safari Lounge. As with many on-board performances the sound level was excessive, even for a mature group that was probably on the deaf side. Quantity is frequently confused with quality! We specifically wished to visit several of the Caribbean Countries including those as far south as Trinidad. The MSC Preziosa offered the only cruise that met this requirement. The cruise was by no means as bad as many reviews we had read. There was absolutely no need to eat every meal off the ship as a previous reviewer stated. The decision to take another cruise with MSC will probably be driven purely by the itinerary offered. Read Less

- No sport facilities (i.e. only 1 ping pong table with no racket) - Everything always close (i.e. all pools are close at 9pm, cinema open from 5pm to 7pm lol) - Bad food - Virgin island destination swapped with St Lucia (announced only onboard, no compensation) - Terrible food at restaurant - Some of my shoes and shirts were stolen - Unpleasant crew members - Every single service is paying (i.e. wifi 170$, cinema, etc.) - Bad and expensive excursions (you better book yourself... wait they can cancel destination the day before) - Most basic thing are unvailanle unless you re part of the yacht club (i.e. the front of the boat is reserved) - Overcrowded jaccuzis (6 for 3000 people) - 2 small pools (12.5meters max.) - Speakers yelling useless information in your room and restaurant every day, like we are at the market place - Useless and haughty receptionists (dont even visit them, they all have different information) + At least, the theatre is very good. They perform very well on that part Read Less

We chose this ship because of its value for money and booked eleven months ago travelling with two others who have cruised several times this was our first so had nothing to compare it to. We can honestly say we would never choose MSC again. Reception staff were rude and totally unhelpful and the ship catered mainly for the French! We purchased a premium drinks package which was for any single drink up to $10 most drinks were $8 and the first few days all went well when we were told the $8 drink had "run out" bearing in mind the start of the new cruising season had just begun but the $5 rubbish was available If that had been the case there would be no reason to purchase the premium package. Miraculously after complaining the good wine became available so buyer beware don't accept what they say and complain. Another tip as soon as you register at reception make it CLEAR you do not wish service charge/gratuities put on your daily statement. We did this yet on second day we were charged £170 each on our daily statement along with excursion charges we had not booked and it took days of going back and fo to reception to sort it out which on hols you don't want, once we insisted on speaking to a manager the charges were removed. We would say to anyone read all the reviews and do yr homework whilst the ship was beautiful management was abysmal and staff soooo rude. Wonderful theatre but shows very mediocre, pool area was chaotic along with the restaurant no toast no beans no dishes for cereal without a wait again staff couldn't care less I could go on and on that's why we would never cruise with MSC again! Read Less

WE choose this cruise to have a little sun we had a bella balcony we went for christmas and new year 2019 to the caribbean .The ship was beautiful the food was lovely the buffet could be a bit crowded for breakfast but if you look for a seat before you are ok.I have done 8 cruise PO Royal Caribbean Sunbird Fred olsen and none was better than MSC some was worst.The food in the main restaurant was Fad only 1 night i did not like it and my waiter told me get some thing else. We went to the main restaurant every night.My waiter was lovely.We only had people came on and off twice and you only add to do the drill once so l dont know which cruise these people was on they know why they are complaining and i know why.New years eve was FAB christmas eve was FAB LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. Dont listen to these people book your cruise. Read Less

I didn't choose this ship I accidentally ended up being there and it's the best my friend bought the tickets and decided not to go so he gave them to me and my wife as year end gift. I'm 51years old and I have never been on a vacation before this was my very first time on a ship my wife also this experience was the best I have ever had the food was great The staff are well trained I never knew what it is to take a vacation cruise my only complaint is that it was too short (I will be back ) for a second time this time I will come with my whole family all 11 of us embarkation was fast and easy The entertainment is great .The party was good I am an early night sleeper so I was in by 9:00 pm the gym totally great I must say thanks to jeovah God creator of heaven and earth for giving me this opportunity thanks to all the staff onboard for everything. Read Less

We chose this cruise to get some winter sunshine and we were lucky as the weather was excellent, with just one day of rain. We flew from Gatwick and the organisation at the airport was superb ( bags dropped off and we didn’t see them until we got to our cabin on the ship). Embarkation was quick and no problems, unfortunately our problems then started to occur. Our arrival at the port was later than expected so after boarding and going to our cabin we went to the buffet to get something to eat. We must have missed or did not understand the tannoy call for the attendance for muster station and other drills. We received a message later to attend a drill the next day. After being on the ship for 16 days we did not understand 90% of the messages given out over the tannoy. The dining room was well set out if a bit tight. Our waiters did an excellent job with service but couldn’t help with some of the food which was only average at best. We tried the buffet but as usual with cruises it was difficult to find a place to sit and food was only just average and repetitive.Entertainment was poor, activities were the normal as on most cruises. Poor service at bars with some of the items on menu unavailable. Because of the number of embarkations during this cruise there were always times the ship seemed overcrowded and whenever there was a drill nearly all bars and services were closed. Disembarkation was the same as most cruises with most of the day wasted. This llovely ship needs better organisation from the top to ensure satisfaction for customers. Would we use MSC again, not very likely. Worst cruise ever. Read Less

We were looking for a Christmas/New year cruise and this seemed to fit the bill. Big Mistake. Cabin was a little small and could do with more storage. Balcony was small compared to other ships. The pillows were particularly uncomfortable.There are tea and coffee making facilities in the cabin and hairdryer provided though it's a bit weak. The housekeeping was not to the standard of other cruise lines. In the Golden Lobster Restaurant the meal portions were small, and the sweets and cheese board were miniscule, the menu descriptions were almost fictitious. The "Butchers Cut" speciality dining definitely needs cutting. We pre-booked for 31st December back in July and in spite of having a voucher, there was no booking for us. The service and attitude of the staff was rude and appalling and the price of meal up grades was exorbitant and the condiments and accoutrements with the meal were tiny and mean. None of it was in anyway good value. There seemed to be some confusion from bar to bar over what the premium plus drinks package entitled us to. The bar and restaurants were continually running out of wine and beer. You get the impression it's being run on a shoestring. Practically everyday there were passengers disembarking and embarking coupled with the remaining passengers leaving/boarding on sightseeing excursions, add to that the endless embarkation procedure and safety/muster meetings the new arrivals had to attend during which the bars and lifts were closed to all passengers. It was utter chaos. Like being on a ferry. The excursions were expensive, you can get them 50% cheaper on the dockside. The ship is nice, but seems under staffed, they are running just to stand still. You can see they're tired out and seem to get little support for the management. The entertainment throughout the ship was not so good, all a bit sameie and boring. Even the big screen above the pool on deck 14 was only used for MSC propaganda. Most cruise lines would run movies for the guests on it. MSC won't be our 1st choice for our next cruise! Read Less

I chose this cruise purely for the itinerary and expected very little after reading numerous reviews. I must commend MSC for obviously listening to the complaints and being in the process of making improvements from what I saw. I had bought extra snacks just incase there was a long wait to get on the ship but refreshments were provided , embarkation was quick and our rooms were ready when we got on-board. The best advice I can give when it comes to the food in the buffet area is find a table first then get your food as it is not as hot as you would have it at home. There are lots of fresh fruit and vegetables ( Fresh mangoes in the afternoons ) In terms of variety there is lots to choose from thats why I ate most of my meals in there. It is a busy area but if you head towards the back there's always tables available that can hold 6 people easily. I didn't do many on-board activities apart from the gym and spa both are outstanding just go as the ship docks or late evening to miss the busy periods.Book in advance to save money. Service was amazing in all areas of the ship even guest services I found pleasant and professional. The ship shore excursions are very expensive but we got off and did minivan tours that went to all the same places and we didn't pay more than $25 each . The drivers know the ship times and ensure your always back way ahead of time. Disembarkation was good and we even had time to have a quick tour around St Lucia before heading to the airport. At the airport everything was disorganized but that was the airport's fault for not having enough staff to manage the amount of people passing through on one of the busiest days of the year. Would I go again ? Try and stop me !! Read Less

The whole experience was fab! Visited Spain, St Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, st kitts, Antigua, Guadeloupe, st Maarten. Out of the places I really recommend Maho beach experience, nelsons dockyard, beaches in Guadeloupe! Food was great in the lobster restaurant, room was cleaned/checked twice daily. Wonderful shows every night. I particularly enjoyed watching dancers. Staff were just amazing - waiter Krishna, lifeguard Bruno and Rashid made our holidays. My partner really enjoyed dance classes with Alma. Entertaining team was brilliant- very engaging and friendly. The equator crossing and Tenerife goodbye parties were really fun. If I was to complain about anything I’d mention that gym was a bit overcrowded- as running machines were in demand by older people who leisurely walked instead of running on them. I found the 20min limit on machines too short. Overall great experience and I’d definitely book MCS AGAIN. Thank you x x x x x Read Less

Boarded MSC Prezoscia in Barcelona had lunch explored ship then went to our Aurea experience room on deck 12 beautiful large balcony room plenty of space, spacious balcony such a comfy bed. Our steward Ryan was amazing so thoughtful and great at his job. We ate at The Golden Lobster restaurant our waiters Pula and Freedom looked after us so well they were amazing, we never wanted for a thing, food was great and plenty of it we never went hungry. Well done boys, there were 6 of us seated and we got on so well and thank you Peter John Angela and Gareth for your company every evening, we had such fun, you made our cruise evenings very special. We visited Malaga Tenerife 5 sea days ( that was very relaxing) saw whales on the way over, then reached Barbados we visited Antigua St Kitts and Nevis St Martin Martinique Guadeloupe St Lucia and back to Barbados for our flight home. It was a fantastic cruise made special by great people. A very happy ship great officers and crew interaction. White Nights were fun. Read Less

Embarkation was quick and smooth. The Preziosa is a beautifull ship with a good layout. We were cruising in an Aurea suite which includes the ‘Easy’ drinking package, massage and spa access. Overall food quality is below average, in the buffet hot food is just warm. If you’re looking for Nutella or something alike they refer to the shop where you can buy(!) it. Never heard that one before. At some point in the cruise they ran out of chocolate croissants and danish. ‘Sorry, out of stock’. How can you run out of chocolate croissants when you have an own bakery on board? Even if you want to order a small bottle of water, ‘Sorry, all finished’. If this was my cruiseline, I’d sack the F&B manager. The system where you press a button for bar service doesn’t work. Once they have the money in the till of your drinking package you’re on your own. It is quite hard to get a drink in the bars and impossible to get a drink in the buffet. Nobody encourages people to disinfect or wash hands. I’m surprised there wasn’t a breakout of norovirus or flu. Overall the public areas are clean, alas, our cabin was not. Thick layers of dust in cabinets and drawers and long women’s hair in the bathtub. The top-tier privileges of their loyalty program are ridiculous, didn’t receive the gift or the chocolate due to ‘problems with distribution’. Don’t promise things if you can’t realise them. Our pre-booked excursion was cancelled because of ‘lack of participants’, I’ve been on excursions with other cruiselines where there were 6 participants in the coach. So again, profits before guest service. I’ve seen MSC slipping down from a near 5* company to some kind of holiday park on the water. Ok, the prices are very affordable but what you pay is what you get... Read Less

After reading so many negative reviews of the MSC Preziosa, our entire family felt that we have to share our great onboard experience. We boarded the ship in Genova, a quick and effective process which was started even earlier than announced. The rooms were also ready early and our cruise cards perfectly prepared in the cabins. The Preziosa is a big ship but well designed and the signage is well done so it's fairly easy to get around. Food is absolutely plentiful on the cruise, it is quite impossible to stay hungry. Meals are offered pretty much all day, 20 hours a day. The sit-down meals may offer only three courses, as some people complained, but if one wishes, you can order several starters, main dishes or desserts, so basically you are almost having a buffet type of meal, only it is served to the table. The waiting staff has been a particular delight on the cruise, both at our designated table and in the bars we visited during the cruise. The gym is well equipped in the front of the ship and although you are asked to spend no more than twenty minutes on a machine, the wait is never too long. The pools and jacuzzis can be busy on beautiful, sunny sea days but there is many of them so no long waits there either. The evening entertainment is varied and especially the gala night performances are quite spectacular. We were a group of adults but children onboard seemed to be enjoying all the animation and entertainment on offer, they were even made part of one of the evening shows in the theater. Yes, the shore excursions and port transfers are quite pricey and we didn't take any of those but that's true of every cruise and every cruise line. The disembarkation was well explained both personally if someone attended the information session but also in the daily programme. The process itself flowed really smoothly. The billing was also transparent and without any issues. All in all, we had a wonderful cruise with MSC Preziosa and would recommend the ship wholeheartedly. Our cruise took us from Genova to Malaga, Casablanca, Lisbon, Barcelona and Marseille and back to Genova with three in-between days on the sea. Read Less

PART ONE - Horrendous Our holiday got off to a terrible start. I had booked to go away with my mother and a few of her [elderly] friends. We booked early and chose our cabins so that we were all together and conveniently located to the facilities we planned to enjoy. However, a few weeks before we were due to travel, one of our cabins was pulled and we were told we were going to be placed 3 floors higher and at the opposite end of the ship. This was a big problem for us as we had all planned to convene on each others balconies to enjoy afternoon teas and coffee; also, to enjoy pre-dinner drinks. I complained to customer services who did their best to get our original cabin back but to no avail. Their 'allocation team' would not budge and neither would they locate our friends near to our new cabin. We were all gutted, as separating the group prevented us from popping in and out of each others cabins and enjoying the usual camaraderie. As a compromise, they managed to find us another cabin on the same floor but still this was a trek and left us isolated. To make up for it, we were given 50 euros onboard credit and Prosecco on arrival and although this did little to make things better, it was a gesture we appreciated. That was, until we boarded the ship and discovered our newly-allocated cabin 9084. For anyone allocated this cabin, please note that even though it is classed as a Bella Balcony cabin, IT HAS NO VIEW WHATSOEVER UNLESS YOU ARE STANDING UP!!! When sat on the chairs provided all you can see is solid white metal. All the saving up to pay extra for a balcony on which we could relax and enjoy the views out to sea, was therefore wasted. The disappointment and upset was beyond words. It was bad enough being parted from our friends but to be denied the benefits of our balcony too was just the final straw. We demanded a proper balcony cabin or to be refunded the cost. Unfortunately, this was not something the cruise staff could sort out as - any claim would have to be handled by UK admin staff - and there was no other cabins available to move us to! All we could do was wait to see if anyone with a balcony cabin failed to show up at the next port and we could then have theirs. As suggested, we waited. We had embarked on a Sunday afternoon and waited until Monday evening to see if there was any change. Still nothing but we were told to check again another 24 hours later, after the next lot of passengers embarked. We did so but by this time, and having lived out of our suitcase for 2 days, we had given up hope. At this point, we all felt our holiday had been ruined. It had put a complete dampener on it, especially as my mum was so upset she had burst into tears and said she just wanted to go home. She was totally unsettled and could not bear having to rummage in her case every time she wanted something. We therefore decided to unpack and resigned ourselves to the isolation and having no balcony/view. Ironically, we then received a telephone call in our cabin from reception. They had found us a cabin - not near to our friends, but it had a glass fronted balcony so at least we had a view! Of course, we then had to repack everything in order to move and it was a real pain, but considered worth it as we still had a number of days left. It took us a while but eventually we got settled and our holiday finally began!!! PART TWO - fantastic With only one or two exceptions, the staff on this ship simply could not do enough. They worked extremely hard to ensure passengers had a good time and the atmosphere onboard was a party one. Our waiter was exceptional and nothing was too much trouble. We did not see much of the cabin steward but our room was always neat and tidy when we returned. As for the food, it was much better than the last MSC cruise we went on. The menu choices were varied and appetising and portion sizes were also reasonable. The buffet restaurants (Inca and Maya) were always far too busy to be an enjoyable experience so we chose to eat breakfast and lunch in the restaurant or ice-cream parlour instead. However, the choices there were very limited and in the ice-cream parlour/coffee shop we had to pay for our drinks but still it was the best option for us. To prevent the main buffets from being so busy it would have been better jf the coffee shop and Il Cappuccino lounge offered a greater selection of sandwiches or snacks - together with free tea/coffee/water (as in the main dining areas.) This would have evened things out so that certain areas were less crowded at any one time. In relation to the excursions offered by MSC, these were not so good. I realise that they rely on outside companies to provide the service and they merely act as agent. Nevertheless, they need to take on board the feedback and get some of these companies to change how they do things. There were a LOT of complaints and the exclusion staff had to take the flak. We did the Casablanca/Rabat tour and had looked forward to it more than all the others we took but it was a terrible tour and a complete waste of a day's holiday. Our tour guide was rude, disinterested, ill-informed and was incentivised only by taking us to venues where it was clear he earned a commission. On a 10 hour tour, he refused to let us stop for a coffee break (apart from the 1 hour lunch stop) and when a number of us asked about visiting a bazaar/souk, he said there was no time and took us instead to what can only be described as a 'junk souvenir shop' in a back street. The next such stop was at an argan oil factory in Rabat where we all had to sit through a boring presentation lasting about half an hour. We were all then handed a basket to purchase their products and take them to the till. Needless to say, there were very few takers and most people on the tour were furious - especially as we had been denied any free time to explore either Casablanca or Rabat again due to 'lack of time. When we reported back to reception the next day we were met by many others queuing there for the same reason and some were on other buses also part of the same trip. It was a disaster and I felt sorry for MSC as it was really down to the tour operator. Where MSC did excel was the entertainment. All our party are avid cruisers and we agreed unanimously that this ship offered the best entertainment we have ever had. The theatre shows were second to none and were astoundingly good - standing ovations nearly every night. The shows varied from musical performances, serious style opera, comedy, circus style acrobatics (within theatrical setting), to drama and plain fun evenings. The variety and standard of performance was absolutely incredible and I'm worried we are seriously spoilt for the future! Whoever the theatre production company is they deserve recognition and commendation for first-class entertainment. So, all in all, a bad experience at the outset only turned round by the attitude and professionalism of Paula from customer services and the staff on board. They saved our holiday from complete disaster, meaning we lost only part and not the whole of it. I had already booked another cruise with MSC (2021) and had planned to cancel but they turned this fiasco around so I've given them a reprieve. Read Less

I chose this cruise because of the ports it was visiting. The ship itself was lovely, but they lacked in a few areas. Not enough staff. I was ordering 2 drinks at a time because there was not enough staff. They did not offer coffee cards like other lines. Instead they try to get you to but a drink package. No water with dinner, you have to buy this in the restaurant. No soft serve, have to purchase gellato. No tissues in bathrooms. You have to purchase a different level to get any. The entertainment was appaling. The staff appeared to be a new team, as no one had answers to basic questions about the ship areas etc. The tours were generally good, except for our Portofino tour. The boat showed up an hour late which ment we only had an hour and a half there, just time for a coffee and super quick shop! Read Less

First off, we were told we had a free upgrade. I tried to contact the travel agent to no avail. When we got onto the ship, I asked about the upgrade and had a sign literally pushed into my face which said there are no free cabins. We were told to board the ship at 5.15 pm. We discovered that the ship had been parked at Southampton all day and most people just got on when they felt like it. Like wise disembarkation, we were told 10.15 am. We left at about 10am and discovered that most people had already left. Dining:- The quality of the food was poor, lukewarm at best and it was impossible to get a hot drink. The buffet area was horrendous, doesn't do to be a shy retiring Brit. Survival of the fittest (loud Europeans). Excursions:- Extortionate. Bruges transfer approx. 55 Euros. Lovely lady gave us information (including safety) on the coach into Bruges. Very pretty town. Rotterdam:- Transfer to Amsterdam about 55 Euros. Horrendous. The ship was parked up all night (until 6am next day) and yet we had to be back on the ship by about 4pm. It took 1.5hours to get into Amsterdam and nearly 2 coming back, and so we had about 2.5 hours in Amsterdam, time to do next to nothing. There was a commentary going on all the way to Amsterdam, in German. We asked the German guide where we were when we arrived, he drew a circle on our map, we asked him which direction we should go in and he pointed to a street, which was a very seedy back street selling undesirable items in the shops. Best value was taking a trip round Amsterdam on one of those bikes that holds two passengers. People who had been to Amsterdam before said Rotterdam is much nicer. We complained at Excursion reception and we were told by a very rude lady that there was no guide on the bus. True but there was no safety instructions either on or off the bus. Don't bother complaining about anything, you are wasting your time. Hamburg:- We took the shuttle which was about 15 Euros. Unfortunately it was Sunday so all shops closed. We took a HOHO bus which was good value. Once again we had to be back on the ship way before it left. Le Havre: we just stayed in Le Havre because most of the trips were expensive. E.g. Paris 119.99 Euros. 11 hours but takes a good few hours to get there. Le Havre is a dump. Entertainment:- Most shows were very samey and only lasted for about 30 minutes. Cabin: We had an indoor cabin which we will never do again. Cabin staff were very good though. The ship itself was fantastic, but trying to partake in any activities was difficult due to overcrowding. We will not travel with MSC again and cannot recommend it. Read Less

Chose this cruise as it was a good price but with hindsight I would rather miss a cruise and put that money towards another cruise line. Ive been with other cruise lines before and have enjoyed all of them. The problem with MSC is passengers embark at every port which means constant security processes going on and in so many different languages, suitcases and chaos everywhere almost daily, this gets very tiresome. Whilst check in was ok they don't seem to have the administration sorted as well as other cruise lines. You have to have your photo taken separately and you have to add your credit card separately once on the ship, why? This has all been done at check in before and is much easier. The actual ship and cabin was very nice, a little more room in our cabin than we've had before so this was a bonus. The food though was not good, very poor, I hardly ate anything in the main restaurant, in fact I only ate the rolls and a little breakfast. If you go to the buffet for breakfast by the time you put everything together it's stone cold as the eggs are nowhere near the bacon and it's a big place to walk around! We couldn't get a table in the buffet one morning and had to go to the restaurant which we wanted to avoid as the service was quite poor in the morning, we often asked for milk with the tea but often never got it! Never got our cereals either so when we asked for them they were almost thrown at us! Have to say at this point our waiters in the main restaurant for dinner were very nice and helpful. Some of the staff apologised for the food and said they had to eat it too! Reception staff were also hit and miss, some were helpful and some wouldn't help at any cost! We were late back from Amsterdam and weren't allowed into the main restaurant as you only have about 10 mins from opening to closing! When we asked reception to help they said it wasnt their fault their trip was late back (referring to traffic) but it was their fault as when we booked we were supposed to dock in Amsterdam but we're moved to Rotterdam and this meant a long coach journey which took 2 hours and was not easy with an 18 month old baby let alone not being able to get into the restaurant to feed her! The Europeans on this trip were the rudest I have ever encountered, they never said thank you for letting them through the narrow hallways or when you kept a door open for them. My daughter had to use the lift as she had a pushchair and even if she was the first one there when the lifts arrived the other passengers would just barge in front of her! Most of them were young or middle aged and didnt seem to even need the lift! The trips did not appeal to us at all, very early starts and we're things like cycling tours or they just dropped you off. We have been on some really wonderful trips with the other cruise companies so missed that very much. Didn't like any of the ports on this trip, Hamburg was awful and to have paid the expensive shuttle would have been a waste of time as we were told everything was shut on a Sunday. This was told to us by a local taxi driver not the ship, they didn't tell us anything not even which gangway to get off! The ship did constantly make announcements in your cabin though in loads of different languages that really got on our nerves, this was usually about the muster stations or their team! MSC gave us a letter to say they are welcoming British guests but we did not feel welcome at all. They gave us a kettle in our cabin and a one cup little pot of milk for 2 people so we asked reception for some more and they told us, sometimes it's complimentary and sometimes it's not! What sort of answer is that! They then said they could give us some for 3 euros! We said no thanks and brought milk down from the buffet! We had no in room tv in English apart from one channel which claimed it was a news channel but you only got a couple of lines of news now and again it was mainly history documentaries or about egg donation which was constantly repeated! Thank goodness I had a book! The t.v service is so much better on Princess cruises as you have access to t.v shows, films etc and this was needed on MSC as their theatre entertainment was almost the same every night and did nothing for us! The best thing in the evening was to get an Italian ice cream! Also, please note there are smoking areas on board, like the casinos and by the pool on one side which obviously affects you if walking through these areas. I would sum up by saying I wouldn't go with MSC again. Read Less

This was our first cruise with MSC. We chose this cruise because if the itinerary, especially Hamburg and Amsterdam. We really liked the ship its self, which is very grand, and our cabin was quite spacious with a small “Juliet” balcony. However, we were very disappointed with some aspects of the cruise. Amsterdam The main problem was Amsterdam. When we booked, the ship was going to dock overnight in Amsterdam. This was changed to overnight in Rotterdam and we were given the chance to cancel and have our deposit back, or in compensation we could either book one of two discounted shore excursion to Amsterdam, or use a free shuttle bus to Amsterdam that would be provided. We were quite happy to opt for the free shuttle. Once on board, the itinerary was changed again with departure from Rotterdam at 10pm instead of 6am the following morning. We were still OK with this as we thought we could still get a full day in Amsterdam. On the day it turned out that the free shuttle was in fact a transfer there and one departure back on the “Amsterdam on your own” shore excursion. The return was moved back from 3.15pm to 4pm because of heavy traffic on the outbound trip, but this was still way too early considering that the All Aboard was 9.30pm for a 10pm departure! So our full day in Amsterdam that we had been looking forward to became just four hours! When we tried to complain at reception later, the man we spoke to was quite rude and dismissive, saying that this was the rules and what we had signed for. We also felt that the shuttle buses provided by MSC at the other ports were VERY expensive. We have sailed with P & O before, where port shuttles provided by them were free. The food We found the layout of the buffet at breakfast and lunch quite confusing. For example, toast at one point, butter somewhere else and jam in a third location! As other reviewers have said, a lot of the hot food was only just warm. Trying to get a hot cup of tea was hard as the self service urns were only warm. The Hotel Services Director told us later that he was aware of this problem and was trying to get in sorted. In the meantime he advised us to take our mug and teabag to the bar counter and ask for hot water there. This worked well! A good thing about the buffet was the all day pizza which is delicious! We spoke to the UK Cruise Director and the Hotel Services Director who were both helpful and took our comments on board, but overall we were not impressed by the way the ship was run. Read Less

We chose this cruise as we wanted to revisit some of the destinations again & the value for money Muster what a joke this is how you put your lifejacket on Produce your passports at 7:30 am ??? never went we are on holiday and when we asked others they did not attend either Register your debit card onboard yourself and if you do not spend minimum then you get back in euros by going to reception night before disembarkation Despite doing this my husband was stopped whilst trying to get off as he was told he had an outstanding bill so had to take all his luggage (self disembark) up or down a floor stand in line to find out what it was & it turned out they had omitted to add 8 euros for a shuttle not our fault but we missed our connection as this took over 1 hour Out of city terminal in to mayflower never advised so people could rearrange pick ups Never advised whilst in port where to get off Food always cold and nothing ever flowed veg never near the main Options never changed exactly the same everyday No afternoon teas to speak of scones the size of a 10p hard no real cream and jam in a sachet Shows not great I have seen more movement in a morgue as the dancers held up a bit of this or that in the background whilst the singers made an attempt at singing and some fella spun around in a large hula hoop and a lady did the splits between two ribbons Nowhere nearly as good as other cruise lines Gala night only one show at 7 nothing else all evening Speciallity dining as we had a drinks package my husband requested a glass of wine with his steak but the steward advised he was unable to provide this but he could have a beer and me my diet coke the same bar that my husband walked ten yards to and got his wine Staff not the happiest and a smile was hard to find Cabin steward couldn't tell you who or she was as never saw all week and towels changed infrequently Gratuities paid on booking but had to have removed as automatically added on to everyone Shuttle buses charged just to get you off the docks 16 euros each for a six minute bus journey As going out of Southampton told it had been anglonised to cater for the british the sample I saw was a couple of union jacks in the atrium Hop on hop off at every port so muster blasted into cabins daily in god knows how many languages Not much washing of hands done by many Non English cruisers very rude pushed and shoved whilst others waited to either get food or off the shuttles Would I cruise MSC again never I shall just be like the Abba tribute that never turned up I could carry on but what is the point would we cruise MSC again a definite no Read Less