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

We have been on over 60 cruises on at least 8 cruise lines. This is the first time when checking in, you do not produce a credit card for validation. When you get on board there is a machine to validate your Debit/Credit Card. You put in you ships card which was issued when you checked in. You then enter your card. Whichever one you use, they deduct 250Euros from this card. When the cruise ends, and you used a Credit card, They deduct your expenses, and then credit your Credit card. If you use a Debit card, they do not credit the card after expenses have been deducted. You have to go to reception and they give you Euros for your credit balance. Which means you either keep them for future trips to Europe, or cash them in at your bank at a very bad rate. I believe most of the Euroeans on the ship are deaf. Because they all try to outdo them selves to see how loud they can speak. Aside from you cabin there is no place that is quite. The Library is a waste of time of you are English. It had a total of 2 books in it. They never announced where the Gangway was located/ Late dinner was 20:30 to 22:00. The show started at 22:00. Most late shows s on other lines, started at 10:30 or 10:45. This allows you to finish your meal and get to the theatre., which is at the other end of the ship. The first 5/10 minutes of the show the MC's described what was in the show in five languages. The show started and people whee coming into the theatre 10 to 15 minutes after the show had started. The shuttle bus service was big rip off. On most cruises if you pay full fare for the cruise the shuttle was free. If you paid reduced fare, it may cost up to 5gbp per trip.. 4 ports cost 103Euro/93GBP. Read Less

BACKGROUND: seven day cruise out of Southampton, to Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Hamburg and LeHavre. Mother, 88yrs, and daughter 50’s, active and love to participate in activities like trivia. Mom uses a scooter on cruises due to severe arthritis which makes walking long distances challenging. SHIP: I liked the ship. It isn’t particularly easy to navigate as there are multiple bars and rooms but that’s why there is a readily available map and guide. It was very easy to find a hideaway to escape the crowds. The Swarovski Crystal staircase is beautiful. DINING: I found the dining room horrible for me, my mom loved it. I don’t eat meat and the options were abhorrent. Everything was cold and tasteless. The buffet in both our opinions was disgusting although my mother didn’t have to navigate the bun fights as I usually chose for her knowing very well her likes and dislikes. It was truly chaotic. The buffet did not have a natural flow and was always an incredibly unpleasant dining experience. The food was very cold. The only way to get a hot cup of tea for my mom was to go to the barista and get boiling water from the bar. The urns of “hot water” were either cold or empty. I have read that people eat food colder in Europe...ummm not in my experience. This food was inedible except for the wonderful fruit available at breakfast. We tried one specialty restaurant (Butcher’s Cut) as it was gratis having been granted a “Black Card” in MSC’s reciprocity offer as I am Elite Plus with Celebrity and Diamond Plus with RCI. (The other specialty restaurant was was Asian fusion that I could have enjoyed but definitely not mom’s thing). Mom’s veal chops were like hockey pucks and my salmon was again cold and over cooked. It would have been an incredibly expensive meal (+++€120) and I would have had a hard time not seriously challenging paying for a meal as it was THAT bad. One good caveat was that I lost weight...a fairly big feat on a cruise. CABIN: We were in our first accessible cabin. I am a firm believer that accessible cabins should be for wheelchair dependent people, not for someone like us that can manage, albeit sometimes challenging, to be able to fit a scooter inside a cabin. As we only booked two months before the cruise it was actually the only balcony available. I must admit the space was wonderful...the cabin steward...not so much. I actually wrote to no avail IN THE DUST on the table “please clean me.” Mom used the little milk cups for one cup of tea on the first day and despite daily requests, it was never restocked nor was the tissues or tea bags. One morning he told me that “he was too busy to clean our room.” I just chuckled to myself and took fresh towels off his cart. ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES: The shows were OK, some better than others. What I did find rather amusing was that two of the shows were VERY similar just different music and costumes. The cirque-like performer with a big ring did the same routine. The aerialist..same..different colour silk. Trio of acrobats...exactly the same tumbling etc. It was a really weird dejavu. There are multiple performers in the many bars around the ship that was wonderful. The multicultural influences were also fabulous. As for activities, the staff didn’t show up for one of the trivias...no response when I queried this with guest services. When they did show up it was OK though. The staff were very nice and personable. What was annoying was that as people can embark and disembark at all the ports, Hamburg was considered a big turnaround day and there were no activities at all until 3pm and that was “hair analysis” in the spa. No trivia/nothing. Furthermore, Hamburg was on a Sunday and there is notoriously nothing open except for the Zoo and a “Miniature” Park. PORTS: As my mom wasn’t feeling well at times, we only got off the ship in LeHavre. We used the ship’s shuttle into town for ~ €8 each. We walked around a bit and went to the Mall. I felt that Brugge would be too difficult for her in her scooter with all the cobblestones. It is one of my favourite ports though. BOTTOM LINE... would I go on MSC again? I highly doubt it though never say never. I now know what to expect from MSC which was one of the goals of this trip. Despite all the banter about how the service, activities and food on CELEBRITY and RCI have dropped a bit it’s still FAR superior than MSC...IN MY OPINION. Read Less

Pros = 1) Service at the dinner - Waiter always friendly 2) Service and cleanliness on our Room 3) Pre paid internet was 4gb for 4 devices and it was cheap comparing with other cruises that I´ve made 4) Pre paid digital pictures was very cheap. I got in the end a pen drive with 120 pictures taken during the cruise and it costed 90 euros. During the cruise, they were charging 30 euros for EACH picture 5) Pizza was very good Cons = 1) Overall the bar staff was not trained at all. First night at the Cruise, I ordered a bottle of Champagne, the lady came after 10 minutes with the Bottle saying that it was the first time that she opened a Champagne bottle and tried to close it with the Cork again. 2) The food at the buffet was terrible and always crowded. It was always stressfull getting food, find a table 3) The cruise only offers free Water (when other lines offer Iced Tea, etc). The places to get drinks were dirty and some of them had only Coffe and not hot milk 4) The portion size of the dinner was terrible ... everyone at our table asked always 2-3 main courses because it was impossible to have food enough with only 1 main dish. 5) The shows during the evening at the theater were very poor. Comparing with other cruises that I´ve been, it was by far the worse. I even slept because if was boring. 6) The overall entertainment during the cruise was very bad... other cruises that I´ve been, have a Cruise Director that cheers up the entire ship with lot of enterntainment and parties. At the Preziosa, and I dont even know if we have similar role during the ship. 7) Basic stuff like NUTELLA... it was not offered during the breakfast for my Daugther, but it was available if asked.. so every time i needed to go to the bar and ask for Nutella and the waiter passed me a few nutella hidden like he was giving me drugs. 8) The overall service was so bad that I went to the guest services and asked to remove the service charge. I then paid good service at the dinner and room directly to the waiters. 9) I´ve been in many different Cruise companies before and this was the first that THEY DONT OFFER FREE ICE CREAM. All other have free 24h ice cream. They charge at Preziosa for everything. Worst cruise experience I ever had, and i will never get on a MSC ship again. Read Less

My best friend booked us this cruise for a girls trip. We were excited to see different parts of Europe and the ship was gorgeous online. Even better, the price appeared to be really good for the length and destinations of the trip. Our first night here, a waiter in the buffet tried to sell us prostitutes and convince us to go into Rotterdam with him that night to go clubbing. We declined. As a matter of fact, the entire cruise experience was male staff making inappropriate comments and hitting on us as a means to what I can only assume were additional uses of our unlimited drink packages at their bars, which we now know cost us per drink. All this did was make us uncomfortable. The food at the buffet wasn’t great— hard to put together a proper meal, all the pasta was over cooked and the pizza was chewy. We figured it was just a buffet thing, and were excited for our unlimited drinks package and the different places on the boat you could get specialty beverages and food included with the cruise. What they DID NOT tell us was that every time we used the package we paid for, they automatically charged us tip for EACH DRINK. That ended up being hundreds of dollars in our final bill. Our cabin attendant was WONDERFUL! His name was Mike and he was incredibly helpful, kind, and polite. We were very grateful for his wonderful service. The amenities on the boat, though beautiful, were almost impossible to enjoy due to crowds and poorly behaved children. We would have loved to do more on the boat, but it was not happening with all the people shoving each other to do the same activities. Each night you have a choice to eat either at the buffet or in the “fancy restaurant,” either the Golden Lobster or the Arabesque. We had Golden Lobster assigned to us and were not allowed in Arabesque. Our waiter Luis and his supervisor, Valentin, were WONDERFUL! So kind and attentive. I just wish we had known that every time we ate at the Golden Lobster, which was included in our cruise, we would be charged $25 in gratuities. There is no internet included on the ship, so we ended up spending almost $300 for internet access on the ship. This cost we at least agreed to and knew would be in our final bill. When you get to your cabin, there are bottles of water and a coffee bar. DON’T use them! They count as part of the mini-bar and you will be charged! At the end of our “all-inclusive” cruise we received an additional bill of $850 for tips, internet, and various other fees that no one at reception could explain to us. This “affordable” cruise ended up costing as much as a much more luxurious voyage on a much nicer ship. We will never choose MSC again! Read Less

MSc Preziosa Safety- Hygiene unfortunately lower than on NCL although there are hand wash machines available they are not always obvious on entrance to ship after excursions. No washy washy ladies at restaurants here! Lots of passengers seemed to not wash their hands. Having said that we didn’t suffer with tummy problems. Safety Drill- very loud but people spoke over it. I guess that’s the issue with having so many languages onboard. We also found this an issue at the captains cocktail party where he was talking and people chatted to each other making it impossible to hear what he and the senior officers were saying. It seemed quite rude of passengers to do this. Southampton Face to Face Customs-We were all required to do this by UK government. We didn’t go at our ‘ever so early for us on a sea day’ time slot but wandered in when we chose to. After all it is meant to be a holiday not boot camp! Food-The food is generally warm or even cold at buffet breakfast- I didn’t have one hot fried egg while there. A shame they don’t have an egg station where you get it made while you wait. Restaurant/buffet- we were allocated second sitting and we prefer to eat early so only went once. Also, we are a bit picky with food as I don’t eat much meat and husband no fish. On the first night there were no options we would chose so we went to the buffet where we could pick what we liked in the quantity we liked at a time convenient with us. The pizza was delicious and I was particularly stuck with the fantastical crisp charcoal ‘black’ pizza. At lunch we went to the restaurant when we could and enjoyed the offerings especially the ‘made in front of you’ pasta served to your liking. Butchers Cut-Service was good to start with but we waited a long time for our ‘bill’ at the end and card back. Obviously, very meat orientated and a special menu to choose from if getting it as part of Black loyalty ‘free speciality restaurant’ perk. You get one started, a main with 1 side and a dessert. We weren’t hugely impressed with it as the three sides I ordered were not hot, just warm. I think we would have enjoyed it more if it had been an Italian restaurant, which apparently there was one before. In an Italian ship, it seems they are missing a trick here-one of the reasons we chose MSC is because we enjoy the authentic tasting Italian dishes. I wonder who will be the first ship to have a vegetarian restaurant onboard Entertainment- The UK guest comedian/impressionist Andrew Flemming was great fun. He happened to single me out and made quite a lot of jokes with my name in them throughout the gig! I loved it! It was anything but easy for him though as a lot of Italians there didn’t seem to show less engagement. He definitely appealed to the UK audience though and I don’t see why others wouldn’t enjoy his Frank Sinatra and Elvis impression. The second show when he did Impressions of Cliff Richard and David Bowie making up alternative words to their songs was just excellent and hilarious. I hope to see him on future cruises. Well done to MSC for thinking of the UK audience. I think they got the right kind of entertainment and a Dutch couple onboard told us they loved the British sense of humour and enjoyed the show. Other shows we saw was the Italian night which was not to be missed if you enjoy traditional Italian songs most people know. They were performed well and it was a good show. There is an issue with timings though as most people don’t get served in Ian restaurant in time to make it to shows. This means the late comers dwindle in throughout the show which rather upsets the flow of the evening. Maybe the timings need tweaking? The only way to ensure you get to a show is to dine in the buffet as you have control on how quickly you are served! There was a good piano concert in the afternoon on a sea day. Just half an hour but a relaxing one listening to a hugely talented maestro. Most evenings we went to see Roberto perform. he is a fantastic vocalist and guitarist with a repertoire from classical operatic numbers, to progressive rock to ballads. We loved it and he is staying on the ship an extra three months so if you are going before end Nov -you are in for a treat! 70s, 80s & 90s night was great fun and had many folk dancing in the reception area....surely there’s a better venue for this? Having said that, it was such fun to go up and down the glass elevators busting some moves! A lot of folk did this while people took pictures and videos to share back home! There is another couple who sing on the ship and we recognised them from MSC Magnifica. They used to do the fun bits during the show on Magnifica with a really fun Bongi, Bongi song. On this ship they do ABBA evening which again commanded crowds and people dancing in the aisles of a small venue. Yet another couple sing in the atrium reception area and possibly they have been told to ‘go gentle’ but some of the gutsy songs they sing are not don’t justice by these two as they are not giving them thrust. It appears they are young and nervous and could do with some coaching to get them singing more confidently and stronger. I liked their choice of songs though so we listened to them too. Spa- there are four comfy loungers and four heated ones and seven basic plastic upright chairs. The latter are handy for people to sit on and scowl at the others who are hogging the more comfortable loungers! There is a couple of saunas and steam rooms. We had a day’s free spa entry when we bought a massage and also a free hour for having Black status loyalty membership. We chose to use the first on a day when Ship was collecting new passengers from Hamburg and it was less busy, as we had hoped. We had a couples massage and it were excellent and booked a second when immediately prompted (actually while we were coming around from the first!) It was discounted the first time and further discounted for the second. These were worth it for us as we both needed them with our various aches and pains and felt hugely relaxed afterwards. One unfortunate issue is, there are a lot of spa workers outside the spa (trying to attract people in). On our arrival, although we politely said hello, a few laughed just after we walked past them. This isn’t the first time we experienced this on a MSC ship and it may just be an unfortunate coincidence but this really shouldn’t happen as we were left feeling we had been a butt of a joke shared in another language. I hope we were wrong but it may be a good idea to train staff to not do this whatever they were finding amusing. Fellow Passengers- We met some delightful guests onboard but there were also rude complaining ones. After complaining about the ‘useless staff’ a man turned to me and said he was never sailing with MSC again. I felt like answering, “that’s good- it makes me more likely to book again!” I was astounded by people’s urgent need for mid afternoon cakes. It seemed that unless they were served immediately, they went into ‘moaning mode’. People expected the staff to know what they wanted without telling them! It is as well to remember manners and the fact the staff work 12 hour days and do not have days off. I felt embarrassed and appalled by the behaviour of some passengers to staff. Conclusion-If you have a tendency to find fault and complain, perhaps it would be best for you to spend double on a more expensive cruise. If you want a budget cruise with opportunity to meet other nationalities then this could be the ship for you. I think on the whole the good outweighed the bad for us and we would return as we came home feeling relaxed and had some happy memories of our week onboard the Preziosa. Read Less

MSC Preziosa Northern European Cruise 28th August – 4th September 2019 Yacht Club Southampton – Zeebrugge – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Le Harve – Southampton We have previously cruised with Celebrity (Standard balcony, Concierge, Sky Suite) and with NCL (Standard balcony) – all out of Southampton. This was our first experience of MSC and, it has to be said after reading plenty of reviews, we were somewhat nervous. There seemed to be a lot of very negative reviews out there. It is therefore with great pleasure that we can report that we had a wonderful cruise! MSC is quite different to Celebrity and NCL. We stayed in a Deluxe Yacht Club suite, which as we expected, was about the same size as a standard balcony on Celebrity/NCL. It differed in that the bed was more comfortable (memory foam mattress), there was a spacious walk-in closet and the bathroom was in marble, with a bath. The minibar is also included, and is regularly restocked. As is standard for these staterooms we were greeted by a bowl of fresh fruit and a chilled bottle of sparkling wine on embarkation day. Embarkation in Southampton was a dream. We deposited our cases with the Yacht Club host, parked the car, and then a butler led us past the queues to security. Once through there, another butler led us to a dedicated Yacht Club area in the terminal where we were offered refreshments whilst they took our passports and tickets and came back with our cruise cards. A group of eight of us were taken on board together (we would become firm friends during the cruise) by the butler and taken to the Yacht Club. There we were given more refreshments and an introduction to the YC by the concierge. We were then shown to our stateroom, and the butler unpacked our suitcases for us. Although our tickets said board at 5.15pm, we pitched up at noon, and were settled on board in less than half an hour. The Yacht Club is delightful – the Top Sail Lounge has plenty of comfortable seating, live music, snacks available throughout the day and butlers on hand providing excellent bar service. On the One Pool Deck, there is again more than ample seating, a hot buffet and, again, attentive butlers. The drinks package included is generous and gave us more than enough choice. Before going we had been disconcerted to see that it doesn't include gelato and milkshakes. On board, we found some gelato available on the One Pool Deck and we didn’t want milkshakes (but we suspect they would make you one if you asked – they were happy to go “off menu”). All of the staff in the Yacht Club are SUPERB – we really could not thank them enough – they were always on hand when needed to help, with a smile. We had seen a lot of negative reviews about the food on board. With the exception of one visit to the Inca Buffet, we ate entirely in the Yacht Club. We are not fussy eaters but we are fussy about standards. The standard of the food was, generally, high. Hot food (including hot food at the buffet in the One Pool Deck) was hot and, in the restaurant, was served on hot plates. We always found at least one thing (usually at least two) for each course that we fancied. Portions are indeed a little small but that worked well for us, because rather than choose between two things that appealed to us we just ordered them both! Staff were happy to oblige. The risottos and the beef Rossini were particularly good. Only one dish wasn’t – the oxtail consommé was so devoid of flavour I wondered if it had been made with the water used to clean the ladles. We were not impressed by the food in the Inca buffet, but with the fare in the Yacht Club so good, we had no need to return to it. Room service is free 24 hours/day in Yacht club – my other half said that the pizzas were good! We intended to have a leisurely and relaxed cruise, so we spent all of our time on board and did not get off in ports. It was just so relaxing we didn’t want to move. We did explore the rest of the ship. Everywhere it was clean and well appointed – and the décor is plush and luxurious throughout. We even had a successful flutter in the casino. Some people fret about announcements in multiple languages. We enjoyed the diverse passenger mix and did not find such multilingual announcements intrusive. We had no problem meeting lots of English speakers, and (as with every cruise we have done) the people we met made our holiday. Yacht club grants access to the thermal area of the Aurea spa and my other half enjoyed that as well (I stayed up on deck with my book.) Shows are not our thing, so we didn’t go to them and cannot comment. Disembarkation was as easy as embarkation. Having been so nervous about this cruise because of the reviews we had seen, I hope it speaks volumes that we really did not want to leave. We had a wonderful cruise. We would certainly cruise with MSC in their Yacht Club again. Yacht Club is at least as good (and, I think in many ways it was better) than Concierge Class on Celebrity and we commend them to you. We thought it was fantastic value for money. Read Less

Try a new cruise line and ship, ship was excellent our cabin very good especially the shower food ok ,we are not fussy eaters, now for the very bad , the life boat drill was simply not good enough there was no leadership at all ,a table of four people and a table of three people never even put there life jackets on at all. people where making a mess of putting the life jackets on no one helped I don't think people listened because of all the different languages. Next noise our cabin was not far from a crew only door,when opened it was left to shut on its own results banging door at all hours only got better after two complaints but not stopped totally. Some staff are excellent others very very poor. Also prices a bit high. I recommend listening to the morning show hosted by UK cruise Director Darren and Activities Manager Candice very very good. If you get a chance to talk to them I would do so they are very helpful and great to just have a chat to ask Darren about his teddy bear. Read Less

1st time cruising was so looking forward to it, Ship itself is lovely Balcony cabin very nice Staff very nice goldern lobster restaurant very nice ( but small portions ) DOWNSIDE : No celebration party on leaving Southampton. as its just another pick up port for passengers, felt like we sneaked away from all ports. All Excursions are expensive & totally a waste of time. i.e.: stopping in Rotterdam instead of Amsterdam only gave us 3hrs to meet friends took to long on coach & hit traffic mostly on all the excursions. Entertainment was lousy & short, there is nothing to Do most times You have to go through the casino to get to the theatre which is fine But they allow smoking around the casino so you & the children will stink of smoke ( I'm a smoker & don't like this option. The Buffet is below par, we kept away. the juice machine is closed off morning service why give free when you can pay later & later. every shuttle bus you have to pay other cruise lines provide for free. SUM It Up Felt Like a Posh Ferry. will never ever use MSC For future cruising. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was advertised as a great cruise. The ship was marvellous. The food was only just acceptable. Tea and coffee in the buffet was always cold. The attitude towards you was more like cargo than passengers. Complained to manager but it fell on deaf ears. Getting off the ship at each port costs €18.99 each and you have to pay it no matter what. This is for the compulsory shuttle bus. The 4D cinema and F1 racing car you have to pay for. The sauna you have to pay for. There is a big outdoor cinema screen that don't show any films only advertising to buy their packages. Most bars on board throughout the day are closed. The only bars I see open were in the casino and by the shopping area. The bars come alive about 7pm. Bored all day. I have cruised with P&O and they were brilliant. MSC does not seem interested in your cruise experience. Many passengers said they have been put off cruising forever. I did excursion to Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Paris which were good excursions. Read Less

After reading the dreadful reviews on here we were dreading this Cruise. Well we had a fantastic time. Food great and I'm a very fussy vegetarian. Ship is beautiful and the staff were fantastic. We didn't even see the whole of the ship there's was so much to do. The ports of call were interesting but it's it's not a sunshine cruise. Easy to make your own way round or use the MSC bus shuttle. There trips were on the expensive side but this wasn't the sort of cruise you really wanted to do big days out. It was just a relaxing time. It was school holidays and the children didn't get on our nerves at all, most of the time the they were kept entertained by the wonderful crew. Yes the shows were a bit samey but still very good. We went for the basic drinks package, there might not be cocktails on it but there is mocktails and we just bought rum etc and poured it in and mixed. We never rushed to get off the ship, we took our time, we had no queuing at all and was very easy to get on and off the ship. We even bought our own booze on board, bags were never checked. It took half an hour at Southampton to check in and get on board and our 1st drink. Cabins were spotless and cleaners very polite and did a brilliant job. Go on this cruise with an open mind, we loved it. Read Less

MSC Prezioza Cruise Review: Our first and only try at MSC. This review is completely based on our honest review/opinion of our experience onboard MSC cruise line. Although we’ve been other lines, this is our first cruise with MSC. The following is our experience of Pros and Cons during our trip to Hamburg, Germany, Le Havve, Southampton, England, Brugge, Belgium and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Pros: Coffee is excellent. Overall cleanliness of ship and bathrooms were good. Bed is firm but comfortable. Buffet food to open all day with assorted food selections. Some staff were helpful with our questions. Premium cocktails only if you’ve paid extra for the $900 premium package. They offer cheaper packages as well. Gym has a lot of exercise equipment. Frozen ice coffee is amazing. You get to choose an extra large plate/tray for any amount of food. Excursion desk was very helpful in rearranging our missed excursion trip. Some good bartenders. Cons: Constant multiple language announcements over the PA system that on average took 5-8 mins and during the morning hours of 8:30 am everyday as this was a European cruise. Limited (20 mins) time using treadmill. Machine shuts down automatically. Some users reset multiple times including us. No view of ocean when working out - only steel barrier. A bit frustrating - We needed to show passports on many occasions during boarding unlike others ships which is only one time when registering. We did not feel welcomed during the on-boarding process. No direction on where to go. Orientation to new guests was also disorganized. While walking onboard, some staff didn’t know where certain business were located. Some even told us to check the program so not so helpful with verbal directions. Only one restaurant assigned when booking so you’re stuck with only one restaurant but you can pay to dine at other restaurants onboard. Shower stall is extremely small. I’m 6 ft 225 lbs and could barely fit. Our room was a premium balcony cabin on deck 10 (middle of the ship). If you’re taller/heavier you need to consider this or possibly inquire about another floor or cabin. To wash my back, I needed to open the shower door to stretch and wash my back so the floor literally got wet. Very poor shower water pressure and only one trash can in balcony room. Pillows are dead, flat and very uncomfortable. Some bartenders made cocktails too sugary or weak. Need to explain carefully how you like your drink. If you’re going on all-day excursions on MSC, make sure you choose the second seat dining/dinner at 8:30 pm if not you’ll be eating at the buffet. We like kids but there were kids at all the bar rooms/lounges/clubs until late night. They shouldn’t have children hanging out at the bar. They should have a designated area for kids. We didn’t want to be a bar having a cocktails with kids around us. Other cruise lines we’ve experienced does not allow children near a bar let alone to sit at a bar. At the bar 8 pm one night having a cocktail and no music at all. Onboard entertainment is horrible in our opinion. Entertainment is more child-like. Wife and I were having cocktails at the bar and the music suddenly stopped because they were going on a break. Only one band on the Prezioza cruise line. We left one bar and decided to walk over to two other bars and again no music. Paid for premium alcohol package but on one occasion was told that the bartender was on break. When disembarking for excursions, MCS needs to have workers directing where customers need to go. On several occasions, there were no directions provided so some were lost for a few mins. Very disorganized process. We left 2 cocktails in our room and upon return at night, the very same two drinks were still in the room. For the first 3 days we had sheets on the bed but then for 2 days, no extra sheet under the blanket which would be typical in cruise lines hotels etc. Read Less

The ship is really nice large ship great for families with the splash park slide and pool, kids club ran all day pretty much until 23.00 whixh ours loved. The food in my opinion was great when you think abou thr value against a 4* hotel in Europe you can't compare yes the portions aren't massive but it's a l carte and you get 3 courses and bread so was absoutely plenty and a great standard. The kids menu was the usual burgers nuggets pizzas etc so they were happy. The entertainment was good with lots of choose throughout the ship the show not the best but again I have to compare against the price you would pay for a royal Caribbean ship for example so its not going to be on the same league. But we lways found something to watch on an evening. Overall can't complain and would definetly sail with msc again. Read Less

We’ve done numerous cruises mostly with other companies, this was our 4th with MSC. We realise it was still school holidays but feel there should have been an adult only area to relax on sea days, and not the Top Sail area which is an extra cost. We found the food in the buffet lukewarm most of the time as was the water for teas etc. We only ate in the dining area one night as it took nearly thirty minutes to get any service, so opted for the buffet. Whilst we always found something to eat, the temperature of the food was lukewarm and there never seemed to be enough staff to clear the tables and when they were cleared, piles of left over food were visible everywhere, most unappetising. Lots of mess on the floor left for long periods of time. Guests continued to fill their own water bottles at the water dispensers even though there were signs to the contrary and staff did nothing to prevent this, surely this is a concern when viruses and germs can spread. A lot of our fellow passengers felt the need to avoid the handgel at the entrance and then proceeded to barge you out of the way to get their food. There was also the usual hogging of sun loungers for hours on end with no sign of the occupants and no staff to remove the towels. On embarkation, it took nearly 2 hours to get through due to reduced security staff and only a handful of staff checking your documents and handing out your cruise card. Read Less

We took a 3 night mini cruise which sailed from Hamburg, stooping in Le Havre, France and ending in Southampton. I have cruised with MSC previously so pretty much knew what to expect, whilst I would sail with MSC again, the things I don’t like about MSC were far more apparent this time. Embarkation with pretty easy, they have changed the process slightly; in the main terminal building they know just issue your cruise card and programmes, once you board they now use a hand held device to scan your cruise card and take your photograph. Passports are also checked on the way onto the ship. Dining I’m not a fan of the traditional cruise dining experience i.e. shared tables and two set dining times hence why I prefer other cruise lines such as Norwegian so you can turn up when you want although MSC do match the demographics up pretty well. What was most notable was the appalling dining service and quality of the food. The waiting staff were very busy, probably because everyone hits the dining room at the same time. The timing of service and food was very random with some courses taking what seemed forever and on other occasions they were rushing to take your order. Drinks took forever and they didn’t offer any more drinks or top up the glasses so we ended up helping ourselves to the bottle to pour the drinks. The food proportions were small, and the main meals came without vegetables, the couple we shared the table with ordered vegetables separately on the second night but were provided with a plate full of roast potatoes. If you asked for anything different such as a different salad dressing the waiter often made an excuse that there would be a longer waiting time because they had to go to another deck to get it. It felt like they were trying to say it’s too much trouble and will take ages. On the second night the waiter serving the bread came round and offered bread just before the desert was served. One evening we ate in the speciality sushi restaurant and again, the service took a very long time and the quality wasn’t great. The buffet was probably the best thing about the cruise, the pizza is amazing and its there only area you can get a coffee or drink quite quickly. There was always a good selection of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bar Service If you were a drinker then I think you would struggle to get drunk on this cruise. In the Galaxy night club the bar wasn’t overly busy and there were 4 or 5 staff on but it too almost 30 minutes to get a drink. In the casino despite the staff calling for drinks service at the roulette table, nobody came so we left the table to go and get a drink and the bar staff were really slow. One evening I decided to grab a drink from the bar whilst we were getting ready and the barman was stood chatting to a colleagues with the bottle in his hand for 10 minutes, in the end another member of staff grabbed the bottle off him to pour our drinks. Disembarkation This was easy, the paperwork stated that disembarkation would start at 9.15am, however we left the ship at 8am, there was no rush to leave the ship and there was nothing stating you had to leave the cabin early which would be good if you had a later flight or didn’t need to leave early. Overall I would do another short cruise with MSC if the price was right and there wasn’t another cruise line offering the same cruise for a similar price. For a longer cruise break or if your looking for something with more tentative service I would probably choose a different cruise line. Read Less

We flew to Hamburg to join this cruise and were very impressed with the price. Boarding in Hamburg took forever.. we queued for at least 2 hours and we arrived early. The ship itself is beautiful and balcony cabin was lovely. There's plenty of bars and we always found someone to sit. Food was disappointing in the main restaurant. We had no rapport with our waiter who wasn't really interested..meal sizes were tiny and not very uniform. Greek salad had 1 tiny piece of feta. Tables are also shared which is difficult if you don't all speak the same language. Buffet food was good if you could find a table to eat at. Staff generally were very lacklustre and didn't seem particularly happy. Entertainment was poor with not great singers or any sort of direction. I probably would do MSC again as their prices are good but maybe set my expectations a bit lower. Read Less

To start at the beginning embarkation took over 3 hours, 2 sat in the waiting area and an over an hour queuing, the luggage got to the room before us! Muster drill was chaotic, people stood chatting and not everybody attended so it had to be repeated for them. Main dining room menus were very mixed and not appetising, presentation was very lacking (fruit platter was 4 chunks of fruit with no slicing or arrangement) and the food was at best okay and some foods unpleasant. Staff were distant and didn’t interact with you. There wasn’t any tea or coffee after dinner but strangely you were given bottled water for free. Lack of vegetables and oddly - Italian dishes. Inca / Maya buffet - Pizza was very good as were the breads and pasta and generally the small dessert dishes. Yorkshire tea available too. However the food was at best luke warm, the salads were limited and overall there were few choices so that you ended up thinking what shall I eat rather than what shall I not eat as I can’t eat it all. The staff were slow to clear away and most were not very friendly or interested in you. There were not enough serving implements so there was cross contamination between foods. With regard to sanitisation this seems to be low key, no encouragement to disinfect hands near eating areas and rarely noticed public areas being checked. Entertainment team worked hard and interacted well with guests. But there was a lack of organised activities and on the sea day unless you wanted to go to a dance lesson there wasn’t much going on. voyager club offered very little as it was only a three night cruise. The pool areas were nice and plenty of loungers. Not many sports facilities. Lots of extra charges for things such as TV films, using sauna, bowling alley. Overall the ship lacks atmosphere, the hotel staff are generally not friendly and many don’t even acknowledge you. The continual embarkation and disembarkation process leaves it lacking a community feel. The food is a huge disappointment especially when Italy has such a wonderful range of cuisines. I don’t know whether this is indicative of all MSC voyages or whether we were unlucky. But it felt more like a budget cruise than a luxury one. Read Less

The ship was beautiful but not many windows in bars and coffee shops. The staff were hit and miss many of them could not speak English , some were just plain rude. The food was mediocre no where near as much choice as other cruise lines . Ice cream was chargeable so was cinema bowling etc. the daily activities were sparse . We travelled with a five and a six year old who only went to the children's club once as they found it confusing as they cannot speak Italian or German . The pools were a joke as they were all at least five foot deep, the aquapark is only open when the conditions are right so be mindful of this. We were promised a status match as we are Diamond+ on RCI it sounded amazing before boarding . We did not receive all that was promised due to the fact it was a 3 day cruise. We did get priority boarding (thank god) as some passengers took hours to board the ship. The bottle of Prosecco arrived eventually after a lot of badgering a complimentary meal in Butchers Cut , so glad we did not pay for it as it was average to say the least. We ate once in MDR that was enough. The Inca Restaurant ( Buffet) was very nice it was a shame the food did not match the surroundings. The photos were of high standard. The theatre was lovely the shows were good . The one positive we did not have to stand in line on the ship for the face to face passport checking procedure we went straight to the front . The price we paid was good for the four of us we had a great deal with Criuse Nation. Read Less

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teens. We have cruised many times with Royal Carribean and had Junior suites and up, so for this cruise we booked inter connecting balcony cabins on Deck 9. I had read many reviews about MSC and The Preziosa, and have to say was a little bit concerned about all the negative reviews about service and food. We had booked the Fantastica package that came with drinks up to a value of €10 per drink for the adults and soda and soft serve ice cream for the teens. We flew from Dublin to Hamburg with Ryanair and arrived on time. We took a taxi from outside the airport to the Renaissance Hotel. Hamburg is a beautiful city with lots to see and do. A couple of things we did was eat ice cream by the lake, visit Minatur wunderland and the Hamburg Dungeon (English speaking guide on Saturday & Sunday @ 10am). We took a taxi from the hotel to the Steinwerder terminal. We arrived at about 12.30 and after giving our luggage to the porters we entered the terminal and were given a number 4 ticket and told to wait till it was called. 4 was called after about 20 minutes, so we joined the que to check in. At the desk they verify your passport and documents and give you your sea pass card. We then went through security and proceeded onto the ship. When we got on the ship our photos were taken. In total from arriving to ship took about 45 minutes. Now on the ship in the atrium, staff were welcoming you on board and saying if you want food the restaurant on deck 5 or the buffet on 14. Up to 14 we go, come out of the lift and are greeted at the entrance to the buffet by 2 staff, 1 with anti bacterial spray and the other guy saying 4 of you, let me find you a table (Wow). We are sat at a window and the girls went and explored the buffet, while I kept the table. On the table is a button for bar service, so I had to press it and along came a waiter who got me some drinks. (I’m impressed with this so called bad service and rude staff) I must say the buffet restaurant is big and plenty of choice. I had read that the pizza was good, It is delicious and fresh. So after we eat, it was time to explore the ship, and then find our cabin. We had Cabin’s 9126 & 9124, interconnecting balconies. I noticed that we had early (6pm) seating in the Golden lobster restaurant, so I went to see if we could change to the later @ 8.30pm. No problem, but it is a shared table with other English speaking guests. Now the last time we did a shared table did not work out well, my kids were age 6 & 8 and the others were 3 generations of the same family aged from 87 to 43. Well I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed our table mates, The service was fine, nothing special, or nothing bad. The choice & quality of food was not great in my opinion, but to be honest it didn’t really matter as we were having great conversation at the table. We went to 1 show called the Mask, which was ok. We eat Breakfast and lunch in the buffet, food was perfect, however coffee was weak, but just press that button or go to the bar and get a fresh cappuccino included in the drinks package. The weather was not great so the indoor pool was packed. There is a pool and bar at the back of the ship that would be nice on a warm sunny day. We were only on board for 3 days but we all really enjoyed our first MSC experience. I did miss the not been able to walk around the ship on a lower deck close to the water. Read Less

First time on an MSC cruise having previously had a number of cruises with Celebrity and Princess. Embarkation was smooth. Luggage was taken from us a few steps from our taxi and we proceeded to check-in hall where we were given a group number and asked to sit until called. Ten minutes later our number was called and we checked in and proceeded to ship. One of the smoothest check-in procedures of any cruise we have ever had. Our cabin was 12100 with a balcony and was midship. It was opposite an entrance to the hallway where two lifts are located but we heard little in the way of noise. The cabin was large with a 3 seater couch, flat screen TV and a small balcony. Only BBC World service channel in English but plenty of films to hire at 7 euro each if that is what you wanted to do. Tea and coffee making facilities replenished daily. Plenty of storage space and the bathroom had glass shower screen that could be folded back when not in use. Easily on a par with Celebrity and better than Princess cruise cabins. Food was the biggest let down. For breakfast we found the Inca & Maya buffet restaurant chaotic. There was a reasonable range of food both hot and cold but the hot food was seldom hot. Eggs were especially a problem as even new trays of fried eggs taken from the "hot" cupboard under servery were cold - no temperature probes ever seemed to be used to check how warm the food was and it was the same situation with omlettes, etc. In addition nobody checked whether coffee, juice or milk dispensers were topped up and on a number of cases I had to ask one of the white coats (head waiters?) to ask for this to be done. Lunchtime was better and the fresh pizza was great and varied with the cheeseburgers worth a mention as well. The midnight buffet we only visited once and the fish & chips were really good and tasty. The highlight for us was dinner each evening in the L'Arabesque restaurant where we had great service from an attentive waiter and hot food if sometimes the portion size was small. However, our waiter had no problem in bringing an extra portion or on at few occasions telling his assistant to double the portion without us asking. Speciality restaurant - Butchers Cut has recently replaced the previous Italian restaurant. The cost was an additional 62 euros plus 15% service charge for the two of us and the food was good. However at the beginning of the evening the staff looked after us but unfortunately we were sitting next to the table where the Captain and senior officers were to be seated with two VIP guests. When they arrived things changed as staff either ensured they were not in the same area as them or waited attentively next to their table. We sat for over 15 minutes with our main course plates waiting to be removed and had finished our wine but no one came near us. Eventually some one did and apologised for "forgetting" about us! What should have been a special evening was spoiled as we had to listen to senior officers in loud voices talk about the virtues of the newest ships! The total cost including drinks for what promised to be a wonderful experience was 135 euros for the two of us! Entertainment in the bars was fine although a bit repetitive and we did not fancy many of the shows in the theatre although the one we did attend "Songo Italiano" was excellent. One thing though there are kids and teen clubs but no adult only spaces! Tried to have a quiet beer in the sports bar to no avail as two different Italian groups of kids aged between 4 and 8 tried their hardest to destroy the ten pin bowling machine by throwing the balls in the air or climbing into the machine underneath where the pin mechanism operated watched on by parents and staff who did nothing. Eventally the ship mechanic had to be called as one lane ended up with all the pin cables twisted. Drinks package - We chose not to have a drinks package as we felt that they were not value for money. We had a bottle of decent wine each night with 3 or 4 drinks afterwards in the bars and we still saved money on the Premium package at 39 euros per person per day and I was drinking either beer and/or malt whisky with the better half on prosecco. Excursions were expensive and we found that with a bit of research precruise we could visit the same places for around 50% cheaper than MSC was charging but that is the same for all cruise lines. Downside on returning to ship for everyone (except Royal Yacht passengers) was that they seldom had more than one gangway open and this led to queues which was a problem in really cold port of calls. Other cruise lines provide hot coffee or tea in instances like this but with MSC it was only available for Yacht Club passengers. Shopping like most cruise ships there are a range of shops - duty free, clothes, gifts, jewellery, etc. Unfortunately every day and night they put out stalls to try and to sell mostly the same stuff as the shops to passengers. It detracts from the Italian styling of the ship and makes it feel down market. I know most ships do it but every day on MSC!!! The Phoenicians Plaza is an area where you can have a light breakfast and during the rest of the days complimentary snacks. It is surrounded by shops but they then set up stalls on the walkway to sell items forcing the tables into a smaller area. What should be a pleasant area to sit and have a coffee becomes a tight squeeze to make room for these stalls Disembarkation was the best of any cruise. Left cabin at 8am, met at theatre at ten past, off ship 8.15 in a taxi with luggage by 8.25am. We'll organised, quick and efficient. To conclude I would certainly consider MSC again but the food offering needs to improve in the buffet especially at breakfast. Plus give us an adult only space during the day to get away from unruly kids. In addition they should introduce feedback cards on the ships so that passengers can highlight good or bad practice from the staff or about the service they are receiving which would give the management the opportunity to start to address any issues. Also we had a card on our dinner table telling us who our waiter was but nothing in the cabin naming our steward. Why? As he was just as important in ensuring we had a good holiday. Read Less

Poor food. Very poor service in restaurant Golden Lobster Low.. Very slow service, wrongly deposited bottles of wine, bread service only by request and slow. Shore excursions extremally expensive. Some of them absolutely not interesting for example in Seydisfjordur. Transfer to the city in Reykiavki terrible expensive (should be free of charge). Some cruise crew are quite arogant. Towel service at pool not available. Maya and Inca restaurant terrible overcrowded with poor drink services and a very slow cleaning tables. Quite frequently cards were mixed up during bar service causing further problems. Cabin no. is on key card wich is quite rare on board. Wrong charges are quite common. For example for mini bar. All my excursions booked on line disappeared and I have to book them again on board. Pluses: quiet cabin. Interesting itenerary. Smooth check in and check out. Very good theatre performances. Good musicians and comfortable lounges along the ship however music was sometimes too loud.b Read Less

I always wanted to visit Norway and the fjords as I am intrigued by the history of Vikings and of the scenery. This was our first cruise , it was our 25th wedding anniversary and my husband 's 50th birthday .There were a couple of things that bothered us like the wait to get on board the ship on the departure date we got there at 13.00 PM and had to wait 3 hours in the queue , we were tired and hungry and thirsty and that was not the greatest way to start our holiday. Secondly a fault that we found on the ship the only one I would say is that there is no, do it yourself laundrett , a must on a ship that carries 4500 passengers and 1200 crew members.On a 11 day cruise one needs to wash his clothes, I did manually but the rules on the boat say that no clothes are allowed to be hanged in the balcony, so that was a problem and last but not least as we are still suffering from a severe backache, the mattress in our room was very uncomfortable it needs changing, I should have mentioned this to my room attended, but never got round to it. As for the rest everything was great from the food to the service and the crew were excellent starting from our room attendant John Lerry Cuyos, who cleaned and took so good care of us always making sure we had clean towels and sheets and making up our bed even twice a day , so friendly and kind he always started my day with a smile bless him, and than our two favorite waitress Elena Gonzalez Gonzalez and Italjani, and last but not least our personal waiter Maskurin from Indonesia, they were all even others exceptionally kind, good at their job and friendly, I recommend this Holiday and MSC Preziosa but please anyone of the administration that reads this please take note of my request, as I am sure that in future alot of people will comment on this. Thanks again for our fantastic holiday, Anthony and Fiona Borg. Read Less