Embarkation was total chaos - it took an age to be called from the reception hall to check-in, then the check-in seemed very long winded.

The cruise began with a four hour delay in sailing from Buenos Aires due to problems with the ship's engine(s) which meant we "missed our slot" on the River Plate. The following day brought another delay as unfortunately a passenger was taken ill and had to be airlifted by helicopter to hospital. We all received a letter explaining that as a result of "a force majeur" we would no longer be visiting the port of Cherbourg. This was a problem to those disembarking there but as this affected very few passengers it seemed to be a logical decision. The letter also stated that we would get 20% off our next cruise booked before 30 April 2013. MSC have no obligation to offer this for a missed port, however the letter didn't seem very official as it was not on letterhead and there was no signature and it was printed on pink paper, so goodness knows if it's worth the paper it's written on.

Our cabin stewards were very efficient and we found the ship to be generally clean. Despite the the public rooms having hand sanitizers positioned outside them there was no one to enforce their use. Mind you, very few of the sanitizers seemed to work until the last day when we had heard that inspectors were due on board. Read more