We took the Dec 1 to Dec 11 cruise to the Southern Caribbean on the MSC Poseia. We had never cruised before. My companion and I are in our early 50s. We had read reviews and understood that this line has a strong European flair. We like Europe and the culture as well as the food. So we were looking forward to this cruise. The following is our assessment of MSC Poesia ship, the service, the food and the excursions.

CLEAN SHIP: The staff were CONSTANTLY cleaning it. We used the stairs all the time because the tiny elevators took forever to arrive and when they did they were often full. If you were lucky to get in an elevator you would have to unload at each floor and reload if someone from the back wanted out because there was not enough room to move around within the elevator car. Back to the cleaning. There was someone in the stair well cleaning the brass rails all the time. I think they might have someone stationed someone in the stairwells to just go up and down cleaning all day long. We also observed the staff washing down the walkway walls. Our room was cleaned twice a day - once in the morning and again during turn down. It always looked nice and inviting. We also observed them cleaning the windows and balconies at least once during our cruise. With few exceptions, the decks were spotless. The dining room was clean and neat (though we did have the first seating) and the buffet area generally tidy given the heavy traffic.

MAINTENANCE: There was evidence that the general maintenance of the ship was not being kept. The theatre fiber optic lights were burnt out in about 25% of the area to be lit. Given this is an aesthetic thing, it didn't effect the shows. Our room door was difficult at best to open and we had to try 4 or 5 times and use a special "trick" to open the door with the key. We requested it be corrected but waited 2 days for this fix. Also at one point the toilet failed to flush. And last but not least the large screen on the deck of the pool got progressively degraded. I also noticed that the webcam I was watching prior to the cruise on my phone app went dead for a period of 3 weeks prior to the cruise. And also be sure to see my note on the broken cell service below! Read more