Our cruise was widely promoted in Australia as The Grand European Cruise. In fact, it was broken down into 4 separate journeys, starting and finishing in Kiel or Vienna, and catering for different nationalities. Consequently, the longer-term passengers had to endure repetitive evening entertainment, with the same routines catering for an Italian audience and with no options (e.g even when cabin TVs were actually working, reception was dreadful or you paid an exhorbitant rate for movies).

Let's look at food. Start with cold dinners served on cold plates in both the restaurants and buffet. Menu rotated every second day. How about no water served with your meals unless you pay extra? Neither water, tea or coffee were on offer with meals. (Curiously, all of these were served to the large number of North American passengers). Cost of a bottle of wine was approx. five times you would pay at home (e.g Rawlins Retreat, a standard Australian wine bought at any supermarket, costs about $Aust10. MSC charged the Euro equivalent of $Aust48.

There were no snacks between meals unless you paid for them. So if you want an ice-cream or slice of pizza after returning from a trip around town, be prepared to sign your name on the voucher. Similarly, a trip to the bistro for an orange juice etc between meals is a 'you-pay' experience. Read more