We sailed from genoa on the 24 October to Cape Town on the MSC Opera. It is an amzing ship and had just come out of dry dock. Leaving from Genoa was with mixed feelings, a dirty port city with not much to be positive about - rip off taxis from the airport to poor service in restaurants. That said the ship itself was first class with brilliant service.

The downside was the food. If you like your meat cooked in the morning and reheated for dinner - that is what you get. The main restaurants menu was poor ( in quality), the pasta was very good as was the Risotto. The vegetables were boring and steamed to oblivion. The shows were excellent but became a little repetitive.

Worst part was the cost of drinks and excursions. Beware. I bought a water package, a coffee package and a wine package before boarding. The coffee package I found only later did not include capucinno, only espresso! Read more