We just returned from a one-week cruise on the Orchestra. Let me start by saying we had a FANTASTIC time and were very impressed.

Background - This was the 7th cruise for my husband and me and the 4th cruise that our 12yr old son has been on. We were also on the Costa Fortuna last year. Although, we have considerable cruising experience; we have intentionally never been on a cruise with any of the top companies (aka Carnival, RC, Norwegian, etc) nor do we intend to. Let me clarify; we take one to two major vacations each year and expect value for our money. We have never stayed at a "Sandals" resort because we know that by doing so we would set the bar too high and would expect that level for all further trips. Instead, we select a 4+ or 5 star hotel when booking Caribbean vacations. The price we pay is considerably less than we would pay at Sandals (or similar). We can, thus, afford several holidays for the price of one superior one. I feel this is the same with cruising. We paid $1,400 each Cdn including airfare for our MSC cruise. My travel agent was quoting us over $3,500 each for a similar cruise on Royal Caribbean. In my opinion, I would not get $2,100 extra value so we booked MSC.

The WOW - The Orchestra is a beautiful ship and especially impressive because of its "newness". The staff were ALL friendly and helpful. All crew members could speak English (this was better than we found last year on Costa). The crew did everything they could to make your holiday enjoyable (our cabin stewart figured out after the first night that we wanted ice in our cabin at 4pm and it was there without asking from that point onward). The food was outstanding - lots of variety and none of use was served a single dish that we didn't enjoy. I HATE buffets but the breakfast and lunch buffets were very well done and served great choices. The Chinese restaurant (extra charge) was fantastic. The pools were warm and well designed (bigger than we have seen on previous cruises). Read more