The cruise started at Gatwick Airport at a sensible time for the 2 hour British Airways scheduled flight to Genoa. We are not fans of BA and think that a charter flight could offer better facilities.
We were met by 2 Msc staff at Genoa and were quickly loaded onto 2 coaches for transfer to the ship. We did not see our luggage again until it arrived in the cabin.
Check-in took about 10 minutes and we were escorted by uniformed staff to our cabin and introduced to the main features. The cabin was on deck 8 and had a balcony with table and 2 chairs. We had a very large bed, flat screen TV, fridge and ample storage space. The bathroom was spacious by hotel standards and included a standard sized bath-tub with shower above. The cabin was kept meticulously clean throughout the cruise and it seemed that every time we left the room the steward did some cleaning.