my very first cruise & i loved it. after reading some of the msc reviews i started to worry, but it was a beautiful clean ship with hard working polite staff.After collecting our luggage the transfer from the airport was straight forward with a member of msc every few yards directing you to the right direction. half an hour on the coach & arrived at the terminal. check in was busy & maybe took 30/45mins, but it was easy & a drink was waiting for us. stepping onto the huge amazing ship we immediately saw the grand jewelled staircase with a harp being played. had our photos taken for our cabin cards which we was told would be in our cabin at 1pm along with our luggage. we was directed to the free for all buffet where we could leave our hand luggage in a secure place outside. asked plenty of times by waiters if we wanted to buy a drinks package, but we had already bought the Allgrisimo when booking. it was well worth the 26euros a day. i was apprehensive as to go straight onto the ship as i thought we wouldn't get chance to see all of Dubai when the ship docked on its return, but so glad we did as the ship is huge & we ate then took a stroll looking around. a newspaper is put in your room advising of excursions the next day also of on board activities & optional dress code for the evening dining. we had Olvin Pena as our waiter all week on table 754 in the Red Velvet & was very good. his boss Julianna I Wayan head waiter went out of his way to help my daughter who had a nut allergy. we enjoyed the Red velvet so much we didnt even go into the Tex Mex where you pay for tacos etc. Waiter service we was made to feel special. We ate in the huge HUGE buffet on deck 14 for breakfast & it was manic. felt like ants, hoards of people wondering up & down, but for me being a vege I found this great as I could pick from the very many different types of food stations on offer.The amount of food out was un real & you had 'stations' of hot breakfast, egg station, vege station, fruit, salad, cereal, cold meats, cheeses, bakery. then lunch hot dogs, burgers, soups, hot meals of different nations. Basically something for everyone. We opted for the early sitting @ 6.30pm as we could relax, have a wonder & a drink then go to see the theatre & later a party. the later sitting watches the show first then eat @ 9pm, which if you want to relax the 4 courses take around 2hrs. the portions in the restaurants are small, but as you get 4 courses they are ample especially as you are usually so full from eating from the 24/7 buffet. The ship is huge & we did not see everything on board. was told 4300 guests & 1500 staff. The service in all of the bars was slow, but I did feel sorry for the staff as there where so many guests. Trying to get a sunbed was impossible, but we did see a pool attendant putting stickers on beds with a time on & coming back 30mins later, if found still unoccupied he removed the belongings, which I thought was fair for those who just could not get seated. bear this in mind if you go to the pool for more than 30mins. Embarking & disembarking was very easy & not busy as people go at different times. Also have your cabin card with you as this is checked. We did not book our excursions with MSC as we did them at a fraction of the price by ourselves. Very easy & cheap to walk outside & get a taxi. ie MSC bus to take you to Dubai Mall 22euros each, we got a taxi for 4 of us for £11. MSC private taxi tour around Abu Dhabi 100 euros an hour, we did 7hrs for 70 euros ! All drivers spoke English & found them extremely knowledgeable. Drive round Abu Dhabi & saw The Palace & went inside (msc tour doesnt allow you, so a bonus), The grand mosque, opera house, herritage village, souk & ferrari world (but ran out of time at F.World, you could easily spend a whole day in the theme park) MSC safari tour on Sir Bani Yas was very good & the ship puts on a buffet on the beach, salad, burgers, cakes & drinks. Do go up the Burj Khalifa (book on line at home) & a must see the dancing fountains & Burj Khalifa lit up on a night. Dubai Mall huge ! we did Burj khalifa & mall during the day, lunch at ship & relaxed. Changed & dined at red velvet & back into Dubbai for the light shows. Enjoy :)