From the top down, the staff strive to provide an exceptional experience. This was my fifth cruise, first with MSC. The ship was beautiful, cabins more spacious and better designed (storage capacity, etc.) than my memory of other ships. Disembarkation at each port was handled very smoothly and efficiently. The food didn't knock my socks off but service was always prompt and friendly. I liked their focus on environmental sustainability. There was much mention of MSC as a family-owned business that is a relative newcomer to the industry and has plans for substantial expansion, and more respect/appreciation for their team members' contributions than other lines seem to have. The captain and senior staff were very engaged and available to passengers. As other reviewers have said, MSC's desire to please and provide an outstanding customer experience is front and center at all times.

Cons: kids programming was not top notch. The kids program was closed from noon to 2:30 and 4:30-6 pm on each sea day, which was inconvenient. Arts & crafts sessions were remarkably underwhelming. Entertainment options were not very appealing to my family - huge focus on music to the exclusion of other offerings. Zero enrichment.

Embarkation/check-in line was so, so slow -- it would have been great to have some kind of "take a number" system where people could sit and wait instead of standing for 1.5+ hours.