I didn't choose this cruise line but decided to go along with a couple of girlfriends for the adventure. In general, room was very clean but extremely small, the staff were mostly friendly (sometimes out and out rude) but the English was extremely tough to understand (I was not expecting this as I was told that every employee is required to speak English), and the food was edible, nothing to get too excited about. The dining staff was fantastic and tried their best to accommodate. I bought a coffee card knowing that the coffee served in buffet is always instant. The unfortunate part about this is I was literally in search of a cafe/bar that would serve me at 6 am. I was told they didn't open until at least 6:30 am and to try another bar, only to get the same response. Needless to say, I found this response and lack of service atrocious.

The biggest complaint I had was about the 'wellness package' (WP). Knowing I was traveling with friends that were not interested in being active, working out or doing much in the way of walking around new cities, I opted for the wellness package. I was hoping to make friends, get involved in groups (brochure said there would be specific excursions set up just for the wellness package guests--not 1 excursion was planned) and take classes (1 free class a day, HA, great concept if they actually offered any!) I signed up but was told they only offer the class if they have at least 5 passengers sign up. The entire week, they didn't offer one class. With regard to my room, it was located one floor down from the fitness area, which was great. I was told that the entire block of rooms were reserved for WP but I had to complain to my cabin steward about my neighbors smoking on their deck several times. Completely unacceptable. So to summarize, no group excursions, no group classes, no personal training. Only benefit at all was not paying for water the entire cruise, which I added up and it would have cost me approx. $100 for the water. MSC needs to re-evaluate the WP and get it right because the concept is fantastic.

Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze so they did something right.