Arrived at Barcelona embarkation point at about 11am. We offloaded our bags at the desk outside and were given a number but on stating we were Black card members the number was taken back and we were given another card with a symbol on it. We went inside and it was chaos. There were people crowding around this poor woman who was shouting “step back, step back”. She ushered us through and we went straight to the check in desk. After checking in we were told to keep our card in our hands till we boarded the ship. We had been pre-warned about the scam whereby they take your photo on embarkation and then the photos appear in your cabin and 19.99 added to your bill the day before disembarkation. A woman swiped our card but we said we didn’t want our photo taken. She tried to say it was security but we knew it was not. We boarded, our real security photos were taken and we were good to go. Even though they did not take our photos the 19.99 appeared on our bill on the penultimate day so don’t let them swipe your card as you’ll still be charged even though you’ve had no photos taken. Very shoddy. That means you have to drag yourself down to the photo desk to get the charge taken off - which is usually 5 deep with people doing the very same thing. Shocking MSC.

We had pre-purchased the £20 a day drinks package which was outstanding value - this included cocktails, prosecco, 2 red, 2 white, 1 rose wine, fancy coffees, water, ice cream. The ice cream on the promenade you have to pay for but there is free ice cream at the Atmosphere bar however it is the whippy type ice cream which I don’t like. We found the Polar bar which had 5/6 flavours of the Italian ice cream including coconut (my favourite) included in the package. There were no children using the flumes during this trip but this elderly man was having a great time to himself with a rubber tube. It was chilly but not too cold.

Our cabin was an inside on deck 12 and as stated previously there is not a lot of storage space. We ended up leaving stuff in our cases under the bed. The bathroom was fine although I had to step out to get dried. The bed and pillows were comfy. The TV had only news in English on Sky but there were a few recent movies to rent. Read more