MSC Fantasia 2 week cruise from Feb 27th embarking and disembarking at Bridgetown

We count flights as part of the cruise package as they count for a significant portion of the total cost. With this in mind I was trying for months to get a flight booking ref / PNR out of MSC, without which you cannot make any seat requests or check in online. I was given several reasons why the ref could not be given, one of which was that with it I would be able to see the names of other passengers. Obviously this not true unless I had access to the Virgin Atlantic (VA) booking system! So two days before departure VA gave me a booking ref but it was only for the outbound leg! Why would MSC make two separate bookings? Crazy.

To the cruise itself and I should stress that if MSC sorted the problems caused by multiple pick ups of shore based passengers at a bargain basement price then I would prob have given a very good rating without much hesitation. The crew worked really, really hard with 7 day a week shifts with no days off - at least not for the bar staff etc. Read more