Background I'm a single European woman in her forties who has travelled extensively in the last 30 years. This was my ninth cruise with MSC although my first on such a large ship. I normally travel alone but on this trip I was accompanied by my cousin. This was her first cruise. Before going I was slightly apprehensive about the size of the ship as I feared that it might take a long time to get on and off at ports and that it might just feel far too big with too many people whilst onboard. I need not have worried, I had no problems on either count and now worry that I may have spoiled myself for the smaller and older ships after having experienced the well named Fantasia!

Embarkation MSC had provided our flights with British Airways from Edinburgh to Genoa (via Gatwick) and all went smoothly as planned. There were several Brits arriving at the same time as us and a coach was waiting to take us to the port. Unfortunately the coach park was about a 5 minute walk from the terminal building which normally would not have been a problem, however as it was raining very heavily, we ended up soaked by the time we got to the coach and waited to see our luggage loaded. Normally when I travel to the Continent, I'm used to the weather being a marked improvement than home - unfortunately on this occasion it was quite the reverse! It took us just over half an hour to reach the port as there were several road traffic accidents (don't think that the Italians are used to driving in such atrocious conditions!). It was still raining heavily when we got off the bus and had to walk about 200 yards to reach the terminal building. We'd already used the Online Express service to check in, so went straight to that section which only had one couple in front of us. The other queues did not look that long either. We quickly registered our credit cards and received our cruise cards before passing through in to the embarkation area. We were given ticket no 61 and told to wait until our number was called. They were boarding passengers with no 60 at that time. We therefore went and had a soft drink and browsed the tables that had information about drinks packages, excursions and the spa etc. We'd only been sitting about 5 minutes or so when they called our number and we were able to proceed fairly quickly to the ship. We could have done without the ship's photographers taking the customary embarkation shots since we were both resembling drowned rats! A cabin steward met us as soon as security had checked our cards, and escorted us straight to our cabin. From the time we arrived at the terminal to the time we were in our cabin, it could not have taken more than 30 minutes maximum.

First Impressions of the Ship My first impressions as we were led through some of the public areas on deck 6 and then later wandered around to get our bearings, was that this was not only an enormous ship but one that was stunningly beautiful and somewhat awe inspiring, particularly the three level atrium with its glass lifts, crystal chandeliers and very impressive spiral staircases with each step having embedded Swarozski crystals, edged with some type of gold coloured metal. There was also a glass grand piano in La Fantasia bar at the base of the atrium on a raised dais. At the top of the Atrium was the lovely Cappuccino Coffee bar overlooking this glittering spectacle. One deck down was Le Vele (Martini) bar which had the most beautiful shade of green bar which resembled Malachite, some of the floor area was similar coloured and looked to be highly polished marble. The furniture where it complementary shades of green.. Next to this bar through a short walkway was the delightful Piazza San Giorgio with its beautifully tiled floor to resemble an outdoor area, white marble fountains and lovely wrought iron bistro style tables and chairs. What made this area even more delightful, if you have a sweet tooth, was that in addition to serving a variety of coffees, soft drinks and cocktails, it also has the most wonderful selection of pastries, cakes, chocolates, ice creams and yogurts. The Casino was next to this area and you have to pass through it to reach the L'Avanguardia theatre or access it from deck 7 as it has a balcony at that level. The two main dining rooms the Red Velvet are on the other side of the Atrium towards the aft of the ship. The RV can be accessed from both decks 5 & 6 (but they only open 6 at breakfast and lunch). As its name implies, this is very red - red carpets and red upholstery on the seats and the dEcor too. It was almost too much but strangely worked. The other smaller restaurant and my personal favourite is on deck 6 but rather confusingly, you can not access it from this deck, you need to go to deck 7 and follow the signs for it and go down one flight of stairs to reach it. Alternatively it can be reached directly at deck 6 if you use the bank of lifts that are next set of lifts you reach after passing the central (glass) lifts as you progress towards the back. This is a beautifully decorated room in ivory and gold. After wandering through a variety of other bars, lounges and shops on decks 6 & 7 all with a different theme, we then headed up to deck 14 to take stock of the quite large spa and gym area and covered pool. The covered pool has a variety of different shaped pools in it and hot tubs along with water fountains, some greenery and seating around it and a balcony area above overlooking it. As it was still raining very heavily this area was very busy and the outside pools obviously deserted. Whilst MSC is 4 star rated, overall the ship itself was in my opinion 5 stars. Read more