Our cruise was booked for our family of 4, together with 3 other couples. Two of these couples brought their children along as well.

We left Johannesburg at 03:00 to arrive at Durban harbour at +-10:00, however due to protest on the main highway, our detour saw us arriving at the harbour at 13:30. Fortunately the queue's had settled at MSC's harbour parking and we quickly proceeded to customs. Confused, tired and uninterested local staff did not exactly speed things up, but we managed to find our (own) way through and climbed on board the Sinfonia, albeit being called to the side. Apparently our tickets were supposed to be stamped at customs, which did not happen due to lack of interest. So, MSC staff registers each member of the family, complete with photograph and other details. They collect and retain our passports, only to hear that we must fetch them later on during the cruise. We were seriously uncomfortable with this arrangement, but had to conform.

Once on board, we could relax and settle in. Our vouchers bought from MSC's website prior to the trip had to be collected and we loaded dollars onto our room card. Read more