MSC Poesia Review
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My wife and I booked a seven day Bermuda/Nassau cruise on the Poesia with several other residents of our retirement community. This was far from our first cruise, but was our first [and last] experience with MSC. We will NOT be back. Granted, the ship is beautiful and the housekeeping staff does a wonderful job of keeping it clean. The room stewards provide adequate service, as does the wait staff in the dining rooms and lounges. Embarking and leaving the ship were quite well organized. The shows were just magnificent, far superior to anything we've seen on our previous cruises.
Sadly, things go downhill from here. The quality of much of the food fell far below our expectations. The prime rib I ordered was the second worst piece of prime I've been served in the last fifty years. My steak a night or so later was largely gristle, a complaint that I heard from many of the other passengers. I suspect MSC is buying low-grade cuts of beef as a cost-cutting measure. Meals were often served cool, or even cold, which indicates that there is a major organization problem, either in the kitchen or the dining room, or both. Ordering a cocktail before dinner was an exercise in futility. You could [eventually] order one, but more likely than not it would not arrive until after you were done with your meal. The best dining experiences on the ship were eating in the cafeteria, and even that was often a mixed bag. Oh, and forget ordering from room service.....what an exercise in futility!
One of the things that really irked my wife and I is that we found many members of the supervisory dining room staff to be surly and rude. We ran in to the same rudeness problem with other staff members, as well as with people working in the various concession stores. Upper level management really needs to weed out employees with attitude problems. Remember, your staff members depend on the passengers for their livelihood. I was really irked about us being billed $24 a day to "tip" staff members for being rude to us; still am, for that matter.
Cabin Review
Cabin was quite comfortable.....somewhat larger than we've experienced on other purpose-built cruise ships but less so than cabins on older converted ocean liners. Storage space was certainly generous. Bed was quite comfortable.