This was our 9th cruise overall and 3rd with MSC (Divina,Seaside). They were all pretty much the same. Immaculate ship, great service with one exception and average entertainment. Royal Carribean is slightly more expensive but after sailing on the Harmony, Symphony and Ovation with Royal the Meriviglia was just okay. MSC will save you a few hundred dollars overall and it really is a nice cruise experience. But I booked my next two cruises on Harmony and Oasis.......Embarkation was busy but only took about an hour : Muster drill was 15 minutes before first dinner seating, and was quick and smooth and then right off to first dinner. Wait staff and food were excellent. One of my favorite things about MSC is the pizza, nothing fancy as far as toppings, but it will rock your world!! The Cirque show was excellent but not much different than the main shows on Divina and Seaside and you have to pay extra for the Cirque shows. The main shows each night were good and the singers and dancers very talented but here is where Royal really surpasses MSC with a larger variety of shows where as it seemed to be the same singers and dancers every night just with different costumes and the magician was a joke. Didn’t go to comedy shows. Easy drink package was a plus, and our waiter knew we had the drink package so he just kept refilling our wine glass without having to sign a tab for every glass. The gym on this ship was half the size of the other ships I have been on which was surprising. We did the F1 sim which was okay. The pools are okay and the water slides are like mini half size versions of the Royal ships. We had an inside room which was adequate and a very attentive room attendant. The beds are firm but not a deal breaker. The promenade was very nice to walk and see the LED screen change. Lots of overpriced shops. They had a couple karaoke nights which were great and the music director for entire ship sang a couple rock songs with the karaoke band on the last night around midnight. He should have been a headliner!! Excursions: Belize-stayed on ship, Roatan- best snorkeling of all 9 cruises we have been on. We did the kayak and snorkeling excursion thru MSC. Costa Maya, we went on an “off ship“ excursion to a private beach club called Maya Chan, amazing all inclusive excursion, will go back there for sure, we were one of the first ships on Ocean Cay and it is gorgeous!!!! There are multiple beaches with crystal clear water and plenty of quiet adult only areas, plenty of beach chairs, the waves were crashing on shore of sunset beach by the lighthouse causing a 20-30 foot high sea spray, one of the most amazing sights you will ever see. While walking that beach I stepped on something and cut my foot. It was a 1 foot long piece of rusty metal buried in the sand, they say they removed tons of steel from the island but they missed that piece, they need to run over that beach with metal detectors. They are not ready to serve 5,000 people on that island yet, long food lines, poor bar service and numerous utility vehicles driving on pedestrian paths honking their horns at you put a damper on an otherwise amazing day at ocean cay.The seas very very rough a couple of days and the ship barely rocked. If you are looking to save around $300-$500 MSC is a great option over Royal. And of the 3 ships We have been on with MSC I would go on Seaside again.