My husband and I had previously sailed with Carnival several times but we decided to try MSC because with them you can get a bigger cabin with a balcony for almost the same price as an ocean view on Carnival. This was our second time with MSC. We had sailed on the Meraviglia last year.
Embarkation was a breeze. The only issue we had was at the luggage drop off. The lady there was rude about the tip we gave her. Apparently she felt it wasn't enough.
I saw a lot of reviews where people complained about the food. Yes, the buffet does serve a lot of the same foods every day. I tried to pick different things everyday so I wouldn't get tired of it. The soft serve ice cream is very good but they only have it from 4pm to 5pm and it's not self serve like on Carnival so there was always a long line. I only managed to have ice cream twice. I'm guessing they do that so people will buy the gelato instead.
Our cabin was roomy enough for four adults. We especially enjoyed the balcony. They brought us clean towels and fixed the bed everyday. My only complaint would be that if they are going to provide shower gel, then they really should provide wash cloths. It also would have been nice to have conditioner to go with the shampoo they provide. The shower gel and shampoo smelled great though.
It's a beautiful island but they really should have some type of transportation to get around the island. I didn't get off the ship this time as it's too much walking.