We had looked forward to cruising on the MSC Magnifica. Researching on line it looked to be a beautiful ship, newly built and with every facility imaginable.
However, we were disappointed with many aspects of the cruise. There are somewhere in the region of 2000 passengers on board. Due to free travel for children, a large number were on board and I have to say we found this to be very irritating at times, especially in the evening when it was impossible to find a quiet spot to relax and listen to music or have a drink. The main foyer had a pianist and two violinists giving a performance in the evenings and it would have been nice to actually be able to hear them above the screaming and quite often bad behaviour of children. The entertainment in the Theatre was very good.
A lot of extra cost was involved. Water has to be purchased during dinner and no coffee is available after the meal. Similarly in the cabin. There is a coffee/tea machine on the 13th deck which allows one to obtain this but in the most ghastly blue plastic mugs! More suitable for children than mature adults. The standard of the food was quite acceptable and the Dinner menu good. The service by our waiter was exceptional and well done to him.
On the whole the cabin accommodation was good. Always clean. A fridge but the drinks, including water, were expensive. There was a hair dryer but fixed inside a drawer so a short lead. There was no iron on any facilities to do this, anything needed ironing had to be ordered the previous day and again was expensive. We had a restricted view but knew this would be the case before booking. Pillows were very uncomfortable.