This is a difficult cruise to review, in that MSC is very different from the usual moderately-priced cruise line. In some ways, the cruise is better and more interesting than your usual cruise, but in many ways MSC is not a good first cruise for Americans. Only if you are looking for something new and different, along with the chance to meet passengers from other countries, then you may love MSC.

We have been on over 20 cruises with all of the well-known cruise lines, and all on different ships.

Embarkation and Ship Design: The cruise starts off well. Embarkation was very efficient and well organized and, like Celebrity, white glove service was offered to guide you to your room. This is a nice feature. Though MSC tells you that embarkation does not begin until 2 pm, everyone has said that it is possible to arrive as early as 12:30 pm and board that ship without delay. The bulk of folks seem to arrive between 2:30 and 3:30, so it is best to come earlier or later. The ship is not well designed for over 3000 people and certain areas would become very congested with constant gridlock. For example to get to the main theatre, 1500 people have to squeeze through one narrow corridor in the Zebra lounge, wide enough for barely one to two people. This was exacerbated by the shops insisting on setting up tables in the narrowest parts of every hallway. Read more