Chose this cruise for the itinerary as places we hadn't been before . Have cruised with other companies , Royal Caribbean, Celebrity , P & O previously. Lovely start to the holiday with 3 days in lake Garda prior to picking up the ship in Venice. Boarding at Venice a nightmare took over 2 1/2 hours all down to only having 3 security scanners working for over 3200 people , come on MSC sort yourselves out this is not rocket science open more scanners ! Cabin OK very clean and lovely balcony, the ship is very clean except if you eat in the buffet restaurant which is little better than a poor cafeteria , plates not cleaned away and food left everywhere , get more staff, I have never experienced this on other ships very off putting when you are trying to eat . Also food Luke warm never had a hot meal in there. Main restaurant good food but lacking in service we waited 45 minutes between starter and main course and the waiter only had 4 tables to take care off !! Why is that ? Had the full drinks package which was great , especially the Aperol Spritz ! Now we come to the last day on ship due back into Venice ! We were cursed with thick fog which no one can help its how the communication was handled that I have an issue with . We were told initially that the dock time of 10am had moved to 12pm fair enough . At 2.20pm still no news and then we were told that we would dock at 3.45pm . People had flights that they had missed etc and with no information this made a bad situation worse its all about communicating with your customers guys, people were fuming. We were lucky and had a late flight so all OK for us. When they eventually docked no announcements about getting off the ship so a bun fight ensued and it was pretty much a free for all , I feared someone would get trampled on ! In summary MSC are not of the same quality as the premium brands , granted they are cheaper but have cut corners in the wrong places eg no tissues in the tissue dispenser in the bathroom when asked told ' we don't provide these anymore' really !!! Sorry to rant on but its important people know what to expect Personally MSC not for us prefer better quality and service at a higher cost Read Less

This cruise started from Venice and started out badly - the embarkation process was a nightmare. It took us just over 2 and a half hours of standing around with little assistance from MSC personnel. The food was not great either in our view - certainly in the main evening dining. It could have been better prepared, more spices and attention to the taste. I know the kitchens cook for 2000+ people ad it is not easy but that is their job and supposed expertise. I think certain extras were unfair such s paying for tenders at two of the ports. Plus silly things like ice cream - we hade a fantastica package with drinks but had to pay 3 Euros extra to get an ice cream cone One major concern for me was the way the itinerary was described. We were said to have one day at sea - between Split ad Santorini. And so we did. But the visit to Mykonos arrived at 8:00pm at night and left the immediate following morning a 3:00am - thereafter we sailed the whole day and the entire next morning before we got to Dubrovnik. I class this as two whole days at sea and I believe the itinerary description was carefully positioned as to not make this aspect evident. Some passengers had not appreciated this. Read Less

Food in the main dinning room was good some nights and bad others, lobster was available one night for an addition $24 and was very small. And salads are not offered as one of the courses. Drink packages are very expensive, you need at least 19 drinks to break even. Buffet for breakfast was limited, no omelets. Nightly shows were only 1/2 hour long and limited to mostly the same acrobatics and singing. No live musicians , and the limitation of translating up to 5 or 6 languages probably has something to do with why their show were so limited (no Magicians, or comics or broadway style productions) Their were live musicians in some of the nightclubs. The ship doc’d late so some people missed their flight, we had arranged priority departure and found that since we did not book our flights through MSC that we had to wait until those folks got off, and we also found out that we couldn’t walk off with our luggage at Venice. The only reason we did not miss our flight was because we hire private vans for our group. If you need to cancel an excursion be prepared for an argument and escalation to the manager. The positive is that the dinning and room staff were good. And their pricing is attractive but we quickly found that you get what you pay for Read Less

We felt there was a lot of waiting in lines. But the guests were very rude, arrogant & pushy. And people invade your space. Waiting for a shuttle bus, for approx 200 people and only one arrived a fight broke out. There needs to be more organisation. There is hardly any waiting staff around the pool & go to the bar you would die of thirst waiting to be served. The ship is clean, but in parts smells of an old working mans club due to smoke and stale beer .our room was clean , but it wasn’t very big & the shower was very small. The Buffett is the same every day. And you wait to be seated more waiting in line !! There is pizza & burgers too everyday . Our evening meal was very nice & the staff were so friendly. There are 3 main restaurants to dine at in the evening. You can only get to go to one. I found the reception staff rather in friendly and in dealing with an issue no apology given to me. The day you leave you can only eat until 9, we had a 5.30pm flight but taken off the ship at 10am & then told to take the shuttle to the airport as Venice was too far away to be able to visit! We spent 7 hours at the airport. Once the day arrived for you to leave they just want you off the ship. Oh we were shocked by how many people smoked on the ship & threw their butts overboard. A fire in the making !there is designated areas but it seems they ignore these. We reported one person as he was smoking off his balcony which is forbidden! Read Less

MSC were well priced and fitted in with the area we wanted to visit at the times we wanted to visit. The destinations were all fantastic and, without young children, this cruise would have been good... Problem is.....the kids club timetables aren't really co-operative with the already limited time on the destinations... IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, AND WANT TO USE THE KIDS CLUB, ENSURE YOU BOOK MSC'S OWN EXCURSIONS TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF KIDS CLUB they refused to let us pay extra to drop our children in early :-( we've two young children and were quite stressed when we discovered that kids club, most days won't take kids to lunch, most days start an hour or two AFTER the boat hits a destination most days finish a good time BEFORE the boat leaves a destination this hit us particularly hard at Dubrovnik and santorini where we only had 4-5 hours on-site, santorini in particular where we had to cut a private tour short Overall, the staff really were amazing, our cabin guy was superb, friendly, attentive and the children loved him. the downstairs 'my choice' restaurant was great. the buffet, not really that good we felt a little dissapointed overall, unloading of over 2000 passengers was quite a slow process there aren't any laundries on-board - though they do offer a 30 euro for 20 garments about halfway into the cruise... Lifts were 'naff' - extremely slow, or buttons missing / not working Boat is old, but well maintained top deck is very good, lots of pool space, great kids splash park but get up early to reserve a sun-lounger, and be prepared to fight to get your 'stolen' space back, they really should have a 'kids only' side to the pools as both shallow parts were jam packed with adults grumbling at kids having splashy fun! boat felt very crowded....it's a small-mid sized boat of 2,100 guests, but queue times for a table at brekky were 30min+ at peak.....the staff were fairly attentive though, just a shame to see so many people pushing in Part of the dissapointment was culture I guess, we certainly won't be using Italy as a starting point again, as there's minimal respect for personal space or queues, often resulting in a squashed child Would I use MSC Again - after hearing a few stories about their other larger boats, sure, they do sound great, would I go on a small boat like this again?, nope, too many people, too short a time at the destinations and too long to get on/off the boat Read Less

Our cruise on MSC’s Sinfonia was our 5th cruise. We have previously cruised with Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC. Our cruise last summer on MSC’s Musica was the reason we booked with MSC again. We are not picky and we had a great vacation on Sinfonia but it is definitely our least favorite of the cruises we have been on. The main reason was the food. The quality of the food was very good, but the selection was limited. I need to clarify that you will not go hungry and there is plenty to eat but in comparison to other cruises there are not near as many options. The food on the Musica last summer was excellent with many choices. It was the best food we had on a cruise and we had no idea if would differ so greatly on another of their ships. Embarkation was excellent and I think MSC does the best job of this. Getting off was another story. We were not let off until an hour later than the designated time with no explanation or any staff around to answer questions. Getting off at the ports also seemed to take longer than was anticipated. The shows were very good but not too much else for entertainment. The bar service was painfully slow. We did not get the drink package and everyday there was an advertised drink special but none of the bar staff seemed to be aware of it and we had to bring the flyer with us for them to honor it. One of the things we really enjoyed doing was sitting in the lounge chairs at the back of the boat reading in the evenings. But every evening around 7:30-8 they would come and make everyone get up so they could stack the chairs up. It was way before dark and would have been nice to sit and watch the sun set. We have never experienced this on another cruise before. The amount of chairs on the pool decks is the best of all the cruise lines we’ve been on. The cabin shower was the smallest we’ve encountered and there was no way to shower without the curtain sticking to your body. The shower curtain also had mold at the bottom of it. Other than that no complaints with the room. All in all we had a great vacation. Out of our five cruises this was the most expensive and we did not see the value in it. We may cruise with MSC again if the price is right, but definitely not on the Sinfonia. Read Less

For some background, my dad took me (19 years old) and my brother (27 years old) on our first cruise. Since this was my brother and I’s first cruise our expectations were not high. We saw a lot of bad reviews before coming but we decided to give the cruise line a shot. All of the ports on this cruise were gorgeous and we had a good time other than the ship being delayed causing us to get off early to make our flight back to Toronto. This is a long review but I hope it helps. Pros / SERVICE: Sheldon Dsouza the bartender and his girlfriend Maria are great! They were the best thing about the cruise! Sheldon is usually in the blue velvet lounge at night. They were also the best service we got on the ship. The ports were also beautiful. Time of ship / Communication of workers: I have heard cruises are usually on time but this one would arrive and leave late from the ports. Two days before the cruise ended, they notified us we would get into our last port late causing us to miss our flight. There was not much help from reception at all to help us figure something out and what we should do. We ended up getting off a day early, in Croatia. We dropped about $1400 on plane tickets to Venice so we could catch our flight from Venice to Toronto. Reception told us all we had to do was go to deck 4 and ask where immigration was. But nobody knew and was just sending us to different people. We were supposed to get off in Venice at 9 am, so the travel person with Expedia that we were organizing the trip with told us just not to book our flight before 12. We booked it for 12:30 and she said we would be fine. Now that we were getting in 2 hours late, we would miss our flight. (Note: Our friends we met told us they did not get to the airport till 1pm. Lesson learned to book a late flight or book one for the next day!) Boarding/First day: The day the cruise started, everyone seemed to get boarding passes/luggage tags in the mail but we got nothing. Disembarking at the ports were not organized at all unless you had an excursion it was pretty organized. Boarding in Brindisi took a long time to board, I guess since everyone got back at like the same time on the shuttles. For the restaurant seating arrangements; we did not have any arrangements till the day of. Unlike others had it done before they got there. Apparently, they have difficulties with the Canadian website so that may have been the problem. Kids/Activities: there were a lot of kids on the cruise and all were around the pool area so could not really “relax”. There was an adult’s only area on the top deck for an extra fee but it is not worth it. It is just a bar and some chairs. I also found there were not a lot of activities during the day which was fine since we would just spend the day at the port. Money: We choose MSC due to the fact it was cheaper. But a lot of added stuff just boosted up the price, like the fact water or soft drinks were not included so you had to buy the drink package. Free water in the caf, but buying water bottles at dinner was 2.90 euros for the big one. Not a big deal but even though we said no they added a unisef donation (1 euro/ person). Security: there was a lot of security to get off / on the boat. Which I think caused most of the delay to get onto to the boat. We had to keep retaking our picture since they did not like it and thought it was too blurry. Theme nights: the cruise line did not let us know the theme nights beforehand (formal, white, causal). So, we packed nice clothes for dinner of course, but my brother and my dad did not pack white. There was then a white party at night so they did not want to go and be the only ones not wearing white. So, would have been nice to know beforehand. Entertainment: Did not go to any during the day since we were enjoying ourselves at the ports. At night, we went to the shows. They were good. Some nights they had a party after but we did not attend any. We would just go hang out in the blue velvet lounge with our favourite bartender (Sheldon). I did not go to the disco but I heard from someone else they did dance lessons in there one night lol. Wi-fi: wi-fi sucked and gets used up very quickly. You can track the usage online though and see which person uses the most Wi-Fi. You can all use it at the same time but it does make it run a little slower. Food: food at dinner was very good. Breakfast and lunch were not as good. During breakfast once, there is a sit down one and there was a hair in my pineapple. They asked if I wanted anything but all I wanted was a fruit tray..without hair lol. They got my room number so we thought maybe they would do something but they did not, which is fine. It is also a mess trying to get around the buffet area since it is so busy. There was a snack bar open at night but it was very upsetting since there was barely any food (if you want pizza after 10:30 you have to pay for room service). Cabins: We had an oceanview balcony. It was small for three people but the balcony helped with getting air into the room. Our fridge did not work though; we let them know and they came two days later. We just wanted the fridge to keep our own water cooler but keeping it out in the room kept it colder than the fridge. Fitness & Rec: Gym was small. They also said there was a ‘golf practice’ on the ship but there was none. When I asked where it was they pointed me to the mini-golf even though on the signs on the ship it showed golf practice on deck 13 and mini gold on deck 15. Also said there was a ‘power walking track’ but there was no track either. Excursions: The most organized thing about the cruise. We did a “bus transfer to Olympia” in Katakolon and just bought our tickets to inside there. We saved about half the price without doing the tour and we loved it. They had signs explaining what everything was, so if you can read. I suggest doing this instead of the tour. In Athens, we did “Athens and the Acropolis”. Very busy but the tour guide was good. There was not much free time in Athens to eat so make sure you eat before or bring food. Then in Dubrovnik, we did the Kayak tour and it was beautiful. It is a lot of work but loads of fun. Lunch is included in the tour which is nice. Would I take this cruise line again or recommend it? Nope. WE ALL LOVED THE PORTS THOUGH! Read Less

My two sisters and I (22, 28 and 32 yo) spent our last week of vacations in Europe on MSC Sinfonia. What was great? -Service in some areas (Dinner room and casino): Waiters went the extra mile to make sure we had what we needed. -Night shows: Dancers and performers are professionals and at times it felt like watching a circus show in Montreal. What was average? -Food overall: Not very tasty, not varied. Pizza was fresh, but it was barely decent. What sucked? -Embarkation/disembarkation + poor destination planning: We ended up spending less than 3 hours in Santorini due to the waiting times. This was also true (in different magnitudes) for many of the destinations in the cruise. For final disembarkation we ended up spending extra money on transportation to the airport because of these delays. -Insufficient spaces: Getting a table at the buffet (in different hours) or a spot to sunbath at any deck was very difficult. -Service in some areas (Pool and disco). Read Less

This cruise was a good price, but it seems that’s because everything was a la cart. We didn’t even get tissues in our stateroom and couldn’t find a place aboard to buy them. If you had the sautés package, you received tissues - but this was not something MSC listed when we booked. Entertainment was opera/ballet type - not our cup of tea and as it was a cruise that left out of Venice was more geared for Europeans. Some rude people on the ship - pushed to the front of the line. Not enough common area on the ship so it gets very crowded especially by pool area. Some passengers moved loungers into space that blocked the entrance of the pool and could care less about inconveniencing others. Poolside entertainers fun and nice and some of the servers very nice and helpful. But overall we did not find the cabin stewards or reception to be easily accessible or helpful. They were not knowledgeable or helpful about ports unless you were taking one of their excursions. They seemed annoyed at Reception when you asked a question. Good luck if you have dietary restrictions - no ingredients listed at buffet and no brewed decaf coffee/non dairy milk. Getting on/off ship fine. Make sure cruise cards for everyone in your cabin are linked so when you pay your bill at the end you pay for all. We didn’t realize that and had to step out of line disembarking to pay for the other cruise card’s bill. Read Less

We have been with msc before but this cruise from Venice was full of very noisy children and Italians. It was extremely noisy and we were on second sitting and could not hear yourself think. The food was reasonable and the service ok . The balcony cabin was very good as was the service from the steward. The boat was also noisy with strong vibrations , we were on deck 10 middle ship and it was difficult to get a good night sleep. They charge for every extra you could think of and for shuttles to the ports.The ports were good and Albania was a highlight The evening shows were first class the best we have seen and included magic , acrobats and comedy . We really enjoyed them. The reason for the average mark was mainly because of the noise and number of children on the cruise, this spoilt it for us as we are 70 years old and it was just too much. Read Less

I have cruised 6 times before but never with MSC. I was impressed with the embarkation process but it went downhill from there. The first thing I needed to do when I got to my cabin was use the bathroom. The previous passenger had used the toilet and it had not been cleaned. I tried to flush the toilet but it didn't work. We had on going problems with the toilet for 3 days. The ship was full so they couldn't change our cabin. On day 6 our toilet problems returned. I went to reception to advise them and they said they will send someone straight away as he could see on the computer that we had previous problems. We waited for an hour and a half and phoned reception to let them know that we were still waiting. They sent housekeeping to our cabin. She asked to see our toilet, lifted the lid and made a phone call to say Yes, it was true, the toilet was blocked. I said " Don't they believe us" and she said "No, they think you are lying". I have no idea why anyone would want to lie about a toilet that wouldn't flush! This is the first cruise line that I have sailed with who charges for water in the dining room at dinner time. 2 euro 90 for a bottle of water. There was no other water on offer. Activities were limited unless you wanted to learn to dance. An extensive selection of books in the library was mentioned in the daily newsletter but there were only 4 books for English passengers. The ports of call were good but we didn't get to go to Mykonos as it was too windy for the tender boats. The bar service was really slow We were meant to arrive back in Venice at 8am but didn't dock until 10.30 and as disembarkation was via colour coding we didn't disembark until 12.45 which meant we missed our train to Genoa. Read Less

This is our fifth cruise and our first with MSC. We got an excellent price offering about 10 months ago, so decided to give them a try. We certainly got our money’s worth. The ship was well maintained, tastefully decorated (not garish at all), and the crew were pleasant, professional, and polite. Entertainment was surprisingly good, but did get tired before the end of the 8 days, as they have one group of entertainers who were excellent but story lines were wearing thin by the end of the voyage. The entertainment director had a heavy Italian accent and spoke very little English, but to be fair the English were a small minority on board, and everyone from the cabin steward (who was fantastic), the dining room staff (equally so), and the customer service folks were fully fluent. The sailing was very smooth throughout. My pet beef on all cruise ships is the buffet, a crowded mass of humanity trying to shove as much food down their throats as time and stomach size permit. It was no exception here. But staff did close off venues throughout the day to restock and clean the facilities. I was particularly impressed that no one was permitted to touch the food, but had to use tongs to retrieve their particular delight from the table. As a tea drinker, it was my biggest challenge getting a cup, when the buffet room was closed the hamburger and pizza shops were open and had coffee, in one case tea, but no milk or cream to add to the beverage. My work around was to go to the bar around the corner as they always had milk, but a bit of a pain for something so simple. Also many of the hand sanitation stations spread around the ship were inoperable, so I ended up carrying my own to compensate when the machine did not function. I also like that attendants were at each entrance at the buffet and dining room. They were not at all intrusive but people did use the machines more often than I have seen before. Debarkation could get a little frustrating particularly when using tenders. The ship sub contracts out its tenders. The pilots did not speak English and the information on where the tenders actually were and how often they ran was obscure to say the least, but we managed amid some minor frustrations. I will state that at cruise end, (we departed in Bari) there was little guidance once on the dock as to go to marry up with our luggage as there were two lines one for us and another for the folks just getting off to explore Bari. Lastly our cabin. We were assigned cabin 9004, on the 9th deck and at the very front of the ship. We loved it. Tastefully laid out although smallish, our front view was unobstructed and excellent. There was an access door to the outside right beside our cabin and while the ship was not moving, one could go out and take in some fresh air and perhaps some outdoor photography without window glare. Too bad it got discovered about day 3 as at times we would look from our bed through the window only to see fellow passengers and some crew members enjoying the solitude, problem solved by drawing our curtains. All in all a very respectable ship and voyage, and yes I would certainly sail with MSC again. While not top tier, they are certainly a quality service provider. Read Less

We took this cruise because the itinerary was good, the price was right and it dovetailed with the end of a land tour that we took in Croatia. However, we did not anticipate that the ship would be full of Italians on Easter holiday with their children, or that some port and shopping activities would be completely closed due to the holiday. The reviews on MSC Opera are not as bad as some people would lead you to believe. I think probably it's a 3 star overall. The Opera is older and smaller than some and doesn't have the staffing (#s and training ) of Holland America (HAL); however, I would compare it's overall service level to Carnival. CAVEAT : We have 175 days on HAL, so that may "color" some of these comments. THE GOOD: Embarkation in Venice went smoothly; however, we were there early and it would not have been as smooth if we arrived with the crowds because they just didn't have the staff to handle a crush of people. Also, the staff's English is often limited. This was true in MANY aspects of the voyage. The rule: Speak slowly, clearly and make sure that you are understood...Don't assume that because they smiled and nodded their head that they completely comprehended what was said. The Lido restaurant's smaller than some but is able to handle the crowds but you have to know when to eat--"earlier is better than later". The fixed seating restaurants are adequate,but there is a limited "as you wish option ". The service people are sometimes overwhelmed because the waiters handle ALL drink orders and virtually everything is a paid item, even water, coffee and tea--except in the Lido.The food is adequate, sometimes very good, sometimes just OK. There is not the selection as on HAL, and the portions are smaller; however, I never saw anyone go hungry and they seem to be happy to give you double appetizers, entrees and/or desserts. The buffet offered in the Caravelle sit-down restaurant for breakfast and lunch seems to be a little more genteel, but here again, "timing is everything" to avoid crowds. We had a balcony, which was a nice room -- bigger than NCL, but not as big as HAL. The one really funny thing is the size of the shower. If you are approaching 200 lb it's tight. Our cabin steward was from Madagascar and he did everything that was required -- promptly, efficiently, cheerfully, with no complaints. Getting back and forth through the ship requires learning which elevators go all the way to the top and which elevators go all the way down and to what facilities --until you learn this you'll have a fair number of missteps . MSC needs an orientation tour presentation for people who have not sailed with them previously. We had a number of dealings with both Recepton and the Voyagers Club. In ALL instances we were very pleased with the help the we received . We only took one excursion, because MSC excursions are expensive, but we had on board credits to use and that was one of the ways we could use them. We found that most ports were doable on our own,especially with the help of the Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports book and the wife's able trip planning. ..It certainly wasn't due to any info that MSC provided. I may do a port-by-port review on the individual ports--time permitting... THE BAD: MSC "nickel 'n dimes" ya for everything. Especially annoying is the charges for beverages (at least for Americans)--it's kinda like paying 1 € to go to the bathroom, while ashore--very European, but annoying. Charging for gelato and cappuccino on an Italian ship is just plain WRONG. Some people were pushy and didn't do lines well...We got used to it (:-). Some kids were often out of control and their parents seem clueless or incapable of making them behave. Eating can be a rugby-style event, if you don't adjust to minimize interaction with the crowds. Entertainment is barely OK--amateur hour in some cases. Good seats are gone, unless you arrive 30 mins early. MSC ties, or is slightly below, NCL and Carnival for the lack of information on ports (though the excursions desk did print out some basic Lonely Planet maps). There are NO programs on anything historical or natural. On sea days, if it's not pool, child, silly games/sports or drinking related it doesn't exist. It seems that they only want to sell over-priced excursions. Speaking of excursions, one of the really annoying things was the fact that they charge for transportation from the dock to the town, even though when they are very nearby. They should provide some sort of Transportation or at least info on alternative methods of transportation because paying anywhere between 8 and 10 €/pp to go in from the port is OBSCENE! ! BIG problem is getting on/off ship--their system is old and slow and they don't have enough people manning the stations, even during daily on/offs. THE UGLY: Final disembarkation was an absolute mess, plus their system denied departure for a number of folks right at the last minute because it thought they hadn't settled their accounts (which they had)...TOTALLY unacceptable! ! PROS: Staff is very friendly and helpful, but ensure they understand EXACTLY what you want. Ship is very clean, rooms are nice (but showers are miniscule). Many bars, lounges and common areas are available (most with live music at nite). Room stewards, waiters and staff are friendly and helpful--willing to meet your needs (as long as they clearly understand what you want). Good ports and good weather made this an overall good cruise...So, other than the disembarking problem this maybe approaches a 3.5 star. BUT, with that problem it falls to a 2 5 star I think MSC may adjust some things to cater to American-habits when it does more sailings from the States, esp with their newer ships--who knows?? BOTTOM LINE: Will I cruise MSC again--PROBABLY?? It depends on the itinerary, price and ship--BUT, never on a major holiday, especially in Europe. "Ya get what ya pay for" and in this case It was worth every penny... Read Less

We previously cruised on Costa, Carnival and Holland America as suite guests. We purchased a suite on MSC. This time there was no champagne in the cabin, no daily fresh fruit, no coffee and no hair conditioner. And no folded towel animals :-) One of the mirrors was making a rattling noise in rough seas when the boat was rocking. Needless to say the noise was keeping us awake at night. Cabin server did not pay attention to details. I had to call Guest services to have hand soap refilled, bath towels and bathroom floor rug delivered. He was not picking up drink glasses that we were bringing from a bar. There were times when the glasses were sitting on the table for two days. Excursions were nice and most of the tour guides were very knowledgeable. We didn’t care for the tour guide in Marseille- Ola or Olga. Her English was not great and she was sometimes out of words. We were surprised she was not better prepared for the excursion. Her English vocabulary was poor. Shows were excellent and I gave MSC a score of 10 for their entertainment. You will enjoy their evening shows! Food - food presentation was 7-8 on the scale. Portions are really small. Breakfast and lunch for suite guests were the weakest areas. We had breakfast 4 times in a private restaurant but gave up after the 4th day because omelettes didn’t have the ingredients that we ordered and light Pepsi and orange juice were not delivered. So we started going to the buffets. Spa - I had 2 massages and a facial. Bali massage was great but the hot stone not so much. There was no music for the first 20 minutes because the system was down. I sent the massage therapist to the front desk twice to ask about it because all I was listening to was the sound of the blinds hitting the window frame. Hot stones were getting cold and the technician was not removing them so I was cold. When I walked in, the room was cold. The technician told me she was cold. So how was I supposed to relax when my feet turned into icicles? The temperature should have been much higher. Facial - they don’t have the arm that releases steam and warms up skin. Basic setup. Read Less

We booked all inclusive package for couple (3 massages p/p). When we tried to schedule our massages the spa reception lady told us that they cannot accommodate the time when we wanted to have our massage. She gave us all the rubbish times instead (our scheduled dinner time). She said they are fully booked. But how can they be fully booked when they are offering discounted massages everyday. The couple we met on this cruise who cruises regularly said to us that it's better not to book it in advance because they will give you a schedule according to your liking if you book it right there and then and they have discounts everyday anyway. Spa is basic, just 3 thermal rooms. No jacuzzi or whatsoever. Food is average. Not too bad. Not that great either. Bathrobes not available unless you pay extra hundred pounds (available for aurea guests only). Do not get the fantasia upgrade, there are travel companies who can give you free water at bella experience. Fantasia is not worth it unless u wanted a Mediterranean breakfast delivered to your room everyday (just croissants, bread, jam, cereals). Read Less

Chose the cruise because we liked the itinerary and had heard good things about MSC. On arrival at Venice we were kept waiting for ages at the terminal waiting for our transfer. We were given no information but found out later that there were problems due to the fog. Check in procedure could have been better, another long wait. Cabin was excellent, very spacious, fantastica suite. The ship was lovely and the bars were nice. The shows were entertaining. The service at some of the bars was very slow. The food in the most was in my opinion very disappointing. Very small portions and on the whole tasteless and uninspiring. It did get slightly better towards the end of the cruise. The service in the mdr was very good. The drinks package is excellent value. The buffet was not very good not enough choice. They also ran out of butter. We could have done with extra time in Dubrovnik and Heraklion. Not enough time to enjoy these places. Read Less

We arrived at the port at 11:00. There is a free shuttle at the port entrance to the ship. It is possible to walk, but it takes more than 10 minutes (no shadow on the way). Breakfasts 7 days the same types of dishes. With a small change of taste of sweet yogurt or omelette. We sailed with MSC 4 times and 4 times with ROYAL CARRIBIEN. ROYAL CARRIBIEN has a better selection. At lunch there were 3 or 4 main courses called special dishes of the day. We ate dinner in a restaurant and not in an open buffet. There were small but very tasty portions. It was possible to order 2 entrees, 2 main courses and 2 desserts. But you'd better say it in advance to the waiter, so he'll order it all at once. A bottle of water in the restaurant cost 3.4 euros, a pint of beer for about 6 euros. In the bars of a liqueur about 6 euros. 1/3 beer 5.5 € You can have pizza in the open buffet until 2 am. 4 types of pizzas. Coffee, water and ice tea 24 hours. Juices (4 types) only at breakfast. In the morning there was also chocolate and hot milk. There is no cream cheese. A member benefits of 2 companies: In ROYAL CARRIBIEN after 3 cruises we received 100$ credit on board (for a cabin). And at MSC after 4 cruises are given a $ 50 discount with the next cruise booking. And it's also only special cruises. Cabin number 10030 was small. Entertainment/Activities: There were a lot of dancing lessons, we love to dance so we enjoyed. Shows were also good. Read Less

We choose this cruise due itinerary and price. I little hesitant in booking with MSC due to mostly bad reviews and decided to try anyway. My rating is based on comparable cruise lines we have been on: Carnival, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean. Ship is well kept and clean. Most passengers were Europeans with majority from France and Germany. We met people from Canada, Australia, Spain and Norway. Food is comparable with other cruise. Sometime tasty and other time bland. Good variety of food service. Veal and fish seem popular. Meat tends to be tough. Serving are small. A complementary 1 Liter bottle of water was given to us for lunches and dinners at the restaurants. Breakfast has free coffee, tea, water and juice. Buffet lunch and pizza and pasta is service every day in the buffet. Water, coffee and tea are free at the buffet, They will try to match passenger with same language. When we reserve the cruise, we were supposed to have been booked for early dinner and table for 2. That information was not forwarded to the ship by the agent at MSC/USA and were were assigned 2nd seating. We are able to change to 1st seating but share table. Embarkation too a long time, almost 2 hrs. Our information was checked 5 times before getting on board. We then go straight to our room where we picked up our key card. The card can be activated for charging on the ship with credit card in the machines at the reception area. They did try to sell drink packages but was not high pressure. We just told them we already booked drink packages and went on our way. Entertainment are all musical: Famous songs, opera, piano, Alice in wonderland theme and mixed with a little acrobatic. Stage is always the same. Low budget presentation. Shore excursions were well organized. Got our tickets the night before and the daily activity told us were to meet. We are give an assigned number (corresponding to the bus number) and escorted to the bus. There is an indoor pool and outdoor pool and are not crowded. There seemed to have plenty empty lounge chairs. Hot tubs tends to be crowded. There is an attendant who will ask people to leave if they stay too long and there are other people waiting. Water temp is not very hot. Overall, we enjoyed and would book again. Read Less

We chose this cruise/ship because of the itinerary and cost. Overall it was fairly good cost wise (you get what you pay for!) but in hindsight I'd save up a bit more money and opt for another cruise line. We have sailed with Cunard and NCL previously; MSC was a major disappointment compared to either of those operators. The pros:- The triple room balcony was a good size and the sofa bed comfortable even for my son who is 6'2"! Bathroom fairly good. The ship is clean throughout. On first viewing the public areas as a whole they look quite glamorous. Plenty of bars. Food in the buffet area is plentiful albeit cold and in some cases (pasta) continually overcooked. If you like pizza they serve it 20 hours a day! Pre-booked excursions were quite good value for money. The cons:- Embarkation was chaotic. It took hours and hours we were directed to queue after chaotic queue. Safety drill chaotic and meaningless - they had 2500 passengers fighting to get up and down from floor to floor along the narrow internal corridors to get a life jacket only to descend through the chaotic corridors AGAIN to get to the meeting point. Very few English speaking passengers on board. The ship is definitely not geared to English speaking market. TV is appalling with no English speaking channels except for CNN/BBC. Welcome pack (incl essential safety info, maps etc) never arrived in our room as they hadn't printed any in English. We were offered German ones. We don't speak German! Buffet chaotic sometimes we had to eat breakfast out on the pool deck. Cold or lukewarm food in both the buffet area and the assigned restaurant. Restaurant portions small so you need to order more than one entree. No pool towels left in our cabin. We had to keep asking the cabin steward for essential items as he didn't seem to want to hand over the essentials. Evening entertainment was dreadful at worst and quite funny at best. Pool deck activities were definitely based on Hi-de-hi! Disembarkation was a joke - we were 1.5 hours later disembarking than advised due to the fact that MSC only had two staff checking 2500 passengers off the ship. Subsequently missed our transfer so had to pay out of our own pockets for a taxi. Read Less

Very average cruise ship in all regards.. with the exception being the shows at night, and the excellent employees. The MSC Orchestra has the feeling of being back in the 80's, with no "wow!" factor at all. There's a reason we got 3 persons for the price of 2 in high season out of Venice (Eastern Med cruise). The dancers and performers were amazing and could have easily been in Vegas. The shows were very good. My teenager loved every single one of them! The food is good enough, but not nothing special. The kids liked the pizza and smoothies a LOT. At formal dinners, the portions were ridiculously small. The prime rib was 1cm thick, for example. The pools are quite small and cold. Chairs are occupied by orange towels all day while people leave for hours. Get your chairs blocked early. Drink packages added $400 to our bill. Lots of teens onboard! The disco is at the rear and is outstanding... One major disappointment with MSC is discovering that the 15% gratuities you pay DO NOT go to the workers! That's right, MSC charges you 15% extra everywhere, yet they pocket this themselves. The hairdresser from Serbia cuts hair 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and she receives nothing extra than her base salary. Shame on you, MSC. Read Less

My friends and I chose this cruise for A) Itinerary B) to try a new cruise line - bad mistake. Embarkation absolute chaos - staff too busy trying to sell packages, i.e. photo's/dvd's/drinks/excursions/spa etc the list goes on. No one to actually help with smooth boarding. The 'Hawkers' always managed to chose the narrow point of passage way, where it was impossible to pass without being collared. If you said politely not interested for now, let me board first - they would not take no for an answer and carried on with the hard sell. Ship amazing, very clean and well furnished. Public toilets need to be attended more often, us ladies had to carry tissues as never any loo paper. Everyone used hand paper towels, not good for the systems. Balcony cabin very good, but requested twin beds arrived to find large double. Cabin steward introduced himself and we requested beds be split (two mature ladies) as did our friends next door. Oh dear not helpful at all bad start. He tried to convince us that there was no room for beds to be parted. In the end we had to insist or move us to another cabin. I suffer with Psoriasis and have to slap coal tar creams etc therefore reluctant to share a bed/sheets with anyone, just not fair. Anyway, came back after meal and beds had been reconfigured to our satisfaction. Dining room, oh dear where to start - staff warm and welcoming, actually by the end of the week we all felt extremely sorry for them, apologising every meal. Meat tough and fatty, veg raw, with strange combinations. Rib-eye served on evening so tough could not cut let alone chew, with one boiled potato the size of a grape, stick of raw carrot and what I thought was stick of courgette turned out to be cucumber?? Waiters did suggest another meal, but to be honest only one meal of the week was acceptable. We were really looking forward to good Italian food - very disappointed. Buffet fared slightly better, but as we love the aspect of relaxed dining we avoid the scramble for food and only went there if desperate. Ports of call were amazing, loved all of them. We have learned over the years you can see more if you do your own thing. The four of us hired a private taxi in Athens and had the best ever day for the cost of a one person organised trip. At the end of the week we considered removing our gratuities from our onboard account, to just give to our waiters. However, on reflection the staff worked very hard to please and they have to put up with quite a few grumpy guests through no fault of their own.. Unfortunately we will never cruise with MSC again, beautiful ship, lovely staff but that's not enough for a great holiday experience. Read Less

First cruise and just wanted to experience it. The ship is spotless and beautiful we had a midship cabin on deck 10 with a balcony, it was to a very high standard. What let it down for us was first the dining experience, we where 2nd sitting in the red velvet changed tables 3 times but was still a shambles.very very noisy seeing food being scraped off plates is very off putting. There is way too many people in its like a giant cafeteria, the buffet is no better another noisy giant area. I never had to renew my pool towels as I never was in a swimming pool the main one was just ridiculous the noise was unbearable and very difficult to get a sunbed even in the quieter areas so very dissapointed. Getting off the ship at the different ports was also a hassle we did not find this to be a relaxing holiday at all, and would not consider going on another cruise. The shows were great but very short, the bar areas were lovley and most of the staff really nice. Read Less

After 2 very rough years we needed a break away and this cruise came up at a great price so we went for it. As we always say, a bad cruise holiday is better than no holiday at all, although we wouldn't call it 'bad' just disappointing. Myself and my husband have cruised before, once on the Fantasia and our experience prompted us to show his 80yr old mother what cruising Italian is like. We had a fantastic experience on Fantasia in 2011 however, Magnifica has really shown that MSC are barely creating a cruise experience anymore let alone offer top class cruising. SHIP Embarkation was swift, we were onboard within 15mins and after a minor hiccup when the mother's travel wheelchair snapped a wheel as we boarded, all things seemed to go ok. No overwhelming welcome or free drinks, no WOW with entrance into the atrium etc. We headed up to the buffet and had some lunch. Food was usual grill burgers, hot dogs, salads and desserts, overall not too bad but nothing special. Service was poor for drinks and it was quicker to go to the deserted bar area to get served yourself than wait for a server. The ships lounge areas where kept clean, toilets were spotless. CABIN Balcony cabin was great for 3 adults and only caused issues with the fold-out bed at night, but hey, we weren't planning on having a barn dance at 2am in the cabin anyway! However, the real issue I had was the cleanliness. On the 3rd day I dropped my book behind the bedside locker and found a daily planner from March, in Spanish, along with 2inches of dust. The linen was never changed all week and on the last day the bed was never folded-up or beds made. Towels where changed once. We never did meet our cabin steward so couldn't say much about him/her. DINING We ate in the main dining room on 4 out of 7 days. The food was ok nothing WOW. On the Gala evening the ladies ordered lobster tails and the hubby ordered steak at extra charge. The steak was worth it, the lobster tails were chewy and tiny. When we asked for a non-alcoholic prosecco for the mother we were told straight out no, not available. As the mother couldn't drink alcohol and we wanted her to enjoy the Gala evening even though we had the prosecco, it was a major customer service let down. I mean you can get non-alcoholic cocktails surely something could be found that made it look like fizzy goodness?? ENTERTAINMENT Main shows were ok. They are all based on the same style of dancing so it gets boring. Just because you change costumes and sing in bad English doesn't hide the fact it's the same dance moves you did last night! The best shows included visiting acts such as the unicyclist, the contortionists and the acrobats, now that was entertainment! Disappointing there was no singing shows like you see on Royal Caribbean rather than a musical. Bar musicians played the same set every evening in the bars they set-up in so it was boring and loud by mid-week, the Grease dance classes were a bit of a laugh. Usual silly games up on pool deck. Casino wasn't as busy as I was expecting, yes it was a little smokey but I wouldn't say I lacked oxygen when playing my 1c slots! PORTS/EXCURSIONS The ports were excellent and we did the excursions to Piraeus (for low mobility users on a coach) and the disembarkation tour to Venice with transfer to the airport. My husband and myself did Piraeus before on foot so we knew what to expect, it was great to see the mother take in all the sights and different cultures. She loved learning the history from the very enjoyable tour guide. We had lunch in Katakalon looking back at the ship and enjoying the shade, bliss. My husband and myself went souvenir shopping in Dubrovnik port and what we saw was very beautiful. We also splashed out on the behind the scenes tour for myself and the hubby. It was interesting but rushed and I felt we lost out on seeing areas after a Czech tour group booked in and their tour guide started translating everything from English to Czech. The MSC tour guide nearly lost the will to live after 30mins of this and so she broke us up into them and the rest of us but by the time we did get to the galley we only saw bread rolls going into an oven and some cellophane wrapped fruit carvings, not exactly bowling me over with how a big kitchen works. But hey, they can't have us traipsing through a working kitchen in the middle of the lunch rush so I'll have to remain disappointed. I did love being backstage and seeing the crew areas (they were having a karaoke in their bar that night, would've loved to see that!) SPA I used the spa twice this cruise. The hubby bought me a spa ceremony as a gift and then I got a Bali Detox Massage with 20% off. I arrived 15mins before my time and was taken in straight away. Into the treatment room, told to take off all my clothes and lie on the bed. OK. Had a body scrub then a mask, then showered off to have the massage. The modesty underwear given is too small and so I went nude, not everyone is comfortable with this but as I am a Spa Manager and have worked as well as availed of wellness services for years, I am used to my own skin. The massage was very disjointed, stopping and starting, lights where on and blinding, the air-con was loud so you couldn't switch off. As soon as she was finished I was up and dressed and out the door. I did get a drink of water in the reception area. Wasn't shown the relaxation area or changing rooms etc. until I asked on my return visit. So I used the hydrotherapy pools in the relaxation area (very relaxing), the steam rooms and sauna (just me so I was happy). They do try to sell you items but they aren't pushy. I bought on my second trip to the spa as I spotted items I wanted but they didn't hover around you like sometimes happens. My Bali detox massage was a lot better. It flowed better and at one stage I did drift off to sleep. The spa really needs to look at spa journeys for their clients. Show us to the changing rooms first, let us unwind in fluffy robes and slippers then whisk us off to a treatment and then back again to revel in contented bliss before allowing us time to browse the products on offer and the specials. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar! OVERALL We had a good time away, we drank and ate what we wanted and we got to see amazing places so it's not all bad. Sure, MSC has gone downhill since 2011 and I'm sure they will eventually realise this but right now I'd only consider going on MSC again if the price was low, the itinerary was somewhere we didn't go before and the all-inclusive drinks were included in the package. Other than that, I feel Royal Caribbean is our cruise line for now. Read Less

Especially liked the destinations visited in Greece. Good service at the buffet and there was often food available. Pools and jacuzzis were often full of people and people tried to go swimming in the evening because then there was less people and more space. Pool cleaner had to watch children left to the pool because their parents were often not there even there was rule that they should stay there and watch their children and not to leave them. I wanted to go swimming more often but couldn't because pools were often full. Then just 2 times I had chance to go swimming. I gone to jacuzzi until there came one angry tourist woman and she was looking at me angrily without any reason then she run to the reception for making complaints about me and other guests. Her "reason" was that she wanted to stay whole day there alone with her children. Incredible. She was also angry about people who left sandals and bags near the pool but not too close to the pool. There was few polite workers at the reception but also few arrogant women who said they didn't know nothing about the renovation in the ship. Renovation woke me up often and I saw two tourists at the reception who had something broken in their cabin. Good thing was the cabin with balcony and buffet. Read Less

First time here and mostly I liked destinations. I think the food was fine there is large choice especially pasta and cakes. Water, tea, coffee included at the buffet. Juice included for breakfast. Workers were cleaning often the buffet and it must be a good thing. Good service at buffet. I could complain about the service at the reception some of the Italian women working there seemed arrogant to me and also one Russian lady working at the perfume shop she was arrogant. First about good things. I liked food, sea views and the destinations also cabin was fine until the renovation noise. Why I tell you now. At the reception nobody didn't tell nothing about the renovation going near the balcony cabins and suites! Yes what kind of poor service! I woke up 2 times eatly in the Morning because of the Bang renovation noise and after that reception wanted to put loud music on. I guess something was broken in some cabin but they could at least tell about this renovation before it started! Very arrogant attitude without telling nothing. I got headache from the noises. At the reception woman only pretend that she didn't understand English or Italian and she said she don't know what was the Bang renovation voice. I'm very sure she knew about the renovation because I saw one couple who complaint about the same thing. How they can keep worker who doesn't want to speak English or Italian on this ship sailing from Venice? Terrible attitude I hope they will find new better workers and send off arrogant worker who doesn't like tourists at all. Second thing was that I gone to perfume shop and there was offer on the Cruise magazine 3 perfumes 100e and when I asked perfumes the Russian lady told me the price is only for 2 perfumes not for 3. She said I could buy 4 perfumes but that was not the right deal I felt like it was only a lie. I notice she throw perfume bottles angrily from the box to the floor and this thing I also wonder! does she sell then those perfumes to customers and she did that when people saw. Why they write other thing to the magazine about offer of 3 perfumes and then it is only 2 perfumes it is same price than in the shops elsewhere. Anyway no matter I didn't buy. The taxfree was not as cheap as expected and I couldn't buy nothing because I don't buy often luxury brands. The Cruise was cheap but taxfree not but that was what I expected. The swimming pool was all the time full of people and it was not easy to go to swimming because there was about 20-30 children jumping and kicking around without their parents. Pool cleaner seemed to work as nanny because parents were not there. There was rule that parents should watch their children and stay there but they didn't. When I gone swimming there was also angry adults and they behave weirdly looking at me like I was some shit and then they gone off from the pool like it was my fault. It left me feeling that some people wanted to keep the pool and jacuzzi only for themselves but they couldn't because pools are public to everyone. It could have been a better swimming experience if there was more rules. I don't hate all and I could return to this ship but now I think it's not easy to communicate with the reception and it's not easy to go to swimming because pool is always full and then people are angry to each others because pool is full. Cabin cleaners were polite and they cleaned the cabin at least 2 times a day and that's good. Workers at the buffet had a lot of to do and they are hard working. I don't complain about the buffet. Disembarkation was not very clear and much waiting and then some children's show at the theater it was very boring and annoying for adults. There was just howling show for children. I didn't get it why adults had to watch the "show" before disembarkation. Embarkation was better because there was no show or at least I didn't watch it I was just watching Venice from the ship. Read Less