To begin, I’ve sailed >5 times on Disney, Norwegian and Carnival so I have some cruising experience.
That being said, it is hard to give an accurate rating to MSC because of their amazingly low prices. One should almost EXPECT to get “nickel and dimed” to death. The problem was that this “penny pinching” sorely distracted from my cruising experience.
For example, passengers are offered ...
I really do not know where to start with my review of the Northern Cruise with MSC.
We have cruised with a few other cruise lines and I can honestly say that this was worse than being stuck in a Fawlty Towers sitcom Hotel/Butlins.
Initially I had read several reviews from various sites in regards to the cruise we had chosen, and I honestly thought that surely it could not be that bad? Oh ...
Disclaimers: First, I believe there is a cruise line for everyone. Second, I have cruised the Mediterranean before (June 2023). Third, I typically sail on Holland America.
I simply did not enjoy this cruise experience. There were multiple things I did not like but understand they may just be annoyances to me. There were a few standouts of things that were really good.
The Good:
1. The ...
My family decided to try a cruise as a potential new style holiday with small kids (4 & 1). My wife has cruised once before with RC and was quite seasick but it was a first for the rest of us and we thought we would give cruising one last chance before deciding on future vacations.
We went into the cruise with fairly modest expectations having spent much time reading reviews on here and ...
Pros are supposed to go before cons, so I will put the positives first, but please don’t miss the negatives later in this review, because although there were a few redeeming qualities, make no mistake, I would never sail with MSC again.
First positive, all the staff below the managerial level deserve to be commended for being true, if not powerless, delights. We had many wonderful interactions ...
1. Room - got upgraded to balcony room on deck 12. We were very well looked after by the housekeeping staff. These are the real heroes by the way - 14 hour days and away from home for several months in probably a fairly low wage.
2. Stop offs - understaffed especially to re-embark. Long queues and very frustrated under supported staff. If weather had been bad would have been horrendous ...
I will start by saying I do disagree with the comments about the staff from other reviews they were always friendly and smiled.
We were in a balcony room on the 8th deck right above the manhatten club this place is so noisy at night, I know I should have probably checked this before I booked but it was worse than I expected.
Food wise
Buffet- just meh always busy Food was usually ...
The ship is basic having sailed on others it was a poor relation. We had the drinks package which is worth buying just a shame the bar staff are so slow to serve you.
We kept asking for a bowl of crisps but they are so reluctant to give you any I don’t know why, we asked every night but only managed two bowls after asking several times, most of the time they just ignored us.
The restaurant ...
This was my 6th cruise and my first with MSC. I will try to keep it short.
The ship is stunning. I will however add that for a ship that is a couple of months old, lifts not working and automatic doors failing is strange. Anyway, for a walk around, it is beautiful. Our cruise was at 4800 passengers and capacity is 6000. If the ship had been full then I would have gotten off at the first stop ...
Let me preface this review by saying that I have very conflicted feelings about the World Europa, and this is coming from an avid MSC fan. Just look at the ratings I gave. Take each area individually the ship is excellent, but the sum is not the total of the parts.
This Med cruise was our 5th MSC cruise and 12th overall. We like MSC, but the World Europa left something to be desired. I'll ...