This was a 19 day B2B cruise that had the feel of two completely different cruises. The first 7 days was roundtrip from Port Canaveral and had 1,850 passengers, with around 80% being US citizens. The last 12 days was a repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami with 2,250 passengers, with around 75% being International passengers. Both portions were good and it was interesting to meet people from many countries.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Extremely fast. Less than 15 minutes from dropping my bags to getting to the buffet for lunch.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Food selections and quality were very good. Service in the main dining room was excellent.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
I did not participate in too many of the onboard activities during the day. The pools and hot tubs were nice. MSC appears to have less scheduled activities during the day than some of the other main stream lines.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
The main stage shows were very good for the most part. I like that they include some acrobatic acts into the dancing / musical shows. There were two comedians during the cruise, with the first one being much better than the second comedian. The magicians were not very impressive.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service was excellent, including the dining staff, cabin steward and guest services.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was very easy to navigate and was in very good shape. Employees were constantly cleaning.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Nice sized cabin for an inside location. The only issue was one was was next to steps in the crew area and there was some noise during the day.
There was a lot of rain before we arrived, streets were flooded, traffic lights were out and traffic was in gridlock trying to leave the port. I did a tour with Dora the Explorer that was good, but the traffic delays, excessive heat and overly aggressive vendors hurt the overall experience.
I did an excursion to Gamboa to see monkeys, sloths & the Panama Canal. The tour was excellent, but required a 1 1/2 hour bus ride each way and around 2 hours on the water.
I did the Tortuguero Canals & Veragua Rainforest excursion that was somewhat disappointing and seemed overpriced for the experience. The rainforest portion did not have the type of wildlife as I expected. We did see monkeys & sloth on the canals portion of the excursion and I would probably only do that separately if I return.
This was the worst disembarkation I’ve had in over 30 years of cruising. Immigration did not clear the ship for anyone to disembark until almost 90 minutes after the original schedule, even though the ship arrived early. I was in the first group called after those taking their own luggage and it still took an hour to get out of the terminal. The issue appeared to be with immigration and customs, and not MSC. There were many international passengers on the last 12 days of the cruise and the ship was repositioning from Port Canaveral to Miami. There were only three customs agents on duty and there was no facial recognition system being used. Agents had to manually check everyone’s documents.
Thanks for sharing. I find it amazing how different two legs of a B2B can be. Your experience may be a bit more extreme than most. Glad you enjoyed your trip!
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
