Many negative little things but a lot more positive. I would sail with MSC again. I guess you get what you pay for. I have traveled with Princess Cruise, Norwegian Cruise and Royal Caribean and they were all better in some ways. Because I am able to compare, I can say that it was good almost great. I rate this cruise from 4 to 4.5 stars.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
Embarkation took 1 hour even though they had many clerks available. There were just a lot people at that time slot.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The MDR was ok. The waiter could not give us a great service because there was no room for him to go around the table. So we had to pass plates to our neighbors (table of 8). They only asked once if we wanted a beverage and did not offer any other choice (did not try to sell drinks or wine). I am not even sure if they offered coffee. We had the 6h dinner and the service was too quick. We were out of there by 7h or 7h15 at the latest. You needed to order your apetizer, main meal and desert all at the same time so they could prepare it. If you arrived at 6h15, you were turned back. But the food was usually from good to very good. The specialty restaurant were something else. We went to the Galaxy restaurant and the Eataly Steakhouse. Service was amazing, cordial, not rushed, just long enough, and the food was amazing. Too bad they could not give the same service in the MDR. Buffet was very diverse, plentyful and very tasty but 1) there are not enough table and chairs, 2) the chairs are dirty and I usually put a napkin before I sat down, 3) and it is incredibly loud and crowded. It's chaos like a highschool cafeteria. As for the bar service, it was quite difficult. First, in the whole week we were on the boat, only on one occasion did a waiter offered us a drink. The waiters around the pool and the decks were nonexistant. You had to go to the bars, wait your turn and order which could easily take 20 minutes since there was no order. The drinks were good but different from one bar to another.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
We did not participate in many activities. The slide was fun. There are three pools on the ship. One in the back only for adults and it is also the smoking area and there is no shade. One covered pool in the middle filled with children and an open one in the middle. This pool is small, the water is not very clear, lot of people in it. There are fountains all around but they did not work the whole week we were there. There are also showers around the pool but it only had very hot water, so not refreshing at all. So not enough pool and space in the center area.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The best part was the entertaining team and the dancers and singers in the shows. They were great all week and were very entertaining. We also enjoyed the 4D cinema (1 film out of the three we saw). The white party was a lot of fun.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Our steward (Rosemarie) was amazing. Very nice, smiling and polite. She also managed to make a birthday cake out of towel for my sister's birthday. She took great care of us and made sure our room was always clean. Our MDR waiter was very funny, smiling and singing all the time. He was just not able to serve us right because he did not have easy access to everybody around our table. Service was also too quick. Everybody else on the boat were ok. Not always smiling at first but once we said Hi and how are you, they were responsive.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship is beautiful and very clean although there were not enough garbage cans on all of the upper decks. Also, no place to put your dirty glasses or dishes. We would usually picked them up and bring it to the bar area. The ship is usually easy to get around except for the MDR. You had to go one floor up then down the stairs to access the dining area. Not accessible from the elevator. There were many elevators and they were quick enough. One thing that was strange was the change of temperature from one floor to the other. We would come out of the elevator and the temperature would be way up and humid and then to another floor where the temperature would be cool. The temperature in the MDR, buffet area, theater and private room was always perfect. You could not feel the direct air from the AC which was great since I have experienced too strong AC on other ships or hotel rooms.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Room was large enough (as far as a boat cabin can be). We had two small twin beds and one sofa bed big enough for two people. (We were 2 adults and 1 12year old on the sofa bed). The bed are very comfortable as well as the pillows and the bed cover. The bathroom was ok but the shower is still small. I like the fact that we would leave our dirty or wet beach towels in the room and our steward would give us dry and clean ones when she did our rooms at night. We did not have to run around the towel guy on the ship.
Ship tip
The sports bar is free and the food is good. Not many people knew that. We went there on our first sea day and it was practically empty. We went again on our last sea day and it was much more busy.
The ship is big and there are lots of people and kids since they are free if under 12 years old. If you are looking for a quiet cruise and you do not want to be around kids, this is not the cruise for you.
We did the bobsleigh ride and the Dunn's river falls. Both attractions are lots of fun. But when you step off the boat it is chaos. Lot of people running around, people screaming, trying to sell you something and offering you rides.
Easy access everywhere, very safe. Puerta Maya is the best port area. Puerta Laguna comes in second. I would recommend Chankanaab Park. Also food and drinks are much cheaper then Grand Cayman.
Chaos leaving the port area. Again people screaming and trying to get you somewhere. I have heard many things about safety issue but never experience any doubts or fear all of the 4 times I have been there. I recommend using the water taxi if possible instead of the road because of traffic. I would also recommend doing an excursion on Sandy Toes beach.
I cruised Disney Dream , it was a 5 star experience , if you like kids,lol, Divina in my book is a 4 to 4.5 star for the less than half the price and not as many kids , were going to book Seaside ,
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