It was a relaxing (test) cruise to see if our daughter (aged 3) was seaworthy - she was. The weather was really good for begin of November but you can also feel that the sea is rougher than during the summer season. When we found the cruise we first asked our travel agency if the price was correct because it was really a good deal.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
As always in Yacht Club: priority embarkation. I would prefer using another entrance than to pass the queue in the narrow landing stages with the butler. We also had to wait a bit for the car parking, even if they noticed we were YC guests by our luggage tags, the butler also had to wait for the parking service to do finish their task.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food in YC was very good as expected. We also enjoyed the sushi speciality restaurant. The buffet restaurant was very crowded every time we visited it, there should be more personal for cleaning up and removing the dishes.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
My wife had a massage package and enjoyed it very much. I visited the spa/sauna area during docking in Barcelona. There were only a few people (when I entered only one other person was there), son had free choice what sauna I wanted to use. When some other people entered I was still sitting in one of the saunas alone, but after that there were no free towels for new guests. This was not so good also there were towels places at the entry of each sauna that were very wet and should have been replaced. So the service there should have been better.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We didn't watch the show because our little daughter wouldn't sit there long enough watching without disturbing other cruisers. t We found the musicans all around the ship were at a high level, especially the piano players in the YC lounge.
Children's Programs
2 out of 5
We visited the children's area early, no other children there. My daughter and I were brought to the room for children under 3 and left there alone even if there were several persons of the entertainment stuff in the children's area. It was disappointing for us, so we left 30minutes later after we played some games there. I know MSC can do this better because on our cruise on MSC Meraviglia in April where our son (8) was with us we had a warm welcome there and he enjoyed it so much that it was difficult to get him out there after he spent nearly both complete days in the children's club.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
As all ready written: MSC should put more personal in the buffet restaurant. In the Yacht Club areas there is much more personal, so the service there is of cause much better.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
MSC ships design is really good in our opinion, the orientation is normally no big problem. The ship was very clean in General, only in the buffet restaurant it took longer time to clean up tables.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We had exactly the same cabin number on the sistership MSC Fantasia last summer, so we all ready knew what we would get when we booked it. This time we had our daughter with us, so every evening the sofa was converted to a double bed. The size of the double bed is about 1,9m in length and about 1,6m in width, so if you are 4 adults that might be an issue. For children it's ok.
Ship tip
We would suggest booking the Yacht Club experience: own pool deck, restaurant and lounge and lots of other perks. When it's crowded in nearly every area of the ship you can enjoy your cruise in the private, relaxing areas of the YC.
We took MSCs shuttle bus to Marseille (16€/adult, 10€/child) and walked down to the old harbour. Other options are taxis (about 25-30€/ direction) and the free shuttle bus in the harbour. The problem is that depending from the docking position it can be up to 1km of walking to the bus stop. Our ship docked exactly there. There we took the petit train that took us on a tour up to the cathedral for 8€/adult and 4€/child. We enjoyed the tour and the views. After that we took a ride on the giant wheel at the old harbour.
We didn't leave the ship that day. Cruise port is modern and large. Shuttle bus from MSC is available. 3 other ships were there that day: Costa Fortuna, Brilliance of the Seas and Norwegian Epic.
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