Given the great price we've got for the Christmas sailing, I think this cruise has the best value compared to other cruise lines. We don't care too much about those missing points anyway and really enjoyed ourselves. I've read the poor review on this cruise before so I lowered my expectation and it definitely exceeded my expectation.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Quite organized but a little delayed due to the check-in procedure for kids band.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The food is overall delicious but there's less seafood compared to other cruise lines. No lobster tail at the elegant nights, even the Christmas eve. Buffets don't have a lot variety, especially at dinner. Lunch at main dining room is excellent, same quality and selection equivalent to dinner. No free ice cream except in the dining room for lunch and dinner.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Less activity selection compared to other cruise lines but sufficient for us. We have used pools, gym, dancing classes, trivia and kids club. The experience is all great.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The evening stage shows are excellent. Not as diversified as Royal Caribbean as it's mostly the same three singers plus dancers. A few acrobatic performances and two marvelous Tenor and Diva. However, all the performers were doing their best despite they had to perform twice for all seven nights and we really enjoyed the show every night. Professional music instrument playing in all bars every night.
Children's Programs
5 out of 5
She only participated on the last two days but she enjoyed a lot. The junior Masterchef is really extraordinary, never seen it before on any other ships.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The ship seems lacking service people as our waiter at dinner has to serve five tables of 6 people by himself. So the dinner service is very slow, usually taking 2 hours. The room service is also not perfect, no towel animals and the stewards forgot to give us face towels and the luggage tags on the last night.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Very clean and well-maintained. The only thing I don't like is our dining room Villa Rosa cannot be accessed unless you take the last elevator in the aft.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Spacious, the sofa bed is huge, queen size, more than enough for two kids. Clean and comfortable. The view from our balcony is excellent, especially when departing from Miami port, approaching Peurto Rico, Nassau and other ports.
Ship tip
Don't expect you're on Princess or Celebrity for the money you paid.
Thank you for your optimism. The poor reviews almost make me regret booking with MSC. However, we never travel expecting others to make us happy. We bring our own joy.
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