Enjoyed most of it. Stress levels on the first day extremely high and unfortunately this came up in most conversations. This was a cruise that had been cancelled from a year ago and some of the itinerary had changed but still enjoyable
Embarkation
1 out of 5
The embarkation was a complete shambles. We knew that things were going to be difficult because of covid but we had spoken to our travel agent and to MSC and believed we had all bases covered. Turned up on the day to find out that MSC had changed the rules the afternoon before by now requiring a negative PCR test. No notification to us about this. No MSC management in the embarkation area to speak to. About 6 couples with the same problem. We were placed in an area inside the embarkation area and left for 2 hours.We were then informed that we could go and get a Lateral Flow test and this would enable us to get on board. This took approximately 2 hours the taxi was 100 euros and the test 80 euros. When we returned to the ship we then were required to do a Lateral Flow test to get on the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The bars were lovely at some of them there could be a bit of a wait not sure if they had enough staff on board. The main restaurant was adequate the food a bit hit and miss but no social distancing was practiced here. Buffet food not great usually warm not much variation.
Carousel Lounge
5 out of 5
Watched Beatles tribute night excellent.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Lots of effort put in by the performers but because of the way they worked the same show is on consecutive nights so on the second night if you had seen the show already you could not see it again if you wanted to. They carried out social distancing here so you could not sit next to your partner but at dinner you could be next to anyone.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
MSC should go around and individually thank their staff , the one's who work the bars and deck areas because they are carrying this company. Perhaps they should have stayed with freight.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Lovely bright and clean ship. Plenty of ship maps around.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was good kept clean by our room assistant. Everything worked no problems.
Ship tip
Make sure you are as up to date on their procedures as possible.
Went to Rome, have been there before so we took a bus/walk tour. After 1.5 hours we reached our destination and left the bus we were told this was a comfort break so use the toilets the only thing was they were not public toilets they were in restaurants so obviously you had to buy something. The person in charge of the tour was very time concious and kept pushing the tour on where as the person giving us the actual commentary was relaxed. We stopped for lunch which was nice but again we were asked to rush. All used the toilets. We re-boarded the bus and went to the Vatican where we had another walk , 10 minutes in a shop and then back to the bus. By now some of the older people were feeling it and unfortunately one of them had had an accident in their trousers. We now had a return journey to contend with so my partner stated to the guide she wanted a comfort break on the way back the guide reluctantly let this happen but at this break the people who got off were harassed and told to hurry up. We had been warned that if we left the tour group we would not be let back on the ship.
Went to see the leaning tower. The tour guide was excellent showed us where everything was, explained everything about the square and gave us plenty of time to do things. We had all been told not to leave the tour as you would have to make your own way back to the ship and would not get back on. From the beginning there was a party of people who had no intention of staying with the tour, they wandered off and did there own thing, they did not make the bus back but fortunately there was another bus on the same tour from our ship that brought them back later. They were allowed back on board and finished their cruise.
We did Pisa from La Spexia approx £50. Rome from Civitavecchia approx £90. Valencia we did the Oceangraphic Museum approx £40 . All good trips. If you keep checking MSC site the prices will appear. Because of lack of English speaking people some trips are cancelled.
Thanks for a great review! It’s not common to read a proper cruise review - including your experience in ports! I am wondering how much were the excursions? We have the same cruise as yours coming up in just over a month, but the excursions are not available yet. It would be very helpful if you could share this info. Thank you!
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