I enjoyed the Itinerary but the activities and the food on the cruise was lacking.
I also get the feeling their employees are not happy. Most were not friendly. And they kept promoting their senior staff when it's the servers and cleaners who do all the hard work.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It was super easy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food on the ship is very boring and for the most part without visual interest. Most Italians I know would be embarrassed to see the spread . what was most demoralizing was that they make someone walk around and try to sell lobster for 22 pounds. Why not just put an ad in the menu I don't know. But we all felt so sorry for the poor guy who had to do it. Their elegant night entertainment in the restaurants were very sad. My suggestions is that the decision makers of MSC take a cruise on other cruise lines and learn how to improve their food and entertainment.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The ship only has 2 hot tubs and this time of year it was a bit cold for the pool. Didn't use the fitness center.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The shows were good, the music throughout the ship was great and live singers were awesome.
Children's Programs
No kids in our group
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The waiters work very hard. Some were far more enthusiastic than others. Shout out to Rostan Rodigues and his partner for their service to us nightly.
The last night we had purchased some photos and we were told that they would not be ready for pick up until after 11pm. We asked if they could be delivered to our room as we wanted to get to bed early as we would be traveling for 24 hrs the next morning. The answer was no.
When we went to pick up the photos we asked if they could be placed in a large bag because we had already locked our suitcases and put the out for pick up. The response was "that's not our problem" and no larger plastic bag was provided. Ridiculous! Absolutely terrible customer service. But I suppose MSC supports this attitude.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
The ship design is basic. Nothing exciting. Very basic. But for the most part clean. I will say I've seen serving utensils fall on the floor and the people working the food stations pick them up and put them back into use.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our room was smaller in size than other ships. But they use space very creatively. Our room was tidied twice a day with new towels but I don't believe our sheets were changed the entire time we were there.
The bathroom was clean but it stunk. We sprayed perfume etc but it still stunk. Moldy.
Ship tip
Don't expect a wide selection of food or even tasty food. Go for the itinerary. I actually think I lost weight on this trip.
I loved Dubai. We did the Big Bus but not through MSC. My suggestion go directly to the bigbus website and buy the 3 port pass. Cheaper than MSC charges.
A must see. MSC charges you for a shuttle but you can get a free shuttle. We did the Big bus here the first day and the second day we took a cab to the mosque. I highly recommend Hamood he will give you a great tour of Muscat. This is his number 096892171079
We opted to visit the tree of life and took a private taxi. He wasn't very good and over charged us but we did go to camel house which was not our choice.
Liked Doha. Great place to buy dates but they do not accept uae currency for political reasons. You must visit the museum of Islamic art. It's free. Use the free shuttle. Do not pay for the MSC shuttle.
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