MSC Lirica Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Delightful experience. Enjoyed the fellow passengers primarily from Europe. Conversation was easy and relaxed with many aboard. Staff was young and energetic. Itinerary met our needs. Ship was quiet and odor free. Smoking at a minimum.

This medium-sized ship was nothing special. Use of mirrors and brass in the interior areas of the ship was nice, but lounges and most dining & seating areas tended to be crowded. We were amazed at how rude the European non-English speaking guests were - very pushy and loud (and noticed by some other guest we talked to so it wasn't just us!). If you want to see the port cities "on your own" and not the very expensive cruise-sponsored tours, do your homework ahead of time - not much information available otherwise. We were very disappointed with Tangiers - basically a dirty city that did not feel very safe. Definitely, women should not venture out alone there. I wore sandals and capris pants there and was glared at several times for my "disrespectful" dress. There was no information re this kind of thing at all.

Eleven day cruise on a primarily Italian ship. There was some snobbery with some of the crew but the overall staff was friendly and fun. The ports were great and I have been hooked on cruises ever since.

We arrived at the pier in Port Everglades around 1130 A.M. on the day of sailing (1/19/08). We gave our bags to a porter and then we couldn't find anybody to tell us where to get a wheelchair or where to check in. After 10-15 minutes, we located a woman who got us a wheelchair and we were taken inside the terminal building. We then had to wait about 25 minutes before we could check in. Check-in was quick and we were taken aboard and to our cabin. We were also told that we could keep our cruise card as a souvenir. The library, which had about 3 dozen paperback books was only open about 4 hours a day.The times that it was closed, it was padlocked. There were no board games or playing cards in the library. Playing cards had to be checked out from the reception desk and had to be returned or you would be charged for them. There are no religious services aboard this ship. The bank on this ship was only open a few hours a day, so it was difficult to get small bills before going ashore.Also the bank charges 3% commission on cashing travelers checques and also on credit card advances. We ate dinner in the restaurant on deck 5. The waiter and assistant waiter were very slow to provide service. We had to wait long for drink refills and between courses. Maybe our waiter had too many tables. He had 5. The food in the dining room was ok for the most part. The ribeye steak on night was over 50% fat and the lobster was terrible. In our last port, we took a tour called"Sights of Samana". This was a waste of time and money. We met in the lounge on deck 5 on the ship. Then the ships's tour guide took the people down the steps to the tender. I was pushing a wheelchair with my wife in it and NOBODY told us where to go. We found the elevator and went down to deck 4 to get on the tender. No allowance was made for seating for people with walking difficulties on the tender.When we got to the bus, I asked the ship's tour guide if my wife could sit in a front seat and he replied yes. However, all the front seats were taken. On the tour, the whale museum was ok but that was all. The local tour guide had to say everything in English and German which should not be for the amount of money that the tour costs. We made a short stop for shopping and then we went to the town of Las Terrenas where the bus parked on the beach. Neither the bus driver nor the tour guide knew the name of the beach. We NEVER saw La Churcha which is the description of the tour. When we arrived back at the pier, I noticed some vendors were there. When we got off the bus, the ship's tour guide told us we could not sop that we had to go right back to the ship. When we arrived back at Port Everglades on 1/29/08. we had to turn in our cruise cards. We have taken 37 cruises and we NEVER had to turn in our cruise cards. We have 36 cruise cards from our previous cruises and none from this cruise. I guess this wasn't a cruise after all. The only brigh spot was Anto from the breakfast and lunch buffet. Whenever, my wife would arrive there, he would find us a table and get us our drinks. My name is Gerald W. Ault Sr. and my email address is FLYINGSAILOR5473@YAHOO.COM. If anybody has a question about this cruise, I will be glad to reply. I sent an email to MSC Cruises with 18 items to improve on and I also sent them a letter. I never received any response from them. That tells me that MSC Cruises doesn't care about customer satisfaction..

The ship is 80% English speaking yet they seem to have no-one who is proficient in English to make announcements nor write them. The food is boring and generally the same every night. The entertainers try but 5 dancers and a magician get a little old especially when the m.c. makes announcements for 15 minutes in 5 languages while hawking the spa or the shops. Our bed was a collection of springs with a thin cover, we put 5 blankets and the bedspread on top of the bed to try to make it more comfortable. The waters were rough and the stabilizers must have been on strike. One evening I received a note under the door telling me "we are providing you with this towel for your excursion tomorrow, please return it or you will be charged 25 dollars" There was no towel so I called but no one seemed to understand that I didn't get a towel and so didn't want to be charged, they dismissed it with "see us tomorrow" or I think that is what she said because it was after 6 and no-one who could understand me was available

Embarkation was disorganized, confusing, and lengthy. We had requested early dining, but were assigned late seating. That was changed, but we found ourselves seated on an aisle where the constant traffic of waiters, clattering dishes, and people bumping into our table made us feel we were on an expressway. Our waiter was overwhelmed (he was responsible for 25 guests) and when the food finally arrived, it was either cold, overcooked, or not what we had ordered. The Maitre'de made brief stops at the various tables and bellowed "Bon Appeitite". He shot looks of "don't give me any more complaints" as he quickly disappeared. We were tempted to tell him to give them a hand in the kitchen. Obviously, there are major issues in the kitchen. When we had an occasion to visit the reception desk, the girls were rude and condescending. I know the language barrier can be a problem, but a friendly smile would have gone a long way to soothe ruffled feathers. Our conversations with passengers either started or ended with complaints from the first day to the last. However, our cabin boys were wonderful. They always had a smile and were most eager to please.

The ship was clean yet poorly laid out with bars and lounges spread across 5 different floors in no particular manner. The pools were small and limited to two. Room service - only if you're sick in bed and otherwise you have to pay for it.

The ship and staff are great ,we have been on this ship three time's and are booked for next year.

This was my second cruise in this past year and I would say that there are it's pros and cons. I did not like that the entertainment was the same every day. But I loved how kind the staff were. If I could take another cruise on this line I do not know if I would. The internet was very slow and you have to pay for good coffee and drinks. The food is almost the same thing every night at dinner. Both the breakfast and lunch buffets are the same every day. I am half and half when it comes to going again.

the ship is beautiful and elegant. the room was big and beautiful, food was good , service at the restaurants and in the room-very good. entertainment -great!the lounges are elegant and pleasant to stay in..the buffet is too crowded. the fact we had to pay for each glass of water is insulting when we think of the amounts of food served and wasted during the meals.ignoring the last two remarks , it was a great cruise, highly recommended!!!

The ship was well appointed, very clean, and lots of fun. Took the western Carib tour for 11 nights - April 2007.

Ship itself was clean and neat, but did not have stabalizers, so had a constant slow rocking motion. Staff was nice and helpful, I even got a haircut. Food was average. NO American TV, I am a sposrts nut and missed the first two weeks of the NCAA basketball tourny, beacause they don't have CBS or ESPN. Or a Sports bar. Also very few people on board within my age range, mostly retired people. Very few children. We sailed in mid March.

Boarding and a friendly crew made it bearable. It is a lovely ship, looks new and is very clean. After that it has no more plus's. Food was very poor, every day it was the same, no variety. meat was not edible. Desserts were the worst we have ever had. Not one chocolate dessert offered until the end of the trip. The rest seemed like frozen food. Entertainment was very amaturish, the same dancers every night with only a change of costume to make it seem like a new act. Tours were not well explained. Each island seemed the same after touring the first two. Barbados, and Puerto Rico were the best. The others were not worth the price to go on the bad roads and lack of anything interesting to see. If we had Television stations to watch, it would have been less painful. TV was a disaster for Americans! Internet did not work well, and we were charged for up to 20 minutes before we could make a connection. No servers on the outside decks. Nothing to do on a rainy day, no lectures etc. We would never go on another cruise on this line.

We were going to do an 18 day cruise with the MSC Lirica Cruise Lines, but upon reading the reviews, we have decided NOT to cruise with this line. We enjoy dinners and entertainment and find that these reviews tell us that we won't be enjoying them We are experienced cruisers

The service by most was rude, the music was rerrible, staff very unfriendly except by the Entertainment group. Food was great, although not always available throughout the day. 12% tipping outlandish! Opted for cash to those who we enjoyed. Our ship was ultra clean.

The ship did have some nice things and rather elegant.

The ship was not steady and although the waters were calm it rocked the entire 11 night cruise.

The ship was small and not kept very clean. This was my 7th cruise and if it had been my first I would never cruise again. The stabilization was terrible and the ship handled the rough seas poorly.

If this was our only experience cruising, we would never cruise again. The price seemed good but, in reality, the cruise was over priced. I don't cruise to be hasseled for everyting. We did enjoy the ports of call. The excursions left a lot to be desired. The descriptions of the trips were sketchy. We were taken places to shop for half the time, then taken to another place for the canopy tour which is what we signed up for.

Never again.