MSC Lirica Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship is very pretty, and with a little work could be wonderful. We cruised just after a shift change (most crew were new --- did not speak english). The food was almost all completely pre-packaged, frozen, microwaved and just plain terrible. Julian and the staff at the pool bar (Yani....) were wonderful. The kid's club staff (Matteo, Maria, and Leila were fantastic) however, if more than 30 kids, who were on our cruise, showed up they would be stretched thin.

this was the first time a member of the crew said no to a request. IT HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES ON THIS CRUISE

Ship inself was clean. Exercise room convenient with sufficient equipment. Library built on trust in bulletinslocked but for 1 hr in am, 2 hrs in pm. Had to sign out usedbooks. MSC Club Members ignored when boarded. Told later weshould have registered, but no advance notice. Embarkationprocedure tiring, long lines, long waits. Daily entertainmentwas good and refreshing with variety. Nightly buffets inadequate content. Charge for iced tea at midnight buffet,when it's free all day. Cake portions at deck 11 buffet wereskimpy, small, and not appetizing. Sugar free Jello watereddown, as were some fruit drinks...apple, orange juice. Debarkation took long wait in theater w/hand luggage, butlocation baggage easy by color code.

This was our second cruise aboard the MSC Lirica. Our first was 4 years ago and it was superb, food and staff were terrific. UNFORTUNATELY, this cruise was awful, just plain awful. Food was terrible, dining room staff tried very hard but just could not communicate, we usually order one appetizer and the entree. They simply could not manage to get our food in a timely manner and could not understand what we wanted. We ordered a bottle of wine, it was brought and plunked down in a wine-cooler and the waiter walked away. We had to open it ourselves, etc. After the 4th night, we gave up and ate on deck 11 at the grill or the buffet. At least the food was fresher there and we could eat in a timely manner. The shows were good, albeit a bit on the dark side (the magician). The cabin staff were excellent, cabins immaculate. We will not be using MSC again.

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.

We recently sailed the MSC Lirica from Citivecchia on a Western Mediterrean cruise. The boat was clean, the staff welcoming and a different show every night for entertainment. This was our first cruise ever and it was exciting just trying to figure out which restaurant we would eat at next. Not many folks from the USA on board and English not the primary language, however, the staff was fluent in at least four languages, including English. It was easy to get on and off the boat when the ship ported and information was easy to obtain about local interests. I loved it so much that I am already planning a Baltic Cruise for next year... during the warm months. Obviously I would cruise again... a good value and well worth the time and money.

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.

This was our first cruise and aboard the MSC Lirica. We were duly impressed. First, our Alaska Airlines agent Angela was fantastic and extremely helpful in assisting us choose the ship, destination and room. We chose an outside view room which had a very large window to enjoy the water and port views (we will likely opt for a balcony next cruise). The room was close to an elevator and seemed convenient to all amenities. The overall ship was well laid out with good dining/eating options-food quality was very good. The entertainment was both diverse and exceptional. Although we had some hiccups after boarding the first day (likey due to late arrivals)- our luggage was delayed to our room and room service slow. After that service was certainly as we had heard about and expected. The staff were great, although they should smile a bit more and exude friendliness. We would definately look first to MSC on our next cruise.

Italian ship, communication with 5 or 6 different languages. Theater poor with poor decoration and poor program. Midnight buffet "light" without imagination

I would not recomment this cruise line to anyone thinking of taking a cruise. the staff was very unfriendly, even the waiters, and cabin attendants. The staff acted as though they were always to busy to answer a question or they would give you a "that's all I'm going to tell you, like it or tough"

Very clean, entertainment and food very good as well. Places to escape for tranquility, very accesible example: relaxing place next to exercise room. We took advantage of a special price for Georgia Residents!

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

Having sailed over 50 times, but never on MSC, wasn't sure what to expect.Called customer service to find out if pools were heated, they couldn't tell me, asked hours of kid's club, was told it was based on the number of kids on ship.Ship itself small but beautiful, escorted to cabin upon arrival is a nice touch, downhill from there.My A/C didn't work, took 2 days and 6 visits to "reception" to get resolved, ship itself was warm.Shows predominately Italian, German, French, yet was told ship make up was 80 % Americans and Canadians.Everything announced in 5 languages, annoying after a while, Casino staff rude, when spoke to Manager, he wanted to argue with me.

Poor choice of menu items and food was poorly prepared (overcooked)and tough cuts of meat. Service was not efficient (long waits to be served) and difficulty understanding their accent when they spoke English. Many passengers were dissatisfied with the cruise as well when asked. We enjoyed cruises on other ships very much....but.not this one!!!

my family and I had a great time . We loved the entire time on board. A lot of things to do while at sea. Love the shows after dinner time. Excelent stuff,very nice and friendly enviroment. Maybe more variety on the food selection,add more seafood, we understand is an italian cruise, but the had too much pasta. I gained 3 POUNDS!!!. Overall, we enjoyed and want to go again, we miss it already!

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.