MSC good value, good cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 43

Review summary

Went into this cruise with an open mind as I had seen many reviews and critiques saying "avoid this ship", "don't sail with MSC", "had a great time", etc. The ship was very clean and sparkly. Everything was kept to high standards as far as maintaining the ship. We booked an interior guarantee cabin (the cheapest) and less than two weeks after making the booking we were assigned a balcony cabin. I won't say no to a free upgrade so that was already a win. The cabin seemed small compared to other balcony cabins that I have stayed in on other cruise lines but that was the least of my worries. Embarkation was lightning quick in Hamburg. Our paperwork told us we could check in at 6:30 pm but we got to the terminal shortly after noon and they let us on no problem. We had the rest of the day to leave and walk around Hamburg. We missed 2 muster drills and went to go to the third one offered (Southampton) and our cruise cards wouldn't scan and they told us we did not have to attend. So I found it odd that they did not take that too seriously. We went in and attended muster anyways incase they hunted us down for not having gone to one. Bartenders onboard were staffed short, they had too many bar servers walking around taking orders, so drink orders piled up and waiting times were long to get your drink in almost ever bar. Food in the dining room and buffet was fresh and hot, which was good considering I saw a lot of people online saying their food was served cold. Took an MSC tour to Stonehenge & Salisbury from Southampton which was excellent. Hot tubs were very small and very popular since it was a "cold weather" sailing. Italian specialties onboard were great, like pizza, fresh pasta, and gelato. I recommend visiting Honfleur from Le Havre. It was a very cute town on the south shore of the Seine river and had many confectionaries, art shops, and other boutiques. Amsterdam was the best port in my opinion. Try the gouda cheese. Overall I would say for the value, this is a cruise I would take again. Maybe not my first choice, but probably top 5.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Hamburg, Germany

Southampton (London), England

Le Havre (Paris), France

Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Disembarkation