Meh

The fastest I've ever experienced. No waiting at all. Got there about 10:30 and was processed just about as fast as could be expected

MSC takes Covid protocol very seriously. Each morning you are checked for temperature before entering the buffet or MDR. Staff make sure you wash your hands. Buffet is all behind glass and you are served. I liked all that but more for fear of Norovirus than Covid especially after seeing so many people leave the toilet without washing. Breakfast was pretty much the same every day, but they have an omelet bar so you can make it how you like. MDR has a couple more choices like eggs benedict and more omelet items. Food was good. I was surprised that biscuits and gravy was so tasty from an Italian line. Lunch had a few different dishes every day but not very inspiring. Pool side grill served hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza but not until 12:30. Soft serve ice cream by the pool was fabulous. Dinner was OK but not great. I read a lot of reviews that said the food was bland. That was not my experience at all. I asked my whole party including my culinary student daughter. It was seasoned OK. Not spicy or salty but fine. A couple times I added salt and pepper. Also the dishes were not strangely foreign. Except for a couple dishes, I thought they all could have been on any cruise line menu. The difference was that instead of one or two "different" dishes that you probably wouldn't choose from a menu, they mostly were all "different" kind of dishes. I think I only had one dish that wasn't good though. But most all were just OK. I was surprised a couple times like the Duck a l'orange was the only cruise line duck that I have enjoyed. Entrees are small so order two. Desserts were better than average. Pizza was just OK in my opinion. What was missing was the cruise "comfort foods" like Prime Rib and baked potato. You had to pay $5 for a shrimp cocktail and $10 for NY Strip Steak. Those are everyday items on other lines. Specialty Restaurants were too expensive for me to try. I liked the food but always feared there would be nothing I liked. In the end I liked most everything OK but was not impressed with anything.

The ship does not have a Cruise Director and I noticed how important they are. The announcements were made by a heavily accented woman, and we just couldn't quite understand most of what she said. They had a few poolside activities. I never participate anyway but like to see others having fun. Not that many participated but seemed OK. I didn't appreciate that they held daily Bingo poolside. So, if you weren't playing you were subjected to loud Bingo calling, "B-7, G-12..." in two languages for an hour. They never used the big screen for much other than Bingo letters and karaoke lyrics. They offered one movie per day, typically a kids movie like Dumbo, but it always started at 10:30 pm. They had a great one-man band steel drum/singer. They only let him do Reggae one short session per day. The rest was disco/love songs that were not his strong suit. Often I just wondered, "What the heck are they thinking?" A lot of wasted potential in Activities.

The stage shows were different. This is where you know you are not on an American line. That is not a bad thing, but I don't think the European type shows were they best Euro shows either. The performers were talented but not given a lot to work with. The "Way" show was just a bunch of random songs from all different genres with a raunchy Can Can dance thrown in just to keep the awkward feelings going. Some of the costumes were laughable. The Italian magician was good but the lengthy cigarette and smoking tricks section was too much. It all just felt like they didn't really try that hard to put on quality shows. I unfortunately missed the Opera show, I might have appreciated the effort.

We had grandkids but because they were not vaccinated, they could not participate in much. They wanted the unvaccinated kids to wear a bracelet to tell them apart, but their dad understandably did not want to subject them to that.

Pretty much every crew member we met were genuinely kind and hard working. We had any-time dining and liked our waiter the first night. We tried to get him the rest of the nights, but they did not accommodate that request. The others we had were efficient and pleasant but did not try to interact or make anything memorable. I think the difference is the management. I suspect they are old school from Mediterranean cruises, and it is just a different feeling. Hard to explain but it was hard to feel comfortable.

Ship is beautiful and clean but a bit stuffy. We preferred our recent trip on the Carnival Panorama that had a lot of cozy sitting areas and more usable spaces.

Cabin was nicely decorated. Size was OK. Closet was smallest I've seen. There are two small drawers in the closet but no dresser. There are some cubbies here and there. With three people it seemed we would not be able to unpack much but in the end, we managed fine. Our balcony was triangle shaped and on the edge of a pop-out which gave more space but limited the view on one side. Only room for two 110-three prong plugs and one USB on desk. No USB near bed.

Best ever. Was group 7. Released at 9:00, no lines, outside by 9:15