Overall cruising is what you make it and we had a great time. We loved the ship, the live music, the shows, the sevice and the ports. Most will have a great time on MSC and enjoy. We would not cruise MSC again for two reasons. 1) I feel like we were lied to prior to getting on the ship regarding the availability of a drink package onboard and they offered nothing to make it right. 2) We just enjoy Carnival and Royal significantly more. It's hard to pinpoint just one reason why. It was a lot of little things that added up. I hope this review is helpful. Happy cruising!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Overall the process was quick but not as efficient as others.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food in the buffet and main dining room was very bland. Our least favorite cruise line for food. We've cruised NCL, Royal and Carnival previously. We attempted to book a specialty dining restaurant but you couldn't book on the app so we opted to skip it.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Pools were nice. We are casino people and did not enjoy the experience on this ship. Casino seems like an afterthought. Lowest limit blackjack table was $25. Other variations were $10. No real card shoes in this casino.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
The stage shows were some the highest quality we've seen on a cruise ship. Live music options were great. We particularly enjoyed the sky lounge.
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Dining room service was fantastic. Room steward was nice and attentive. The guest services staff was very rude and didn't seem to care about anyone's concerns.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
One of the most beautiful ships we've been on.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was adequate. Bathroom was smaller than typical for a cruise ship hut the layout was nice. Our balcony was very deep. Twice as deep as others. We enjoyed the extra space. Closet space is very limited.
Ship tip
If you are on a 3 or 4 night cruise they do not offer a drink package! When we booked, we expected to be able to book the drink package online. When we were not able to do so, we called and spoke to someone is customer service which assured us there would be a table at check in during embarkation that we could purchase the drink package. There was no such table. When arriving onbaord theu passed out a flyer that stated you could buy the package at any bar. We went to the bar and was told there is no drink package on cruises under 5 days. So we went to customer service which informed us that MSC changed the policy the day before and that it was no longer offered. They suggested I call customer service which I did and they directed me back to onboard customer service. Long story short, we were not able to purchase a drink package. We chose MSC because you can use their drink package on their private island and you can't on Carnival. Would never have booked on MSC had I known we couldn't purchase a drink package. We utilize the package for water, sports drinks, energy drinks, specialty coffees and of course alcohol. Without the drink package we would spend 50% more at least.
Although Ocean Cay is nice. It's my least favorite of cruise lines private islands. We chose to eat at one of the food trucks and the food was cold and not very tasty. They put all of the condiments for hamburgers and hotdogs on your fries and not on the burgers or dogs. So we ended up with mayo and mustard all over our fries. Was just weird. Also there were no drinks being served at the food trucks. Not enough bars and service was slow. If you want drinks, wait for the bar tender to come around, it was much faster.
The process was fairly organized however, I was caught off guard when they scanned my card to leave the ship and it started beeping. They proceeded to pull me out of line amd whisked me away to another room. I had no idea what was going on. Meanwhile my wife passed through and had no idea where I had gone as they wouldn't let her stay with me. Come to find out, I had an outstanding balance which puzzled me. I had provided my credit card information as part of online check in process before embarkation day. When I got on board the ship I noticed in the app they didn't have my card information so I added my card again. All seemed good until I got off the ship. They had charged $250 to my card but the remaining $199 they didn't automatically charge so they pullede out of line and I had to swipe my card again. Weireld because I had already authorized them to add all charges to that card.
Woooooooah DanielIan simmer down sir - I believe you misunderstand my review. We had a good cruise. I mentioned a lot of great things about MSC but it is different than other lines in a lot of ways. Yes, minor differences, but differences none the less. I was merely sharing my experience on how it was different for others that cruise MSC for the first time, not complaining. The mustard and mayo on the fries isn't a complaint and wouldn't prevent anyone from cruising a particular line but it was unique. No need to be rude to a fellow cruiser because maybe you don't agree.
Thanks for your review. Been wanting to know what happened since your original post our first day on the ship. Sorry there were some disappointing factors. Hopefully you were able to have some lemonade martinis out of those lemons 😊
Sorry you had issues. I’ve been on MSC twice this year and had a great experience. From what I have read on other sites, the issue with the drink package not being able to be purchased on board was unique to your specific sailing due to staff shortages and a full ship.
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