I have been on about a dozen cruises with RC and Carnival, but I will never sail with MSC again. The ship was beautiful, but the poor customer service and poor communication made it not worth doing again. Terrible embarkation and debarkation experience and really poor communication between the staff and guests. I felt like the crew didn't care if their guests were having a good time. The worst part of the whole cruise for me was when the crew member was clapping his hands in my face yelling at me. I had to leave my partially eaten lunch to go to the safety briefing.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Just as a point of reference, we have been on about a dozen cruises with RC and Carnival. This was our first MSC cruise. Our check-in window was 12:30-1pm. We arrived at 1 pm and there was a HUGE line outside of the terminal. They didn't even open the doors to let us in until around 3:30. We got on the ship around 4:30. There was no explanation, no apologies, no offers of water bottles or anything while we were waiting.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food tasted pretty good. The pizza was excellent. My main complaint was the lack of options. The only "included" options were the main dining room and the buffet. The options at the buffet were also more limited than other cruise lines. The times in the app that the buffet and restaurant were open were completely different than the ACTUAL hours. For example, the app and daily agenda said breakfast would only be available until 8:30. We had to set an alarm and wake up in time to eat breakfast- only to see that breakfast was offered until after 10am, so we could have a slept in a bit. Not all of the food options are listed in the app or the daily agenda. We found out there were times they offered soft serve and also a "teatime", but none of that was posted anywhere. Also, because of the limited options, the lines were crazy. The buffet area was always pretty packed, and I didn't even try to eat at the private island. The line was wrapped around the building to get food. When we were thinking about approaching after the line was dying down (around 3pm), a crew member told us it was too late and we couldn't get in line. Also, every time I tried to get a fruit drink or lemonade on board, you have to go to the buffet area, and almost every single time they were out. On embarkation, I asked a crew member if they would refill the lemonade and they told me no- I had to wait until dinner.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
The ship is BEAUTIFUL and there are plenty of activities to participate in! We used the water slides, and there are TEN hot tubs and several pools.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We saw the "included" stage show and also paid for the "specialty" circus show. They were both very good. The performers were extremely talented. The costumes were very strange (Latin ballroom dancing with space robot costumes??).
Children's Programs
Did not bring children onboard.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Everyone we met was friendly enough, but the communication was difficult. Many crew members had very limited English. They also did not communicate well between the staff. For example, we were going to get off at Ocean Cay (MSC's private island). I asked a crew member in the lobby if there were towel stations on the island. They assured me there were, and I did not need to take my own towel. When we were debarking on the island, I asked the crew member who was scanning our badges about the towels again. Again, they assured me there were towels on the island. We walked quite a way to Bimini Beach and didn't see any towel stations along the way. I stopped to ask one of the team members who were at the cabanas, and they told me there were NO towels available on the island, and I had to bring them from the ship. I was pretty annoyed about that. Another issue was on the day of embarkation. We were late getting on the ship (see above) and weren't onboard until 4:30. The "safety demonstration" began at 5pm. We had JUST gotten our food and sat down when one of the crew members went through the restaurant clapping their hands in people's faces and YELLING "EVERYBODY UP! GO TO YOUR STATIONS!" We had to leave our partially eaten food and go right away. This would NEVER happen on Carnival or RC.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was beautiful, clean, and well maintained. I loved the layout and the promenade area. The staircase has Swarovski crystals in it- makes for beautiful pictures!
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The cabin was very clean and a good size. I liked that the shower had a glass door (not a curtain). My only complaint was that we didn't see our cabin steward even one time. No towel animals or any of the other *little* touches that make a cruise special. One time, they took our dirty towels and didn't replace them with any other towels. There were literally no towels in our bathroom when we got back from the beach. We had to call for someone to bring us some, and we stood there wet 30 minutes until someone came and brought us towels.
Beautiful island- very relaxing. I wish they had towel stations. My main complaint was the food situation. The line for the buffet was crazy. We ended up not eating there.
I don't think it was MSC's fault, but we were literally trapped in the Terminal 10 parking garage for TWO HOURS. We couldn't even move out of our parking spot. Everyone in the garage was honking and yelling. Eventually the police and port authority showed up and started letting people out. It was terrible.
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