Much more expected from a cruise!

MSC Orchestra Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 96

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Verified Review
MSC Orchestra

7 Night Adriatic & Greece (Venice Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 08, 2016

Ship: MSC Orchestra

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9153

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This was the first time I had been on a MSC cruise so I did not know what to expect.  It was disappointing at best.  Other than our wait staff at the dinner setting and one bartender, the customer service on board was terrible.  The head dinner waiter was rude and unable to provide any solutions to a later seating one night.  The cruise staff is programmed to get as much money out of it's customers so there were constant sales pitches for dinners and drink packages.  MSC "nickled and dimed" the whole cruise.  Things that would be standard or free were charged on board.  On room service, we received the wrong meal and were charged for it.  When some of the staff was off, we were traveling with them on a bus to get back on board and they were bad-mouthing American passengers loud enough for the whole bus to hear.  Then they put on their MSC uniforms and worked for the people they were bad-mouthing moments before!  The food quality was very poor.  Most of the food was salty or mushy or not prepared very well.  The wine and drink quality was par at best.  The excursions were all expensive and when buying a wine package they included hidden fees.  And this cruise was for families, not singles or couples.  Kids were everywhere and a lot of them not behaving very well.  I think MSC allows kids to cruise for free.  The noise level definitely rose. Really all we used MSC for was the transportation around the various ports.   I will not use MSC for any travel plans in the future.  I have my favorites that I will stick to!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
It was clean but our porter never introduced himself. We always had to flag him down in the hallway. We also had to ask multiple times for things like ice. But he did keep the room clean and did a good job with towels, etc.

Ship tip

Customer service, food quality and expenses were all poor!!

Ports of call

Venice, Italy

5 out of 5

Bari, Italy

3 out of 5

Katakolon (Olympia), Greece

5 out of 5

Santorini, Greece

5 out of 5

Piraeus (Athens), Greece

5 out of 5

Corfu, Greece

5 out of 5

Kotor, Montenegro

5 out of 5
Was this review helpful? 96

5 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

GIL155    7 years ago

I am a loyal Princess person,but have been thinking about MSC due to their current loyalty match program. Your review, and others, make me think I should stay with Princes. Thanks for sharing your review. Best wishes on future cruises.

dengage    7 years ago

Reading the review's I would definitely not sail with MSC, will stick with Princess and P and O

TravelBuggg    8 years ago

We booked to sail on MSC in 2018, and from all research it' s been 99% negative. Wonder if we should even bother....

Bluffie    8 years ago

What did you really think 😱