MSC Orchestra Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Nice cruise. Hopefully they will get better. Entertainment, food, needs to improve.

The ship itself was lovely, clean and tidy. The pizza is the best I have ever eaten, in fact, I ate it every single day of our trip. The intial embarkation was great as we purchased the easy on board however queuing up to get the pre- purchased drinks packages was a nightmare. It needs to be streamlined per deck...everyone stands in the same line and its really really long! We found the staff at reception very polite and helpful. However the bar service staff on the pool deck took so long to assist people, we waited 30 minutes to get a drink and 20 minutes to an ice-cream. They were not efficient at all and didn't seem to understand what people wanted,either that or they just didn't care. We did enjoy the trip but will rather do a cruise that departs from an European harbor next time.

Dear Captain Nicola Gravante and Crew I want to take this opportunity to thank you and your amazing team for a really fantastic relaxing and fun filled holiday. My parents and myself traveled on the 24/11/2019 on a 5 night cruise. Every single crew member went out of their way to attend to our needs and make us as comfortable as possible. MSC was extremely well organised. I stayed in cabin 11254 and my parents in 12192. The rooms was very clean neat and tidy. Housekeeping kept the rooms spotless during our stay. I really appreciate this from the bottom of my heart. My cabin steward was a star!! I heard numerous compliments about the service and food onboard from other guests during their stay. The quality of food was also really good with a wide choice. I want to give a special thanks to the following crew members as they really stood out and excelled with their service delivery!! They are an asset to the MSC family. Thank you Albert and John that looked after us during dinner time. I would also like to thank Eric and his team for the most amazing shows and keeping everyone entertained. Eric is truly the best cruise director I have ever met onboard a ship!! Thank you Mary Ann for trying to help me find and book my next cruise!! I wish there was a way she could assist me with this even after disembarking as she had such friendly and professional approach towards myself and other guests. I still need to book my future trips. I also want to comment on the honesty of your housekeeping staff. I forgot my necklace and diamond pendant in the room when I went out on a shore excursion. When I returned it was safely placed next to the bedside lamp. I really thank the staff member for this and hope that you will be able to see who cleaned my room and highlight my appreciation to them. This has really impressed me tremendously. I would like to make a few suggestions if I may as I do travel a lot and do find that certain things do enhance my holiday experience. I usually only book and stay at 5 Star Hotels and cruise ships. I understand the concept of the Ships MSC send to South Africa currently as it is fun filled and more affordable break away concept. I would really love to become part of the MSC family and cruise with you only!! I want to experience your new ships as they are amazing and offer far more than other cruise lines. Your new ships offer a 6 star holiday with all different experiences onboard. I am planning to book a Aurea and MSC Yacht club suite with the experience on the Seashore and Grandiosa!! I think if MSC does invest and offer this to more upmarket cruisers in South Africa they will make a killing in the South African Market. Our 5 star hotels and cruises are always fully booked. Other Cruise lines like Cunard , NCL , Azamara have seen the gap in the market. I would prefer to support and cruise with MSC and make use of all their experiences and facilities onboard. This will be amazing to explore the Indian Ocean Islands and cruises to Asia from South Africa. I would definitely highly recommend MSC to all my friends and Family and people I meet. Once again Thank You for your hospitality and kindness Really hope to return soon.

Loved every minute of the cruise. Will definitely use MSC again.

This was our 29 th Cruise, one of the best. All was nearly perefect: the embarkation in Warnemünde, the Ship, the cabin, the Housekeepers, the waiters in the Restaurants and in Deck 13 (Selfservice), and very Nice Trip in norwegian Fjords, a very clean Ship. The Cruise Consultant, the hotel Direktor, the Chef (Grad Chef/ Exekutive Chef) are German, and the Cruise Direktor Petra Fromm Austria. All in all a very fine Cruise. If you have questions about the ship, the Trip, the stops or something else, don't hesitate to contact me.

Cruise line below average itinerary only reason many travellers took cruise lots said never again MSC

Overall I was disappointed with the MSC Quality but my main issues were in the ships communication skills to clients which was very poor. Excursions very expensive and lack of knowledge and information from the excursion department left a lot to be desired. Excursion staff lack leadership and organisation attributes and at times were dismissive and rude. Waiters and Bar Staff were very engaging and polite but guest services are on the defensive as soon as you speak to them about anything and their internal communication skills between departments leaves a lot to be desired. This was my first cruise with MSC mainly due to the locations the ship was visiting but in future I would seriously reassess any cruises I would take where MSC are concerned. I have enjoyed far better quality and MSCs reputation of “The Ryan Air” of cruising seems to me to be appropriate. There was no facility on the cabin TV to view my bill hence the requirement to visit Guest Services every few days to obtain a printed copy of my updated statement to ensure my bill was correct. Pre Paid gratuities were also added to my bill and no explanation was forthcoming from Guest Services as to why they had done this even though I had already paid. If I had not pointed this out they would have expected double payment from me.

If your looking for a bare bones basic cruise for a relaxing time. This is it. NO Movies No Game shows No Pool activities (outside if stretching or salsa lessons). If you have sailed with NCL,RCC or Carnival you will find this cruise boring.

MSC Review This has been one of the worst cruises I’ve ever experienced. I planned this vacation with MSC as a “cruise of a lifetime”, considering this was my wife’s first cruise experience. My expectation was clearly not met, not to mention the ship is old and the decor is grossly outdated! What my wife and I experienced with MSC Orchestra has greatly reduced our interest in cruising. MSC failed on multiple levels and on several occasions in customer service to provide passenger satisfaction. Problems started when first boarding the ship with a pre-paid internet package we purchased. After boarding, even crew members said the package is useless and shouldn’t be offered/purchased. Rarely was any internet service available, especially in our cabin. Then, after 20+ hours of travel to South Africa from the United States, luggage was not delivered to our cabin until very late in the evening leaving us unable to shower and change clothes the first day on the ship. We boarded at 10 in then morning! Entertainment was practically non-existent, rotating between the same acts the entire cruise while spending 10 days at sea! If weather conditions were undesirable or you wanted to relax in your your cabin, the television had only ONE station with 5 movies being rotated everyday (ALL day) over and over and over with the remaining 10 stations playing advertisements for the cruise line! Your other option was to frequent the (smoke filled) casino if that’s your thing. We also pre-paid for the strange use of MSC Orchestra “drink ticket” packages. They didn’t offer typical all inclusive beverage packages. EVERY beverage required tickets…from water to soft drinks to a limited selection of alcoholic beverages at an additional cost. Water and coffee were made available during formal lunch and dinner. As not all beverages requiring tickets are equal in cost, alcohol cost more than soft drinks however, you don’t get a refund or credit for using a higher cost ticket for a soft drink. The process/line to retrieve ‘drink tickets’ was madness and extremely unorganized. Depending where you ordered drinks, the bar tender may or may not be able to make the beverage you ordered because it wasn’t on the drink ‘menu’. The schedule of excursions cannot be trusted. After 3 days at sea the scheduled Mozambique port stop was cancelled, this occurred the morning of departure after we paid the required $150 for visas. Another issue we had was when my wife and I were eating in the buffet dining area and were approached by an employee to purchase bottle service. So we inquired about the types of alcohol we wanted, 1 of the 3 bottles we requested was not listed on the price sheet. The employee was not sure if any the of alcohol types we wanted but not listed were in stock, so he went to the ‘stock room’ and reappeared with all 3 bottles, we asked what the cost would be and agreed on the cost of the 1 bottle not listed on the price sheet, he charged our cabin card, we signed the receipt…the transaction was complete. My wife and I stayed seated in the buffet area for a while enjoying the view when the employee returned stating we need to pay $80 more US dollars for the bottle not listed on the price sheet. We questioned why, he said he misquoted the price but could not show us a manifest to support this outrageous increase. He then proceeded to pick up & take all 3 bottles that we just paid for! We proceeded to ask for a manager, after being told by 3 different Food and Beverage (F&B) managers, over a 2 day period, there was nothing they could do. We called the service desk and met with the head of customer relations and the F&B Director. They both understood the inconsistency as well as the importance of customer service and provided the 1 bottle (not listed on the bottle menu) complimentary. So by now, it’s beginning to seem as though this system is an attempt to nickel and dime you to death in an attempt to have you accumulate an extensive bill at the end of your cruise. During our dining experience we often found the formal dining menus unappetizing and horribly prepared. After ordering steak on the first evening, the entire table realized all temperatures of steak from rare to medium are all prepared “WELL DONE”! All beef items during the entire cruises were over cooked, tough with little seasoning or flavor. We often didn’t receive items listed with the entree’, having to inquire about listed items with the dining staff…dessert ice cream came to the table completely melted. This was a 14-night cruise which many nights unfortunately ending with a failed formal dinner attempt resulting in hotdogs from the buffet. Since the majority of the buffet selections were below average or were immediately consumed if the items were reasonably appealing. The service staff in general left an incredibly incompetent impression on us and with many guests we conversed with. On several occasions a request would be made with staff replying, “we can not do that” rather than providing options to resolve our many issues. We found ourselves asking for a supervisor or manager because the staff would refuse to look into our inquiry or attempt to provide a solution to assist with our issue/request. Small things like asking to replenish an ice bucket for the bottles of beverages or champagne we purchased. Things as simple as honoring the “cabin occupied” light and not barging in for room servicing. We also purchased the ‘all inclusive’ digital photo package for $200, however upon review of our printed photos in the galley, we discovered 60+ photos were not uploaded to the kiosk. We brought it to managements attention and was told if they could not upload the missing photos digitally, we would have to purchase the hard copies, of the missing photos, at an additional $200…*SMH* That about did it for us!! There are numerous other occurrences and inconsistencies that could be mentioned. As a couple that travels extensively, we expect top class customer service when paying a premium price for a vacation. It’s obvious MSC Orchestra does not value recurring patronage to their cruiseline or better training, customer accommodation, and overall cruise experience would be a priority and the service emphasis completely revamped! If zero stars could be given it would definitely be applied for this cruise!

Excellent excellent excellent excellent Excellente

If I had known that the cruise itinerary was to not visit Santorini and Crete, and be on the sea for 3 full days instead, I would have NEVER booked it. Be prepare to have extra days on the sea if they feel like it and to be limited on the choices of food.

Well worth an experience! It caters for all types of adventures...you can lounge in the library for some quiet reading time, lie on the deck and catch some sunays. My favourite spot was on the deck at the back of the ship. Was hypnotic and cathartic to sit and stare out onto the water, enjoy the blue skies, beautiful water, and sipping on a delicious cocktail!

Enjoyed the cruise, loved the shows and lots of activities on board. Because there is a lot of people on deck during the day maybe get a few more tables and chairs in stead of the loungers taking up so much space.

It was awesome all but said all in my review all and all a great time will do again 😊

This cruise was really wonderful! We had no complaints & would do it again. We really enjoyed the sea days. I just feel that perhaps instead of rushing to CapeTown after the PE docking was cancelled we could have spent another day at sea instead of being docked stationary at the Cape Town harbor for a day & a night before disembarking

It was overall very nice. But they don't really know how to cater for everybody. and some of the lower decks that dont have proper ventelation smell terrible

I took a one-night cruise, Barcelona to Genoa, to get a quick feel both for MSC and for a ship this size. I was very happy with both and would definitely consider MSC in the future. Having sailed on 4 other lines for multiple cruises and usually on smaller ships than the Orchestra, this one was definitely plush and pleasant. Except for disembarkation, it was a perfect and flawless experience.

It was our first time on a cruise, and it was 5/5 experience overall. I can’t wait to return on any of the MSC ships...

the ship is old, but nice. The staff was frendly. The food in the buffetrestaurant was very good. Norway is a beautiful country.

We had a wonderfull Greenland cruise in August 2019. A clean ship with a wonderfull crew on board. A good Captain who took the right decissions and avoid the storm between Greenland and Iceland.