Never again on MSC

Item: MSC Preziosa
Rating: 2.2
Author: Ripleyman

MSC Preziosa Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe

Ripleyman

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 44

Overall rating:

2.2 out of 5

7 Night Northern Europe (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 18, 2019

Ship: MSC Preziosa

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

From the beginning when they changed the itinerary on us the cruise was a disaster. I have cruised 35+ times on 5 other cruise lines and have never had as horrible of an experience. I even went through a hurricane on a ship that wasn’t as bad as this. The food was tasteless boring and in some cases awful tasting. Their steakhouse was good but not exceptional. Their excursions were the worst ever. Poor English speaking and boring. They try to nickel and dime you to death. Only drink available for dinner was water. Ever other cruise ship offered tea and or coffee without charge. We boarded in England - an English speaking country- but got to hear every announcement in 6 different languages. I’m telling every one I know, and strangers I meet, to stay away from MSC. by the way, I visited with at least 10 other guests on the ship who had the same opinions.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Okay took very little time

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

I gave this one star because you don’t have a NEGATIVE rating. Food was boring and tasteless

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

No activities

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Boring and unimaginative

Children's Programs

No kids

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Servers and cabin steward were professional, cheerful and hardworking

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Pretty ship but “Lido” area poorly layer out.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Comfortable big enough and clean

Ship tip

Get your money back and cancel the cruise

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England Did not visit port

Cruise started there and we didn’t have time

Thumbs Up 0

Zeebrugge (Bruges), Belgium

3 out of 5

Took a terrible excursion via the ship but salvaged the experience by using our free time wisely

Thumbs Up 1

Rotterdam, Netherlands

1 out of 5

We were supposed to port in Amsterdam but after we bought the cruise they changed it to Rotterdam. We took an excursion from the ship to Amsterdam. We had a boring guide and our bus broke down.

Thumbs Up 0

Hamburg, Germany

1 out of 5

We ported in Hamburg on SUNDAY and everything was closed. After the two disastrous excursions through the ship we arranged our own and it was good. No thanks to MSC

Thumbs Up 0

Le Havre (Paris), France

5 out of 5

We rented a car and created our own excursion. It was great.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

We walked off with our hand carried luggage 1 hour before MSC said was possible.

6 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

doddser 5 years ago

Omg hated MSC. Have been on the splendida and Preziosa. Ships are fab but it ends there. Honestly if I hot a free cruise off them I’m not sure I’d bother !

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Haplo 5 years ago

Agree with you, ship was clean and pretty, most staff helpful, (Shondra in La Loconda being the most) but felt cramped and slow. Booked all-inclusive only to find i could only have Heineken, had to pay another £150 just

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

sailawaysara 5 years ago

Forgot to mention it was 2 years ago so they don't appear to have improved during that time.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

sailawaysara 5 years ago

I did this cruise on the Preziosa & totally agree with you about the ship. Beautiful, glitzy ship but everything else was truly awful. I would never do another MSC cruise, they are nothing more than a glorified ferry!

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

kevlyn 5 years ago

Obviously things haven't improved in the 6 years since we cruised with MSC. Never again. Currently on Celebrity Solstice which is great.

Thumbs Up 1

Flag