MSC Preziosa Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I also LOVE the "PREZIOSA"!

After sailing on the DIVINA twice, and having a fantastic time on board in both occasions, we decided we wanted to take another trip on board another MSC Cruise ship.  We learned that the PREZIOSA, the DIVINA's sister vessel and one year "younger", goes around the Western Mediterranean in the summer time, so we booked another AMAZING MSC trip on the PREZIOSA out of Rome (Civitaveccia) on June.   

Me and my family have cruised to Brazil, in the Caribbean, and now in this great ship in the Mediterranean!  Everything is almost the same as in the DIVINA, as it is its twin-sister ship, so we "felt at home".  We also loved this ship and its crew - attentive and responsive ALL THE TIME.  The cabins with balconies at the back of the ship are very big and comfortable, and the balconies are HUGE!  You can fit 2 lounge chairs to sunbathe as well, in addition to the 2 chairs and table provided in the balconies.  This was perfect for us, because the view from the back of the ship has NO COMPARISON to the view from the other cabins on the sides of the ship (which are great also).

The food on board IS EXCELLENT too, with more European flavors in the menus, and great quality and variety as well, day in and day out!  AND, the specialty restaurants are also very, very good, including "the Pizzeria" on the 7th floor (it has its own wood-fired pizza oven), it is also AMAZING!  you have to try it, THE BEST PIZZA ever! (MSC should start a Pizza chain in Italy..... the best pizza I've ever eaten in Europe).

Having cruised on the DIVINA twice, and this time on board the PREZIOSA, MSC did not let us down.... Without a doubt, we will continue traveling with them into the future.  QUALITY and GREAT SERVICE, have been the norm on board these 2 cruise ships.  In this third cruise with MSC, our experience with the PREZIOSA was AMAZING as well.  

MSC has done a fantastic job with these 2 ships, their largest and newest ships in their fleet; we will cruise with them AGAIN and AGAIN.  The "european" culture in the PREZIOSA, and also in the DIVINA, is way above other American cruise lines experience; this european cruising culture and great Italian service is way above other cruise lines...... comparable to Celebrity and just below Cunard, but excellent overall.

Ah, and don't forget to go to the Theater Show, every night.  The shows are spectacular, as good as in the DIVINA.  The shows are also in par to Broadway shows.  I think no other cruise line has the shows that the PREZIOSA, and the DIVINA, have on board, simply AMAZING!

I also LOVE the "PREZIOSA"!

After sailing on the DIVINA twice, and having a fantastic time on board in both occasions, we decided we wanted to take another trip on board another MSC Cruise ship.  We learned that the PREZIOSA, the DIVINA's sister vessel and one year "younger", goes around the Western Mediterranean in the summer time, so we booked another AMAZING MSC trip on the PREZIOSA out of Rome (Civitaveccia) on June.   

Me and my family have cruised to Brazil, in the Caribbean, and now in this great ship in the Mediterranean!  Everything is almost the same as in the DIVINA, as it is its twin-sister ship, so we "felt at home".  We also loved this ship and its crew - attentive and responsive ALL THE TIME.  The cabins with balconies at the back of the ship are very big and comfortable, and the balconies are HUGE!  You can fit 2 lounge chairs to sunbathe as well, in addition to the 2 chairs and table provided in the balconies.  This was perfect for us, because the view from the back of the ship has NO COMPARISON to the view from the other cabins on the sides of the ship (which are great also).

The food on board IS EXCELLENT too, with more European flavors in the menus, and great quality and variety as well, day in and day out!  AND, the specialty restaurants are also very, very good, including "the Pizzeria" on the 7th floor (it has its own wood-fired pizza oven), it is also AMAZING!  you have to try it, THE BEST PIZZA ever! (MSC should start a Pizza chain in Italy..... the best pizza I've ever eaten in Europe).

Having cruised on the DIVINA twice, and this time on board the PREZIOSA, MSC did not let us down.... Without a doubt, we will continue traveling with them into the future.  QUALITY and GREAT SERVICE, have been the norm on board these 2 cruise ships.  In this third cruise with MSC, our experience with the PREZIOSA was AMAZING as well.  

MSC has done a fantastic job with these 2 ships, their largest and newest ships in their fleet; we will cruise with them AGAIN and AGAIN.  The "european" culture in the PREZIOSA, and also in the DIVINA, is way above other American cruise lines experience; this european cruising culture and great Italian service is way above other cruise lines...... comparable to Celebrity and just below Cunard, but excellent overall.

Ah, and don't forget to go to the Theater Show, every night.  The shows are spectacular, as good as in the DIVINA.  The shows are also in par to Broadway shows.  I think no other cruise line has the shows that the PREZIOSA, and the DIVINA, have on board, simply AMAZING!  

nice roundtrip eat ice in sicilie and ride horse and carriage ,walk around in Mallorca etc etc

Absolutely perfect! Had nothing to complain about... Friendly staff, fantastic food, great entertainment and so much more... I can go on and on about how amazing this trip was!

Great ship! Everything was fabulous! I'm a pizza eater, so was my Paradise. The cabin (a balcony one) was great, big and comfortable. No sea sickness because the ship runs very smooth. The shows were quite nice and the entertainment zones always crowded. Bottom line, I definitely will use MSC again.

Oh my goodness, we have just returned from a fantastic holiday with MSC on the Preziosa and I would certainly cruise with them again, I can’t understand why there are so many bad reviews on here? The ship was immaculate, it gleamed everywhere. The staff were friendly and ready to help whenever they could, yes sometimes there was a wait for bar service, but we were on holiday and in no rush, so we would just sit back, people watch and wait for a staff member to get around to us. English was spoken by all of the staff so there was never a language barrier and the majority of the passengers were from foreign shores so it was like a proper foreign holiday not a butlins holiday camp!

We boarded the ship in venice and were told we could book in from 12.00. As it happens we arrived at the port at 11am but we just followed the queues and were on board early with very little delay. We caught the Alilaguna boat from St.Marks to the cruise terminal which was great, 8E plus 3E for a suitcase, although on the return journey the lady in the kiosk told us we didn’t need to pay extra for the luggage.

We ate in the L’Arabesque dining room every night and were sat with a lovely South African couple who became good friends with us. The waiter service in there was exceptional; it was great getting all dressed up and being treated like royalty. The menu was varied and with 7 courses to choose from there was always something nice to enjoy, and if a dish wasn’t to your taste they quickly whisked it away and brought you something else. We regularly had 5 courses and were never over faced. We had the drinks package which meant the bottles of wine were ready and waiting for us at the table when we arrived, our waiter always remembered what we drank! There was also bottled water and an amazing selection of fresh bread rolls brought to the table.

We had breakfast in the buffet which was chaotic, but we would just find a table, either alone or sharing with another couple and then cruise around the wonderful selection of food filling our plates with far too much food! Breakfast can also be ordered directly to your cabin using the complementary breakfast room service so we always had a drink in the cabin whist getting ready for the day, and we had the full continental breakfast delivered on the morning where we were off the ship for 8am. At lunchtime we would just cruise through the buffet picking up a salad or a wrap etc.....but be fair, the pizza always won us over and ended up being the snack of choice for us both! You can eat at the tables on the deck outside the buffet area which was always a preferred choice for us....and a cheeky cocktail was always nice to finish the meal off with. The ice cream on board was also fantastic, I’m a bit of an ice cream snob, but that stuff was awesome and included in the drinks package!

The cabin was fantastic, we had opted for a balcony one and I’m so glad we did. It was a real treat being able to sit out there before the evening meal...a quiet haven of peace with a perfect view. It was nice to be able to get fresh air into the cabin too, the Aircon was great but nothing beats fresh air. The bathroom was fine too, our friends had an inside cabin and they struggled with a small shower, but ours was fine so again worth the extra we paid for the balcony. The cabin steward was in there twice a day making the bed up and turning it down again at night, we never saw her but she did a great job. The mini bar was a bit of a waste of time, although we did keep a couple of cans in there to cool. You are charged if you drink from it, including the bottled water, however both cans and bottles are available from the bars around the ship so a bit of forward planning was all that was required to have drinks in the cabin. We also regularly took coffees, cocktails and snacks to the cabin and there was no issue with this.

The 30 mins shows in the evening were “entertaining” ! We regularly had a chuckle at their productions, but maybe not for the right reasons sometimes. It’s only half an hour so give them a go, but don’t forget to take a drink along with you!

We didn’t take any of the MSC excursions; in fact we only did the one private excursion to Olympia with a company booked through ShoreBee who were waiting just outside the port gates, Katakolon is only a small town but you could pass an hour around the small shops and in the seafront cafes. At Bari we just strolled into the town as it’s only about a ten min walk, not too much to see but a nice seafront with lots of fishermen preparing squid which was a sight to see. Izmir was a bit of a nightmare as the taxi dropped us just outside the bazaar, even though I’d asked for Konak square, and a “friendly” shop keeper met us from the car and wanted us to check out his shop. But we just declined and headed off on our own; make sure you have a map of the area as the signs aren’t too good. Inside the bazaar it was fine, the shop keepers just allowed you to browse at your own leisure and it’s just a nice size to pass an hour. At Istanbul we walked about five mins from the port towards the bridge to pick up the tram, make sure you have Turkish lira to pay for the tokens. It’s cheap and a fast way to get around the city. We did the blue mosque, which had a huge queue although we did wonder if we could have bypassed it and gone through the entrance for prayers that was in the courtyard but this would only work if you were properly attired as the loan headscarf’s and  trousers are only available as you approach the main entrance. The Hagia Sophia  was well worth the entrance fee, although buying a ticket was a nightmare as there was little direction as to where to go for a single ticket, the museum passes seemed to be the preferred  ticket choice but they are of course more expensive. Make sure you go up to the gallery as it’s even more spectacular from up there. The basilica cistern was also worth the visit, it’s an unusual place and if the photo booth inside hasn’t a big queue when you go in treat yourselves to a silly photo! We never got to the bazaar as we ran out of time but I heard it was huge compared to Izmir.

Dubrovnik has to be one of the best ports, we taxied to the old town, about 30min drive because of traffic, and then walked around the walls. The view is fabulous from up there, the town looks beautiful. But make sure you take a drink and visit the loo before you set off! We stopped at the Buza bar, the bar on the rocks but this can’t be accessed from the walls, you have to get down from the wall and then try and find it! But the view was lovely and the cider well worth the trip. A little haven of peace. The harbour area is worth a visit, the waves were crashing on the rocks when we went. I was gutted we didn’t get up the cable car, I had planned for us to do that first, but the taxi took us straight to the old town and it was then a climb up to the cable car station we decided to give it a miss. If you are taxiing back to the ship leave plenty of time, there was a huge queue when we went about 45mins before the ship was due to leave.

My only complaint with MSC was the lack of information we got from them prior to the holiday and about the ports during the holiday. There were 2 gala/formal nights and 3 theme nights (white/Italian/60’s,70’s & 80’s) in the main dining room however this was not communicated to us until the night before. We knew of passengers who then had to go out the following day and buy a shirt for a formal evening. MSC are very focused on selling their excursions so they do not produce any information about the port and sights that are worth travelling to, so the best information I could give anyone would be to do the research before, google is a valuable tool!

So as you can see we loved this holiday and would definitely book with MSC again

The ship was spotless and sparkling!

Fantastica accoglienza e ospitalità. Cibo eccellente e splendide escursioni. Abbiamo preso una cabina con balcone ampia ed accogliente. Se volete una vacanza al top vi consiglio di prendere il pacchetto completo di bevande.Non cambieremo di sicuro Msc.

The cruise was excellent and the staff was friendly as well as professional. The excursions offer at port side was superior . There were lots of activities for the youth as well as the adults.  I enjoyed the musical  each night as well as creating the tee-shirts in arts and crafts, the only thing that was missing for me was the coffee in the main dining room.

This is our second ever cruise and the second with MSC.  From all the reviews I have read, this is a very different experience than cruising on RCL, Carnival, Princess, etc.  There are no rock climbing walls, skating rinks or "neighborhoods," however, this really suits our family.  We have two teenage children who traveled with us and they really like the experience as well.  For this trip, we booked our room in the "Yacht Club" and will not ever travel any other way.  The "Yacht Club" only accommodates about 200 people and you are rarely, if ever, with all 200 people. The ship is beautiful and accommodates about 4000 passengers.  We cruise for the experience of visiting other countries and cultures and get off the ship at each port and don't spend time sunbathing or some of the other games that the staff was leading out by the pools.  The other big plus for us was that children 17 and under cruise at a very reduced rate.  We did try two of the specialty restaurants that are offered for an extra cost, but were not all that impressed.  The food served in our dining room was very good.  However, if you are looking for meat and potatoes every night, an Italian cruise line is probably not the way to go.  We liked the shows, although music was mostly in Italian, still very enjoyable.  Other reviewers have complained about excursions on this line, but we enjoyed each and every one we went on.  Can't wait to do this again.

Overall pretty good. It had some flaws, though. Some places were overcrowded. The excursions could have been better and were probably overpriced. However, the basic services like food and entertainment were great.

My wife and I have been on 7 cruises before, all on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, or Carnival but this was our first MSC cruise.  We chose this cruise because it started in Venice and cruised the Eastern Med during early April and that's what we wanted.

Check-in was a 3-hour process of waiting in long lines with nothing provided by MSC to make passengers comfortable (uncomfortable waiting area, limited access to restrooms, no food/water provided, etc.).  After check-in, we had to wait in line another hour to "register" our credit card and another hour in line to "confirm" our excursion reservations.  All this in spite of having done all of this previously with the MSC Web Check-In two weeks prior.  As far as I can tell, the web check-in has no function and the check in process is a nightmare.

At first blush, the ship was very nice having recently been renovated.  Most cabins have large balconies and they all appear to have unobstructed views.  The rooms were larger and better furnished than any previous cruise that we have had.

There were, however, big problems here too.  The bed lacked sheets or a blanket the first night, just a mattress, and we were told that bed linens would be provided.  When they had not been by 10 or so PM, I went roaming the halls and stole some from an unattended cart on another deck.  There was an "interactive" TV but I never found useful information on it concerning our ports of call, the ship, or excursions.  It could not access our account.  We sent 4 articles of clothing to be cleaned in the laundry service -- it took a full 3 days for the clothing to be returned.  A minor but important point:  neither us nor anyone we talked to ever had a little "towel animal" as part of the cabin service -- apparently that's not done on this ship.

There were two places to eat on the boat not counting the pay restaurants (of which there were several).  One was the buffet which only had food a few hours of the day and during those brief times the place was badly overcrowded.  No table service and inadequate bussing staff so if you were lucky enough to find a vacant table, odds were that it would still have the plates from the previous set(s) of diners.  The buffet itself had a very limited set of choices and the food was not particularly appetizing.  No drinks were included with the buffet but you could find tap water in the ice machines.  One of the most infuriating aspects of the buffet was how the crew members would come and push their way in front of you to feed themselves.

The other place to eat was in one of the two assigned dinner restaurants.  We were assigned the L'Arabesque which also had breakfast for the ship.  The food here was WAY too salty in a fairly transparent ploy to sell more drinks.  No drinks were included with the meal without additional fee -- you even had to pay for water.  Americans received coupons for 6 "waters" at check-in so apparently there have been complaints about this in the past.

By the way, the breakfast offered in this restaurant was very nice and fully "cruise ship grade."  The food was good, staff attentive, the entire operation run efficiently.  Whoever runs that breakfast ought to be promoted to chief of dining services (and whoever is the current chief should be fired).

I think that we were most put off by the attitude of the crew toward the passengers.  You almost never received a smile or hello, they never offered to help, they were often confrontational or even cruel.  With the exception of the breakfast staff, our courteous cabin attendant and friendly (but badly overloaded) dinner waiter, every interaction with the crew members was neutral or negative, never positive.

The shows were very lame.  Each night was the same stage set, the same performers with essentially the same show:  singing, dancing, some acrobatics all to canned music.  The only thing that changed from night to night was the songs and the costumes (which were simple and crude).  The performers themselves were talented but were really just regular crew members and, during the day, you would see them bussing tables, waitressing in bars, etc.  I doubt that MSC spent more than $1,000 in all of the theater shows combined for the entire cruise.

The port calls were very short: 4 - 5 hours typically.  In spite of this, it took a full hour to disembark for an excursion and another hour to re-embark the ship.  So, if you had an excursion, nearly half of the time in port was spent simply getting off and then back onto the ship.  One of the reasons for this is that the ship uses very cheap hand-held scanners rather than the much faster autofeeding scanner machines used by the other cruise lines.  Because of the lost time, the excursions were all much shorter than advertised, did not go to all of the advertised sites, and were very rushed.   Truly, MSC's procedures made each port of call a chore and hardly worth the effort.

Even more maddening, at several of the ports of call, all of the ship excursions went to the same "demonstration" which were actually pressure sales jobs.  We experienced a leather company that pressured us to buy overpriced leather jackets and, on another excursion, a carpet-making company that tried to sell us $8,000 rugs.  Both of these trips were very disagreeable and, since all excursions went to the very same places, I have to assume they were required parts of the contract with MSC that the independent excursion company had to agree to do.  Presumably MSC gets a kick-back from this reprehensible practice.

The ship had far too many passengers for its modest amenities.  The "aqua-park" is sized for a ship with half as many passengers; the atrium area sized for a ship a third of this size.  As a result, there are long lines for everything, everything is overcrowded.  Imagine waiting in line for an hour so that you can get into an 6-foot wide jacuzzi with 8 other people.

Check-out was just as nightmarish as check-in -- it took us 4 hours even though we had no questions on our bill.

There are a lot of problems on this boat and we did not meet any fellow passengers who intended on taking another MSC cruise.  We did meet a few people who had had MSC cruises before and they all said that they were so disappointed in this one that they might not do another one.

I know that my wife and I won't be on another MSC cruise and, as a result of this one, I will never recommend them to anyone.  

New ship, but service was not good.

Cabin was nice. Way too crowded. Crew didn't care (except for housekeepers who always smiled and spa employees who were professional). Frequently would have to move out of the way of employees as they walked around the ship.

I will never cruise with MSC again. I was not impressed at all. The excursion to Tunis, Tunisia - booked through the cruise line - was a high pressured sales pitch from the merchants in the street.

I don't have the words to say how disappointed and upset we were with the whole experience. We are avid cruisers and will be going again, but never on an MSC. If I can help just one person with not wasting their money on MSC, then maybe some good will come of our experience.

Our first cruise. Amazing . Didn’t know what to expect but it really was a treat . I would to do it again . The ship amazing . Ur room perfect . Staff lovely and friendly. Great memories made

Overall-- 5 out of 10 Obviously, I don’t take the above scores and average them out. Overall is the feeling I had about my MSC experience from start to finish. They had a terribly confusing check in with no signs or direction and no logical flow. Bad first impression. My biggest complaints are these: The Aurea experience, which I paid to upgrade from their basic Bella experience, was basically Bella on coffee. Yes, the suite was grand (no balcony, but that view!). It included access to the Aurea spa, which was a great let down. The spa was full of people lacking manners or spa etiquette. They should ask guests to sign a sheet providing these tips. I was excited having access to an exclusive area, thinking it would be great to avoid people while worrying about covid. But this experience was more like being punished than rewarded. The area called the Solarium, is on the top deck and didn’t have an inch of shade. After surviving melanoma, the sun is the last place I want to be. Several months prior to my voyage, MSC ditched free wine at dinner. Of course, looking at reviews, I didn’t know this until long after booking. They offered free bottled water at dinner, so many left the dining room carrying extra bottles. I don’t drink more than 1 or 2 drinks a day, so it didn’t warrant paying for a drink package. It was far less expensive to pay for each drink. I do not like a class system on cruise ships. One thing I love about cruising is feeling as if I am just as rich as anyone else on board. Sure, they may have a special dining room for the elite. But I am used to sauna access and a view over the bow with my fare, without paying extra. And I can’t stand being nickled and dimed. A cruise should be all-inclusive. In taking away the free 1 hour spa treatment, the free wine with dinner, and offering the terrible Solarium, they are squeezing out the middle class. I would be better off with the Bella experience and paying for the extras. But that’s not all-inclusive. There is little that made the Aurea experience worth it, even with a glorious suite. This sailing was enjoyable and I do not regret any of it. I simply wish MSC offered a little more value. Bring back wine at dinner. Include 2 servings of gelato. Something. Anything. Add some actual value. Most like to be pampered and made to feel special, but can’t afford thousands more for the Yacht Club.