The cruise overall was amazing but MSC left a bad taste in our mouths with their refund tactics. I called approximately 10 times prior to the start of the cruise and kept notes of who I talked with and what they said. Every time I called I was lied to and even hung up on a few times when I was being transferred with no call back. I did not feel valued as a customer, MSC got my money and moved on.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
The process was relatively fast, however to say this was disorganized would be a compliment.
The line extended outside the front of the building and people were standing in line hoping they were in the right one. Not a single employee in sight to help. We had a 1400 embarkation time, so no, we were not early.
Once you got inside again, more lines with little direction.
We had upgraded our room to the Aurea experience after our initial booking. It took to 2 trips to customer service and a trip to the dining room before all of our paperwork and sea pass was corrected.
sea
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
The food was excellent. The only things that weren’t good is because we didn’t care for them. But we tried some things that we normally wouldn’t have had an opportunity otherwise.
I was not left hungry on this cruise!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
The pools were clean and cold… just what we wanted. However, they do not allow you to have a drink in the pool with you! We were told multiple times we had to get out of the pool to enjoy our beverage. Even with plastic cups we were still told to get out of the water.
Your option is to bake in the sun and drink before it gets warm/melts, or sit in the pool and be thirsty.
The confusing part is they hand out Heineken I’m glass bottles and you can walk all over the shop with. Why hand out glass bottles? Seems like your asking for trouble.
My wife and I both got massages that started about 30 minutes before we left Nassau. The massage was great until the staff broke in over the music to call the names of people who hadn’t not made it back to the ship. There should be a way to override the speakers in the spa. Everyone has to check in to enter the spa, they obviously know who is there. 10 minutes of chimes and names was less than relaxing.
Also, the thermal spa was very crowded. Almost felt like a ride at Disneyland, standing in line while waiting for the next area.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
We were only able to attend 1 comedy show, which was fantastic. However, it was the only comedy show on a 8 day cruise.
We had heard the musical/broadway style show was terrible so we didn’t try it.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Overall the staff was great. I will say this though. My wife and I brought cash to tip throughout the week and also our dining room staff.
We ran out of cash and wanted to tip a few more employees who were deserving of it. I figured the cashier at the casino would be the best place to get cash. I asked the gentleman behind the counter if he knew where I could get cash and his response was to get a job.
Completely unprofessional is an understatement. It was my fault for not thinking ahead of time but him telling me to get a job was completely out of line.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
The ship is beautiful and was clean. The staff did a great job keeping up with keeping the common areas clean.
The elevators were terrible. I walked more stairs on vacation then I ran during high school football!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Our cabin was excellent! We were on the 9th floor with an extended balcony. We were able to get lunge chairs brought to our balcony so we had a quiet place to relax. No complaints with the room!
Ship tip
Don’t purchase an excursion you are absolutely positive you are going to participate in it.
We purchased the blue lagoon at Nassau in January 2023, 4 months before the cruise. Several days after booking it we learned we would only be at the port from 0900-1400 per MSC’s website. This is not nearly enough time to enjoy the excursions when it has a 30 minute shuttle each way.
A few days after booking we called and cancelled the excursion and we’re told it would be 1-2 billing cycles for the refund to process.
It is now June 2023 and we still are out $165. I have been told it’s processing, my credit card company is holding the funds, accounting will release them on Friday, it’s a auto generated system refund that a human can’t initiate, they may issue you an onboard credit… so and so forth. I called and asked to speak with a Supervisor multiple times and they refused to transfer me to one.
To add insult to injury, credit card company’s limit disputes to 60 days after the transaction. I’m well past the 60 days because I waited for MSC to do the right thing and they did not.
Don’t take my word for it, do a little research and you will see MSC is notorious for holding refunds, I’ve read some people who waited 15 months.
Our assigned time was after 0900 but you have to be out of your room by 0700. What do they expect everyone to do? The entire ship can eat breakfast in that window.
We elected to walk off with our luggage which ended up working really well assuming your able to carry you luggage up/down stairs. Otherwise plan on a long stressful disembarkation.
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