Overall, I had a great time. There were a few drawbacks, but I expected that. If someone asked me to go with them on an MSC cruise again, I would!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
It was hectic when we got on. Since you can’t access your room till later, everyone floods the buffet and common areas. I was a bit overwhelmed and was not enjoying myself at first, but things settled down once we got into our room.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The food was fine. I wouldn’t say it was anything to write home about, but it wasn’t bad either. I’ve read some of the other reviews and many seem a little extreme. The pizza at the buffet was terrific. The only real drawback were the drinks at the buffet. If you wanted to get a soda, you had to get in 1 long and slow line so they could scan your card. All for a can of coke.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The slide complex is small, but it fits the space well. Signing a waiver to use the slides was a bit excessive, but I’ve heard other cruise lines require you to sign a form as well. My favorite pool was the Jungle Pool. It was beautiful at night.
MAJOR drawback: the pools all close at 9:00pm!! That is CRAZY to me. I’m on a cruise, I want to stay up late and swim!
Entertainment
3 out of 5
I went to ImagineOcean on our first night after dinner. Within the first 3 minutes, I could see how poor the production value was. It was awful. I felt bad for the cast, because they were giving it their all. It suffered from poor writing and directing. I wanted to leave halfway through, but my friend we talked me into staying so I wouldn’t hurt the casts feelings if they saw people walking out. (Which many did.)
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
For the most part, everyone we encountered were extremely polite and helpful. Our housekeeper was amazing. I threw my clothes in a pile in a corner of our room so he would have space to clean. When I got back, I found them all folded incredibly neatly on my bed! I was very pleasantly surprised! Talk about going above and beyond.
The only bad interactions were with our cocktail waitress at dinner. She intentionally avoided us. I made eye contact with her many times, and she would literally look away as fast as possible and smile at other tables. There was no reason for her to act like this. We were very patient and polite. We constantly had to ask our main waiter to grab her, and even then, she would get our order and sometimes not return till dessert was almost over.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
When we sailed, this ship was only 3 months old, and you could easily tell. There was not a spot of rust anywhere to be found. Custodians we’re CONSTANTLY washing walls, windows, handrails, you name it. It was spotless. My hat goes off to them, because they were on their A game at all times.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
My brother and I got incredibly luck and wound up with a handicap room. Compared to our friends, this thing was cavernous! The balcony was great, too. We sat out there for hours. It was actually wide enough that most of our friends could join us as well.
Since it’s a handicap room, there was a weird ramp and lip that would lift up whenever you’d hit the button to open or close the door. There were many times I would forget about and end up tripping. Nearly sent myself overboard a few times, haha.
Ship tip
Book excursions through the cruise line. Our last port in Costa Maya was cancelled due to weather. We had booked through a third party instead of MSC, and getting our refund was a bit of an ordeal and took a lot longer. Had we booked through MSC, refunds would’ve been immediate.
Ocho Rios was a dump. It’s sad. I really wanted to like Jamaica, but as soon as you leave the port, you’re immediately hounded by locals trying to sell you weed and other “excursions”. There was a lot of trash along the roads and in the town as well. It really did make me feel bad. There is so much potential in Jamaica, but they’re a long way from realizing it.
We went on a zip line and Dunns Falls tour. This left a lot to be desired. The staff was disorganized when getting on the bus, and our guide wasn’t very professional. The ziplines were lame. I’m from Indiana and have done way more exciting ziplines here at home. As for the waterfall, it’s pretty, but over commercialized and flooded with people. It’s not as well protected as some of our natural landmarks here in the US.
Pros: Beautiful water and very clean. Only negative was the beaches were slightly rocky in certain areas. If they can somehow clean the sand of all the small pebbles and coral, it will be perfect.
Cons: On our last day, we went back to Ocean Cay instead of Costa Maya. (Costa Maya was cancelled due to bad weather.) Since this was a last minute change, the island was not equipped with the full food offerings like it was on our first stop. This meant that in order to get a meal, you had to go all the way back to the ship. Only one bar was open that day as well, which was at the lighthouse. I went to get a drink and waited 15 minutes for an employee to notice me. I was completely ignored. They kept helping other people but would walk right past me. Thankfully, another guest noticed that I had waited awhile and called one of the servers over and made them help me. They did so begrudgingly.
Loved Grand Cayman! Easily the best stop on our trip. We went on a boat ride to a snorkel spot, Stingray City, and Starfish beach.
The snorkel spot was okay. If you’ve never been snorkeling, you’ll love it. I was a little spoiled by Looe Key in the Florida keys.
Stingray City was very cool. Crowded, but a very neat experience to see and touch them up close.
Starfish beach was alright. There are a lot of starfish, but it gets boring after 10 minutes or so. They’re all just about the same.
Only negative was the ferry from the ship to the island. We were the first ones in and had to wait 40 minutes to load. I felt so sick from bobbing up and down the whole time. Nearly puked, lol
MSC is currently building their own terminal. In the meantime, they were using a very old and generic terminal. It served its purpose, but it was definitely lacking compared to the others. But again, they’ll have their own new, glamorous terminal in Miami in a year or so.
Dodge Island/Port of Miami is insanely busy. There’s no way around it when you have so many giant ships all arriving and leaving at the same time.
Disembarkation was sad and moved pretty easily for the most part. Just a little slow. Only real drawback was my brother’s suitcase handle getting bent. It was brand new.
HOWEVER, he sent an email to MSC regarding the broken suitcase, and they completely immediately reimbursed him for a new one! Very impressed with them!
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