This is our first cruise on MSC. Although the ship is very beautiful, I do not think we will go on MSC again, at least for a long time. It seems like they need to figure things out. I think most of their crew is new and it is very hard to communicate with most of them. I am pretty easy to please and I realize we are so fortunate to go on a beautiful Caribbean Cruise. I don't like to complain, but at the same time we did spend a lot of money and should not feel so frustrated on a trip that had the intent of being a relaxing time. The spa is a good example. We paid extra for the thermal spa, but we were only able to use it 2 days of the 7 because it was way to crowded and rooms were out of order. The times we used it we loved it but as the week went on it seems like they sold more passes or had deals where more people were there and that is the opposite of relaxing.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Busy but nothing bad!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Buffet food was great, although the set up makes for a chaotic experience. It was hard to figure out where certain food was, just not a good setup.
Brunch in the main dining room was also very, very unorganized. The waiters were good, but you could tell they had not been given good directives from management. Too many tables each and just not consistent at all and it took an hour and a half to eat which was not what we expected. We missed an event we wanted to attend due to this.
Dinner in the main dining room was also slow at first, it got better as the week went on and we LOVED our waiters....they just had way too many tables. Once again a management issue, not the waiters fault.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Loved the infinity pools in the back. Hard to find chairs though at any pool though. People went out very early and laid towels on chairs and then didn't come back for hours. I know this is an issue on most ships but it is so frustrating. There were also neat beds and couches around the pools but we never were able to use them because of people putting their stuff on them and never coming back. There has to be a better fix for this.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We watched a few of the shows and they were good, we enjoyed Royal Caribbean's broadway shows much more though. Hard to beat those.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our waiters were so sweet and did their best for what they were given. They were given too many tables which did affect their service and you could feel their stress.
Guest services was bad all week. So many issues that caused us pretty much frustration. It seems like language barriers and lack of knowledge was the issue.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
The ship was beautiful!! That was my favorite part of our week was how the ship looked. It was very clean as well. The layout was confusing. I think we finally figured it out by the last day!! :) I have never had that issue on other ships and even bigger ships.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
It was very nice. Only complaint was we smelled sewer pretty much all week. I could tell we were getting close to our cabin area because of it. :(
Ship tip
The first day I would take a good tour to figure out where things are. Use the very back glass elevator as much as possible..it is much quicker. Also, the elevators are "smart" elevators, but they are only as smart as the people using them. You have to push the floor number for EACH person that is getting on or it is useless. It assigns an elevator for you considering how much room is on each one.
It is a good port. It is expensive but I think everything is anymore. We had a long wait for our flight back home so we did a day pass at a hotel on Miami Beach which was nice.
The immediate port area is nice with shops, a pool and lazy river. The town is very authentic and we felt slightly uneasy walking to it on our own. We didn't stay long but got pictures of the umbrella and pink streets.
I love San Juan!! We had a nice long time there. 10am-11pm. We love walking all the way around the fort (El morro) and walking the big sidewalk along the coast back to town. So pretty. Found a neat, authentic restaurant with amazing views. Put on your walking shoes though!!
I was on the Seascape this past January and has a great time with issues with communication, since everyone I dealt with spoke and understood English. Did have minor issues with MDR where the food didn't come to table very hot. Otherwise, I had a memorable cruise and I booked another MSC cruise for next year.
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