MSC is just not ready for the American cruisers. It is a beautiful ship, but service is not up to par.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was fast and easy even with all the COVID requirements. We were on the boat within 30 minutes from our arrival to the port.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
The main dining room food was less than exciting. Most of the food was bland and boring. I think they purposely make the main dining room boring to drive traffic to the specialty restaurants. The atmosphere was nice, but less stately than other ships. This was our ninth cruise, but the first with MSC. I have never had such bad food in a main dining room. The food in the buffet was really good, but they had really strange hours and rules. The most disappointing is that you can't get ice cream except from 4:00-5:00. Again, I think this is to encourage you to spend money on the gelato that served throughout the ship.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The water slides on the ship were a lot of fun. They did not fill the main pool so that created a very crowded situation even though the ship was not a full capacity. There is a large movie screen at the main pool that they only showed movies 2 times. They were both children's films. It seemed like such a lost opportunity. There were very few organized games during the day.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
This ship had two different shows in different theaters each evening. This was a pleasant surprise. Two of the shows in the main theater were some of the best I have ever encountered on a ship. However, the other shows were just okay.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Our room steward was great! Unfortunately, the rest of the staff on board was not. Our first morning on board, we went searching for specialty coffee. We entered into the Venchi chocolate area that advertises amazing chocolate coffees throughout the ship. When we entered, a waitress very rudely told us "Not open!" We asked where we could find coffee, and someone else told us to go to another bar on the ship. Once we found it, the barista was great and created some of the best coffee on a ship. Unfortunately, that was not our only encounter with rude employees. There was another extremely rude employee that was handling the wrist bands for the water slides. Overall, there were not very many waiters on hand throughout the ship. Usually, it is easy to get a fruity drink while laying out on the ship deck, but not on MSC. I think it is because most people purchase a drink package and they actually do not need to sell drinks by the pool. In fact, they probably want to make it harder to get them.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
It is a beautiful ship. It is huge!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin is very typical of most ships with balconies. The shower is actually smaller, which I didn't think was possible. However, it had great storage options with hooks and hangers.
Ship tip
Do not miss the Paris show! Be sure to go to the shows at the Cabaret theater. Take cards,, games, books with you. They are not available on the ship and there are not enough activities.
This is a beautiful port, but you can't really go anywhere except on an excursion with the cruise line due to COVID. The people of Jamaica are some of the friendliest
This is one of the most beautiful private islands I have ever had the opportunity to visit. I don't understand why we couldn't stay longer to see the light show on the lighthouse. It was a great day.
Long lines and we were held up because we had a $5.00 coffee bill that they did not just charge to our credit card, but made us pay cash at a machine. This happened to a lot of people which what caused the long lines.
Thanks for the review I will still looking forward On my August 20th Sail with this ship, my 1st MSC.
Hope they Improved by the time, I Know they can be better and Have some kind of resolve
We’re going on Seashore with expectations that everything will be just a little weird. 😁
First time on MSC, so we’re excited to experience their style… good, bad, or about the same.
Thanks for the review. I took my first cruise in January with MSC and had a great experience. It was my 20th cruise and I thought the food and service were equivalent to or better than our experience on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Holland America. The difference may have been less than 600 passengers in January vs Spring Break crowds.
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