I was pleasantly surprised at the service on MSC. There is definitely a "European" culture onboard and we did encounter many people with a lack of manners, but it was overall a very enjoyable cruise and the price point for this line is very good.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We arrived at the port and had no difficulty finding the check in point. We showed our boarding pass and were directed to go inside. The process was fairly quick and appeared to be organized for the most part. We received our sail pass card and were then sent upstairs to a waiting area. We only waited less than ten minutes before we were allowed to board the ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The MDR food was kind of hit or miss. However, the service in the MDR was very good, with the exception of rather slow service a couple of nights. the food tasted good for the most part, but the steaks were very tough and flavorless, with lots of gristle and fat, with the exception of the filet mignon on the night we had it. Most of the fish I had was cooked nicely and tasted good. The crabcakes were rather gummy and not a good choice. While I know that food is subjective and everyone has different tastes, I would still give the food in MDR a 3.5 to 4 star because the quality was not consistent. The Buffet had a large selection. The french fries were consistently delicious every time I had them. And surprisingly, for a cruise ship, they had delicious desserts! Usually, they look very pretty but lack much taste. I had several pasta dishes in both the MDR and Buffet, and they definitely like to serve them al dente, almost to the point of being not cooked. There were food trucks on the private island, which served great fries and burgers and dogs, but no included drinks available at those food trucks.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We did not participate in a lot of onboard activities, with the exception of the production shows nightly. Those productions with the singers and dancers were OUTSTANDING! Probably the best I've seen on a cruise ship. They do not have live orchestra to perform with, but the canned music for the shows worked out. However, I did not find any music talent onboard that I thought was great. Usually, there is someone to listen in the lounge somewhere, but I did not find anyone that I enjoyed enough to follow around to listen to during my 2-week cruise. The cruise staff entertainment was excellent, with the dances they performed in the atrium.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Stage shows were the best I've ever seen on a cruise line! Costumes were beautiful and the performers were all excellent. Musicians onboard were only mediocre to poor. The cruise staff did some nice dance and singing performances and they were a great team.
Children's Programs
no children with me
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
The service in the MDR was less than stellar during lunch and breakfast. However, the waitstaff for our table in the MDR at dinner was outstanding and took great care of us. My husband requested a garden salad at dinner every night on the 2nd week of our cruise and our server always got him fixed right up and both the server and his assistant were very congenial and helpful and just a delight. Staff in the Buffet was less helpful but never rude. It was just different than the other lines I'm used to being with. They rarely offered help or drink refills. There was no help available when there was an extremely loud group in the buffet....yelling, whistling as if they were outdoors, for over 30 minutes. We did finally ask for a restaurant manager, but no one ever came and finally the group departed the buffet area. Resolving situations at the guest services desk took much longer than it ever should have taken. Staff did not seem prepared to deal with situations. There was one staff member in the photo dept. on the last night that was extremely rude and downright hateful. We were quite disappointed in the lack of concern and willingness to work with and take care of guests.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was very beautiful and I felt it was laid out nicely. There was plenty of room to observe the activity in the atrium, with it being multi-level. The theater was large enough to accommodate the large number of guests onboard. The temp was kept rather cold in that theater, however. There appeared to be numerous places to catch the sun on loungers around the various decks. The elevators were different than I had ever used before and they didn't seem to function that well. I never understood why it put everyone all on the same elevator car and when that car finally arrived, it was already full of people, which left all 20 of us that had been waiting, with no room to get on that car we had been assigned.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
The cabin was spacious and had plenty of storage. It was nice to have a full size sofa for sitting instead of having to lounge on the bed when we were in the cabin. The balcony was equipped with 2 upright chairs and an ottoman. A lounger or some type of convertible chair would have been nice. The design with the closet on the wall next to the bed did make it difficult to get things out of the closet since there was just a few inches between the closet and the edge of the bed.
Ship tip
Be aware of the multi cultural nature of this cruise line and be open to meeting many different nationalities.
We did an independent excursion to Stingray City. The excursion was OK, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us and we got rained on before we returned to the port and had to eliminate one of the stops.
We visited Chankanaab Park independently and had a great time. Snorkeling from the beach was great and saw lots of fish. The beach and loungers were nice and the food was OK. Included the sea lion show, which is always entertaining.
The private island was excellent. Very beautiful and the water is great. We were actually there on both 7 days (back to back) cruises. The first week we went to the North Beach and paid for umbrellas and had to take them to the chairs ourselves and install them. The second week week we went to the beach closest to the ship...lighthouse beach maybe? not sure of the name....anyway, the chairs were Adirondack chairs and were more comfortable than the loungers, and umbrellas were free on that beach....first come first serve of course for those. The food trucks that were stationed near the beaches were better than the long trek to the buffet area, where there were long lines and food was not all that great. The burgers and fries from the food truck were excellent, but they do not have any complimentary drinks such as tea and water and lemonade as they do at the buffet, which was a bummer. It's a very nice island and the water at the last beach we went to is nicer sand and able to walk out into the water farther than on the North Beach.
Embarkation was rather slow and seemed disorganized to me. Our time to disembark was supposed to 10-10 and we were not even called to leave the theater until nearly 11 am.
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