Overall, it was a nice cruise. We’ll definitely cruise MSC again.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
We had the aurea experience so we had a dedicated line once we got through security but the line to get upstairs to security was super long and you’re outside in the heat.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
We ate in the main dining room (Manhattan) every night and the food was good…there was always the option to get a lobster tail or filet for an extra $19.99, but we didn’t feel the need to spend the extra money. The shrimp cocktail was available every night and there were 4 nice sized shrimp. There was a different cuisine every night as a featured selection such as prime rib, honey barbecue meat loaf and chicken parmigiana. Strip steak and chicken or fish was also available every night.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
We really enjoyed the Aurea Spa and the Top 19 sun deck which is included with Aurea. The infinity pool was beautiful but way too crowded. The jungle pool was nice with padded loungers although a bit on the noisy side with all the kids…we didn’t go in the pools or hot tubs (too many kids) and I’m glad we didn’t because the jungle pool was closed one afternoon due to 💩 in the pool.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
We enjoyed the shows in the theater every night except the first night. Highly talented singers and dancers and the magician was good also. Not sure why there wasn’t a show the first night of the cruise.
Went to see the dueling pianos and the were ok…we’ve heard better.
Enjoyed most of the acts in Cabaret Rouge…could have done without the juggler LOL.
We were very disappointed that they didn’t have the laser light show on Ocean Cay. Had seen videos of it and were looking forward to seeing it live…not sure why they didn’t have it as the weather was perfect for it!
Children's Programs
No children with us.
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Service was top notch. The entire staff was wonderful. Service at some of the bars was slow, but the bartenders were working their butts off to try to accommodate everyone. We loved the bar up on Top 19 because it wasn’t as crowded. We were pleasantly surprised to have waiters taking drink orders at the jungle pool so we didn’t have to go up to the bar. They needed more bars or at least more bartenders on Ocean Cay because there was a super long wait there.
We had open seating as part of Aurea and ate in the Manhattan dining room every night. We never had to wait for a table and our waiter, Safwan, was amazing. We asked for him every night.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ship was well laid out and spotless. There was always someone cleaning and polishing. I was afraid the ship would be too big, but because of the 20 decks, it wasn’t that far from forward to aft and easy to get around.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
The main part of the cabin and the balcony was ok in size, but the bathroom was tiny. We’re not large people and could barely fit in the shower. My significant other also had to open the cabinet door under the sink when he was on the toilet for his knees (he’s 6’2”).
The cabin could have been a little cleaner.
Ship tip
Pay extra for the Aurea experience. Don’t rely on the ships Wi-Fi, it’s very slow and you’re limited to one device in the included Wi-Fi. Ship doesn’t allow you to use that one device as a hotspot and it doesn’t allow switch devices so whichever device you use initially, that’s the device for the entire cruise.
Beautiful island. We were fortunate enough to be facing the island…not sure if they dock the same way every time, but we were on the starboard side of the ship.
The beach on the ocean side nearest the ship was rough. There were red flags so no one was allowed in the water. We took the shuttle over to South Beach where there’s a cove, so we were able to swim…the water was beautiful and there were floats to swim out to. Had a delicious cheeseburger and fries from one of the complimentary food trucks. As mentioned earlier, the bar was very crowded and we didn’t get a laser light show at night 😢.
We didn’t do any excursions here.
We got off the ship…mainly to try to find public Wi-Fi so I could download some books to my kindle and some apps on my iPad.
We walked through some of the shops at port and visited the straw market. Stopped at Sharkies for a drink and their Wi-Fi. We probably won’t get off the ship again if we visit Nassau. We didn’t do any excursions here as our time in port was so short. I’m not sure why they had to leave at 3:00…
Fairly easy for a ship this size. Wasn’t happy about having to be out of the cabins by 7 am, but we relaxed by the Jungle pool after breakfast and went down to our assigned disembarkation point in the Brooklyn Cafe at 8:00. Because we were Aurea, we had number 2 which got us off right after the people that carried their own luggage off. They called our number around 8:15 and we walked down 2 flights of stairs to the gangway on deck 6 then grabbed our luggage and got in line for passport control. They had facial recognition so we didn’t even need to show our passports. We were out and on the shuttle to get to our off-site parking at 8:45. We parked at Park Port Canaveral which is only a 5 minute shuttle ride from the port and the shuttles run every 15 minutes. We highly recommend them. We precooked and found a coupon online that saved us 15%. Ended up paying $66 to park for the entire cruise.
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