I got this cruise “free” from a casino I frequent in Atlantic City. I had to pay $400 deposit but got it back as shop credit of which I paid for gratuity and photos and bowling with. However, I would not pay to cruise MSC again, but would if it was free.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
I was in such a happy mood to begin our cruise until I checked in at the Miami port. The person at the desk was not really welcoming and his demeanor put me in a blah mood. Then there was no direction as to where to go, we just guessed and went up in an elevator. There wasn’t music or anything “happy” about getting on the ship. It was just a blah experience unlike other cruise lines I’ve been on.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
The food was awful. It was such a disappointment and I am not a picky eater. The dinners in the main dining room were not good at all, I hardly ate. I’m probably the only person to go hungry on a cruise ship. The buffet was better than the main dining room, but still not great. I did not dine in any of the specialty restaurants.
Seashore Restaurant
2 out of 5
The food was not good and was really disappointed. I really did not enjoy any of the food served in this restaurant. It was hardly eatable. You are not offered a second drink, not once. So if you want more than 1 drink during dinner, order 2 at the same time.
Venchi 1878 Chocolate Bar and Venchi 1878 Gelato & Creperie
2 out of 5
The chocolate is good, but VERY expensive!! I spent $13 on a few small pieces of chocolate that my son ate in less than a minute.
The Biscayne Bay Buffet & Pizzeria
3 out of 5
My son loved the pizza, it’s basically all he ate the entire cruise except for breakfast he had pancakes every morning. For myself, the burgers were good. Everything else was eh.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
The pools were all so crowded. I got kicked in the head in the jungle pool. My son enjoyed the kids club (he is 10) but some of the activities were too young for his age. My son enjoyed bowling and the air hockey table. The casino is small.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
The shows were terrible! They were so bad to be honest. I walked out of 3 shows and I think it’s so rude to walk out of shows but I had to, they were that bad. Very amateurish unlike other cruises I’ve been on. For example, I saw Rock of Ages on a Norwegian cruise and it was AMAZING!! MSC needs to step up with their entertainment.
Children's Programs
3 out of 5
My son enjoyed the kids club, but the times they were opened and their dinner time didn’t work out well for us. For example, the kids club went to dinner from 6:30-7:30, but our dinner was at 7:30, so I couldn’t drop him off until 8:30-9:00 so he missed a lot of time in the kids club.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Our waiter was great, but we didn’t get to talk to him much at all because he was constantly on the go. He even made a comment that he felt bad he wasn’t able to talk to us much because there are only 2 main dining rooms and 3 seatings, whereas other cruise lines he’s worked on had 3 main dining rooms and 2 seatings which was much more manageable. But if you want more than 2 drinks at dinner, order both of them together in the beginning else you will only get 1 drink during dinner. They do not come back around asking if you want another drink. Our room steward was good, but again only said a few words to him such as hi and bye in passing, but I never had to call and ask for anything as he always cleaned our room timely and replaced towels. I did encounter a rude crew member when we were getting back on board. I advised the person scanning our card that my son had to go to the bathroom and it’s an emergency. He could care less and shrugged his shoulders. I asked what’s the fastest way on board as there was a long line through security, he laughed and said there is no fast way. Well, my son peed himself.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
Personally, I did not like the decor of the ship. A lot of people say it’s a beautiful ship, but I have to disagree. I do not like all the chrome, mirrors, and bling. Just not my thing. Maybe it’s an Italian thing as the ship is from Italy, I don’t know. Although I saw the crew cleaning, I saw boogers wiped on the inside of the woman’s bathroom stall in 2 different bathrooms, so gross!! Who wipes their boogers on the stall walls?? Nasty!
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin was great. The bed was very comfortable, I slept great every night. The size was good for 2 people. The Stewart cleaned our cabin twice a day. The only downfall is that I wanted to sleep with the balcony door open, but wasn’t able to most nights because I could hear people on their balconies talking and could hear people down in the bars and pool area. The first night people were singing Christmas songs (in July!)
We loved Jamaica!! When we got off the ship there were hagglers, but once I told them I pre-booked with someone else, they did not try to haggle me anymore and even helped show me where to find the group I booked with. We booked with Sham & Orion and did Blue Hole which was amazing!!!! I definitely recommend Blue Hole and Sham & Orion.
We also really liked George Town. We booked the stingray city and starfish beach with the cruise ship as we got priority on the tug boat (this is a tender stop)
Nassau was also great. Although there were a lot of haggling, we shared a taxi to Love Beach with 2 other families. We paid $25/pp round trip from the port to Love Beach. Love Beach is great for snorkeling and is less crowded that Cable and Cabbage Beach.
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