This was our first cruise ever, and we did join three other couples (family and friends) who also attended, but they have been on numerous cruises prior. All of them noted, this was not as enjoyable as some other cruises they have been on.
Jewelry store "Effy' was doing promo of free bracelet and charms nightly - man in charge was annoying and you had to hear a 30 min presentation every night! This got old very quickly as it was the same 'blah blah blah' each night and a couple of the sales people, the main man included, were a bit insulting, which a number of us present did not care for. Felt like he had to 'talk down' to everyone - they may want to look at a more enjoyable personality.
All of the MSC staff were very friendly and helpful with anything we needed.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Utilized GoPort for transport to and from ship, Very organized and friendly
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was okay, but buffet never changed. Restaurant was very slow in service, but waiter Pande was very good.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
Utilized the pool area. Played cards with friends also on ship.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Nightly shows were very good.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Our room steward S. Babu was excellent. Anything we needed, he was on it. Pande was a great waiter, there were just too many tables that he was responsible for. Everyone was very nice.
Ship Quality
2 out of 5
MSC appears to be trying to go very tech! However their elevators left ALOT to be desired. Eight elevators and everyone is crammed into one no matter what floor, waiting up to 3 minutes for an elevator to arrive when three are going no where etc.. alot of complaints and issues on this regard from other cruise goers as we all waited or finally took to the stairs.
Ship was very clean but the tech issues after a couple of days became very bothersome.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Cabin was great, the balcony was very enjoyable. Babu keep our cabin clean and very comfortable.
Ship tip
Be patient with the elevators - if you are not into tech, this will be quite annoying.
We did the Salsa excursion, which was very nice. They could cut it shorter by excluding the end beach time, this was a bit much with the vendors constantly trying to sell you something so you couldn't actually relax on the beach (which was just a small roped in area). City was so crowded with three other cruise lines in that shopping or walking around was awful, it would seem like there should be a way to time the ships in and out to make it more enjoyable for everyone. Walkway to the shore was 20 minutes (each way), crowded, not a fun place to even think of going again. Would not get off the ship if we were to take this again.
We did the Trolley Tour of Cozumel excursion. This was very interesting and our Tour guide and bus driver were excellent. We had trolley #21 and had plenty of time to shop and check out the places we stopped at. Tour guide was well informed with great tips.
Glad you enjoyed your first cruise. Welcome to your new obsession. Other cruiselines you can try are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Thank you for your review.
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