This was my first cruise with MSC. Right after we booked the cruise I started reading some reviews about MSC and most of them were from previous NCL or Royal cruisers and they were negative. So I started panicking and even thought about canceling the cruise. I can happily say that I'm so glad that I didn't cancel it! The thing that's so great about MSC is there ships and prices. The cruise was super cheap even for the balcony that we had. As I said the ship was the best I've ever been on! It was shiny, but yet cozy and the infinity bridge + the bridge of sighs + the outdoor buffet were an incredible bonus to the ship! I really recommend going to the bridge of sighs to watch the sail aways or also at the sunset pool on deck 7! I never felt like I was on a ship on the Seaview. Literally! Plus almost anywhere you go you can see the ocean. The atrium is probably the best out there! We had a balcony cabin on deck 9 and it was huge, modern and always very clean. Also the balcony was very big! One thing that I did miss was the towel animals that they do on other cruise lines. The itinerary was also amazing! There's not much to do in Messina so I recommend going to mount Etna. Incredible place! I have to say though that the excursions were pretty expensive and most of them were just the transport. For example we paid $250 for 4 people to go to mount Etna. We got on a bus and after an hour and 30m ride we arrived. We were told that we only have 45 mins to look around and then we got back on the bus and drove straight back to the ship. So that was not much fun. So we basically paid $250 for a 3h bus ride. Anyways the drinks in the bars were pretty good, but not amazing. I have to recommend the chocolate and the coffee drinks in the Venchi bar. They were very nice. Although I have to say that the service was incredibly slow in most of the bars. Especially at Venchi! Guest services were very helpful! We had a ton of images taken all-over the ship, but we were very very disappointed at the quality of the photos. The photographers were just straight out mean, they don't talk and expect you to guess what they're trying to show you. All of our images were pretty much ruined by the effects that they do. We all looked out of focus and the background looked like it was a green screen. Which it was not. Also they were tilted about 10 degrees. We did end up buying every single photo in a digital format for $150. Alright so now let's talk about the food. It was not good. The food in main dining room was of good quality, but every day it was pretty much similar and the food was mediterranean. At the buffet I have to say that the food was not good at all. Everyday it was the same and they have a huge buffet, but so little options. Breakfast at the buffet was very bad. Just undercooked bacon and sausages. I recommend going to the main dining room for breakfast and lunch, because as you probably guessed, the lunch at the buffet wasn't good as well. Just some cold hot dogs and burgers. Also at the main dining room the tables are so close to another that you couldn't hear what the people on your table are talking. Also it was super busy and the staff felt like they were in a hurry. The dinner is about 1h then the lights get super bright so they're pretty much telling you to leave. We played a lot of table tennis and foosball which was free and that was cool, but almost everything else is paid and it's expensive. The bowling was $30 for 30 minutes! No thanks! Also they make you sign a waver just to go on the slides and you have to wear a bracelet to prove that signed it and you can't rake it off, because you won't be able to put it back on. The slides were cool, but I only recommend the two fast ones. There was also on big long one that you had to have a board to ride and it was also lime a guitar hero game with flashing lights and on the board you have to press the color that is flashing. That slide is soo slow and there's also always a huge line for it. But the slides are free. There's also a zipline that costs 9 euro per ride, but it was closed during the entire cruise, which was unfortunate. They do kinda nickle and dime you for most things. So you pay less for the cruise than other cruise lines, but everything is expensive on board. Also everyone in the cabin has to buy the drink package, which makes it absurdly expensive! But other than the food and the nickle and diming and the ridiculous prices for most things, the cruise was very good! And that's mainly because of the ship! I don't know how people go on MSC's older ships. If they only fix there cuisine it might turn into my favorite cruise line! I would definitely like to sail again on there newer ships, especially if the prices are good!
