MSC Sinfonia

The worst cruise experience ever, I have sailed over 20 cruises with Royal, Carnival, 1 Costa and 1 MSC prior to this MSC. We had a good experience on the Poesia from Ft. Louderdale and thought this will be the same. 1. The food is the worse from any cruise ship we have been on. No steak, no Lobster, smelly shrimps, salty fish. 2. Never heard of WATER packages before, to pay for tap water is insane. The first thing they bring you at the restaurant is a jug of water with ice. Here you have to pay for water or carry a bottle with you that you can fill on deck and walk with it to the restaurant. This is a NO on any cruise. If you want you can pay for bottled water but for tap water at a restaurant is unacceptable. 3. The toilet did not flush correctly for the first 3 days on board, fixed at least 2 and worked on the 3rd time. The cabin steward was amazing though. He did everything he could do and the room was always clean and tidy. 4. No towel kiosks at the pool, you stay with your wet soaking towel till the end. New towels brought in to the room every night. 5. We thought it was a mistake to be in Mykonos from 8 pm to 3 am in the morning, instead of splitting the day/night between Santorini and Mykonos, and half day in Dubrovnik. It made more sense to skip Ancona where there is nothing to do and spend 1 full day in Santorini, Mykonos and Dubrovnik. It's a Italian port city and few people embark there. Horrible port of call. 6. Each announcement is in 7+ languages and to listen and sit thru that is just horrible, everyone complained, usually it's English and the ships own language here Italian, maybe add Spanish but not to have all these languages. No more MSC for me for sure and won't recommend this ship and itinerary to any one I know.

The food and staff of the Sinfonia were very good. They remembered us and what we liked. The onboard activities were lacking for people our age. If we were able to go to all of our locations it probably would not have mattered but we had 2 days at sea that were not planed and did not get to Mykonos. The evening shows were really bad.

South Africa was fantastic. The cruise ship was not the best we have been on. On board spend was expensive, £15 four AA batteries, £3 for 8 in Isreal. First time we have had to buy water in the restaurant.

The last week of the cruise the ship was running out of butter, coffee, tea etc.

entertainment was good and the staff was very good.

My favorite part of the cruise was the ports in Africa - Cape Town and Dakar.

Our suite was good in that it was spacious with a tub and marble floors, however, the advertise that the ship is modern and updated - it is not!  The South African people on the cruise and the South African staff were so friendly.  The Italian staff was rude and the entertainment was juvenile.  The food was low grade.  

All services on board was offered at the convenience of the cruise line, not the passengers.  If you do not take their excursions, getting off the boat is made more difficult.  Meals were offered at limited  and rigid  times and not convenient for those of us who like to go ashore on our own.  Will not take MSC again.