They need to give better instructions. We didn't know where to go to get off the ship for ports. I had to keep going to reception to ask questions. We probably missed out on a lot of stuff because we never knew. But good thing I got 40 papers about the jewelry sales. I won't do another MSC cruise.
Embarkation
3 out of 5
It was easily to beard the ship, we followed the signs. We were almost last to board so there wasn't a line. However, it was our first cruise-ever, and no one gives you information for that. They all just assume you've done one before so we missed a lot because we simply didn't know.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
2 out of 5
Everyone raves about food on cruise ships. This was nothing to to rave about. The food was flat out bad. The buffet had rice and some type of soggy vegetable and weird meat everyday. Not exactly a 5 star meal. The pizza bar at lunch was ok. The dinner restaurant tried to be a 5 star restaurant but really fell short. The food just wasn't good. My husband is a big meat guy and he could finish most of the meat. Weird texture or consistency. Had him questioning what he was even eating. The risotto was flavorless but was in the menu every night. Just lame at every possibility. Even breakfast...no omelette bar, no berries, just runny scrambled eggs or fried eggs and of course deli meat and cheese. The French toast was raw in the middle so that only was tasted once. Food was a fail. We paid for the drink package, so the drinks were fine.
Onboard Activities
2 out of 5
There was one small pool for this giant ship. The kiddie splash zone was bigger than the pool. I wasn't going near it...
Entertainment
2 out of 5
I never saw a schedule for the shows in the theater so I don't know if there were any. The dj at the pool was so loud you had to hear it 3 levels down- but it wasn't music, it was the guy playing pool games or games on the deck. He was obnoxious. Maybe make the speakers just for that area so if you want to I'm participate you can go over there.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff were all fantastic. I will say that. They went above and beyond to help. Very kind.
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Ok. I kept smelling urine in two of the bars. It was an old ship, maybe that's why.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
We had a suite. The balcony was large. The bed was comfy and we had plenty of room. But- we paid for it. I was told the Aurea level was adults only. Not true. There were kids staying right next to me. So, that was nice.
Ship tip
Very few Americans aboard. I will say ...Europeans are not friendly and many of them smoke. This ship felt old, and it wasn't a great first cruise experience.
Msc screwed this one up. We ended up only getting a few hours here because of where we had to sick. We had to take a ferry, then walk several miles then take a train. There were no instructions. None of us knew what to do. This was very poor planning. They should have given us info ahead of time about all of this, or got to port earlier so we could enjoy the city. It took over an hour to get from the city back to the ferry waiting area. I wanted to visit this city the most and hardly got to see it. Oh, but if you paid for an MSC excursion you got off first and had a great day.
For this one they had us disembark by last name and we had a priority ticket. So much nicer than Brinidisi where we had to wait in a huge line for an hour. Why couldn't we do every port like this? I don't understand it.
Thanks for your review. I can’t tell if this is your first cruise because you don’t have any listed. Perhaps try another cruise line next time. There are so many wonderful ones to try.
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