The overall cruise was great!we missed one of the port due to weather and not able to dock. Wish the pools and hot tubs would have been heated. The food and service were great.
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First time on MSC and we loved it. Already booked our next MSC cruise. I will say the only down is I wasn’t impressed with a Hola! Specialty Restaurant. Other than that we enjoyed our stay.
Food was great Activity was full Decor and glamour Ocean cay was spectacular Staff helpful
This was the first time for us to go with MSC, we wish to have Zumba on the day that on the water as princess and Royal Caribbean do. The food were good but wish to have some asain food. Thank you.
We just got off the MSC Seashore for a 3 night cruise and I have a long drive home so I wanted to write this review while things are fresh. We are a family of 5 and were in 2 connecting balcony cabins. We have cruised numerous times in the past with Disney, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and on Carnival. We never stay in upgraded rooms or levels. This was our first MSC cruise because the ship was newer and the price was good. We came in knowing we're not getting Disney service and quality at this price point. So let's begin... Pros Ocean Cay: Best cruise island we have ever been to! Beautiful and well done. So many pretty beaches and areas, and it never felt crowded even with a full ship. Did not do lunch here so can't speak on that. Could have used a few more restrooms and areas with drinking water. Also the umbrellas need some better way to stabilize them as they were falling on people left and right. Pizza: Best cruise ship pizza. Get some! Ice cream: Good quality ice cream at the buffet. Probably the best we've had on a cruise. Creamy and delicious. Not watery or grainy like on some other lines. Easy embarkation and disembarkation. Easy to make reservations for specialty dining. Waterpark and slides: if you have younger kids this looked awesome. Slides were fun when open. They aren't constantly asking you for good reviews or a 10 out of 10 on surveys. This can be annoying on other cruise lines. I suspect this is because they don't actually care about their ratings, but it was still refreshing. Neutral The food was fine. Lots of options at buffet. We are not foodies. Some was good, some was not great, but nothing to complain about. The elevators were needlessly complicated and the system had no idea if an elevator was full. We tried hitting the bottom once and hitting it for each member of the party, but it didn't matter. However, I found the elevators to be no slower or worse than elevators on any large cruise ship. I didn't think it was as big a problem as I've read in a lot of places. Before I start the cons: *Your experience and opinions may vary. This does not invalidate my opinion or yours. I hope you have/had the best time and had no issues. *Anyone who can go on a cruise is lucky. But a lot of things can add up to make the experience less than amazing. Cons: The buffet, good Lord the buffet. Worst layout I have ever seen. A total madhouse. Not a con because of the food just the layout, walking space, lines and general chaos. Lack on hand sanitizer anywhere. Any cruise ships I have been on have hand sanitizer everywhere. Not here. They were few and oddly placed. One in front of a bar, one in front of the next cruise reservation desk, but none at the buffet. Hand washing stations at the buffet were not obvious and there was no one encouraging people to wash their hands. Once there wasn't even any soap in them. We just stopped at Buc-ee's and I have to say there were TONS more hands sanitizers in the restroom than the entire cruise ship. Not even close. Lack of trash cans on the ship. Walking around the ship holding on to trash as I searched for a trash can and ended up just shoving it in my pocket because I couldn't find one. Entertainment: I never cruised in the 70s but I would imagine the entertainment would be a lot like what was on this ship. The main shows had a very lounge singer type feel. Lots of variety shows. In my opinion, the quality of the singers and dancers was not great. There was a magician and contortionists who were good. Inconvenience of food and drinks. We didn't do a drink package so I can't speak on that. It was ridiculous that you had to go up to the buffet anytime you wanted a drink. If you are on the 5th floor and want water, you need to go to 16. Bartenders would not give you water unless you buy a bottle. No place on the ship to get food that you didn't have to pay extra for except dining rooms and buffet. So inconvenient. Staff. I don't know that anyone was rude but they were for sure apathetic and the least friendly I've encountered on a ship. The happiest and nicest they were was when the guests were walking off the ship. No paper planners: I appreciate their attempt to save paper, but not having a paper planner was really a hindrance. Having to look at the app every time you wanted to see an activity was a pain, especially when the app is as poor as the MSC app. It took forever to look something up. I'm not elderly, but I can't imagine my parents would have fared well without a paper activity schedule. On the subject of the app, the messaging was pretty unreliable and our 15-year-old daughter had no way of messaging us because you needed to be 16 to use the messaging on the app. Lack of information and communication. It was like a do it yourself cruise in the sense that if you wanted to know anything, you needed to find out yourself. There were very few announcements and the app was a joke. They would list the name of an event and if it wasn't self explanatory in the title, you would click on it and it wouldn't tell you anything about it. No menus in the main dining room: You had to scan a QR code to see the menu. I know this is a practice that started during COVID, and is probably them trying to save paper, but this was a pain. I did see a few people asked for a paper menu, but you shouldn't have to ask for menus. Especially since dinner is a time I like to be off my phone and enjoy my family. No walking or jogging track on ship. If you like to take a nice walk outside after dinner, there is no place to do that where you aren't blocked off by something or hit some stairs. The 8th floor is the closest, though I don't think it goes all the way around and you will be walking through the smoking area. Which brings me to the smoking area. If you are a smoker this is a plus. The biggest smoking section I have seen on a ship. But here's the thing. The only thing that should be in the deck above the smoking section is another public deck, not balcony rooms. Which brings me to our rooms. 9150 and 9148. We were on the 9th floor directly above the smoking area, unbeknownst to us, because no where does it say that when booking a room. Lesson learned to do more research on room location when booking a cruise. I researched to make sure we weren't below a nightclub or something noisy, but I hadn't thought to check if our rooms would be right over the smoking section because I have never encountered that on a ship. We had limited use of our balcony because of the smoke. It might not bother everyone, but we are sensitive to it and it irritates my allergies/asthma. Sometimes you couldn't smell anything if the ship was moving fast, but if it was slower or in port, you better like smoke. There was also the constant chatter and laughter coming from that area. I don't blame the guests for this as they are enjoying themselves on their vacation. Just poor ship design to have rooms right above this area which was always busy. And if you are going to have rooms here, let people know and offer them at a lower rate. I would have certainly paid more to be on the opposite side of the ship. But no problem, we can just relax in our room. Not so fast... From the moment we entered 9150 we noticed a smell of urine. 9148 was fine. So if you're in that room, you're urine free. We complained and had housekeeping come a few times. They vacuumed but that didn't work. Luckily I brought body spray with me and would have to keep spraying that to try to disguise the scent. On the second day after smelling everything around the room, we, not housekeeping, realized the smell was coming from the air conditioning vent. I don't know why the ac vent was spewing urine scented air and frankly, I don't want to know. We told housekeeping, but nothing was ever done. However if we kept the air conditioner off there was no smell, so we didn't use it for the rest of the cruise. Luckily, I'm one of those people who is always cold, so it didn't bother me. But if you like things cool and are in this room, good luck. We complained again before we left this morning asking that they fix it for the next guests. If we did not have connecting rooms, I would have asked to see if we could switch rooms. However, I believe the ship was full given that it was spring break and when we booked, ours were the last two connecting rooms. We noticed there were no tissues in the cabins. You needed to ask housekeeping if you wanted to blow your nose. Maybe trying to save paper again. Look, MSC is either the most environmentally friendly cruise line with it's no tissues, no daily planners and no menus, or they are just cheap. Given the lack of hand sanitizer and trashcans, I'm thinking the latter. Did we have an awful time? No. Everything is what you make of it. We had many laughs over the things I have listed as cons and made some good memories. I think this is a good budget friendly cruise option. I do not plan to cruise MSC again based on this cruise. There were a lot of little and big things that added up to me wanting to spend more for a better experience. I realize not everyone is able to do this. If you have read this long, thank you and don't book 9150.
Gorgeous Ship. Service was very good. Accommodations were first class! Food was very well served and also very good. On par or better than most cruises. Excursions were expensive for what you got. The MSC island NEEDS MORE CHAIRS and more organization for drinks!
Great cruise. Very inexpensive and relaxing experience. The reviews are right, MSC has the best pizza. The cruse staff was fantastic. The only complaint is the insanely expensive internet package. I refuse to pay $300 for 1 week of connectivity. Beware of the pool tables, theyre $9 a game. Tables are in horrible condition.
It was amazing! Kadam the cabin steward did a fantastic job! He is the best!
The last 2 days was scary, the wind was very scary.
Family friendly, great service, loads of fun
The ship is beautiful and provides everything you would ever need or want. Navigating the ship is a bit tricky. We were on the MSC World Europa last year and it was much easier.
This is a beautiful ship that is well laid out. It’s easy to get around the ship without you feeling crowded. They have the area for the kids with the slides placed perfectly where its kind of hidden away as to keep them separated from the adults. The theatre shows were amazing too. Their private island just beautiful.
Great staff going above and beyond expectations fun cruise, liked magic show in theatre the most not much into broadway and dance musicals but believe most other guests enjoyed them. Dining room and cabin attendants were superb