MSC Cruises Reviews

Hurray a positive review. We did our research on all med cruises as we have a five year old and we went with MSC Divina & MSC Splendida as they were the only ones that gave you extra if your were willing to pay more and still have plenty for children, so it looked like a happy mix for her and us. So we took the gamble and have have booked 7 nights on each on their Yacht Club deck 16. doing so we really hope we are able to avoid a lot of the problems that others have had with crowds and unexpected bills. although the kids club being full of children speaking everything but English is the only concern we now truly have for if she doesn't like it and refuses to go we are stuffed, romantic holiday enjoy Hi-Tea on balcony over... This is our first trip to the med and italy (tuscany after cruise). We really want to be able to come back and give a rave review for all those who too are concerned about MSC. Baxter, thanks for all your tips on excusions I have printed off your comments and will keep them with me. We have no idea about any of the ports we will be visiting, and going in blind which maybe a good thing or a bad thing as we will get ripped off at every turn :) again thank you for your valuable information.

My wife and I are just back from 7 days Western Med cruise on MSC Splendida. Our experiences were very similar to this review except that we found the Italians and French very pushy and all queues should be formed behind them. We joined in Barcelona and had a safety drill just for people joining there and later in the week had to do it again in Genoa with everyone who joined there as this is the ships starting point for all cruises. We certainly will be looking at the 2013 prices with aview to doing another of their winter cruises.

MSC actually has lots of good reviews, and they seem to have improved in the last couple of years. As this review suggests, yes, the ships cater for Italian and continental passengers in a big way, so the announcements are multi-lingual, and the entertainment is of an international flavour; some Brits can't cope with this. In our experience, (Opera), the menus were fine, plenty of choices even for those not keen on pasta, and the quality was well up to standard, and above several other lines we've tried (Princess for one). Some of the comments below suggest that the ships have a problem with rude Italians - I recall none of that on the ship. (If you're waiting in a town for a bus or tram, then YES, do expect to get your elbows working!). Our issue with MSC was similar to this revue - organisation. Here it was embarkation, lack of clarity about where to go, what to do. On our trip, several coachloads of passengers were dropped at Trieste, with cases obviously, and expected to hang about, or walk round town, for several hours until the transport turned up - everyone had been expecting to be taken to Venice airport, store the cases in left luggage, then have several hours in the city, but hopes all dashed. Re the dress code - anyone wanting to dress up certainly can, but I agree that many seem to interpret the code as 'suggested'. I wouldn't say that it's only Italians though, on our trip there were Brits and Americans taking a novel view of 'smart casual', and we've seen several other lines where people of various nationalities have no clue what the code is trying to get them to do. Would I cruise MSC again? Yes, if it had the right itinerary and price, and given they run more trips from the UK now, it's more rather than less likely.

I am glad that you enjoyed your cruise aboard MSC Fantasia and that you found the food to be of good quality. However, I can only assume that there are wide disparities between MSC ships as we have recently returned from a cruise aboard MSC Lirica and the food could at best be described as poor. Contrary to your experience the food varied from burning hot ( usually the pasta/risotto course which came straight out of the microwave and was presented in a thick, inedible glutinous blob ) to cold main courses where the meat/fish & vegetables had obviously been stood in the kitchen for some time. I too do like Italian food if it is correctly prepared & presented - and I realise it is very difficult to cater for a large number of guests at the same time , but other cruise lines appear to make such a better job of it than MSC. I also found the dining room service to be average - we were often brought food that we hadn't ordered - and on one evening we found that our wine was being drunk by our neighbouring table where it had been wrongly placed by the wine waiter. I suppose you get what you pay for - and clearly other MSC customers have a different opinion - but we will not be cruising with MSC again.

you could say many things about MSC cruises but the food was to die for.and you are one of very few people who agree with me. I love everything Italian and especially the food. If people want English food then stay with boring P @ O. Everything about the food was tasty and interesting and hot. The cruise was the cheapest that I have been on. Ok the entertainment not up to scratch ,too many different nationalities to please and yes the Frank Sinatra tribute singer was painful. certainly would agree with the embarkation it was a shambles but the food and ports of call would certainly draw me back. All inclusive for a £1 and very much reduced child places. overall good value for money and I would certainly go again. Very helpful dinning room staff who went out of their way to assist my disabled husband. Plus the Italian men are better looking than most other nations and have better rear ends!!!!!

Thanks for your review i am going on the new divina in june but you have given me a honest view as to what to expect.The problem with some people is they think they are the only people on the cruise any holiday i have been on involves waiting to check into your etc RELAX and enjoy you are on holiday thanks again

Great review AnnieB, most helpful for our cruise on the new sister ship in October. Trish

We sailed on the Musica about 2 years ago and will also add, NEVER AGAIN!. Whilst I am no a big fan of Italian food, mainly because of a cheese allergy. What food that was available was generally cold so for a week I did tend to stick with salads at the self service. The main dining was better which was due to our waiter who was Bulgarian. He was very helpful and was able to advise us what was worth having etc, although the deserts were very mediocre. Our biggest complaint was the rudeness of the Italian passengers and the favoritism they were given over the minority of other nationalities. As good British holiday makers we took our turn and queuing only to find that if there was an italian person in front of us they were queuing for about 30 others and just when you thought you were at the front of the queue you would suddenly find yourself at the back again as the one person in front of you called over the rest of their party, sometime as many as about 30 of them, (no exaggeration!). Another example was whilst waiting to be served for a coffee with another British passenger, an Italian passenger barged in, ordered his coffee in Italian and was promptly served. Both myself and the other passenger complained to the waiter and made a comment to the Italian about his rudeness. He just said "I am not waiting when I will get served quicker" and promptly walked off with his coffee. Although the room we had was adequate for the four of us and on the whole the staff on board were helpful and accommodating, because of the high volume of Italian passengers on an Italian Cruise line, sailing from an Italian Port, if there had been an Emergency I am sure it would have been, Italians first, then any other women and children. Never Again!