MSC

Have sailed on Princess, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean in the past. When searching for a cruise on the Western coast of the Mediterranean Debye and I discussed the reviews of MSC. We decided to go with this European line despite what we read In favor of enticing ports of call. The ports have not been disappointing. The ship…well.

We usually get an inside room because we are frugal and don’t spend much time in our room. Pam got a room with a window and Debye & Jody one with a balcony. On a nine-day cruise with three at sea, conventional wisdom would’ve leaned toward window/balcony. Today is our second day at sea. Our weather has been (mostly) blue skies, sunshine and high 60s/low 70s. Except the days we’ve been at sea. Overcast. Windy. Cool.

We happened to get a room for handicapped. The positive about that is that it—the room AND the bathroom—are larger than either of our traveling companions’. The negative is that it is next to a service elevator. When we are on rough seas there is a counter balance of some sort in the shaft that booms against our wall.

 MSC has staggered embarkations/disembarkations. At any given port people are coming and going. Always a full ship. Not always the same people. All announcements, whether it is before a show or over the loudspeakers, are in 5 languages: German, English, Spanish, Italian and French. That can be tedious.

There are not as many stewards and they seem tired. We can’t get anything to drink at dinner but water or wine. No tea (hot or cold), no coffee, no soft drinks, no mixed drinks. Have been told that we could bring from a bar any of those others but when we stopped to try and get anything before going in to the dining room, we found that the bars are closed for the dinner hour!

There are fewer choices for dining options and the food is about as consistently mediocre and monotonous as we have found on other lines. It is never hot.