Worst cruise line we have ever sailed. We have recently returned from MSC Poesia’s World Cruise, and as you can guess from our one-star review, we were not at all happy with the cruise. The most important reason for booking this cruise was the itinerary which was , initially, extraordinary. Sadly, due to the conflict in the Middle East, the itinerary was drastically changed. We were taken to MSC container ports, many in Africa which were dangerous and showcased extreme poverty. We were unable to walk around and absorb the culture of each port as we normally enjoy doing, as we felt unwelcome, unsafe, and were constantly looking over our shoulders. It was extremely disappointing for us, and as we had paid a lot of money for this cruise, we felt that MSC chose the cheapest and least expensive ports to take us to with the changed itinerary. The food on board the ship was ok, nothing special, but we are not too fussy about the food. The staff were mostly wonderful, other than the Excursion staff on board the ship. They had a very bad attitude towards the passengers, especially those paying for excursions. One excursion employee even went so far as to say to me “let’s admit that most of the passengers are big, unhealthy and should not be doing excursions”. I was flabbergasted at the audacity of this comment and we subsequently vowed not to do anymore ship excursions. Overall, our experience on this world cruise was definitely sub par. I would absolutely NOT recommend MSC Cruises.

MSC Poesia sort of World Cruise MSC said the Poesia was refurbished in 2023 and they must be talking about the exterior of the ship. The public stairs lot dated with the teal and chocolate motif. The cabins are either navy or bordello red. The furniture in the cabin is worn, sun bleached and dated, think 90’s. Dining options are limited. There is the main dining room offering a selection of reoccurring average to say the best meals. The buffet offers a larger selection of the same quality but varies to a greater degree. The stand out is the pasta and pizzas. They are consistently good. But man cannot live on pizza and pasta alone. There is a sushi restaurant that no one frequents, seriously, it is empty every night. When you spend days at sea you know you’re not getting fresh seafood. Why they keep it open is beyond me. A steak house or Italian restaurant would serve the ship much better. Entertainment is also lacking. There is a house group who play classical music and offer some opera. They are terrific and unfortunately, greatly unappreciated. The other options are limited. An example at the same time we had two different comedic magicians. One was truly terrible and the other repeated each joke in five languages and with comedy, timing is everything. The dance company has improved greatly since they switched out the former troop who struggled to offer high school productions. Miniature golf, tennis, and shuffle board is offered unless you would like to try it during the hours of noon till 3pm when the equipment is locked away. The customer service is another area that is lacking. Granted the people who work there have a tough job with all passenger complaints. This is reflected in their attitude. 70% of passengers signed a petition sighting issues that were poorly addressed. I understand and do not fault MSC for canceling passing through the Red Sea at this time. This is another reason why 70% of people on board signed a petition expressing their displeasure with the quality of the new ports and the added number of days at sea. Some of the new ports were truly far less than desirable. Speaking of ports, the latest one, Nuuk Greenland, I put firmly on the shoulders of MSC. Today, I went to the captain's presentation of why we aren't going to Nuuk. He blamed it on the icebergs. This is not a new occurrence, it happens every year. We trusted MSC knew what they were doing, but no, they are acting like it's a big surprise. No other cruise ships have or are presently visiting Greenland at this time of the year because of icebergs. We are way out of season. Wish I had done research instead of trusting MSC, who just wanted to add an exciting port we won't be visiting. The captain took no questions and I was told the French contingent booed him off the stage. I and many others saved a lot of money for this cruise. I and many other prior World Cruise passengers feel MSC took our money without delivering. Many passengers including myself, have vowed not to travel on MSC again. Buyer Beware.

Never again, even if they pay me As you can see from their non-answers, MSC clearly don't care about their customers. This is clear once you step in one of their old, dirty, overcrowded ships, but also when you wait in line for about 90 minutes check in. Long queue at the buffet and not enough food or places to seat. Mediocre food. Poor entertainment for adults and children. Unable to manage rude and noisy passengers. Unable to help you in any little request. You and your family will feel helpless and trapped. From day 2 I tried, without luck, to find flights and disembark early.

Don’t get the drinks package! Don’t get the drinks package. You spend half your night lining up for drinks and can’t get for anyone else in your party most of the time (sometimes it’s ok). Very few tables about too so you lose your seat if you get up to get a drink… Unless you pay extra, won’t get out anywhere near others in your group. We were opposite ends of ship and different floors. Overcrowded and understaffed.

MSC worst cruise company. We have just completed sailing on MSC Poesia world cruise 2024. January 7th to April 28th Sadly, this cruise was without doubt the worst we have ever sailed on. We have sailed previously on MSC world cruises and have enjoyed very positive experiences, but not in 2024. Before embarking the conflict in the Gulf area forced MSC to change the itinerary twice, but they totally failed to inform passengers. Even the day before we left to travel to Barcelona for embarkation MSC UK told us and our TA that we were still sailing through the Suez Canal. We knew we weren't from the passengers Facebook group! The iconic ports that we had signed up to but could not visit were replaced by 3rd rate venues. MSC refused to allow anybody to cancel or postpone their holiday without forfeit of 100% of the fare paid. Other cruise lines similarly affected were quick to offer their passengers good levels of compensation and a choice to cancel or defer. MSC initially refused anything. After considerable pressure from travellers some compensation was offered and a small cruise credit for a future sailing. Over 900 people and subsequently a further 400 passengers signed petitions to MSC saying the compensation was inadequate, barely covering the cost of no longer required visas etc. With the changes and subsequent further changes to the itinerary we ended up with 20% more sailing days and consequently less port visits. The voyage bore very little resemblance to what passengers had paid their money to enjoy. Further, later in the voyage we were scheduled to visit the North Atlantic in March, April. The weather was dreadful and the ports we did manage to visit in Canada, the locals all told us that never had they seen a cruise ship arrive so early in the year. We could not dock at Newport Rhode Island, too rough. Then we were supposed to sail to Nuuk Greenland, well the cruise season for Greenland on a non expedition ship is June through September. No surprise when we sailed right passed Greenland, well to the south to avoid ice and icebergs. On to Iceland, couldn't visit Isafjordur too windy to dock.Whoever planned this at MSC needed their heads examining. On a different point; the food was extremely poor. A lack of variety, no fresh produce, everything seemed to come out of the freezer. The preparation and cooking was awful, most served undercooked to raw or a burnt offering. Extraordinary as we'd sailed with the same executive chef 3 times previously without complaint. The ship ran out of basic produce, fruit, eggs were rationed, fruit juices, blue cheese, peanuts to name just a few. Plus they weren't replenished at the next port, incredible! The excursions were expensive and quite dull. For those of us who'd sailed previously the entertainment was the same as we'd already seen. Same theatre productions, guest entertainers doing exactly the same shows that we'd seen in 2019, 20 and 23. So boring. All in all MSC failed to deliver on many fronts. That said, the onboard crew as previously tried their best on the face of mounting issues, problems and increasingly frustrated passengers. Be very, very careful before choosing to sail MSC. Previously we held them in good regard, but now we would never sail with them again.