Gary Taylor
CAWorst 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.
Consumer
GBMSC 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.
PP
GBNever 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.
Michael Fretwell
ESMSc cruse web update I have spent most of the day trying to update my details for our up and cumins cruise but the web site keeps crashing Why can’t you Make it easy to log on to you web update I think your web site needs updating details is very obscure for elderly people Please look at it again and make it easier
Bill O
GBOvercrowded and understaffed 8 months ago my family sailed on the Meraviglia. Worst cruise I've ever been on. They fully booked the ship but didnt have the staff to accomodate. I never imagined having to wait on a 45 minute line to get a drink while on a cruise...that was the case all day, every day. The staff was miserable and stressed. The pools were awful, overcrowded to the point where it was shoulder to shoulder standing room in them all day. The overcrowding caused shortages of chairs on deck...i watched passengers physically fight over them, and obviously there was no staff in sight to break it up so it was just a free for all the entire cruise. I'll never go on a cruise again after such an awful awful vacation. I wish I could give 0 stars