A Great Cruise!!!

From start to finish MSC really surprised me and was better than what I expected. Check in was great and really fast, we didnƒ??t have to hand over card details as you had to do this on ship via the stands they had around reception and all you had to do was swipe your room card and then follow the instructions.

After checking in we went to find our cabin which was deck 12 at the aft. The cabin was a lot bigger than I thought. We had two twin beds, bed side cabinets, table and chair. We also had plenty of storage space both for hanging clothes and shelves. The bathroom was of a good size as well with sink, toilet and shower (which had a glass door!). Our cabin steward said hello as soon as we got to our door and made sure every time he saw us he said hello. The cabin was cleaned and turn down service was provided every day. Our inside cabin was on the Fantastica experience.

We had the second dining at 9pm and if I went again with MSC I would go for the earlier time as i felt this was too late. The dining room that was allocated for us was the Golden Lobster, we had a table for six. The waiters were really good and always made sure we had drinks on our table and kept checking to see if there was anything more they could do. We often saw the ma??tre de and he also checked in on us to make sure everything was fine. We also eat in one of the speciality restaurant Eataly which was 30 euros per person. I donƒ??t think this was something i would pay for again as i think the food in the other restaurant is a lot better. The buffet was huge it even had its own map to get around, plenty of food to be offered for breakfast, dinner and tea. The pizza that was severed in the buffet was amazing. Included in our drinks package was the ice cream (which you can buy if you donƒ??t have the drinks package) this was served at the pool bar.

The drinks package is something that i would always get with MSC as it includes so much we had the Allegrissimo package. This included unlimited consumption of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, including a wide range of drinks and cocktails from the bar list, a dedicated selection of wines by the glass, draught beer, an extensive selection of sodas, fruit juices and classic hot beverages (coffee espresso, cappuccinoƒ??) as well as takeaway ice cream in a cone or cup. MSC where good in the fact that if it wasnƒ??t included in the drinks package it had a * next to the price. Most cocktails where valued at 6 euros. The ones that were higher you had to pay for.
The Theatre was really nice and seats over 1500 people so you always got a seat at the show. We went to see one show which was called Wonderland and had a mixture of dancing, singing and acrobats.

We only did one shore excursion and this was Rome on your own. We had a transfer from the port into the centre of Rome. The coach to Rome was great dropped us off next to the Colosseum and picked us up in the same spot. I know you can do it cheaper on your own but I felt better having the coach as it was up to them to get us back in time. All the other ports we went to we did our own thing as everything was in walking distance. Valletta in Malta is beautiful and really easy to do your own thing, we walked into the town centre from the ship. There were a lot of taxis waiting to take you somewhere if need be.

The reception area is a really nice area to be. They have live entertainment in the atrium every night. Its 3 floors with different areas such as shops, bars and cafes. They also have a sports bar which has a bowling alley and arcade games, this also hosts the karaoke.
Check out was really easy. As normal we left our cases out the night before and found out our check out time via the daily program they leave in the cabin. We had breakfast the morning off check out and then when our time was ready we meet in the theatre to disembark. We had already closed our bills the night before.