Home

Cruise Lines

Ports of Call

Reviews

Answers

News

Photos

Spirit of Adventure Cruises | Holland America Cruises | Yachts of Seaborne Cruises | Voyages of Discovery Cruises | Other Cruise Lines

Can I have a Jug of water,,not on this ship!!!
Reviewed By: McBlain, Stirling on 26th Nov 2008
Cruise Line: MSC Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: MSC Musica	Sailed: November, 2008
Destination: South America	Age: 56-65

My wife and I have just returned from a repositioning cruise from Venice to Santos in Brazil on MSC Musica. This was our third time with this cruise line and have to say the two previous trips were excellent. The embarkation was an experience I would not like a repeat of, if you ever saw the film Titanic just imagine the panic in reverse!!! We stood in a sort of a queue for nearly 3 hours, in fact longer than our two flights to to reach Venice!! Before that we had to recover our own cases from the bus and drag them to a holding area, this was not a problem for me as I am reasonably fit but this must have been a struggle for a lot of older passengers. Once we eventually boarded I was pleasantly surprised with our balcony cabin on deck 11, it was spacious and well appointed. The passenger safety drill was a farce, we have experienced many a drill so it was like old hat for us but I am sure that there were first time cruisers thinking that this was the norm! We had this shambles of a drill on the second day in the evening just prior to first sitting dining, very sensible!!! There was little or no organisation or instruction and we had this ludicrous situation with passengers shuffling on deck awaiting a drill which sort of happened The waiter service and the food was varied, from superb to ordinary, we had two excellent experienced waiters in the evening but at breakfast and lunch it was quite dreadful. I beleive over 40% new staff boarded at Venice and there lies the problem!!! " Inexperienced " The bars and lounges again were well appointed and the alcoholic drinks did not have the usual 15% gratuity added which was very wellcoming and a great saving. The theatre had great viewing but we did have an overdose of Opera although there was a fabulous illusionist act, which was very different. The activities crew worked their socks off on cruising days but the only qualification you needed to participate was a pulse or be under 10!!!! The quizes were excellent though. We did take an excursion when in Rio De Janeiro as we felt it would be a lot safer rather than hoof it as we normally do. The price was very reasonable and well organised. I was very disappointd at the staggering decision to withdraw jugged water at the dining table on the second day of the cruise, you can understand why when our fellow dining partners were charged $4.80 for a 750cl bottle of water and also the insane charging for an end of meal coffee. Credit crunch and voracious strive for more profit comes to mind!!! Who ever made these decisions should be dragged away before any more damage is caused to the reputation of MSC or the upsetting of passengers who I am sure will not cruise again because of the niggardly exploitation. I now have reservations about cruising with MSC ever again!!!
Quality of Food

Entertainment

Shore Excursions

Staff

Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities

Cabins

Overall Rating

Report this review

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW

Comment by Grant, Kincardine (29 Nov 08 12:15) about this REVIEW.

What an absolute shame that you had a poor experience on a line which you obviously previously thought highly of. I have to say that the repositioning TO Brazil does come under heavy criticism because of staffing changes. The staff are not to blame! MSC should take all the criticism on board and appoint temporary overseers/trainers on the ships which sail out of South America in the winter and not simply use this as an excuse!!! From what I read the food service seems to suffer most. I do hope you made your feelings know to them both to their London office and to their HO in Naples to the CEO!!! I am due to sail on Fantasia at the end of January and am hoping the 'new ship' problems have already been sorted before I board! Hopefully MSC will have staffed the ship with a fair proportion of thoroughly experienced staff so that the new staff have decent supervision. I will be interested to see if the jugs of water will be available and of course the free after dinner coffee! I will have plenty to say if they aren't!!!

ASK A QUESTION

COMMENT

Report this comment