Comparision

Before we departed, we were aware that MSC did not have as consistent or high a reputation as a cruise line as either Celebrity or Princess.  As a result, we went with slightly lower expectations.  Having said that, we were on the whole pleasantly surprised by what we experienced.

All the opinions on this page are entirely our own - as always, your mileage may vary.

Embarkation

They say that first impressions are important.  Frankly, the first impression given at boarding in Genoa was that somebody couldn't organise a piss-up party in a brewery.  We arrived at the port at 2 in the afternoon, after a 2 hour coach transfer from Milan airport.  So far, so good.  We then were quickly processed through passport and cruise check-in.  Still so far, so good.  We then had to wait for almost 2 hours in a holding area until we could board, for no reason that anyone could see.  By the time that we finally made it on to the ship, we had missed the welcome aboard buffet!  The one positive thing to say was that for the first time ever our suitcases beat us to the room - maybe that was the reason for the delay!

Food

There is not the same 24-hour food availability on the Sinfonia that there is on Celebrity and Princess.  At some times of the day (and most of the night), the only food option is room service (which is chargeable).  As far as we were concerned, this was only a problem when returning from shore at (say) 3 in the afternoon (after skipping lunch).  If, however, you like to be able to graze at a buffet or grab a burger at all hours of the day and night, this is not the cruise for you.  There is no alternative dining in the evening - it's the main restaurant or a sandwich from room service.

The quality of the food is slightly lower than on Celebrity or Princess.  This is not to do MSC down - I suspect that they are simply working to a smaller daily budget, and as such it shows in some of the small touches, such as the cheaper cuts of meat, slightly fewer choices, or in the quality and presentation of vegetables.  The meals are however still good and enjoyable.  If I was putting together my ideal cruise ship Gala Dinner menu from the best of all ships that I have travelled on, it would contain items from MSC.

Communication

One thing to bear in mind is that MSC is an Italian company and the first language on board ship is therefore Italian.  Probably over half of the guests are Italian, and most of the remainder are French or German.  I would guess that English-speaking guests number less than 10%  As a result, you will have a smaller number of conversational partners than you would expect on ships that are aimed at the English speaking market.  Additionally, there can occasionally be communication problems with the crew who, with the best will in the world, occasionally have difficulty in being completely fluent in 6 or more languages (Italian, French, German, Spanish, English, Japanese and their own tongue).

Costs

This is an interesting point.  Whilst it is difficult to exactly compare like with like, I reckon that (stripping out travel to port costs, differing cabin grades and other optional extras) this cruise on MSC was only around 66% of the daily cost per person of our previous Celebrity and Princess cruises.

Summary - The Bottom Line

Who was this cruise for?  If you cruise with MSC expecting them to be as good as, say, Celebrity or Princess, you will be disappointed.  This is not a criticism per se, just to point out that the overall cruise is aimed at a slightly lower quality and price point.  There were also a large number of families with children of all ages on board - if you find this wearing, stay away during the school holidays!

A cynic can be defined as someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  I hope that we are not being cynical when we think that this MSC cruise provided us with more than we expected for what we paid.  As such, we regarded it as excellent value for money.

Having said all that, the obvious follow-up question is would you be prepared to spend the extra 33% per person per night to cruise with a higher premium line such as Celebrity or Princess?   We both think that the extra facilities that such lines give are worth the extra cost, but we also both agreed that we would happily take a weeks cruise with MSC again, and if given the chance we probably will.