MSC Cruises
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Exhausted, starving and nearly dead.
I arrived at the port with no problems, found where I needed to go, and parked for a good price — only $72 for 4 days — and even scored a great spot on the 4th floor by the elevator. Dropping off bags was quick and easy. So far, so good. Then I got to the terminal, and the escalators weren’t working. Bummer for anyone who wanted to use them. (1ST PROBLEM.) I had a kid and a stroller, so we used the elevator anyway. Inside the terminal, I found my way around, got in line, and reached the counter quickly. There were plenty of staff at the counters, and the gentleman who helped us was fantastic! After that, my wife, mother-in-law, 1-year-old son, and I made our way to the ship. Once onboard, we searched for the elevators. They use this terrible A/B/C/D system, which is confusing and painfully slow. There were way too many people needing to go up and down, forcing many passengers — including us — to carry bags up the stairs. (2ND PROBLEM.) It took us about 10 minutes to get from deck 6 to deck 12. To make matters worse, the AC wasn’t working, so it was hot, humid, and suffocating. (3RD PROBLEM.) When we finally got to our room, it reeked of bleach. It was still being cleaned at 3 PM, which was another issue. (4TH PROBLEM.) We left our bags and walked up from deck 12 to deck 16 because the elevators were so unreliable. When we got to the buffet, the lines were outrageous — 15–20 minutes per person — and there were no available tables. The buffet was overcrowded, loud, and stressful. (5TH PROBLEM.) On top of that, the buffet layout made no sense. It was arranged in a circular pattern with different stations, meaning you had to walk all over the deck chasing your food. Whoever designed that setup had no cruise experience. (6TH PROBLEM.) As for the food itself — it was average at best. Mostly fast carbs, little-to-no protein, and when there was protein, it was mostly pork. That’s a problem for people following a proper diet, not to mention Jewish guests and others with dietary restrictions. Nearly everything was seasoned with strange spices or sauces. I didn’t enjoy the taste of anything. The food director should be replaced. (7TH PROBLEM.) Back to the room — we had to use the stairs again. In fact, over the course of four days, we used the elevators maybe 10 times and the stairs around 40 times. I noticed a lot of unhappy guests on board. Every single day, there was arguing and frustration among passengers. I’ve never seen so many dissatisfied people, not even on the worst Carnival cruise. (8TH PROBLEM.) The crew felt heavily scripted, and the managers seemed clueless. If a manager has to tell staff to smile, that’s a failure in leadership. Good managers create a positive environment where people naturally enjoy their work. MSC’s forced smiles were fake and obvious. (9TH PROBLEM.) The water tasted like pure chlorine, so we had to buy bottled water. The free drinks were limited to lemonade and unsweetened tea — no juice options for kids. That’s incredibly disrespectful to families. (10TH PROBLEM.) The app was basically useless. It didn’t answer common questions, so we constantly had to ask crew members. Two staff members told me we could get off at Nassau with just our ship card, but when we returned, security demanded photo IDs. Total setup. Luckily, we all had ours, but others were forced to go to the security station to prove their identities. (11TH PROBLEM.) The private island was mostly under construction, with poor-quality facilities. The seating was in the sand, constantly swarmed by birds, and there were only a few restrooms — each with 1–2 stalls, 2–3 urinals, and a couple of sinks for thousands of guests. It was chaos. The beach had rocks everywhere, making it difficult to swim, and umbrellas had to be rented. The island staff did everything possible to ignore passengers. (12TH PROBLEM.) Every night, there were drunk people and even fights — in the rooms, by the bars, and in the hallways. We didn’t feel safe. (13TH PROBLEM.) People were loud at 3 AM, and no one did anything about it. I couldn’t sleep a single night because of the constant noise. (14TH PROBLEM.) I was hungry every day and night. I’ve never felt so starved in my life. Climbing up and down the stairs made me lose nearly 10 pounds. I’m only 165 lbs at 6 feet tall — it was miserable. When I finally got home, I ate like a man just released from prison. It took me two days to recover from this awful experience. (15TH PROBLEM.) Honestly, I could go on, but I’m tired of typing. I will never recommend MSC to anyone. And I’ll never sail with them again. The only thing I liked was that the ship was new. MSC desperately needs professional, experienced leaders — people who understand what it’s like to be a passenger. That’s how you fix problems from the inside and improve the experience for the 100,000+ future guests.