The Opera is a lovely Italian ship with ample public space; super clean, good entertainment but unpredictable food. Embarkation was ok, a bit confused as usual. We were met by white gloved staff who showed us part way to our cabin, a free upgrade from an outside to one of their best balconies, mid ship, on the 10th floor deck. I felt like I won the lottery.
We had previously cruised on the Opera February 2005 so knew what to expect. The cabin was very clean. MSC uses a dual steward system, one cleans only toilets and the other the linens etc. Seemed like the sheets were changed at least 5 times on a 7-day cruise! They also have staff detailed constantly cleaning all surfaces, banisters, tables etc. The balcony was cleaned twice at least too.
The public areas are beautiful and always have Italian or other popular music. The bars serve good drinks, the Italian grappa, aperitifs, and bitters are not to be missed. There were two very nice cocktail parties, one for repeaters, with ample champagne and real martinis and manhattans. The unique Animation team is no more, replaced by a lower key Entertainment team synonymous with those on other lines. There are now art auctions (yeah!) and bingo (boo!). The entertainment remains top-notch European style. On board stores had more MSC logo items and a good selection of Italian goods.