This is the first time that I have written a review, but it is my 7th cruise. Other lines I have cruised with before are Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Princess. The reason we chose to go on MSC for our 25th anniversary, is because a coworker told us about MSC. When we saw that we could get a balcony room with a whirlpool jacuzzi tub, we decided we had to try it.

I was a little skeptical at first, because we had read some of the bad reviews it was getting for a new ship, but we chalked that up to it complainers and the fact that they probably needed to work some of the problems out that a new ship would have.

I have to say that our embarkation went horrible. We were booked in a Aurea suit, so that meant that we were to have priority boarding. The young man that checked us in, was absolutely clueless about Aurea guests. He took our passports, and then left the counter for about 10 to 15 minutes. Apparently he could not locate our room key. Other people checking in around us were coming and going from the counter with no problems at all. When he came back to the counter, he said that they had to print new room keys for us because nobody could find them. He then gave us our room keys and a ticket to board the ship with group #4. I then told him that we were supposed to receive priority boarding. He then left the counter again and came back with our priority tickets. I then had to ask him for map of the ship, as I saw that other people were receiving them without asking. When we got the the priority seating area to wait to board, my wife noticed that every person around us was wearing some sort of wrist band. We were literally the only two people without them. I asked one of the employees who were directing people to the proper waiting areas, if we were supposed to have a wrist band also. He saw that we were Aurea guests on my room key, and said yes we were supposed to have wrist bands, and that I should head back to the counter. When I got back to the counter, I talked with the same young man, and said that we should have wrist bands. He said no, that the wrist bands were only for yacht club guest. I asked if he could please check. When he did, he came back with two wrist bands in his hand, with absolutely no apology. It was obvious to me, that this poor kid was never trained properly at his job. Whoever does the hiring and training for check in, obviously needs to do a better job. Checking in, is the first contact you have with MSC employees, and it sets the tone for the whole ship. Read more