I have sailed with several American cruise lines and was interested in trying MSC. Let’s just say that I should have listened to the reviews of other Americans who similarly had cruised other lines and warned about the negative aspects of MSC. Let’s start with the pros: well organized for embarkation and disembarkation. Like a well oiled machine!!! Smooth and seemless from start to finish. Technology on board, great and convenient. The ship itself, beautiful with tons of space and amenities for fun. The entertainment shows were amazing and beautifully choreographed. Cleanliness, top notch. Workers constantly wiping, vacuuming and cleaning every aspect of the ship. The negatives: lackluster excursions at almost triple the cost of booking independently at port. Limited staff availability to assist you when needed, many calls to reception went unanswered and if you need tech support for use of the app while onboard, plan on waiting over an hour for help. The staff are not the least bit warm and fuzzy or even the tab bit enthusiastic like on American cruise lines. The music on deck was either nonexistent or elevator type, with no energy and excitement of a vacay. The required need for a room card to activate electricity in the room is ridiculous. You can’t leave your phone to charge in the room if you take your room card with you. The activities like Kareoke and live music are often in other languages other than English. As an American, you will be the minority on the ship. When you find other Americans like we did, it was like finding a prize. And last but not least, the food is HORRENDOUS! Absolutely appalling. Items are repeated morning, noon and night. The food is bland, flavorless, not kept at appropriate temps, and plain disgusting. No creativity, no appeal, and repulsing. Cesar salad is warm time and time again, burgers are cold, scrambled eggs are watery like soup, etc etc. day after day. Food options at port were our only saving grace as all 5 of us dreaded eating on board. There was NOTHING positive about the food.... not one!! And none of us are picky eaters. The food is designed for the European in mind. Many breads, smelly cheeses, cold cuts, and antipasto. Even items like pizza were over cooked, flavorless and not edible. They would re-invent items from lunch to dinner by adding one additional ingredient to it and renaming it. It is basically the same disgusting item. Over and over and over again.