This was a Christmas Cruise experience of many facets. We were a party of 6 with many Cruises behind us, from 80+ to 20+ in total, so we’ve experienced many ships from Asia, Caribbean, Europe & USA. We took the package LHR to Milan Linate (our first mistake) & waited about 20 mins for the coaches to arrive. After loading we waited another 20 mins whilst they did 3 recounts to tally the pax list. The journey to Genoa takes about 2 hours & embarkation by MSC staff went smoothly & then the troubles began. We were herded into 1 double line, with no escape, just to have a Welcome Aboard Photo taken.
We were then held in a large area to await entry through security. Eventually when the crowds had built up to a few hundred they announced ticket numbers 1 to 400 could go through, so people at the back were trying to get to the front & people at the front were reluctant to give up their prized position… Chaos…. It doesn’t end there. On climbing the 3 layered gangway we then had to wait at the top for an escort to our individual cabins, another farce as some of us have been on a cruise ship before!

So to the Ship.
Musica is a beautiful ship by any standards, be it 3* 4* or 5*. Modern elegance without being flash, gaudy or over glitzed. Launched in 2006 Musica still has that brand new gleam & shine both in the public rooms, deck areas, the cabins & bathrooms, which should satisfy most tastes.

Dining.
Food in the Main DR is adequate & plentiful. That’s about all I can say for it. If your expecting 5* food, then don’t because your not paying a 5* price. Service in the DR was good efficient & cheerful & served at an acceptable pace for our liking.
The Self Service Rest. on deck13 was a different story. The pax mainly consisted of Germans with a strong compliment of Italian thrown in. They hunt in packs for tables before getting food, leaving 1 person in charge whilst their cohorts push & barge their way along the food lines with complete oblivion to anyone standing in line. Hence the tables are not being used efficiently & people wandering around with plates of food getting cold.

Entertainment.
Le Scala is a beautiful theatre by any ship’s standards & entertainment is more a dancing & circus type show to cater for the multi national pax contingency, with little vocal content. Other lounges have piano men, Duo’s, Trio’s, Quartet’s of either, Italian or Classical music mainly, one exception being Sillio’s Band, with a broad range of music styles & good standard of musical ability.

Ports Of Call
Ajaccio, Valletta, Rhodes, Alexandria, Tunis, Messina & Naples were a good mix of cultures & our taxi to Cairo was a life experience which is too lengthy to discuss here so I’ll leave that for posting in the main forum.

Tipping
Autotips were added at 6 Euro’s per day & could be removed at your convenience.
Drinks were fairly priced with packages/deals to suit most requirements & surprisingly no15% gratuity added to any drinks purchased. Service in the lounges & decks were as good as most Lines proving that tips & service have little relationship.

Disembarkation
This was done efficiently by the usual colour tab system, but on arrival into the coach area the fun really began. The Germans & French pushed their way to the front, loaded their own cases into the side lockers of the coaches whist an MSC girl was doing a roll call on the other side coach for pax allocated to that coach. Hence when the correct pax were on the coach there was no room for luggage. This was chaos on a grand scale, just the way to end a holiday.
Eventually we were all bussed to Linate Airport where some of us had to wait 6 hours for our flight. As I said in my opening remarks, taking a package was a big mistake for us, as we have arranged our own flights, transfers, hotels etc. for the past 10 years & only book ‘Cruise Only’. We could have flown direct UK to Genoa with a short taxi ride Airport Hotel Ship in comfort & at our own pace.
The remarks from every Brit we spoke to? Never Again MSC.
Ourselves? Well in fifty years of cruising we’ve seen a lot, done a lot . We had a great time because we make sure we do, take from it the positives & accept the negatives are part of life’s tapestry.
In conclusion would I cruise MSC again? Never say never, the right itinerary, the right price, the right time of year (not my main holiday).Yes, I had value for money, but would not join the cattle bus transfer scenario at any price ever again.