I’ve sailed on three MSC cruises,and have taken in total more than 30 cruises on several different lines. They all have their shortcomings/problems. The MSC cruises were pre-pandemic, And happy with the food and entertainment.
I have since sailed on Holland America, and princess. I have an upcoming cruise on NCL and MSC from Europe.
After speaking with my fellow travelers last year on two transatlantic and Mediterranean cruises. The general consensus is that things are worse aboard all cruise lines post pandemic. The cruise lines are cutting back on staff and the quality of food to make up the money they lost!
last spring was the first time I was on Holland America, and I will never sell with them again! Extremely disappointed in Service, and entertainment, And the general maintenance of the ship. We had plumbing problems, toilets backing up into rooms, air conditioning, not working, entertainment that we were supposed to have, was canceled because they lost their contract! The joke going around was that we would have sock puppets as our next entertainment venue! We ran out of American bacon the second day of the cruise on the third day, We were out of bananas and in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. I could live without bacon, but I do like bananas! otherwise the food was very good!
My second fall winter cruise was from Europe on the Island Princess the food in the dining room was very good, I only sent the pork tenderloin back because it wasn’t tender!
The food in the buffet was generally good, and could be much better with a few improvements. Worst French toast I’ve ever had on any cruise ship or anywhere else for that matter! other than muffins, the rest of the bake goods in the morning are beautiful, but dry and tasteless! I can actually go to my local supermarket and purchase better quality, baked goods! at lunch, the chicken salad, and potato salad were the worst I’ve ever had anywhere!
The princess cruise from Europe was 28 days, the entertainment was very good embarkation, Rome and debarkation in Fort Lauderdale, Excellent!
unfortunately, 10 days into the cruise I got the stomach virus. I never had this on a cruise ship before (30+cruises.) also a lot of people had the flu, mostly Canadians, which I finally got the last day of the cruise. I was glad to get off that ship. Fortunately, I only live 20 minutes from Port Everglades!😁
