MSC Cruises, MSC Magnifica

My family have returned today from a weeks cruise on the MSC Magnifica. Wow were we disappointed! This was a new cruise line for us and we were open minded and looking forward to another great holiday. (We have previously cruised on NCL, Ocean Village, P&O and Princess cruises). We arrived at the ship where you do not fill in a health check and do not register a credit card. You do not receive your cruise card until you enter your cabin. So if you want a drink, tough, wait the 2.5 hours until you can enter your cabin. We didn't mind waiting as this is usual and you are usually directed to one of the restaurants for refreshments etc. Not on this ship, you are thrown to the sales personnel. Then when they can't sell you anything you walk aimlessly around with no guidance offered and no map of the ship. Then it gets worse. The food is cold throughout the cruise, the staff morale is so low and they are treated appallingly. When you complain the staff are useless. I have never wanted to be back home as much as we did. No-one was around when we were due to leave the ship and it descended into chaos. Staff are limited in every area of the ship. The only plus I could find is that there is a lifeguard by the 2 swimming pools which I haven't seen on other ships. The spa overlooking the sea only has 4 loungers and 2 seats in all. We were a party of 5! the sanitisers were often empty. We observed 12 members of staff enter the dining room and only 2 of the entertainment staff used the sanitisers. On the newsletter it was advising passengers to use them and to stay healthy. Practice what you preach comes to mind. My daughter and I have food allergies which we advised the staff and we had no assistance. The entertainment staff tried except for one South African lady who just screamed a lot. (Blonde lady) Paracetamols required. The best thing about the trip...….we arrived home safely!

The ship itself is beautiful but it is let down by everything else!