MSC Cruises review: First time cruise.. Horrific experience

Embarkation was smooth due to me needing a wheelchair as I cant stand for more than 5 mins before I get severe back pain. As soon as they knew my needs, they took me and my party right through the crowds queuing to check in, right up to the buffet on the ship which was a god send! The staff member was very helpful. If I had to queue to embark, the queues were very long and would have put me off straight away

Junior Balcony room adequate for the 2 of us. Room kept clean by helpful, pleasant cleaner we had for the week. Balcony lovely. Bathroom large enough for 2 of us. Restaurant dining good. Same table/time/waiter was good idea. Variety of food good. Premium drinks package the way to go, although, cocktails were watered down during the day. Timings of dinner then entertainment worked well.

Spa was lovely, but they were asking for tips afterwards and trying to upsell more packages even though you've just spent a minimum of 100 euros on a treatment. I knew that our package involved all gratuities so did not know why they were asking for tips. Buy extras before you go..buying on the ship is more expensive and they also then add on a 12% service charge for booking on board. You wouldn't need the Internet package for the 7 days.

Don't go if your adults only during school hols..manic! Spent our time in adults pool area but hard to find sun loungers. Usual towel on loungers early morning was annoying. Pools quite small compared to photos online. Waiting long time at the bar for drinks.

The buffet was an absolute disgrace..free for all, people pushing in front/behind you, stacking plates high with food and not eating it all.. lots of wastel Long queues for drinks at the buffet and huge lack of tables at lunch times. Was like feeding time at the zoo

Worst experience ever was getting a cable car in Santorini to the ship. Was in a stampede, adults swearing, pushing, punching to get to the cable car. I can't stand longer than 5 mins..we were waiting over 2 hours in the hot sun. I was pushed, nearly fell to the ground. Very distressing. I am still in pain one week later from waiting for so long. No crowd control due to no staff. No safe option for elderly, disabled or young children to get down safely

we were told it was dangerous as the steps were slippery from donkey excrement and I couldn't have walked that distance. When we got closer to the barrier one staff lady told me to come to the front because she could see i was in pain and distressed.. people were shouting I was putting it on! I filled out a special needs form before going on the trip so thought that people in these circumstances would be catered for to expedite the travel back to the ship essily..not a chance! It made us not go on to Mykonos the next day, because we didn't want a repeat experience. Stays were too short and rushed each place we went to. Need at least a day and night at each place

Even though it may not be MSC responsibility what happens, when you have 3000 people trying to get back to the ship at a certain time, surely they must work together to make it a smooth and easy process. I have never seen people acting like animals like that in my life, and to be honest, put me off cruising again because of that. Something will change only when there is a tradegy which could very well occur..this is wrong. My husband knew someone who had done the exact same cruise

the week before and the exact same thing happened in Santorini to them. We spent our hard earned money on an over priced holiday in my opinion.

We had to cancel our Mykonos pre booked tour prior to embarkation and was told we would receive the refund straight after the cruise ends. 5 weeks later we arecstill waiting for the refund..just to add salt to the wound! Our travel agent can't in touch with anyone and has been waiting on the phone for hours and hours since our return.

So, in summary, my first experience will be my last, unless someone can guarantee me that there are better and safer companies, ships, less people on board and more time spent in each port for a cheaper price.. I may consider it, but I won't hold my breath!