I must admit this after cruising with Royal Caribbean and P&O. I can only describe this experience as disappointing. The main issue that this company lacks is a huge effort around service and concentrating on the finer things that make peoples trips memorable.

The ship in all was ok, but it just did not feel that good at the end as the service was poor. Food was good, drinks were nice, the cabin was great, it just felt as though the whole thing was run by amateurs and did not care above experience.

Will not sale with MSC again unfortunately

After booking this cruise with MSC I read a few reviews which made me feel I had made a big mistake.

Gladly I can say that my own experience of MSC Lirica was very positive.

All the crew were very friendly and helpful and I never experienced any of the problems which seem to have effected some other passengers. The restaurant and bar staff were always very keen to help and I never felt we were being rushed in any way.

The balcony suites are very clean, stylish and well cared for. In addition, they are larger than the ones I have seen on many P & O ships. The beds are also very comfortable and the baths in ther rooms were double the size of my previous ones on a P&O Ship.

The public areas are modern and very clean.

None of my family had any serious issues with any of the food on board either. The ship is run by an Italian comapany so you have to expect that some of the food will be Italian or at least European.

My daughter used the kids club most of the days on the cruise and enjoyed it. They have a varied programme for the children which includes going to the evening shows in the theatre.

The evening entertainment was generally of a high standard. Of course, the entertainment team had to cope with dealing with at least 4 different national groups on board (British, German, Italian and Spanish), and I thought they did a good job of it.

The in-cabin TV service needs to have more TV channels in English. Also having the same 6 films on the movie channel for 3 weeks is not good and needs to be improved.

On our cruise about 50% of the 1700 passengers were German or Austrian and this seemed to cause a few problems for some of the British guests. People have to appreciate that Germans are different to the British, as are Italians and Spanish. If you don't like mixing with Europeans, then book cruises with other companies who cater for purely British tastes.

As for saying that Germans are ignorant, well I can safely say that I also met some very ignorant British passengers on the ship and their sole purpose on the cruise was to complain about everything.

I am unsure why someone claiming to be a passenger on the same cruise is saying that many of the goods bought in the on-board shops is fake. All the items we purchased were genuine and very well priced.

Like some other passengers I was also effected by the decision not to go to Abu Dhabi. I did check this out as I heard all the rumours that were being floated around. The Abu Dhabi port authorities stopped the ship going to Abu Dhabi and it had nothing to do with MSC saving money.

All I can say is that my family had a very positive experience aboard MSC Lirica and I wold certainly book another cruise with them.

I think if you go on holiday with a positive attitude and are willing to mix with other nationalities, then you will have a great experience. Some people just want to complain and they could do that just as well by staying at home.

MSC are not Cunard (and don't charge Cunard prices) but they are improving all the time.

In summary, a great cruise which was enjoyed by the whole family.

We've been actually happy with almost everything. BUT! One thing was absolutely appalling - our experience with Excurtion Department. We've booked our excursions on the first night as we've been advised by our tour operator. THAT WAS A MISTAKE! We did not like our first "Walking Tour in Ajaccio" to such an extent that decided to cancell others. The price for the Tour was 31 euros.Our 13 year old grandson was classified as an adult too, so 93 euros in all. And what did we have? A short visit to Napoleon's Museum which is normally FREE for young people up to 25 years and only 6 euros for an adult. Then a 35 minutes walk on a small territory of the town, guide speaking in two languages(one after another)! In addition to that we've been not lucky with a professional quality of the quide. Please mind that was the cheapest tour of all! And here came a problem: in their Booking Form (Cites only requirements for passengers!), there is a line: "The excursions cannot be cancelled once reserved..." So it took a lot of distress and energy to try to defend our rights for cancellation. The head of Excursion Department was stubborn as a rock (and rude) and only with the help of the first officer of the ship we managed to make some corrections regarding our booked tours. Fortunately, two out of four booked tours were very,very good: Pompei (quide Quido) and Carthage and Medina of Tunis. Please, do not rush to book a tour! First try - a tour in two languages is really not everybody's cup of tea. Not a good value for money! You can use local facilities which are available practically in every place.

we just returned from lirica cruised amsterdam-bremerhaven30th august havd a great time dayout in land food not bad for the 1st or second day but if whole week would be boring staff some keen to give you a service some not be bother,very slow dinner serving we was joined with our group of 14 friend sit together food was late delivery and when the food turn up too cold some of us sent them back,breakfast toast was hard to bite.most of the worst thing happened I left my necklace under pillow forgot to wear it but when i came back the room 8106 was nice &clean by 2 maids,the necklace was missing I report reception take such long time to send staff who clean my room there both denied never see it if especially the man he was indonesian and did make my bed he said he didn't see it.who do you think?? we all tried to search but no sign of it,next day they sent security to come check my room suitcases but they not even told me they have been check 2 maids or not, who cleaning my room,they probrably thought I mighi made story up or somthing,they should investigate their staff but they didn't they said it procedure to get me loss property report to manager to sign that's it,nothing progress and they not very want to talk to you ,you can see there face.It is very upsetting.Anyway,that is a bad experience but it is not going to put me off the cruise but honestly not with lirica msc again.

We have recently returned from a cruise to Amsterdam, Bremerhaven and Norwegian ports on 'MSC Lirica' and apart from the final day we enjoyed it very much. The standard of cleanliness was outstanding (many people commented on it) and we wished that the same people were in charge of the hygiene in our hospitals! Absolutely everything was done by the crew to maintain hygiene but unfortunately some passengers found it too much trouble to use the hand gel provided. There was a good buffet for breakfast and luncheon but the evening meal was generally disappointing. The staff were without exception polite, charming, hard-working, efficient and keen to please. Our waiters were Balinese and our cabin stewards were from Madagascar. We very much looked forward to the evening entertainment: the classical musicians were world-class and the three Asian gymnasts were unparalleled. Lighting techniques and their totally amazing athleticism made an indelible impression. Now for the downside:-
Transfer from London Victoria by coach to the ship in Dover was included in the price. Those who travelled to Dover by car were allowed free parking there. After booking we received a letter to say that the ship would not be returning to Dover but to Tilbury. When I telephoned to ask how we were to get back to Victoria I was told to take a taxi for the 35 mile journey (and pay for it myself). The receptionists on the ship were somewhat dismissive of us and we were told that we were the only ones to complain (not true at all)and that we could not be expected to be taken back home (we were, of course, not expecting this but merely to be returned to our starting point of Victoria coach station). The journey from Tilbury to Victoria with lots of luggage would have been fraught with difficulties so together with about 30 other very dissatisfied passengers we boarded a coach at Tilbury for Dover Pencester coach station. The latter is a small building seemingly without any facilities and because it was a Sunday it was locked. Thirty, mainly elderly passengers, were left in a tarmaced area with a small bus shelter with seating for six. The rest of us stood, sat on suitcases or walls and waited for a coach to take us to Victoria using the ticket provided by the company. Our wait was three hours. The longest wait was five hours. Mercifully it was not raining! Why one coach could not have taken 30 passengers direct to Victoria from Tilbury was baffling

Our family had a good time on the Lirica. We enjoyed the shows. The kids had a blast. The ports were great. I was worried about the food on the Lirica because of the reviews I read before we sailed but I was very pleased with the food on the ship. My whole family enjoyed the food. The cleanliness was wonderful, the staff was very nice to us, (my kids just loved the entertainemnt Staff). I look forward to my next cruise with MSC.

This ship was very clean, the staff were very efficient and the food was great, no complaints would sail again for sure. The kids club was a blessing and the children throughly enjoyed it, fun was had by all and best of all, the kids sailed for free..

We just recently sailed on the Lirca to Panama from Ft. Lauderdale - a great choice of ports. This is our 3rd cruise and I found the ship very lovely - but the International mix was not for us.To much time consumed in translating and got on our nerves at times. The entertainment committee were super - we enjoyed dancing - games - stretching etc. The pool area is lovely but the lounges are horrendous. You could could not sit up and read or relax only made for sunning and we are seniors very difficult indeed.
Most other staff waiters on decks - by the pool - diningroom (majority) had long faces - never smiled - had no enthusiuasm - or laughter. Our table got screwed up three nights in a row and we sat in different places each time - Our waiter forgot many times to bring us variuous items ordered i.e. our soup - or salad or told us the dessert was not good tonight and never did bring it. The choices of desserts for an Italian ship was very very poor - Ice Cream - Sherbert and sometimes a mousse or cheese cake - rather boring. As for desserts on the buffet they were terrible - dried cake squares - jelly - Ice cream was only 3 flavours and could not believe that an Italian ship did not have GELATO... how disappointing. Oh yes you had to pay for the ice cream a terrible price... never paid on previous cruises. The food in general was not that great of quality and many times came luke warm - dinner rolls had to be asked for all the time never did they bring a plate of rolls and when they did they brought 3 rolls for 6 people?? Very poor decisions here. The waiters (most of them) looked like they hated the job they were doing - never having fun with us... possibly language was a problem. I am Italian myself so could understand well but my friends could not. The carrots served through the whole cruise were so hard to cut - and stringy - and the choice of vegetables were very poor again. The food on the buffet at lunch was poorly displayed - and cheese slices many times were dried out and curled up. The morning breakfast buffett had apples and green bananas (not yellow but green) they were always soaking wet and not displayed. The cutlery was all over the place had to go here for a knife and there for a spoon ... poor choices of cereals also... mostly with sugar no healthy foods at all. That I would think is the International diet these days. Also noted that where there was no smoking most Europeans lit up anyway and were told by many not to smoke there but go on the other side they started arguments all the time and the staff were not happy to tell them no smoking in that area. I gagged with the smoke and came home with a respiratory infection from the poor air quality of the rooms - smoke - the rooms are very small - and congested for two .. In the end we all did have a great lot of fun ( we made that ourselves as we had a group of over 200 people from Canada) The shows were so so - not intersted in vaudeville acts - and the long waits for costume changes etc. Overall we had fun - but would not travel on MSC again and would not recommend it to our friends at all. It was rather a bit pricey also for the size of the ship - accomodation size - food etc.
We will continue to cruise on Celebrity and in fact next Week we leave on Diamond Princess for a cruise to Australia... I hope you change some thingson the ship as it surely needs updating and better management... oh yes the shower drains are very slow - .... ciao Franco Toronto Canada

Have just returned from the Lirica 17 December cruise in the Caribbean. I have been on numerous cruises and was looking for something a bit different than you find on the American lines. I found it, and rate this as my best cruise ever. I wanted to relax and did, not tons of activities if you like that. While some Americans coplained about the food I found it quite good with adequate selection. One real plus was the offering of two sugar free desserts. The gym was great, butr don't forget to convert the weights from kilos to pounds. The entertainment was varies and very good. The mix was about 50% Italian passengers and probably 40% U> S> and Canadian. Will go on MSC cruises again soon. The cleanest and best laid out ship I have been on, and just the right size.

I,ve just returned from the Western Mediterranean cruise on the Lirica (Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Sicily, Tunis, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille). This is my first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it with. Overall I thouroughly enjoyed the experience. The ship was very comfortable. The organisation was high tech and very slick (except a few hiccups in the accounting and a mix up in the retaurant on the first evening) The entertainment was always on hand but could easily be avoided.

I am not much of a Hi de hi type but one of the highlights of the trip was leaving Palama at midnight with a Gala night in full swing on the upper decks.

The MSC Line is very definately Italian but dont let that put you off. All the crew that we met could more than get by in English. Our Cabin was specifically set up for English speakers (Signs, TV, Telephone responses, etc) as were many others around the ship.

The senior crew were Italian but those who matter to the passengers spoke the six main european languages. The rest of the crew were a mixture of Balinese, Rumanian etc and all spoke at least Italian and English

The evening meal was the usual six course Italian meal but in easily manageable portions and you could pick and choose. You can buy a book of vouchers that gets you 7 bottles of recommended wines (3 Red, 3 white and one rose) plus 7 bottles of Mineral water for 99 euros. This lasted for the week and proved to be good value for money compared with usual bottle prices and the wine was excellent.

The passangers were predominantly Italian but we met Poles. Russians, Canadian's, Americans and French so a truly mulinational bunch. The ship catered for families appearing to offer good facilities for children indeed many of the Italians came as family groups.

On board shopping was more limited than I expected and centered mainly on clothing, jewelry, booze and cosmetics.

The ship was cashless using an MSC card system that open your cabin, charged on board purchases to your account and acted as your ID card to get on and off the ship. Everything was priced and charged in euros.

There were some downsides.

1. The flight to Genoa from Heathrow leaves early and some passengers slept in the departure lounge overnight. (We got round that by using a deal that got us a bed for the night and parking for the duration of the trip at a heathrow hotel for £100 all in).

2. The flight is to Milan not Genoa which means a 1hr 45 min couch trip to the ship and you arrive late afternoon.

3. If you want to do the Rome trip the following day you need to be ready very early and the Rome trip (whilst worth it) is a long day.

4. This is a sprint round the western med (7 stops in 7 days) and most of the trips involve a resonably significant coach trip (albeit that they are all well worth the effort)

5. The journey home for the Brits really needs some improvement. You have to be out of your cabin at 8am on the morning of departure. Disembarkation plus the coach back to Milan takes you to about 11am the BA scheduled flight back to the UK is not till about 7pm (8 hours at the Airport!) but our flight did not leave till 8pm. It sould not be beyond MSC to organise a short trip to Genoa (which we never relly saw) before leaving for Milan.

One alternative may be to tap into the American version of the Cruise because they join at Civitavecchia for Rome. However they presumably miss Rome and a UK customer may have to DIY their flights etc.

All in all a great holiday visiting some fabulous places and I would certainly do it again and despite some gripes would definately use MSC again.