ship very clean,and worked on all the time to keep it so.food ok but have had better on other,cheaper cruises.staff are very helpful in the restaurants,nothing is too much trouble.good people.reception not so good,my electronic cabin key went wrong early on in the cruise,after three trips up to deck nine, having been assured each time that the problem was solved,i had to get loud with the guy behind the desk,and he finally generated a new keycard for me.not good.the ship carries passengers from many countries,for this reason the entertainment is rubbish.due to language barriers all they can offer is music and dance shows.normally the entertainment on cruise ships is superb,even on the cheaper lines. this one is an exception. drinks are insanely expensive,and then made worse by a fifteen percent service charge!so two vodka and tonics leave little change out of twenty euros.if a couple were to go aboard this ship and sit in their cabin for the full eight days.they would still spend 112 euros,as there is a cabin service charge of 7 euros a day, each.no social gatherings in the bars because very few people use them.a lovely ship,but its the dullest cruise we have ever been on,with a bad taste left by the service charges.

Having read some reviews of this ship I drove to Southampton fully expecting to have a pretty dreadful trip. After 24 hours I thought those bad reviews must have been written about a different ship. After 48 hours I was sure they must have been
The boarding process was well organised and smooth. The cabin much more spacious and well furnished than anticipated. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food excellent. Of course there were queues at the buffet at busy times. This is surely to be expected when 2000 want feeding at the same time! The choice of evening meal in the restaurants was excellent. There are a few things I can't eat but I never had a problem with that. The service was also very good.
We heard some moans from people who wanted food 'like home' and who even complained because announcements had to be made in five languages! I would agree that anyone who wishes to stay in a little bit of Britain whilst visiting foreign parts would probably be best to choose a British ship full of British people.
There were a couple of minus points (internet connection dodgy) but generally we had an excellent experience and have no hesitation in recommending both MSC and the Opera to anyone who doesn't mind trying food they may not have eaten before and chatting with people who do not come from the UK

My wife and I along with friends cruised on MSC OPERA from Brazil to Southampton and the experience of this cruise company is not one that I will be doing again.
The ship itself was clean and in quite good order for a 7year old ship, but the toilets were really a no go area the smell from the gents toilets in the public parts of the ship was terrible, as is they hadnt been cleaned for ages.
Although there was no illness on board during my cruise hygenie was poor the gell in the dinning rooms and when you board the ship, as well as the soap in the toilets was allways empty.
The food on board was the only good thing and the dinning staff were exellent, we had a Brazilian waiter, and the next table had a romanian they were fantastic, they mad it a joy to go to dinner at night.
The staff on the reception and shore excursions desk were unfreindly and unhelpfull, if you were a passenger wanting to do your own thing and not an organised trip with the ship they would give you no help or advice at all.
The compulsory "service charge" because you can no longer give tips is a big NO NO and not liked by alot of people.
This company may well be the biggest in the world, but it is best dealing with CARGO, as the Italian run company has no carisma to deal with people, and will only satisfy a first time cruiser that has nothing to compere it to, after 17 nights on board we were glad to get of never never to return.
My advice to anyone thinking of this cruise line is take a good look at its competitors.

Keith Smith

As always the cabin stewards waiters etc were excellent the ship was kept spotless but the food by cruise ship standards was fairly average and worst of all was rarely hot enough.In comparison with previous cruises the price of booze was dear, the midnight buffet was down to just one,the trips were extortionate and the chocolates on the pillow had disappeared.It is worth noting that iced water is available free at mealtimes if you ask but they tend to keep it a secret so they can sell you the bottled water.The entertainment in the evening was poor,the singing was barely X-factor and being an international ship we had to put up with every announcement being translated into several languages by Franco the obnoxious entertainments manager.Next time I would spend more money and pick a better English speaking(better for entertainment)ship.

We sailed to the Baltics on the MSC Opera. The ship was very clean and well kept except for the deck 11 buffet which was very disapointing. Tables were hard to find and when available not usually clean. Staff in this restaurant were not happy and if you were not quick enough eating the food, they tried to take it away before you finished. The main restaurant on the 5th deck was much better and the waiters were excellent and friendly. The food served was generally good and we were happy with the service provided there. Cabin staff were very good and provided an excellent service (deck 8). The onboard shops were expensive and limited in the range of goods for sale, not up to the standard of other ships we have sailed on. Onboard Communication was poor and the Stockholm landing was cancelled but this was not reported to the guests until three hours after the planned docking time. Reason given was bad weather but all people we spoke to did not believe this to be the case. The Cyber cafe on the ship provided very poor service and was expensive. We had a dispute about one internet bill and it took four days to get any satisfaction from the IT manager onboard. The entertainment was totally sub-standard compared with other ships we have been on. In the day SUPER BINGO was the main entertainment at 10 Euros a throw. Franco the Cruise Director got on the guests nerves and the evening entertainment was old hat and boring to boot. This was our second cruise with MSC the previous one was on the Melody, which was excellent, but we will not be sailing with MSC again after this experience.

This is the 1st cruise my wife and I have been on and we were so looking forward to the trip of a lifetime.
The ship itself is beautiful and always kept clean. The staff are helpful and for the most part curteous and friendly, we had a particularly good cabin attendant on deck 8 who kept our cabin spotless. The food was ok in the restaurant but not so good at the buffet cafe on deck 11 and was often cold or over-cooked but at least if you didn't like something you could bin it and get something else!
The price of a drink on board was way too high at 4.50 euros for a beer and 7.60 for a vodka and coke there was also 15% service charge on top, obviously this is the reason that the bars were empty or people sat with one drink all night! The atmosphere on board was reflected in the lack of people using the bars and lounges therefore there was no great socialising between the passengers and in fact most of the conversations were about the high prices and 6 euro per person service charge per day. This charge is because they do not allow tippping of staff on board and is intended to give staff who wouldn't normally get tips (laundry, engine room etc) to share the bonus, in principle a good idea but results in those doing a really good job getting the same as those who dont. Two members of staff in the smoking lounge however deserve a special mention, Felipe from Chile and Sumita from Nepal they were always attentive and smiled constantly, really nice young people.
The excursions are extortionate, we did our own thing and shore trips to Corunna and Dubrovnik on a Sunday are a complete waste of time as nothing is open.
The duty free is a joke with poor choice and more expensive for items like perfume than we pay back home and drink for instance is cheaper in Asda!
The one thing we hoped would be a bonus was the entertainment, sadly no! As smokers we spent a fair bit of time in the smoking lounge where the awful Sebastiano performed each night. I suppose he tried hard but frankly wouldn't have made it past an x-factor audition! The standard wasn't much different in the other lounges and the stage shows were predictable to downright bad. Franco the cruise director clearly has a unique idea as to what passes for entertainment.
I wouldn't say it has put us off future cruises but we would never travel with MSC again.

We were on the baltic cruise last week for 11 nights, and had just a boring time on the ship when at sea with nothing to do except play BINGO and sleep.The food was OK ,the ENTERTAINMENT was SHOCKING,prices of drink was unreal expensive with 15% extra on every drink ,plus 6 euro a day per person per day for what I dont know.We will never again cruise with this cruise line.We heard loads of people complain.

This was my second trip with MSC and although I am always hesitant about cruising on a 'multiple-language ship' I chose the Opera for the great itinerary and a reasonable price. I notice from many people's comments complaining regarding service charges and high bar prices but this is not new to me and MSC srvice and gratuity charges are much lower than many other cruise ships that I have cruised especially American lines.

I do want to comment however on something new that MSC have introduced which to my mind is a really good idea and that is language specific entertainment programme. Being slightly more mature I do not like the traditional cruise ship daytime entertainment - I find it for the most part childish and sometimes inavaive and rude, however MSC have brought in a new idea with a cultural programme hosted by presenters that speak English as a first language. This was an unexpected surprise and a pleasure.

On our cruise (July 2010) we had presentations ranging Greek Mythology and Memory and even our own comedy show which was just about one of the funniest thing I have ever experienced, and I as I mentioned earlier, I have cruised on many many lines and this was truly one of the best shows and judging by the applause and laughter my fellow cruisers agree with me.

Even the port talks were presented in English without all the normal translations into several languages or given by someone who battles with the language. There were many other activities to choose from but on some occasions my wife and I opted for a nap instead but it was a refreshing change to know the option was available to us. The main host, Steven is apparently a cruise director himself for the cruise line and I have to tell you I enjoyed his work so much I am considering quite seriously cruising the Indian Ocean early next year on the Opera's sister ship, Sinfonia which I believe will be Steven's next ship.

So well done MSC and Bravo Steven. If you keep this up you can most certainly expect to see me again.

Other than that, the cruise was as expected from a mid range cruise ship. The food was not 5 star and neither was the service but then again the Opera is not 5 star either and it doesn't prentend to be. If you don't have 5 star expectations, then you will love this ship.

We travelled on the 'opera' to the Baltic.

Very clean ship and staff pleasant and helpful. Food was very average but the big let down was the service in the restaurant. In all my years of travel, I have never experienced anything so bad. The poor Waiters worked 'their socks off', but there just was not enough of them On one evening. I received my wine with my ice cream !
As reported by other correspondents, the drinks are very expensive. As a result there did not seem to be much drinking going on. Bring the prices down to those of other cruise operators and you will sell far more.
Entertainment pretty poor, although there were a couple of acts that were good. Entertainments Director, FRANCO, particularly irritating -- MSC please note - replace him immediately!

Overall, a very average holiday for an average price.


Don't forget MSC.... GET RID OF FRANCO !!!!

Our cruise was for 11 nights to Norway and the North Cape sailing from Dover. The check in was a bit chaotic because there were transit passengers returning to the ship after visiting Dover and there was a lack of signs or staff directing new passengers to the correct queues.
The ship was very clean and tidy all the time and the staff were polite and friendly.
A good variety of food was on offer throughout the day from various locations but we chose to eat in the restaurants for all our meals. We particularly enjoyed dressing up for the three formal nights and the Captain's cocktail parties.
The entertainment was quite good although the introductions were long and laborious because everything had to be done in 4 or 5 languages as did any tannoy messages.
Now we come to the real downside of this cruise which was the price of drinks and the 15% service charge added to every drink, a large beer was 4.70 euros and bottled beers were 3.70 euros, spirits with a mixer were 7.60 euros all plus 15% service charge, convert these prices to Pounds and we are looking at beer at £5 a pint and shorts plus mixer at £7 a shot. These prices were the reason that all the bars and lounges were empty of people and when there were people in them, they sat with empty tables and the waiting staff stood around doing nothing. MSC Cruises need to drop their bar prices by a great deal and this would increase their bar sales significantly.
Finally to top everything off there are gratuities added to your final bill of 6 euros per person per day!!!!!!!!!!