English friends chose the line and the cruise although after reading the reviews (prior to the cruise), I'm not sure why. Now that the cruise is over, I'm really, really happy that they chose MSC and the Magnifica! Our cruise was the 12 day from Southampton to Le Havre, France then on to Spain and then back to France and on to the Netherlands and Germany.

Let's start with the embarkation and disembarkation procedures that MSC employ at Southampton. 10 out of 10! I've cruised with 7 different lines at various ports and without a doubt, MSC has got these usually awkward, confusing, frustrating procedures down to a fine art. No fuss, no line-ups, no headaches at all. The best I've experienced by far. Want to experience the worst ..... try Norwegian out of Port Canaveral. UGLY!

Next ... the ship. One of the nicest configurations with lots of lounges well situated, lots of activity rooms again well situated and lots of space period. With 3000 persons on-board I expected to be in a competition for space but that didn't happen. I often felt as if I was the only guest. Read more