MSC Magnifica Review

4.0 / 5.0
386 reviews

Good ship, good value - better than reviews earlier this year suggest

Review for the Baltic Sea Cruise on MSC Magnifica
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g8rmpm
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Jun 2018
Cabin: Balcony Stateroom
Traveled with children

We just returned from the 04 June 2018 cruise that left out of Southampton and went to La Havre, Invergordon, South Queensferry, Newcastle on Tyne, Amsterdam, and Hamburg.

The pros: the ship is clean, like new, and everything worked flawlessly. The crew was super friendly and attentive - maybe the best we've ever experienced (we have cruised on Royal Caribbean, Holland America, and Carnival). Embarkation and Disembarkation were both fast and easy. Despite the large size of the ship and number of passengers, there were never any waits at the bars, for food, or really to get on or off the ship.

What was just ok: the food was simply good most days, with only a few of the dinners being great. (For comparison, the best food we've ever had was on Holland America and worst on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas). Breakfast was the same exact thing every day - which on a 11 day cruise got old. The buffet lunch and dinner was average - nothing great, nothing horrible (although the desserts were below average). The "sit down" dinner service was very good and the food most nights was simply good (with two of the three formal dinner nights hitting the great mark). The dessert options during dinner were seriously limited - like 5 options, 4 of which were the same every night. All in all though the food was a lot better than expected given the reviews earlier this year.

Cabin Review

Balcony Stateroom

we stayed in a balcony room on the back of the ship on deck 8. The sofa converted to a cot bed and like a trundle had a second bed that pulled out. Truthfully these beds were pretty comfortable. The ship sailed smoothly and the view off the back was fantastic. Only downside was when they were turning when going into or out of port - the engines made serious noise and the back of the ship shook like crazy. Don't plan on sleeping in on those early port arrivals - it will wake you up. Cruise showers are by no means large, but this was the smallest shower I've ever been in. I am not a big guy and I couldn't shower without touching the curtain or the wall. Water pressure and temperature were fantastic though - so not the worst cruise ship shower I've ever had to use.

Balcony was a good size and the furniture was like new. I wish at least one of the chairs could have reclined.

Room electrical outlet is US standard.

TV in the room is like an 14", one of the smallest I've seen in a cruise ship. 90% of the stations aren't in English, so we pretty much watched the BBC channel when in the room.

Port Reviews

Amsterdam

SOOOO much to do and not enough time to do it. Bicycles everywhere and very hectic. If you want a relaxing time take a river tour (although you won't see as much). Get tickets to Anne Frank's home or Van Gogh museum in advance - they quickly sell out. The town closes down at 10 PM for the most part, and later in the evening it doesn't feel as safe.

Hamburg

We took a hop on hop off tour. The town is interesting, although *nothing* is in English and it isn't spoken particularly well.

Newcastle (England)

Took a cab into downtown Newcastle (which is cheaper and faster than using the ship's shuttle). Newcastle was bigger and had more going on than we realized.

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