we chose this cruise as the price was good and we wanted to try a different company to compare, the difference between my regular cruise line we use. what a mistake. We embarked at Southampton and straight away we felt unwelcome. As we boarded we were met by staff trying to sell us all there packages, nothing unusually about this but not one person welcomed us onboard or asked if we needed any help trying to find our rooms, we were left to are our own devices. The ship itself is stunning and our rooms and the ship was spotless, but that is where the positives end.

The staff are probably the most miserable looking i have ever seen it was like they had been forced to work but didn't want to be there. They very rarely gave us eye contact while serving us, and never smiled or spoke other than asking what we wanted. Even when the bar was quiet it could take up to 20 minutes to get served as they would just walk straight passed us, i don't know whether this was because we were on the all inclusive and they were told to try not to let people have too much, but it worked.

the Sahara cafe food was never hot just luke warm at best, but there was a good choice if you like cold food. We ate in the Quattro venti restaurant in the evenings, we had a nice friendly waiter here but the food wasn't any where near the standard of food we have had on other cruise ships it was 3 star at best. Formal nights were nothing special no different than any other, i think they were put on to try to get people to buy more photos, which were very expensive. entertainment on the ship was second rate, the shows were awful and amateurish if it wasn't for the acrobats in them we would had walked out of more. We saw the worst comedian i have ever seen the only person laughing was him self. This is the first time while on a cruise ship i can say i was bored, i have never spent so much time in my cabin, just waiting for time to fly so we could get to a port and get off. The ships shore excursions were really expensive so we did our own thing most of the time. Olden was an amazing place, absolutely stunning, and a highlight of our cruise. I can honestly say this was our first time with msc and i would never book with them again, it was a shame as it was probably one of the nicest ships we have been on but had the worst staff.