We would probably never travel with MSC again and neither would a lot of people we spoke to on the cruise.
We chose this cruise because of the itinerary - Dubai, Muscat, Eilat, Jordan, Suez Canal, Cyprus, Athens, Katakolon, Kotor, Split and Venice, which was on the whole very good. Athens was dropped because of bad weather and we ended up going to Corfu instead which was rather disappointing but not the ship's fault.
A problem before we even flew out was that MSC gave us an embarkation time of 21.12 when our plane landed at 7.30. We tried to find out if we could board earlier and were told that we could at 13.00. However, when we arrived at the ship at 10.30 we were allowed on. Why couldn't they have told us that and saved us the worry of how to waste several hours at the port?
The cabin was a bit cramped with nowhere to put our suitcases and a third bed stuck out from the wall so you had to watch your head as you walked by. The cabin steward was very good. As always in ship cabins there was a lack of hooks and shelves inside and outside of the bathroom. We had several problems with the water in the shower going hot then cold.
The tour was very good and we had plenty of time to look around.
Very nice little town, especially within the walls -very old, quaint buildings. The position of Kotor among the fjords is particularly good.
We were a bit disappointed with Split as there was only one main street and a market area to visit. The ship was quite a long walk from the town,
We visited a shopping mall which was very clean and ornate.
We took the shuttle into the edge of town and walked round the seafront to the market. We got lost coming out of the back entrance but got back to the coast quite quickly.
We declined the shuttle bus at 9 euros each and caught the local bus for 3 euros return each. We looked round the shops and then walked down to the seafront which was very nice and clean.