We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and because we wanted a European experience on our ship. We flew into Paris and spent 4 nights there, then flew to Rome and took the train to Civitavecchia where we spent the night before the cruise. I definitely was a bit nervous of choosing MSC because some of the reviews are well ... less than glowing. I don't know what those folks experienced or expected because we had fantastic service and an absolutely wonderful time. I have only cruised with Royal Caribbean before and MSC was every bit as enjoyable in my book. We had a balcony stateroom and our steward was wonderful and responsive to our every need and desire. It was clean and bright and we love the balcony. Personally, we enjoyed the dining very much particularly in the main restaurant. Our waiter and his assistant were fantastic and eager to please. If something was not to my taste, they quickly brought me something else. I am sure that part of the enjoyment was our dinner companions who were personable and interesting conversationalists. We had the second seating and I loved the relaxed pace of the meal each night. The manager checked with us regularly to make sure we were enjoying our meal and emphasized that anything could be cooked differently or changed out if we were not completely satisfied. I was less than thrilled with the cafeteria/buffet but that was more due to the noise and hectic environment than to the food. I tried the burger one day and it was disappointing but, then again, I didn't go to Europe to eat burgers so I simply got something else. I preferred lunch in the main dining room with the option to choose from the buffet or to order from the menu and have table service. The service in all the bars was excellent and the staff was friendly. We preferred the Rendez-Vous because our waiter, Momin, was absolutely outstanding and made a real effort to know names and remember preferences. It became our before dinner meeting spot. The entertainment was also outstanding though I admit that I almost gave up on it after the first show - A Space Odyssey - which was mostly disappointing. I am a retired theater teacher so I admit to being somewhat picky when it comes to theatrical presentations. The costumes for all the shows were absolutely stunning and the rest of the performances were outstanding. I particularly enjoyed the Flamenco show and the mini Opera. We did not really plan on any excursions as we were pretty much intending to make our own way. We ended up purchasing one in Malta which was very disappointing. I had chosen it because I specifically wanted to visit the handicraft Village of Ta Qali and our guide didn't even know what it was. The description had specifically state that was included. In fairness though, our dinner companions went on multiple excursions and really enjoyed all of them. I will definitely sail with MSC again in the future.