We were waiting for MSC to cruise out of NYC. We were sick of RCCL Anthem of the Seas, and don't cruise on Carnival or Norwegian. Embarkation was quick. The staterooms were ready fairly early and our luggage arrived to the room fairly early as well. We had a balcony on Deck 10. It was one of the smallest balconies we have ever had on a cruise, but since we were going to Canada, we didn't use it too often. The cabin itself was pleasant enough, but there was not enough storage for an 11 day cruise, we kept having to pull our suitcase out from under the bed.

We had the Premium Drink package, and we had to watch our account as we were being charged for drinks. Shenel in Customer Service was great in getting our account credited back, but it was pretty annoying that the IT department couldn't get this fixed, as we weren't the only ones with this problem.

I was impressed on all the cleaning that was going on throughout the ship. However, the public women's bathrooms frequently had no soap in all the sink dispensers. Some hand sanitizer dispensers were empty. I was appalled by the number of people entering the dining room or the buffet without washing their hands; no one from the cruise line was even directing them to do so, which is what happens on other cruise lines. Read more