MSC is one of several cruise lines we would never book with but as MSC ships are like buses embarking/disembarking in several locations during a 7 night cruise we decided to try it mainly as we had the opportunity to leave from Greenock which is very unusual to say the least.
Our original cruise should have been in June however with the Scottish Government not allowing ships to dock we changed it to August not thinking about Scottish and English school holidays, so 3000 passengers and 1400 children
Embarkation: It was well organised at the Port with staff guiding us to the marquee for check-in. We arrived for our designated boarding time and there was a small queue which was constantly moving, a member of staff was pre checking our insurance documents in advance to ensure they were in order. We were quickly checked in, COVID test, wait for 10 minutes and then escorted onto the ship, from entering the port to embarking was approximately 40minutes. Inside the ship the security was similar to the airport which we've never experienced before getting on a ship and this was quite slow.
Our cabin was ready by 1pm a Fantastica balcony 12128. The layout is long and narrow, obviously to accommodate the maximum number of cabins and it's the narrowest we've been in however there was sufficient room to move about easily. It was stylishly decorated in pale grey colours and well appointed, plenty of drawer space, large settee, dressing table with stool and a handy table which slotted underneath however the wardrobe space is the poorest design ever, one side has drawers, shelf and the safe, on the other a hanging space that really did not work, it wasn't long enough or deep enough. I had already read this could be an issue so had bought magnetic hooks and folding hangers and we needed them most our clothes were on hanging on the wall with a few things inside the wardrobe.
The bathroom was compact very good shower and it also had the luxury of a glass shower screen which was great, plenty of storage and a small cupboard where the extra toilet rolls and a bin were.
The balcony had enough space for the 2 chairs, stool and a small table so it was ample.
Our lovely cabin steward introduced herself shortly after we entered the cabin and asked if there was anything specific we needed, we were aware there was now only one a morning cabin service so we only wanted the towels replaced in the evening, we did tip extra and gave her a couple of goody bags. It said it wasn't a problem as she would do it when she left the next days programme, she did also dry out the shower we did tip extra and gave her a couple of goody bags, she also reminded us to fill in the mini bar form daily so that she could replace anything we had used
Excellent Belfast City Tour well worth it