Many reviewers describe excellent onboard service, enjoyable meals, and lively entertainment. Another group reports serious hygiene issues, food-related illness, and housekeeping lapses. Several guests also mention booking mistakes and slow or unhelpful customer support. Overall, the reviews split clearly between very positive trips and major operational problems.
Examples from available reviews (Sep 2025 – Mar 2026).
MSC World America exceeded expectations with excellent design, food and service.
“MSC World America exceeded our expectations.”
Severe hygiene and food safety failures caused sickness and poor facilities onboard.
“High number of sickness on board due to food and hygiene.”
Booking inclusions disappeared at payment and customer service was unhelpful.
“Be very careful when booking with MSC”
Modern cabins, good food and entertainment delivered very good value for money.
“very good value for money”
Many reviewers praise cabin and dining crews for friendly, helpful service on board. Others describe breakdowns during busy periods, such as slow dining service and chaotic embarkation or disembarkation. The lowest-rated reviews sometimes mention indifferent behaviour from frontline staff.
Many guests point to affordable itineraries, modern cabins, and what they see as strong value for the price. Critics mention surprise charges, frequent upselling, and too few quiet areas, which they say undermines the holiday’s value. Concerns about value show up in both mid- and low-rated reviews.
Positive feedback often focuses on organised daily schedules, varied shows, and enjoyable shore trips. A noticeable counter-group reports disappointing ports, overcrowded dining spaces, and voyages affected by sickness. Reviews that rate the trip highly frequently praise the entertainment.
Several low-rated reviews flag serious food-safety and hygiene problems, including reported illness and poor cleanliness. Some also mention cigarette smoke near pool areas and occasional pest sightings in cabins. Comments about clean ships and modern cabins appear too, but they are less common within the negative accounts.
Reviewers repeatedly mention booking problems, including missing inclusions at payment and conflicting information before sailing. They also describe delayed refunds, refusals to provide written explanations, and weak handling of third-party issues. Positive or neutral communication experiences appear rarely in this dataset.
The dataset splits sharply between very positive holiday accounts and severe negative incidents. High ratings often credit the crew and onboard facilities, while low ratings focus on hygiene lapses and unmet booking promises. This stark contrast shows up consistently across the reviews.
For each review, the core experience based on original source reviews.
Sources: Trustpilot (60) · Quotes shortened · As of: March 2026
First adult cruise met expectations with great places and good entertainment.
“the entertainment on board was good and food was excellent 👌”
Many problems occurred, including miserable staff, lukewarm food and poor entertainment.
“miserable staff,lukewarm food,low budget entertainment”
Modern cabins, good food and entertainment delivered very good value for money.
“very good value for money”
Great itineraries at affordable prices with good service; will book again.
“Great itineraries for affordable prices”
Most ports of call were disappointing except Lanzarote and Madeira.
“Ports of call except Lanzarote and Madeira were disappointing”
Trusted cruise liner lived up to expectations on this voyage outside Europe.
“it did not disappoint”
MSC World America exceeded expectations with excellent design, food and service.
“MSC World America exceeded our expectations.”
Wonderful cruise with good food, beautiful ship and great entertainment overall.
“Wonderful cruise experience good food, beautiful ship, great entertainment.”
Staff were reportedly disinterested from embarkation through to leaving the ship.
“Staff were disinterested from embarkation to leaving boat.”
Deck 13's large smoking area causes cigarette smell near pool and hot tubs.
“therefore it stinks of cigarette smoke.”
Lovely week cruise with a nice itinerary, good price and impressed first-timer.
“Lovely weeks cruise nice itinerary good price”
Reviewer reports very good staff on board.
“Very good staff”
Booking inclusions disappeared at payment and customer service was unhelpful.
“Be very careful when booking with MSC”
An awesome experience, though slightly below a previous MSC cruise's standard.
“It was an awesome experience”
Immaculate large ship with professional staff, excellent food and brilliant shows.
“All in all a 10 out of 10 holiday.”
Fabulous cruise again; reviewer couldn't fault staff, food or the experience.
“cant fault the staff, food or experiance.”
Booking inclusions disappeared at payment and customer service was unhelpful.
“Be very careful when booking with MSC”
Serious housekeeping and medical issues, alleged onboard illness and poor cleanliness.
“my daughter became unwell during the cruise”
Amazing experience aboard Seaside with exceptionally kind and helpful staff.
“The staff was exceptionally kind and helpful.”
Great from start to finish, though reviewer disliked no acting theatre.
“not to keen on no acting theatre”
Chaotic boarding, overcrowded buffet, untrained staff and insufficient sunbeds reported.
“Buffet was like feeding time at Zoo.”
Cruise met expectations with fantastic dining, varied entertainment and strong recommendation.
“I would highly recommend this ship.”
Poorly organised disembarkation forced long queues for a prepaid excursion.
“we were required to stand in a long line”
First time on World Europa was impressive with clean ship and helpful crew.
“the ship is very well organised and the excursions are great too”
Severe hygiene and food safety failures caused sickness and poor facilities onboard.
“High number of sickness on board due to food and hygiene.”
Misleading customer service information about holds and occupancy waiver caused issues.
“I feel as a customer I was lied to and treated like it didnt matter”
Very poor customer service and delayed refund over 60 days caused frustration.
“Customer service is absolutely horrid!”
Lack of local office communication and broken promises prompted cancellation threat.
“Nobody seems to care about your booking by MSC!”
Rats reportedly in cabin walls, widespread illness and dirty ship claimed.
“MSC seaside ship had RATS crawling in the walls of cabin.”
Amazing time with delicious food, warm service and memorable moments ashore.
“The food was delicious, the service was warm and genuine”
Dining and onboard service were slow, unfriendly, and poorly managed.
“SLOW service, rushed out from 5pm seating despite not receiving dessert.”
Booked experience included long waits, changed dining time, and wrongful charges.
“Don't waste your money.”
Despite a delayed ship, the food and staff were praised.
“the food was great”
Food was bland and repetitive, and persistent upselling spoiled relaxation.
“felt like 'walking wallets.”
Pre-cruise communications were rude and gave inconsistent excursion access.
“the person I tried to talk to was rude.”
Poor food quality caused illness, and staff were often rude or overwhelmed.
“I threw up for two days.”
Customer service refused written explanations and access to senior management.
“They would not give me any of this info in writing?”
Overall experience was terrible with poor cleanliness and sickness onboard.
“I would describe my experience as the cruise from Hell.”
A third-party vendor scammed them and MSC offered no reparation.
“No reparation at all from MSC”
Staff were friendly, hardworking, and provided outstanding service throughout.
“The staff were just great, at all times”
This page combines submitted experiences with public reviews from platforms such as Google, Trustpilot, etc. Recurring points are summarised without changing the content of reviews.
MSC Cruises runs a global fleet of passenger cruise ships, offering scheduled holidays across several regions. It sells cabin types ranging from basic interior rooms to premium suites. Typical onboard features include multiple restaurants, theatre shows, pools, and family-focused facilities. Travellers can book through the official website, travel agents, and authorised tour operators. MSC Cruises is part of the MSC Group and operates under international maritime safety and port regulations.