Adult Family holiday aboard MSC World Europa

This holiday was planned to celebrate my husbands 60th birthday and provided an opportunity for quality family time. Our party of 7 adults included my husband and 5 young adults ranging in age from 20 to 30. We had 3 balcony cabins on deck 14. All were extremely happy with this cruise which provided space and options for individual activities and interests while affording us the opportunity to enjoy dining a some of the entertainment options together. We were very pleased with our balcony cabin which was more spacious than I expected, had ample storage for our luggage & was spotless and attended to regularly throughout our 7 night cruise. What we loved: we availed of the speciality dining package and opted for The Garden Lounge, The Butchers Cut and the Mexican restaurant and were thrilled that we did as our shared meals each night were one of the highlights of our cruise. The Garden Lounge, focusing on fine dining, was our particular favourite, but each had its own atmosphere and style and added to our holiday. The service in the main dinning room was excellent and there was ample choice each night for everyone within our party. The service and menu on the night of the Captain’s Dinner deserves particular note and I was delighted that we visited our assigned dining room for this night. Our favourite drinks venue, as a group, was the English pub, we loved the relaxed atmosphere, the live music and enjoyed participating in their pub quiz with a bit of rivalry among us as we split our tables to add a bit of competition! I loved the Tea room for a relaxed, indulgent space and a most enjoyable afternoon tea with my daughters. The coffee emporium and the juice bar went down a treat with many in our party. There was ample choice in the buffet, we visited for breakfast mainly and everyone’s needs were catered for in this busy environment. I appreciated and enjoyed the “adult only” zoned pool for to enjoy some sunbathing and great views while the younger members of our party also enjoyed the water slides, the gym and the many late night activities after we parted following dinner or a show in one of the main entertainment venues. We availed of the drinks package and Wi-Fi packages for all and disembarked at each port to take up walking tours I had pre-arranged and the MSC arranged visit to Pompeii. I had nothing arranged for our stop in Messina and would opt for one of the excursions if I was repeating this trip. This ship moves to Dubious in the winter of 2026 - I am tempted to book the ship again

A wonderful week on the Med in a lovely ship

From reading some of the reviews I think that MSC's opposition is paying people to write bad reviews. Our experience for my family of eight on board at Aurora level , was we all agreed , very good. But lets be clear. This is not a cruise ship that is suited to people who don't like being on board with lots of other people or who are looking for a gourmet experience for beer money.. There are six thousand on board - but the facilities can easily cope. Yes, it is busy around the pool but we found plenty of quiet spots to sit and to have breakfast or lunch. Having set the scene - here is our experience in summary. Boarding - no problem. Quick efficient. Cabin - very nice, clean. Eating arrangements: Buffets on floors 19 and 18 with plenty of seating. Compliments to the staff who are so busy all the time clearing tables and wiping the floor. No problem with crowding (where do people get this stuff on other reviews??) Choices excellent and different every day. Caters for vegetarians and vegans no bother. Dinner was in Bubbles restaurant. Dinner menus varied and excellent. None of us found complaint - including my 15 and 17 year old grandchildren who are very fussy. Staff service exceptional. Entertainment to a very high professional standard- not the crew doing a fill in!! Value for money - definitely. Yes they do charge for extras if you want them - but that's actually better than paying a higher price for stuff you don't need or want. No gratuity payment added on at the end- all included. Great! Children found things to do in evening teen club but mainly came with us adults on day trip out. No problem at all getting back on or off the ship at ports (where do other reviewers get their complaints from!!) Negatives: Free Wi fi non existent. Couldn't get it to work at all. Some paid for (exorbitant) wi -fi ships service. But can use phone at ports to access internet. cost of excursions- too much when you're paying for eight. We managed to get taxis to take us to where we wanted to go for a lot less. Tips - avoid cabin 15124. It is opposite a crew exit for luggage and was causing disturbance all night long. Getting off in Marseille for flight boarding at 10.10 we were first off the boat at 08.10am carrying our own luggage to a pre-booked taxi and got to the airport in plenty of time. Used a taxi service called Welcome and and found them very efficient - even if not the cheapest. As a group of eight we wanted to go to Herculaneum on the Naples stop. We found an eight seater for 175 Euros to take us there, wait an hour and a half and return. He is giuseppetaxinapoli@gmail.comhe may do other trips too. All in all avery good trip. great value for money. Lovely and helpful staff. Pay no attention to those who write rubbish negative reviews. We've done other cruises and this was a good as any, if not better ,one.

The Med

We have sailed on MSC 3 times, good value for money. My wife and I are both over 60. I thought the crew were the most friendly we have ever had on MSC, we never had to wait a long time to be served drinks etc, hard workers. The ship was very clean and we were happy enough with the cabin, we always book with a balcony. Food maybe not the best but you have to remind yourself you are paying a thousand less than other cruises so no complaints and of course it is impossible to go hungry. We bought the 4 dinning experience and the service and food were both excellent . We had breakfast in the cabin a couple of times to avoid the morning queues. The shows were good and to book them was very easy via the app. We got an invite to the secret bar! Overall a great cruise and even though there was more than 5 thousand people on the cruise it never felt too crowded. Overall 8.5/9 out of ten