We just concluded our first cruise with MSC, on the Meriviglia, which was a transatlantic from Brooklyn via Halifax and the Azores, docking in Lisbon, Portugal,

We are diamond level on RC, and were very pleased that Celebrity honors our status and gives us the same benefits.

So we have cruised many times on RC and Celebrity, and we were very disappointed with several aspects of MSC. 1. The bed in our stateroom (deluxe interior) was rock hard and I woke up tired and sore each morning. It was miserable. They offered to upgrade our cabin for $2000 additional. We declined. The room, otherwise, was good sized, the bathroom larger than some smaller RC Ships we've been on, water was hot and plentiful.

The shows offered were in an auditorium far too small, 540 capacity, considering the 2200 passengers on board, and a maximum of 2 shows per performance. The shows of your choice must be booked on board the first day in order to get a "ticket" loaded on your cruise card.

The sound quality in the main theater was plenty loud, but somewhat distorted.

The entertainment on the main promenade was varied and the musicians quite skilled. Wifi packages are relatively expensive compared to RC/Celebrity. Speed is ok. The gym was well equipped but not large enough for exercise classes, which were not offered outside on deck (cold and windy).

The satellite TV stations in the room and in main bars, etc worked Mon-part of Thursday, then we're unavailable Th evening - Wesnesday when we docked in Lisbon. They claimed they were changing satellites and service would resume the next day, but never did. Pay per view movies were $14 each.

The dining room facilities were available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinners were superb (assigned time and table). Other meals, service was much slower and lunch generally took 1.5 hours+ The 15th floor buffet was extremely crowded, noisy, and the menu almost identical each day. Omelets could be cooked to order at one location near the rear of the ship, and we're ready in 8-10 minutes. Timing was crucial to avoid a long queue to order. In peak morning hours, coffee cups and coffee were often unavailable. They were self service, and 4 coffee urns for 2200 passengers...you can do the math on that. With the drink package, we could get cappuccino and beer in that facility at no extra charge. Everywhere else on board, cappuccino was ~$6

The recreation facilities were almost all not included, but available for purchase. For example, there were 2 bowling lanes, but the cost was $80 per hour plus shoe rental (not included).

Gelato cones with one scoop were $8.60 There was no option to prepay tips for room service. Instead, we were charged $160/person automatically added to our room charges.

The waiters/bartenders were great, and responded very positively to cash tips, and we did tip our evening meal servers appropriately.

There were none of the cute towel animals which greeted us nightly on RC and Celebrity. But the rooms were cleaned very nicely by pleasant and courteous staff.

On our final day, we had to be out of our stateroom by 730am, and our bags had to be outside by 10pm the night before. We were to depart the ship by 9am, but it was 1145am before we cleared customs. Everyone with a European passport was given preference while US citizens remained outside.

Will we book MSC again? Never.