MSC Opera Reviews

I have to say the MSC Opera was one of the best cruise we had taken. The rooms are not huge but a good size, with ample storage space. The wait staff onboard was so professional, and quick to assist even when my son drop his spoon, the staff got us a new clean one, even before me and my wife were aware of it. The food was excellent. The entertainment was top notch, by far the best. Most of the passengers were American with only a few other European. There are many families with young kids. So our kids made many friends of their age. We had a very relaxing and reasonably priced cruise.

My 11 nights cruise from Southampton to Venice with a flight home to Gatwick in September 2011 exceeded my expectations. A single traveller I had an inside cabin for the holiday at the special late price. There were 1700 passengers but still plenty of seating room. Five course dining room meals with small quantities were excellent. Food in the self-service cafeteria was far less good with fewer choices and a bad dishes keeping hot water system. However that service suited quite a few people, particularly families. With five major nationalities on oard, crew did their best with languages with smiles and charm. Drinks were seldom less than £5.00. Time in Bilbao and Dubrovnik was too small and in Sardinia too much. My inside cabin had many mirrors and pictures so I did not feel claustrophobic withy no window. I found MSC Opera fine and would go on the ship again.

Having read some reviews of this ship I drove to Southampton fully expecting to have a pretty dreadful trip. After 24 hours I thought those bad reviews must have been written about a different ship. After 48 hours I was sure they must have been. The boarding process was well organised and smooth. The cabin much more spacious and well furnished than anticipated. The staff were friendly and helpful and the food excellent. Of course there were queues at the buffet at busy times. This is surely to be expected when 2000 want feeding at the same time! The choice of evening meal in the restaurants was excellent. There are a few things I can't eat but I never had a problem with that. The service was also very good. We heard some moans from people who wanted food 'like home' and who even complained because announcements had to be made in five languages! I would agree that anyone who wishes to stay in a little bit of Britain whilst visiting foreign parts would probably be best to choose a British ship full of British people. There were a couple of minus points (internet connection dodgy) but generally we had an excellent experience and have no hesitation in recommending both MSC and the Opera to anyone who doesn't mind trying food they may not have eaten before and chatting with people who do not come from the UK.

I went on the MSC Opera and couldn't believe how good the ship/service was. It was a relatively cheap cruise, but was much better than my 'main' cruise. I'll definitely be sailing with MSC Cruises again."