MSC Lirica, MSC Cruises

The ship was lovely and so were the staff and service. Only feedback we want to leave is that we were disappointed with the entertainment staff since their ability to communicate in English was very limited. This at times made us feel excluded. Housekeeping and catering was fantastic and the staff brilliant. Was a great introduction to cruising - thank you to Peter from Iglu for helping to choose this first experience.

A lovely clean and roomy ship with a number of bars and all public areas spotless. We had a sea view room on the 9th deck. Cabin spacious enough but limited on wardrobe space for a longer journey. There is a safe and a small cupboard behind the mirror which we found on the last day after another guest at our table told us (a small sticker or a note in the room guide would have been ideal!). An expensive mini bar and bottled water is available in your room but beware it is not included in the Allegrissimo drinks package . Don't be tempted, there are plenty of `beverage stations` around if you want tea coffee or water. We paid 23 euros each a day for the drinks package . We easily got our moneys worth with wine at meals, lagers and cocktails through out the evening , plus ice creams and smoothies. A few brands such as JD and premium spirits not included but plenty of suitable alternatives. Heineken, Newcastle Brown, Amstel and Murphys bitter on draft and well kept . Bar and restaurant service ample if a bit slow at peak periods but no big deal (Im on holiday, no rush !). Restaurants and buffets all had an excellent choice of menus and plentiful. Also pizzas and grill bars on deck. One large pool split into 3 areas for either kids or adults with a fountain type area and hot tub. Always busy. No real language barrier except at Reception which is ironic as I would have expected them to be fluent in languages required onboard! As English, we were in the minority. Theatre shows revolve around latin American dancing and can get a bit `samey` unless youre into Strictly Come Dancing every night and some heavy accented singing into English which can grate after a while. Full marks for effort though and the mostly Italian and Spanish guests seem enthusiastic enough. Poolside entertainment a bit naff though with some audience participation which can be a bit squirmish!! Very Italian and child orientated but space to chill in the relaxing bars ( basically all the same, just different colour furniture) and most you can smoke in too but the air con copes well enough. Mixed age groups but a large group of Italian youths on the last night which caused a few raised eyebrows during dinner, not helped by the staff continuing to serve them alcohol even though a couple were definitely under age. As for dress codes , they print it in the daily newsletter but no one seems to take too much notice . Theme nights were Italian night , 60s/70s and Carnival. As you don't get notice until the day how can you pack? Hence not many took part. Overall - hardworking, mostly friendly crew, big on effort, low on choice entertainment, mainly ( loud, rude ) Italian guests. Our third cruise , 1st with MSC, and very hit and miss for my liking but as they say, you cant please all the people all the time. Me? I will stick with P&O or Cunard . TOP TIP - get a drinks package.