8-Day Mediterranean Cruise Aboard MSC WORLD EUROPA

I've taken 3 cruises in my life: this one and two in the United States with Norwegian. This will be my last. Crusing just isn't for me. There were things on this trip that were better but things that were much worse than Norwegian. I would say this cruise was good, not great.

The boat was very impressive. Big, beautiful with lots of things to do. Our room was very nice and the cleaning staff super friendly.

However, it seemed like all the crew on this ship were exhausted. They've been at sea for 7 months straight and it showed. They had one more cruise to go then they all go home. Their attitude reflected this. Tired, rundown and ready for a break. I can understand that. They're human.

But also:

-the bartenders were terrible. Just about all of them. Rude. Barely acknowledged you when you were waiting to ask for a drink. Took forever to get a drink. This may be how they are trained on purpose so that we don't ask for as many drinks out of frustration and MSC saves money.

-the cleanliness around the pools during peak times was bad. Food, plates and drinks left everywhere. Needs to be cleaned faster.

-the food was much worse than with Norwegian. Limited buffet selection and repetitive especially for breakfast. The cleanliness in the buffet dining rooms was also pretty bad. A mess at times with very few staff to clean it up.

-we were charged for a bus to leave the port in Marseille but there was no other choice to get out! Why do you charge your customers for something in which they have no other choice. Rip off!

-the security in these ports to get back on the ship was horrible. I know they are not employed by MSC but you should file complaints against them. In Marseille I had a huge issue with a very aggressive and rude security guard. In Naples, we waited in the rain as the security guards joked amongst themselves in Italian. Probably mocking us. MSC needs to put pressure on these port authorities to do better.

-we had to leave the ship in Malta due to my father having passed away. I went to the reception desk to let them know. Samuel had no empathy whatsoever. Didn't even offer condolences. Seemed annoyed by the fact that he now had to fill out some paperwork. I tried asking him a few questions about the process and he hold me to calm down even though I wasn't being rude in any way. Incredibly unprofessional.

In all, MSC needs to train their staff much better. I found the staff on Norwegian to be much more friendly and ccommodating.

Summary Pros & Cons

​Pros:

​Hardworking onboard service staff and talented entertainment production team

​High-quality theater shows

​Fresh pizza and fries available in a pinch

​Cons:

​Complete lack of embarkation directions in Valletta (300m walk back for luggage)

​Poorly designed and malfunctioning cabin: sewer stench, missing safe, bright DND status light illuminating the room, thermostat resetting, and no facial tissues

​Main dining room service took 2+ hours with minimal vegetarian options

​Buffet was chaotic, loud, understocked, and served cold food

​Complete lack of crowd etiquette: elevator pushing, people blocking exits, and an overall unfriendly passenger atmosphere

​Housekeeping and public cleanliness issues, including food like fries left lying on stairs

​Kids' event location in the Panorama Lounge required walking through a heavy cigarette smoke bottleneck in the casino

​Detailed Review

​Embarkation & Initial Impressions (Valletta)

​Having completed nearly 50 cruises across lines like Royal Caribbean, NCL, Oceania, Disney, AIDA, and TUI, this was our fourth cruise of the year, but our first time ever on MSC.

​Embarkation in Valletta set the tone for the trip. No staff or signage directed arriving guests to luggage drop-off. We walked all the way into the terminal, only to be turned around and told to trek 300 meters back with all our bags to find the drop point.

​Cabin Flaws, Maintenance & Baffling Design

​For a brand-new flagship vessel, the cabin experience was fraught with functional and design errors:

​Sewer Smell: We experienced an persistent, objectionable sewer stench in the cabin on multiple occasions throughout the cruise.

​Missing Safe & Front Desk Response: Upon arrival, the drawer designated for the in-room safe was completely empty. Front desk staff acted as though we simply couldn't find it and offered to send someone to "help us locate it." The technician revealed the safe had been physically removed for repairs prior to our embarkation—something reception never checked before assuming user error.

​Baffling Lighting Design: The "Do Not Disturb" control is terribly engineered. Activating the DND switch turns on a bright white LED inside the room that shines through the dark. If you turn it off to keep the room dark, the cabin steward knocks at the door. Who designs a night switch that illuminates the sleeping area?

​Faulty Climate Control: The digital thermostat repeatedly lost its temperature settings, forcing us to re-enter our preferred temperature throughout the day—a surprising bug on such a new ship.

​Missing Amenities: Basic amenities were missing; there were no facial tissues provided anywhere in the cabin or bathroom.

​Dining & Food Quality

​Dining was the absolute lowest point of the voyage:

​Main Dining Room: On night one, we arrived at our scheduled table. It took 30 minutes and a direct request just to get drinking water. The bread basket arrived with no butter or spreads. The entire meal took over two hours for minimal portions, and options for vegetarians were practically non-existent. We never went back.

​Buffet: Crowded, loud, and poorly organized. Food was often lukewarm or cold, choices were limited, and quality was subpar.

​"Survival Mode": By our first stop in Barcelona (following a sea day), we were so frustrated that we looked into booking another ship in port just to escape MSC. Realizing that wasn't feasible, we spent the rest of the week in "survival mode," eating mostly French fries and pizza.

​Onboard Environment, Hygiene & Crowd Behavior

​The general atmosphere onboard was deeply unpleasant. The ship felt overcrowded and completely unmanaged:

​Elevator Behavior & Pushy Crowds: Basic elevator etiquette was nonexistent. Passengers routinely pushed their way into elevators before letting anyone step out, creating constant bottlenecks and friction.

​Guest Atmosphere: An unusually high number of unfriendly, inconsiderate passengers added to the stressful environment.

​Public Area Cleanliness: Maintenance and public area cleaning were noticeably lacking—we frequently encountered trash and food, such as French fries left lying scattered on the stairways.

​Casino Smoke Bottleneck: To reach the Panorama Lounge for scheduled children's activities, guests are forced to walk directly through the main casino. The cigarette smoke inside was so thick it literally burned our eyes—an inexcusable walkthrough design for family-oriented programming.

​Crew & Entertainment

​The frontline crew and performers were the single bright spot of the cruise. The production shows were well organized, and the service staff worked exceptionally hard despite the underlying system failures and difficult crowd environment. It is unfortunate that MSC’s management and crowd logistics undermine the hard work of their shipboard team.

​Final Verdict

​We went into this cruise with high hopes given the vessel's scale, but the combination of operational chaos, dismal dining, cabin maintenance bugs, lack of cleanliness, and an unpleasant passenger environment made this our first and last cruise with MSC.

Cabin: infinity in Aurea- loved the window- it performs equally to a balcony. Was it as good as yacht club dining? No. But you could show up when you wanted. But only dinner no breakfast. Same menu as the rest of the ship. Pasta consistently good and pizza great. Breakfast at the buffet wasn’t very good. Loved the Carmel rolls No omelet station- all pre prepared and bacon is awful. I wish they had other early options since many ports required us to leave early.

Entertainment- amazing! The panoramic lounge is the best. Make your reservations immediately when on board or every day around 5:00 for the next day. The male singer is incredible and the dancers and acrobats are stunning.

Grewr ports. However- our 2 tours booked through the ship were poor. Ourtour guides barely spoke English. Whereas our tours booked through TripAdvisor/Viator were all great. Much better Guides.