Armonia - poor service

Returned last week from one week cruise around the Canary Islands.

Delayed embarkation due to power failure in the terminal - nobody's fault but at the same time passengers not informed of the problem for about 45 minutes.

When we boarded the ship we went straight to cabin to check it out - very nice outside cabin, lots of space, good comfy beds.

First stroll around ship we came across excursion desk which was advertising trips in Fuerteventura - I commented to my travel companion that they must be trying to sell trips for the following week ( some passengers on for two weeks)

When I asked a member of staff he informed me that he was selling trips for the following day and that WE were going to Fuerteventura and that there was a letter in my cabin informing me of itinerary change.

I still have not found the 'letter' to this day but indeed the whole itinerary was changed and we did not go to Agadir - apparently due to adverse weather.

At dinner on the first night I brought up the change with 6 others who we met on our table - they all thought we were heading to Casablanca that night too, they actually thought I was making it up.

We went to Fuerteventura during the night - no public announcement was made.

The following day we called at Lanzarote and when returned to the ship we joined a queue of more than 100 people. Two members of the crew stood in front of us and after more than half an hour at least 100 people were behind us.

Weather was cool and breezy and I felt cold, as did my companion.

I asked the crew members if this was normal boarding and they informed me that the ship was forced to use a higher deck for boarding due to the lower doors being too low down in this port.

I thanked them for their information and suggested that the passengers might appreciate being informed. They just looked at me.

The ship itself is very nice, food average, sometimes not good.

Staff overall seemed really fed up, the only time I saw them smiling was during a farewell show on the last night.

Information was almost nil apart from the newsletter. No daily announcements about ship position, weather forecast, changes in activities etc.

Service charge added automatically as happens with many cruise ships.

For the first time ever I went to reception to ask for my bill and when I looked at it I asked for service charge to be removed - I was informed that this would be entered into the system as a request and I would find out the last day.

My response was 'ok thank you, but at the end of the request can you add that this customer happily pays for good service but after this cruise will not be leaving the ship until the service charge is removed'

I personally rewarded several individuals who had delivered good service and my automatic service charge was removed.

I am not a huge cruiser but have been on more than 20 cruises over the years.

This was the most 'unhappy' ship that I have been on, still managed to have a good time and met many lovely people.

Would choose not to go on MSC in the future - I like to feel appreciated rather than an unwanted addition when I pay to be a passenger on a ship.