Preziosa Review 27th March - 3rd April

My 1st time on an MSC ship and thought i would also leave my review here if anybody wants to comment. I only have Thomson ships and a weekend p&o cruise to compare this ship against. Other users may not agree with all my comments but remember these are my opinions.

I have just returned from an excellent 7 night cruise on the MSC Preziosa.

I travelled with my partner and our 2 boys aged 9 and 6. We flew from Gatwick (more about that later) to Genoa.

Transfer to the ship was no problem and easy as it’s only a short journey. Check in at Genoa to board the ship was very efficient, we had the Aurea experience which helped as we had an express check in (or something similar). There was no hard sell as other reviews have mentioned, there are a lot of sales reps from the ship trying to sell add-ons but maybe they knew the package we had but we were onboard in no time.

Getting to the cabin was easy; we were on deck 12 near the front, lovely cabin with plenty of space for us and the kids. Clean and tidy with everything we needed, shower gel, shampoo, hairdryer, hair strengtheners (for her), 2 shower robes and a 1 size fits all pair of slippers each! Nice tv too which was good to see the position of the ship although English speaking tv channels were limited. This is the 1st cruise were we have had a balcony and we all loved it, I wouldn’t book a cruise now without one. The cabin steward always kept the room immaculate, turned the beds down at night and changed the sofa to a bed for the kids and back again to a sofa in the morning.

The ship looks amazing and is all very clean and still feels like new. The choice of bars and restaurants are also very good. All the staff I spoke to were very polite, helpful and friendly. Their knowledge of various different languages was also very good. Service is slightly different to other cruises as bar staff has to be called over a lot of the time but this wasn’t a problem. The Aurea package gave us all free drinks and ice cream which we all loved.

We also had use of the solarium and sauna which we unfortunately didn’t use but we did take advantage of a massage which was very welcome after a busy few days of walking. I took my gym gear planning to get on the bikes but I was so busy with other things I never found the time.

We had breakfast in the lobster restaurant on most of the days, this was always good with a good selection and friendly waiters. The choice in the buffet was better, but go at the wrong time and it is unbelievably busy. We also had dinner in the lobster which was always very good. The buffet always had a good selection of food and snacks all day long but very busy at peak times and in my opinion better to be avoided when it’s like this. It was a manic free for all. (pretty much the same as any other ship i have been on)

There is so much to do onboard the ship, especially compared to what I have been on before. The pools were great and the kids loved the kids water park play area, the vertigo slide I also thought was great. We done the cabin pass for the week for unlimited bowling, the 4d cinema and my favourite the F1 Simulator, the f1 sim is brilliant. It can be busy at times but go at the right time and nobody is there, at times myself and another very competitive f1 enthusiast had the place to ourselves. The cabin pass is great value, especially if you have kids or are a big kid like I am! The pass also gives access to table football and table tennis.

We had some lovely weather on the cruise, especially in Sicily and Malta, the pool areas were particularly quieter than I was expecting especially in the mornings, maybe this is because the ship has passengers embarking and disembarking at every port. There were very few towels on sun beds which was a refreshing change from the English ships I have cruised on with the towels on sun beds at 1st light!

We also went to 3 of the shows during the week; I thought 2 of these were excellent with acrobatic dancers and some very clever choreographed performances. We all enjoyed the shows we watched.

The only organized excursion we done was Rome on your own. It was well organized but Rome was extremely busy as it was Easter Monday. On some of the stops particularly at Barcelona and Marseille the ship was quite far from the city centre and shuttle bus was offered from the ship which was expensive, especially as you can walk maybe a few yards from the ship and catch a public bus for a few euros.

Overall the cruise was fantastic and a very positive experience, I will definitely sale with MSC again as it did offer great value for money. As other reviews have mentioned I was apprehensive as there are several negative reviews but I didn’t have any of the problems others have mentioned.

I do have a couple moans which I thought better to go at the end rather than start with a negative. Flying from Gatwick with BA was a complete shambles for some bizarre reason and excuses of new computer systems all the MSC passengers couldn’t be checked in, the flight was delayed for 2 hours! It was pretty much the same on the return flight from Genoa, in the end we all had to be checked in by pen and paper!!! Not MSC’s fault but not a good start or end to the cruise. Especially with 2 bored kids!

My other gripe is the smoking in the casino and some of the bars, I don’t think this is very nice and leaves a nasty smell.

We all had a great week and can’t wait to go back on the Preziosa or another MSC ship. It was a great family holiday.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Thanks for the review.

Thank-you for the feedback.

Great Review Thanks!!

Just 1 quick question. How much was the cabin pass for the week. Its definitely something my kids would love

Great Review Thanks!!

 

Just 1 quick question. How much was the cabin pass for the week. Its definitely something my kids would love

It was 55 euro.

The bowling was 6 euro per game, the f1 was 8 euro for 3 laps and the 4d cinema was 6 euro each (i think)

it did offer great value, the bowling games are over pretty quickly as its only 5 frames.

The other half has just informed me the hair straighteners were hers

I knew i should of got her to proof read my review!

It was 55 euro.

 

The bowling was 6 euro per game, the f1 was 8 euro for 3 laps and the 4d cinema was 6 euro each (i think)

 

it did offer great value, the bowling games are over pretty quickly as its only 5 frames.

Thanks for coming back so quick. Did you buy onboard or beforehand.

Thanking you in advance

Thanks for coming back so quick. Did you buy onboard or beforehand.

 

Thanking you in advance

We bought it onboard at the f1 car\4d cinema.

Excellent review and glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for your report.

thanks for the review looking very forward for our preziosa September cruise :)

Bodster ... Good to hear that you all enjoyed the cruise on Preziosa, we travelled from Gatwick to Genoa with BA and had no issues so it may well have been a glitch in their system.

Thanks for your review as we are going on Preziosa in June (our first with MSC) and it's great to read positive reviews. Can't wait now.

Thanks for your review as we are going on Preziosa in June (our first with MSC) and it's great to read positive reviews. Can't wait now.

We had a great week and I hope you enjoy your week as much as we did.

Thanks for the review. We are doing the Transatlantic in November and looking forward to it

your review waqs very helpful thanks a lot!

can you tell me if the cabin pass for 55 € was per person or for the whole family?

thanks in advance!

sandra

The cabin pass was €55 for the whole family, or everyone in the same cabin. This is why I thought it was such good value.

wow, you are fast! thanks for the info, greatly appreciated!

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Thank you for the review and I'm glad you share our thoughts about Preziosa.

I loved the Cabin Pass you described and I'm definitely thinking of buying it once onboard next Friday. Can you help me with the conditions of that pass?

Thank you.

Thank you for the review and I'm glad you share our thoughts about Preziosa.

 

I loved the Cabin Pass you described and I'm definitely thinking of buying it once onboard next Friday. Can you help me with the conditions of that pass?

 

Thank you.

The cabin pass was relatively simple, it was purchased from the f1 simulator\4d cinema. It allowed everyone staying in the same cabin which in our case was 2 adults and 2 children to have full unlimited access to the f1 sim, 4d cinema, bowling in the sorts bar, table football and table tennis. There may also have been some board games too. As said before the pass was 55 euro.

For the cinema, f1 sim, table tennis and football we just simply showed our card which now had a yellow sticker on it. Occasionally the operator swiped it but not everytime. For the bowling it had to be swiped in the bowling machine giving 1 credit.

Not really sure what else to say, but the kids loved the bowling and the 4d cinema. We certainly had our value for money just for those activities. They were both 2 short for the f1 sim but i made sure i made up for that! :)

The f1 sim and 4d cinema at peak times was extremely busy but in the morning for example it was dead and we were often the only ones there. It was never difficult to get a game of bowling, the kids often shared with other kids and organized it between themselves as there is only 2 lanes.

Im starting to sound like an MSC sales rep now! I hope you enjoy your cruise and cabin pass. :)

Great feedback. Thank you very much.

Thanks for the review - glad there were a lot of positives! :)