Third class experience

When we travelled with MSC in 2006 we already realised they are not at par with other international cruise lines, but we wanted to treat my mother with a cruise for her 80th birthday and booked a 5 night cruise with them. MSC deteriorated a lot since then and the embarkation and disembarkation was a nightmare for my elderly (80 and 85) parents. MSC seems unable to handle the crowd and there were no staff checking that thing went orderly. My parent had to stand in line for hours with nowhere to sit and people pushing in all the time. The queue for embarkation at Maputo was longer than Election Day, but with no staff to tend to the elderly and disabled. The number system for disembarkation at Portuguese Island and Pomene helped, but was no use in Durban, because nobody was checking. We were in the first group (we booked shuttle transfer), but people from later groups pushed in. On the morning of the 3rd day our toilet stopped flushing, but it was only fixed on the afternoon of the 4th day after our 5th complaint. No tea or coffee (or even a glass of water) is available in the dining room and the waiter told us to go and get it at the buffet. He only serves drinks that you pay for. My daughter and her husband were thinking of doing a MSC cruise in March, but I will recommend them to reconsider.