Worst Travel Experience Ever!

<p>Myself and three friends embarked on the Cruise to Nowhere this weekend past only to be utterly disappointed by EVERYTHING! We would definitely not recommend this experience even if you are considering a quick "budget" getaway. We stood in the queue at the Cruise Terminal for 3 hours waiting to embark! Upon embarking there are no individuals to really assist first time cruisers to try and find their cabin. Probably took them about 2-3 hours to drop our bags at our cabin (bags are just left outside your cabin unattended - not secure at all as anyone could tamper with your luggage in the corridor!) The ship was is scheduled to leave at 4pm but only left after 6pm. For more details, please see the email we sent to MSC earlier today - we patiently await their response:</p> <p> </p> <p>"Dear MSC,</p> <p> </p> <p>On behalf of myself and my three friends, I would herewith like to express our utter disappointment in our first time cruise experience with MSC on the Cruise to Nowhere this past weekend (13-15 Jan)</p> <p> </p> <p>The rand value of this experience did really not meet the expectation due to:</p> <p>1. A 3 hour wait before embarking (whilst we note and understand that embarking could take a while, we waited in a queue for 3 hours only to have our ID checked and boarding paper stamped? The amount of staff was definitely not sufficient to accommodate such a huge crowd</p> <p>2. There was no assistance from staff to guide us to where our cabin was situated, for first time cruisers this was very overwhelming as the ship is huge - we eventually found one staff member who was very rude and unhelpful. Definitely not the service we were expecting.</p> <p>3. Our bags arrived at our cabin about 2-3 hours after embarking - surely this isn't normal?</p> <p>4. Whilst we note and understand that weather conditions need to be favorable for sailing, there were no announcements re late sailing. Documentation noted that we would sail at 4pm, the ship only sailed after 6pm?</p> <p>5. Cutlery, crockery and glasses/cups on board were filthy</p> <p>6. Even though we booked via Flight Centre, we had not been informed that Goodhope FM was also hosting a party on board the same weekend - we felt this should have been communicated to us upfront; the GHFM cruise was also much cheaper, nearly half the amount we paid. To others, R4300 may be a small amount but myself and my three friends had to save up for months - only to be disappointed by this experience. Prior to sailing we checked your website and were all really excited to be boarding this "luxury" liner. The reality vs what we viewed online however, were completely opposite! The visual content on your website is very misleading and false advertising</p> <p>7. Apparently due to a medical emergency, the ship was reverted back to Cape Town, shortening our experience by at least 10-12 hours. Whilst we share compassion for the individual who took ill, why could the passenger not be transported to a medical facility via helicopter?</p> <p>8. The ship probably docked in Cape Town again just before 7pm which we feel was a real waste of time and money</p> <p>9. Disembarking was very rushed, we got the feeling that staff just wanted us off the ship so that they could prep for the next journey to Namibia</p> <p>10. If we had to rate this experience from 1 to 10, we would give it a 3 - definitely not something we would want to experience again or recommend to family and friends who have not been on a cruise yet.</p> <p> </p> <p>Given the points above, my three friends and I feel really let down by this experience. Our families and friends who have previously cruised with MSC all gave us positive feedback - I am sure you can therefore understand why we feel this disappointed and let down. I have personally traveled abroad to a few countries but I can honestly say this has possibly been my worst travel experience ever. We sincerely hope that you will consider the above and refund even a portion of this trip to all passengers who embarked on this journey, it would only be fair as the overall experience was cut short by quite a few hours. Quality and service was also inferior - definitely not worth what we paid for".</p> <p> </p> <p>If you're looking for a lovely budget vacation, I would recommend to rather travel to Thailand or Bali via flight - this experience left us feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, stressed and extremely disappointed - generally not words one would like to use to describe a holiday. </p>