MSC World Europa

The ship’s 2,631 staterooms and suites, spread across 12 decks and spanning a whopping 19 different cabin types, mean you have serious options for how limited or luxe you’re looking to sail. Cabins in MSC Yacht Club, the line’s ship-within-a-ship, are the most luxurious and spacious, offering access to the Yacht Club’s private restaurants, lounges and a swimming area and other outdoor space that never feel overcrowded. Most of the MSC Yacht Club cabins have balconies, some have whirlpools, and there are a few interior MSC Yacht Club cabins, too, if you just want to get a foot in the door to this truly beautiful and leveled-up space at the ship’s bow. 

Other onboard cabin options include studios with single beds for solo cruisers, cabins with ocean, promenade and partial ocean views and new cabin designs called “cluster cabins” perfect for families and groups who want to stay close by each other on the massive ship. Cabins span the size spectrum, from 108 square foot studio interior cabins to the whopping MSC Yacht Club Owner’s Suite, with 1119 square feet to spread out in, panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor living area on a large balcony with a private whirlpool overlooking the passing sea. 

Appreciated touches in all cabins include USB charging ports under the lighting switches neat the beds, mini fridges and flat screen TVs, and showers with glass doors instead of curtains.

MCS World Europa has 65 ADA cabins accessible to wheelchair users located between decks 9 and 16. These include interior cabins, junior suites, deluxe balcony cabins and others–all located in close proximity to elevator access for ease of movement around the ship. Shower benches that fold down, wider bathroom doors, amplified phones and close caption TV are all available in all ADA cabins, too.. The ship’s gangways all accommodate wheelchair and scooter access and there are no tenders to port to contend with in the European ports of call where MSC World Europa docks. 

At the time of booking, guests with special requirements can fill out a Special Needs Form to advise MSC Cruises of their needs.

Passengers who book MSC’s base package are assigned a table and dining room for dinner for the length of their cruise, with varying themed menus served throughout the week. The ship’s expansive if typical buffet options–with salad stations, carved meats, seafood, charcuterie, and more–are the most popular options for breakfast and dinner and can feel a bit trough-like, considering how crowded they get. Luna Park Pizza & Burger is a brand new 24-hour dining option on the ship with classic American carnival and fast food fare ranging from hot dogs, burgers and chicken fingers to pretzels and funnel cakes. 

You’ll pay extra to dine at MSC World Europa’s six specialty restaurants, each of which has its own unique flair and include Chef’s Garden Kitchen, helmed by a Michelin chef and with its own onsite garden, as well as a seafood-centric restaurant on the World Promenade called La Pescaderia Fish Market where you can point to the fish you want in the case and enjoy a spread of Mediterranean mezze while waiting for it to be grilled to order. There’s also a fun teppanyaki spot, Kaito, that families love for the nonstop entertainment alongside the food service, and the very American-style steakhouse, Butcher’s Cut, with lots of dark woods and leather rounding out a clubhouse feel and hearty steaks and sides like you’d find in Texas.  

Passengers staying in MSC Yacht Club have access to their own private restaurant, where multi-course dinners are served in an elegant dining room and breakfast and  lunch can be taken indoors or outdoors in sit-down settings. If MSC Yacht Club passengers choose to experience some of the specialty dining restaurants during their sailings, they get priority reservations.

If Disney’s Epcot is famous for drinking around the world, then MSC World Europa, with a whopping 20 bars and lounges, could bring similar bragging rights to the bar top. Whether you’re raising a pint in the British-inflected Masters of the Sea pub, sipping something flowery, fruity and gin-based at the dedicated Gin Project bar (with more than 70 craft gins on offer), making a break for bubbly and caviar in the dedicated Champagne Bar or puffing a Cuban cigar alongside a cognac at Malt Lounge, the ship’s bar scene does not disappoint. Drinks are not included in packages, however, so you’ll want to have an idea for how much you want to, er, party to pick the best beverage deal for your needs. To feel like you’re in a big city lounge with delicious craft cocktails–including many of the smoking kind–don’t miss Elixir–Mixology bar, a new offering just on MSC World Europa, with its edgy handcrafted concoctions and an outdoor terrace for sipping with sea views.

You will hardly want for ways to be entertained on board MSC World Europa, whether you’re looking for a rollicking night of karaoke with multiple crooning nationalities guaranteed to be represented, a quiet evening clinking Champagne glasses in the Champagne Bar, or to take in a theater-production, concert or all-out spectacle of pyrotechnics, stunts, dancing, and acrobatics. The Masters of the Sea pub has music every night and serious British pub vibes, so much so that you might feel transported to London or Dublin, depending on the crowd and who’s crooning. 

One of the best spots to hangout on the ship later in the day is the Ocean Promenade deck overlooking the stern. It’s a particularly atmospheric spot to gather for sunset and takes on an urban park feel, with people doing the very-Euro evening flaneur thing with ice creams in hand and sitting or benches to watch the wake. There are drink carts and families dancing to the ambient tunes. Were it not for the passing waves, you might wonder if you were even on a ship at all, so park-like is the vibe.

MSC World Europa makes it easy to work out, with an excellent fitness facility on deck 20 where floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the main pool deck and passing sea–all the better inspiration for finding some motivation to workout. There are free weights, treadmills, step machines and myriad TechnoGym machines as well as onboard fitness classes to help ensure you can stay fit at sea. Exercise classes like stretching, morning yoga, aerobics and Samba Dance Classes on deck 18 at La Plage and at the World Promenade are offered for no additional charge. 

The ship’s Aurea Spa, decked in natural stones and woods, is exceptional, both for its range of treatments–you’ll never go wrong here with a Balinese massage from hands that have perfected it–to its thermal area that includes twin ocean-view saunas, a steam room, thalasso-style pools and a snow room for doing your own wellness circuit pre or post treatment.