Here is a recent review of MSC's Opera as posted by a fellow CruiseOne owner who sailed.
MSC Cruises Opera:

January 8-15, 2005

7 Night Western Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale

Ports Visited: Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

Let me first give you a quick answer to the question I had before taking this cruise. Should you recommend this somewhat unknown cruise line and this new ship to your clients? Based on my experience, and conversations with a variety of passengers, during this cruise my answer is a definite yes as long as you properly qualify your clients as you do on any cruise. Now let’s talk about the details.

Embarkation:

This ship departs from Port Everglades terminal 4 which is right next door to the Caribbean Princess. I arrived at about 10:30am and the ship was still in the process of debarkation which was taking a little longer due to the fact it was returning from an eleven night cruise with more baggage than usual. However, the wait was only about forty five minutes until we were let into the waiting area and given a numbered card which would be used for calling us into the check-in area. Being early I was in group number one and after only about fifteen minutes we then proceeded to the check in lines which were extremely short. We then proceeded from there upstairs and waited a few more minutes which a large group of travel agents were boarded for a tour and lunch on board. We then board the ship were greeted and directed and/or escorted to our cabins. The whole process was well organized and efficient. I did not hear any complaints on board about long waits to board the ship.

First Impressions:

This is a very beautiful ship, elegant and tastefully decorated. Classy not gaudy and certainly looks like a premium product without a hint of the “Las Vegas” look. This is a mid-size ship with about 1,756 passengers based on double occupancy and 2,100 with all triples and quads filled. This cruise was sold out with about 1,800 passengers on board. The public rooms and areas are very roomy and never feel over crowded. This was especially evident during the days at sea. No overcrowding around the pool with a surplus of deck chairs and many areas with only a few people scattered. Up top on deck thirteen at both the bow and the stern of the ship are additional areas for watching the ocean or sun bathing. There areas were never more then lightly occupied with many surplus deck chairs. There are many other places on board to get off by yourself if you wish. At 58,600 gross tons this is not a ship where you stand in awe of its sheer size and gawk at soaring atriums. No rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, or movies under the stars. However, I spoke with many passengers both members of my group and others and all of them had positive things to say about the ship. The elevators closest to the bow and stern go from deck four to deck twelve. There are two additional elevator banks amidships one of which goes from deck five to deck eight and the other goes from deck five to deck ten. With my cabin smack in the middle of the ship I was constantly searching for the right set of elevators. I know … I should have been using the stairs.

There is one thing that is important thing to keep in mind with your clients. We have all heard the phrase “This is way more than a cruise….” Not the case on the Opera. This is a cruise, in fact, an excellent cruise but once again keep in mind that there are that there are no rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, or movies under the stars here. This is by design as MSC is trying to bring back a bit of the past and separate itself from the competition. If your client has been on Royal Caribbean and expects all of those “extra” things on a ship they will be disappointed here. MSC has a very distinct Italian flavor on board, and were not talking about food. The officers, cabin stewards, hotel, entertainment and waiters are all Italian or from other European countries. Assistant waiters and other cabin staff workers are mostly from the Philippines. This is great if your client, like me, likes to take a little trip to Europe without crossing the pond. It gives you the feeling of foreign travel from a U.S. port on a cruise to the Caribbean. However, the most frequent complaint came from Americans who were frustrated by not being able to understand the language or just didn’t like all the “foreigners” despite the fact that it being an Italian ship it was us Americans who were actually the “foreigners” on board. All announcements on the ship are in five languages, Italian, German, French, Spanish and English.

Another note about the MSC is that their ships and cruises are designed to be “quiet”. By this they mean a couple of things. First of all there are no announcements made in your cabin, other then the required emergency and life boat drill announcements. Passengers are treated like adults and are expected to read the daily program and find their way to the various activities on board themselves. The other place this style shows up is in the drink service. Cocktail service in the lounges and on the upper decks is very understated and relaxed. You certainly can order a drink if you wish but you will not feel any pressure to do so. There is no “booze cruise” atmosphere.

Cabins:

The cabins on the Opera are slightly smaller than on some other cruise lines. The inside and outside cabins are identical except for the window at about 154 square feet. What’s missing is room for a chair or that half size sofa that you find on the newer Royal Caribbean ships. Overall, they are still very comfortable. My cabin was an outside category six on deck 8 amidships. Each cabin has a mini-bar which was nice for one lady who needed to refrigerate her insulin while on board. There is a safe and some extra shelf space tucked behind the mirror in one corner of the room. Cabins have good closet space with room to store your bagsThe bathroom is small but functional. The tightest space is the shower when the curtain was pulled I felt like someone was invading my personal space even though I was alone in shower. Great shower head however. One possible solution is to leave the curtain open as the bathroom floor has a drain and don’t leave anything in the bathroom that can’t get wet. Balcony cabins are larger at about 180 square feet and are located on deck 9 and 10. The Opera also has 30 suites at about 245 square feet on deck 11. No baby grand pianos or hot tubs on your veranda on this ship.

Public Spaces:

When you board the ship you arrive in the Main Foyer Reception area on Deck five. This area is very elegant with a double spiral staircase with the look of marble that makes a great first impression. This area is two decks high. The Opera does not have any glass elevators on board. One thing I liked was that there are no cabins on the lowest public decks five and six. These decks are all public spaces on deck five along with the main foyer there are bars, the shopping area, a lounge, sitting areas and one of the two dining rooms. Deck Six has the Teatro Dell’ Opera showroom, coffee bar, lounge, casino, photo shop, cyber café and the other main dining room. The main showroom, the Teatro Dell’ Opera is a bit unusual in that it’s sole purpose is to be theater not another cocktail lounge that also has entertainment. It has very comfortable theater style seating with none of those little tables for drinks. No drinks are sold in the theater. It has an outstanding sound and lighting system with laser lighting effects during the shows. Sight lines are excellent as there is no balcony so no posts to block the view. There are some seats in back on both sides that have a very poor view of the stage but these seemed to be excess capacity and were not used even with the ship full. Deck seven has another larger lounge, card room and library in the bow of the ship and cabins toward the stern. Much of this deck seems to be reserved for staff and as a result this ship does not have obstructed view cabins as the life boats are hung on this deck. Deck eight has inside and outside cabins while decks nine and ten contain the balcony cabins and some outside and inside cabins. Deck eleven has the health center, gymnasium, sauna and steam rooms. The health center has an excellent workout area with all new equipment and a full service spa. Prices in the Spa seem to be very high.

There is children’s area near the health center. There were about 55 children on the January 8th cruise but the previous cruise which was eleven nights leaving December 28 has about 200 which the staff indicated was a bit more than they are equipped to handle. There was a sign still on the door of the children’s area which indicated that due to severe overcrowding only one parent was allowed in the room at a time. There is no special teen area on board but there was a program for teens on the cruise. Also on deck eleven are the burger and hot dog grill, two (saltwater) pools, two hot tubs and a bar. The stern of this deck is taken up by the buffet restaurant. The area around the pools is very roomy and does not get over crowded. The lounge chairs on board have a unique design with a shade that come up to block the sun from you face but they are not padded. Deck twelve has the usual walking and sunning space above the pool with more lounge chairs provided. Around the stern of the vessel wrapped around the smoke stacks is an eight (eight?) hole mini golf course.

Part 2 to follow