Magnifica – a dish best served cold?

As promised, I have spoken to a number of our http://www.cruise.co.uk/ staff who were lucky enough to attend the launch of MSC Magnifica over the weekend, and opinions were much as I expected them to be – as follows:
Everyone was really ‘wowed’ by the ship itself, as I knew they would be from my own experience of Poesia and Fantasia. MSC cruises ships decor really has the ‘wow factor’ and I don’t think anybody could fail to be impressed by them. The facilities on board really impressed everyone too, and from what I’m hearing, the lads were very taken with the 4D Cinema onboard. I tried the one on Fantasia and it’s great fun, although be warned, there is a charge of 6.50 euros per go! I don’t think anything about the ship disappointed at all.
The food – here we go, my favorite gripe, had mixed reviews varying from ‘it was cold/warm – ish’ to ‘it was a bit better than Poesia’ to ‘it was ok’. Nobody raved about it, which is such a shame. Why oh why don’t MSC listen? Time and again there are complaints about the food, and yet nothing seems to change. Have the Italians got different standards to us? I always thought they were great food lovers so this doesn’t make sense at all. Has anybody out there got an opinion on this? Am I painting a blacker picture than they deserve? Please tell me if you think I am!
The other comment that stood out, was that the staff seemed a little unsure of themselves and what they were doing, as though they really were new to it all. Well I suppose many of them were, but the person who made this remark did qualify it by saying that if it had been a P & O or Royal Caribbean launch their staff would have been right on the ball and going the extra mile to impress all the Agents on board their cruises.

If anybody reading this was at the launch or has sailed with MSC previously then do let me know your thoughts. I’d be really interested to hear what you think.