I was also on this cruise but I think I didn't have as bad of a time as others as I was prepared for a few things:
I saw this was their arrival date and the letter that came with the check-in PDF specifically stated not to arrive to the port earlier than 2:30 p.m. due to needing to be cleared by Coast guard. That alerted me that embarkation was going to be a s*** show because they were going to try and sail the same day they got Coast guard clearance. It took me about two and a half hours from the time I got there to get on board, and I know my wait time was slightly shorter than others because I had diamond status matched from my Platinum with DCL, so once I got inside I was able to skip quite a bit of the line.
I had also read that food was hit or miss and to focus on things that were Italian being an Italian cruise line... This was great advice because the fresh made mozzarella on board was heavenly and the pizza was pretty darn good most of the time. The lasagna with béchamel was also delicious. The charcuterie was a great highlight as well.
There are definitely some efficiency issues stemming from a combination of insufficient staffing, new staff, American expectations, lots of new cruisers, one of the biggest ships at sea, and a few areas of just poor planning.
I will likely cruise with MSC one more time to see if things improve in a few months, as their private island is gorgeous, the ship is gorgeous and well designed, and the price is fantastic. Heck, the price alone dictates that I'm going to have some sort of trade-offs somewhere...
