Why do the reviewers hate MSC?

My girlfriend and I took an 11 night cruise out of Rome last summer on the MSC Divina. We loved the ship, loved the food, loved the entertainment and loved the overall Mediterranean vibe and experience. True, some staff weren't quite as friendly as other cruise lines (hire more Filipinos and fewer Eastern Europeans, imo), but it was an excellent experience overall.

So many seemed to harp on the fact that there are hotdogs and hamburgers in the buffet, when in reality, there is an amazing variety of food if they just walk a bit farther.

But the reviews often seem so poor and many of the "professional reviewers" give these ships 4 stars and some of the non-professional cruisers rate the ships much lower than that. We thought it was more of a 5 star experience, and their newer ships are really beautifully done.

I also feel that maintenance is the best I've experienced. Non-public areas, such as the below deck exits, which are often dirty and rusty, were immaculate. I suspect it's due to MSC's shipping experience and heritage.

We had such a nice time on Divina that we just booked another European cruise for 2018 on MSC Preziosa.

So why do the reviewers seem to hate MSC? This really contradicts our recent experience.

I don't get it either. We are big fans of MSC . Did Preziosa and booked for Meraviglia next . Nothing to dislike

We are just off the 7-16-16 divina cruise. I have 12 carnival cruises behind me. We love carnival. Got a 11th floor balcony for way lower than we could touch any carnival cruise. Though we did book 2 weeks out. Ship is stunning. We loved it. Our only complaint is the menu on the elegant nights was very limited. They need to keep the alternative selections on all nights. But other than that. We will be back. Though I have 2 carnival cruises booked. Tony

My guess is the culture difference between MSC and something like Royal Carribean or Carnival. There would be little to challenge an American on either of those lines because they will be the overwhelming majority of passengers, and the entire experience is geared to them.

From what I hear about MSC, it is a much more European experience and there are passengers from many different nationalities. The typical American is not going to adjust well to this, especially if they were not prepared for it going in. One or two things may not be exactly as expected, and the next thing you know, everything sucks!

Dining seems to be an issue as well, I've seen multiple comments about portion size. Europeans have a different idea when it comes to what a proper portion size is. Americans have basically doubled their portion size over the last 20-30 years.

I've only done Celebrity in the past, but I saw the new Seaview and was immediately hooked. We're booked for Jan of 2018. Funny thing is, that apparently MSC is going to try to "Americanize" this ship. I'll be disappointed if they take it too far. I'm really looking forward to a more European experience.

We loved the multi national experience. Food on buffet was great. I'm doing a ship video tour right now. We were kinda iffy about the reviews. But for the price it could not be beat. Even the drinks,sodas,souvineers, pandora were all reasonably priced to our surprise. I kinds wis I didn't have the 2 carnivals booked. It took 7 days to really get used to navigating the ship. Lots of chopped up halls. But once you get use to the thinking it's amazing. So many open venues. two little clips:

https://vimeo.com/175957070

The simple reason is most Americans do not like cruising with Europeans. My wife and I have been on 2 Costa cruises and enjoyed them very much. Having people speak different languages added to the experience. But most Americans cannot adjust to Europeans. It really is that simple.

Paul

We loved the multi national experience. Food on buffet was great. I'm doing a ship video tour right now. We were kinda iffy about the reviews. But for the price it could not be beat. Even the drinks,sodas,souvineers, pandora were all reasonably priced to our surprise. I kinds wis I didn't have the 2 carnivals booked. It took 7 days to really get used to navigating the ship. Lots of chopped up halls. But once you get use to the thinking it's amazing. So many open venues. two little clips:

 

 

Thanks for the videos.

My girlfriend and I took an 11 night cruise out of Rome last summer on the MSC Divina. We loved the ship, loved the food, loved the entertainment and loved the overall Mediterranean vibe and experience. True, some staff weren't quite as friendly as other cruise lines (hire more Filipinos and fewer Eastern Europeans, imo), but it was an excellent experience overall.

 

So many seemed to harp on the fact that there are hotdogs and hamburgers in the buffet, when in reality, there is an amazing variety of food if they just walk a bit farther.

 

But the reviews often seem so poor and many of the "professional reviewers" give these ships 4 stars and some of the non-professional cruisers rate the ships much lower than that. We thought it was more of a 5 star experience, and their newer ships are really beautifully done.

 

I also feel that maintenance is the best I've experienced. Non-public areas, such as the below deck exits, which are often dirty and rusty, were immaculate. I suspect it's due to MSC's shipping experience and heritage.

 

We had such a nice time on Divina that we just booked another European cruise for 2018 on MSC Preziosa.

 

So why do the reviewers seem to hate MSC? This really contradicts our recent experience.

We don't get it either we love the Divina, entertainment is the best at sea and the food we find good , the ship is the most beautiful of the ones we have been on. We have been on 6x and 2 more booked and 3 more on the Seaside.

The simple reason is most Americans do not like cruising with Europeans. My wife and I have been on 2 Costa cruises and enjoyed them very much. Having people speak different languages added to the experience. But most Americans cannot adjust to Europeans. It really is that simple.

 

 

 

Paul

You got it spot on

We did the Divina in April - loved it. Booked again with my parents for this Oct. Also booked on Seaside 2018. I don't recall any chopped up hallways. I was in a balcony, not the suites area. One thing we really like are the drinks coupons. We did soda, beer and wine for each night dinner. You are allowed to share and the price was good to begin with.

Cruise Prices have been good also.

We just sailed on MSC Divina for the first time from 7/16/16 through 7/23/16. We were in the YC. We fell in love with almost everything from food, service, music, shows, balconies, shopping, and culture.

We had three unpleasant experiences with staff, but even those did not keep us from booking our second suite on MSC Seaside in 2018. Everyone else were super friendly, professional, and helpful.

We ate in all of the YC venues, we had room service several times, and enjoyed the buffet several times. So many choices, all good!

We especially enjoyed the classical music venues.

Can't wait for our next MSC cruise!

Well, if my experience on these boards holds true, the next 5 posts will be long rants on how MSC was the rudest experience one could ever imagine, the food was not fit for prisoners, etc, etc, etc...

And of course it will all be done in one long paragraph, with every other word spelled wrong as the author valiantly struggles to express they're, err, there, err their opinion.

Kick off in 3,2,1...

Lol. Yep I'm waiting with you. [emoji3]

Hi...just thought I would add my "twopenth"...we have cruised with many different cruise lines...Celebrity/RCI/Princess just a few of them...most of them good but for us on the MSC cruise we found the food the best ever...especially the buffet. what a great choice. The ship was stunning and I thought the general ambience was classy and stylish much more understated than the "have a nice day" service of the other cruise lines but certainly a nice quiet polite service. We certainly are looking forward to our next cruise with them in September

Americans seem to dislike the food.

I enjoy very much the food seasoning on MSC, not too salty, not too peppery, just enough to allow me to put more on if I need too without overwhelming the people that dislike too much spices.

Americans seem to dislike the food.

 

 

 

I enjoy very much the food seasoning on MSC, not too salty, not too peppery, just enough to allow me to put more on if I need too without overwhelming the people that dislike too much spices.

Yes it's all good. We loved everything and even though somethings I wouldn't order again, I had a go because you can always ask for something else if it's not to your liking.

Hi...just thought I would add my "twopenth"...we have cruised with many different cruise lines...Celebrity/RCI/Princess just a few of them...most of them good but for us on the MSC cruise we found the food the best ever...especially the buffet. what a great choice. The ship was stunning and I thought the general ambience was classy and stylish much more understated than the "have a nice day" service of the other cruise lines but certainly a nice quiet polite service. We certainly are looking forward to our next cruise with them in September

It's funny that you mentioned the buffet. I thought that it was one of the best I've experienced. People focus on the hotdogs and hamburgers, but there's so many different varieties to choose from. And I think a lot of people do not understand how long the buffet is or the fact that many times, there are items much farther down that they are not seeing.

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I have done several cruises with different lines (Princess, Star Lines, RCI, Thomson and MSC)

My first experiences with MSC was on the smaller ships like Melody, Rhapsody and Monterey). Since the introduction of their larger ships I have sailed on Poeisa, Lirica and Orchestra. Every cruise was most enjoyable, no complaints about the food, entertainment or the itinerary. The last two ships took me around the Emirates from Dubai where my son and his family are based. They joined me on Orchestra last year for their first ever cruise and we loved it so much that we have booked for 17th December on Fantasia, again out of Dubai.

We recently received the e-mail offering us the chance to book on the new ship Seaview and the incentives were so good we have gone ahead and booked a Super Family Plus cabin for Jul 2018. We will have three adjoining cabins (which they say can sleep up to 10 but I think that would be a bit crowded) and the Super Family Plus cabins are priced per cabin not per person. With our discounts as previous passengers, drinks packages included and on board credit we got a fantastic deal for the five of us.

Son and family are also booked on Magnifica for July 2017 to the Norwegian Fjords.

MSC is great for families with children up to the age of 17 as in some case they travel free. My twin grandsons will be on Magnifica for £160 each for the 7 days - they come into the teens category being just 13 yrs old.

When I have travelled with MSC on my own the single supplements with them are a lot less (IMO) than some of the other cruise lines and generally the discounts I get with the MSC Voyager Club compensate for the single supplements.

NCL are the only cruise line which actually have studio cabins with the studio lounge for solos. Just wish MSC would come up with something similar - solo travellers are hard hit sometimes. However, I am lucky to be able to travel with son and family and I am sure we will continue to be loyal to MSC who have given us such wonderful holidays in the past.

There will always be the minority who just like to complain and I agree that some people find the MSC concept strange - geared to the European market in the main but overall MSC have the thumbs up from myself and family.

I hope everyone enjoys their cruises on whichever MSC ship they choose. I know we will!

Suzanne (Bristol,UK)

We sailed on Poesia and Divina. Loved both. Yes, food choices are a bit weaker than on most massmarket, but we loved entertainment, Beauty of both ships, international crowd and ambiance.

The simple reason is most Americans do not like cruising with Europeans. My wife and I have been on 2 Costa cruises and enjoyed them very much. Having people speak different languages added to the experience. But most Americans cannot adjust to Europeans. It really is that simple.

 

Paul

This was one of most enjoyable aspects of our MSC cruises. I love interacting with people from Europe and other places!

Americans seem to dislike the food.

 

I enjoy very much the food seasoning on MSC, not too salty, not too peppery, just enough to allow me to put more on if I need too without overwhelming the people that dislike too much spices.

Well, food is not MSCs strongest point. We love European food, we have immigrated from Eastern Europe and travel to Western Europe often, but I feel that MSCs food is not up to par with European food.

Meat is usually too tough for example.

This will not stop us from cruising with this line.

Americans seem to dislike the food.

 

I enjoy very much the food seasoning on MSC, not too salty, not too peppery, just enough to allow me to put more on if I need too without overwhelming the people that dislike too much spices.

Ya because for most Americans if its not fried or has not 2 lb of sugar in each cookie its not a good food . :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Ya because for most Americans if its not fried or has not 2 lb of sugar in each cookie its not a good food . :rolleyes::rolleyes:

What a strange assessment. :(

I guess rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, we'll done is invented by Europeans. ;)

I did not like quality of meat and the way it was cooked. Also buffet selections were a bit limited.

And this was on US based cruises were MSC tried their best to impress.

Let's be honest, food is just not their best point.

What a strange assessment. :(

 

I guess rare, medium-rare, medium, medium-well, we'll done is invented by Europeans. ;)

 

I did not like quality of meat and the way it was cooked. Also buffet selections were a bit limited.

 

And this was on US based cruises were MSC tried their best to impress.

 

Let's be honest, food is just not their best point.

I'd sooner have it the French way - bleu ;-)

Food is very subjective as we all know, but if NCL is representative of American cuisine and service, or American cruise lines then I'll stay clear!

NCL is not the best in this regard, but it is still better.

By the way meat we ate in France and Italy, and some other countries was much better than MSCs.

Quality of cuts on MSC was mediocre to put it best.

I still like this line, but not the food.

About USA's meat. This country is famous for its steaks.