Jump to content

MSC should we cruise with them?


Nefertitih
 Share

Recommended Posts

I booked Aug cruise. itinerary, ship and cost made it the best option.

 

last year we took a shuttle van from FLL to Miami port for NCL cruise, two others inside raved about the Divina.

 

I think boorish, selfish 'Murica types might prefer other options but most of us open minded and patient folk will very likely enjoy MSC.

 

but...their website sucks. ha!

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a very difficult question to answer. Every one of us sees the world around us with our own individual set of culturally biased "glasses." Having said that, I'd answer by saying you should give them a try. If nothing else, than to try something different. For me the costs were the primary factor. My family and I have cruised Royal Caribbean, Disney, and Carnival, but gave MSC a look initially based solely on the price and were not disappointed!

It is true that MSC is an Italian cruise line working to break into the American cruise market. That its staff is primarily foreign, but dare I say that any cruise line operating from American ports has a lot of non-American workers serving the needs of the passengers aboard their vessels. This has never lessened the experience for me. When I'm on vacation, I'm not looking for faults in people around me - I'm simply looking to have a great time.

MSC Cruises is offering some fantastic pricing options for would-be cruisers looking for a great time in familiar Caribbean ports with some Italian flare thrown into the mix. I don't think that's a bad thing; and if you approach the vacation with an open mind towards meeting & mingling with a slightly different clientele, with the goal only to have a great time then I think you'll be fine with that.

(and please don't read any emotions into this reply - I'm just trying to articulate an appropriate answer to your question)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm answering this assuming it's for the Divina or Seaside. If I'm wrong, I apologize.We were on the Divina in May of 2015 and had a ball. Great shows and a very good crew. We had very little problem communicating with the crew.We are now booked on the Seaside for next April. As you can see by my signature, we are partial to Royal, but have also sailed Carnival and NCL, and are going Princess in December.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm from Ireland. I loved MSC so much my next 2 cruises are with them. It is true if you sail in Europe there might only be 500 guests on board who speak English as a first Language. All announcements are in English. You dine with guests who speak English. Entertainment is non- talking singing, dancing and circus acts. There's Bingo in multiple languages. And all the staff spoke English as well as any other US cruise I've been on.

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You won't know until you try. We tried it and unfortunately had a "perfect storm" of bad (although we did not get sick, as that's probably the worst). You can read my review if you want, but it was Dec. 2016. This was for the Divina. However, doesn't seem like MSC has fixed/changed much in terms of the issues since then. But again, not everyone on our cruise had the same issues, so it's kinda random as to what will happen to you. You didn't mention if you were looking at the US cruises or not.

 

I'd say if you can afford the Yacht Club, you should do so and will probably have a much better experience.

 

If you're happy with the Itinerary, that's probably the most important thing.

Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went on an MSC cruise last summer and really enjoyed it, I have another MSC cruise booked for this summer! The official language on the ship is English so the menus are in English. They may do announcements in a few languages but I think that is part of the charm of being on a European ship. I had sailed with the Royal Caribbean before and found both experiences to be fairly similar in terms of service and food (very good on both) but the MSC was better value. Both ships were spotlessly maintained. I preferred the entertainment on the MSC as there was more variety and a lot of classical music in the bars (opera and piano) as well as your standard rock and pop music. We were seated beside other English speakers at dinner so no problem there. The nationality of the passengers really depends on the embarkation port, if you embark at an English port the clientele will be 90% English and so on. I think some of the reviews of the MSC in the early days were negative as they only served food at certain times but the restaurant serves food all day and night now as well as pizza bars, etc. If you like Italian food the ship makes its own breads and pastas so its very yummy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On American sailings (we've been on two) English is the first language and many things are tailored to North American market.

However we enjoyed a lot international pax and some Italian entertainment. On Poesia more, Divina was even more Americanized.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On American sailings (we've been on two) English is the first language and many things are tailored to North American market.

However we enjoyed a lot international pax and some Italian entertainment. On Poesia more, Divina was even more Americanized.

 

 

 

Hi. Thank you for the comments. We are from the UK but many of the itineraries are from US and interest us too so all comments help.

We enjoy good food and also interesting itineraries with things to do and see.

Cuba, Jamaica and Mexico looks good.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I cannot say that MSC food is very good. There are good dishes, but I think that meat ones especially steaks are not MSC strong point. I am not a big meat lover, but noticed.

Everything else was up to our liking for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tatka, Long time since we have talked here on CC.

 

Hi Nefertiti, Tatka has very good advice as do all the others who have posted here. I would say that MSC is a bit different from the other mass market lines. Whether you choose a Bella inside or a Aurea Family Suite or go in real style in the exclusive Yacht Club...each of these experiences will be different. If you approach MSC knowing that it is more diverse and comes in different flavors and is what we call "A Big Bang For The Buck"...(an outstanding value for the money). Then you should have a great time. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Ross,

Nice to "see" you again!

I see you tried Divina. Isn't she beautiful?

 

MSC has amazing pricing. We usually cruising in insides (frankly we don't care if we have balcony or not), but both times on MSC we just couldn't not to book balconies as prices were unbelievably low.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've cruised the Med with MSC the last 2 years and I must say we loved the diversity.

Announcements and activity information were relayed in a few languages but it wasn't something that got to being an inconvenience. My children (8/11) had no problem settling in to the kids club and making friends. They picked up a couple of Italian words on board and enjoyed meeting other children from Italy, France, Australia and Holland.

I wouldn't see the ship being very Italian as a negative point. It felt stylish, fun, relaxed and diverse.

Generally;

The cabins on Splendida and Fantasia (B2/B3) were of a great size, we never felt confined or that it was of a lesser standard because of the lesser price.

What stands out looking back on both cruises was the cleanliness - we found all areas of the ships to be immaculate. And also the friendliness of the staff on-board. The only exception being a narky member of the medical centre staff but we all have off days!

We rathered dining in the MDR over the buffet as we found those meals to be of a higher quality.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We loved MSC. We had our first experience in the Yacht Club last April. It was fantastic. The ship was incredibly clean and we found the food to be of higher quality than NCL even compared to the specialty restaurants. Now that could have been because we were in the YC, I am not sure. We loved MSC so much that we are booked again for April and October of 2018. I would recommend that you give it a try. It was really fun experiencing a different ship as well.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...