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Is MSC right for me? March 19,2016 cruise


Homosassa
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I see posters frequently asking if an MSC cruise will be right for them. I am going to give some information from my March 19 cruise and will also include some observations about some of the frequent complaints I have read about others' MSC cruise experience.

 

First, some background on my cruise experience so that you can compare my opinions on cruising with your own opinions.

 

I started cruising in 1976 with my then boyfriend (now husband of 40 years). We have been on many cruise lines and have watched as many have been merged or been repositioned for their targeted market demographic.

 

At the time I started cruising, many of the different lines had distinctive trademarks and often reflected the nationality of the company in the food served on board. Chandris (Celebrity) had Greek food; Sitmar (Princess) had Italian; Holland American had Dutch and Indonesian; Carnival had drunks; and lets not forget the fabulous Norwegian chocolate on Royal Caribbean.

 

While some of these remnants remain on the modern day version of the lines I mentioned, most have been homogenized and have lost many of the distinct characteristics that were once their trademark.

 

The passengers on board were often a mixture of different nationalities and well traveled so that no one expected a cruise to be just like home.

 

For this cruise I traveled with my husband (experienced cruisers and travelers), my daughter (an experienced traveler and cruiser from the age of 18 months) and her boyfriend, well traveled but not an experienced cruiser.

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Over the years, we have found many of our favorite lines to been changed from their original cruise experience. Royal Caribbean, once a quiet relaxing experience for their target demographic has been positioned to be an entry level (and the trademark fabulous chocolate is no one to be found). Holland America (I know, it was wrong in my above post) no longer has the luxury touched it was once known for and, in my opinion) seems to be slipped down a notch to fit between Carnival and Princess as Holland America and Princess served the same market demographic (and no, I am not talking about age).

 

As a result, we have found our cruises over the last fifteen years to have changed from HAL and Royal Caribbean (we will skip the Carnival cruises a family member talked us into :eek:) to Princess, Celebrity, and Azamara.

 

We decided to MSC for the very reasons that many passengers complain about. The cruise line is true to its Italian roots and has many Europeans on board and offers more of a European service culture than the American mass market lines.

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Time for my review.

 

For anyone who wishes to see the Daily Planner placed in the cabin each night and photos, please look up Stuart2468's review dated May 3 in the title. He included the Daily Planners under each cruise day and has many photos.

 

Pre cruise.

 

Yes, MSC's website has problems, many problems. They have been covered by many other threads and suffice to say I had my own very frustrating time and was swearing I would never book another cruise with MSC again.

 

One interesting glitch that worked in my favor was that although we booked two Bella interior cabins, my cabin was entered as Fantastica which meant two non-drinkers were given a 12 drink package. We thought that was one 12 drink package for the cabin. It turned out to be two 12 drink packages. More on trying to use the coupons as a non-drinker will be covered later.

 

Because my husband and I now live on the west coast of Florida, we planned to drive to Miami on Friday. My daughter and her boyfriend were flying down from Baltimore Friday night into Fort Lauderdale and we picked them up on Friday night.

 

Ar least that was the plan. Right after final payment, the boyfriend finds out he is suppose to chair a panel and give a presentation at a national convention in Baltimore on Saturday the 19th.

 

A call to MSC and our travel agent has his reservation changed to boarding in Falmouth, Jamiaca on Monday.

 

We also notify MSC special needs that he will be traveling with a CPAP machine (needs distilled water and an extension cord) and that there are two severe food allergies in our party. My daughter has an epi pen worthy banana allergy; my husband becomes ill from mushrooms. All these changes and special needs are in our reservation.

 

Saturday, March 19.

 

We usually book a stay and cruise package with a hotel and leave our car at the hotel for the cruise. Because we were traveling at the height of spring break, the cost of one of these packages were across the board more expensive than paying for a hotel room and parking at Miami port for the week.

 

Because of information I have read on Cruise Critic, I knew that MSC started boarding later then other cruise lines. We initially decided we would not leave our hotel until 11:30 AM and arrive at port until 12:30 - 1 PM.

 

Watching the local news that morning we heard that there was a big music festival in downtown Miami and that roads would be closed and traffic patterns revised. We sere not planning on taking any surface roads in downtown Miami and were taking the interstate straight into the port tunnel. However, we knew there was a chance that traffic could be backed up at the downtown exits and decided to leave the hotel at 11 AM.

 

We did hit some traffic but we were unloading our luggage at the pier at 12:30 PM. We then parked at the nearest port garage and walked back to the pier.

 

Without a doubt, our check in and boarding the ship was the fastest and easiest of any cruise we have been on. From entering the front door to walking onto the ship was about 20 minutes. We were on board at 1:15 PM.

 

My daughter and her boyfriend had purchased unlimited drink packages and we had our drink coupons to pick up. We asked as we boarded and were directed to the Casino to activate the drink packages. My husband and I were handed the coupon book (still thinking it was 12 drinks for the two of us) and my daughter's and her boyfriend's packages were activated.

 

We then found one of the Cruise Card Activation stands and entered our credit card information. It was fast and easy (although I still don't understand why this couldn't be done at the pier check in counter.).

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Up to the buffet for lunch. Wow! The variety and quality was unbelievable. True to MSC's Italian culture, there was fresh Neapolitan style pizza, fresh pasta, and cold cuts and cheeses. There was also hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries for the timid. There were numerous hot entrees, vegetables, a salad bar, a big beef roast. Reflecting the many nationalities on board, there were also offerings for the Asians and other Europeans.

 

Now a note about the Italian food. If your idea of Italian food is based on Olive Garden, Fazio's, Pizza Hut or California Pizza Kitchen, you are in for either a very rough awakening or a pleasant surprise. No, the pasta is not under cooked, it is made fresh daily and is cooked al dente. Garlic bread is not Italian and don't embarrass yourself by asking for it.

 

Back to embarkation day. We knew that our cabins would not be ready until 2:30 PM so after lunch we made our way up to the spa so my daughter could book her pre- paid facial and massage.

 

Cabins were then announced as ready and we made our way to our cabins on Deck 9. Our luggage was waiting for us outside our cabin doors (another first for us in our cruising experience). It was also at that point we found a notice that due to weather conditions, our first port of call was changed from Falmouth to Ochos Rios, Jamaica. A brief moment of panic, then my daughter realized she had an internet package and could tell her boyfriend of the change. He was flying into Montego Bay on Sunday, spending the night and taking a taxi to Falmouth on Monday to board the ship. Ocjos Rios was about 70 km on the other side of Falmouth from Montego Bay.

 

We had time to unpack before the muster drill at 4:45 PM. Our beds were together and as my husband and I prefer they to be separated on a cruise to allow for more floor space, we knew we would have to find our cabin steward to have them moved.

 

My daughter found a note from special needs asking her to call a number to arrange for a hidden outlet behind the headboard to be opened, the extension cord hooked up and the distilled water delivered for the the boyfriend's CPAP machine.

 

After the muster drill (it was inside and life jackets were required), it was time for our early fixed seating. We were assigned a table for four. We met our waiter and his assistant and the head waiter for the section introduced himself. He would be vetting my husband's and daughter's food selections due to their allergies. He also placed the order, checked the food and served it to them. This means for the 3 (then 4) of us, we had 3 servers for our table.

 

After dinner we returned to our cabin before the show, we met our cabin stewardess, Tri, and asked that our beds be separated the next day. She verified that we didn't want them separated that night and we responded she had enough to do on turn around day and that the next day was fine. We were rewarded with the first of many smiles from her.

 

My daughter notified the special needs number about the CPAP hookups and as the boyfriend was not yet on board, arranged a time for

the next day (she needed to be in the cabin ).

 

Being a belt and suspenders personality, I had packed an extension cord and distilled water just in case there were any problems. I had no problem with bring either on board in my carry on luggage. As a result, we did not need the distilled water, but it turns out it was a special extension cord/adapter for the European style outlet that also allowed the two prong CPAP cord to be used. I was glad we had called Special Needs at the time of final payment so that one was available .

 

After the show, we made our way to Guest Services to have holes punched in our cards for lanyards and my daughter asked for specific instruction on how to start the internet package. The gentlemen asked the type of device she was using, and then proceeded to give detailed instructions to her.

 

Our experience at Guest Services was the first of several courteous and smiling visits.

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I am the world's worst proof reader. Reading back , I see many I missed.

 

A note about Stuart2468's review. I had said the date was May 3; this is wrong.

 

Being English , he wrote the date in the European style of 5/3/2016. His cruise left on 3/5 (March 5) for us Americans.

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I am not going to continue the review on a day by day basis. Instead I am going to try and comment by subject and also include information I was given by various staff and crew members. Many of my conversations were with our cabin stewardess, two entertainment staff members, and a gentleman who came to a Cruise critic meeting to talk to those of us who showed up. Some of the information was included in our daily planers.

 

Cabin and Cabin Service.

 

We prefer inside cabins and usually try and book one and as low and amidships as possible. For this cruise, we ended up in cabin 9178 and 9182 (next door to each other).

 

The cabins were standard cabins for the cruise industry. The bathroom had more storage space than any other cruise line I have been on. Besides 3 (or was it 4) corner shelves by the sink, there was also under the sink cabinet storage. Only liquid soap was available in the shower and by the sink. If you need to use bar soap, bring you own (I don't know if any is available from your cabin staff). Shampoo is available in a dispenser in the shower. I didn't use the shampoo.

 

I found closet hanging space to be a little tight for the two of us. Under the safe are drawers for storage and the drawers were adequate for a seven day cruise.

 

I found the bed to be comfortable; my husband found it to be a little hard. My daughter and boyfriend also found the bed to be a bit on the hard side but comfortable when they became use to it. There are no egg crate toppers available for use. I bought my own pillow and a pillow for my daughter. My husband and the boyfriend were happy with the pillows on board.

 

According to Tri, our cabin stewardess, she is responsible for 17 cabins and does not have an assistant. When I was joking one day about her lurking somewhere to immediately clean our cabins when we left for breakfast in the morning, she let me in on the secret.

 

To turn on the power in the cabin, a passenger needs to place a cruise card in a slot by the entry door. Placing a card in the slot also activates a small orange LED light that is hidden behind protruding wood trim above the door in the hall way. When the card is removed, the light goes out. The cabin attendant checks the light to see if the cabin is occupied.

 

Also, do not try to leave electronic gizmos plugged in to charge when leaving the cabin. Cabin staff will unplug anything plugged in in an empty cabin.

 

Our cabin was serviced twice a day and Tri checked often with us to see if there was anything we needed. My daughter and the boyfriend asked for ice in the morning and evening and it was always provided. Any request we had was met with a smile.

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I guess the 12 drink package is now available. When we first got our coupons, they were in two books. I didn't count them at the time and assumed it was two books of five.

 

When we first used a coupon, two loose coupons fell out of one of the books; that is when I counted. One book was 10 coupons with two loose ones tucked in; the other book was a book of 12.

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Embarking in a port other then Miami.

 

As I stated before, the boyfriend was going to meet the ship in Falmouth, Jamaica due to a work conflict on Saturday, the day of embarkation in Miami (Sunday was a sea day).

 

The late embarkation was cleared by MSC and was noted in the cruise reservation. His fare remained the same.

 

My daughter was able to email him the port change from Falmouth to Ochos Rios and he planned to arrive at the port at approximately 1 PM. His taxi had no problem entering the cruise port and he arrived at the pier at 1 pm. My daughter was waiting at the entrance to the building.

 

He was directed to Jamaica immigration and customs, did the needed paperwork and was cleared to board the ship. He was escorted up the gangway by ship's security (his name was on a list and the gangway and they were expecting him) and had his luggage scanned through the machine. Ship security had notified guest services as he boarded and a person from guest services was waiting for him after his luggage was scanned. He was escorted up to guest services, welcomed on board and had his sea pass issued. The process was quick and easy.

 

He did have a special muster drill to attend at 5 PM and was notified at that time that due to his embarkation in Jamaica, US Customs and Immigration required him to be in the Silver Lounge at 6 AM on the last morning. He needed all his luggage and documents with him as he would be escorted off the ship at that time to the pier to go through Custom and Immigration. He would not be allowed back on the ship.

 

More on this in the debarkation section.

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Food and Restaurants.

 

I touched on some of this on the embarkation day section.

 

Food is very subjective and what is thought to be "American" food is very much determined by the area of the country and the cultural diversity of the area in which one was bought up and lives.

 

My husband and I grew up in suburban Long Island , New York and what was normal fare to us was definitely influenced by the multi-cultural area where we grew up. My daughter and the boyfriend grew up in a very diverse community in Howard County, Maryland and they both grew up being familiar with a wide range of foods and cultural practices.

 

Because of our backgrounds, we consider "American" food to be extremely diverse. We did not find any offerings on MSC to be something we have not had before or in some cases, very familiar.

 

We ate only in the buffet and the main dining room.

 

The ship makes its pasta daily and it is cooked al dente. Sauces and preparation had a Neapolitan influence and I wonder if the family that owns MSC is from that region.

 

The gelatos and sorbets are also made on board.

 

The ship has a bakery for the bread and desserts are also made daily.

 

We noticed that the desserts (both pastries and ice creams) are not made with the overly sweet taste of some American regions and instead have the taste of fine European bakeries.

 

Breakfast in the buffet had a wide range of food items available and also some specialty items for the various cultural groups on board. Examples are miso soup and sticky rice for the Japanese, some dishes I saw when I was in Central America, and European specialties (muesli, brown beans, pickled herring). I was personally thrilled to find corn beef hash and baked apples on a daily basis. There was not a cooked to order egg station in the buffet and it was only toward the end of the cruise I happened to pass the cooked to order omelet station out by the pool on the non-smoking side.

 

Lunch in the buffet was also busy. Again, there was a wide range of food items with a station at the very rear that also featured different cuisines each day. A note about the MSC hamburgers. I do not cruise to eat hamburgers or hot dogs at lunch. I can have those at home. I did try the (in)famous Guy's hamburger on Carnival. It was gray, thin, greasy, tasteless patty and went in the trash after one bite.

 

I wasn't interested in the hamburgers and made the assumption they were the thin, gray, steam table patties of Royal Caribbean and NCL. That is until one day, I was at a table behind a group of German gentlemen that were chowing down with great delight on the hamburgers and I noticed that the hamburgers were thick and good looking.

 

I tried one the next day and it was a big difference from the other burgers on other cruise lines. The patty was thick, not greasy, and tasted better than many burgers I have had in restaurants in the States

 

As noted before, the pizza was Neapolitan style and excellent. There was an occasional offering such as an Hawaiian (pineapple and ham) or sliced frankfurters on the pizza but these pizzas were not popular and, thankfully, did not make another appearance.

 

We did not eat dinner in the buffet. However, one day we noted that the buffet dinner was listed as pub food. We went up to check it out after our dinner in the dining room and the food was English pub food as listed. Shepard's pie, cottage pie, steak and kidney pie, bangers, fish and chips, and mushy peas are some of the offerings.

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I guess the 12 drink package is now available. When we first got our coupons, they were in two books. I didn't count them at the time and assumed it was two books of five.

 

When we first used a coupon, two loose coupons fell out of one of the books; that is when I counted. One book was 10 coupons with two loose ones tucked in; the other book was a book of 12.

 

Thank you, this is a great news:).

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I guess the 12 drink package is now available. When we first got our coupons, they were in two books. I didn't count them at the time and assumed it was two books of five.

 

When we first used a coupon, two loose coupons fell out of one of the books; that is when I counted. One book was 10 coupons with two loose ones tucked in; the other book was a book of 12.

 

Wow! My husband (and kids with their kiddie drinks) will be so happy if that's true. Online states the fantastica drink vouchers do not start until summer 2017.

Thank you for your wonderful postings!!

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I am the world's worst proof reader. Reading back , I see many I missed.

 

A note about Stuart2468's review. I had said the date was May 3; this is wrong.

 

Being English , he wrote the date in the European style of 5/3/2016. His cruise left on 3/5 (March 5) for us Americans.

 

Haha. Sorry, very English of me. I forgot this is predominantly an American web site. Thanks for linking my review in though!

 

Great reading back over your views on MSC. Excited for the rest

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Great review so far- I appreciate it! :)

 

How were the drinks in terms of quality/pours?

 

How was the entertainment?

 

Because we had the drink packages, my husband and I did have several cocktails (rum and coke, mojito, pina colada) and I did have sips of some of my daughter's drinks.

 

We noted that the few we had during the day from the pool bars seemed to be weaker than drinks poured at night from the same bars or bars in other locations. We theorized that it was a smart safety precaution as knocking back alcohol and sweating in the hot sun is not a good combination.

 

Otherwise, we found the drinks to have a hefty pour in them. Keep in mind that my husband and I don't drink very much as we are both lightweights in how fast alcohol hits our systems.

 

On the first formal night which is the Captain's welcome aboard, free cocktails are available in all the bars on decks 5, 6, and 7. The selection is limited: prosecco, martini, fruit punch for non-drinkers, maybe something else (can't remember). The martini was very weak. Also, there was no bringing a glass of the free stuff into dinner with you. The drinks were collected at the door of the dining rooms . This was unique to MSC as it has never happened on other cruises we have been on.

 

I will cover entertainment in another post.

Edited by Homosassa
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Haha. Sorry, very English of me. I forgot this is predominantly an American web site. Thanks for linking my review in though!

 

Great reading back over your views on MSC. Excited for the rest

 

No, Stuart, how American of me to forget about how dates are written in other parts of the world. I have to admit I was confused when I first saw your thread and wondered how you could be writing a review on a cruise that was in the future.:confused: I sorted it out after a few moments.

 

In any case, the fact that you posted the Daily Programs and photos saved this technological dinosaur from hours of frustration. Thank you.

Edited by Homosassa
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Back to the food and restaurants

 

My husband and I are somewhat early risers and we usually head up for breakfast around 7:30AM. We are use to the buffets being empty at that time and were shocked to walk in at that time on the first (sea) day and find the buffet packed with people. It finally hit me - Europeans with a big jet/time zone problem had probably been up since 4 AM waiting for breakfast.

 

The Dining Room

Although we never ate in the dining room for breakfast and lunch, it was always open for those two meals. For those that prefer the dining room, this is nice as so many cruise lines do not open the dining room for lunch while the ship is in port.

 

One thing that I noticed and was something new to me is that the listing for the lunch in the dining room. It is listed as follows:

 

12 noon - 2:00 PM Lunch

12 noon -2 :00 PM Express Lunch A delicious lunch in just 30 minutes! If you've booked an excursion or you're short of time, our Express Lunch menu is the ideal solution

 

I don't know if this means you have two options in the dining room; a menu where you make the selections and enjoy a leisurely lunch and another menu that has a limited selection of items that are ready to go.

 

Maybe someone who has eaten in the dining room for lunch could clarify.

 

We had first seating in the dining room for dinner.

 

According to the gentleman that came to the cruise critic meeting, MSC's business model is built around the idea of family and friends. Many of their cruises have extended family groups or groups that are a charter centering around a special interest or home location.

 

This focus is a consideration for dinner in the dining room. Most of the tables in the dining room are large to allow for the multi-generational family group or large groups of friends traveling together. Dinner is time to relax and enjoy each other company. This means dinner is a leisurely affair with time to savor each course, the glass of wine and the company. Anyone who has an Italian heritage and has been to the extended family 4 hour long Sunday dinner understands this concept (LOL - the boyfriend also knows this concept from his Jewish family).

 

This idea can cause problems for those who that want to eat and run. It is not going to happen on MSC in the dining room at dinner.

 

We had a table for four. My daughter is a wine drinker and the boyfriend drinks coke zero with his meals. When I realized we had 24 drink coupons (Jamaica day), I also started to have a glass of wine with dinner.

 

The routine went as follows: settled at the table and be handed the menus. The assistant takes the drink order and bread magically appears in a large basket for your selection (Italian = bread asap at the table ;)). The wine and coke zero appears. Also, when the waiter realized my husband drank coffee with his dinner, a small pot of coffee appeared for him. The water preference was also filled (tap, still or sparkling bottled water).

 

The dinner order was taken. A note about the portion sizes in the dining room. The portions were small as one is expected to have one (or more) of each course. By the time one finishes all the small portions, a hand truck will be needed to roll out of the dining room.

 

The course will be served at a pace that allows one to savor the food, enjoy the beverage of choice, reflect on the company and what was served, and bill anticipation for the next offering.

 

There is an everyday offering on the menu that is available every night. I remember seeing Cesar salad, salmon, a chicken breast and a steak (?)

 

The only theme night in the dining room was Italian night. All items on the menu were (surprise!!!!) Italian. Again, anyone who thinks that Olive Garden serves pasta y fagioli or minestrone is in for a big surprise. The food was good and seemed very familiar to what was served at those Sunday family dinners.

 

On the whole, the food was good to excellent every night. Was it "American?"

Well, my family and the boyfriend are all born and raised in the USA. Nothing was on the menu that was unfamiliar and some of it was common fare at home.

 

It depends on the culinary limitations one is raised with or has imposed upon one's self.

 

Our wait staff was always smiling and, if something was needed, one need only ask.

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