Celebrity Vs MSC out of Abu Dhabi

We booked a Christmas cruise on the Constellation sailing on 19 Dec 16 from Abu Dhabi to Oman, India and UAE for 14 nights. After booking we saw a good offer on MSC Fantasia sailing on 8 Jan 17 to Oman and UAE for 7 nights. We decided to book this also, partly as we were keen to return to Oman, and Celebrity were only in Muscat for half a day.

Both cruises included drinks packages which we upgraded to Premium packages. The nightly cost of MSC was 65% of Celebrity taking into account upgrades, tips and OBC with Celebrity.

We are Elite on Celebrity and MSC did a status match, giving us a Black status.

As we have only previously sailed with Celebrity we were interested to see how MSC compared. So how did they do?

Embarkation. For both cruises we walked straight up to the check-in desk and then straight onto the ship. Couldn't have been better. Also we got into our rooms and received our luggage quickly on both.

Ship Appearance. The Constellation is older than the Fantasia (2002/2008) and the exterior was showing some signs of wear. The exterior of the Fantasia was fine. The interior of both ships were good. We have not sailed on the Constellation before, but as most Celebrity ships have similar layouts we easily found our way around. With MSC we found the interior somewhat gaudy, but not unpleasantly so.

Staterooms.

Celebrity. We have sailed on the Infinity before, so knew what to expect. Probably a bit more storage space than on Solstice class ships, but the bathroom was smaller and still had plastic curtains. We had selected a room with a larger balcony.

MSC. Similar to the Constellation, but a smaller bathroom and standard balcony. The shower was also smaller making the curtain tend to cling to you.

Friendlier stateroom attendant with Celebrity. We didn't see the MSC one for first 3 days, although he did do his job.

Main Restaurant. We had Select dining with Celebrity, although we are not great fans. We did it on our last cruise and changed to fixed seating after a couple of nights. This cruise was booked before we sailed on the last one. We did have a couple of problems - poor service from a sommelier and one night we were taken to the fixed seating area where most people were finishing up their meals and only had service from an assistant waiter. The food was generally good.

With MSC we had fixed seating and had picked late dining. This turned out to be at 9:15pm. With slow service it was getting on for 10 before we saw any food. We were in Il Cerchio D'oro restaurant which had a low ceiling and was very noisy. We were also sat near the waiter's service area which made it worse. The waiter did not introduce himself, nor did he make any attempt to explain the menu. There were no sommeliers. Food was poor and after the first night we decided we would dine elsewhere.

The second night we ate in the Buffet restaurant (see below) and found it quieter and, on that occasion, the food was better. With our Black status we were entitled to eat in the speciality restaurants. There was really only one, a Tex Mex affair. The food and service was better than in the main restaurant, but the menu choice was limited.

The third night we were back in the buffet restaurant and really only ate a bowl of soup each as the rest of the food was so bad. We did have a dessert in the pastry & ice cream bar (benefit of Black status).

Next night back to the Tex Mex, but we had a tough steak and exhausted the menu. We then decided to try the main restaurant again for the last couple of nights. Still poor food and service. To be fair the waiters seemed to be rushed off their feet and had no time to speak to customers. We never saw any management in the restaurant.

Buffet.

Celebrity: We've mainly sailed on the Solstice class ships and they seem to have more choices in the buffet. On the Constellation the breakfast was only fair. Lunches were also somewhat lacking.

MSC: Breakfast looked to give a good choice, but there were no eggs prepared to order and only full fat milk. Lunch had a fair selection. Downside was only plastic plates and glasses were available, including for fresh orange juice and wine, and also the same at night. Food temperature was a bit hit and miss. Drinks service was poor - they seemed to have more staff trying to sell drinks packages rather than serve.

Bars. There were more bars on MSC than Celebrity. I counted 15 to 9.

It was difficult some times to get a seat in the Martini Bar or Café Al Bacio on Celebrity. Service on both ships was not great although friendlier on Celebrity. On previous Celebrity cruises staff have remembered what we drink, but it happened only a couple of times on the Constellation and not at all on the Fantasia.

On the last night we found the Mixology bar on MSC which had a similar menu to Celebrity's Martini Bar. We were kicking ourselves for not checking it out sooner, until the drinks arrived. They weren't anything like the Martini Bar drinks with the same name.

Drinks Packages. As previously mentioned we upgraded to Premium drinks on both cruises. In addition to the all inclusive drinks on MSC this also entitles you to use the mini-bar (not well stocked), have fancy ice cream and pasties. The basic all inclusive MSC package only allows one draught beer and hose wines. The one house wine we did have we didn't finish.

The cost of single drinks on Celebrity is much higher than MSC but the premium packages are similar prices. In some ways the Celebrity package could be considered better value, or at least you would have to consider if the MSC package was worth it to you. The cost of upgrading on Celebrity for 2 weeks was only slightly higher than 1 week on MSC.

Entertainment. We are not fans of the Production Shows on Celebrity, although we did enjoy the Christmas Day offering. There are usually a few guest performers who are OK, but none on this cruise. The entertainers we did really enjoy on Constellation were Joe & Liv, an Irish/American couple who we tried to catch every night including on New Years Eve and an afternoon show in the theatre. The other entertainment around the ship, apart from a string duo, was not great.

On MSC there were only production shows in the theatre. We only went to one. The cruise director made announcements in about 7 languages for the first 10 minutes then we left a couple of numbers into the show. The performers around the ship though were great. Most bars we went into had some kind of musical entertainment at night.

With Celebrity we usually enjoy a Trivia Quiz, and in particular a Progressive Quiz. There wasn't one on this cruise, and although the were a couple or more daily quizzes they weren't always presented well. We weren't tempted with any of the other daytime activities.

On MSC the daytime activities were somewhat different with the number of various nationalities on board - mainly kid type games from what we saw. We did watch one quiz, but it was a bit maniacal.

Excursions. We did take more organised trips on both cruises than we usually do. Normally we plan our own things. The ones we did were all well arranged by both cruise lines, although some were a bit expensive for what they were.

We did not make the planned stop at Sir Bani Yas Island with MSC which wasn't their fault. We went to Doha instead. Considering they only found out about it the night before they made a pretty good job at reorganising things.

Disembarkation. Problem free on both cruises. We walked straight off at the designated time. MSC disembark at 2 ports - Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and do not collect luggage until after midnight. This means there was plenty of noise for the last two nights. Also means they have two emergency drills, which were at night and done in about 7 languages broadcast all over the ship, with bars closed to people not doing the drill.

Captain's Club/Voyager's Club As mentioned we are Elite on Celebrity and MSC status matched us to Black level (their highest).

The main perk with Celebrity is the free evening drinks. However, if you have a drinks package this is no benefit and you don't get any reduction on the package. We make use of 90 mins free internet and free laundry. Usually we go to the wine tasting event, but on this cruise it was strangely held on a shore day. We did go to the "Elegant" Afternoon Tea, but this seems to go downhill on each cruise. This time a better afternoon tea was available in the buffet.

With MSC we got fruit in our room, bathrobes, slippers, a bottle of Prosecco, chocolate dipped fruit, chocolate ship, free "gift" (notepad and pen) and free speciality restaurant meals (but really only one on this ship and you could only have a few items off the menu). They also give you discount on future cruises.

Both offer priority check-in and disembarkation, but not needed on either cruise. Also, priority tender boarding, but the only tender we had was a booked excursion. There are other things available, but we didn't use them.

Conclusions. Whilst we did enjoy both cruises the Constellation did not match up to the other Celebrity ships we have sailed on. Buffet food and entertainment being the main failings, but also service was lacking at times. Perhaps if we had done the MSC cruise first we would have been more appreciative!

We thought we would give MSC a try as they have some good itineraries and god prices. We did not expect them to be as good as Celebrity and thought we could console ourselves with the lower cost. However, the lower cost gives you less staff so you get poorer service and they seem to be overworked to the point of not being pleasant. The cost cutting is most apparent in the quality of the food. Not one meal would we rate highly.

The toilets on Fantasia had us a bit puzzled. You seem to get basins inside cubicles as well as outside them (male and female) which leads to fewer WCs. Also, they seemed more difficult to find, either because of the way they were marked up or maybe just because we weren't used to the ship.

Mainly because of the food we will not be taking another MSC cruise.

Thank you for a great comparison of the two lines. Welcome home!

I did want to add some photos to these reviews, but I've only just sorted them and worked out how to do it!

So here goes, I hope. First of all MSC Fantasia:

Fantasia off Khasab, Oman.

Our Fantasia balcony cabin on deck 9.

Fantasia Bar on deck 5.

Aqua Park, deck 14.

Harpist/guitarist duo in Fantasia bar.

Another view of the Aqua Park.

Well that seems to be working, so I'll sort out some more and get to grips with the photo sizing.

I really appreciate you taking the time to post your thoughts on the cruise as well as pictures. It is very helpful. Thank you so much!

Thanks for posting the comparison between the two lines. I would be very interested in hearing about any excursions you took as we are taking the same itinerary on Connie next Christmas. The two reviews I've read recently both had a few issues, whether they took the ship or private tours. I would welcome another perspective :).

We did take 6 Celebrity excursions which is unusual for us as we usually do our own thing. However, we decided that it would be the best bet for India.We wanted to do afternoon tea at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel in Muscat and go up the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Celebrity seemed to have those covered best.

The Dubai one was actually slightly cheaper than with MSC. We did speak to people who did their own taxi tours in Muscat and Dubai. They enjoyed them and were quite cheap.

I'll comment on the individual ports when I post pictures of them.

Thank you so much for posting this great review and for sharing your link with me on my thread about the Constellation~

Excellent review. We have taken only one MSC cruise and I can agree with much of what you say. The key to MSC is to book only the Yacht Club which we found to be simply wonderful in almost every way. Strangely, we did not care for the food. But we surely would return to MSC for the right itinerary, the right price, and the Yacht Club.

Connie in Mutrah port, Oman. Docked behind Vision of the Seas.

In Cochin, India. Although it could be anywhere!

The Martini Bar.

Main staircase at Christmas.

More Christmas decorations.

Lobster tails on New Year's Eve.

Thank you so much for this - especially as MSC is about to start cruising from Southampton. We had a few bad experiences with P&O and realise that we aren't their target demographic anymore, sigh. I've never looked at MSC as they used to have older ships without balconies but they've changed a lot, so I was thinking of giving them a try. But, food is a big part of our cruise, so it's Celebrity for the next cruise :)

We recently went on a Medittererraean cruise with MSC out of Rome. We had a wonderful time. Splendida is a beautiful boat. We even had a full size tub in our bathroom and it was only the Bella experience. The price could not be beat!!!

Thank you for this very nice comparison. In your Aqua Park photos, it looks like the pool loungers have built in extendable screens to shade your face. Were these as brilliant as they seem? I've never seen that before!

I also have a question about the smoking situation. If you're a smoker - where could you smoke? If you're non-smokers - we're you bothered by the smoke?

The loungers did have shades for your head - common in Europe. They can be a bit of a pain when your not using them trying to fold them away, and if you don't fold them they get in everyone else's way. Then they don't always stay put when you do want to use them.

They were not very comfortable, but then neither are Celebrity ones. You only get one pool towel with MSC. It's in your room and you can get it replaced daily.

Smoking is similar to Celebrity and didn't bother us any more. I believe you can smoke in the casino bar but it's not an area we use. Also they have a cigar lounge.

Great review. I too decided that once on MSC was enough. Even cancelled the future cruise I had booked before taking the first one. They lure you in with their rates but then you get an inferior cruise experience. I was lucky because I was able to substitute the cancelled MSC cruise with a complimentary one on another line. So I didn't mind paying the cancellation penalty. It was worth it!

Thanks for review.

We are elite plus with Celebrity, and did our first cruise with MSC last fall out of Southampton.

We would sail MSC again, but food isn't anywhere near the top of our list of "why we cruise"...so that would be different than some/most? people.

Our 7 day cruise had 4 different "embarkations" so we got to hear the multiple language drill many times...a little annoying, but I thought it was a small annoyance considering how that opens up the calendar for those wanting to cruise certain times or from certain cities. That made it much more flexible for us to decide our date and embarkation city.

I would only sail MSC again if itinerary and price were better, but I wouldn't rule them out. We found the staff on both lines equally friendly.

Excellent review. We have taken only one MSC cruise and I can agree with much of what you say. The key to MSC is to book only the Yacht Club which we found to be simply wonderful in almost every way. Strangely, we did not care for the food. But we surely would return to MSC for the right itinerary, the right price, and the Yacht Club.

We were in the YC too and loved it.

We found the food to be pretty good, but it was never hot.

Price was great. They do status matching and as soon as you get matched 5% is deducted from your price.:)

This is the Sultan of Oman's Yacht in Mutrah harbour. It was docked there on both of our visits with Celebrity and MSC. Our guide told us that it was the second biggest yacht in the world but I have since read it is fourth, although having the largest water displacement. Either way a big boat.

This is the Connie in Dubai shot from the top of the Burj Kalifa through haze, so sorry about the quality. The ship on the right is Queen Elizabeth 2 and makes for an interesting comparison.

QE2 again, looking pretty sad. There were plans to turn it into a floating hotel, but work seems to have been abandoned.

Our first view of MSC Fantasia in Dubai on New Year's Eve, just over a week before we boarded.

Some working Dhows in Dubai.

Aft pool on Fantasia.

Our first stop on the Constellation was Muscat, Oman. The ship docks in Mutrah neat to the souk. There is a free shuttle to clear the port. We decided to have afternoon tea at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel (Ritz Carlton).

Arriving in Mutrah. A much different skyline to many other places in the Middle East. Buildings over 11 stories are not allowed.

The Al Bustan Palace Hotel was built in the 1980s when Oman was starting to encourage tourism.

The hotel lobby.

Our afternoon tea (better than on the ship).

After our afternoon tea we visited Muscat.

Muscat Palace.

From Muscat we returned to Mutrah and went to the Bait Al Banranda Museum. Pleasant enough, but not outstanding. Then we were dropped off near the souk in Mutrah before returning to the ship.

Mutrah

Mutrah Souk

A dhow in the harbour

Balconies on houses on the sea front in Mutrah.

This was a Celebrity excursion and highly enjoyable.

Thank you so much for your review. I have been thinking of trying MSC; but had heard that the food was a big issue with them. Your description tells me specifics about why the food is a problem. I won't consider MSC based on your comparison.

We also loved Joe and Liv when on the Constellation in October. They are a very talented young couple.

Always interesting to see how others feel, I hope you don't mind me adding my opinions here. We have done three Celebrity and one MSC cruise.

I think the overall service is better on Celebrity but we had our favorite bartenders on MSC, and drinks are WAY more affordable than on Celebrity and RCCL if you don't have a drinks package.

For entertainment, I feel like the cruise entertainment staff on MSC was more active and visible, which I appreciated. The main shows are good on both ships, but on our MSC Grand Voyage there was a lot of opera due to who they hired as the fly-on entertainment, which isn't my style. Oh and because of the variety of languages on board (5 languages for announcements, but more nationalities than that), the lack of a comedy show was a bummer on MSC.

I can't remember the late entertainment on X, which says something, but on MSC there was some sort of game or entertainment in a lounge, followed by dancing. And I felt like the ship passengers were more engaged in the various nights, like "White out", "Italian", and the formal nights.

Food, no doubt, Celebrity delivers a knockout punch. I never went hungry on MSC, and with anytime dining we never waited too long for food, but I did eat in the buffet several nights out of 21. On X, I look forward to the MDR every night. Even the buffet on Celebrity is better than the MSC, except the pizza. I know X has good pizza, but oh man MSC's was just to-die for. Burgers on MSC though, when they had them they weren't really 'right', certainly no Mast Grill.

I mostly agree with your comments. The entertainment staff are the luck of the draw. I didn't think they were good on either of these cruises. Sue Denning and Marten have been our favourites on recent Celebrity cruises. We did have them both on a couple of cruises before Marten was made a cruise director.

When we were first looking at the Connie for a Christmas cruise we assumed that Christmas day would be a sea day. In fact we were in Cochin, India.

The ship was full of decorations, but it never really felt like Christmas. Dinner was pretty low key as well. There was turkey, but not with any of the British trimmings, no Christmas pudding, no crackers and no hats. This was our first Christmas away and probably our last. We are having Christmas "Day" tomorrow at our son's house!

Anyway, on the actual day we awoke, docked in Cochin, to the dancers below:

We had always wanted to go on a houseboat in Kerala where you have it to yourself and a crew with a cook for a few days. For that reason we picked the houseboat excursion rather than the motor boat one.

First we stopped for lunch at a beach resort that was very pleasant:

Then we traveled on to the houseboat:

First disappointment was the whole coachload got onto the boat, although we hadn't been expecting it to be just for us we thought it would be a smaller boat, more like this (similar to the one in the excursion brochure):

Thank you so much for your review. I have been thinking of trying MSC; but had heard that the food was a big issue with them. Your description tells me specifics about why the food is a problem. I won't consider MSC based on your comparison.

Thank you OP for such a wonderful comparison. I appreciate all the details.

I am also Elite on X and was considering MSC (due in part to the status matching which I just found out about).

However, given the comments I've been reading, I agree with MyPinBoynton - I think I'll pass and stick with Celebrity.

I just wish Celebrity would step it up again a little more for the non-suite guest.