Deckhandoug

Agreed, Celebrity lacks after dinner entertainment, which we enjoy...Carnival just strikes me as LOUD, although we enjoy having some fun, we are looking for a happy medium....HAL, heard it was lights out at 9 pm...your thoughts?

If I may add my opinion , the HAL cruises we have been on the passengers have certainly focused on the destinations and excursions rather than on late, late entertainment. It's there if you want it, but it's not a focal point of the cruise/ group I would say.

Keep in mind my experiences are the longer European and Alaska type cruises.

Very different group than the typical Caribbean cruisers that focus on relaxation and unwinding than the ports.

We've found quiet, very nice areas on HAL to relax, drink a beverage and converse or read a book, to a lessor extent on Carnival every time, so we aren't bothered by excessive noise or anything like that, but if you have typical teens or children they may be bored with the offerings on HAL compared to the other lines.

We found CCL, NCL, MSC and The RCCL ships we've cruised to be roughly the same in quality/ value, we each having one or two things better than the others but worst than some. We know what we are getting and the price we are paying, so we come prepared for that.

Note that we haven't sailed any of the newer Mega, signature ships of any of the lines, but probably will one day if the right opportunity presents itself.

Our style of cruising and personal preferences make HAL our current favorite, I can't wait to try a few other lines one day, but I've pretty much crossed NCL off the list at our budget range if all things are equal with the other lines, just not what we want.

Nice review

I too am happy you see the difference in service we have spoken about in the past

Doug ... You accept that cruise lines cannot do anything about the weather with regards to missed calls or go to a port for reasons such as muggings etc.

Yes, I was agreeing with you

Doug ... At least someone can see the wood for the trees, the MSC E mail called it an "Exciting" day in Miami! not for those on the ship who live there many of whom left and went home.

 

Seems some people think it is ok to cut short other peoples holiday in order to justify showing off to travel agents!

 

Ruthless boss .. the ship could have been brought in on the 20th as it was supposed to have been and still carried out their publicity stunt after all there was only a Disney and NCL ship in port on that date.

 

The stone cold fact is that MSC lied to their customers on this cruise about the reason for taking out a port stop and going into Miami on the 19th some of who were repeat customers and Black card members. They have shown a total disregard for the people on that cruise just to please others.

 

We spoke to people who only found out after 4 to 5 days onboard that the last port had been taken off the itinerary and even a crew member who did not know!

 

The usual Left hand does not know what the Right hand is doing while telling lies to the rest comes to mind, i wonder how many North Americans on the lastest or any other 7 night cruise would just sit back and accept the loss of their last port day so that travel agents can swan around the ship ? i know the feeling of some of them who were on this cruise and believe me they were not happy.

I understand totally, nothing as disappointing as paying for your holiday and then not getting it for "political " reasons.

Quite the different story if you had missed your port due to weather or another unavoidable situation but to have your cruise changed for a press conference is inexcusable.

I believe the cruise was shortened one day, missing a port in the process, after these customers had booked/ paid for their cruise, in order to have "a fun port day in Miami".

It appears the day was used as originally suspected, a "press day" for the ships NA debut.

The customers have every right to be angry, they didn't get the cruise they originally were told they were getting, it in fact was a promotional day by MSC that did indeed impact the passengers comfort.

Seems to be a big discussion about the UK law on what is included in the term "race" but not a great deal of discussion on the original question.

As a 1st time cruiser on MSC Has anyone any info or experience cruising MSC cruising in the med with regard to dress codes and the use of tuxedos?

Exactly my point too, let's address ,the question at hand.

I was surprised on my Caribbean MSC cruise, I was expecting everyone to "dress " for dinner but what we saw was the whole variety of styles: tux,suits, slacks, jeans and yes shorts, I believe the sheer volume of differences ( no one major group of style, just lots of various combinations of styles), all nationalities appeared equality represented.,

I got the impression from all the Europeans aboard that they did not alter their wardrobe for the Caribbean very much, so I'm assuming the Med is the same.

Of course, the airline baggage fees being charged for the last few years have contributed, the formal clothes are being left behind for economic reasons, I believe MSC offers a tuxedo rental service onboard if that's of interest to you

For comparison, my last RCCL Med cruise was predominately cruise casual, we had an older, local, seasoned crowd onboard and they didn't seem interested in dressing up at all, relaxing was the activity of choice.

Last HAL cruise was tuxes and sport coats minimum, a jacket was loaned if you came up prepared.

CCL and NCL, apparently anything goes, including my pet peeve of hats in the dining room:eek:

So, what I'm trying to convey is I wouldn't hesitate to wear a tux, suit, shirt and tie , just plain dress slacks & shirt or anything else that follows the guidelines, you certainly won't be alone in your choice and I know many people enjoy the ships photographs on this part of the cruise.

I'm dress in suits and ties all week so I don't dress to the nines but I do think dressing appropriately adds to the experience.

As has been mentioned each line/ cruise is different and I don't think MSC is the kind of line that you'll feel out of place by not wearing a suit or tux, but I may be wrong.

Of course, as I pointed out, mine as a Caribbean sailing so things may be different for MSC in Europe, but I've found out that generally there is not much difference in the other major lines in other regions.

Whew! my 2 cents, for what it's worth

Sadari, a strong MSC proponent, has declared chaos, I for one believe them.

Who would have expected a ship heading for the American market to exhibit any adjustments to the American style of crusing?

Problems on the much anticipated T/A from MSC?

One can hardly imagine that happening

If I were looking to book a balcony cabin on one of these particular ships, I would appreciate the information.

Don't take it as all negative, he's put in a lot of time on this, he's just not spouting "I hate this or This is the best line ever, other lines suck", which seems to be the normal exchange around here.

Maybe I missed it. Has anyone in this thread seriously never heard about Ad-Aware and other Ad Popup blockers?

:). You'll be answered, have no doubt.

Well I found out there is a Chrome app for IPads but you need iOS 5 and I evidently don't have that (whatever it is!)

 

UK site is still not working. It would have been interesting tonsee if I could have gotten onto it with Chrome

You should be able to upgrade for free, I've got OS 6.1.3 on my ipadii

Go to: setting: general: software update

It should tell you what version then you can update if you wish

Probably not, probably just trying to get too high tech with it before its ready.

On my upcoming cruise on NCL, I absolutely hate their website right now, too many graphics not running correctly, finding what you want very hard.

Last time I sailed with them I thought it was the easiest one to navigate

Now, I hate to log on to NCL

So it is not absolute value.

 

We liked food in buffets on Zuiderdam, in dining room .... it was very inconsistent. Add slow and not very good service and... By the way service in MDR on Poesia was terrific. I do not remember wrong dish or empty glass of water. :)

I thought MDR service on Poesia was horrible.

I wouldn't call it much.

OK, you wouldn't, I would.

:confused:

Rest of the buffet, or all the food on Nieuw Amsterdam? We were more than happy with the food on Zuiderdam -- beautiful, flavorful, perfectly cooked.. We would not have ordered food which had involved being cooked in oil, so can't speak to that.

 

We have not sailed with MSC. We found HAL's food to be consistently better than that on Celebrity, at least.

HAL's food and selection is much, much better than MSC

Yes, clientele remark was strange. We sailed with HAL during the summer, and haven't noticed much of difference between lets say NCL and HAL.

 

We loved clientele on MSC. :)

Interesting comments, HAL has also been compared to an geriatric convention in this thread.

Last September on the Poesia in La Pigalle lounge. For 3 hours I had a waitress and a bar man all to myself. Just caught their eye if I wanted a drink. Reading my kindle or watching the wake. Absolute bliss until my DW found me. :-)

Moments in time like that are what makes life so awesome

Now here, I really do have to disagree with you. I've sailed 16 times with MSC and spent well over 100 nights onboard and they most definitely are not a party ship. If they were, I most certainly would not sail on them. You may have done your research but you have not experienced them.

 

On holiday I want peace and quiet to relax, read and listen to my music without someone "pushing" drinks all the time. I love classical music and Opera particularly Puccini and Verdi and I get that too ( and its live music by very talented mainly Eastern European musicians and Italian opera singers).

 

I get it that you love Hal and it has all the things that suit you. I feel like that about MSC. they Re not perfect but they on the whole suit me. My list of requirements is very different from your though.

You would probably like HAL's explorations cafe then, it's very relaxing:

Explorations Café

The Explorations Café, powered by The New York Times offers a comfortable, coffee house environment where you can browse through one of the most extensive libraries at sea, view a wide array of audio and video programming, or simply read the morning paper.

Guests can also enjoy fresh pastries and their favorite espresso drink provided by Torrefazione Italia.

Additional highlights include:

Internet stations featuring news and email, with free access to The New York Times online edition (wireless hot spots also available for those traveling with laptops)

Destination-related content provided by The New York Times, as well as unique travel-related New York Times crossword puzzles

Large jigsaw puzzle tables

The Explorations Speaker Series on longer voyages, feature guest lecturers and discussions on varied topics related to the history, culture and cuisine of ports of call.

I didn't think MSC was a party ship, lots of kids on my cruise but we expected it, being loyal CC readers we knew in advance.

Party ships?

Try the 3 day offerings from Miami by CCL and NCL:eek:

Cruise trail , what are the port times for each?

Thank you for putting that all together, It was very interesting

Is it just this one example, mainly the number of ports I gathered, that has put you off MSC in general?

Or will you consider them for a future cruise?

If I gave you the next cruise I'm considering would you perform the same research for me?

Thanks Doug

Just did not have pictures of meat. First picture has two trays with fish and meat. Every day there where 3-4 types of meat and 2 types of fish. Plus Asian meat dishes, and...

 

Everything was fresh and nice.

 

Meat in buffet was fine. Steaks in DR IMHO were not very good. This is the only thing I did not like.

 

By the way I liked HAL buffet, but was not impressed with MDR food at all.

No, I meant just didn't have the burger and hotdogs in picture 11, they are to the left of the breads I believe, while he had the hamburgers and hotdogs shown

I wasn't trying to imply they didn't have meat or fish selections at all, and you are right MSC usually had several fish offerings on the buffet, while American lines usually one.

One of the lines does have decent fish and chips, fried oysters and ceviche in the buffet area, I can't remember which one but its a welcome change

Most steaks on cruise ships are pretty much hit or miss anyway, I wouldn't order an American style steak in an Italian themed restaurant or cruise ship as a rule

Anyway, back to the review:)

Tatka, the buffets you posted and the ones he posted are the same food, I can see the buns, cheese, tomatoes etc for the burgers and hotdogs in your pictures, just not the meat.

Peas, carrots, mysterious kettles of something which resembled last nights main course, it's all there along with the prepackaged deserts

The setting may be different, but the foods the same

The buffets look like I remember them on both lines, the menus too

My main issue is that the OP hasn't tried MSC and so is incapable of comparing food. Interiors; design etc yes; but, food deals with taste, a sense that sight can not imitate and can only be justified and compared with by experiences.

 

I find his dedicating two and a half pages to something that is sensory with only 50% of the experience that is needed for a fair comparison discredits his "innocent intentions".

Oh, I agree all right, not having sailed MSC but offering such a detailed opinion is very odd.

The fact that he HAS dedicated 2.5 pages, found and posted a very large amount of detailed photos and made this an obviously serious, dedicated, possibly thankless endeavor makes it so much more an interesting read and encourages me to try and understand his true motivations. Surely It can't be to just indicate he like HAL better than MSC.

I'm sure it will all come together in the end, we will have an epiphany and we'll mark the date for posterity!

Until then...

Thanks for posting your review

I'm enjoying his comparison, I think he has some interesting points.