MSC Rumors - Fact or Fiction

Prior to our Baltic cruise on MSC Lirica we read a lot of negative posts on CC which gave us some concern. I know that MSC has made a lot of changes since these complaints were posted so I thought I would post our experience with some of these things as of August 2009. Please let me know if there is anything else that has been rumored that I did not mention.

1. Smoking Policy

Smoking is much more restricted than I had read in some posts. You can smoke in a few outdoor areas as well as in the casino and one bar. Interestingly smoking in the cabins was "discouraged" rather than "prohibited". The first morning we awoke to the smell of cigarette smoke from a nearby cabin followed by the smell of air freshener, almost like teenagers hiding from their parents. We smelled the smoke a few more times but never smelled the air freshener again.

2. The crew does not speak English.

Not true. Every member of the crew in every capacity spoke English. One member of the kids club staff played the "no English" game a couple of times when she did not want to answer questions. This was selective on her part, though, and my daughter did not have any problems with communication in kids club.

3. The crew is rude.

Not true. With the exception of the head of the casino, who unfortunately was the first member of the crew we encountered after boarding, everyone was very polite. This guy was so incredibly rude, though, that my mother made the comment "He must be management. Any member of the crew would be fired on the spot for treating a passenger that way." I also later saw him walking in the passage ways outside the casino with a lit cigarette. I understand that they have turned over a lot of the staff since these negative comments were posted. If this guy is an example of what the staff was like when the posters sailed I am sure their comments were probably right on target at the time.

4. No coffee or tea at dinner.

Not true. We were served coffee and tea each night. It was also available all afternoon at the grill and pizzeria.

5. The beds and pillows are uncomfortable.

Oh, so true. Some folks in balcony suites told us that their beds were great but we were not so lucky.

6. No casual alternative for dinner.

True. The pizzeria and grill (with hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, etc) was open until 7 and there was a buffet on those nights that we were in port after first sitting of dinner started. Keeping my four year old occupied for so long got hard after a few days. About half way through the cruise kids club started having dinner parties for them (i.e. hot dog party, pasta party, etc). This started about an hour after first seating dinner so I tried to get some healthy food into her before bringing her up to the kids club dinner. I don't know if this is standard or if they started doing it in response to a group of children who were very disrubtive in the dining room.

7. The food is terrible.

Not true. We enjoyed most of our meals with a few things - especially the risotto and croissants - that were outstanding. We had 2 really bad experiences with chicken marsala and grilled kebab that were so tough we could not cut them with our knives. You have to be adventurous when ordering eggs for breakfast - a 4 1/2 minute egg may come out perfectly, hard boiled or almost raw. All in all if you have a good attitude you will enjoy your meals. If you are looking to find fault you will do that .

8. MSC is VERY European.

True. There were very few Americans aboard. Even fewer Canadians, Australians, etc. I looked at it as a floating Italian resort and enjoyed the European environment. I found some of the cultural differences with things like elevator etiquette quite interesting and found the announcements in 5 languages to be a lot of fun. The only negative comment I have is extremely revealing costumes on the female dancers in the shows. This was bothersome because the kids club sat in the front row every evening. Without exaggeration the women in the windows of Amsterdam's Red Light District were dressed more modestly than the dancers in the show that night. The best number of the cruise was the can-can during the French review. When the dancers bent over and flipped up their skirts they were wearing thongs instead of the traditional frilly pantaloons. The kids in the front row really got an anatomy lesson that night...

9. Americans will not like MSC.

Not true. While it will not have skating rinks, water slides or rock climbing walls an MSC cruise can be enjoyable for Americans. If you want these types of activities stick with the larger ships. If MSC has an itinerary you like and you have an open mind you most certainly can enjoy an MSC cruise.

A few more things that I don't think were discussed but I think should be mentioned:

1. Port times were VERY short. With the exception of Amsterdam and St Petersburg no port was longer than 6 hours. Gothenberg was so mishandled with long lines and a 12 euro shuttle into town we barely had 2 hours on shore - late on a Saturday. It was a total waste.

2. If you can take a balcony cabin instead of an ocean view cabin. It is twice the size and has a full bath in addition to the balcony.

3. The cabin attendants did not even empty the water glasses much less rinse them out or change them. She just placed the white paper covers on them. Even after leaving a note asking for new glasses she covered them and left them for 3 days - even with tea in them. We finally removed them from the cabin ourselves.

4. The vitamin bar was never open - don't waste your money on a vitamin package. It was quite a battle the last night on board to get it refunded.

5. MSC out and out lied about our ability to go ashore in St Petersburg if we did not buy a tour from them. They should be ashamed about this deception. This alone will likely keep me from sailing with them again.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for that, we are not American but were still very concerned that we may have made a mistake booking the new Magnifica out of Venice next March for a "significant" birthday.

You have allayed my fears:D we are booked into a cat 11 balcony and are considering upgrading to a suite, did you see the suites? if so, do you feel it is worth the extra? we are 2 adults and a 12 year old.

Thank you for sharing your impressions in an honest intelligent way. We are sailing to Bermuda on Poesia in April, so I'm very interested in any and all info on MSC. It seems that MSC is one of a few cruise lines whose cabin attendants are 'relaxed' about clean glasses, as I recall reading another thread about it. We brought our own last time- a stack of little plastic 5 oz. cups, the type that we use in our bathrooms at home.

Again, thank you. I'm feeling a little less anxious about MSC when I read balanced reviews like yours!

You will love Poesia, as we loved Orchestra. It is a most beautiful ship. We did not have any trouble with our cabin attendant. Like on other cruises on other lines, it is the individual cabin attendant not the line. We have had good and not so good on other lines. As far as lying to you... I am sorry that happened but can guess it was misunderstanding. Why would staff lie to you?

The cruises out of the USA will be much different than the med ones. The buffet will be open longer with the pizza station open even longer than the buffet. We have had language barrier issues on other cruise lines, it is not just MSC. The staff is from other countries just like on any other cruise line.

Go with an open mind and enjoy the elegance that the European flair gives the cruise. I cannot imagine that you will be disappointed. We loved Orchestra so much we are doing Poesia for 10 night cruise, Nov 30!

Cam - there is a long discussion on the Northern Europe board about what is happening in St Petersburg. Because of the visa situation some cruise lines are indeed lying to try to get passengers to purchase their own tours rather than private tours. (Both private tours and ship's tours arrange for a special group visa so you do not need to have a Russian visa in your passport.) We spent more than a month planning our private tour that included sites which could not be visited with a ship's tour and for much less money. Prior to our experience the worst offender seemed to be Princess who was delaying passengers on private tours by falsely claiming the Russian government required passengers on ship's tours to disembark first. MSC went a step further and said that passengers were required to purchase a tour through MSC or we would not be allowed to go ashore at all. They falsely claimed that this was a Russian regulation - it was not. We had to lie and cheat to even get off the ship in St Petersburg. The exits were roped closed and guarded by uniformed security personnel in an effort to enforce this false claim. It was very stressful and a terrible example to set for my 4 year old. This was not a misunderstanding, this was blatant fraud on the part of MSC and the tour company they contract with.

I am sorry that you had that experience. I would not have believed such a thing could happen. I thought it was a misunderstanding. I stand corrected. Things are much different than the caribbean!

Thank you for sharing your impressions in an honest intelligent way. We are sailing to Bermuda on Poesia in April, so I'm very interested in any and all info on MSC. It seems that MSC is one of a few cruise lines whose cabin attendants are 'relaxed' about clean glasses, as I recall reading another thread about it. We brought our own last time- a stack of little plastic 5 oz. cups, the type that we use in our bathrooms at home.

Again, thank you. I'm feeling a little less anxious about MSC when I read balanced reviews like yours!

I wish we were going with you but this time we're going to try leaving from Pt. Canaveral since it's about 3 hrs closer. Caribbean curises are completely different than the Mediterranean cruises. I posted a review of the Orchestra from our Bermuda cruise which can be found under the review section. The only thing I was never sure of was the water glasses but you seem to have that taken care of, as will I in the future. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

sbhdmh,

I agree with your assessment of MSC with some minor exceptions.

We were on the Armonia 9/08 and sailed the same Baltic trip as you and

I had no problems with the crew's attitude or the ability to communicate with them.

We did find the food to be very salty but as long as you stayed with the Italian menu it was good. I ate fish almost the entire trip since the quality of their beef left much to be desired.

I enjoyed being with primarily European tourists as we met many nice people and I had a chance to finally use my high school and college German!

One humorous incident.... since Americans had complained in the past about paying for water at dinner, MSC gave only Americans coupons to use for a free bottle of water. Well the table behind us were all Germans and when they found out that we were getting something they weren't, well lets just say you didn't need to speak German to know they were upset.

We have been on two NCL cruises since but that is because we like the

"Freestyle" flexibility especially when it comes to assigned seating at dinner but I wouldn't rule MSC out if they had the best itinerary.

We were on the same cruise - in fact had a great 2 days in the company of sbhdmh(& mother of course) & a family from Canada in St Petersburg. I cannot thank D enough for organising those 2 days & for selecting Masha as our guide, a lovely lady & a wonderful & knowledgeable guide.

If you go with a sense of humour you cant go wrong - for example I ordered 2 boiled eggs 1 morning & I think they were "boiled" in cold water as when I took the tops off they ran across the plate still raw however we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the food & treated the language barriers as part of the fun - the crews English was a whole lot better than our Italian or Indonesian!!!!!

Don`t just fault MSC, Iwas sailed Celebrity to St. Pete & was advised same info, if I wanted to exit myself I needed to do my own Visa. Who needs the hassle, I just booked with the line even though I`m sure I paid more. I did meet people onboard who had Visa`s & were allowed off.

Am pretty new to cruising and will be on MSC Poesia from Nov.30-Dec 20. I know nothing about MSC cruising. I notice there is a soda package. Are all drinks an extra charge?

Is coffee available all day? at no cost?

What is the gratuity policy?

Can you have cabin service for meals?

MSC changes their policy from Europe and the Carib tours.

What I've gleaned so far: Daily 6E service Europe; 12E in the Carib.

In Europe; free coffee @ breakfast. Charge thereafter.

Water charge in Europe; don't know about Carib. Ditto for Iced Tea

in Europe which comes in a can.

Europe: cabin charge for service.

Specialty restaurants: Service is a la carte as opposed to flat fee.

There are soda, beer, wine packages that can be purcahsed.

Coffee is not free all day long on any of the sailings. If you get it at a bar or in the coffee shop it is extra - they have a wide range from cappocinos and lattes to espresso and liquer ones. You are more likely to get tea, coffee etc free with meals on US sailings.

Although room service doesn't have a charge on US sailings, it really isn't having your meal in your cabin as the menu is fairly limited - soup, salad, sandwiches, fruit and cake, You can't have dinner delivered to your cabin. You can have breakfast in your cabin but again this is not a la carte but just limited choice from a continental menu. Some people use this service to bring tea or coffee to their cabin and then go to the buffett or dining room later for breakfast.

Like European Hotels, they are not big on room service facilities.

There are no gratuities added to bar bills. there is a $12 per day per person auto gratuity that you can change up or down or remove. The ship shares it between cabin and restaurant staff and a small amount goes to other crew as well

Without notification, MSC replaced the September 2010 Magnifica Venice to New York sailing with Poesia - sailing from Kiel in Germany to New York. When I called their US office for information, they at first insisted that the intinerary was "unchanged", apparently believing that leaving the same date from the same continent meant no change. I am grateful to the Australians who mentioned the possibility of such a change on the roll-call for that sailing, as I was able to cancel my booking in sufficient time to have my deposit refunded.

I am disappointed in MSC's commitment to customer service.

BOTH SHIPS ARE IDENTICAL & NEW, mAGNIFICA STILL IN SHIPYARDS & DIDN`T MAKE IT IN TIME, NO REASON TO CANCEL UNLESS YOU REALLY DIDN`T WANT TO GO. SHAME AS YOUR MISSING OUT ON A GREAT EXPERIENCE.

Venice and the Mediterranean are preferable to Kiel and the Baltic and North Seas. In any event, as I will be travelling in Italy in late summer, the Venice departure was important. I will have to find another route home.

After reading some recent threads on the MSC board I thought that I should perhaps submit a bit of a disclaimer to go with my list of MSC Rumors. Please note that I was on a Northern Europe sailing out of Dover. It seems that MSC made some changes to accomodate this particular market. My experience with things like water, coffee and tea at meals and English speaking staff may not be your experience on a different sailing. MSC apparently does not seek consistency across the line on all sailings. Instead they seek to alter their offerings to meet the needs of passengers they expect to book each sailing. It is not just a matter of European vs Caribbean sailings. Northern Europe vs the Med will also have differences. Please check with someone who has done your particular sailing rather than rely on my input if a particular issue is important to you. Thanks.

5. The beds and pillows are uncomfortable.

 

A few more things that I don't think were discussed but I think should be mentioned:

 

1. Port times were VERY short. With the exception of Amsterdam and St Petersburg no port was longer than 6 hours.

 

3. The cabin attendants did not even empty the water glasses much less rinse them out or change them. She just placed the white paper covers on them. Even after leaving a note asking for new glasses she covered them and left them for 3 days - even with tea in them. We finally removed them from the cabin ourselves.

 

A few of my findings on the Opera 4-15 October

Beds and pillows - so comfy! I know everyone's bed at home is the most comfy in the world but I can honestly say the ones in our cabin (cat 7) were wonderful. Just the right firmness and springiness! Pillows too. And I can be fussy here!

Our water glasses were cleaned/changed whatever the steward did every time we used them - so perhaps your steward was unusually tardy.

Just left the Spendida on Oct 20. MSC is different and you must go with that in mind and leave your Carnival type thoughts behind. I think one needs to know more about the tipping. I feel now I should have tipped more. Also, there is little info on any of the port stops and the reception desk seems to just shrug their shoulders - so go prepared on your port stops and have your own city maps. Found staff very friendly, beds great, loved our balcony cabin. The ship is huge and beautiful and of the 4000 people, I believe, we were 2 of only 40 or so Americans. Lots and lots of Italians. Anyone going on the Splendida, I might recommend staying on the ship in Tunis. Not good!

Just left the Spendida on Oct 20. MSC is different and you must go with that in mind and leave your Carnival type thoughts behind. I think one needs to know more about the tipping. I feel now I should have tipped more. Also, there is little info on any of the port stops and the reception desk seems to just shrug their shoulders - so go prepared on your port stops and have your own city maps. Found staff very friendly, beds great, loved our balcony cabin. The ship is huge and beautiful and of the 4000 people, I believe, we were 2 of only 40 or so Americans. Lots and lots of Italians. Anyone going on the Splendida, I might recommend staying on the ship in Tunis. Not good!

Uturpia,

Are you are the one that asked for the name of guy we have booked in Tunis (his name was mentioned in a Fantasia review) - did you use him? What did you not like about Tunis? What issues did you have with the tipping? I've been wondering how much more to leave for the steward and waiter.

I have sailed with MSC both in Italy & US & yes there are some differences but not enough to make a big deal about. Our back to back cruise out of Genoa on the Sinfonia where we dined with different staff did not object to me asking for tap water, in fact there was always tap water waiting for us at our table. I really didn`t notice much difference except in Italy Italians only offer Capuccino in the AM. This is very similar to the rest of Europe, they are not big breakfast eaters as we are. Naturally there are exceptions, such as Ireland, etc.

Boca:

I leave on the Splendida next wk (embarking in Rome) & keep seeing

how NO water is offered @ meals so this is good news.

BTW, were dining times 7:30 & 9:30? My TA said I was listed for

5:30 and I seriously doubt that is possible on an European line.

with thanks.

I don`t remember the exact times but doubt if it was that early, I never choose early dining, especially in Europe, you are out all day touring, why would you want to rush back to have dinner. If you need something to hold you over have a slice of pizza & definitely a cocktail to wash it down. Now your ready to have dinner & enjoy the great entertainment that is available. Have a great time, looking forward to my cruise on the Poesia 11/30.

I'm sorry to say so, but if you did your homework, you would KNOW that theese restrictions regards ALL people getting in to Russia.

First of all, I'm from Norway, and even I MUST have visa to enter the Russian country.

We also went on NCL Jewel to St.Petersburg last summer, and had exactly the same experience as you, so this is not MSC's fault, this is the Russian roules!!

But I Knew it would be like that, and because of that I didn't bother discuss it, cause I can't do anything about it, and the cruiseline coulden't do anything.

BUT, I could chouse for my selves if I wanted to disembark and see St.Petersburg or not.

Nobody denied me to stay onboard!!

So why not acept it, deal with it and enjoy it as it is, instead of using all that energy on madness.....

You are on VACATION !!!

I'm sorry to say so, but if you did your homework, you would KNOW that theese restrictions regards ALL people getting in to Russia.

 

First of all, I'm from Norway, and even I MUST have visa to enter the Russian country.

 

We also went on NCL Jewel to St.Petersburg last summer, and had exactly the same experience as you, so this is not MSC's fault, this is the Russian roules!!

 

But I Knew it would be like that, and because of that I didn't bother discuss it, cause I can't do anything about it, and the cruiseline coulden't do anything.

 

BUT, I could chouse for my selves if I wanted to disembark and see St.Petersburg or not.

Nobody denied me to stay onboard!!

So why not acept it, deal with it and enjoy it as it is, instead of using all that energy on madness.....

You are on VACATION !!!

Sorry but if you did your homework you would understand that you need EITHER a visa or to book a visa free tour with an agency authorized to sponsor you. The cruise lines act as middle men with certain of these agencies or you can book your own tour privately. It is an out and out lie that you must be on a ship's tour or have a visa in your passport. Last summer several of the cruise lines attempted to delay passengers on private tours in an effort to intimidate passengers into paying more for ship sponsored excursions. None were as bad as MSC however and no others were reported to have roped closed the exits to prevent people on private tours from leaving the ship. If you have any questions about this then please visit the Northern Europe board where it is discussed in great depth. No one in their right mind spends the thousands upon thousands of dollars to take a Baltic cruise where St Petersburg is the highlight and just chooses to stay on board. Perhaps to you that is a vacation - to me it is simply a waste of money.