About the negative service reviews...

I keep reading about how the service on the Seaside is so much worse than other lines. While we haven't cruised MSC yet (we have a future reservation booked), I think they're making a big attempt to change that.

After a Royal cruise, we got to be friends with a head waiter who gave the best service we've ever had. I found out this week that he's now on the Seaside. That might be the thing that convinces us to keep our upcoming reservation. That also tells me that MSC is recruiting great talent from the other cruise lines that they're being compared to.

I just got off the Seaside yesterday. I can honestly say that I had excellent service all around the ship, with everyone I came in contact with.

I keep reading about how the service on the Seaside is so much worse than other lines. While we haven't cruised MSC yet (we have a future reservation booked), I think they're making a big attempt to change that.

 

After a Royal cruise, we got to be friends with a head waiter who gave the best service we've ever had. I found out this week that he's now on the Seaside. That might be the thing that convinces us to keep our upcoming reservation. That also tells me that MSC is recruiting great talent from the other cruise lines that they're being compared to.

Every head waiter is not going to give you the best service. We have been on 9 MSC cruises and have had different services from waiters but never bad service. Our best service was on the Royal Princess but we can't compare everyone else to him.

I keep reading about how the service on the Seaside is so much worse than other lines. While we haven't cruised MSC yet (we have a future reservation booked), I think they're making a big attempt to change that.

Where are you reading these reviews?? I read every review on Seaside and find that they are overwhelmingly positive. The majority of the few negative reviews I read are usually folks who have an axe to grind for something specific and many of them admit they liked a few things. I also find that, on average, the more the pax pay the fewer the complaints. In other words...there are more complaints in Bella than in Aurea. There are reviews on various social media but I would be wary of many of them. There are a lot of trolls out there who are cheer leaders for other lines and would think nothing of writing a bad review. I would pay attention to the positive reviews and take the negative reviews with a dash of scrutiny. Why is it that almost every positive review begins with “I was worried about all the negative reviews but was pleasantly surprised...”

Where are you reading these reviews?? I read every review on Seaside and find that they are overwhelmingly positive. The majority of the few negative reviews I read are usually folks who have an axe to grind for something specific and many of them admit they liked a few things. I also find that, on average, the more the pax pay the fewer the complaints. In other words...there are more complaints in Bella than in Aurea. There are reviews on various social media but I would be wary of many of them. There are a lot of trolls out there who are cheer leaders for other lines and would think nothing of writing a bad review. I would pay attention to the positive reviews and take the negative reviews with a dash of scrutiny. Why is it that almost every positive review begins with “I was worried about all the negative reviews but was pleasantly surprised...”

I agree. Service is subjective and I guess it depends what each of us is expecting. Individual expectations can vary, as an example I once read a review on here where someone was infuriated because the waiter reached across them to place the napkin on their lap. I on the other hand could care less if they even bother with the napkin and am quite able to place it on my lap myself. We never sail in any of the upper classes (Haven, YC etc..) and have never had a bad cruise. Were there occasions when waiters have made minor mistakes, cabin steward forget something or bartenders slipped up? sure, but we are on vacation and tend to seek out and relish the positives instead of spending our days looking for things to complain about. We are middle class, work very hard for our money and enjoy our vacations way too much to let the small things ruin it for us.

Where are you reading these reviews?? I read every review on Seaside and find that they are overwhelmingly positive. The majority of the few negative reviews I read are usually folks who have an axe to grind for something specific and many of them admit they liked a few things. I also find that, on average, the more the pax pay the fewer the complaints. In other words...there are more complaints in Bella than in Aurea. There are reviews on various social media but I would be wary of many of them. There are a lot of trolls out there who are cheer leaders for other lines and would think nothing of writing a bad review. I would pay attention to the positive reviews and take the negative reviews with a dash of scrutiny. Why is it that almost every positive review begins with “I was worried about all the negative reviews but was pleasantly surprised...”

I agree about the axe to grind. I posted this partly to show that MSC is hiring from those companies who are being held up as the standard for great service when it's said that MSC service is worse (I've seen it here but mainly social media), but you're getting the same staff as on other lines. So to me, it feels like a perception that service is worse when in fact it's comparable. But I haven't been on the ship yet to be able to make my own comparison.

We're debating between this cruise and a land vacation for spring break. I'm counting his being on the ship as another sign that we need to take this cruise!

I completely agree that service quality is subjective. On the cruise from which I just disembarked, within half an hour of boarding, I observed one passenger screaming and cursing at a bartender. I'm sure that he would absolutely say that the service he received was subpar, whereas those of us who were observing the whole scene knew that he'd just failed to educate himself about the "drinks on us" package and thought he should be receiving a benefit that he wasn't entitled to receive and was taking it out on the poor barstaff. Yes, sometimes there are true failures from service providers, but in a lot of cases, people just don't like being told "no." That same bartender at which that passenger was screaming went on to serve me and the other passengers around us, and provided us excellent service.

Thank you from above!

I was on Divina last October and sat next to a guy on the bus/shuttle and he actually complained about the consistency of his oat meal!!! He told me his cruise was ruined!!! I had everything I could do not to fall out of my seat and break into gut wrenching laughter.:D:D:D

Some folks just cannot tell the difference between different and bad.

and some people just want to complain...they yell at their TV and curse at the paper and expect others to agree...I video these jerks and should start a People of WalMart type website....bad cruisers...

Last cruise I shared the video to management to show who did what...that jerk passenger didn’t get squat as a result...Lol, we are watching...

Some folks just cannot tell the difference between different and bad.

An absolutely amazing quote. Perfect to use when folks bring up bad reviews for MSC. Thanks TooFar!

Bret

[The majority of the few negative reviews I read are usually folks who have an axe to grind for something specific and many of them admit they liked a few things. I also find that, on average, the more the pax pay the fewer the complaints. In other words...there are more complaints in Bella than in Aurea. There are reviews on various social media but I would be wary of many of them. There are a lot of trolls out there who are cheer leaders for other lines and would think nothing of writing a bad review. I would pay attention to the positive reviews and take the negative reviews with a dash of scrutiny. Why is it that almost every positive review begins with “I was worried about all the negative reviews but was pleasantly surprised...”

If you go to the CC Seaside members reviews currently they are split 50/50 (approximately) good to bad...and not just bad, but the worst cruise of my life bad. We sailed her in January and had a wonderful time. Yes, we were in the YC, but we visited just about every bar and public area around the ship and the staff were polite and accommodating as any other cruise line we have been on. I honestly don’t understand how that many people could be on the same ship and have such drastically different experiences?

I honestly don’t understand how that many people could be on the same ship and have such drastically different experiences?

Same goes for politics nowadays....

My friends and I returned from our cruise on the Seaside (8/4 - 8/11) and had excellent service all around. We loved everything about the cruise and thought the ship was absolutely beautiful and very clean.

We booked again for next year!

I keep reading about how the service on the Seaside is so much worse than other lines. While we haven't cruised MSC yet (we have a future reservation booked), I think they're making a big attempt to change that.

 

After a Royal cruise, we got to be friends with a head waiter who gave the best service we've ever had. I found out this week that he's now on the Seaside. That might be the thing that convinces us to keep our upcoming reservation. That also tells me that MSC is recruiting great talent from the other cruise lines that they're being compared to.

Cathep, do you, by any chance, remember his name. We have been on 100 + RCCL cruises (every ship in the fleet) and know many of the Head Waiters. We will be on the Seaside for two weeks in October and would like to find him to say Hi, even if we have never met him before.

We have done five cruises on the Divina and have met bar servers and waiters that had previously been on RCCL. Also had a lovely conversation with the Executive Chef and the bar manager (David) who were hired away from NCL to americanize the Divina.