Summary of MSC reviews, costs, expectations

[jspqld]

I dont wish to offend anyone on here, but I really cant for the life of me understand why so many people get so upset about the issue of tap water on these pages.

I just came off the MSC Splendida 2 weeks ago. This ship was state of the art amazing in every way. The facilities were second to none, the food was great, & the service fantastic. The cost of the cruise was very cheap in comparison to other lines yet the service & facilities on board scored an A+ from me & I am not an inexperienced cruiser. Big deal that I spent the equivelent to a total of $35.00 Australian dollars on buying high quality bottles of sparkling water during dinner throughout the 11 days on board. It's cheaper than here at home.

Lighten up people, you are going on a holiday, dont let something like tap water get you down! In the ensuite of your cabin you can drink tap water to your heart's content!

[hat776]

Apparently in the US the buffet is kept open in the evenings and also tea and coffee are available (not just at breakfast and tea time like in the Med). Plus water is freely available.

That is why this thread is confusing me - when someone mentions a ship by name I have no idea if they are referring to a ship sailing in the US, the Med or the Baltic !!!!

[Capricruiser]

MSC (and Costa) cater more to North American tastes in their Caribbean cruises. Over here in Europe for the Mediterranean and North Europe cruises they cater more to European tastes. We're more used to bottled water and taking our tea and coffee seated at one of the bars. Americans tend to drink coffee with their meals while Europeans are more into wines. I agree with hat776, it would help if everyone identified their posts with the name of the ship, specific cruise, and even inclusive dates.

[jspqld]

MSC (and Costa) cater more to North American tastes in their Caribbean cruises. Over here in Europe for the Mediterranean and North Europe cruises they cater more to European tastes. We're more used to bottled water and taking our tea and coffee seated at one of the bars. Americans tend to drink coffee with their meals while Europeans are more into wines. I agree with hat776, it would help if everyone identified their posts with the name of the ship, specific cruise, and even inclusive dates.

 

The cruise I was on, was aboard the MSC Splendida around the eastern med in Nov 09. I also agree that drinking a fine coffee at one of the designated coffee bars on board the Splendida was just so much nicer & part of the overall experience.

[obendus]

... I really cant for the life of me understand why so many people get so upset about the issue of tap water on these pages.

 

It's not a big problem for most... perhaps it's just the breaking point for some, when 'combined' with all of the other nickle and dime methods the cruise industry employs in order to 'crawl into' your wallet.

Big deal that I spent the equivelent to a total of $35.00 Australian dollars on buying high quality bottles of sparkling water during dinner throughout the 11 days on board. It's cheaper than here at home. Lighten up people, you are going on a holiday, dont let something like tap water get you down! In the ensuite of your cabin you can drink tap water to your heart's content!

 

Good advice, and a great attitude!

[hat776]

The cruise I was on, was aboard the MSC Splendida around the eastern med in Nov 09. I also agree that drinking a fine coffee at one of the designated coffee bars on board the Splendida was just so much nicer & part of the overall experience.

 

We were on the Splendida's last western med cruise last month before it repositioned to Genoa. We bought a Water package of Eur 20 for 14 bottles of 1 lt - no big deal.

 

The only thing I missed was not having the buffet open in the evening and tea/coffee served just for a limited time at tea time.

 

However, we knew all this before we sailed so there were no surprises for us .

[obendus]

We were on the Splendida's last western med cruise last month before it repositioned to Genoa. We bought a Water package of Eur 20 for 14 bottles of 1 lt - no big deal. The only thing I missed was not having the buffet open in the evening and tea/coffee served just for a limited time at tea time. However, we knew all this before we sailed so there were no surprises for us .

 

Now we know... thanks!

If I feel the need for a coffee when its not being served, I'll gladly go to a speciality coffee bar. No big deal.

[chrtran]

I think the issue is not the cheap water. I will gladly pay for the water with the $1000 that I saved. The issue is if the company does business in the US, it should follow the US laws & consumer protection. It should not rely on cruisecritics to help spell out the rules.

 

I agree that in Italy, we do have to pay for water in restaurants. But that's in Italy. When MSC sells the cruises here in the US, it should spell out the rules. If I were the customers that got charged for tap water, I would complain to the US Consumer Protection.

 

I dont wish to offend anyone on here, but I really cant for the life of me understand why so many people get so upset about the issue of tap water on these pages.

I just came off the MSC Splendida 2 weeks ago. This ship was state of the art amazing in every way. The facilities were second to none, the food was great, & the service fantastic. The cost of the cruise was very cheap in comparison to other lines yet the service & facilities on board scored an A+ from me & I am not an inexperienced cruiser. Big deal that I spent the equivelent to a total of $35.00 Australian dollars on buying high quality bottles of sparkling water during dinner throughout the 11 days on board. It's cheaper than here at home.

Lighten up people, you are going on a holiday, dont let something like tap water get you down! In the ensuite of your cabin you can drink tap water to your heart's content!

[remi1au]

I would complain to the US Consumer Protection.

 

Is there a law in the US that says a restaurant must provide free water? ... in Australia they usually do but it is not law that they must.

On the other hand, bars pubs and taverns etc have to provide free tap water to conform with safe consumption of alcohol laws.

Makes no difference to me .... the only time I ever drink straight water is when I work out ... :D

[jspqld]

If I were the customers that got charged for tap water, I would complain to the US Consumer Protection.

 

I am of the opinion that MSC as a private business has every right to promote & try & sell bottled water. The consumer then has every right not to purchase it if they dont want to. I am not aware of MSC trying to charge people for Tap water & I definately did not come across this on my cruise with them. It is just that they would prefer you to pay for the bottled stuff which is produced in Northern Italy.

& Im not sure about them having to conform to all U.S laws, they are an Italian company sailing in International waters. I was on a carnival ship last year in Europe & I did witness them conforming to any european customs or laws, not that I had a problem with that. I knew before I stepped aboard that it was an American based ship & things would be done the american way! So why cant MSC offer a different concept & do things how they Know how, the italian way?

[jspqld]

I was on a carnival ship last year in Europe & I did witness them conforming to any european customs or laws, not that I had a problem with that. I knew before I stepped aboard that it was an American based ship & things would be done the american way! So why cant MSC offer a different concept & do things how they Know how, the italian way?

 

oops! Sorry, I meant to say I did not witness them conform to any European customs & laws.

It's been a long day.

[AmoMondo]

oops! Sorry, I meant to say I did not witness them conform to any European customs & laws.

It's been a long day.

 

It's been a long year, never mind day!

 

Totally agree with the point you are making. There are numerous lines that are American or predominantly cater for American tastes a few that cater for the Brits but only 2 that cater for more European tatses. it would be a real shame if we ended up with a homogenous product

[boca7]

I totally agree with you, why anyone would not wnat to experience a different venue is beyond me. Foreign cruise lines coming to US shores offer this option, I implore all here to be subjective & openminded. Try the experience & if its not for you don`t be so negative, many others as I enjoy it.

[jspqld]

Yes it would be great if more people adopted this attitude!!

[familyof4cruising]

I will modify my post to say getting the waiter free tap water in the dining room is difficult to impossible. :-)

 

 

Is this only for European sailings? Can we get tap water on caribbean sailings?

[AmoMondo]

Is this only for European sailings? Can we get tap water on caribbean sailings?

 

Yes it is only relevant for European sailings as is most of the thread intended to be. You will have absolutely no problem getting free tap water on a Caribbean sailing

[Mr & Mrs Canada]

The ‘Travel Trip Reports’ has a few inaccuracies, at least for Europe. We have sailed MSC only in Europe, perhaps the Caribbean is different. Consult someone who has sailed both to check on differences. But in Europe:

- Water is FREE. You can DEFINITELY get free tap water with your meal. Just ask for a pitcher of water. Incidentally, in mainland France, Italy, Germany, etc. it is the same – just ask for a pitcher.

- Any ship’s water is made on board with a distillation apparatus – hence is as pure as you could possibly get.

- Pizza is FREE on MSC from about noon till about 4 or 5. I may be rusty on the times, but the pizza counter is open a good long time in the afternoon, and it is free. It is also superb pizza.

- We neither expereinced nor saw any problems whatsoever with pushing, loud, smoking, not getting in line, or any other rudeness. None. Zilch.

- Tea and coffee are free at all times that the ‘cafeteria’ type restaurant is open, which is, I recall, up to about 7 pm..

- We had plenty of conversations with the waiters and other staff. Very friendly and very helpful. Many of the conversations were quite personal and in-depth. We met none who could not speak English. We met not one who was in the slightest way ‘rude’.

- Food is just fine. Amazingly good, given the number of meals they must prepare and serve in such a short period of time. We travel a lot, dine out a lot, and had zero complaints about MSC food.

- Both breakfast and lunch buffets have PLEANTY of variety. The menu service breakfast is very good, and is not overly time-consuming.

- Dress code was decidedly informal, even on ‘formal’ nights. I seem to recall only 2 of us in tuxedos on formal nights. Very few ties on the other nights. I dressed every night because I like to. One of our friends wore a sport shirt and jeans on a formal night and no one batted an eyelash.

- I cannot recall very many PA announcements. What announcement there were not annoying, or else I would have remembered.

- Not every place in mainland Italy charges a cover.

[AmoMondo]

Whilst i agree with a lot of what Mr & Mrs canada says, my experience differs on the following points

 

Tea & coffee used to be free and available at all meals, however on the past 5 or 6 cruises I've only been able to get it at breakfast or afternoon tea. There is the odd occasion that I managed to persude a waiter to go and get me some but that was rare and they never offered it first.

Tap Water - On every med cruise I've been on and the Baltics one, i found it difficult if not nigh on possible to get tap water at meals. They always wanted you to buy bottled water. To be honest maybe if I'd made more of a fuss I would have managed to get it.

 

Pushing & shoving - on 2 out of 10 cruises it was a problem. On the Fantasia it was horrendous and even extended into the ports. I had terrible problems with my fellow Italian passengers at marseille. Ended up waiting over and hour and missed 4 of the petit trains, because they would not q and just rushed forward and literally pushed me out of the way. I also witnessed them upset a French couple by knocking over theri pushchair with their child init. When i eventually did get on the train,with my friend, there was already someone else in the row. We fiited in fine but because he refused to move right over there was not room for a 4th person as in some other rows. An italian man refused to accept this and tried forcing his way in to the sspace that was too small for him. he then proceeded to bounce up and down trying to force me to move over (which IO couldn't because the other guy wouldn't). Notwithstanding this he would not give up and just sat part in the little space and part on my knee and refused to get off. I lost count of the number times I got shoved out the way or rammed with pushchairs at the central lifts when returning back to the ship. It was over and over again. On another cruise on the Lirica, i actually got knocked to the ground in Genoa when trying to get a taxi in the prot at the end of the cruise. i was holding my case at the time, and my wrist got injured. It was not a fluke incident. All the large groups just ganged up on other passengers and pushed them out the way so they could get a taxi before them. I would have missed my flight home as I just could not compete with them, had it not been for the kindness of 3 Italian ladies who took pity on me and allowed me to share the cab they had manged to grab.I know that wherever there are people in large numbers there will always be some with no manners or consideration for others but these 2 cruises far exceeded this. It was mob rule at times and rather frightening to be caught up in. I don't however blame MSC for the behaviour of their passengers. I've also been pushed and shoved a lot whilts in venice.

 

There are sometimes variations on sailings from Dover to the Baltics though

[sbhdmh]

There are sometimes variations on sailings from Dover to the Baltics though

 

I was going to make this point - I wonder if Mr and Mrs Canada sailed out of Dover. Their description sounds much like our experience on the Lirica out of Dover to the Baltics last summer which differs greatly from descriptions of Med sailings. I will say again that MSC seems to do things differently out of different ports. If someone posts a different experience than you it does not mean that they are wrong. It usually means they were on a different sailing...

 

By the way Amomondo reminds me of walking down the passageway on the Lirica trying to get to the theater. For some reason the doorways seemed to be favorite places for the Italian passengers to stop for an extended conversation. One day while trying to pass an Italian woman she gestured rather flamboyantly and punched me full-force in the chest. Rather than an apology I got a look that said "How dare you impact my flying fist with your body!" I had a good sized bruise from it...

[sbtw13]

Just off MSC Fantasia in med-

We were second seating and the dining time was 8:45, I believe 1st seating was at 6:15.

There was certainly no offers of tap water, and none appeared to be being served anywhere in the dining room. The only time I was given tap water was at breakfast- when it came in a little tiny juice glass. I really just don't think it is available.

We never experienced anyone pushing us- at any port or anywhere on the ship.

We found smoking to be a non-issue.

The buffet dining closed at 3pm, as did the pizza- the pizza reopened in the evening as a pay alternative.

[hat776]

When we were on the Splendida (sister ship to Fantasia) lunch was served till about 3 in the buffet - usually it remained open for longer.

However, tea was served in the buffet at about 4.30 - isn't this so anymore ?

Just off MSC Fantasia in med-

We were second seating and the dining time was 8:45, I believe 1st seating was at 6:15.

There was certainly no offers of tap water, and none appeared to be being served anywhere in the dining room. The only time I was given tap water was at breakfast- when it came in a little tiny juice glass. I really just don't think it is available.

We never experienced anyone pushing us- at any port or anywhere on the ship.

We found smoking to be a non-issue.

The buffet dining closed at 3pm, as did the pizza- the pizza reopened in the evening as a pay alternative.