MSC in Europe

[cinanina]

Hi,

 

If you have any experiences, good or bad, please share. I'm reading a lot of bad reviews and what really I would like to avoid is beeing badly treated by crew members and having to wait for a long time in lines for lunch/breakfast/ports etc.

 

thank you for any information !

[6rugrats]

Have you gone to the MSC forum and asked?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

[cinanina]

Thank you. I have been going there and reading a lot of mixed reviews that don't really convince me that much. To be honest, I'm a bit unconfortable about asking the question there because there's always these persons who go to a particular cruiseline forum because they really love it, or because they work there and then in the end it becomes difficult to have honest opinions... (like if someone says something bad, all the others will fall on top) it ends up not beeing very usefull, it's my experience... I probably won't go, I'm kind of convinced it's not a good cruiseline because of the reviews I read...

[queenL]

We sailed MSC Splendida (from Barcelona) this past November. Overall, we all really enjoyed the cruise. There were some differences when comparing it to an American cruiseline, however it was still enjoyable. I have no regrets I would sail them again if price or itinerary made them a competitor. I found the pre-cruise reviews I read on the boards to be exxagerated. Although some of the complaints I did witness firsthand, most of the times it wasn't nearly as bad as it was made out to be. If you have any specific questions/concerns just let me know. I also posted a lengthy review if you want to search by my screen name/splendida reviews.

 

Happy sailings!

[cinanina]

Thank you! I'll look for your review :) The things that really bug me are lack of organisation (being put waiting in the sun for hours, being let at ports without information as to how to get out from the dock with no one around, that kind of thing... long queues...) and also rude staff. The lack of organisation is not only for myself but also because of the children. I would be ok chatting with my husband on the line to the buffet but the children tend to disapear around you, you have to watch they don't start spelling things all over themselves or annoying other people around them (my daughter likes eg to do kind of silly dancing walks which can be more than a nuisance on a buffet line). So, I'm not up to disorganised holidays. And rude people, that's more personal, my kids won't even notice them but I can get easily offended and am not so used to being treated with bad manners. I hate it when you are very corteously putting a question with a smile and low voice and the person just starts screaming back at you as was persistently the case with the NCL staff at the entrance of the restaurant... I'm not ok with that.

 

Otherwise, I don't really care for shows or excursions or demand for excellent food (although it's allways nice to eat good but I'll eat a salad or a sandwich and find it good ;)). Kids club is also kind of not so important because if my kid doesn't like it he won't go, that's ok - I like him to be around me :D

 

So, I'd like to ask: is the staff as rude as they say and is it chaotic at buffet, port, etc?

 

Thank you!

[queenL]

Interesting!

 

Lack of organization....there was a little of that. I wouldn't say any more than other cruiselines though.

 

There was a little bit of being left w/o information. They didn't give maps of each port when debarking like most US cruiselines do. I did planning before I left though so we knew what we were going to do in each port. If you hadn't done any planning I could see there being some frustration in finding your way around. Particularly if you don't speak the language in each of the ports you are visiting.

 

Yes, there was some rudeness . Mostly from other passengers then from staff though. I didn't see any yelling or anything like that. It was mostly reaching in front of you without saying excuse me, cutting in front of you in the buffet line, jumping in front of you while waiting for the elevators. There was definitely some of that.

 

If you are really sensitive to those things, then you should probably choose another line. For us, the ship would probably have to sink or there be a fire, medical evacuation or something major like that for us to have a bad cruise. We are just easygoing people. Most of what I found were minor annoyances that made me roll my eyes or sigh with impatience but they didn't ruin the trip. Besides for the price we paid, the kids sail free, etc we got more than our money's worth from the cruise. My best advice, if you do go is to set your expectations. I knew that I was likely to encounter those things before I left based on the reviews I'd read. As a result, I was neither suprised nor angry when some of them happened.

 

Happy sailings

[cinanina]

Just read your review, thank you, it's great, lots of information. Sounds like you are not so enthousiastic with the crew members as well, though :cool:

On the other hand, I get the impression it was well organised... the other aspects you mentioned as negative really don't frighten me, we are the kind who would rather quietly read a book than attend cooking classes or something (not that I'd mind that, but I always end up staying by the book :rolleyes:)

[cinanina]

Interesting!

 

Lack of organization....there was a little of that. I wouldn't say any more than other cruiselines though.

 

There was a little bit of being left w/o information. They didn't give maps of each port when debarking like most US cruiselines do. I did planning before I left though so we knew what we were going to do in each port. If you hadn't done any planning I could see there being some frustration in finding your way around. Particularly if you don't speak the language in each of the ports you are visiting.

 

Yes, there was some rudeness . Mostly from other passengers then from staff though. I didn't see any yelling or anything like that. It was mostly reaching in front of you without saying excuse me, cutting in front of you in the buffet line, jumping in front of you while waiting for the elevators. There was definitely some of that.

 

If you are really sensitive to those things, then you should probably choose another line. For us, the ship would probably have to sink or there be a fire, medical evacuation or something major like that for us to have a bad cruise. We are just easygoing people. Most of what I found were minor annoyances that made me roll my eyes or sigh with impatience but they didn't ruin the trip. Besides for the price we paid, the kids sail free, etc we got more than our money's worth from the cruise. My best advice, if you do go is to set your expectations. I knew that I was likely to encounter those things before I left based on the reviews I'd read. As a result, I was neither suprised nor angry when some of them happened.

 

Happy sailings

Thank you! Hadn't read your reply (we posted at the same time). I just got the reply from the TA and the offer is even less than what we expected (1800€) for the 4 of us! It's really a good deal when compared to other options we were looking at. This is an Ocean view. We really like the itinerary departing from Venice which we have never visited and stopping in Montenegro which is a place we would really like to visit, I just saw it from the airplane and it was amazingly beautifull (did a stopover on a trip once). Well, we are about to take it, keeping in mind that we have to be patient and bring our shield for agressive crew members... :cool:

[chapichapo]

Am about to book with the TA... a bit scared to, but will take the risk because of the price/itinerary, hoping not to totally ruin our vacation because of small things... :confused: is there anything someone would like to tell me? (its now or never ;))

[Worm61]

Chapichapoo when are you going ..i am going all through the posts & finding different things out but the only thing that bothers me is the bill at the end & how big it's going to be :eek:..we like a drink of wine with our meal & i'm trying to find new posts of any package that we can afford :rolleyes: wer'e going on the Opera in September & there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on that ship as some of the others ..but i'll keep on untill we go

[chapichapo]

Hi,

 

We are going in July from Venice (adriatic and greece). We got a good price when compared to other type of vacations and seems like really wonderfull places to visit. I've only visited Athens and Santorini from that itinerary, but I' ok with going back, still so much to see specially in Athens :rolleyes:

 

We don't drink that much, and can go very well without wine but I may purchase one of those pre-paid cards of drinks, to have water and my son likes ice-tea at times... we also like to have coffee and some times a drink by the pool, so I'll probably get one of those pre-payed options for drinks

[chapichapo]

I was ckecking their website and we will just get a water package (14 bottles of 1 liter for 23 euros) so we can have it with our meals. For the rest I'll probably just buy a cup of coffee or an ice-tea when my son wants one. :cool:

 

There's also a package of 14 soft drinks for 32€, I'm not sure, maybe it's best 'cause my son allways wants ice-tea and then with a couple more drinks by the pool....

[chapichapo]

ok, just booked, 200$ deposit it's not that much but I'd rather you now just tell me lots of nice things about MSC ;)

[queenL]

Thank you! Hadn't read your reply (we posted at the same time). I just got the reply from the TA and the offer is even less than what we expected (1800€) for the 4 of us! It's really a good deal when compared to other options we were looking at. This is an Ocean view. We really like the itinerary departing from Venice which we have never visited and stopping in Montenegro which is a place we would really like to visit, I just saw it from the airplane and it was amazingly beautifull (did a stopover on a trip once). Well, we are about to take it, keeping in mind that we have to be patient and bring our shield for agressive crew members... :cool:

 

Good! I'm glad you decided to take the plunge. You will be fine. If I get the chance to return to Venice ...I'd go on any ship. It's one of my all time favorite places. The beautiful ports will more than make up for the other irritations. Just don't go expecting MSC to become your favorite cruise line. They are good but not GREAT! Have a great cruise.

[chapichapo]

Good! I'm glad you decided to take the plunge. You will be fine. If I get the chance to return to Venice ...I'd go on any ship. It's one of my all time favorite places. The beautiful ports will more than make up for the other irritations. Just don't go expecting MSC to become your favorite cruise line. They are good but not GREAT! Have a great cruise.

Thank you :) I'm sure we'll be fine, we'll go prepared for the worst and mostly try to see and visit a lot of beautifull places. I did look at some pictures and the boat seems very pretty. My son asked which year it was constructed and I said 2001. He said he thought it looked like it was built in 2010. I asked him why. "Because everything looks new, they must take very good care of the ship" :p Children are funny... I didn't want to spoil his fun but the pictures are probably from 2001 too ;)

Ok, we'll start preparing for the ports now :D