First time on MSC (and the Opera) and thoughts from an experienced cruiser

[Janet&Carl]

 

 

The second notion is that large ship lines that are successful in the USA are therefore 'American'. Because they have offices here? Does that mean Toyota and Honda are 'American'. Those car companies have USA manufacturing, USA coporate entities, and sell a ton of product here; so they're American? (No) They probably employ more Americans than the cruiselines.

 

Celebrity was founded not so long ago (1980's) in Greece. Its officers and hotel managers remain almost exclusively Greek. Holland-America, the name says it all. Which is first? Its officers and hotel managers are mainly Dutch. Its service crew is largely Indonesian (as in 'Dutch East Indies'). Are any of the ships US flagged? (No.) Dutch flagged? (Yes.) Critical componants of the major cruiselines' business organization are non-USA. Certainly, the potent USA taxing authority (the IRS) has learned that it can't claim the lines as 'American'. So these non-USA officers, hotel managers, and crewman (including chefs) operate non-USA ships for corporate entities that are as likely as not non-USA; how does one so broadly paint them as 'American'? Simply, because they're successful here and internationally? (I'm flattered!) Because corporate shares may be traded on American stock exchanges? If I listed the Non-USA businesses with equity listed and traded in New York, I'd be here all day.

 

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Great points and very valid - I for one have made comments re: nationality. My comments were purely based on my perception of the clientelle and senior staff and the ambience onboard. Not the business end of things.

[woodofpine]

I think the main reason MSC is considered cheaper is "the kids sail free" aspect.

 

Very good and valid points in this post regarding nationality!

 

OK - now I AM worried!;) Counseling is in order... or a cruise.:D

 

I've been reviewing fares a lot lately. Kids or no Kids, Carnival and NCL regularly beat MSC's prices in the Caribbean. MSC got a lot of attention with 'Kids Sail Free' last year (it drew my attention and booking) but there's always been steep competitive discounts on 3/4 on all the big lines. MSC never waived port charges or taxes on kids (couldn't) so realistically, it wasn't a huge price difference for a family but it sounded like it was. Kids don't sail free presently on MSC. Kids enjoy a strong discounted fair structure on MSC - but not always so much as to make the total booking for families majorly different competitives. Sometimes others are lower. Generally MSC is competing with NCL and Carnival for the budget fare, but other lines (including HAL and X) are occasionally lower in price MSC - regularly in rough parity. Its a competitive business!

 

I don't rate MSC an unmitigated 'disaster zone' like... some of my admirers!:o The fact MSC caters to different cultural customer base isn't a problem for me. BUT - those differences will increase scrutiny by many, so to avoid getting lambasted, they've got to excel in the core product (lodging/dining/transit). In my experience, they are very competive in the lodging, fair to good (but not great) in transit, and fair to weak in dining. Under heightened scrutiny, that's not good enough. Dining is critical ('staff of life'); MSC NEEDs to improve the galley. If they improved the galley they'd be a distinctive line competively in the mix IMHO. The cruise industry is competitive, it has created a fairly demanding customer base. Nothing wrong with that. MSC isn't that long in the cruise business - so time will tell.

[Janet&Carl]

OK - now I AM worried!;) Counseling is in order... or a cruise.:D

 

I've been reviewing fares a lot lately. Kids or no Kids, Carnival and NCL regularly beat MSC's prices in the Caribbean. MSC got a lot of attention with 'Kids Sail Free' last year (it drew my attention and booking) but there's always been steep competitive discounts on 3/4 on all the big lines. MSC never waived port charges or taxes on kids (couldn't) so realistically, it wasn't a huge price difference for a family but it sounded like it was. Kids don't sail free presently on MSC. Kids enjoy a strong discounted fair structure on MSC - but not always so much as to make the total booking for families majorly different competitives. Sometimes others are lower. Generally MSC is competing with NCL and Carnival for the budget fare, but other lines (including HAL and X) are occasionally lower in price MSC - regularly in rough parity. Its a competitive business!

 

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To answer your question alway a cruise over counselling :) in my opinion it is very theraputic ;)

 

To add to the discussion - I think that may depend on when you book - for me when I book nine or ten months in advance MSC has "Pronto fares" which are much cheaper. Then about six months out they raise the fare. (ie it is now much dearer to book the same cruise I am on in October than when I booked in Feb) Others have dearer at the start and then reduce closer to cruise time. So, if you are booking way ahead you may get a better deal on MSC if you are a last minute organiser you may find cheaper elsewhere.

[AmoMondo]

To add to the debate...it also depends on where you book. many of these great deals on other lines don't appear to be the same this side of the pond. pricing in the US seems different or very different depending on the cruiseline to what they offer elsewhere.

 

MSC (if booking in Europe) is also great value for solos, with often no single supplement at all. Makes having a balcony or suite a reasonably proced option.

[All aboard??]

To add to the debate...it also depends on where you book. many of these great deals on other lines don't appear to be the same this side of the pond. pricing in the US seems different or very different depending on the cruiseline to what they offer elsewhere.

 

MSC (if booking in Europe) is also great value for solos, with often no single supplement at all. Makes having a balcony or suite a reasonably proced option.

 

I do believe you have a valid point there......I booked a yc2 cabin early August and even in yc only paid 50% surcharge as a single.

 

On another note, I have a suggestion......a forum reunion to work like this....one NSC cruise so we can convey what we love about it and another cruise so the others can show us what they love about the alternative......

[itravelalot]

We did our first MSC Cruise in July. We were on the Sinfonia out of Catania, Sicily for 7 days. We did not know what to expect with the reviews that we had read, but we are very easy going and as long as our room was clean and it offered the basics we would be happy..

 

We were more than happy. It was a great cruise with wonderful crew. The food, mostly Italian, was amazing. We were among only a handful of english speaking families on the ship, but in the most part that did not pose a problem.

 

This was a very European feel cruise and it was just what we wanted as we had been traveling around the UK and Europe for the 2 weeks prior to boarding.

 

We had one of the few Balcony suites on this ship.

 

For the price and itinerairy, we would definately cruise with MSC again.

[AmoMondo]

Glad you had a nice time on the Sinfonia - the balcony suites are so much better than the other cabins, (more peaceful as well as so much bigger) although can feel the movement more if the seas get rough.

[woodofpine]

We did our first MSC Cruise in July. We were on the Sinfonia out of Catania, Sicily for 7 days. We did not know what to expect with the reviews that we had read, but we are very easy going and as long as our room was clean and it offered the basics we would be happy..

 

We were more than happy. It was a great cruise with wonderful crew. The food, mostly Italian, was amazing. We were among only a handful of english speaking families on the ship, but in the most part that did not pose a problem.

 

This was a very European feel cruise and it was just what we wanted as we had been traveling around the UK and Europe for the 2 weeks prior to boarding.

 

We had one of the few Balcony suites on this ship.

 

For the price and itinerairy, we would definately cruise with MSC again.

 

Nice review. Although I may sound nettlesome, I share much of your sentiment; all really, except the food comment. But - ship galleys vary within fleets considerably; Magnifica's galley during her first months wasn't getting many compliments. I think OP's critique has validity as to some highly institutional ingredients - or their presentation as such. The main point is that MSC seemingly offers erratic food quality often. Some ships get high compliments, many don't. In my limited experience, the quality range was frustratingly broad (and the buffet poor). My hope is that MSC's management gets a grip on this weakness, promotes the good chefs and jettisons some, upgrades some purchasing to get an upward curve going. This is doable. After all, I thought the ship was very nice (and their fleet is young) and the crew's service was superior (and I needed some assistance on a point or two). They're really pretty close... But they say armies move on their stomachs so they got some work to do...

[Janet&Carl]

I know the cuisine does not please everyone but not everyone thinks it needs fixing. I too, like itravelalot, loved the food as did my husband and others that we sailed with. In my own opinion there was nothing that needed fixing on our cruise. I hope the menu doesnt change too much from sailing around the Mediterranean to sailing coast of the US. ;)

[ssgirl54]

There is a reason there are so many choices...........if every line was the same.............wow.......boring...........Life is full of choices...experiences.....I have found if you go looking for trouble you will find it...........if you go with the thought to see the negatives and not the positives then you will find them............this cruise line is making money....booking satisfied customers............from what I see here a lot of return customers.............. it is the flaws in life that make and keep it interesting.............I have also noticed that there is a big difference in the American reviews and the European reviews..............I have a danish friend that says americans supersize everything.....I smiled when he said that.....but I now see he might have a point......I figure when you are feeding 2500 or more people someone is not going to be happy......these people are usually the ones that have the largest plates of food and go back for seconds of the food they did not like....I must smile at that...so for me the negatives are positives...........plus there is so few negative statements...............have a great time on your cruise.......I will......:)

[hamrag]

I promised to come back with a report on our Armonia cruise on 9th September. Our cruise history is 21 cruises, on 10 different lines. We do not have a preferred line, have cruised Thomson, Cunard, HAL, Celebrity, RCI, Costa, NCL and some others.

 

Our outlook on all of life is "glass half-full" rather than "half-empty". We did not expect food to be a highlight, the buffet certainly wasn't. We avoided it apart from breakfast....steering clear of the "hot" food there which was unappetising at best! The MDR, which we used for lunch and main dinner, exceeded our expectations. It was here that we found one of our few "service orientated" experiences with a great waiter.

 

The ship itself is well laid out, clean and well maintained, and cabin was absolutely fine. The main theatre shows were fine, given restrictions placed because of the multi-lingual situation.

 

Italians doubtless receive preferential treatment, which is still not "service orientated". Most of the staff appear to be miserable, and the Italian staff do not give a hoot or even pretend to care!

 

The itinery was superb, weather unbelievably good....did not see a cloud all week! We were not sure about the port format with early arrivals and early-mid afternoon departures minimising port time. In the event we loved that, giving an excellent mix of exploring and lounging on sundeck mid-late afternoon....fantastic.

 

Overall we are in the middle, no way a 5 and certainly not a 1...we give it a 3+ and would sail MSC again if the itinery and price were right.

[woodofpine]

I promised to come back with a report on our Armonia cruise on 9th September. Our cruise history is 21 cruises, on 10 different lines. We do not have a preferred line, have cruised Thomson, Cunard, HAL, Celebrity, RCI, Costa, NCL and some others.

 

Our outlook on all of life is "glass half-full" rather than "half-empty". We did not expect food to be a highlight, the buffet certainly wasn't. We avoided it apart from breakfast....steering clear of the "hot" food there which was unappetising at best! The MDR, which we used for lunch and main dinner, exceeded our expectations. It was here that we found one of our few "service orientated" experiences with a great waiter.

 

The ship itself is well laid out, clean and well maintained, and cabin was absolutely fine. The main theatre shows were fine, given restrictions placed because of the multi-lingual situation.

 

Italians doubtless receive preferential treatment, which is still not "service orientated". Most of the staff appear to be miserable, and the Italian staff do not give a hoot or even pretend to care!

 

The itinery was superb, weather unbelievably good....did not see a cloud all week! We were not sure about the port format with early arrivals and early-mid afternoon departures minimising port time. In the event we loved that, giving an excellent mix of exploring and lounging on sundeck mid-late afternoon....fantastic.

 

Overall we are in the middle, no way a 5 and certainly not a 1...we give it a 3+ and would sail MSC again if the itinery and price were right.

 

Hamrag - it sounds like you were on my Magnifica Med cruise 3-4/10; boy for that time of year we really lucked out on weather too. I didn't find the crew 'miserable' per se, but the ship was new. I would say the southern Europeans could suck the life out of them (crew) in crowd/chaos situations. I found 'most' crewman perked up nicely if you addressed them the same. We had a very fine MDR waiter.

 

I absolutely ditto your disposition toward the buffet... And your personal star ranking I wouldn't argue with either.

[louise180160]

I have to say that after cruising with this cruise ship back in June i would never go with them again or recommend them to anyone.

 

We did the Norwegian Fjords and were very disappointed, after cruising there with Princess line last year MSC just don't measure up in anyway whatsoever.

 

The Bar staff were miserable, the staff on the main reception desk were abrupt on occaisions we felt the general mood was quite downbeat.

 

The buffet was awful food was lukewarm overcooked, choice of puddings was poor. the afternoon tea consisted of rock hard scones and the cakes were dry and tasteless, and if you came in 1/2 an hour before the buffet was due to shut they were clearing away and weren't interested in you whatsoever, overall they are bottom of the very long list.

[Sea2Sky]

Our experience with the MSC Opera (May 7-17) was the same, especially on the points of customer service and food, and that's not including the fact that our ship lost power for 3 days. My high school cafeteria actually did have better food than the lunch and dinner buffet. We were actually quite understanding about the fact that mechanical issues unfortunately do arise.

 

The follow up customer service has been THE worst I've experienced anywhere in any industry. Weekly e-mails and phone calls with no reply. I can't even describe the frustration as we need a letter for our travel insurance as we had to re-book flights due to the ship losing power and missing our connecting flights. We're out over $3,000 for this and they still won't give us a letter explaining that we arrived into London later than scheduled.

 

After cruising on NCL and Oceania, MSC isn't even close. We picked MSC for the date and itinerary and the follow-up has been so bad that we'd never consider cruising with them ever again.

[woodofpine]

Our experience with the MSC Opera (May 7-17) was the same, especially on the points of customer service and food, and that's not including the fact that our ship lost power for 3 days. My high school cafeteria actually did have better food than the lunch and dinner buffet. We were actually quite understanding about the fact that mechanical issues unfortunately do arise.

 

The follow up customer service has been THE worst I've experienced anywhere in any industry. Weekly e-mails and phone calls with no reply. I can't even describe the frustration as we need a letter for our travel insurance as we had to re-book flights due to the ship losing power and missing our connecting flights. We're out over $3,000 for this and they still won't give us a letter explaining that we arrived into London later than scheduled.

 

After cruising on NCL and Oceania, MSC isn't even close. We picked MSC for the date and itinerary and the follow-up has been so bad that we'd never consider cruising with them ever again.

 

Given the subjective nature of food and so much other crap-ola that gets bickered about here, I think you offered the 'Trump Card' of a complaint - no response to a necessary request over 4 months post incident!!:(

 

Hope it works out for you sooner that than later (oh! right! ugh! its already later...):rolleyes:

[Worm61]

The one thing i would agree on with this post is the people who work on the ship are tired , they don't get a lot of time off & they work every day for 9 months then go home for 3 & like our cleaners they were at it till late ..i don't need my bed turning back or my wine poring out ..i loved the food in the buffet, early morning was great i could have anything i wanted even the coffee was fine , i found no pushy people they queued like me & we held doors open for people who said thankyou ..it was my first cruise with MSC but not my last ..i think there are some people who just find fault with things when it doesn't suit them , the son was like that he had the 7 euro a day taken off & theyr'e back to flying again abroad ..but not me ...:) roll on May

[Sea2Sky]

I agree that the morning buffet was okay. The dinner buffet was so bad that I was embarrassed for them.

 

@Worm, I don't agree that the people complaining are ones who would find fault with anything. We've travelled extensively (40+ countries) and I've never complained on any hotel, airline or cruise line before our cruise with MSC. Besides the ordeal we went through with having no power and floating in the Baltic, I found the amount of smoke we were exposed to (and our 6-month-old at the time)... Where we live there is no smoking indoors anywhere, including in bars or restaurants or near the vicinity of an exit. We couldn't get from one side of the ship to another without walking through smoke. I may be more sensitive to it and avoid it at all cost because my father just passed away at a young age from a smoking-related illness even though he was never a heavy smoker and had quit completely years before he was diagnosed with an illness.

 

I've been on other cruise lines and definitely found the staff WAY more engaged. They must work as hard and as long as the staff on MSC but they seem happier and way more helpful. The only staff we found were engaged were the cabin staff. There were many servers who never cracked a smile, something I've never seen elsewhere.

[Deckhandoug]

I promised to come back with a report on our Armonia cruise on 9th September. Our cruise history is 21 cruises, on 10 different lines. We do not have a preferred line, have cruised Thomson, Cunard, HAL, Celebrity, RCI, Costa, NCL and some others.

 

Our outlook on all of life is "glass half-full" rather than "half-empty". We did not expect food to be a highlight, the buffet certainly wasn't. We avoided it apart from breakfast....steering clear of the "hot" food there which was unappetising at best! The MDR, which we used for lunch and main dinner, exceeded our expectations. It was here that we found one of our few "service orientated" experiences with a great waiter.

 

The ship itself is well laid out, clean and well maintained, and cabin was absolutely fine. The main theatre shows were fine, given restrictions placed because of the multi-lingual situation.

 

Italians doubtless receive preferential treatment, which is still not "service orientated". Most of the staff appear to be miserable, and the Italian staff do not give a hoot or even pretend to care!

 

The itinery was superb, weather unbelievably good....did not see a cloud all week! We were not sure about the port format with early arrivals and early-mid afternoon departures minimising port time. In the event we loved that, giving an excellent mix of exploring and lounging on sundeck mid-late afternoon....fantastic.

 

Overall we are in the middle, no way a 5 and certainly not a 1...we give it a 3+ and would sail MSC again if the itinery and price were right.

 

Thanks for coming back and letting us know your thoughts hamrag, I also had the same experiences regarding food and service and my rating was also 3.5 stars.

[bothworth]

Venice and Rio were on my bucket list so i booked the MSC Opera transpositional cruise 24 nov 2010.

Upgraded from a 6 to a10 good start 22 days for £1400 can,t be bad, had dinner in the MDR late sitting every night was a different theme that was interesting but you would,nt burn your mouth on what was brought to our table. we only had breakfast in the buffet same menu every day, but i,m not complaining it was better than the cooking at home!

The problem was nobody spoke english 60% were Brazilians going home the rep desk manned by italians.

Our downfall is we expect every foreigners to understand us which makes for interesting conversations. But no complaints about the Opera lovely ship nice decor mirrors and chrome spotless the cabin was well maintained had some fun crossing the equator.

My only niggle about the cruise was MSC cost cutting as regards berths every port we visited ended up in a container dock apart from Rio and the 15% on every thing you touched.

Over all considering it was only my second cruise the first on OV it was,nt a bad experience,would i try MSC again i might if i got an offer i couldnt refuse