1st cruise with thomson, Looking at MSC for the next?

[yorkshire1975]

We loved our 1st cruise. MSC seem to have really good offers. But what about tipping, am i going to end up forking out extra ££. The whole no tips thing was what made us go with thomsons for our first cruise. Any advice for other companys welcome, we do fancy the baltic.

[Skipper Tim]

MSC make it easy too. They ask guests not to tip but instead they add a daily 'hotel charge' to your on board account. This varies by location in the World and duration of the cruise but is typically less than most cruise lines suggested tipping amount. See the MSC UK website for the exact amounts.

 

There will be quite some differences compared to Thomsons, e.g. native English speakers will be in a minority, you will feel 'abroad' on the ship, but MSC ships are very glamorous and tasteful. The mainstream daytime entertainment can be a bit 'international Butlins' but the variety and quality of the evening musical entertainment is hard to fault, in my limited experience. Try it!

[AmoMondo]

I guess it really depends on what you enjoyed about your Thomson cruise, whether you will also enjoy MSC. Thomson is very British, MSC definitely isn't although they make some adjustments to suit the British Market on sailings out of Southampton.

 

MSC's ship's are bigger, newer and more glamorous.

 

Tell me what appealed most to you and that will help us advise you whether you'd like MSC. I for example like MSC because of it's very "foreigness" and Thomsons do not appeal to me because of their Britishness. I love the UK but when I leave it to go to another country, I want to leave it behind.

[Wookiee]

Completely agree with AmoMondo...