Comparing MSC to other cruise lines?

[Sadie cruiser]

What cruise line would you compare MSC to? Celebrity? Carnival? RCI? Why are there no menus online for the caribbean voyage? No teen area reviews? There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis before they first sailed. It is very disappointing to see the lack of information available for this new cruise in the Caribbean. MSC! Surely, we should have more pictures on line regarding the changes of the restaurants. Still, the same tex-mex restaurant shows up. Come on! If things don't change or menus, shows, and children's/adult's activities aren't posted soon by MSC then I am canceling my cruise in April. Ridiculous!!!!

[sthelder]

Pictures of the new Eataly restaurant were already posted to this board.

 

Only a 3-night short cruise has been completed (which sharecruises has a thread on his experience), and Divina is still in her first 7-night cruise, so you may have to wait a little longer for menus and reviews.

[AmoMondo]

IMHO your impatience is ridiculous. If you can't wait until after the first of the 7 night cruises complete, then sure go ahead and cancel and book a known product.

 

The cruise line they have the most similarity to are Costa.

Edited November 28, 2013 by AmoMondo

[Skipper Tim]

What cruise line would you compare MSC to? Celebrity? Carnival? RCI? Why are there no menus online for the caribbean voyage? No teen area reviews? There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis before they first sailed. It is very disappointing to see the lack of information available for this new cruise in the Caribbean. MSC! Surely, we should have more pictures on line regarding the changes of the restaurants. Still, the same tex-mex restaurant shows up. Come on! If things don't change or menus, shows, and children's/adult's activities aren't posted soon by MSC then I am canceling my cruise in April. Ridiculous!!!!

 

For the good of the other guests, please cancel. These attitudes spoil other people's cruises.

 

Go with the flow or not at all!

[sharecruises]

I think you have to realize that really very few Americans are familiar with MSC...it is big in Europe...and some UK people post about it...but probably their main client base would NOT use this forum....maybe they have forums in Italian, Spanish etc over in Europe?

 

I live in Fort Lauderdale...where MSC sailed each year for a few months for some years...and hardly anyone I speak to ever heard of it.

 

The new ship, the fireworks etc made a splash in our local papers so many more will know - and MSC says they will be doing more to advertise now

 

I agree it is pretty unrealistic to expect menus, details such as will be posted about Royal or Carnival with their huge huge fan bases here

 

MSC is pretty much a wild card....I can only say I really enjoyed the 3 nighter.....their ships are just gorgeous and so clean feeling....food is much improved....they are trying to be more American and I feel succeeding in many ways.

 

They have tons and tons of live entertainment....more like NCL or how Carnival used to be - Carnival has cut back a lot

 

Ship is prettier than NCL....cabins larger than Royal

 

of course they do NOT have the bells and whistles of Allure/Oasis but they also don't have the price

 

drinks are cheaper than on any of the other lines I think....wine if very reasonable

 

All in all they are different....but worth a try...you may like MSC

 

I have found you can NOT plan as much as with other lines....no real need to ...you do NOT need to make reservations for shows like on Epic or Allure/Oasis...knowing the menus won't be that important...they are posted outside each day....I think some people are overthinking their MSC cruise and that will lead to frustration ...half the time the fort lauderdale office doesn't know what time/what/where when either...they are always "waiting on word from Genoa">>>> LOL

 

Que sera....sera....have fun and enjoy

[GOLDENBONNY]

What cruise line would you compare MSC to? Celebrity? Carnival? RCI? Why are there no menus online for the caribbean voyage? No teen area reviews? There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis before they first sailed. It is very disappointing to see the lack of information available for this new cruise in the Caribbean. MSC! Surely, we should have more pictures on line regarding the changes of the restaurants. Still, the same tex-mex restaurant shows up. Come on! If things don't change or menus, shows, and children's/adult's activities aren't posted soon by MSC then I am canceling my cruise in April. Ridiculous!!!!

 

 

could you please tell me what cruise line has menus online?

[moomoocow]

What cruise line would you compare MSC to? Celebrity? Carnival? RCI? Why are there no menus online for the caribbean voyage? No teen area reviews? There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis before they first sailed. It is very disappointing to see the lack of information available for this new cruise in the Caribbean. MSC! Surely, we should have more pictures on line regarding the changes of the restaurants. Still, the same tex-mex restaurant shows up. Come on! If things don't change or menus, shows, and children's/adult's activities aren't posted soon by MSC then I am canceling my cruise in April. Ridiculous!!!!

 

What on earth did people do before the internet? What happened once they booked a holiday at the local TA? One wonders how anyone enjoyed any holiday ever without minutely analysing every speck of information first.

 

As my mother would say "Wind ya neck in luv else it'll get tangled in your backwards feet"

 

Then immediately cancel your cruise and go with RCI. MSC is not for you my dear. Not. At. All.

[Sadie cruiser]

Sharecruises-----thanks so much for your reply.:} It is that I have gotten such little information about this cruise from my TA at MSC USA. And for the other nasty comments. I am trying to take my family on a cruise. We cruise once every 2 years...SO YES INFORMATION AND PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT!. All the cruise lines have menus and can be either seen searching the CC thread OR looking on their home websites for sample menus. There is another site that does the same but we are not allowed to mention names of other websites. I will be happy to return to RCI.

[cruisetrail]

What cruise line would you compare MSC to? Celebrity? Carnival? RCI? Why are there no menus online for the caribbean voyage? No teen area reviews? There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis before they first sailed. It is very disappointing to see the lack of information available for this new cruise in the Caribbean. MSC! Surely, we should have more pictures on line regarding the changes of the restaurants. Still, the same tex-mex restaurant shows up. Come on! If things don't change or menus, shows, and children's/adult's activities aren't posted soon by MSC then I am canceling my cruise in April. Ridiculous!!!!

 

There was so much written about the Allure and Oasis because they were brand new class of ships and unique ships.

The Fantasia class the Divina belongs to has been in operation for about 6 years.

It's neither new, nor unique, but they had a lot of publicity at the time they were introduced.

There are a lot of reviews and tons of videos on Youtube.

Notable difference Divina/Preziosa (newer ships) vs Fantasia/Splendida:

1. Added water slide

2. Reconfigured aft pool.

3. Not advertised: added about 120 inside cabins (about 240 more pax).

 

MSC Divina vs Royal Caribbean

MSC Divina vs HAL

 

MSC is learning. They have worked on food & service and entertainment (was expected) to be competitive with other cruise ships in the Caribbean.

Costa, Carnival and NCL are their close competitors.

Edited November 29, 2013 by cruisetrail

[sharecruises]

Sharecruises-----thanks so much for your reply.:} It is that I have gotten such little information about this cruise from my TA at MSC USA. And for the other nasty comments. I am trying to take my family on a cruise. We cruise once every 2 years...SO YES INFORMATION AND PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT!. All the cruise lines have menus and can be either seen searching the CC thread OR looking on their home websites for sample menus. There is another site that does the same but we are not allowed to mention names of other websites. I will be happy to return to RCI.

 

Why would lack of online menus make you happy to return to RCI??

 

The CEO of MSC was head of Celebrity....the USA head was hired from Royal....they are obviously hiring RCI employees and supposedly more coming on board.....Scott Record, hillarious and talented singer/comedian was on Royal for years...he was on the inaugural of freedom of the seas and some others.

 

While I hear people rave about Allure/Oasis, the one cruise I did on Royal was just "ok" to me....drinks were much more expensive. I didn't like the smoky disco. I also did NOT like the shopping mall atmosphere

 

MSC used to have their menus on the site the "regions of Italy" menu,

now I guess they have not yet finished the exact menu for the Caribbean

 

If you read my review I list a lot of the buffet food, some of the highlights of the evening meals etc.

 

Other lines have a "fleet" of ships all with the same basic menu/entertainment and policies....MSC Divina is almost a fleet of "one"....one "Americanized" ship in a large fleet that is popular in Europe.

 

They have HAD to change some of their policies - highly restricted smoking, bring out the ice water when people sit down, keep the buffet open, lose the 5 language announcements

 

so really there is not much info out there

I enjoyed the 3 nighter

let's see the 7 night reviews

 

they did have washcloths for some of the cabins - and apparently are getting more

 

First night they had NO splenda or sweet/low...they had some "sucre light"...with italian writing on it....2nd day (Port Canaveral) the buffet and dining room had yellow/pink/blue sweetners along with sugar and "natural" sugar <grin> I think they had to unpack it ?

 

If you have ever read about inaugural cruises on other lines you will see lots and lots of complaints as the cruiselines fix and tweak things. So even though Divina was in service since 2012, the Caribbean /US Divina is still "new" and they are fixing things as they go I think

[moomoocow]

Sharecruises-----thanks so much for your reply.:} It is that I have gotten such little information about this cruise from my TA at MSC USA. And for the other nasty comments. I am trying to take my family on a cruise. We cruise once every 2 years...SO YES INFORMATION AND PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT!. All the cruise lines have menus and can be either seen searching the CC thread OR looking on their home websites for sample menus. There is another site that does the same but we are not allowed to mention names of other websites. I will be happy to return to RCI.

 

I'm sure they'll be happy to have you back.

 

Why did you book before having this info or researching? Why ever did you book without knowing all the things that you are demanding to see now?

 

Between myself, Amo and Skipper Tim we have hundreds of days MSC sailing under our collective belts. If we exhort you to cancel and change cruise lines then we really do mean it. You will not like MSC. So take our advice. Do what you were threatening to do.

[Skipper Tim]

Sharecruises-----thanks so much for your reply.:} It is that I have gotten such little information about this cruise from my TA at MSC USA. And for the other nasty comments. I am trying to take my family on a cruise. We cruise once every 2 years...SO YES INFORMATION AND PICTURES ARE IMPORTANT!. All the cruise lines have menus and can be either seen searching the CC thread OR looking on their home websites for sample menus. There is another site that does the same but we are not allowed to mention names of other websites. I will be happy to return to RCI.

 

There are 337 very high resolution, annotated photos of the MSC Divina on the MSC Image Bank: http://www.mscnetwork.com/Image-Bank/index_public.php?eLang=1&dLang=1&eCountry=46&kids=8055,8639.

 

As to the menus, this is one of the reasons I think you are unsuited to MSC. MSC's theme is Italian. This is Italian Italian with all the different regions of Italy in their diversity represented. It is not American Italian. Notwithstanding the dilution of the brand and adaption for the U.S. Market, there will be items and descriptions on the menu that when the corresponding item is delivered will in no way match a preconceived idea of what that dish is based upon the menu alone. In short, the menu tells you little or nothing in isolation. You need to try the dish first then relate your experience back to the menu description and remember.

 

A person who needs to see the menus before even leaving home is setting themselves up for unnecessary stress. The out-of-Miami MSC operation is likely to be evolving as they try to crack the relatively insular and homogenous U.S. cruise market while trying to retain their brand identity and unique selling points. In all chances, no one in MSC or aboard will yet know what the menus will be during you cruise, nor the video programme, nor the entertainment, or in general what is going to happen tomorrow. If you get het up at this stage, what hope is there when you are actually aboard ? If you need to know, it will be none-stop stress.

 

Go with the flow, or not at all....

Edited November 29, 2013 by Skipper Tim

[Sadie cruiser]

It is really funny how the posts/replys get completely off subject. A poster asked if other cruise lines post menus and I replied YES they do and we can't list the website. I won't cancel a cruise because there aren't menus??? That wasn't what I originally asked about or was upset about. I want the updates on the MSC site. The pictures have not been updated on the MSC site of the changes made on the Divina. It still shows the Tex Mex restaurant. I will wait for the the first 7 day voyage cruisers reviews. Also, I had asked what cruise line it most represents. For that I got one reply...Costa. I have cruised that line and liked it. I want to know if MSC is similiar to Carnival or Celebrity? Too bad I use the internet to find out information if that offends anyone. Geez!

 

No more responses please.

[sharecruises]

It is really funny how the posts/replys get completely off subject. A poster asked if other cruise lines post menus and I replied YES they do and we can't list the website. I won't cancel a cruise because there aren't menus??? That wasn't what I originally asked about or was upset about. I want the updates on the MSC site. The pictures have not been updated on the MSC site of the changes made on the Divina. It still shows the Tex Mex restaurant. I will wait for the the first 7 day voyage cruisers reviews. Also, I had asked what cruise line it most represents. For that I got one reply...Costa. I have cruised that line and liked it. I want to know if MSC is similiar to Carnival or Celebrity? Too bad I use the internet to find out information if that offends anyone. Geez!

 

No more responses please.

 

Well...we have told you....MSC used to have their (regions of Italy) menus up on the site....but...they are in flux/changing....so probably don't want to put up the menu in case they tweak it a bit and someone is upset at a change

 

It has been stated for months that the so called Tex Mex was changed to Eataly etc....google it to see many articles and stuff

 

there are also articles about the DiSirono drinks/area by the infinity pool

 

they added a fiat car on the pool deck - sort of like Royal has a car in promenade

 

they added a white hot party complete with angel wings (NCL style haha)

 

I don't know what more anyone can tell you at this point....some things you just have to experience and enjoy IMHO

 

I mean finding out stuff like do they have gluten free or sugar free for dietary needs (yeah they do have special needs)....that is important...but knowing the exact order and list of entrees or appetizers?? I don't know why that is so important

 

Once again some things are "everyday" anytime - shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, steak, salmon etc

 

Here is the Cruise Critic Editor view of the 3 nighter complete with pictures of Eataly etc...and the new gelato /bakery /coffee bar area (very pretty btw)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1946846

 

 

MSCUsa has tons of pictures of the Nov 20 sailing up on facebook too

 

https://www.facebook.com/MSC.Cruises.USA

[Sadie cruiser]

THANK YOU!!!:) I hadn't even thought of checking Facebook.

[sthelder]

I have been lurking on CC site for ages and only came on board to research for my first MSC cruise. And I feel this board is by far the friendliest on CC, questions would be answered within hours.

 

But I guess with CC American centric demography, lately this board has been heavily focusing on just one ship, which is actually undergoing modification (or Americanised) that will make it uniquely different (be it good or bad) from the rest of the MSC fleet.

 

The board residents have as usual, trying to answer, but really at this stage (even MSC US head admitting changes are still being considered), no one can answer for sure how cruising on Divina will be like next week, not to say months away.

 

My take is we shall just stay calm, wait and see. Not to take some responses out of context, as I think most were not meant to be mean.

[Gwendy]

What on earth did people do before the internet? What happened once they booked a holiday at the local TA? One wonders how anyone enjoyed any holiday ever without minutely analysing every speck of information first.

 

As my mother would say "Wind ya neck in luv else it'll get tangled in your backwards feet"

 

Then immediately cancel your cruise and go with RCI. MSC is not for you my dear. Not. At. All.

 

 

Just browsing the boards and came across your reply. Agree totally, don't over analyse, just enjoy. Love, Love your quote - I'm going to write it down and take it with me to use. :D