Celebrity vs MSC

[Stoffel1982]

Hi all,

 

Last year, we had a great cruise with MSC (Divina). The ship was brand new and the service was great. We didn't really like the food though.

 

This year, we'll be sailing with Celebrity (Reflection).

 

What are the big differences between the 2 lines? What could we expect? Cons/pro's?

 

Thanks,

Chris

[gek]

Haven't sailed on the Divina and only travelled been with MSC in Europe but unless you are cruising in the Yacht Club I'm of the belief that MSC are a long way behind Celebrity in almost all areas. Their "kids sail free" offer tends to make their ships crowded and often unpleasant particularly around the pool and in the bistro. The no-smoking policy on Celebrity is also a major difference between the two lines.

 

Celebrity have a much higher crew to passenger ratio and are less "family" orientated, leading to a much more relaxing experience. My only problem with Celebrity is that they always seem to be trying to sell you something.

[wallie5446]

We have friends that we sailed the Reflection with last Nov that will be on the Divina in May. I will look this back up when they get back and let you know what they thought.

 

That said the Reflection was my wifes favorite ship in 25 years!

[Podie]

I agree with gek. The service on MSC is nowhere as good as Celebrity. But I did enjoy my Med cruise on MSC Orchestra where there were fewer than 50 English speaking passengers.

[monicajay]

We have sailed 3 times on MSC and only once on Celebrity. We enjoyed all of the cruises but the service on Celebrity was better than on MSC especially in the dining room.

 

Overall, the food was better on Celebrity but we also had many good meals on MSC.

 

We did not find anymore smoking on MSC than Celebrity but our cruises left from the USA. I gather in Europe there are more smokers.

 

Our staterooms on both cruise lines were very comparable both in appearance and cleanliness.

 

Overall entertainment was better on MSC but that includes all the bars and lounges too, not just the main theater.

 

I'm sure we will sail both lines again.

 

Of course, this is just my opinion.

[ginaRAWR]

I personally didn't like MSC when I cruised with them (would probably cruise again with them if we found an amazing deal/itinerary though) but I'll try and be as unbiased as possible :)

 

- Food was definitely better on Celebrity, but it wasn't terrible by any means on MSC anyway.

- Cabin sizes were pretty comparable.

- Personally thought the bar staff were rude on MSC. One of the waiters in the nightclub tried to claim that a white russian was a black russian and that my sister clearly didn't know what she was ordering. Other than that he just seemed to have a serious attitude problem. Wait staff are equally as lovely and accommodating though, as are housekeeping.

- Can't comment on entertainment for either of them, as I don't think we went to see any shows and I don't remember if MSC had performances in other lounges.

- Much more smoking on MSC, Celebrity really do thrive here.

- I don't know if they still do this but it was very strange when we went with MSC, as it was a 'hop-on-hop-off' cruise where people kept embarking and debarking in different ports, I'm pretty sure Celebrity don't do this at all.

- One of MSC's main perks though was that me and my sister got randomly upgraded to an oceanview cabin - my parents weren't best pleased to be stuck with their inside when they'd paid for us though...

 

Hopefully this helps, as this is based entirely on the fact that I've only sailed with each line once, however I am going back on Celebrity in June :)

Edited April 30, 2014 by ginaRAWR

[micmacmissy]

MSC gets terrible reviews...check out their forum.

[upwarduk]

I can only add that I was speaking to a couple of passengers who had sailed MSC in the Caribbean at the beginning of March. They were very unhappy, as they were also loyal Celebrity cruisers and wished they hadn't tried MSC. I think they had booked late at very reduced price. They said it showed in the food service.

I couldn't question them further, as we were asked to go back to our seats and put our seat belts on.

[Jayneykul]

There is no comparison between MSC & Celebrity! We wouldnt go with MSC again if it was for free! The food at breakfast and lunch was barely edible. It took 11 attempts to get into the cabin because of a faulty pass key. The entertainment was terrible. The cabin grubby. Room service non existant and then to top it all when we arrived in Venice at 6.30am it took until 12.30 to get off the ship they were that disorganised. Think you will find Celebrity a rolls royce product in comparison

[miched]

Many cruise lines now have the ship within the ship concept and Celebrity also appears to be introducing it.

 

How is the MSC Yatch Club?

 

Is it worth the extra cost?

[Miss JAD]

We sailed both MSC Divina and Celebrity Reflection in February of this year. We did our first week on MSC in Yacht Club and then our second week on Reflection. The Yacht club was beautiful with great service. Yacht club pool was very quiet and great service.Your drinks are free in the yacht club areas only. I liked that with the Celebrity premium package it didn't matter where you were on the ship and you could get a good drink or a nice glass of wine. I would only sail with MSC again if in the yacht club. The other areas of the ship (bars, pool) were very crowded. We didn't find the service to be that great in the non yacht club MSC lounges and bars.

 

Food was better on Celebrity. Overall we liked the atmosphere better on the reflection. MSC had a large amount of passengers who did not speak english. The theatre shows on MSC were amazing. Overall both good experiences but very different and hard to compare.

[tbmrt]

Hi all,

 

Last year, we had a great cruise with MSC (Divina). The ship was brand new and the service was great. We didn't really like the food though.

 

This year, we'll be sailing with Celebrity (Reflection).

 

What are the big differences between the 2 lines? What could we expect? Cons/pro's?

 

Thanks,

Chris

 

We also had a wonderful cruise on the Divina out of Miami last December...Did have a few meals that weren't great, but we've encountered that on all cruiselines.

 

The entertainment was fabulous.

 

The one thing that we really didn't like was that there were no sailaway deck parties. The ship left Miami at 7pm and they just had music videos on the outside screen by the deck.

 

Barbara

[Feelin' Nauti']

MSC gets terrible reviews...check out their forum.

This must be the reason why they are discounting sailing out of Miami. ;)

[dingy]

Never been on an MSC ship but have sailed on most of the others. With the exception of some "Luxury" lines, the Celebrity Reflection is the best ship we have been on. Depending on what other line or ship you want to compare it with, The Reflection is either somewhat better or significantly better.

 

Dingy (a one-passenger study)

[cpj]

I would not pay attention to reviews. Never been on that line but have been on all the others and each has its good points. Sorry but Celebrity is a mass market line and no better then other mass market lines.

[woodley]

I would not pay attention to reviews. Never been on that line but have been on all the others and each has its good points. Sorry but Celebrity is a mass market line and no better then other mass market lines.

 

I agree totally with the above statement.

[Stoffel1982]

I would not pay attention to reviews. Never been on that line but have been on all the others and each has its good points. Sorry but Celebrity is a mass market line and no better then other mass market lines.

 

Hmm, why not paying attention to reviews?? I know that some of the reviews are fake, but most of them do give us useful information...

[kevinyork]

I would not pay attention to reviews. Never been on that line but have been on all the others and each has its good points. Sorry but Celebrity is a mass market line and no better then other mass market lines.

 

 

61% of reviewers on cruise critic loved Divina, 90% loved Reflection. Thats a huge difference especially as it is over hundreds of reviews. I would be swayed by that differential.

 

 

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[billyelliot]

We went on Preziosa last yr. fabulous ship, food entertainment and service.... problem for us was the lack of English speaking passengers. It made the ship feel unfriendly for us. Also kids can go in all areas so no adult pool...

Off on Eclipse soon. The cabin will have to be special to match up to our one on Preziosa

 

 

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Edited May 1, 2014 by billyelliot

[The_Big_M]

On a value for money basis, MSC are way above Celebrity.

 

Was far more impressed by the MSC ship than Celebrity.

 

For service, Celebrity is better. For food, after the cutbacks on Celebrity, they're probably similar. I like the idea of MSC's regional themes. Entertainment is more interesting on MSC. The MSC cabins were much better in styling and size.

 

Overall, pros and cons for each. For experience, Celebrity may be still slightly ahead - but they charge a lot more for that as well. MSC gives you a similar overall experience, but at a much better cost.

Edited May 4, 2014 by The_Big_M

[wallie5446]

We have friends on the MSC sailing that left Miami yesterday. They said the Captain held the departure for 2 hours, waiting on 4 people to arrive who's plane was late getting in. He did not know if they booked the air thru the line or not, but said most of the other passengers he spoke to thought it was a nice gesture on the Captains part.

[kevinyork]

We have friends on the MSC sailing that left Miami yesterday. They said the Captain held the departure for 2 hours, waiting on 4 people to arrive who's plane was late getting in. He did not know if they booked the air thru the line or not, but said most of the other passengers he spoke to thought it was a nice gesture on the Captains part.

 

 

A nice gesture but that can be pricey for a ship if it has to speed up to its next port. Not sure what this post adds to this thread though.....MSC wait for passengers, Celebrity dont?

 

 

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[neptuno]

On a value for money basis, MSC are way above Celebrity..... MSC gives you a similar overall experience, but at a much better cost.

 

MSC prices are increasing, Celebrity is offering great discounts. When pricing is similar(as it is for this coming November), would you recommend Celebrity over MSC?

[wallie5446]

A nice gesture but that can be pricey for a ship if it has to speed up to its next port. Not sure what this post adds to this thread though.....MSC wait for passengers, Celebrity dont?

 

 

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I am not sure what it adds either, but the friend on the ship was impressed. He has over 25 sailings on 10 different lines, sailed Reflection with us last yr, and will sail Equinox with us in Nov. He has never seen this before. Does this make MSC a better cruise product? I doubt it. But it show consideration of guest that everyone is posting that is lacking on Celebrity today.

[The_Big_M]

MSC prices are increasing, Celebrity is offering great discounts. When pricing is similar(as it is for this coming November), would you recommend Celebrity over MSC?

 

If pricing is similar, I'd then weigh up other factors e.g. time in port, sea days, specifics of the ship you're looking at, plus your own preferences e.g. loyalty membership.

 

There are differences between the two, but for me some things I like more on MSC and some on Celebrity. For example, service might be better on Celebrity, but if you're not spending a lot of time onboard e.g. lots of ports, and with the cutbacks in their dining service, it's not a big differentiator.