MSC vs. Costa for Western Mediterranean (cross post)

[Mickeddie]

Hi there,

 

I am going to post this on both MSC and Costa boards because I don't know where a "middle ground" board would be.

 

We are considering a Western Mediterranean cruise in March and I see only Costa and MSC have itineraries there at that time of year. I don't see great reviews for either and I don't know much about either. The only thing I know about Costa is that is the one whose ship ran aground a few years back so I am naturally hesitant about that line.

 

Any thoughts on what is great or not-so-great about either MSC or Costa? We are taking my 13-yr old daughter with us.

 

Thank you!

 

Michelle

[Captain-John]

I'll be perfectly honest with you, I have been 1 Costa cruise, 1 MSC cruise (with 1 more booked) 1 Carnival Cruise and 10 or so NCL cruises and was just as hesitant as you are prior to both our MSC & Costa experiences.

 

Costa & MSC are very similar in operation. There is fixed dining. The currency onboard is Euro. They are both catering primarily to the Italian market. Both lines have an Italian leaning on their menus. The DSC charge is about the same.

 

For me, the MSC ships are more visually impressive, and the food also has a slight edge on Costa in terms of quality and availability. We are just off the Costa Fascinosa, and there is no evening buffet, nor is there hot products on the buffet for breakfeast - Continental only. If you want a hot breakfast you have to go to a sit-down restaurant.

 

We were on MSC Preziosa last year. Cabin sizes are broadly the same between the 2 lines, although MSC is finished to a higher standard, and larger than we have had on NCL (all balconies).

 

I wouldn't let the Costa Concordia incident put you off Costa, frankly it could have been any line with a reckless Captain.

 

For your 13 year old I think MSC may have the edge in terms of what's offered.

 

Depends on what your cruising experience is to date - for us, it was a bit of an adjustment as we were used to Freestyle with NCL. Search my post history for a review of Preziosa last year if you like. I may also do a review on Costa Fascinosa.

 

For me MSC & Costa are very very close in terms of what's offered as I have outlined above. I would tend towards MSC overall, and indeed I've booked up for next year with them as opposed to Costa again.

 

It would probably come down to the specifics of the deal offered, although they do tend to price quite closely to each other as well!

 

I'd say the Costa ship was furnished more like the Carnival fleet (Las Vegas glitz, or tackiness if you were being cruel). MSC feels more polished.

 

No problems with the crew on either, very accommodating.

 

I'm sure you can appreciate your question is rather broad and as I don't know your history it's hard to say! But we were definitely as reluctant as you prior to trying both MSC & Costa and they both surpassed our expectations as compared to the reviews.

 

Wouldn't refuse a Costa cruise again if price and itinerary was right, but all else being equal, we'd trump for MSC.

 

Hope that helps!

[ITCruiser94]

I agree with what Captain-John has said. I only want to add that there can be some differences between the Costa ships, because in March Diadema will have the open buffet for dinner and the avialbility of the open sitting dinner in the Corona Blu Restaurant (the open sitting is avilable only if you book a premium category or a suite category cabin), while the other ships that will sail the Mediterranean in March (Mediterranea, Magica, Fascinosa and Deliziosa) don't have the open sitting for sure and we don't know if they will have the dinner buffet option because Costa will open it during a range of time that goes from March to May 2016 and I don't know the exact date when every single ship will have it avilable (exept Diadema that will have it from the beginning of December 2015). If you have a 13 years old child with you I will exclude the neocollection ships because there isn't much to do for boys and girls.

[goody1]

Hi,

My Wife and I are just off a 7 night cruise around the Western Med on the MSC Preziosa. This was our 20th cruise, however our first with MSC. We absolutely loved the cruise. We had booked a Guarantee Outside Cabin and were upgraded to an Aurea Suite. The Fantasia Class ships are stunning, their interiors in my opinion are very impressive. MSC embark/disembark passengers at each Port and the passengers demographic was international. Other than Italians, there were many French, Spanish, British and numerous other nationalities also. The only real criticism that I have, is that at some Ports, namely Valencia and Marseille the time ashore could have been longer.

Edited October 26, 2015 by goody1
Correct spelling error

[AmoMondo]

I've only sailed MSC and Costa and find them very similar. I think MSC has more attractive ships, some of Costa's newer bigger Joe Farcus designs are garish IMO.

 

MSC has longer buffet hours if that is important to you. iD say they are very Italian. cOsta is American Italian.

 

Really more similarities than differences. Itenaries are similar and both allow multiple embarkation ports.

 

For me at thT time of year,mother ship would be a big deciding factor. cOulda be pretty chilly so if one has a covered pool...... Which ships are you looking at?