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Tried Royal Caribbean and NCL- how does MSC compare?

mistyraj

By mistyraj,
in MSC Cruises

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kbset

kbset

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We have sailed on Royal Caribbean and NCL before but are now looking at MSC- mainly because of price difference.

 

What is the standard of service compared to other cruise lines? Has anyone tried MSC and RCL/ NCL?"

 

Thanks

 

I'm very curious as well!!!

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lawton54

lawton54

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I would suggest that you check the CC member review section for Divinia and MSC in general. You are going to get biased reviews and recommendations in this forum (as in most others). This forum, however, seems so slanted toward MSC that any complaint or unflattering advice is shouted down with the offending poster being berated for his or her lack of sophistication, understanding of the "Italian" style, food, mentality, etc., etc., etc. Check the reviews and decide for yourself if what you are reading there is compatible with your expectations of what a cruise should be. Compare ratings and comments with the lines you are familiar with to help you with your decision. Hope you have fun which ever line you choose!

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CruiseIreland "Live from...." Rare

CruiseIreland

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I've sailed with all three lines and, in my opinion, MSC provides a very good value cruise. The ships are very pretty, glamorous and kept very clean. The food is OK, not such hearty cuts of meat as Royal or NCL, but quite good. There is an Italian slant to the menus, of course, but that is to be expected. Buffet is ok, people rave about the pizza, but sometimes the buffet has not been so well stocked. Shows are very good, avoiding dialogue for language reasons but very short at about 45mins. Port times can be short but this will vary by itinerary. Service onboard is fine, usual mix of Asian and Filipino crew with many other nationalities also. Guest services on MSC has a bad rep but l have no negative experience of that, yet!

 

Overall, MSC keeps winning on price but I think l would sail royal or NCL in preference, price aside. But, it's not bad, just not as Anglo or full service as Royal or NCL. Ken

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FireEater

FireEater

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Problem is people want to pay MSC prices but expect Celebrity cuisine!

 

Lets hope not. My 1st and only Celebrity over Thanksgiving was disappointing in the cuisine world. Over good, under cooked, and just bland. Food looked good presentation wise, but cooking of it was just not what I was expecting for all that I heard about the quality of the food on them.

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FireEater

FireEater

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Lets hope not. My 1st and only Celebrity over Thanksgiving was disappointing in the cuisine world. Over good, under cooked, and just bland. Food looked good presentation wise, but cooking of it was just not what I was expecting for all that I heard about the quality of the food on them.

 

Thats over cooked not over good......

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kbset

kbset

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Lets hope not. My 1st and only Celebrity over Thanksgiving was disappointing in the cuisine world. Over good, under cooked, and just bland. Food looked good presentation wise, but cooking of it was just not what I was expecting for all that I heard about the quality of the food on them.

 

Oh man...that's disappointing :( What ship were you on if you don't mind me asking? We were on the Equinox in 2012 and everything was excellent. However, I have been hearing complaints here and there from different people lately :(

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FireEater

FireEater

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Oh man...that's disappointing :( What ship were you on if you don't mind me asking? We were on the Equinox in 2012 and everything was excellent. However, I have been hearing complaints here and there from different people lately :(

 

It was the Equinox. We kept losing our table mates due to the quality of food in the MDR. One lasted 1 night, 1 lasted 2 nights. We did not want to bump elbows and butts standing in a line getting our own food, so we kept telling ourselves, it can only get better. We were wrong and I am not a hard person to please food wise.

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monicajay

monicajay

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We have sailed on Royal Caribbean and NCL before but are now looking at MSC- mainly because of price difference.

 

What is the standard of service compared to other cruise lines? Has anyone tried MSC and RCL/ NCL?"

 

Thanks

 

I'm very curious as well!!!

 

As you will see from my signature we are not loyal to one particular line and pick our trips based on itinerary and pricing.

 

We have found service on MSC to be good but very different from the other lines. I see it as a cultural difference and not as bad service. Roaming servers will not hound you to order a drink, in fact they will walk on by and only stop if you raise a hand or make clear eye contact indicating you would like something. Some take this to be bad service, I accept it as being a not so in-your-face, type of service.

 

Cabins are as clean and nice or cleaner and nicer than you will find on other lines. Room stewards are more discrete due to the fact that you have to put your room card into a slot in the wall in order for your lights to work, this also turns on a tiny purple light hidden slightly over your door so they know you are in. A really good system for both saving energy (you can't leave lights on) and not being interrupted by knocks at the door.

 

Food is subjective but we always found something to our liking. Pastas are as expected particularly good. Meat cuts not so much.

 

Entertainment was a higher caliber in my opinion although some of it was not to my taste but then we'd just move on. There are no tables or drink service in the theater.

 

MSC has great lounge chairs with a piece that can block the sun from your face, making it easy to read in the sun. Surprisingly silly, this is one of my most favorite features and why we are looking to book our next cruise on MSC.

 

Oh, at the Gelato (yes, extra $) is as good as in Italy and certainly worth every penny.

 

Make sure you look at the itinerary as port times are often shorter or not as good as other lines.

 

Also, remember that if you pay way less money, somewhere this will be apparent so don't spend your whole cruise comparing everything.

 

Hope this helps.

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hmorrow "Live from...." Rare

hmorrow

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Oh man...that's disappointing :( What ship were you on if you don't mind me asking? We were on the Equinox in 2012 and everything was excellent. However, I have been hearing complaints here and there from different people lately :(

 

ditto about the food

 

We were on over XMAS and had REALLY REALLY good food all over the ship, not just the specialty restaurants.!

 

We are booked on another Celebrity, as well as our first MSC, but we're in yacht club, so I think it will be VERY good.(I hope) lol

Helaine

Edited by hmorrow
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