If you miss the way RCI used to be, MSC may be for you

[Ocean Boy]

50% european[emoji634]

20% Hispanic [emoji1083]

15% American[emoji631]

14% Canadian [emoji1063]

1%asian

 

This makes MSC even more appealing to me. And since I speak Italian I'd be pretty game on spending a week not speaking English. This cruise line is sounding more and more enticing all the time.

[Ocean Boy]

Yes... and this is good and bad. Good, because of more "perks" (tap water, better nightly buffets etc)... however for sailed MSC to experience "Europe", which we love. We have enough our American lines. In European flare MSC was unique.

 

I would very much look forward to that.

[DebJ14]

We did a cruise in the Yacht Club on the MCS Divina last year and it was amazing. The price was less than we pay for a suite on RCCL. The private pool, bar and lounge restaurant, and butler service were excellent. Because of the free drinks in lounge and in Le Muse we got off with no bar bill. When going on an excursion we were escorted by one of the butlers all the way to the bus. He made sure each of us had a seat on the bus and a bottle of water.

[mintypixie]

I don't think a tiny 35 year old second hand ship sailing in Europe (and no longer part of MSC fleet) has any relation to the beautiful Divina sailing from Miami and constantly being tailored for the US market and squarely aimed at RCI and NCL. But yes I would not have liked your experience either!

 

I am not sure if you are implying that ships sailing out of Miami or those tailored to the US market are automatically superior to ships sailing in Europe, or why you might think that?

 

My biggest issue was with the way MSC treated its passengers, being dumped in an airport for 9 hours is not fun! The age of the ship and local has no bearing on that, it was the company and their complete disregard for their customers. I am happy for you that you have found MSC and enjoyed your experience, I hope they treat you better than they did me and my fellow passengers. It was horrendous, and that has made me want to pay a bit extra to a company which I feel treats me with respect.

[matj2000]

I don't think a tiny 35 year old second hand ship sailing in Europe (and no longer part of MSC fleet) has any relation to the beautiful Divina sailing from Miami and constantly being tailored for the US market and squarely aimed at RCI and NCL. But yes I would not have liked your experience either!

 

Kind of like going on the Carnival Tropicale in 1982 and saying no to the Carnival Visa because of that experience 35 years ago...

 

[Ocean Boy]

I am not sure if you are implying that ships sailing out of Miami or those tailored to the US market are automatically superior to ships sailing in Europe, or why you might think that?

 

My biggest issue was with the way MSC treated its passengers, being dumped in an airport for 9 hours is not fun! The age of the ship and local has no bearing on that, it was the company and their complete disregard for their customers. I am happy for you that you have found MSC and enjoyed your experience, I hope they treat you better than they did me and my fellow passengers. It was horrendous, and that has made me want to pay a bit extra to a company which I feel treats me with respect.

 

I have read this same type of comment made toward RCI when things have not gone well. Sometimes corporations drop the ball. One bad episode with MSC no more makes a pattern than one bad experience with RCI does. And my comment is not meant in any way to negate what happened to you.

[kernow]

I am not sure if you are implying that ships sailing out of Miami or those tailored to the US market are automatically superior to ships sailing in Europe, or why you might think that?

 

My biggest issue was with the way MSC treated its passengers, being dumped in an airport for 9 hours is not fun! The age of the ship and local has no bearing on that, it was the company and their complete disregard for their customers. I am happy for you that you have found MSC and enjoyed your experience, I hope they treat you better than they did me and my fellow passengers. It was horrendous, and that has made me want to pay a bit extra to a company which I feel treats me with respect.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience but late flights can happen with any cruise line including RCL. For our transatlantic this coming October we have booked our flights with RCL, we will have to depart the ship in the morning and our return flight to the UK departs at 8pm. If we don't want to be sitting around the airport all day it will be up to us to find an alternative.

 

Julie

[caribbean sailor]

That would be my opinion.

 

Royal Caribbean being overpriced is also my opinion.

[caribbean sailor]

I read that MSC is trying to attract Royal passengers. MSC doesn't has a flow rider or a zip line but for 500$ less I'm more than happy sailing in a ship which has their price in half compared to Royal.

 

MSC Divina is sailing out of Miami weekly and the Royal presence is very weak. Royal have their headquarter facing the port but for some reason having big ship in Miami is not top priority for them, instead it's for other cruise line such as Disney, Carnival,and NCL

 

I agree we don't want to pay for flow riders bumper cars or zip lines.If we want amusement rides,we would go to six flags.

[mark290]

I agree we don't want to pay for flow riders bumper cars or zip lines.If we want amusement rides,we would go to six flags.

 

But what if you want amusement rides on a ship?

[alfaeric]

I just got home from an excellent week on the MSC Divina and will be doing a review in that section, but all week I couldn't help but have the feeling they run things a bit like RCI used to run "back in the day" before the ships became amusement and gimmick heavy. No preplanning or show booking required. Few specialty restaurants. Absolutely fanatical cleaning and maintenance. Friendly and abundant service.

 

Sure there were differences, some better, some not, but based on the amount of Royal Caribbean logo wear seen on guests on the Divina I think the secret is getting out...

 

Just curious what you mean by that.

 

I remember my first cruise back in 2001, and other than the ports, I would not really want to repeat that- the entertainment was the cruise staff up on the stage being silly, the food was just ok, and I never thought that the service was so great that it could be considered so good that I want that over and over again.

 

Now- we love the new entertainment. We don't do the zip lines or bumper cars, last time I checked, they were not required to be done. Have done the rock climbing, but not anymore...

 

On the other hand, it's fun to be able to do what is there. If you want. As an option.

 

And it's not as if prices were that good back then- adjusting for inflation.

 

So to get an idea if MSC is for us, I need to know what the reference is for "back in the day".

[Oppalopa]

That would be my opinion.

Mine too.:eek:

[Ocean Boy]

Mine too.:eek:

 

Mine too or I would not be looking around at other cruise lines as I like the RCI product. But if I can find something equally satisfying that will cost me less then why not?

[LMaxwell]

Just curious what you mean by that.

 

I remember my first cruise back in 2001, and other than the ports, I would not really want to repeat that- the entertainment was the cruise staff up on the stage being silly, the food was just ok, and I never thought that the service was so great that it could be considered so good that I want that over and over again.

 

Now- we love the new entertainment. We don't do the zip lines or bumper cars, last time I checked, they were not required to be done. Have done the rock climbing, but not anymore...

 

On the other hand, it's fun to be able to do what is there. If you want. As an option.

 

And it's not as if prices were that good back then- adjusting for inflation.

 

So to get an idea if MSC is for us, I need to know what the reference is for "back in the day".

The line right after the bolded quote. Less gimmicks. No months of preplanning and reservations of what night to eat when or go to which show which night and what time. It's a more classic fixed dining and entertainment schedule on a nice ship with good food and good service.

 

My Time Dining is great in theory but it is not go with the flow. If there are delays you can miss entertainment. Or if you like servers you may or may not get them again. Some prefer the more traditional approaches to dining and entertainment. Both have pros and cons. To me MSC was the more traditional approach. So if you find that appealing it could be a good fit

[LMaxwell]

But what if you want amusement rides on a ship?

Then RCI or NCL is the better fit.

 

It's not that one is superior to another. It's just to say if you value experience ABC over XYZ then one may be more appropriate than another

[alexkrn46]

i am DPlus on RCCL and have been on 4 MSC cruises two of them on the Divinia.I agree MSC reminds me of the old days RCCL.The ships are beautiful and clean the service has been wonderful. We have only done YC no cruiseline matches the service. I do miss the ice skating rink and the promenade. we did a cruise from Venice at it was outstanding.

 

i can not wair for their new ship Seaside and have booked already

[George C]

50% european[emoji634]

20% Hispanic [emoji1083]

15% American[emoji631]

14% Canadian [emoji1063]

1%asian

 

I take it this is passengers, what about crew, I know it used to be mostly Italian

[alfaeric]

The line right after the bolded quote. Less gimmicks. No months of preplanning and reservations of what night to eat when or go to which show which night and what time. It's a more classic fixed dining and entertainment schedule on a nice ship with good food and good service.

 

My Time Dining is great in theory but it is not go with the flow. If there are delays you can miss entertainment. Or if you like servers you may or may not get them again. Some prefer the more traditional approaches to dining and entertainment. Both have pros and cons. To me MSC was the more traditional approach. So if you find that appealing it could be a good fit

 

Right now, there are 4 ships in the entire RCI Fleet that one has to make entertainment reservations. And every single one of them also has traditional dining.

 

Given that, I don't see understand any additional appeal that may be with MSC. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

 

We just sailed on the Freedom, which didn't have a single entertainment reservation or check in, and it had 5:30 and 8pm seating. And two shows a night so that each seating has an option. Traditional as ever.

 

What does MSC bring to the table other than that?

 

It did have the *option* of going to Sabor, Chops, or Giovanni's, but they are just that, options.

 

Or is the addition of options the issue?

[LMaxwell]

Right now, there are 4 ships in the entire RCI Fleet that one has to make entertainment reservations. And every single one of them also has traditional dining.

 

Given that, I don't see understand any additional appeal that may be with MSC. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

 

We just sailed on the Freedom, which didn't have a single entertainment reservation or check in, and it had 5:30 and 8pm seating. And two shows a night so that each seating has an option. Traditional as ever.

 

What does MSC bring to the table other than that?

 

It did have the *option* of going to Sabor, Chops, or Giovanni's, but they are just that, options.

 

Or is the addition of options the issue?

It just felt like a classic experience from 20 years ago on a new and modern ship. Classic RCI experience at half of today's RCI prices. No other way I can put it.

[jagsfan]

It's all a far cry from my first cruise on the Starship Royale on its 4th sailing, April 1984.

Tiny cabins, one dining room, one show, several bars and a pool that was a little bigger around than a well, but just as deep. The entertainers we're has berms, names we remembered and we're happy to see again, like the Platters, Commodores, etc.

32 years and more than 45 cruises later, cabin M22 is engraved on my heart. I can't think whether I have ever been so in love with a cruise ship since.

From the Dolphin to the Norway to QM2, Oasis and Royal Princess, being on any cruise is blissful for me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[KiwiGal117]

I admit that after reading OP's first post in this thread, I had a look to see what the pricing would be like on MSC this summer in the Med. The same itinerary wasn't available, but the same length of time, etc., cruise was substantially cheaper. We could even had a suite in the Yacht Club for slightly less than our OV Balcony on Harmony! However, I've done such a good job selling my 12 year old son on all the really cool things that there are to do on Harmony, so we'll have to stay put. Food for thought for the future though!

[mcatmcat]

I take it this is passengers, what about crew, I know it used to be mostly Italian

 

 

Yeah mostly Italian.

[LMaxwell]

Yeah mostly Italian.

On the Divina a bunch of upper end Marine officers were Italian as were the dining room and buffet managers (I don't think the food and beverage manager is though) but workers were very much like you see on other lines. Eastern European for cabin service and maintenance. Filipino for cleaning and wait staff and servers. Bar tenders seemed a mix between Caribbean and Filipino. CD was English and his staff was an international mix. I expected more Italian staff actually and didn't really see it.

[CoupleUK]

After yet another poor experience with Royal (3 night on Ovation), we are starting to book elsewhere too.

 

We have a few Royals left this year, but have booked with MSC for B2B in January - the brilliant Status Match idea was enough for us to make the switch.

 

Will we enjoy MSC? - well, if they provide the service that Royal used to offer then I think we will.

 

Our opinion is that Royal are spending far too much time focussing on the headline-grabbing gimmicks and have totally forgotten about customer service - the WOW has gone.

 

When you have to stand in line for 20 minutes for the pleasure of giving the bar staff an 18% tip, then something is clearly wrong.

 

Remember those days when you would take a seat in a lounge and the bar staff would literally follow you in to get your order. The simple act of placing a napkin on your table to let other staff know that you have ordered? How about the waiters hovering around "their" guests to promptly offer a refill and earn their salary? - all that has vanished now with Royal.

 

Of course, with the introduction of Drinks Packages it meant staff cutbacks in order to serve less "free" drinks. I can even understand that - but there comes a time when the cutbacks are too severe. Or, maybe the Bar Managers are just happy to have 4 waiters in a quiet bar whilst their colleagues are running round like headless chickens in a busy one next door.

 

We have stayed loyal for a while now BUT the time has come to see what else is out there.

[maureencruiser]

Kind of like going on the Carnival Tropicale in 1982 and saying no to the Carnival Visa because of that experience 35 years ago...

 

I agree with Matt. I'm sorry for that poster's experience, but, don't think it has much relevance today. I travel solo and MSC is just nailing it for me, I can get an aft balcony at a great price. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, just being on a ship at sea is what I need. Throw in some food, wine and great shows and I'm all set. :D:D