Celebrity VS MSC?

[asctony]

I like Gambees' reviews However, it is like everyone has their own opinion. Pizza on MSC - personally I think it is the worst. I don't like thin pizza. I have found over the years that everyone has an opinion and it is based on their own taste, liking, etc. I personally don't like the MDR on Celebrity now that they put in the Suite MDR. It decreased the size of the MDR and on deck 3, there is only one entrance. That means you really have to GPS to find your table if it is on the left side of the MDR. LOL

So, until you try that ship/line, you are the only one who can determine if it is for you.

[helen haywood]

I love the pizza on Divina because it reminded me of the wonderful thin, charred and blistered pizzas we enjoy in Italy. But to each his own. You will not starve on any cruise line.

 

 

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[Mattingly23]

Having sailed on both the Divina & Silhouette, here's my opinion of which ship wins in various categories:

 

MSC Divina:

Buffet

Entertainment

Theater

 

Silhouette:

MDR

Ship (Divina is a beautiful ship, but think that S class is the best out there)

Crew

Bars

Pool areas (just too crowded on Divina)

 

I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to sail on Divina

[emmas gran]

Hi

Due to Celebrity pricing of suites we are looking at MSC yacht club £5200 for 28 days Asia against the £6698 to join friends on Equinox 11 days Oct 2018 (S2 grade).

I have joined the MSC Voyager Club by sending a photo of my last cruise card (March 2017) and my DOB and address by e/mail to their UK office --this was done and a "match" for Elite+ to their Black card within 48 hours.

We have 4 cruises booked with Celebrity 2 x B2B but are looking for a Yacht Club cruise due to the cutbacks and high pricing

Liz

[RichKath]

We did an MSC cruise from Abu Dhabi just after a Christmas cruise on the Constellation. Won't be returning to MSC.

 

The review is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2445381

Edited May 15, 2017 by RichKath
Correct link

[helen haywood]

You will LOVE Yacht Club!! And yes, it is quite a bit less than Celebrity's suites. Also, at least on the Celebrity ship you were comparing it to, there is no private pool deck for suites on Equinox as there is in Yacht Club. Also the Top Sail Lounge has a beautiful view whereas Michael's Club on X has none.

[helen haywood]

We did an MSC cruise from Abu Dhabi just after a Christmas cruise on the Constellation. Won't be returning to MSC.

 

The review is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=52039435

 

I'm sorry you felt that way about MSC. However, I was encouraging the previous poster to try the Yacht Club experience.

[eandj]

Can someone familiar, explain Yacht Club to me? Thanks.

[DENIE]

Getting ready for first X cruise in September (Pacific Coastal). However, my wife and I did sail the Divina in November 2014. I, too, read the reviews (pro and con) and decided to give MSC a try. One must read between the lines with the reviews, and that is what we did. There are a LOT of European's on this ship because MSC is familiar to them. We embraced that and enjoyed it, very much! You will hear a lot of French, Italian, German, Spanish, etc. (dare I say, a few speedos too...:p). People seemed bothered by the fact that the buffet had no "omelette station" (you can get them made to order in the main dining room), and those sorts of things.

 

Much of what one experiences on a cruise is subjective, especially food. We found the main dining room to be fine, even if food may have been prepared to a little more European taste. Service in the bars was great once you understood that the "bartenders" aren't there to take your order....the beverage servers are (seemed to be a source of complaints). We just looked for our regular friendly server, and they always checked back with us.

 

We found the Divina to be immaculate, beautiful, up-to-date, beautiful, and very classy. The shows were wonderful, and the lounge had some wonderful performers. We lacked nothing on this cruise. And would not hesitate to sail her again.

 

Based on the "introductory to the American market", I understand that MSC is launching the MSC Seaside within the next year, and is built based on their analysis of feedback and may provide a more "American" experience.

 

That said....we are looking forward to our first X cruise. Our over-riding opinion is that any day on a cruise ship is better than just about any place else.

[bradpole]

I love the pizza on Divina because it reminded me of the wonderful thin, charred and blistered pizzas we enjoy in Italy. But to each his own. You will not starve on any cruise line.

 

 

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I agree with both of your comments!

 

MSC is different from the US cruise lines, but different isn't bad. The food was wonderful, especially breakfast! Many different cheeses and sliced meats you won't find on the other lines.

 

The ship is stunning! And the entertainment is pretty amazing.

 

The crew is trained differently, they don't engage you unless you engage them.

 

We have wanted to cruise them again but the dates have never aligned with other cruise plans.

[grandgeezer]

Here was my review of the MSC Orchestra . It is from 8 years ago so take it for what it is worth.

 

 

 

 

"While we had a good time, we would not cruise MSC again or recommend it. We have done both Princess and Celebrity and there is no comparison. We chose MSC because of the ports of call and the difference in price with the kids sail free option. Next time we will pay to take our 14 month old on a different line. It just wasn't worth it.

 

Embarkation and debarkation went extremely smoothly. We arrived at the ship around 12 and were inside and had our dinner table changed by 12:40 or so. They had put us on the first dinner seating even though we requested 2nd. As soon as we got on the ship we went to get it corrected and they were very accomadating. Embarkation and debarkation was a very fast and efficient system. If you have a tough flight to catch I recommend getting a porter to help you with your bags. Ours got us a cab as soon as we got out and there was a sea of people waiting for cabs.

 

On both of our previous cruises, Princess 10 day and Celebrity 11 day, we had normal balconies. This cruise we got an aft bacony, 8195. We did have concerns when booking the cruise with engine noise and being directly above the shaker lounge. We called MSC and talked to their reps and asked about noise from the engine and the lounge. they assured us that you would not hear either. Well they were partially right. The first three nights when the ship was traveling 20 knots we could not hear the lounge because of the engine noise and vibration. They were both nonstop. We had to open the closet doors partially, but not all the way, because of the rattling. You could not have any glass touching anyhthing, fruit bowl and plate etc. it was so loud when sitting out on our balcony you could not talk to each other in a normal voice, you couldn't hear each other. I have never experienced anything like that. The 4th night we were only traveling 80 miles and the boat was going half speed so there was no engine noise. Of course that meant at 10pm the shaker lounge speaker in our room was activated. Good lord. I apoligize to whomever was in 8197 sorry about the crying. Our 14 month old son was up from 11pm to 3am. To say the staff was useless that night, might be an insult to those that consider themself useless. It's always amazing how people can understand you until there is a problem, then there is a language barrier. And while I agree with others that the majority of the staff was very nice, I think just about every employee from italy was rude. It was amazing. My wife said she's not sure if she wants to go to Italy any more if everyone there is this rude. The next day they moved us to a different room but only had one available because a family had debarked in Antigua.

 

Our dinner server and waiter were very helpful and did an excellent job. Constantin and Carlo also did an excellent job talking and playing with our son. You just have to realize that you will have to ask for a water refill every time you want it. They were working their butts off because the ship was so full.

 

"Hunger is the best spice." I was amused the first time in my life I heard this phrase and laughed about how true it is. Well, it definitely applied to their food. Bland is the best way to describe the food. I don't think they used many spices at all. Very blah. The caprese salad was fantastic and our server got it for us on the final night even though it wasn't on the menu. I had a steak three different times and they were not good. Very mediocre cut of meat that was not tender. I am amazed at people who said the lobster was good, it was very low quality and not good. Your best option is to do the sit down lunch and breakfast vs the buffet. the quality is much better.

 

The rudeness of the guests was mind blowing as well. It is sad when a simple excuse me or thank you become so scarce. Their were so many loud and rude people it was disappointing. We had a couple large tables full of Italian Americans near us at dinner. It was as loud as a HS cafeteria the whole time.

 

The thing that impressed me most about the ship was the number of lounges that they had. It seemed like every 30 feet you walked you were in a new area with different music. From a live piano player to people dancing the selection was very wide and appealing. Plenty of places to sit down and relax.

 

St Maarten was our favorite stop and the definitely have the best duty free shopping of the four stops.

 

Overall we enjoyed ourselves but that was a product of our attitude, not this cruise. When reading all of the reviews prior to the cruise I kept a positive attitude and kept reassuring my wife. I told her it doesn't matter how the cruise is we can just sit out on our balcony and enjoy each other and the view. With our room we couldn't do that until last 3 days. There are just too many other options out there that are far superior for a little more money for us to do this line again. i've even read some people enjoyed the food which is mind blowing. I don't think there were two dishes that I would be proud to serve at my home. but that's the beauty of their being so many lines to choose from, something for everyone. I don't know if our blacony was so much louder because it was the lowest level of aft balcony or what. We will just stick with the normal balcony in the future and a different line.

 

Good luck to those of you about to head out and enjoy yourself. There will be plenty of people complaining about how bad it is because there will be many unhappy people. Be sure to avoid them and enjoy your time there. When everyone was debarking in Nassau we went out and walked the deck rather than wait in line with the complainers. It makes such a huge difference."

 

It looks like you put a lot of time and effort in putting together this review but it was for naught. Cruising has changed dramatically over eight years, some for the better and some for the worse. The reviews I recently wrote on Celebrity are much different than the ones I wrote eight years ago and not for the better. It looks like it is time to move on.

[emmas gran]

MSC Yacht Club is the area for suite guests--separate lounge concierge and dining they even have a deck area and pool. I am guessing like Michaels club and Luminae in some ways but not as expensive!.

We are still trying to decide as the Asia cruise has Yacht Club rooms but not for UK market! the agent I spoke with has tried to swap a balcony on their allocation for a Yatch Club but MSC say No.We wanted to do Dubai to Yokohama and in 2019 they are finishing in Shangai!

Liz

[villauk]

MSC Yacht Club is the area for suite guests--separate lounge concierge and dining they even have a deck area and pool. I am guessing like Michaels club and Luminae in some ways but not as expensive!.

We are still trying to decide as the Asia cruise has Yacht Club rooms but not for UK market! the agent I spoke with has tried to swap a balcony on their allocation for a Yatch Club but MSC say No.We wanted to do Dubai to Yokohama and in 2019 they are finishing in Shangai!

Liz

 

So if you book in the U.K., you can't reserve the Yatch Club rooms? I presume they don't let you book via a US TA either?

[anniegb]

So if you book in the U.K., you can't reserve the Yatch Club rooms? I presume they don't let you book via a US TA either?

 

They blocked the USA TA route a couple of years ago.

 

However YC rooms are bookable in UK.

 

Annie

[Pushka]

When on Equinox and walking down the stairs at Santorini we were chatting with another Aussie couple who were on an MSC ship. They were enjoying the experience but commented on a very Italian influence meaning not much English was spoken. Few Americans, Brits and Aussies. They saw the pros and cons. They didn't rave about MSC but found it nice. A change.

[emmas gran]

To clarify we want to cruise MSC Splendida end of March 2018 and they say there are no Yacht Club rooms left for UK market. There is the same cruise in 2019 but it only goes to Shangai not Yokohama--we wanted to do Japan for DH birthday during the cruise.

Sorry for the confusion-BTW we have never used an American agent even though a good friend in Georgia is a cruise agent.

Liz

[helen haywood]

Not that this is a deal breaker....but Divina does have omelettes for breakfast. For whatever reason they are just outside the Buffet by the pool area.

[Pushka]

Can't imagine booking a cruise based on whether they serve omelettes!

[nhsails]

We primarily sail Celebrity, Viking Azamara and MSC now.each has pros and cons. Interesting reading these posts. Feel much of the anti-MSC is more cultural. It's a Euro line and they follow those customs and trends... foods are different, dining is longer, we can be louder🤘 but great ships and pricing. Viking same but a notch up in service. Azamara our usual go to in Europe, for us it's a great balance. Celebrity if we want a week to ourselves and can get Aqua however, will fo MSC Seaside followed by Celebrity Edge...excited for both. Big world go enjoy it

[riclop]

We love sailing with Celebrity but found an itenerary we would thoroughly enjoy being offered on MSC. We have never sailed nor chatted with anyone who has cruised MSC. Any insight into this Italian cruise line? (I did check out their forum and found very little that let me compare the two.)

MSC is much better then x especially in entertainment.

[dodger1964]

my 2 cents.

 

We are elite plus on Celebrity, did our first non-Celebrity cruise in over 10 years last September on MSC from Southampton.

 

Couldn't beat price or the itinerary.

 

Going forward we would be happy to chose MSC again...especially if the price was lower than similar itin on Celebrity.

 

We are NOT foodies...many people on these boards are, so that might make someone else more critical of food...we didn't go hungry on MSC, but some complain about the food on these boards.

 

I found the staff to be equally friendly.

 

Some also complain about the "announcements being made in multiple languages"...MSC is like Celebrity...very limited public announcements...but when they do have them they are in 4 (I think it was) languages....On our cruise each stop was also a embarkation/debarkation point...so each day they did have the safety drill announcements in all the languages...that was about 10 minutes each day...and that was all the announcements we heard.

 

We received black elite status...that was an added benefit/incentive to book the cruise.

 

We liked that they have different "booking levels" to chose from...we chose the very cheapest plan, and it was perfect for us. We sail mainly for the itinerary.

[flipflap78]

Io celebrità per la prima volta nel mese di ottobre (equinozio), ma oggi io sono al 14 crociere:5 Costa (Atlantica, Luminosa, Deliziosa)4 Reale (splendore, Avventura, Allure) 6 Msc (splendida, fantasia, musica)Migliori prestazioni: RealiIl cibo è ottimo su tutte le aziendePer Msc Suggerisco Aurea Experience (Yc non utilizzato) Se avete qualche domanda io sono avavailable

[awhcruiser]

Huh?

Io celebrità per la prima volta nel mese di ottobre (equinozio), ma oggi io sono al 14 crociere:5 Costa (Atlantica, Luminosa, Deliziosa)4 Reale (splendore, Avventura, Allure) 6 Msc (splendida, fantasia, musica)Migliori prestazioni: RealiIl cibo è ottimo su tutte le aziendePer Msc Suggerisco Aurea Experience (Yc non utilizzato) Se avete qualche domanda io sono avavailable

[NLH Arizona]

Huh?

This is what the cruiser said in Italian:

 

I celebrate for the first time in October (equinox), but today I am on the 14 cruises: 5 Costa (Atlantica, Luminosa, Delicious) 4 Royal (splendor, adventure, allure) 6 Msc (gorgeous, fantasy, music) Best Performance: RealI food is great on all companies For MSc I suggest Aurea Experience (Yc not used) If you have any questions I am avavailable

[CanadaRob]

Also tried Divina for itinerary and won't go back. Great price and beautiful ship and good food in sports lounge(yes free burgers and pretty good wings too).

Entertainment was far too opera and classical for me and the food in MDR was poorly presented and meh. Servers after 6 days had no idea who any of the exact same people were and didn't really care to connect.

I don't really get the people that rave about the food or entertainment on Divina but if you enjoy opera and significant classical music give it a try, the price makes it attractive and the ship is gorgeous.