What is 'European Cruising'?

[helenb]

I see a lot of threads where people say that MSC is 'European cruising' and not to expect 'American cruising'. I think I've figured out some of the differences so far:

 

- European cruising has many more languages, and as such announcements are in multiple languages and entertainment tends to be non-language-based.

- Europeans do not expect free tap water to drink with meals, nor ice in their drinks.

- Europeans have smaller portions at meals and eat at a slower pace at dinnertime.

 

What else makes MSC 'European'? We'll be cruising MSC (Seaside) for the first time in June and while none of this scares me, I would just like to know what to expect.

[C-sea]

In some situations DH and I have found european staff (cruises/hotels) are less flexible and can be less likely to deviate from their established "process"... to satisfy a customer concern.

[eroller]

Sounds like you have a good grasp of it.

 

Some also feel European style service is less friendly, even a bit standoffish. Also it's more leisurely. Americans might consider it slow.

 

Food choices can also be a bit different than American standards. Much more fish for instance. I remember on a Costa cruise ordering a fish dish and it arrived with head in place as well as all the bones. You probably wouldn't find that on Carnival, Royal Caribbean, or NCL.

 

Generally more smokers.

 

No automatic coffee after dinner.

 

Many of these things won't be the case if you're cruising on SEASIDE or DIVINA. MSC has pretty much Americanized these ships, even though not nearly enough for some people. If you cruise on an MSC ship out of Europe, you will have a much less Americanized experience.

 

As they say ... when in Rome!

[helenb]

Thank you for the response, eroller!

 

We generally prefer speedy service, but (in dining rooms) we let the staff know this in advance. Since we have the same waiters for the whole week, we just tell them on the first night and it's not usually a problem. I'm hoping that this will be the same on Seaside. We're in YC, so I don't know if this makes our request more or less likely to be honored. ;)

 

Honestly though, the only thing out of all of that would bother me would be the smoking. Hopefully there are sufficient non-smoking areas such that I won't find it to be a problem. I can't eat fish/seafood, but the Seaside YC menus I saw posted did seem to be very balanced in that regard and not a problem.

[sverigecruiser]

 

- European cruising has many more languages, and as such announcements are in multiple languages and entertainment tends to be non-language-based.

- Europeans do not expect free tap water to drink with meals, nor ice in their drinks.

- Europeans have smaller portions at meals and eat at a slower pace at dinnertime.

 

 

Very few announcements on the Meraviglia last summer so I don't even remember if they were made with many languages.

 

We absolutely expect to get free water with our meals.

 

Small portions is not a European thing.

[voyager89]

Haven´t sailed MSC yet (or any european line actually) but when I have visited Europe I have found the service as some would say ¨barely there¨ meaning that they don´t keep checking on you multiple times, try to do small talk, make jokes, things like that. It never bothered me at all and actually like it better. If you need anything, they will be there but don´t expect them to check on you to see if you need anything. Long story short, they wont come unless you call.

 

As for the people, most Europeans keep it classy. They tend to be more fashion forward, in my experience, drink less that Americans but smoke more. But of course I cannot speak for all of them.

 

I remember on a RC cruise, the lady that gives out hand sanitizer by the buffet entrance was always saying things like ¨Yummy in my tummy¨, ¨washy washy¨, ¨enjoy your breakfaaaaast¨ in the most cheesy, high pitched tone. It was kinda funny the first day but it got annoying specially on a 12 night cruise.

On a NCL one, there was this couple, I believe in their 50 or 60s, who went ALL OUT with their clothes. They would match their clothes to a different color every day. She would literally wear head to toe neon, including a neon wig, and he would also wear a neon Speedo type bathing suit, with a huge God-knows-what on his crotch, so it would always look like he had a huge b0ner. People would laugh and take pictures of them.

 

I don´t think you would find people like them on MSC.

[papcx]

Dare I mention queuing?