MSC Seaside is (gasp!) European

[eroller]

Cunard are not European, from what I hear they are going more like Carnival food wise, we were not impressed by Queen Victoria but the food at the time of our cruise and service was second to none.

 

 

 

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Cunard is owned by Carnival but they are operated completely from their headquarters in Southampton England along with P&O and carry a good 60% of non-North Americans.

 

I sail on Cunard a lot. They are a favorite. I’m Diamond with them. I’ve also sailed on Carnival a lot. I’m platinum on them. There is no comparison food or otherwise. Food and service are to a much higher standard on Cunard not that you can’t get decent food on Carnival. I also felt that food was quite a bit superior especially regarding choice and selection on Cunard than my recent YC experience on Seaside.

 

Of course food is highly subjective. Ask 10 people and get 10 answers. It’s really not important what other people say about it. It’s only important what you think about it and what tastes good to you.

[Oppyguy]

Cunard is owned by Carnival but they are operated completely from their headquarters in Southampton England along with P&O and carry a good 60% of non-North Americans.

 

I sail on Cunard a lot. They are a favorite. I’m Diamond with them. I’ve also sailed on Carnival a lot. I’m platinum on them. There is no comparison food or otherwise. Food and service are to a much higher standard on Cunard not that you can’t get decent food on Carnival. I also felt that food was quite a bit superior especially regarding choice and selection on Cunard than my recent YC experience on Seaside.

 

Of course food is highly subjective. Ask 10 people and get 10 answers. It’s really not important what other people say about it. It’s only important what you think about it and what tastes good to you.

 

 

 

I’m onboard Seaside now, and I will say lunch buffet offerings in YC are a step up from Divina, and very tasty. Fresh grilled Mai Mai, salmon, lamb chops and chicken and carved beef tenderloin. My point is not that MSC food is the best, only that it is hardly poor!!

[voyager89]

 

And I don't want to be told that I can't wear shorts after 6pm in public areas! That is crazy. They have the most restrictive dress code I have ever seen for the MDR and the ship in general but they want bargain shoppers.

 

Were you?

 

I wore shorts all week long, all day long, and never was I told I couldn´t. I even wore shorts to elegant night (nice, dressy shorts with designer shoes and a very nice, elegant jacket) and no one ever told me a thing.

[voyager89]

What I don´t understand is why would someone book a cruise on an Italian line hoping to get the American feel / experience. If I wanted that, I´d book Carnival.

 

We had a very pleasant cruise last week with its hits and misses like I´ve stated before. And we definetely appreciated the different vibe and various nationalities on board. As much as MSC wants or tries to sell the Seaside as an ¨american ship¨ I think it will always be an Italian ship from an Italian line, homeported in the USA.

 

Silly question, they say it is the first MSC ship to have a name in English. Wasn´t there an MSC Melody way back?

[NMsunset]

Excellent question, seems you speak from recent 1st hand experience vs. rumors and hearsay.

We appreciated your opinion review, images, and factual comments, Mucho gusto V89 :), fyi Mx City is one of our global favs...so much rich American culture and history.

(Seems many think America = USA...which is actually just one recent portion of the Americas)

 

Most CLs have suggested dress code, it is mostly not enforced on any ship, as passengers have enough social skill to be presentable for the occassion.

 

Cheers, enjoy your vacations on the CL of your choice!

 

Were you?

 

I wore shorts all week long, all day long, and never was I told I couldn´t. I even wore shorts to elegant night (nice, dressy shorts with designer shoes and a very nice, elegant jacket) and no one ever told me a thing.

[BermudaBound2014]

 

 

 

We had a very pleasant cruise last week with its hits and misses like I´ve stated before. And we definetely appreciated the different vibe and various nationalities on board. As much as MSC wants or tries to sell the Seaside as an ¨american ship¨ I think it will always be an Italian ship from an Italian line, homeported in the USA.?

 

 

I think you’ve stated this well, I go just a bit further and consider MSC an Italian budget cruise line. I think it will always be an Italian Budget cruise line with some ships home-ported in USA.

 

 

 

 

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[nikkiw60]

I think you’ve stated this well, I go just a bit further and consider MSC an Italian budget cruise line. I think it will always be an Italian Budget cruise line with some ships home-ported in USA.

 

 

 

 

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You keep saying it’s budget, but for us Europeans travelling to Miami it’s far from Budget!

 

 

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[sidari]

I think it will always be an Italian Budget cruise line with some ships home-ported in USA.

 

 

 

BB ... what is that saying, Tell people often enough and eventually they will believe it ! :confused:

[nikkiw60]

You keep saying it’s budget, but for us Europeans travelling to Miami it’s far from Budget!

 

 

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The flights cost almost as much as the cruise!

 

 

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[nikkiw60]

I think it will always be an Italian Budget cruise line with some ships home-ported in USA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BB ... what is that saying, Tell people often enough and eventually they will believe it ! :confused:

 

 

 

Roll on Monday! Flight to Miami a few days at Key West then the Seaside! Watch this space...

 

 

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[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

The initial businessmodel idea of MSC Cruises was to create affordable cruises for families. This is still their businessmodell and I think they are doing it very well. In Europe their rates are below and sometimes well below their American competition and I believe so in Caribbean too. Their ships are beautiful and the atmosphere onboard is lively. In addition they have the luxury enclave Yacht Club on the Fantasia, Meraviglia and Seaside classes which is a quiet haven compared to the rest of the ship. There is something for everyone onboard in my opinion.

[BermudaBound2014]

You keep saying it’s budget, but for us Europeans travelling to Miami it’s far from Budget!

 

I hope you don't take 'budget' to be negative. I think a large part of the poor MSC reviews come from people expecting the entire experience to match the crystal staircases. MSC must cut costs so the on board experience can align with the prices they charge. Expectations and experiences are best matched.

 

And I do feel your pain. Nothing is budget when we travel across the pond either. We paid more for our flights to Venice than we did 10 days aboard RCL in 2016, and almost TWICE as much for flights last summer for our Norway trip that also included 10 Days aboard NCL. Airfare is out of control for many of us :(.

 

My Uncle runs a charter fishing boat out of the keys, it's a super fun and totally chill vibe there. I hope you LOVE it like we do.

[nikkiw60]

I hope you don't take 'budget' to be negative. I think a large part of the poor MSC reviews come from people expecting the entire experience to match the crystal staircases. MSC must cut costs so the on board experience can align with the prices they charge. Expectations and experiences are best matched.

 

 

 

And I do feel your pain. Nothing is budget when we travel across the pond either. We paid more for our flights to Venice than we did 10 days aboard RCL in 2016, and almost TWICE as much for flights last summer for our Norway trip that also included 10 Days aboard NCL. Airfare is out of control for many of us :(.

 

 

 

My Uncle runs a charter fishing boat out of the keys, it's a super fun and totally chill vibe there. I hope you LOVE it like we do.

 

 

 

We don’t feel any pain we are just saying we don’t consider it budget! We are obviously European (still and hope to remain that way!) and travel a lot in Europe and enjoy the European vibe.

Anyway watch this space for our thoughts on Seaside! We loved the Divina.

And we also loved (well I did) you info on the Coach outlet in Puerto Rico....

 

 

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[BermudaBound2014]

And we also loved (well I did) you info on the Coach outlet in Puerto url]

 

 

I read it’s finally open again after hurricane Maria!! I’ve yet to use the two yellow pieces I picked up because we did norway last summer so i needed something more suited for adventure tours. Let me know how you score :).

 

 

 

 

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[nikkiw60]

I read it’s finally open again after hurricane Maria!! I’ve yet to use the two yellow pieces I picked up because we did norway last summer so i needed something more suited for adventure tours. Let me know how you score :).

 

 

 

 

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We are not going to Puerto Rico this time but we did last year based on your comments.

 

 

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[tiptop33]

Hate to type it, but it sounds like MSC offers the least departure from American cuisine of any of the major cruise lines. One week in the Windjammer I had Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern Kofta, really good Irish beef stew.

 

Numerous reports state that there's minimal variety on MSC's (limited) buffet.

 

That's ok--but I'm not sure how it can be described as going beyond what other large cruise lines are doing.

 

We'll be in Yacht club, so we are hoping for good culinary diversity there if no where else.

[jimbob22]

We'll be in Yacht club, so we are hoping for good culinary diversity there if no where else.

 

it does sound like YC has a better buffet scene than non-YC. More and better quality meats available, although maybe not the Asian/Indian foods.

 

Perhaps you'll be able to shed some light on this after your cruise.

[tiptop33]

We have never sailed on MSC before but have done a lot of reading about (preparation is fun!) it and looking at reviews and can only hope that it offers a more European culinary experience than the American lines, not because there is anything wrong with the latter (there isn't) but because we just want a new experience this go-round.

 

You are correct that I did not intend to come across as mean spirited, nor do I think I was. I felt no "need" to mention Jim Zim's review but chose to do so because these boards are for discussing the perspectives of cruise goers and he put his perspective out there. We are all passionate about cruising, as Jim is, and if we are just to agree with everything someone says, the board would seem to lack value in my opinion. When he criticized the MSC pizza he put pictures out there. I happen to have visited Italy numerous times and the pictures looked like the Italian pizza I ate (and loved) there. Jim dissed the Pizza, which I thought was unfair in only one sense: I think people should hear how delicious Italian pizza is to someone who likes it in all its minimal pasta and cheese glory. I totally agree that MSC Pizza is not American-style and I salute Jim for informing people of the that. But he did not say that it may be delicious to many people (Americans included) and not everyone will want Pizza hut on the cruise. We should feel at ease to agree to disagree with each other, and should not be lumped with people who question his ethics (I certainly do not!) just because the only thing critics have in common is disagreement.

 

It’s nice to see you are excited for your upcoming cruise. I’m curious, have you sailed MSc before? I ask because the differences in the MSc product might not be as much about being “European” as they are about being a budget driven cruise line. Being prepared is also fun.

 

I’m also curious why you feel the need to mention Jim zims review. It seems needlessly mean spirited. I trust you didn’t mean it to come across mean, but all the reviews of Jim’s review (in other words, all the opinions of Jim’s opinion) seem unnecessarily and in bad taste. We even have members now questioning Jim’s ethics which seems entirely uncalled for.

 

 

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[tiptop33]

I will be happy to put my two cents in about it. Thanks!

it does sound like YC has a better buffet scene than non-YC. More and better quality meats available, although maybe not the Asian/Indian foods.

 

Perhaps you'll be able to shed some light on this after your cruise.

[gkbiiii]

What I don't understand is why MSC, does not become the Celebrity of Europe and leave Costa as the "value/discount/budget Italian Line? I think MSC should let Costa be the Carnival of Europe all they want, and simply go for a higher demographic. Their ships seem Celebrity quality and style, so why cheapen-up the overall experience?

[sidari]

What you do not understand is that MSC does not need to be the "Celebrity" of Europe just to suit a Minority of people or anywhere else for that matter, yes they are not perfect and unless you pay the prices for the likes of the smaller niche lines there is no use going on about they should do this or they should do that.

 

The fact that Seaside and Divina are still attracting passengers regardless of where they sail shows that MSC have a good model despite the early whinges and whines from people some of who have never sailed MSC before.

Even now I would hazard a guess that over 90% of people in North America have never heard of MSC.

[gkbiiii]

Again, MSC can't simply out Costa at being Costa! They need to aim for the quality, that their ships aspire to. They have a great image problem in the US and need to work hard to change the hearts and minds of both passengers and travel agents!

 

Now MSC has a "world class" line of ships: perhaps its time, they work to become "world class", with high standards, of service & hospitality!!

[sverigecruiser]

You keep saying it’s budget, but for us Europeans travelling to Miami it’s far from Budget!

 

 

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The flights cost almost as much as the cruise!

 

 

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Our MSC Cruise next year cost around $7000. If we decide to fly in business class the flight will cost around $3500.

[Beamafar]

 

Our MSC Cruise next year cost around $7000.

 

Be careful there, SC. There's a certain poster on here that reckons there's no way an MSC cruise costs that much because he can't see anything like that price ON THE US SITE!!!! That was the response to a post where I stated that a YC inside on Seaview would cost us the *equivalent* of $7000 - I didn't say "$7000" nor was I quoting from the US site. I posted a photo of the price from the MSC website in Euros. Apparently, if you quote the price in US$ (just for illustration purposes so that Americans on here can relate to the price) it is assumed by some that you must be referring to what MSC is charging in the US.

[BermudaBound2014]

Bean, is MSC still your cheapest option?

 

I’m always curious how MSc prices different across countries.

 

 

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