P&O or MSC?

[Tarquin]

5 Adults, family group, looking to book at short notice as mutual holiday dates becoming a nightmare to sort!

 

Have been with P&O 3 times - short breaks, Thomsons/Marella 3times for week long mediterranean jaunts.

 

Unfortunately neither have itineraries and availability so looking at MSC.

 

Know a bit about Royal Carribbean, Fred Olson but not MSC.

 

Any views welcomed.

[Caravan 37]

5 Adults, family group, looking to book at short notice as mutual holiday dates becoming a nightmare to sort!

 

 

 

Have been with P&O 3 times - short breaks, Thomsons/Marella 3times for week long mediterranean jaunts.

 

 

 

Unfortunately neither have itineraries and availability so looking at MSC.

 

 

 

Know a bit about Royal Carribbean, Fred Olson but not MSC.

 

 

 

Any views welcomed.

 

 

 

We’ve done UAE/Med/Caribbean on MSC and found them to be good value for money. Ships/cabins are immaculate but food/entertainment, IMO, not as good as RCI/Princess/Cunard - not been on P&O yet so can’t compare.

I would say that MSC Divina out of USA was completely different to Sailings from Europe/UAE and had much better food quality. I would give them a go but be prepared for majority of cruisers to be Italian, maybe not surprisingly, and for announcements to be in multi languages before English - not too much of a problem [emoji5]

 

 

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[janny444]

Hi...first of all I don't really like to compare different cruise lines as each have their own strengths and weaknesses and people have their own wants and expectations.

 

I have done both cruise lines and love both for different reasons.

 

MSC ships are absolutely stunning ...they positively gleam and sparkle and the standard of cleanliness is the highest I have seen on a cruise ship....they are always cleaning the public areas.

MSC have a different mix of people from different countries whereas P&O are mainly British and MSC tend to embark and disembark at the POCs....they did on the couple that we have done from Southampton.

 

Entertainment was more to our liking in the main theatre on MSC...'fraid I find the Headliners a bit dated.. The MSC ships at night really come to life and have a real buzz about them.

 

Food in MDR was comparable with P&O but the buffet on MSC was ...for us...really good...plenty of Italian choices along with more British style....carveries etc....choice of fresh fruit was positively over whelming

 

The AI drink package is the best value at sea...£23pppd....if cruising for longer than 10 nights....I think it is 10 nights...is £18pppd....that was in 2016....absolutely worth it even if a non drinker as it includes soft drinks and speciality tea/coffees and ice cream

 

Tips/gratuities/service charge comparable with P&O.

 

One of the main " disappoints" for us is that we like Freedom dining...on the cruises that we have been on with MSC they only had club dining times but fortunately the food in the buffet was really good so it wasn't a problem.

 

Haven't tried the Speciality restaurants.

 

No bingo or quizzes because of the mixed nationalities.

 

We really enjoy MSC cruises....it ticks our boxes and I won't hesitate to cruise with them again....the only problem being that we can only cruise from Southampton and we now need the coach transfer down which MSC don't always offer.

[Caravan 37]

Hi...first of all I don't really like to compare different cruise lines as each have their own strengths and weaknesses and people have their own wants and expectations.

 

I have done both cruise lines and love both for different reasons.

 

MSC ships are absolutely stunning ...they positively gleam and sparkle and the standard of cleanliness is the highest I have seen on a cruise ship....they are always cleaning the public areas.

MSC have a different mix of people from different countries whereas P&O are mainly British and MSC tend to embark and disembark at the POCs....they did on the couple that we have done from Southampton.

 

Entertainment was more to our liking in the main theatre on MSC...'fraid I find the Headliners a bit dated.. The MSC ships at night really come to life and have a real buzz about them.

 

Food in MDR was comparable with P&O but the buffet on MSC was ...for us...really good...plenty of Italian choices along with more British style....carveries etc....choice of fresh fruit was positively over whelming

 

The AI drink package is the best value at sea...£23pppd....if cruising for longer than 10 nights....I think it is 10 nights...is £18pppd....that was in 2016....absolutely worth it even if a non drinker as it includes soft drinks and speciality tea/coffees and ice cream

 

Tips/gratuities/service charge comparable with P&O.

 

One of the main " disappoints" for us is that we like Freedom dining...on the cruises that we have been on with MSC they only had club dining times but fortunately the food in the buffet was really good so it wasn't a problem.

 

Haven't tried the Speciality restaurants.

 

No bingo or quizzes because of the mixed nationalities.

 

We really enjoy MSC cruises....it ticks our boxes and I won't hesitate to cruise with them again....the only problem being that we can only cruise from Southampton and we now need the coach transfer down which MSC don't always offer.

 

 

 

I agree that Italian specialities were excellent pasta/risotto/pizza however the quality of meat overall both in buffet and MDR was appalling!

 

 

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[eddie11]

I am on MSC Magnifica at the moment. Multi-national and multiple embarkation ports. Embarkation at Southampton was the smoothest I have ever known. Off the train at 1.30, in the cabin at 1.45.

 

I think Janny has summed it up very well. Our dinner table of 8 are all experienced cruisers, all mostly P&O or RCI, and all rate MSC, whilst acknowledging there are differences

 

I agree about fixed v freedom dining but there is something called My Time on here. Sorry, I haven’t investigated but that could allow flexibility. I think it may be charged.

 

Overall, the ship is magnificent, like its name, with plenty of venues, activities and entertainment

[amajaa]

Just come off MSC Magnifica and to be honest wouldn’t travel MSC again. There was nothing to do during the day apart from one multi national quiz and in Hamburg nothing what so ever as they were boarding more people. Our cabin never got made up that day by 2 o’clock so we phoned down and it was eventually done. We needed the towels changed that day as they were still wet as the air conditioning had been turned off as they were painting outside. Others never had their cabin made up at all that day.

 

The food wasn’t up to P & O or other lines standards but it was passable and the waiters tried hard to please. Except breakfast in the MDR which was chaotic and no one around us got what they ordered. Lots of Brits & Americans were complaining and I think they are trying hard to solve the problems.

 

The kids club - well kids can sign themselves out at age 7 so there were very young children wandering around trying to find their parents. Most Brits not at all happy with the care and were worried about leaving their kids.

 

People in buffet filling water bottles up by sticking the end of the bottle ( that they had been drinking out of) up into the spout of the water machine. Very unhygienic.

 

A plus for people that like drinks packages as is probably the best value around apart from Fred Olsen I think.

 

Gratuities €10 per adult per day and €5 per day for children.

 

Also a plus all nationalities very friendly and didn’t come across one moan in the lifts about being squashed in.

[Caravan 37]

The drinks package is good value but had a very limited (2) number of red/white/rose wines under the most widely used and reasonably priced package which I found undrinkable - again this was on the Euro/UAE sailings not the Divina out of US which was a different experience altogether.

 

 

 

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[amajaa]

My comments above were about the Magnifica sailing out of Southampton, it was advertised as a round trip from U K but in fact it picked up at all 4 stops on the way most noticible Hamburg where their muster drill and reminders about it were broadcast very loudly into all cabins for a whole hour in 6 languages. After a long day in Hamburg most people with children and especially babies were trying to have a rest, it was so loud and you just couldn’t get away from it. I heard people screaming please shut up in English and various other languages and I don’t blame them.

 

 

Plus the day before Hamburg was classed as a goodbye day and we had the farewell show etc and the next day we had a welcome on board show even though half the ship got on at Southampton 5 days before.

 

 

The reviews on Facebook for the two cruises before ours were really, really horrendous but we went with an open mind and to us it wasn’t quite as bad as reported but nearly as bad.

 

 

They had a coffee morning with the Officers one day and I think they took onboard some of the things people were saying but as I said the majority of Brits were not at all happy with the food, entertainment and service.

 

If you had an aft cabin you were woken up about 3 every morning with the thrusters going, I have never had that so noisy on all our Cruises before. Whether it was the ship or the way the crew were manoeuvring it we just don’t know.

[boogybaby]

Hi we really enjoyed MSc especially as we were given their black card when we did the loyalty match, we will definitely cruise with them again

[peteukmcr]

We’ve sailed twice with MSC and found them good value for money. Reasonably priced drinks packages and adequate food.

 

Our only negatives would be the fixed dining times and the limited number of speciality restaurants on the 2 ships we sailed.

 

Loved the touches of complimentary ‘tapas’ at the wine bar, the nuts in another and all the benefits of being status matched in their loyalty program.

 

 

 

 

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[Tom Baker]

Have you considered Princess Cruises, their prices have dropped in the last few weeks

[cocowills]

Done two MSC, Armania and Fantasia both really good would defferantly would go with them again, also done NCL, Royal Caribbean, Celbraty and P&O and there ships are really nice lovely and clean and good food

[davenew]

Hi we really enjoyed MSc especially as we were given their black card when we did the loyalty match, we will definitely cruise with them again

 

 

 

Theyve given us the same status (black) - what was so good about it pls.

 

 

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[philsuarez]

Have done both and love both. MSC ships particular are stunning although as others have mentioned there are differences. MSC has a more international feel. We have just been on MSC Seaside out of Miami and were fortunate to stay in the Yacht Club which is the ship within a ship concept. The food, staff and facilities were exceptional. Several of the more modern MSC ships now offer an inside Yacht Club cabin which can be had for a similar price to a normal balcony. This is well worth it.