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Used to Royal and Celebrity - Tell me how MSC compares


Choozin Croozin
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I am looking for something different to celebrate my 65th birthday, but my budget won't allow what I really want to do. I was looking at different options than what Royal, Celebrity and NCL had to offer and I came across MSC... I ashamed to say I have never heard of them. I tried doing a search, but not coming up with much. Looking for opinions, advice or what have you. 

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With MSC you need to realise it will not be like Royal, Celebrity and NCL ,

you need to embrace the differences and then you will have a fantastic time. 

with MSC it all comes down to you doing your research, lots of research  to know if its the cruise line for you , Myself I love MSC ive 3 up coming cruises  booked with them so far, you will however come across many negative reviews /comments about MSC usually because cruisers think it will be like other lines they have cruised with and they simply didnt do research  

where are you thinking of cruising with MSC and which ship because this makes a difference to the cruise experience. 

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We have cruised Royal, Princess  etc and did MSC in January, we are about to cruise with them again on Saturday for 4 weeks. Figured if we are going to try them we only do MSC this year!

The comparison to other lines is subjective and you get what you pay for.

I would only sail in Yacht Club and if its a special birthday treat you may want to go that way. Prices are going up due to how popular they are getting. A few people have posted reviews on them -Celebrity cruisers do like them but the food in our opinion is not up to Blu or Luminae 

There is a topic Should we sail MSC in Yacht Club on this board on page 2 at the moment. 

Edited by emmas gran
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I found MSC more similar than different as compared to Royal, NCL, HAL, Carnival, etc  The biggest difference is related to the multi-languages aboard. You hear announcements in five languages, and the entertainment in the main theatre is more visual and, IMHO, far superior than having old Vegas lounge acts.  No comedienne, etc. 

 

 

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I enjoy MSC but consider it a value line. I would not choose MSc unless they were substantially lower priced than a comparable Itinerary. I think it’s wise to adjust expectations to the price paid.

 

Some distinct differences are related to customer service. This theme is pretty consistent in the reviews you read here.The customer is not always right and getting consistent responses is challenging. MSc is growing fast and communication between the company is lacking.

 

The shows are substantially shorter. Probably right around 30 minutes. Shows are good, better than the typical shows on older ships, but no where near the quality of some of the broadway experiences offered by new large ships. IMO of course. Also, as mentioned, not much (if any) talking during the shows as the audience is multi languaged. Think blu man type of entertainment.

 

Food is subjective but I would rank MSC dead last for my particular taste buds. I don’t cruise for food and I certainly didn’t starve. The pizza was delicious. 

 

Msc ships are beautiful and clean. I’ve sailed both in and out of the YC. The YC Is very nice, but I wouldn’t rank YC service over the top. Perhaps we just hit an off week but I saw my butler twice 🤔. My experience seems to be in the minority.

 

If you select MSC to save a few bucks and go into it with adjusted expectations you should have a great trip. 

 

 

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Other than the ship being multi-lingual, there's not a whole lotta' difference between MSC and other lines.  We've been on well over 100 cruises/TA's on just about every line sailing or no longer in operation.  We've just booked our 4th MSC cruise.  As far as dining....we didn't see much difference between MDR on any of our MSC sailings compared to others.

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We are RC and Celebrity cruisers who love MSC.   MSC has more international guests who love to party way into the night.  Food is the same as other ships with better pizza and Italian entrees.  Ships are beautiful and spotless.  

When you choose to cruise with MSC you have to pick your level of experience, Bella, Fantastica, Aurea or go all out and book Yacht Club.  You'll need to read up on these levels to see which one suits your needs.  We've done Fantastica in the past and have Yacht Club booked.  

We would do more MSC cruises but they didn't have the itineraries we wanted right now.  Will definitely do more MSC in the future.

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We’ve sailed on MSC twice. Once in the Caribbean on the Divina and once in the Mediterranean on the Meraviglia.

 

After the cruise on the Divina, I considered MSC to be one notch above Carnival and one notch below Royal. Beautiful ship, but service, cuisine an overall vibe just felt a bit on the budget side.

 

But then we sailed on the Meraviglia and we were wowed! It was similar to our experience sailing on Royal’s Oasis class. The ship was new, beautiful, enormous (currently second in size to the Oasis class) and a technological marvel. Cuisine was much more varied, and customer service was greatly improved from our experience in the Caribbean. Entertainment onboard has been elevated a few notches thanks to MSC’s partnership with Cirque du Soleil. They have a dedicated theater and they have nightly performances with alternating shows created exclusively for MSC. Just as professional and mesmerizing as on land. 

 

But where the Meraviglia truly wowed us was with the accommodations. Yes, a lot has been said about the excellent MSC’s Yacht Club (their private enclave), but we opted for an Aurea Duplex Suite (similar to a Crown Loft Suite). This suite was not part of the Yacht Club but it still came packed with tons of perks. We had priority embarkation and debarkation, unlimited drinking package, complimentary access to the spa’s thermal suite, complimentary massages, access to a private solarium just for suite guests, dedicated open seating section in the MDR for Aurea passengers, Nespresso coffee system in our suite, as well as our own jacuzzi tub in our forward facing balcony. 

 

The best part about it? We literally paid 1/4th of what a Crown Loft Suite would’ve cost on Royal (or the cost of a standard balcony stateroom with zero perks)! MSC has truly spoiled us for life, and after that experience, I now consider them one of my favorite cruise lines. 

 

In a nutshell, MSC is decidedly a mainstream cruise line just like the mainstream cruise lines in the United States, but the opportunities are there to upgrade your experience. From Bella (bottom experience) to the Yacht Club (top experience), you can choose how fancy you want your cruise to be and how much you want included in your cruise fare.

 

They cater heavily to the European market. One of the things that we truly enjoyed about sailing MSC in the Mediterranean was being able to disconnect from the USA.  Fellow passengers were mostly from Europe but there was also a large percentage from Asia. I only came across two other American families the entire week, and only heard English sporadically.

 

Entertainment and cuisine is geared towards a broader and more international clientele. For me, all of that was a welcome change. After all, we took this cruise to experience new things. But MSC’s International flair has been a source of discontent for many Americans (specially those sailing from US ports) who would prefer a more Americanized cruise experience and who don’t care for the multi language and multi cultural experience. They tend to find fault at everything, from the more European (aloof) customer service to the entertainment options (no comedians, dueling pianos, or any form

of entertainment that relies heavily on spoken word due to the many languages spoken onboard).

 

If you do your research, welcome change, and go with an open mind, you’ll enjoy MSC. If you’re set in your ways or expect it to be just like the US cruise lines, maybe not so much. 

 

Edited by Tapi
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