1 Annoyance I have with MSC...

[Megtheblackbelt]

Is that the listed excursions in their planner do not provide any rating/review/feedback system from those whom have taken the tours. I like the safety of booking ship tours in case something goes awry (to avoid missing the ship), but I certainly don't want to book a crappy tour, and would much prefer to book a third-party one with rave reviews as opposed to less-desirable reviews.

 

Can we please have ratings/reviews from passengers, MSC? 

That said - has anyone historically had good - reputable - experiences with booking MSC-sponsored excursions?

 

#rantover

[dexddd]

I'd ask here directly or on shore excursion page.  TBH, I don't give much reliance on people's feedback on a cruise website.  As example, NCL added a 'ask and answer' section which is full of wrong info. At least if someone posts wrong or seemingly biased info, it gets called out here on CC.

 

We have done several MSC due to reasonable prices compared to other lines.  All have been as advertised and only had one altered due to rough seas.

[Megtheblackbelt]

3 minutes ago, dexddd said:

I'd ask here directly or on shore excursion page.  TBH, I don't give much reliance on people's feedback on a cruise website.  As example, NCL added a 'ask and answer' section which is full of wrong info. At least if someone posts wrong or seemingly biased info, it gets called out here on CC.

 

We have done several MSC due to reasonable prices compared to other lines.  All have been as advertised and only had one altered due to rough seas.

 

That sounds promising! Thank you for your thoughts. The descriptions of MSC's excursions are nearly identical to ones we are looking at from a 3rd party, but their cost is much better (MSC's), so I think it would be good to try out MSC's this time around. That said, I won't book any excursions through MSC until we are much closer to sail date - who knows what will happen. 😮 

[dexddd]

If you end up with your YC sailing still, tickets delivered to room and you meet in lounge for escort to excursion meeting point on dock.  They'll have bottles of water in lounge for you to take.

 

I'd wait too.  Much of our refund from 95 days ago is for excursions.  Did I say shame on them?

[Megtheblackbelt]

2 minutes ago, dexddd said:

If you end up with your YC sailing still, tickets delivered to room and you meet in lounge for escort to excursion meeting point on dock.  They'll have bottles of water in lounge for you to take.

 

I'd wait too.  Much of our refund from 95 days ago is for excursions.  Did I say shame on them?

 

See, that is what I want with excursions. Stress-free, little to no cattle-herding, and good direction given. 

 

That stinks, I am super sorry. Ick.

[Hlitner]

12 hours ago, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

See, that is what I want with excursions. Stress-free, little to no cattle-herding, and good direction given. 

 

That stinks, I am super sorry. Ick.

I think it is true that booking cruise line excursions is relatively stress-free.  But after cruising extensively for over 40 years we have learned to generally avoid any cruise line excursion because we do think most are akin to "cattle herding."  Bottom line is large group excursions are a trade-off.  You lose much of your freedom in order to gain the security that comes from being part of a herd.   DW and I prefer having our freedom which usually means doing things on our own (no problem in Europe or the Caribbean. 

 

Hanj

[dexddd]

We normally do our own excursions too.  I can say on some like going to a resort in Caribbean where most of day is at beach or pool VS booking on your own, the only cattle herding is the sitting on large bus to and from.  Bottom line, MSC has very reasonable prices VS other lines.

[BermudaBound2014]

On 6/25/2020 at 6:46 AM, Megtheblackbelt said:

 

See, that is what I want with excursions. Stress-free, little to no cattle-herding, and good direction given. 

 

 

One of the things that MSC gets dinged on pretty consistently is lack of organization and communication. This carries into excursions. I would not recommend a ship excursion for the purpose of avoiding cattle-herding. I think you be more likely to experience this with a ship excursion. 

[Hlitner]

17 hours ago, dexddd said:

We normally do our own excursions too.  I can say on some like going to a resort in Caribbean where most of day is at beach or pool VS booking on your own, the only cattle herding is the sitting on large bus to and from.  Bottom line, MSC has very reasonable prices VS other lines.

When on MSC in the Caribbean we always cruise in the YC.  There is little reason for us to even bother getting off the ship at most ports since the YC is a lot nicer then most of the Caribbean islands.   I should add that we have been to the Caribbean many times over the past 45 years and have never, ever, taken an excursion.  Why?  We know the islands, know the beaches, can get to our favorite places via cheap local transportation.  On some islands we might rent a car so we can hit a few decent snorkel beaches but there is no way we would ever book a tour/excursion in the Caribbean.

 

The situation becomes a bit more tricky in ports of some places in Asia, South America and Africa.   But even in many places on those continents we will go off on our own.  Doing your own thing in places like Dakar or Casablanca can be a challenge, but it is still doable and a lot of fun.

 

Hank

[dexddd]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

When on MSC in the Caribbean we always cruise in the YC.  There is little reason for us to even bother getting off the ship at most ports since the YC is a lot nicer then most of the Caribbean islands.   I should add that we have been to the Caribbean many times over the past 45 years and have never, ever, taken an excursion.  Why?  We know the islands, know the beaches, can get to our favorite places via cheap local transportation.  On some islands we might rent a car so we can hit a few decent snorkel beaches but there is no way we would ever book a tour/excursion in the Caribbean.

 

The situation becomes a bit more tricky in ports of some places in Asia, South America and Africa.   But even in many places on those continents we will go off on our own.  Doing your own thing in places like Dakar or Casablanca can be a challenge, but it is still doable and a lot of fun.

 

Hank

That's great you got your groove.  We sail YC all the time too. We have Kids who haven't been sailing 45 years so some of these places are new are of interest to them other than Nassau where we've all been to more times then we like.

[GOLDENBONNY]

On 6/25/2020 at 5:04 AM, Megtheblackbelt said:

Is that the listed excursions in their planner do not provide any rating/review/feedback system from those whom have taken the tours. I like the safety of booking ship tours in case something goes awry (to avoid missing the ship), but I certainly don't want to book a crappy tour, and would much prefer to book a third-party one with rave reviews as opposed to less-desirable reviews.

 

Can we please have ratings/reviews from passengers, MSC? 

That said - has anyone historically had good - reputable - experiences with booking MSC-sponsored excursions?

 

#rantover

MSC as any other cruise line use local excursion companies. All cruise lines use same operators . 

[Hlitner]

On 6/27/2020 at 11:14 AM, dexddd said:

That's great you got your groove.  We sail YC all the time too. We have Kids who haven't been sailing 45 years so some of these places are new are of interest to them other than Nassau where we've all been to more times then we like.

Agree that kids and grandkids change everything :).  For our grandchildren we would willingly suffer some of the Caribbean ports.

 

Hank

[BermudaBound2014]

On 6/29/2020 at 12:44 PM, GOLDENBONNY said:

MSC as any other cruise line use local excursion companies. All cruise lines use same operators . 

 

This is factually incorrect. Not all cruise lines use the same operators. While it is true that most cruise lines offer similar excursions; example almost all cruise lines will offer a catamaran ride to snorkeling in St. Thomas; they will not be using the same boats and may/may not be using the same operator to run the boat.