Stepmom “concerned” about my upcoming cruise

[pgerbphoto]

My husband and I are getting ready to book a cruise on the MSC Divina, and I got this “concerned” text from my stepmom:

 

“Just do me a favor and check in to MSC cruises. I could be totally wrong, but there’s something in the back of my mind that they’ve had problems. Again, I could be totally wrong and confusing it with something else. But I think it’s worth checking into. I hesitated to say anything because I don’t want to dampen your spirits. But I would just feel better if you read some reviews on that cruise line. Maybe it was the one that ran aground in Italy. There’s just something in the back of my mind that they’ve had a problem or problems.”

Thoughts??

[lovemycruisetoo]

Not MSC

[pgerbphoto]

Thank you!!!

[Two Wheels Only]

Every cruise line has had "problems". 

 

4 minutes ago, pgerbphoto said:

Maybe it was the one that ran aground in Italy.

 

That was Costa Concordia.

 

Costa is under the Carnival umbrella of cruise lines along with Princess, Holland America, Seabourn, Cunard, AIDA, P&O). We all know how many problems that Carnival has had over the years. 

 

Ask your stepmom to name any cruise line and I'm sure that something bad has happened on it. 

 

 

 

 

[pgerbphoto]

Thank you!

[pgerbphoto]

I asked her if she could be more specific, but she said she couldn’t think of anything specific. Just that it came to mind. 

[ColeThornton]

30 minutes ago, pgerbphoto said:

I asked her if she could be more specific, but she said she couldn’t think of anything specific. Just that it came to mind. 

 

I'm not sure what kind of thoughts you want from people here in that case.

[lissie]

Regardless where or how you want to travel "concerned" non-travelling relatives and friends will be worried for you. It will even worse now with a pandemic raging - but  at the end of the day do your own research and make your  own choices. Crossing the road holds risks 

[zekekelso]

To answer the question: like all major cruise lines, MSC has occasionally had some hiccups with a cruise and some people have not enjoyed their cruise and given them a poor rating. But nothing out of the ordinary and there’s zero reason for you to be worried. Happy cruising. 

[Huntingdon1701]

MSC has also avoided the Covid issues that other lines have had on start up, and has been sailing safely since last August with over 100 000 passengers. even though there weren't vaccines to start with. A testament to how much care they're taking. Just in case that was another worry. 

[Markanddonna]

People who don't have any facts or details when they make statements aren't helpful at all. 

[pgerbphoto]

I love this, thank you!

[evandbob]

Pretty vague, eh?  I would just tell her, "thanks, we looked into it as you said, and we only saw minor complaints that you can find about any cruiseline.  Appreciate your concern".

 

And then go out and enjoy your cruise.   IMO, MSC seems to have more COVID restrictions than other lines, but nothing severe enough that I would cancel or postpone a booked cruise.

[pgerbphoto]

What do you mean they have more COVID restrictions? I thought they actually had less as far as being able to sail without being vaccinated, etc?

[Essiesmom]

38 minutes ago, pgerbphoto said:

What do you mean they have more COVID restrictions? I thought they actually had less as far as being able to sail without being vaccinated, etc?

When you have unvaccinated guests, they have more restrictions on their activities and behavior than those who are vaccinated.  EM

[Sea Hag]

8 hours ago, lissie said:

Regardless where or how you want to travel "concerned" non-travelling relatives and friends will be worried for you. It will even worse now with a pandemic raging - but  at the end of the day do your own research and make your  own choices. Crossing the road holds risks 

This is true. Travel that's out of the comfort zone for friends and family is apt to cause them some worry. It means they care about you, but it does get a little silly from time to time. Anytime my DH and I went camping, my dad worried about bears. I gave up trying to explain which places we camped that actually had bears and which didn't. I just reassured him that we'd be very careful about that. I agree with others - check out the MSC board here. And then tell your stepmom that you've researched it carefully and it'll be fine.

[sanger727]

24 minutes ago, Sea Hag said:

This is true. Travel that's out of the comfort zone for friends and family is apt to cause them some worry. It means they care about you, but it does get a little silly from time to time. Anytime my DH and I went camping, my dad worried about bears. I gave up trying to explain which places we camped that actually had bears and which didn't. I just reassured him that we'd be very careful about that. I agree with others - check out the MSC board here. And then tell your stepmom that you've researched it carefully and it'll be fine.

 

Agreed. I went to Tanzania 5 years ago or so and people were shocked and told me they couldn't believe I was going there and it wasn't safe..... Um, ok, why specifically is not safe? No real answer to that that made any sense. They just didn't know anything about it and therefore assumed it was unsafe. We had a wonderful time. 

[Roz]

I sail solo a lot and am constantly being given warnings from non-cruisers about how dangerous it is - drinks being drugged, rape, being thrown off balconies, murder, etc. 

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

When you have unvaccinated guests, they have more restrictions on their activities and behavior than those who are vaccinated.  EM

It also means that vaccinated guests will also have more restrictions due to the unvaccinated guests such as mandatory mask wearing in certain locations.

[Paphillyguy]

2 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

When you have unvaccinated guests, they have more restrictions on their activities and behavior than those who are vaccinated.  EM

This is not just a MSC thing other lines are following this path as well.  

[maureencruiser]

She might be thinking of Costa, which had the Concordia disaster a few years ago, since they're both Italian lines.  Other than that, there are unhappy people on all cruise lines.

[deliver42]

I don't kknow of any specific problems that MSC has had, other than their customer service.

[lovemycruisetoo]

Exactly which is the reason why I posted that it was Costa and not MSC. 

[At Sea At Peace]

On 7/20/2021 at 9:27 PM, pgerbphoto said:

 

My husband and I are getting ready to book a cruise on the MSC Divina, and I got this “concerned” text from my stepmom:

 

“Just do me a favor and check in to MSC cruises. I could be totally wrong, but there’s something in the back of my mind that they’ve had problems. Again, I could be totally wrong and confusing it with something else. But I think it’s worth checking into. I hesitated to say anything because I don’t want to dampen your spirits. But I would just feel better if you read some reviews on that cruise line. There’s just something in the back of my mind that they’ve had a problem or problems.”

Thoughts??

 

Closing in on a couple of hundred days cruising since our start in 2008, on RCCL, NCL and MSC, 70 of the most recent 98 have been on MSC - Divina, Seaside and Meraviglia.  Next up is B2B on Seashore in December.  All out of Florida.

 

Until a couple of years ago, the value of booking MSC was significantly better than the competitors as they were clearly building a US market.  The really good reviews and value awareness has caught up with MSC.

 

It's commitment to building the Seaside and Meraviglia 'classes' of ships was big.  They are beautiful cruise ships and very modern.  The experience is different, from the crew, food entertainment etc. in ways that we like to experience; as well as the mix of passengers seem more European.

 

The only suggestion we would have is that you try to secure a reservation on a Seaside or Meraviglia class ship for an experience comparable to any lines' top ships.

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2021 by At Sea At Peace

[sojodave]

We have sailed on MSC out of Miami on the Seaside and the MSC ships are fantastic.  The worse thing about MSC is their website, but onboard, it's a great cruise.:)