Hello guys and ladies, What’s MSC like compared to carnival?

[momofmeg]

 I only sailed MSC once back in 2019.  We were supposed to go in 2020 but COVID happened but we really liked MSC. We really liked the international flair and how many PAX were European even though we sailed out of Miami. Contrast with our Carnival Pride sailing from Dover England this summer.  That cruise was 90% Americans and Canadians. There was a small tour group from Japan, under 100 people, and we met a couple from Israel, but we met only one British family. That was it.

 

 The things we love best about Carnival is the pizza station, ice-cream. omelets, and taco bar all in the buffet. Carnival does that best, we all know but MSC also had great pizza It was just as good, and their soft serve ice cream was almost as good. No taco bar but the main dining room did serve great pasta dishes. Italian does seem to be their specialty.

 

As far as the shows, etc. they were good. I do not remember any towel animals though. I can tell you more after December as we are finally taking the cruise, we hoped to take back in 2020.

[momofmeg]

On 10/13/2022 at 2:28 AM, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

i don’t drink at all honestly, I do love food though and I enjoy the fun shows and deck parties and watching movies under the stars on my carnival cruises.

 

 Thank you all for the responses. I have booked my first MSC cruise for next year. 

Most Princess ships offer movie sunder the stars too.

 

[momofmeg]

On 10/13/2022 at 12:07 AM, Stockjock said:

Offshore customer service is better on Carnival.

Most everything else, I prefer MSC.

Exception: If you like to drink until you are sloppy drunk and are a hardcore party animal, Carnival may be a better option.

Carnival may offer more for hardcore drunks; I do not know but I found if I took a week or longer cruise I never had to dela with that. That goes for all lines, shorter cruises seem to bring out the worst in people as though they need to put in much as they can since they do not have a week. Royal Caribbean short cruises were just as bad. NCL although not as many drunks had a lot of misbehaving youths beating on our room doors 1 am in the morning and throwing food down the stair wells all the time. Even a shorter Celebrity cruise had people behaving badly. However, on all these lines, people behaved much better when the cruise was not a short "party" cruise. I never want to book anything shorter than 5 days.

[Homosassa]

6 minutes ago, momofmeg said:

Most Princess ships offer movie sunder the stars too.

 

Movies under the stars is done best by Princess, IMO. 

 

The blankets for the chilly evening, the free popcorn, and the passing of milk and cookies by the deck crew toward the end of the movie adds to the experience.  I also like that on the Princess ships I was on, the seating for the movie screen was tiered with the lounge chairs facing the screen on the decks higher than the pool deck.

 

[Homosassa]

4 hours ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - two cruises on Celebrity in the first six months of 2022 under my belt. First cruise on Celebrity was on Chandris in 1976.  I am well aware of the evaluation of the brand and on board experience over the last forty six years.

 

 

That should be "evolution" and not evaluation of the brand.

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, Homosassa said:

LOL - two cruises on Celebrity in the first six months of 2022 under my belt. First cruise on Celebrity was on Chandris in 1976.  I am well aware of the evaluation of the brand and on board experience over the last forty six years.  It has changed.

 

I have cruise Carnival - my opinion reflects my experience on board ship. 

 

I am not loyal to any one brand - I have cruised on lines over the years that you have probably never heard of or know their tie to current cruise lines.

 

MSC is just one of many that I will cruise nowadays and, yes, I consider it the best family cruise line for those that actually want to cruise with and enjoy spending time with all members of the family.

 

Funny, you consider MSC to be an entry level cruise line. If I had to compare my experience on MSC with any cruise lines that I now sail, Viking Ocean comes to mind  because of the cosmopolitan atmosphere on board and the expectations and behavior of those repeat  MSC cruisers from around the world.

 

FYI - I don't do Yacht Club, if I want that experience I do Viking. Until they changed the category to be only guaranteed , I booked a Bella interior cabin as low and amidships as possible. 

You actually think that MSC is not an entry level cruise line comparable to RCI, NCL and Carnival?  They are certainly not on the level of Celebrity, Princess and HAL,  let alone Viking. There are many from the states that have tried MSC and hate it, unless they have stayed in the YC.

 

We currently have a booking for July on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.  Our precious cruise on MSC was four years ago on the Seaside when she was brand new.  We got a great rate on an inside YC cabin since we would never pay what NCL wants for the Haven and we wanted to experience the ship within a ship concept.  Very nice experience, but the European skewed shows and no comedy club or piano bar was a letdown. We'll see how the Meraviglia is. Contemplating 14 days on the Seascape in the summer of 2024

[carlmm]

38 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

 There are many from the states that have tried MSC and hate it, unless they have stayed in the YC.

Isn't that interesting?

One might go even so far to say there is some Yacht club snobism by Americans on this board.

Never have seen this "one can only endure the exclusive maybe 2 or 3% of passengers section" in any European board.  

[shipgeeks]

Further to several comments above.

No taco bar?  I saw (and enjoyed) a smallish taco bar on Seaside almost every day, more often than I've ever seen one on RC.

However, personally, I hope MSC never becomes a clone of RC/Carnival/NCL.  If I wanted only Broadway-type shows, and American music and food, I could more easily sail on those lines.  I choose MSC because it is more interesting to be aboard.  I loved the shows, and very much enjoyed having foods that are not what I can get at home every day.  I'm fine with having no comedy shows, no piano bar, and I ask for "no towel animals" on all cruises.  BTW, we sail Bella, not YC.

[no1talks]

What talk of which cruise lines appealed, appeal, and will appeal to whom (in the past, present, and future) looks like to me...



Kidding aside, though... I consider myself, as @Homosassa mentioned, "new to cruising but have discovered the joys of the 'classical' experience." Accordingly, we'll continue to enjoy low tea in the afternoon, dress for dinner, and avoid cruises where the passengers are the "entertainment."

Hopefully, there will continue to be cruises available for all types of cruisers, whether staid or audacious. Also, hopefully, all cruise lines will have the good sense to develop and maintain an identity for their customer base and not try to half-assedly be all things to all cruisers. 

 

 

[guxu]

On 10/13/2022 at 11:18 AM, CampNCruise74 said:

Yes, I have seen no tank tops by men on MSC in MDR.  Recently on the Mardi Gras I saw them multiple times.   Carnival has no table cloths.  MSC is still using them, making the MDR a more fancy affair.... 

That's good. As long as we can wear polo and jeans in main dinning room, I am fine.

[Homosassa]

18 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You actually think that MSC is not an entry level cruise line comparable to RCI, NCL and Carnival?  They are certainly not on the level of Celebrity, Princess and HAL,  let alone Viking. There are many from the states that have tried MSC and hate it, unless they have stayed in the YC.

 

 

I think you missed the entire point I was trying to make about the international passenger composition on MSC as regards to their familiarity with other cultures and general comportment on the ship.

 

This is what I find in common with Viking, the old HAL, Princess before Carnivalization, and Celebrity before they started to flounder a bit with the on board experience.

 

I know that MSC was trying to break into the US market and therefore offered rates to entice the bottom tier cruisers to try MSC. IMO, that was a big mistake for the on board cruise experience they were offering.

 

On our second Divina cruise (before Covid), as was usual, an officer was cruising the buffet and asking passengers if they were enjoying their cruise.  When he came to our table, we mentioned we were repeat customers and he started asking us specific questions on our cruise history and why we came back to MSC.

 

After telling him, I asked him the question about MSC's push for the bottom tier cruisers (Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean) as opposed to HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara passengers.  Most of the new US passengers were obviously not a good fit for MSC.

 

He told me that MSC made the decision to target the low end cruise passengers in the hope that they were ready to move on and move up in the cruising experience. Management felt that HAL, Princess and that ilk passenger was already happy with their cruise lines and would not be looking to move over (his words, notice, "not down") to MSC.

 

Told him his management was mistaken because many of us that no longer cruise Carnival, NCL, and RCL were seeing cracks in the onboard experience on HAL, Princess, and Celebrity and were looking around.  

 

With that, he told us that a group of officers did meet on a daily basis to discuss passenger feed back and asked if we willing to have him come back with questions from that group.

 

It became a daily routine in the buffet at lunch, he would look for us, take out his note pad and give us the questions of the day about what passengers of our experience were looking for.

 

The last night of the cruise, we found in our Bella inside cabin one of the coveted chocolate ships with a hand written note thanking us for our input. It was signed by the captain and hotel director.

 

So, yes, I do believe that MSC is not an entry level cruise line.  Many mistake the fact that MSC manages to control the fare games so dear to some passengers hearts and therefore offer the lower fares at the onset instead of the joke of fare drops, OBC, and other "gottacha" games so dear to some passengers hearts.

 

Anyone not knowing what I mean, read the Terms and Conditions on the MSC website.

[Homosassa]

18 hours ago, carlmm said:

Isn't that interesting?

One might go even so far to say there is some Yacht club snobism by Americans on this board.

Never have seen this "one can only endure the exclusive maybe 2 or 3% of passengers section" in any European board.  

Ya' think?

 

It is funny, those who would only cruise in the Yacht Club  for the most part would never  pay for a truly upscale experience on a higher tier line.

 

They are happy with the YC ghetto and prefer to think of themselves as above the rest of the passengers.

 

[JAGR]

48 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Ya' think?

 

It is funny, those who would only cruise in the Yacht Club  for the most part would never  pay for a truly upscale experience on a higher tier line.

 

They are happy with the YC ghetto and prefer to think of themselves as above the rest of the passengers.

 

Ghetto has a negative connotation.  Let me ask you about your "research" on YC.  You don't sail in YC, yet have 'absolute' findings, such as, "Those who would only cruise in the Yacht Club  for the most part would never  pay for a truly upscale experience on a higher tier line."  If you've read posts by people who have sailed in YC, you would know that your assumption is incorrect.  Most YCers have sailed Regent, Windstar, Ponant, Seabourn, Oceana, or even Haven on NCL.  I don't think most of us feel above the rest (I'll admit that some do).  I really think your resorting to informal fallacies such as unwarranted generalization, straw person, and begging the question is over the top behavior.

[CruizinSusan70]

2 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I think you missed the entire point I was trying to make about the international passenger composition on MSC as regards to their familiarity with other cultures and general comportment on the ship.

 

This is what I find in common with Viking, the old HAL, Princess before Carnivalization, and Celebrity before they started to flounder a bit with the on board experience.

 

I know that MSC was trying to break into the US market and therefore offered rates to entice the bottom tier cruisers to try MSC. IMO, that was a big mistake for the on board cruise experience they were offering.

 

On our second Divina cruise (before Covid), as was usual, an officer was cruising the buffet and asking passengers if they were enjoying their cruise.  When he came to our table, we mentioned we were repeat customers and he started asking us specific questions on our cruise history and why we came back to MSC.

 

After telling him, I asked him the question about MSC's push for the bottom tier cruisers (Carnival, NCL, Royal Caribbean) as opposed to HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Azamara passengers.  Most of the new US passengers were obviously not a good fit for MSC.

 

He told me that MSC made the decision to target the low end cruise passengers in the hope that they were ready to move on and move up in the cruising experience. Management felt that HAL, Princess and that ilk passenger was already happy with their cruise lines and would not be looking to move over (his words, notice, "not down") to MSC.

 

Told him his management was mistaken because many of us that no longer cruise Carnival, NCL, and RCL were seeing cracks in the onboard experience on HAL, Princess, and Celebrity and were looking around.  

 

With that, he told us that a group of officers did meet on a daily basis to discuss passenger feed back and asked if we willing to have him come back with questions from that group.

 

It became a daily routine in the buffet at lunch, he would look for us, take out his note pad and give us the questions of the day about what passengers of our experience were looking for.

 

The last night of the cruise, we found in our Bella inside cabin one of the coveted chocolate ships with a hand written note thanking us for our input. It was signed by the captain and hotel director.

 

So, yes, I do believe that MSC is not an entry level cruise line.  Many mistake the fact that MSC manages to control the fare games so dear to some passengers hearts and therefore offer the lower fares at the onset instead of the joke of fare drops, OBC, and other "gottacha" games so dear to some passengers hearts.

 

Anyone not knowing what I mean, read the Terms and Conditions on the MSC website.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I have cruised on MSC, NCL, RCI and Carnival and in general they are more similar than different.  If I did have to differentiate one line it would be MSC.  Not because it was upgraded similar to Princess or Celebrity, but because it was European oriented compared to the other lines in multiple ways.  The food selections, the entertainment choices and the clientele in general were all different than the other three US based lines.  This is all up to personal preference as to whether or not this constitutes an upgraded experience.  You consider it upgraded, based upon my single MSC cruise out of 45 I consider it different.

We will be going on the Meraviglia in July out of Brooklyn in an inside Fantastica cabin with easy plus and wifi for under 800 pp, which I consider a good price. Depending upon how this cruise transpires will decide if we will spend 14 days on the Seascape in May of 2024.

[momofmeg]

On 10/14/2022 at 4:36 PM, shipgeeks said:

Further to several comments above.

No taco bar?  I saw (and enjoyed) a smallish taco bar on Seaside almost every day, more often than I've ever seen one on RC.

However, personally, I hope MSC never becomes a clone of RC/Carnival/NCL.  If I wanted only Broadway-type shows, and American music and food, I could more easily sail on those lines.  I choose MSC because it is more interesting to be aboard.  I loved the shows, and very much enjoyed having foods that are not what I can get at home every day.  I'm fine with having no comedy shows, no piano bar, and I ask for "no towel animals" on all cruises.  BTW, we sail Bella, not YC.

 To be fair I was on an old ship, Armonia, only like 2000 PAX, so maybe there was no room for a taco bar. We were supposed to go to Cuba but 2 weeks before our departure Cuba got banned again for Americans and we went to Key West instead. Remember I said I had only done one cruise on MSC and I was supposed to do a cruise similar to the one we have booked now this December, that was supposed to happen in in May 2020 which COVID canceled. That cruise was Seaside I think, and now we are going on Seascape. Lol when we booked this latest cruise, I thought it was the same ship until my daughter told me Seaescape is brand new.

 

I do know there is a Mexican alacarte restaurant on Seaescape. It is considered sort of a specialty pay extra restaurant, but you pay by what you get. So, you don't have to have a meal of several courses if you don't want that much. The sushi bar works the same way from what I have read. 

 

Now Carnival's taco bar is no extra charge and is open like 11 to 4.  It is not open at dinnertime. I would think MSC's may be a little better quality since there is a fee for it.

[momofmeg]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I have cruised on MSC, NCL, RCI and Carnival and in general they are more similar than different.  If I did have to differentiate one line it would be MSC.  Not because it was upgraded similar to Princess or Celebrity, but because it was European oriented compared to the other lines in multiple ways.  The food selections, the entertainment choices and the clientele in general were all different than the other three US based lines.  This is all up to personal preference as to whether or not this constitutes an upgraded experience.  You consider it upgraded, based upon my single MSC cruise out of 45 I consider it different.

We will be going on the Meraviglia in July out of Brooklyn in an inside Fantastica cabin with easy plus and wifi for under 800 pp, which I consider a good price. Depending upon how this cruise transpires will decide if we will spend 14 days on the Seascape in May of 2024.

I agree. I have been on all of those lines plus NCL, HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Disney. Now Disney was different, a little step up but more kid oriented. We enjoyed it, but we have no small children, so we have not had the desire to do them again. 

My husband and I pick by itinerary, then price, cruise line choice is a distant third.  As you said, the lines are more alike than different, and the differences are subtle. So even though I may prefer one a little bit more because of my preferences, I can still enjoy myself on another line. No big deal. For example, NCL, their main dining room food is not that good, they really want you to go to the specialty restaurants. However, they have a great buffet, with more choices than other liens, so we tended to eat there if we weren't going to a specialty. the last cruise we took on them we picked because it went to Quebec City and Prince Edward Island, roundtrip from NY. Most of the Canadian cruises do not include Quebec and Prince Edward Island. Only HAL had those ports but the cruise was one way, so you had an extra one-way flight.  NCL's itinerary was so great and the easy of just one round trip flight to NY for us, so we did not mind if the food was not as good.

[Gatordad1967]

I say cruise the line you like the best, and don't worry about how it compares to others.  I like MSC, love YC and they are our primary line.  Sailed Celebrity to Alaska this summer, and had a great time on Solstice.  Celebrity has the reputation of being upscale, but in the end, the experience was like NCL, or MSC....... 

 

Cruise what makes you happy, and don't worry about what others say.

[CampNCruise74]

On 10/15/2022 at 12:36 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I have cruised on MSC, NCL, RCI and Carnival and in general they are more similar than different.  If I did have to differentiate one line it would be MSC.  Not because it was upgraded similar to Princess or Celebrity, but because it was European oriented compared to the other lines in multiple ways.  The food selections, the entertainment choices and the clientele in general were all different than the other three US based lines.  This is all up to personal preference as to whether or not this constitutes an upgraded experience.  You consider it upgraded, based upon my single MSC cruise out of 45 I consider it different.

We will be going on the Meraviglia in July out of Brooklyn in an inside Fantastica cabin with easy plus and wifi for under 800 pp, which I consider a good price. Depending upon how this cruise transpires will decide if we will spend 14 days on the Seascape in May of 2024.

The Meraviglia has been our favorite ship with MSC.   The Sky Lounge evening music was a great place to have a cocktail with a view of the pool below. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by CampNCruise74

[mowogo]

I’m someone that has enjoyed Carnival but not loving them (sailed twice this year).  I really enjoyed my one cruise on MSC, and the status match can seriously elevate your experience in ways that can change the calculations on some trips.  In the US I’m finding MSC offering exceptional solo rates on ships over a decade newer than Carnival (With Divina up against Conquest and Spirit class being the nicest comparison for Carnival).  Even on a sold out holiday weekend booze cruise, I really didn’t have a problem dealing with people being too drunk.  

 

With recent hours cutbacks at Carnival, MSC provides much better support for dining after 8pm with buffet and pizza options. You generally won’t be waiting in a long line to get pizza later in the evening with MSC like my experience with Carnival. If you are a soft serve addict, then Carnival gets the nod with soft serve being available 24/7, vs paid and/or limited hours that it is offered with a staff member serving.

 

The entertainment is extremely different, as the shows of MSC are singers with dancers and circus performances all mixed together vs the Carnival shows where the singers are the dancers for the show.  The pre-show is also different with Carnival having performances related to the theme of the show while MSC will have cirque style clown play pre-show.  

 

Having said all that, I’m currently in the process of debating between booking an upcoming Seascape sailing for my birthday, or booking the first departure from NYC of the Meraviglia

[EllieinNJ]

The first experience I ever had with MSC was when we booked the Fantasia out of Barcelona for April, 2022 which was to be one day after arriving on a TA on the NCL Epic.  For several months I kept checking if any excursions were opening for this med cruise.  Then one day when I was checking on their website I found out that this cruise was changed to the MSC Opera and that the date of sailing was to be one week later.   I was stunned.  Called my TA immediately and she also had no notice of it but she cancelled it with MSC.  Took several weeks to get my deposit refunded.  Swore I would never book MSC again.

 

Then when I heard that the Meraviglia was coming to the NY area I got interested again.  Looked at all the different itineraries and found one in October, 2023 that was doing an 11 day western caribbean rather than the usual eastern and southern caribbean cruises that NCL and RCI do out of the NY/NJ area.   So I booked it.  Just the thought of not having to fly anywhere was incentive enough.  I even got the voyagers club discount which I applied to on the original MSC cruise that I cancelled.

[cruizinisthebest]

On 10/14/2022 at 12:04 AM, CruizinSusan70 said:

MSC is just as much a "family" line as Carnival is.  MSC is an entry level cruise line, similar to RCI, NCL and Carnival.   I also realize that the lack of a comedy club and the type of entertainment that's offered in the main showroom is because of the multiple languages that are on board that needs to be catered to. 

 

And you obviously have not recently sailed on one of the Edge Class ships that Celebrity has because it blows away anything that Celebrity has had in over 30 years and I have sailed on each and every class of ship that Celebrity has put out over that time period.

 

I don't put all of my eggs in one basket.  Have cruised on Carnival, Royal, NCL, MSC, Celebrity and Princess.  No cruise line is perfect, they all have their pluses and minuses, but please don't blow smoke that your beloved MSC is the perfect family line and that Carnival is full of two fisted drinkers.  If that's the only type of cruiser that sailed on Carnival they would not be the largest cruise line in the world.

 

So very well said. And the two-fisted drinker (whatever that is, never heard the expression) comes off very insulting.

 

We are gladly trying MSC for the first time next year due in large part to the pricing and the desire for something different. But I certainly hope the cruise is NOT full of snobs or people that think they or MSC is better than everyone else. One of the reasons why I've stuck with Carnival is because people are certainly not snobby. I don't pay for vacation to be looked down on. I also know how to stay to myself and enjoy the family I'm travelling with. So we will see. There's something for everyone out there. And despite what people think, not every Carnival cruiser is a drunk looking to maximize Cheers. 

[Gatordad1967]

On 10/14/2022 at 3:00 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

You actually think that MSC is not an entry level cruise line comparable to RCI, NCL and Carnival?  They are certainly not on the level of Celebrity, Princess and HAL,  let alone Viking. There are many from the states that have tried MSC and hate it, unless they have stayed in the YC.

 

We currently have a booking for July on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn.  Our precious cruise on MSC was four years ago on the Seaside when she was brand new.  We got a great rate on an inside YC cabin since we would never pay what NCL wants for the Haven and we wanted to experience the ship within a ship concept.  Very nice experience, but the European skewed shows and no comedy club or piano bar was a letdown. We'll see how the Meraviglia is. Contemplating 14 days on the Seascape in the summer of 2024

lol on the level of Celebrity.  Celebrity and MSC are peers.  As well as NCL and Royal.

 

[Gatordad1967]

On 10/24/2022 at 11:49 PM, cruizinisthebest said:

So very well said. And the two-fisted drinker (whatever that is, never heard the expression) comes off very insulting.

 

We are gladly trying MSC for the first time next year due in large part to the pricing and the desire for something different. But I certainly hope the cruise is NOT full of snobs or people that think they or MSC is better than everyone else. One of the reasons why I've stuck with Carnival is because people are certainly not snobby. I don't pay for vacation to be looked down on. I also know how to stay to myself and enjoy the family I'm travelling with. So we will see. There's something for everyone out there. And despite what people think, not every Carnival cruiser is a drunk looking to maximize Cheers. 

 

MSC ppl are pretty normal.  The only thing different is there are more Europeans as they are familiar with MSC in Europe.  Welcome to MSC.

[TwoAdriftAtSea]

The only thing I miss from CCL when cruising MSC, is Guy's Burger Joint and the casino slots payout much better on CCL in my experiences, also Mardi Gras entertainment shows were great. 

MSC has some great value and a high number of South American/European customers.

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, Gatordad1967 said:

lol on the level of Celebrity.  Celebrity and MSC are peers.  As well as NCL and Royal.

 

LOL, MSC is a European skewed entry level cruise line attempting to gain foothold on this side of the pond.   Since I have sailed on MSC, RCI, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess I can make a comparison based on first hand experience.  The only comparison between MSC and Celebrity is the ship within a ship concept on many of their ships with the Yacht Club and the Retreat.  That's where the comparison ends, IMHO.