Seascape compare to Royal or NCL?

[volk904]

We had planned an Oct cruise on the Harmony with by granddaughter (4) and daughters. And their husbands but right now I not happy that Royal advertisement says kids sail free but then charges $1000 more for the cabin. It looks like MSC charges just a small fare for port fees so I am interested. We have sailed on Royal 6 times and NCL twice.  Just wondered about positives and negatives compared to what we know.  We can get the drinks and Wi-Fi for less than the Royal Cruise. 

[styles27]

1 hour ago, volk904 said:

We had planned an Oct cruise on the Harmony with by granddaughter (4) and daughters. And their husbands but right now I not happy that Royal advertisement says kids sail free but then charges $1000 more for the cabin. It looks like MSC charges just a small fare for port fees so I am interested. We have sailed on Royal 6 times and NCL twice.  Just wondered about positives and negatives compared to what we know.  We can get the drinks and Wi-Fi for less than the Royal Cruise. 

Remember how much less you’re paying if you book with MSC and then set expectations to that level. if it blows you away then it’s a win. 
MSC seems to be filling ships with these low prices…even though technically they are higher priced than last year when we cruised with them, they’re still way below RCCL and NCL

 

We cruised on MSC for 14 days over New Years in a great aft facing balcony room with drinks and WiFi included for less than what we’re paying for our upcoming 7 day on NCL without drinks. 
Our cruise on MSC was PACKED with people and I’ll never cruise during a major holiday like that again. 

But I say try it. You really have to experience it for yourself. 
 

[styles27]

Oh MSC does status matches to hotels, other cruise lines etc.

 If you have 6 cruises on Royal you can do a status match with MSC and get some extra perks. 
 

[Nunagoras]

@styles27 has said most of its all. Many thanks!

 

Never gone with NCL, gone on MSC (7) and RCI (1) myself. Bear in mind that while both companies will follow the same 4* EU land hotel standards, once MSC is Italian owned and Italian strong heritage influenced, MSC will reflect more of the culture from where it comes, both on the service provided and the passenger mix within you'll probably will go with. That said; and for me this is the basic; if going aboard a ship full of foreign born individuals with a more European centered service level is not your cup of tea, please, stick with what you're used to. MSC is hardly discounting in the US now for the sake of gaining some market preference. Come the day that is solidified, they'll just to raise their fares to the remaining contemporary lines level.

[styles27]

@Nunagorashave any of your MSC cruises been from the US?
 

[perakcruiser]

19 hours ago, volk904 said:

We had planned an Oct cruise on the Harmony with by granddaughter (4) and daughters. And their husbands but right now I not happy that Royal advertisement says kids sail free but then charges $1000 more for the cabin. It looks like MSC charges just a small fare for port fees so I am interested. We have sailed on Royal 6 times and NCL twice.  Just wondered about positives and negatives compared to what we know.  We can get the drinks and Wi-Fi for less than the Royal Cruise. 

My simple recommendation is don´t go with the liars and the cheaters, go with MSC. Since we have kids we only choose kids friendly lines where kids really sail free or almost free. 

[mvh]

Now that we are in our 50s and we don't have little kids, MSC is fine, The ships are beautiful, the cabins are nice, there are fewer kids and the price cannot be beat. The biggest difference to us is the entertainment is usually brutal and lacking. You definitely get what you pay for and our kids would be bored to tears on these ships, but we like them just fine.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Haven't sailed on Seascape yet but have been on Seaview and Seashore and they are beautiful ships. How they compare to NCL and RCI ships depends on which NCL and RCI ships you're considering. Both of the latter have some older ships in their fleets without the bells and whistles of their newer ships.

 

Yeah, I hate how NCL and RCI advertise "free kids" or "free 2nd passenger" but when you look at the prices, they're the same as before they offered that promotion.

[skittl1321]

I haven't sailed either, but I am really interested to see how they compare.

 

People talk about MSC deep discounting- but I have a junior suite for 4 on Royal, with a kids sail free promo, for the same price as a balcony on MSC, with drinks and wifi included (which is moot, I don't drink and I have never used cruise internet, so I could live without it). Cruise length the same.   MSC is not a "cheap" product.  

 

I am hoping MSC will be a bit of a step up from Carnival, but if it isn't, well, hopefully it isn't too much of a step down.

[styles27]

43 minutes ago, skittl1321 said:

I haven't sailed either, but I am really interested to see how they compare.

 

People talk about MSC deep discounting- but I have a junior suite for 4 on Royal, with a kids sail free promo, for the same price as a balcony on MSC, with drinks and wifi included (which is moot, I don't drink and I have never used cruise internet, so I could live without it). Cruise length the same.   MSC is not a "cheap" product.  

 

I am hoping MSC will be a bit of a step up from Carnival, but if it isn't, well, hopefully it isn't too much of a step down.

Which Royal ship?  I have been comparing pricing for the last few weeks and Royal and Carnival have come out the highest every time and we’re pretty high loyalty tier on Royal. MSC is always hundreds of dollars less. 
 

Our last MSC cruise in January was very similar to the party crowd on Carnival.  
Very disappointing but the low prices are attracting a lot of curious first time people on MSC. The all in alcohol doesn’t help. 

[Gatordad1967]

16 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

I haven't sailed either, but I am really interested to see how they compare.

 

People talk about MSC deep discounting- but I have a junior suite for 4 on Royal, with a kids sail free promo, for the same price as a balcony on MSC, with drinks and wifi included (which is moot, I don't drink and I have never used cruise internet, so I could live without it). Cruise length the same.   MSC is not a "cheap" product.  

 

I am hoping MSC will be a bit of a step up from Carnival, but if it isn't, well, hopefully it isn't too much of a step down.

Being a step up from Carnival is not that difficult to do.

 

[skittl1321]

1 minute ago, Gatordad1967 said:

Being a step up from Carnival is not that difficult to do.

 

Good. Then MSC should meet my expectation.  I'm worried though because I have heard so much negative since booking.

 

When we first sailed Carnival it was a much nicer experience than when we last sailed with them. MSC is also a step up in price from Carnival.

[skittl1321]

15 hours ago, styles27 said:

Which Royal ship?  I have been comparing pricing for the last few weeks and Royal and Carnival have come out the highest every time and we’re pretty high loyalty tier on Royal. MSC is always hundreds of dollars less. 
 

Anthem of the Seas and MSC Seascape.

Both are during summer holidays, as the kids have to be out of school.  Maybe it is just because I booked Anthem so early.  They also had kids sail free, and MSC did not. (I have rechecked MSC's current kids sail free offer, and it actually makes the cruise I have booked more expensive.)  The Anthem cruise, junior suite, is about $500 less for our family. It doesn't have any drinks or wifi included, but I need neither of those things.  I will probably have some sodas on MSC since they are included, but if they were not, I am typically a $0 onboard bill kind of person. 

 

The ports are different though, so I am not comparing apples to oranges, but Carribean to Europe.  (Interestingly, I am taking the European line out of Miami, and the American line out of Southhampton.)

[Nunagoras]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:17 PM, skittl1321 said:

Anthem of the Seas and MSC Seascape.

Both are during summer holidays, as the kids have to be out of school.  Maybe it is just because I booked Anthem so early.  They also had kids sail free, and MSC did not. (I have rechecked MSC's current kids sail free offer, and it actually makes the cruise I have booked more expensive.)  The Anthem cruise, junior suite, is about $500 less for our family. It doesn't have any drinks or wifi included, but I need neither of those things.  I will probably have some sodas on MSC since they are included, but if they were not, I am typically a $0 onboard bill kind of person. 

 

The ports are different though, so I am not comparing apples to oranges, but Carribean to Europe.  (Interestingly, I am taking the European line out of Miami, and the American line out of Southhampton.)

MSC in Europe is becoming REALLY more expensive than anything RCI, except for the Oasis class. Time will tell how the World Europa does in direct competition...

[Nunagoras]

On 2/2/2023 at 6:25 PM, styles27 said:

@Nunagorashave any of your MSC cruises been from the US?
 

No. Europe, UAE, South America and Transatlantic from South America and Europe.

 

I believe that one day MSC will need to create an independent US division with their own independent identity to go with on most US sailings. It's difficult to please both worlds in the same way...

[OkieTO]

I’ve sailed the NCL Jade (Western Mediterranean), Gem (Western Caribbean) and the newest, the Prima (Western Europe and Fjords cruise). Have also sailed on Celebrity and RC (but over 15 years ago). 
 

Sailing on MSC Seascape May 28, 2023 and will return to offer my opinion then. Have been hearing less than stellar reviews so am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.