MSC Seascape - One and Done

[L1211]

6 hours ago, B_A_H said:

Good lord.  Everyone's making it sound as if the ship was in danger of sinking. This wasn't an emergency.  Let's recap and this is common to all three ships affected that day:

 

• Ships arrived hours late through nothing the cruise lines could control.
• Passengers arriving at their embarkation times caused a huge back up in the cruise terminals because there was no flow of moving passengers because no one could board.
• The event that caused this was of an unknown duration which hampered planning and communication.
• Inbound passengers that arrived late exited in to the already over crowded terminal where departing passengers were backed up.  Many also probably missed their flights and most likely had to overnight at their own expense due to later flights already being full.
• Departing passengers basically had the first day and night of their cruise vacations ruined. 
• Eventually, everyone got off that needed to and everyone leaving boarded and departed.

 

Unless I'm missing something, that's the story.  No one on any of the three cruise lines didn't have a horrible experience that day.  Only degrees of more or less horrible.    

Isn’t that the point?  The fact that it WAS NOT an emergency and MSC handled it so poorly.  Zero confidence in this line if there ever happens to be an actual emergency.  I’ve only sailed MSC once - March on the Mera in YC.  I was not overly impressed…

[perakcruiser]

I dont´t doubt that CCL handled the situation better, but let´s be fair. Miami is CCL land, MSC is the small and powerless foreigner that is tolerated. If something like this would happen in Civita or Naples, CCL and NCL would also struggle I am sure. Don´t think the ports will give out any updates in a language other than Italian 😄And certainly the MSC ship would be treated with priority by the ports. 

 

Apart from that I agree with morpheus, we need more people stop cruising with MSC. It gets out of control, and I don´t want to see the solution "doubled prices". 

[morpheusofthesea]

4 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

 Apart from that I agree with morpheus, we need more people stop cruising with MSC. It gets out of control, 

What I said was this: For Captain to LIMIT the number of His and His officers friends and family in the Yacht Club (Did I hear a scream?)

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

44 of those on our cruise were friends and family of the Captain and his officers in an already full Yacht Club. 'That' he has control over as well. Like how to limit the number ?

"Saying what really thinks can be a serious error, since one risks being misunderstood." Oscar Wilde

[morpheusofthesea]

20 hours ago, PharmacyRx said:

deck it was full of passengers in every available chair, standing and sitting in the floors or walking about yet no direction given as to what group or room numbers were to disembark. Most everyone was pretty crispy by then so we just went to the back of one of lines and waited patiently to leave. 

Understandable. Not wanting to take advantage of one’s last remaining perks. Having your butler escort to the front of the disembarkation line through a real life gauntlet of thrown words or worse.

[sverigecruiser]

8 hours ago, L1211 said:

Isn’t that the point?  The fact that it WAS NOT an emergency and MSC handled it so poorly.  Zero confidence in this line if there ever happens to be an actual emergency.  

 

It might have been completely different if it had been an emergency. They have other protocols to follow then. Now it was something they haven't trained for and because of that they didn't really know what to do.

[morpheusofthesea]

1 minute ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

It might have been completely different if it had been an emergency. They have other protocols to follow then. Now it was something they haven't trained for and because of that they didn't really know what to do.

Motto: when in doubt, let’s hide out.

[morpheusofthesea]

14 hours ago, B_A_H said:

 

If I hear the word "interloper" one more time, I'm going to scream.

 

I just love a good ‘Drama Queen / King’.

[morpheusofthesea]

8 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

we need more people stop cruising MSC

Heaven forbid. Then we’d have nothing to write about.

[BermudaBound2014]

16 hours ago, B_A_H said:

Good lord.  Everyone's making it sound as if the ship was in danger of sinking. This wasn't an emergency.  Let's recap and this is common to all three ships affected that day:

 

• Ships arrived hours late through nothing the cruise lines could control. True
• Passengers arriving at their embarkation times caused a huge back up in the cruise terminals because there was no flow of moving passengers because no one could board. True, but CCL offered refreshments for those waiting in the port. They also provided a bus and $20 pp to head to bayside to enjoy lunch. MSC did nothing of the sort. Granted they have a terrible terminal (only 2 bathrooms?), all the more reason to supply busses to get embarking passengers out of the way.
• The event that caused this was of an unknown duration which hampered planning and communication. Sure, but CCL sent communication much more regularly. MSC was radio silent for 6 hours!! The communication that CCL sent likely helped keep it's guests from arriving at the port earlier. CCL's communication was also much more in depth, including things like what to expect once boarded.
• Inbound passengers that arrived late exited in to the already over crowded terminal where departing passengers were backed up.  Many also probably missed their flights and most likely had to overnight at their own expense due to later flights already being full. ok, while MSC passengers sat on the ship without communication, inbound passengers on CCL were fed well, their drink packages were extended for the day, they were allowed to stay in their cabins, and the cruise staff added entertainment. 
• Departing passengers basically had the first day and night of their cruise vacations ruined. I think you mean embarking passengers?  Again, CCL handled it differently. To help ease the pain of the unforeseen circumstances, CCL offered a refund on the first day's gratuity, drink package, and internet package. 
• Eventually, everyone got off that needed to and everyone leaving boarded and departed. Eventually is the operative word. Both CCL and NCL  SAILED their ships while MSC sat at the terminal in a cluster. And it wasn't a matter of a few minutes. CCL and NCL sailed around midnight while @LMaxwell was still sitting in the terminal waiting to board!!

 

Unless I'm missing something, that's the story.  No one on any of the three cruise lines didn't have a horrible experience that day.  Only degrees of more or less horrible.    

 

See my responses in red above. The 'degree of horrible' was considerably higher on MSC than either of the competition ships. I'm not a CCL cheerleader, but their ability to pivot with this event was impressive. Even if they didn't offer any of the compensation, the communication from CCL was spot on. MSC failed basic communication which is alarming. 

 

 

[NMsunset]

Sounds as if MSC, is not the cruise line for the OP and many of those that replied.

 

 

 

[jcathers1]

My perspective is a bit different than the OP. We we also in the YC. The Captain's announcements first began at 06:00 and repeated every 15 minutes for several hours. But they were the exact same announcement--it was clear that he didn't have any information other than "PortMiami is closed and we don't know when it will reopen". Personally, I preferred when these announcements stopped, as we were scrolling through Twitter to get updates from local authorities.

 

I agree that it was a mistake not to let passengers stay in their cabins. I would guess that if they had it to do over again, they would let folks stay. The public YC bathrooms on 16 were a disaster from overuse, and when one of the ladies toilets broke, the situation got even worse. 

 

All that said, we had our normal breakfast, and a nice lunch at the YC restaurant. We were served drinks all day/afternoon. Folks in the YC seemed very well behaved, even though we were all smashed together in the lounge and restaurant (or above deck).

 

What I will say is that there is absolutely nothing to complain about regarding how the butlers escorted us off. It was a team effort to get us down to deck 7, through the casino, and then down a stair case in groups of 15. It was well thought-out and well executed. We got off the ship at the earliest possible time we could have expected to, based on the circumstances.

 

Certainly not flawless execution overall by MSC, but another instance where being in the YC completely changed the experience. 

[A&L_Ont]

17 hours ago, L1211 said:

Isn’t that the point?  The fact that it WAS NOT an emergency and MSC handled it so poorly.  Zero confidence in this line if there ever happens to be an actual emergency.  I’ve only sailed MSC once - March on the Mera in YC.  I was not overly impressed…

Your take is my take.

 

[thistimeplease]

On 7/4/2023 at 12:01 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

See my responses in red above. The 'degree of horrible' was considerably higher on MSC than either of the competition ships. I'm not a CCL cheerleader, but their ability to pivot with this event was impressive. Even if they didn't offer any of the compensation, the communication from CCL was spot on. MSC failed basic communication which is alarming. 

 

 

Seems like you found your new cruiseline, lol. 

[GPPhilly]

On 7/3/2023 at 7:48 PM, B_A_H said:

If I hear the word "interloper" one more time, I'm going to scream.  Whether anyone realizes it or not, YC makes up 15% of MSC's available cabins.  Yet.  Every thread in this forum is somehow commandeered to a discussion of the YC.  

 

I sail YC as well.  But I'm also conscious of the fact that 85% of the people using this forum don't or won't.  I talk YC when I'm in a YC oriented thread.  Otherwise, I don't because it doesn't affect the vast number of people reading it.  

 

Words to live by. 

I beg to differ with you here.  It seems to me that there is a larger percentage of posters on here that stay in the YC.  A lot of people that post on here are well educated on MSC and the YC and chose to stay in the YC as you do.  The easiest thing for you is to just not read the threads.  

[BermudaBound2014]

45 minutes ago, thistimeplease said:

Seems like you found your new cruiseline, lol. 

Actually I am booked on my first carnival since 1996.

I keep an eye on msc because I’m in the market for a world cruise and MSc has attractive pricing. Unfortunately I don’t yet trust the company when things go wrong. They botched up a late arrival into Miami when we were in YC several years ago and it was a mess. Can’t imagine what it was like out of YC. When everything goes smoothly msc can be a good value and I keep cheering for msc to get it together.

[weepine109]

I would have to agree with LMaxwell, MSC dropped the ball on their handling of the situation with the boating accident. We got our first text at 9:06AM June 25th about the delay to board, another at 1:35PM with an update, at 3:30PM MSC said we could start boarding at 6:00PM.  Then a text at 9:00PM telling us it boarding wouldn't start until after 11:00PM  We arrived at the port at 5:45PM only to find all of the people outside waiting for MSC to start the process of boarding.  My wife and I are in our 70's and had to wait outside the terminal for over six hours, MSC didn't provide any water or food and there was only one nasty bathroom at the terminal.  They (MSC) are probably lucky there weren't any medical emergency's from standing in the Miami heat for over six hours.

 

As far a the cruise itself, never again with MSC, the food was subpar and you could tell this by the amount of food the passengers were throwing away, was either overcooked/undercooked or cold.

 

We also booked transportation with MSC for a bus ride to the airport, we were second in line to disembark the ship only to find there were only two buses and both were full at 9:00AM, I spoke to the driver and he stated the buses wouldn't return for 2-2.5 hours.  Our flight was shortly after noon so this wouldn't work for us.  (MSC Overbooked the transportation) there should have been more than two buses.  We finally had to take an Uber driver to the airport so we wouldn't miss our flight.  Upon returning home I called MSC and asked for a refund for the transportation and they refused to reimburse me.  

 

Never again with MSC.

[morpheusofthesea]

55 minutes ago, weepine109 said:

I would have to agree with LMaxwell, MSC dropped the ball on their handling of the situation with the boating accident. We got our first text at 9:06AM June 25th about the delay to board, another at 1:35PM with an update, at 3:30PM MSC said we could start boarding at 6:00PM.  Then a text at 9:00PM telling us it boarding wouldn't start until after 11:00PM  We arrived at the port at 5:45PM only to find all of the people outside waiting for MSC to start the process of boarding.  My wife and I are in our 70's and had to wait outside the terminal for over six hours, MSC didn't provide any water or food and there was only one nasty bathroom at the terminal.  They (MSC) are probably lucky there weren't any medical emergency's from standing in the Miami heat for over six hours.

 

As far a the cruise itself, never again with MSC, the food was subpar and you could tell this by the amount of food the passengers were throwing away, was either overcooked/undercooked or cold.

 

We also booked transportation with MSC for a bus ride to the airport, we were second in line to disembark the ship only to find there were only two buses and both were full at 9:00AM, I spoke to the driver and he stated the buses wouldn't return for 2-2.5 hours.  Our flight was shortly after noon so this wouldn't work for us.  (MSC Overbooked the transportation) there should have been more than two buses.  We finally had to take an Uber driver to the airport so we wouldn't miss our flight.  Upon returning home I called MSC and asked for a refund for the transportation and they refused to reimburse me.  

 

Never again with MSC.

Welcome to the Cruise Critic boards. Nothing like a spoiled cruise to gain a new subscriber. Must  be your first cruise, otherwise how do you know the difference ? Every cruise starts out the way you describe. No one prepares for an emergency today. No one travels with an extra bottle or two of water or protein bar. Everyone expects to be 'taken care of' from cradle to grave. Surprised so many use the wash rooms as when they board no one uses them to wash before entering the buffets. The unused ones on the ship are pristine for the entire cruise. No one cleans up after themselves when they do use it. "We have met the enemy, and they is us" Walt Kelly

 P.S. Then I wondered why there are no bathroom attendants on hand? It dawned on me, because these same travelers are the 'tightest' in the world, seldom tipping a porter let alone an attendant.

Edited July 7, 2023 by morpheusofthesea
ps

[L1211]

57 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Welcome to the Cruise Critic boards. Nothing like a spoiled cruise to gain a new subscriber. Must  be your first cruise, otherwise how do you know the difference ? Every cruise starts out the way you describe. No one prepares for an emergency today. No one travels with an extra bottle or two of water or protein bar. Everyone expects to be 'taken care of' from cradle to grave. Surprised so many use the wash rooms as when they board no one uses them to wash before entering the buffets. The unused ones on the ship are pristine for the entire cruise. No one cleans up after themselves when they do use it. "We have met the enemy, and they is us" Walt Kelly

 P.S. Then I wondered why there are no bathroom attendants on hand? It dawned on me, because these same travelers are the 'tightest' in the world, seldom tipping a porter let alone an attendant.

I’m just going to point out that MSC left this 70 something couple standing in the Miami heat for 6 hours due to poor communication on embarkation day, then left them after disembarking for their pre-purchased return to MIA.   And they had to Uber vs miss their flight - with no refund!  That’s  all kind of terrible and ruins trust with a travel carrier. I just don’t see how a bottle of water and a protein bar fixes this. 

 

Then, when someone complains, the MSC fanboys and girls will cheer,  stating it was the passenger’s fault somehow.  I don’t get it.  I just want MSC to be better… they have beautiful ships and I loved my YC cabin and overall facilities. I want to trust them to do what they are supposed to do… 

[GPPhilly]

3 hours ago, weepine109 said:

 

As far a the cruise itself, never again with MSC, the food was subpar and you could tell this by the amount of food the passengers were throwing away, was either overcooked/undercooked or cold.

 

Never again with MSC.

This always seems to crack me up.  So you saw everything all the passengers were throwing away, was this at the buffet or the restaurant?  Just curious as I have seen people take way too much at the buffet and toss it because their eyes were bigger then their stomachs.  I did assume they disliked the food.  I think part of your dislike was clouded by the late boarding due to an unforeseen accident at the port with a death.   People are selfish and only think about themselves.  I wasn't part of the text communication from MSC so I can't speak to whether they were good on that front. 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, L1211 said:

I’m just going to point out that MSC left this 70 something couple standing in the Miami heat for 6 hours due to poor communication on embarkation day, then left them after disembarking for their pre-purchased return to MIA.   And they had to Uber vs miss their flight - with no refund!  That’s  all kind of terrible and ruins trust with a travel carrier. I just don’t see how a bottle of water and a protein bar fixes this. 

 

Then, when someone complains, the MSC fanboys and girls will cheer,  stating it was the passenger’s fault somehow.  I don’t get it.  I just want MSC to be better… they have beautiful ships and I loved my YC cabin and overall facilities. I want to trust them to do what they are supposed to do… 

We have read the reports. We discussed what would be the best course of action 'when' this type of upset should occur again in the future and to us. To be proactive. This 'old' couple (which we are the same age) had the use of Uber. We have our car. We would first go to the port and try to unload and ticket our luggage so as not to drive around Bayside with them in the car. See if anyone in authority was around that would give us a telephone number to call for updates and when to return. This would save us the effort of returning to the port prematurely, otherwise we might just return to the terminal every hour since Bayside is so close by. 

   We just cancelled a tour on MSC in December because of such reports of trouble with refunds should 'something' happen, eg. missed port, State Department travel advisory, sickness, etc..($360 tour) But a $20 pp transfer is peanuts for getting to the bus late and finding it full ( don't buses leave when they fill up ?) Waiting around for stragglers to risk a tirade is not sensible (nonsensible?)

   A couple bottles of water and some protein bars we learned from Tillie Tudor that saved her life having been driven off the road and not found til 2 days later, here in South Florida. Think the story went nationwide. Proactive. Instead we sit in a pot on a stove slowly reaching the boiling point and not bailing until it is too late.

   "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame." Oscar Wilde. And yes we are a fanboy and fangirl of MSC Yacht Club because we know once we 'board' we will be taken care of royally. On shore is anyone's guess.

  

[GPPhilly]

 

2 hours ago, GPPhilly said:

  I did assume they disliked the food.  I think part of your dislike was clouded by the late boarding due to an unforeseen accident at the port with a death.   People are selfish and only think about themselves.  I wasn't part of the text communication from MSC so I can't speak to whether they were good on that front. 

Should have been I DID NOT assume

[titangas]

My first MSC cruise was in the YC on the Seashore in December 2020.

On the final night of the cruise, we had a real emergency, A young man/boy committed suicide by jumping off a balcony on the 18th floor and landed on the deck 8 promenade.

Everything in that case was handled professionally and efficiently given the horrific situation.

 

I have sailed 2 YC cruises since.

[weepine109]

Last communication from MSC was 9:00PM stating they were extending embarkation until 11:00PM and we didn’t board the ship until after 12:00AM and the ship didn’t leave the port until after 3:00AM. Due to the late sailing they reversed the course of our itinerary causing us to lose one of our excursions. This wasn’t our first cruise, we cruised with MSC Seashore last year and was somewhat better.  Other things I noticed was every stool from the cabin to the public restrooms has a drain next to the stool with an odor of sewage emitting from the drains.  Deck 8 just off the elevators next to the infinity pool had a strong odor of diesel fuel.  Maybe the ship is too new to have been completely tweaked of problems.  Decks 5/6 where the MSC excursions and customer service area are poorly located due to all the background noise you could hardly hear what the service people were saying.  Also the infinity pool on deck 8 there was open marijuana use and the staff could have cared less.  I’m I too picky, maybe.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

12 hours ago, weepine109 said:

we cruised with MSC Seashore last year and was somewhat better.  

"Somewhat better" ?

[weepine109]

“then left them after disembarking for their pre-purchased return to MIA.   And they had to Uber vs miss their flight - with no refund! “That’s  all kind of terrible and ruins trust with a travel carrier. 

Just an update, I have sent my third email to MSC customer support and have received reference numbers but no response to our refund request.