Well, I waited to get some more experience

[vistaman]

23 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

Alcohol flows freely in Saudi and UAE. They have women fighter pilots. 
Their record on rights of dissenters another matter. Think bone saws!!

All means kitties to tourism. 

I was in SA on MSC Yacht Club in January 2023, in all the bars all the alcohol was removed and it was said there was a chance officials went into cabins as well 

my butler  advised me to hide my bottles  - you can bring wine and alcohol in Dubai and Abu Dhabi , NOT in Qatar 

[kirtihk]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:50 PM, HappyInVan said:

 

That's disappointing. On a luxury brand, you would expect people with social standards. Senior management setting the example etc. Hope that everyone queues? 

People ignore one's expectation.  I see on all cruise lines (Regent, Ponant, Seabourn).

[kirtihk]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:09 AM, Hlitner said:

I can tell you that on our recent Seabourn Quest cruise (UK, Iceland, Greenland and Canada) they also used large normal Coaches at most ports.  The two excursions that we took found the large buses 1/3 - 1/2 full.  At the time, I was surprised they use large buses.  On the other hand, having a bus with 60 seats and only 25 passengers seemed a lot more comfy than cramming us into a full small mini-bus.  I am not sure how Regent, Silverseas, and Crystal currently handle excursions (perhaps some other poster has that info).

 

Hank

The same was for us on Seabourn Venture in March: originally it was supposed to be 2 modern boats for snorkeling event; however, they changed it and put all of us in one old boat.  Oh, well...

[HappyInVan]

2 hours ago, kirtihk said:

People ignore one's expectation.  I see on all cruise lines (Regent, Ponant, Seabourn).

 

Well, it means that some of us are on the wrong ships.

 

In August, I was on an Alaska cruise with HAL. The cheap price must have attracted Carnival customers. One was walking bare-chested through the Lido. Two were pointedly eating with their hands in front of a food station. 

 

Yes, I realized that I was on the wrong ship! 😟

[Whipsnade]

You get what you pay for. 

[benjaminnicholas]

On 9/28/2023 at 7:47 AM, Whipsnade said:

You get what you pay for. 

 

This, exactly.

 

Make the prices low and watch the low-end folks proliferate.

[RD64]

In terms of MSC specifically, I think that their strength is their global approach in entering markets - and creating new ones.

 

MSC entered South America - a Costa stronghold, and practically decimated Costa’s market share.

 

MSC started cruising from South Africa many years ago - I believe it was with the former Monterey. They now cruise there seasonally with larger and larger ships.

 

Also MSC was instrumental in developing the Middle East cruise region, and is the market leader.

 

Twenty years ago, I doubt that any of the big players took MSC seriously, and now they own the pan-European market.

 

Granted the deep corporate pockets have allowed them the benefit of time to develop their presence. EJ may be under the radar right now, but surely this will change as well.