Is MSC really as crowded/chaotic as is painted in this YouTube review

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, blueslily said:

I want to hold onto our positive memories. Sometimes there can be a lot of negativity about MSC and I dont want that to dampen my positive memories of a good cruise experience.

I am happy you had a wonderful cruise. 🙂 After all, that's how it should be, right? 🙂

Happy Holidays!

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[travelwide]

@MOTS... getting off tomorrow. Your numbers are accurate. Will you be posting live? Dying to get your opinion of the cruise. Especially dining situation and the entertainment. Happy sailing.

[Jorhammer]

In our 2 weeks the only congestion we found was on embarkation day. Where I would have been probably kicked out by punching a dumbass Italian that ran into my wife and didn’t even look to see if he had hurt anyone, But, vacation right… Other than that we moved around easily. At night after the shows we had no issues with elevators, no bumping on to other people. 
 

Cabaret is always empty and has seats everywhere. Went to some of the Atrium shows at night and it was “crowded” but I could find a spot on any of the 3 floors and a place to either dance or watch people. 
 

Still trying to figure out what people want out of a cruise that has 5k people in it… 

[morpheusofthesea]

6 minutes ago, travelwide said:

@MOTS... getting off tomorrow. Your numbers are accurate. Will you be posting live? Dying to get your opinion of the cruise. Especially dining situation and the entertainment. Happy sailing.

I hope to. I for sure will on FB., they do not ban me for asking questions.

[morpheusofthesea]

10 minutes ago, travelwide said:

@MOTS... getting off tomorrow. Your numbers are accurate. Will you be posting live? Dying to get your opinion of the cruise. Especially dining situation and the entertainment. Happy sailing.

On second thought your cruise was not closed loop. So what terminal are you docking at in Miami. Our documents list the address of Terminal C, but we are reading you are now docking at Terminal G. Only because we are parking at the port. MSC, without its own terminal, is at the whim of the port authority and the trek to the parking garage maybe too much for DW if they return to another Terminal in 2 weeks. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

9 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Dying to get your opinion of the cruise

More importantly, I am "dying" to get YOUR opinion of the cruise.

[morpheusofthesea]

17 minutes ago, Jorhammer said:

 

Still trying to figure out what people want out of a cruise that has 5k people in it…

Truer words have never been spoken.

[perakcruiser]

This thread make me feel I am a genius. All my MSC cruises I saw big crowds but never when I was at this point. Maybe I should share my secret with you, when there is a long lone for example at the carving station, I don´t go  in that line but grab a salad, a slice of pizza, something from the ethnic corner...

 

It is not meant that everyone coming to the buffet joins a long long line that passes all stations. The word "station" says it all 😄

[jmsnyc]

5 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

This thread make me feel I am a genius. All my MSC cruises I saw big crowds but never when I was at this point. Maybe I should share my secret with you, when there is a long lone for example at the carving station, I don´t go  in that line but grab a salad, a slice of pizza, something from the ethnic corner...

 

It is not meant that everyone coming to the buffet joins a long long line that passes all stations. The word "station" says it all 😄

There are still no tables available.... You usually have to take dirty ones where you have to find a place to put someone's dirty dishes that the staff haven't had a chance to clean up yet and eat on a  dirty table

 

constant people bumping and running into each other

 

I've had other issues too.   Drain backed up in shower, bathroom smells like urine probably related to drain backup, issues with laundry service.... The list can go on.  No tissues, wash clothes in cabins. Yeah, I'm pointing out the negatives but that's how this thread started.  The OP asked if it's chaotic and crazy as the video.   Well , maybe not for people in YC in their exclusive areas but in general the answer from my experience, on day 6 of the cruise, is a resounding YES

 

Also yes I acknowledge their are factors that make it worse, like bad weather, and return from ports but I blame that on the ship for not being able to handle the capacity.   On return from Ocho Rios everyone went to buffet but most of the stations were closed

 

Would I do MSC again?  That depends.   Id have to compare YC prices to other cruise lines because I don't think I'd do Fantastica or lower again regardless of price.   From doing the cruise I've realized that apart from YC, MSC is the budget line of cruising.

Edited December 21, 2023 by jmsnyc

[Itchy&Scratchy]

8 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

Still trying to figure out what people want out of a cruise that has 5k people in it…

well, I dunno, but we've been on full sailings on Oasis class (6K passengers) and never dealt with this level of disorganization and crowds. 

The only times the buffet was a similar zoo was during disembarkation breakfast and embarkation lunch. But - guess what? Oasis class has several other complimentary eateries besides the WJ buffet, unlike Seascape.

Apparently, so do large Carnival ships, despite being 3.5K passenger vessels.

 

So, yes, MSC may charge a bit less, but you get a lot less than you do on other lines. And no - don't tell me that MSC has super low prices, because that's definitely not the case.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[jmsnyc]

10 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

well, I dunno, but we've been on full sailings on Oasis class (6K passengers) and never dealt with this level of disorganization and crowds. 

The only times the buffet was a similar zoo was during disembarkation breakfast and embarkation lunch. But - guess what? Oasis class has several other complimentary eateries besides the WJ buffet, unlike Seascape.

Apparently, so do large Carnival ships, despite being 3.5K passenger vessels.

 

So, yes, MSC may charge a bit less, but you get a lot less than you do on other lines. And no - don't tell me that MSC has super low prices, because that's definitely not the case.

Yes, thank you for the dose of reality. We are in an MSC sub so it's not surprising there are a lot of cheerleaders here

[jmsnyc]

On 12/21/2023 at 5:39 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

The videos are from our Thanksgiving cruise on Seascape. We leave tomorrow on another MSC Explora Journeys cruise to compare with Seascape Yacht Club. Reading Explora is having problems running out of food items like lamb chops. Read 600 Prima Donnas (I include ourselves in this group) on for Christmas and 500+ for New Years. We might be in the same situation as you are in now with one tenth the number of passengers paying 10 times the price you paid for your cruise. 

P.S. One would think by paying 10 times the price one would not experience the same problems as steerage.

Last nights dinner was the only decent dinner and that was the Captain's Night.   But still service was extremely lacking in the regular dining room - Green Cafe.    Paid the extra $6 surcharge this one night to have the lobster tail and filet - medium rare - the busboy says you can have either medium or rare - still good at rare , but the lobster tail was definitely overcooked like most of their food during the week.    

Very cheap with butter, give 2 piece - takes awhile to get more

Could not get cappuchinos for dessert in any reasonabe time - would order during the meal and would usually have to take 2 or 3 reminders to get it and it usually came after dessert was over.   Drink service was incredibly slow.

 

I stand by that the buffet was chaotic at almost all times.   And staff was rude.  They run out of ketchup for the fries and the staff was like go look around for it in the other spot which was non-existent - not the first time

 

no smoked salmon all week for non-YC - "they ran out"

they always put out the proscuitto sparingly vs the other formed meats because I am guessing it costs more - at least I saw it sometimes , unlike the salmon

closed pizza station 1 hour early on last night "they ran out"

 

Ocean Cay was a beautiful island but chaotic lines too....  buffet and food trucks were both extremely long lines at all lunch times until they closed - and you wait on line and cant even get a drink 

 

I imagine this is the type of food you get if you go on a cruise company like Margaritaville but would not have imagined it could be this bad from both a service and quality standpoint

 

And I dont give a crap about YC , because I am comparing general cruising

 

Looking forward to going home so I can get some decent meals, it is supposed to be the opposite on a cruise

[morpheusofthesea]

3 hours ago, jmsnyc said:

 

And I dont give a crap about YC , because I am comparing general cruising

Ever try tipping in advance ? This university study says it actually was the most popular form of tipping.

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23748777_The_Social_Norm_of_Tipping_A_Review

 

We are on MSC Explora 1 at the present time and the service is 'over the top', yet we still long for the service we get from our Yacht Clubs on Seaships. Crazy, I know. Maybe that is why they have a psychiatrist on board as guest lecturer ?

Edited December 23, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[jmsnyc]

9 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Ever try tipping in advance ? This university study says it actually was the most popular form of tipping.

 

 

Not sure why you doubt my word.  Tipping would solve about 10% of the crap I experienced on the ship.  Not sure why you love to stick up for MSC - the food in the main restaurants and buffet is crap (YC excluded)  .   If you can't realize that perhaps you are just use to it.

Tons of people I met on the ship also complained about the food being crap.  Its crap.

Edited December 23, 2023 by jmsnyc

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, jmsnyc said:

Not sure why you doubt my word

I do not doubt your perspective. I tend to agree with life outside the Yacht Club. Never really tried the butter chicken in the Market Place Buffet as we do not do any buffet except this one now on the Explora 1 (MSC), since no one is self serve. I have this belief that there is basically one kitchen on the ship and the butter chicken is prepared there and distributed to the Market place buffet and the Yacht Club restaurant. I find it one of the best dishes on the ship and have it every time it is on the menu. Recommend you try to find another cruise line that suits your palate.

Edited December 23, 2023 by morpheusofthesea

[jmsnyc]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I do not doubt your perspective. I tend to agree with life outside the Yacht Club. Never really tried the butter chicken in the Market Place Buffet as we do not do any buffet except this one now on the Explora 1 (MSC), since no one is self serve. I have this belief that there is basically one kitchen on the ship and the butter chicken is prepared there and distributed to the Market place buffet and the Yacht Club restaurant. I find it one of the best dishes on the ship and have it every time it is on the menu. Recommend you try to find another cruise line that suits your palate.

Ironically the butter chicken was one of the few things I liked.   The Indian food was decent (apart from the uncooked naan type bread)  but again there were always lines as there were a lot of Indian people on board....

Edited December 23, 2023 by jmsnyc

[morpheusofthesea]

This is the crux of any cruise ship. Yours apparently is food in steerage. Most cruise lines offer better fare in their Specialty Dining for a additional price. If that fails your palate find another cruise line. We can no longer cruise in a cabin with out a walk in shower. These low profile tub/shower combo are not an answer. They are still too high to have to climb over to get in.