What do Loyal Royal Cruisers think of MSC?

[artvlay]

 

We  sail primarily on Royal and have friends that want us to try an MSC cruise. We have heard quite a lot of negative comments about MSC and we would like experienced Royal customers who have sailed on MSC to provide their opinions/comparisons.

Thank you 

[Saab4444]

The ships are nice but the big ones feel very crowded and noisy if you are not sailing in the Yard Club.

[Bead Pirate]

The MSC yacht club is the premier experience at sea, nothing holds a candle (and we love Royal/X)

[George C]

We are diamond plus on rccl , last 9 rccl in grand or owner suites. Did two MSc cruises first a couple of decades ago on a old ship , then did seaside in there yacht club , can not compare rccl suite perks with yacht club , yacht club is so far superior it is not even close , live music all night in lounge , private pool and hot tub , restaurant and bar outside, huge upscale lounge , far superior food compared to CK , free drink package, free internet. Sailing yacht club again at end of the year , since MSc is coming to Galveston i ight not take any more rccl cruises.

[Tree_skier]

Unlike others who have posted here my experience on MSC was not in Yacht Club.  From all my reading of various reviews their Yacht Club experience is excellent and the only way to go. 
 

That being said, I found MSC to be the worst cruise experience I have ever had. In a regular balcony cabin with “Bella” experience I found service went indifferent to bad at various times. The MDR was very poor and while the ship was beautiful  thought the design and layout felt cramped. 
 

I hated the entertainment on board. 
 

The announcement on the speaker overhead had to be made in 6 languages so they went on forever and if you are trying to relax it very annoying. 
 

If I was going to sail MSC, the only way that would happen if I was going to splurge for YC. 

Edited July 6 by Tree_skier

[smokeybandit]

I did a mock booking for a Yacht Club suite, and the prices actually were quite reasonable.

[George C]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

I did a mock booking for a Yacht Club suite, and the prices actually were quite reasonable.

If you are bargain hunting yacht club offers inside cabins that still has all the perks . 

[leaveitallbehind]

From others we know it seems as though, while yacht club offers their best experience, for the majority of those outside YC in standard staterooms, the experience is nothing special.  Also from what I understand there are many daily multi language announcements to interrupt the day.

 

In fairness we have never sailed with MSC but from much that I've heard, I don't think we plan to anytime soon.  Not drawing a comparison, but I also never have sailed with Carnival, and also never plan to.  I don't think from all I've heard about both that either would be our cup of tea.  JMO.

Edited July 6 by leaveitallbehind

[George C]

We left yacht club many times to see shows in main theater and other music acts , also went to sports bar a couple of times. For the main shows , there are reserved seats for yacht club and your butler will escort you to the theater if you like . Carnival was a one and done but that was 40 years ago , other line I will not cruise again is ncl , I really liked them in the 80’s and 90’s then they went downhill.

[Buccaneergirl]

We sailed Seaside in a regular balcony cabin  and did not like it at all. Their buffet had the same food every day, bad entertainment and long announcements.

 

we will never sail with them, no matter how inexpensive they are selling cabins!

[fpcruiser]

Friends sailed on a transatlantic in the fall, worst food ever. They all lost weight.

[shipgeeks]

We loved our Seaside cruises, in a Bella (cheapest category) cabin. The food, overall, was fine; we enjoyed the shows much more than those on RC.

Reading people's comments over the past couple of years, it seems that the people who post negative comments are those who, although they might come from a big city, are very narrow-minded re some of the differences around the world.  "I ordered bread, and they didn't give me butter." (In Italy, bread is eaten by itself; butter is not common.) "The cheese on the pizza wasn't even orange like it's supposed to be!"  "The crew members didn't even hug me or call me Mr. Whiskers!"  (European service is more reserved.)

In other words, if the cruise experience wasn't just like RoyalNorwegianCarnival, it was wrong or bad.  For us, the differences were what made it much more interesting and fun; it felt more like being "away" instead of at the hometown bar or restaurant.

OP, if you have a loyalty status with RC, getting a status match with MSC can lead to some very nice rewards if/when you do cruise.

And I do recommend studying the four "experiences". As well as "better" cabins/locations, there are differences such as fixed dining/anytime dining that were important to us.

[shipgeeks]

Also, we loved the multi-national passenger makeup.  (Americans were definitely a minority on our Miami cruises.)  Re the announcements, on our cruises they were in multiple languages, but were only used for important information, such as ship being cleared. No announcements at all about things like bingo, jewelry sales, art auctions.

[Southern Dan]

I've done MSC on Jam Cruise on 4 of their older ships through the years.  Decent enough ships but I'd definitely look into a YC duplex room on their new World America ship as it looks to be about 8,500 which is much cheaper than the Retreat on Celebrity or the Haven on NCL.

[kernie968]

I love Royal. It is my favorite line to sail, but the prices on Royal are usually a lot higher than MSC. I  love the breakfast on Royal. Hate the breakfast on MSC, but I can eat the lunch and dinners. I do not enjoy the shows on MSC, but love the shows on Royal. The Royal drink  package is the best. We cruise on MSC because we can afford to cruise more often, but we do not go expecting the same cruise experience as Royal.

[mets07]

We sailed on MSC once (Meraviglia) in a balcony cabin and with Aurea experience. The "anytime dining" was truly anytime for us and worked beautifully. There was some excellent live music. The ship was beautiful. Aurea included access to the thermal spa, which was nice.

 

We did not enjoy the buffet. It was extremely linear in nature and we found the food of average quality. The drink dispensers in the buffet were often not working or supplies e.g. tea bags not available or depleted and not replaced/maintained. 

 

Brooklyn was not as convenient or easily accessible a departure point as Bayonne NJ or NYC. However, your opinion on that might vary depending on where you live. 

 

 

 

 

[Tree_skier]

As a follow up on my previous post if it is a decision between going on a Royal Cruise or an MSC cruise I will choose Royal every time.  However, if the choice is between MSC and not going on a cruise at all I'd definitely take the MSC cruise and give them a second shot.

[smokeybandit]

37 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

As a follow up on my previous post if it is a decision between going on a Royal Cruise or an MSC cruise I will choose Royal every time.  However, if the choice is between MSC and not going on a cruise at all I'd definitely take the MSC cruise and give them a second shot.

Same. Well, first shot for me though.

Edited July 7 by smokeybandit

[cublet]

8 hours ago, fpcruiser said:

Friends sailed on a transatlantic in the fall, worst food ever. They all lost weight.

Hello,

 

The only time I have lost weight on a cruise was on Celebrity Eclipse in Aqua Class and dining in Blu.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Cruise a holic]

We love Royal and Celebrity Suite service and especially Celebrity perks- We are considering the Yacht club.  Royal is getting expensive and doesn't even include drink packages and other perks for suite guests- a real negative IMO.  Celebrity does include the perks.  We are Diamond Plus members and have a couple of Royal cruises booked- but getting time to try other options.  Have never lost weight on a cruise- even crummy carnival, princess or NCL.  Alcohol has calories!

Edited July 7 by Cruise a holic

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, artvlay said:

 

We  sail primarily on Royal and have friends that want us to try an MSC cruise. We have heard quite a lot of negative comments about MSC and we would like experienced Royal customers who have sailed on MSC to provide their opinions/comparisons.

Thank you 

 

We are Diamond members on RCCL. Diamond member on MSC. And Diamond on NCL. Platinum on Cunard. 

 

MSC is more similar to RCCL than not. For a frequent cruiser on multiple lines, there is no value in doing a point by point comparison between the two cruise lines. In general, MSC is more "old school" cruising like RCCL. They cling on to fixed time dining, but they have smaller, more intimate main dining rooms. They have more production shows than Broadway shows. 

 

The newer MSC ships are stunning. Things are well spread out and we enjoy the ships. And yes, good Italian pizza is available until 1:00 at the buffet!

 

For cruises out of the US, you will find [a lot] more European cruisers on MSC. We were on the MSC Seascape in March out of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean. More or less the same ports as RCCL. But Americans were the minority of the passengers onboard. Most of the ship's senior officers were Italian and the Captain would do his daily announcements in English and Italian. All of the ship's announcements are made in multiple languages. 

 

We enjoy MSC and their cruises are cheap. Pick a newer ship. Give it a try. 

 

This is a live post from our St. Patrick's Day cruise on MSC.

 

Edited July 7 by BirdTravels

[cublet]

Hello,

 

So: I am RCI Pinnacle, X Elite Plus (through my own bookings but now matched to Zenith) and Diamond on MSC (again through my own bookings and not status-matched). I’m still in the ‘foot-hills’ of the P&O and Cunard loyalty schemes.

 

I sailed in the 2000s out of Europe but for the last 10 or 12 years only out of the UK – and never to/from the US so this is from an ex-UK viewpoint.

 

I have only ever heard announcements in multiple languages on MSC during: (a) boarding day Muster Drill; (b) Upper Tier Welcome Back cocktails – where the CD spoke fluently in five languages to everyone assembled. (And after which all the officers came around all the tables and ‘clinked’ glasses with us PAX.)

 

Most, if not all, people that board MSC with the mind-set that the Royal/X/NCL way of delivering a cruise experience is the only - and right - way to do it will come away disappointed. If you don’t/didn’t like it then don’t go on a two week holiday staying in a 3*/4* hotel in Italy as that will be a 100% truly authentic Italian ‘experience’ compared to MSC’s (diluted) ‘Italian Flair’ (though I don’t know if they still use that expression). Just board with an open mind and acknowledge the fact that not everywhere is ‘America’.

 

I have never found the MSC ships crowded – nothing compares with the Royal Promenade during the $10 ‘cruise essentials’ sale that makes a rugby scrum look like a vicarage tea party.

 

I found specialty dining on MSC, especially Butchers’ Cut, first class. I would put that on a par with X’s Tuscan Grill but slightly below the level of Murano and nothing (now) comes close on Royal since the sad demise of Portofino’s.

 

MSC’s MDR dinner experience is good - and varied - enough. Royal’s idea of ‘variety’ is 57 different ways of preparing steak.

 

Where MSC fails miserably is over the buffet experience and the MDR breakfast experience. The former is because of the old department store cafeteria-like self-service lines that should be junked at the earliest opportunity. The latter is because the Maitre D’ back-fills tables where people have upped - and - left and waiters don’t know where to wait whereas Royal/X has a rolling programme of filling fresh tables along the length of the MDR.

 

What MSC does not do is conflate the top loyalty scheme passengers and top accommodation passengers – there is nowhere us Diamonds can congregate if not sailing in YC (pronounced ‘Jack Club’ on Euribia in April!) unlike on Royal or X. But I am still happy to go back when not in YC.

 

There, and no mention of ‘half-and-half’ or ‘wash-cloths’.

 

MSC is different – get over it.

 

My dear, late, lamented, Grandmother used to say “There’s nothing new in-under the sun”, and I think this is at least the third time I’ve written this, but this time I’m saving it as a document I can copy and paste into CC once the topic is raised again- as it surely will.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

Edited July 7 by cublet
formatting

[twangster]

I've sailed them four times all in America.  

 

I haven't sailed Yacht Club but I like their private island so for short FL cruises I sucked in my cruise expectations and survived non-Yacht Club, but barely.  

 

For two of my cruises MSC refuses to give me points despite showing my card and onboard invoice.  I even live blogged one of them here on CC but yanked my photos since they claim I wasn't onboard and won't budge on that.

 

For my fifth MSC cruise they raised the price well after making my deposit and they refused to honor the contracted rate.   I had a lot of back and forth on that and learned they really hate cruisers.  Their customer service folks actually despise us.  Fortunately the deposit was refundable so I cancelled and haven't given them another look.  

 

I also cancelled a longer cruise in YC based on their terrible customer service.  Fool my once shame on you, fool me twice, ...

 

"Yacht Club or don't go" should be the MSC motto.

 

Pray you have no hiccups and you'll have a cruise to experience MSC for yourself.

[time4u2go]

Little known fact: The concept of what became the Royal Promenade was created by MSC.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Having done royal oasis class and MSC world Europa it totally depends on what you enjoy when you cruise. 

 

Royal has better entertainment, buffet food and American style service.

MSC has better main pools, much bigger, water slides, better area around pools.

 

Speciality resturants, again depends on what you want. Found both ok, but neither worth the money.

 

Food in general, MSC in europe is European food, so lots of  veg and seafood. Dont expect huge chunks of meat. But MSC pizza is much better IMO.

Found the rooms better on MSC more modern and the pool towels proper thick big towels, not the rags royal hand out. 

 

So depends what your interested in doing on the cruise and level of service you expect. 

 

Also the price, MSC usually much cheaper, esp here in the UK and Europe and proper deals not just clever marketing. 

 

I have a child so for me its Royal , unless its a finance driven then its MSC. 

But i always say its good to experience different things and cruising you can do just that.