Did my first MSC Cruise on Seashore, I'm curious what peoples love from them in general

[MonsterJoe]

4 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I'm  curious as to why this is always #1 on your list- isn't e-muster pretty much the same across the lines now. I know Royal apparently came up with the idea and others quickly jumped aboard. I did hear that MSC WAS doing it a bit messy for a while, but now it seems to be the same as everyone else and runs very smoothly.  Is it different in YC? I thought everyone just watched a video and then went and got scanned by a certain time at the station. 

In YC recently, they have been walking you by your muster station during your escort on board...then you just watch the video and call the number later when your room is ready. It was pretty nice, tbh 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

I'm  curious as to why this is always #1 on your list- isn't e-muster pretty much the same across the lines now. I know Royal apparently came up with the idea and others quickly jumped aboard. I did hear that MSC WAS doing it a bit messy for a while, but now it seems to be the same as everyone else and runs very smoothly.

it was definitely a mess for the steerage class in Nov 2023. Morpheus and MonsterJoe might think that the YC process applies to the rest of the masses, but it didn't. We all had to show up at the same time, and it was a hot mess with the elevators and immense crowds. 

 

1 hour ago, MonsterJoe said:

In YC recently, they have been walking you by your muster station during your escort on board...then you just watch the video and call the number later when your room is ready. It was pretty nice, tbh 

 

Edited September 17 by Itchy&Scratchy

[MonsterJoe]

4 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it was definitely a mess for the steerage class in Nov 2023. Morpheus and MonsterJoe might think that the YC process applies to the rest of the masses, but it didn't. We all had to show up at the same time, and it was a hot mess with the elevators and immense crowds. 

 

 

Incorrect - I was replying specifically to the question, "Is it different in YC?"

[edit to add]

We sail both in and out of YC, and while I have never sailed in the "old days" when you had to stand at muster with lifejackets on, I have never found the contemporary muster troubling at all. Annoying perhaps, because we just want to start our vacation, but much better than the previous way, imo.

Edited September 17 by MonsterJoe

[Itchy&Scratchy]

16 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Still, MSC is more 'budget friendly' than my typical go-to of Celebrity, who has priced me out of their market

true. We hit the 3rd and 4th person free promotion on our 2 upcoming X cruises, so they are priced within our affordable range. But, imho, the amount of aggravation sailing on Seascape caused us can only by offset by at least $1K price difference.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 minute ago, MonsterJoe said:

Incorrect - I was replying specifically to the question, "Is it different in YC?"

my apologies.

[morpheusofthesea]

Just now, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it was definitely a mess for the steerage class in Nov 2023. Morpheus might think that the YC process applies to the rest of the masses, but it didn't. We all had to show up at the same time, and it was a hot mess with the elevators and immense crowds. 

YC has its advantages...And why should steerage have the same benefits as YC ? It is reading and seeing first hand these differences that makes YC a greater value and YCers appreciate having these accommodations.

[JamieLogical]

4 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it was definitely a mess for the steerage class in Nov 2023. Morpheus and MonsterJoe might think that the YC process applies to the rest of the masses, but it didn't. We all had to show up at the same time, and it was a hot mess with the elevators and immense crowds. 

 

 

 

It is my understanding that muster is no longer handled the same way it was being handled back in 2023. You can now have you card scanned at your muster station at any time between boarding an sail away, instead of being all called down to the muster stations by deck at the same time. I will admit, I have not experienced this yet myself. I will find out when I board next month!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 minute ago, morpheusofthesea said:

YC has its advantages...And why should steerage have the same benefits as YC ? It is reading and seeing first hand these differences that makes YC a greater value and YCers appreciate having these accommodations.

But OP didn't sail in YC, did they? You keep pushing and advertising YC as if MSC is paying you to. For every comment made by someone who didn't sail in YC, you always interject with the ad for YC. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

It is my understanding that muster is no longer handled the same way it was being handled back in 2023.

that would be nice.

 

Speaking of changes, I was surprised to read that Seashore's casino is a smoking one. Seascape's casino became non-smoking right before we sailed, so I thought MSC was also changing it for their other newer ships.

[morpheusofthesea]

Just now, Itchy&Scratchy said:

But OP didn't sail in YC, did they? You keep pushing and advertising YC as if MSC is paying you to. For every comment made by someone who didn't sail in YC, you always interject with the ad for YC. 

Yes and I love it.

[riredsox]

For some reason the Seascape and the Seaside are much better than the Seashore.   I have only sailed in YC and even then the Seashore has always been a disappointment and I just had my 3rd sailing on it.  I think once any ship from any line starts doing the 3 and 4 day cruises the downfall begins.  My next 2 MSC cruises are on the World America and the Seacsape.  Before that I’m on Celebrity Equinox in a regular balcony cabin and I know I won’t be disappointed.  

[kad56]

On 9/17/2024 at 10:01 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

It is my understanding that muster is no longer handled the same way it was being handled back in 2023. You can now have you card scanned at your muster station at any time between boarding an sail away, instead of being all called down to the muster stations by deck at the same time. I will admit, I have not experienced this yet myself. I will find out when I board next month!

This is what it was like on the Magnifica this July. Just scan your card and watch the video in the room. It was basically like every other cruise line now.

[mark46]

We really like the Yacht Club.  The experience is great and the prices are great.

 

Are there those who have poor experiences with the Yacht Club on Seashore?  I suspect all the problems are for those who choose other levels.

 

And, as many have said, if one can afford Yacht Club, it is really hard to beat.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

21 hours ago, mark46 said:

Are there those who have poor experiences with the Yacht Club on Seashore?  I suspect all the problems are for those who choose other levels.

the point is that we always travel in steerage class, and we don't experience any of these problems on any other cruise lines. It's not like our MSC cruise was free, nearly free or even a fantastic bargain for steerage class, making any of our complaints petty.  No, we paid for this cruise, and the price was pretty close to what we pay for cruising on the other lines. I think it's wrong to say - well, you were in steerage class, of course, you are going to have problems. I do understand when ad-hoc problems arise, but this was not it. It was just the general "we don't care about non-YC club passengers' comfort and enjoyment, so we are going to make their cruising so unpleasant they will be forced to choose YC next time" attitude that I take issue with.  Because next time I am not choosing MSC YC - I am choosing a different line, where even traveling in steerage class is wonderful.

 

Our friends who sailed with us on the same MSC cruise did have a comped cruise (non-YC), and they were still very disappointed with it (it was their first time on MSC as well).

[kad56]

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the point is that we always travel in steerage class, and we don't experience any of these problems on any other cruise lines.

This +1000

 

That's my experience as well. Mind you, I did get an incredible deal on my MSC cruise, and in general I think they make sense if you get a bargain, but some of the service issues were like what?!?!? One of the restaurant managers was pretty rude to me when escalated an issue. No call to guest services ever resulted in a resolution (I talking about things like asking for extra tp). And I don't think being rude or non-responsive is European. It's just not great customer service. 

 

That said, I'm booked on another MSC cruise, becaue I think they're a great value for port intensive, long time in port, chreap rate cruises. The more time I spend ashore the better, I'm almost using the ship as a hotel.

[Oceans 818]

7 minutes ago, kad56 said:

This +1000

 

That's my experience as well. Mind you, I did get an incredible deal on my MSC cruise, and in general I think they make sense if you get a bargain, but some of the service issues were like what?!?!? One of the restaurant managers was pretty rude to me when escalated an issue. No call to guest services ever resulted in a resolution (I talking about things like asking for extra tp). And I don't think being rude or non-responsive is European. It's just not great customer service. 

 

That said, I'm booked on another MSC cruise, becaue I think they're a great value for port intensive, long time in port, chreap rate cruises. The more time I spend ashore the better, I'm almost using the ship as a hotel.

We have found that the same staff on a MSC 3/4 night cruise can be very different on a 7 night cruise. We have also found that the caliber of the clientelle is different and believe that is what makes the normally friendly, helpful, polite staff, unsmiling, less helpful.

We did a 10 night out of Port Canaveral and the 3 night was first. Had it been our 1st cruise we probably would never have booked another with MSC. It was the same story on the 3 night portion on the Divina last December..People were demanding, rude, pushy and it was all about them. No courtesy to staff and fellow passengers and the waving of $$ and demanding service at the bars. Overwhelmingly a turnoff. We encountered really bad weather and couldn't port anywhere and were several hours late docking in Miami..Imagine how ignorant many of the passengers were to all crew members...from the bathroom cleaner to the Customer service desk, terrible... We have found that most of the staff reacted well to a smile and politeness. We ended up the benficiaries of a bottle of wine and airport transportation comped from Customer Service, just for being polite and not flipping out on them. We had a couple minor issues with the room and the ship was fully booked. The problems were quickly fixed. I was quite surprised at the comps as I did not ask for anything, other than to have the issues taken care of and was not Diamond or YC...Just a loyal customer who happened to smile at the right person at the right time...and said 'Thank You and Please'. Also, didn't preface any comments with "If I was on RC or Princess or Carnival etc.". But we will Never do a 3/4 nighter again. "Those" people don't seem to know how to behave.

[Scottdalfonso]

42 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the point is that we always travel in steerage class, and we don't experience any of these problems on any other cruise lines. It's not like our MSC cruise was free, nearly free or even a fantastic bargain for steerage class, making any of our complaints petty.  No, we paid for this cruise, and the price was pretty close to what we pay for cruising on the other lines. I think it's wrong to say - well, you were in steerage class, of course, you are going to have problems. I do understand when ad-hoc problems arise, but this was not it. It was just the general "we don't care about non-YC club passengers' comfort and enjoyment, so we are going to make their cruising so unpleasant they will be forced to choose YC next time" attitude that I take issue with.  Because next time I am not choosing MSC YC - I am choosing a different line, where even traveling in steerage class is wonderful.

 

Our friends who sailed with us on the same MSC cruise did have a comped cruise (non-YC), and they were still very disappointed with it (it was their first time on MSC as well).

Which I'll never understand because, what, 80-85% of the ship is still NON-YC.  So, yes, the crew in the YC should go above and beyond for those passengers. But the crew in the "steerage" areas should be treating you as well as any other cruise ship does. I haven't tried MSC yet, it's coming up in a few months. So I will get to judge for myself, really hoping to have a better experience. 

[kad56]

37 minutes ago, Scottdalfonso said:

 I haven't tried MSC yet, it's coming up in a few months. So I will get to judge for myself, really hoping to have a better experience. 

 

You might. It's not like everything is terrible, it's just that issue resolution is bad. I have my complaints, but I booked an MSC cruise soon after my first one. Overall, I had a really good trip. But I wouldn't ever want to splurge on them.

[Scottdalfonso]

1 hour ago, kad56 said:

 

You might. It's not like everything is terrible, it's just that issue resolution is bad. I have my complaints, but I booked an MSC cruise soon after my first one. Overall, I had a really good trip. But I wouldn't ever want to splurge on them.

Well that's the good part, we spent less than half on this cruise than we are for our next Royal Caribbean cruise, and this one include drinks, wifi and a better itinerary than the Royal cruise. So no matter what, we will enjoy it- for the price, they'd have to make it really miserable for me to not have fun and get my moneys worth. Hoping we enjoy it enough to book another one, the Meraviglia looks like a nice ship and much easier to get to than the one we are taking from Miami! 

[MonsterJoe]

The biggest gap in service I have experienced outside of YC is the dinner service. So much so that I am giving it one night on my April Meraviglia cruise in steerage. If it's not good, I will avoid it.  I mostly mean the servers. I don't want to wait 20 minutes for a glass of wine or have no one check in on me that the food is palatable. I don't want to feel overly rushed or that I am an encumbrance....basic requirements I have for dining on land.

 

I am already considering upgrading our party of 8 to Aurea simply for the slightly better dinner service, but I really would rather not.

 

Other than that, I have found 90% of the crew completely pleasant. Those that weren't, I chalked up to a bad day. The bartenders around the ship are overwhelmingly pleasant, the activities crew upbeat, and pool attendants tend to be a bit more serious, but I bet that's part of the job

 

Problem solving and resolution is hit or miss at guest services, but mostly it's been good in my experience. They deal with a lot of characters all day and all night, which has to be exhausting, so I tend to cut them some slack.

Edited September 20 by MonsterJoe

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Because next time I am not choosing MSC YC - I am choosing a different line, where even traveling in steerage class is wonderful.

Couldn't agree more!  We find the steerage class on Celebrity to be pretty exceptional!  I didn't know I would think this because we used to book suites...when they were 'affordable'.  Then I got a 'free' cruise for 2 in a balcony room via Blue Chip as viola!  DH and I were so impressed with the over all Celebrity product and learned that the suite product just isn't necessary.  Additionally, one can still find a pretty good deal on a balcony cabin on both S and M class ships.  I would not book a regular anything on MSC for the very reasons you expressed.

[Oceans 818]

23 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

The biggest gap in service I have experienced outside of YC is the dinner service. So much so that I am giving it one night on my April Meraviglia cruise in steerage. If it's not good, I will avoid it.

I wasn't thrilled with being placed at a table on our last cruise and I requested a change. We were moved to a different dining room. The difference in service was night and day. Our server & assistant had our preferred wine and a paper copy of the menu ready every night with a smile. We have never sailed YC to compare but of the 6 MSC cruises the MDR has generally been very good other than sometimes it's hard to get a 2nd cup of coffee at breakfast. But now I get coffee to the room before heading for breakfast so I'm good if I only get the one..

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

But the crew in the "steerage" areas should be treating you as well as any other cruise ship does.

 

47 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

The biggest gap in service I have experienced outside of YC is the dinner service. So much so that I am giving it one night on my April Meraviglia cruise in steerage. If it's not good, I will avoid it.  I mostly mean the servers.

 

I must say that our MDR waiting team was wonderful - they took great care of our party of 5.  We had early dining.

[mark46]

I agree that all should be treated well, otherwise you should choose a liner that teats you well no matter the price.

======== 

With regard to price, there are those traveling for $55 a night on our next MSC 7-day cruise.  If Carnaval and NCL have better prices and experiences, by all means choose them.

======

If I were to travel in a junior suite (glorified balcony) or less, I would ALWAYS choose Holland America.  I think that ALL guests are treated very well.

 

[kad56]

8 minutes ago, mark46 said:

If I were to travel in a junior suite (glorified balcony) or less, I would ALWAYS choose Holland America.  I think that ALL guests are treated very well.

 

 

I've only sailed in interior cabins with HAL. It's always been wonderful.