MSC with our 5 kids was WONDERFUL!!!

[FOURunderFOUR]

I don't post on these boards often...I tend to cluster-post around cruise time, which is typically once a year. But I know several of you are looking for a good deal on a cruise, and I know MSC is getting a horrible rep, so I wanted to post my experience here.

 

I need to put a disclaimer out first. We have 5 kids - at cruise time they were 4mos, 2yo, 3yo, 4yo, and 5 1/2yo. MSC offers "kids sail free" - 2 kids under 17yo per 2 paying adults - you do have to pay some fees for the kids - I think it came out to around $44 per kid for us. My mom and dad went with us, paying their own room fare, but we paid the taxes for all 5 kids. We each had an OV quad cabin, and they let the baby stay in our cabin with the 2 other kids as she was so small. Our family total (DH and I plus the kids) was around $1000! For a stellar 7 night Caribbean cruise!!! I am not sure if that can be matched or beaten anywhere, and it seems like we may not find that same deal again (we have already been looking for next year). Somehow, we were able to find a sale (I originally found it through jetblue airlines cruises but our TA was able to match it) where we got an OV cabin for an interior price - $389pp. It was the last week in January, which seems like a good time price-wise to cruise as it is before the winter break price jack-ups. DH and I have cruised several times previously on RCCL, and my parents have gone on carnival, but we have never cruised with the kids.

 

Our MSC experience was awesome. Before boarding, all we heard about was terrible service and horrible food. We had already paid in full and couldn't cancel without losing money, so we went with an open mind. However, we had nothing but the best service. Perhaps it was because we had 5 young children in tow, but everywhere we went we were greeted with smiles. Even the passengers seemed delighted by our kids, which is not always the case on land. I often feel I need to apologize for having a large family becasue by definition, we are loud and we take up a lot of space. However, my kids ARE well-behaved, and cute (although I admit I may be biased there!). Food was more than adequate. Yes, dining times are long, frequently taking up to 2 hours. Each night, dinner has up to 6 courses, although you are always free to order more or less. Our kids food came out promptly, and they often had their dessert well before our main course. But once they were fed, we allowed them to have small toys (a mini etch-a-sketch) that kept them quiet and us free to eat. The menu was varied, including some things we had never heard of before, things we had heard of but never tried (fried frog legs, squid rings), common things (steak, salmon, chicken, lasagna, spaghetti), and just plain ole delicious italian fare. My one complaint - not enough salt - but that was easily remedied at the table. The kids menu had some American fare (hot dogs, pizza, spaghetti, breaded chicken tenders), and some different things that the kids (and adults) tried and enjoyed (squid rings, cheese croquets which were like mozzarella sticks in pancake form, fried rice balls, veggie fritters, etc). After the first night, water pitchers were always available at the table, and refilled promptly. Our kids had chocolate milk ready and waiting each night. Our server and his attendent were always accomodating with requests and eager to please. We ate nearly all of our breakfasts in the dining room too. Lox was available, as were eggs any style (except omelets), pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc. We did encounter some minimal language issues here, but none of it was ever horrible. The buffet was ok, but we preferred the dining room. Food was fairly typical buffet fare, and I was not super impressed with it. However, for lunches, there was plenty of variety, including a large salad bar, grill with hamburgers and hot dogs, pizza, pasta, etc. I think the food overall was definitley comparable to RCCL. I was not impressed with RCCL buffet either. my parents said they had several made-to-order options on carnival's buffet, which would have been a nice addition. Some nights in the dining room I thought were far better than RCCL.

 

Our cabin steward did an incredible job of keeping our rooms clean. There are no towel animals or chocolates, but there was fresh fruit each day. (Several other staff (mostly dining room and bar it seemed) had a stash of tiny dark chocolates in their pockets and were frequently handing them out to our kids!). We had the minifridge emptied so we could keep some of our own beverages in there. It was a tight fit with 2 adults and 3-5 kids, but we made it work. (even though 2 slept with my parents, we kept most of the clothes in our room).

 

Nighttime entertainment was UNBELIEVABLE! I know several people have complained about it and I can not fathom why. The cirque de soleil type acts were impressive, as were the magician and jugglers. They had the typical song and dance reviews that are common on RCCL and I thought they were comparable. They also had 4 singers - 2 opera singers, and 2 who soloed the other acts and they were downright impressive. We did not participate in much of the daytime entertainment, but the team was young and enthusiastic. There are multiple pools on the pool deck, one of which has the entertainment stage. You can be close to the action if you want to participate or further away if you want to avoid it, but still enjoy the sun and water. There is one tiny childrens pool and a few 6 ft salt water pools. The pool deck is surrounded by about 4 feet of tile on each side and they let the pools overflow, so anyone with young kids like us can simply sit on the pool deck and get wet that wasy. My little ones LOVED that. Pool chairs are like any other cruise line. If you want a good spot, you need to steak it out early. however, if you think you can reserve a large number of chairs simply by putting some towels out on it, you will come back to find others sitting in your chairs with your towels on the ground underneath. We remedied this by having one of us stay with our chairs if it was that important that we had some in a certain spot (i.e. on sea days). Otherwise, there were plenty of chairs and plenty of deck space if you did not need to be in the main pool area.

 

Our 3, 4, and 5yo particiated in a few of the kids programs and seemed to enjoy them. Keep in mind if your kids have cruised on other lines they may not be impressed. There is only one play area, with a slide and small rope climbing area. No water slides or jungle gyms or rock climbing walls if you are used to those things. There is mini golf. I did not view the indoor play areas, as I was usually with the little ones while my husband dropped off the older ones, but they seemed to enjoy the coloring and activiites. The kids did a scavenger hunt, several parades, a tour of the bridge with the captain. There are hours available all day with a few one hour breaks in place so you can not drop your kids off and leave them all day. Our kids mainly stayed with us, but did go a few times in the afternoons while the younger two were napping. I have heard several people complain there are no activities for "older" kids - 7-12 range - not old enough to really be by themselves, but too old for the "baby" stuff. I can't really comment on this.

 

ok. This is long enough, so I will stop here. Feel free to ask any other specific questions if you have any.

 

J

[sunandseagirl617]

Thank you so much for so much insight to MSC!! It is so refreshing to have a positive experience, especially with kids!!:)

 

I was waiting for you to come back! Just curious of how you managed in all of the ports etc....There has been so much talk lately on what to bring in the way of strollers, car seats, etc!!!!!!

 

Thanks again, so you are hooked;):confused:

[FOURunderFOUR]

We are SO hooked! In fact, if we can find a matching deal, we would love to go again before the Orchestra leaves the US in May, and we are also looking for next Jan as well.

 

We ended up taking the infant seat for the baby, two britax seats for our 2 and 3 yo, and 2 booster seats for our 4 and 5 1/2yo. We also brought 3 strollers (our phil and teds kiwi e3 double, and 2 chicco umbrella strollers). In Key West, we docked at a naval base so we had a trolley ride into town. We left the car seats (except for our infant seat) on board but brought all the strollers. I carried my baby in her sling, but had her car seat as it is easier for her in the stroller. We walked to Catholic Mass at St. Mary Star of the Sea. We didn't have much time for anything else other than a quick snack. In Cozumel, we went to Mr. Sanchos. Again, we left all the car seats except for the infant seat, and we brought the double stroller and one of the umbrellas. In the Caymens, we tendered to the island, so we brought the strollers and I carried the baby in her sling. We were only on shore for an hour or so to do some quick shopping. In the Domincan Republic, we also tendered to the beach. I again carried the baby in the sling, but we brought her car seat to use as a sun shade and the double stroller. We ended up only using the booster seats to and from the airport/port/hotel. We used the Britax seats on the plane for our 2 and 3 yo, and also on the cab rides in the US.

 

HTH!

J

[sunandseagirl617]

Thanks, again!! It sounds like you had a blast!!!:D

 

You provided so much valuable information that a lot of families have been seeking!

 

I admire you for doing this with 5 kids!!!!!!!!:)

[cb at sea]

Excellent review! It's nice to know that there are still some 6 course meals SOMEWHERE!!!!!

[crusinmama06]

WELCOME BACK!!!!! I have been waiting for your review! :D I am so glad you had a wonderful experience.

 

Now we want PICTURES!!!! :D Can you post some? I would love to see the ship.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write that all out.

[CeleBrat]

AWESOME! I'm so glad to see/hear someone with kids enjoyed this, as we are about 40 days away from our MSC ORchestra cruise as well. We have cruised several times with Costa on their Kids-Free deal as well, and always have a great time.

 

Yahooooooo!!!!!!

 

CeleBrat

 

PS--I will post a review when we return as well.,

[CruisnKs]

I'm so glad to hear you had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[purrmeister]

Was the kids club open during dinner so that you could possibly feed the kids and then take them to the club so that adults could enjoy the 6 course 2 hour dinner?

[MariaNC]

Thanks for the review. I have spotted some great deals for MSC but have always been fearful due to the negative reviews. We are taking our girls on their first cruise in November on NCL but would seriously consider MSC for our next cruise based on your review.

[queenL]

This is great to hear. I've been wanting to try MSC. The lure of "kids sail free" is very tempting.

[StormingtheCastle]

I see the OP never posted any photos here and since it has been bumped up thought I would share what I have. These are from my trip on the Orchestra last Spring. I was traveling without my kids but because of all the complaints and questions here on the MSC boards I looked into a lot of things and took photos of everything, and yes, I mean everything!

 

http://s633.photobucket.com/albums/uu59/got2gotravel/

 

I have photos of the outdoor Kids area on page 4 and the indoor kids areas start on page 5. I also talked to quite a few parents and kids to get their opinions on how they liked it. The ones with younger kids all said they loved it and the kids loved the clubs. But, as has been said many times, the teens were very bored, not many activities and they were very disappointed. They did seem to be making their own fun and were hanging in groups and seemed to be staying out of trouble.

 

If you search for my past posts you can find my entire review of the cruise. As two adults we had a great time and loved the entire thing--it even turned my non cruising husband to a cruise lover! But I would not take this cruise with my 14 year old. Kids may sail free, but it isn't worth it if she would be bored and not have fun. But with younger kids, go for it! :)

[rescue/fire]

sounds like a great trip! thanks for the review