vcheng20

Yes. Totally confused with another cruise. No B+J ice cream here. Sorry for the confusion. But good to know that the cafe and buffet should be safe for my boy. Thanks a lot clearing it up

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Nothing served in the kids club. The "frozen dessert" machines do not have toppings.

How about the Ben and Jerry ice cream store, does it have nuts topping on the ice cream?

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Hi

We are thinking of taking a Greek cruise with the Jewel. Our son is allergic to pistachio and cashew. We have been on cruises before and we know we will talk to the chefs ahead of time. So for actual eating, we know we will be fine. Someone said that there are pistachio and cashew toppings at the Ben and Jerry and buffet. Can anyone verify? We worry about the kids club or the pool, where kids will take the ice cream with them. Any experience on this is greatly appreciated

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You could always use the money you save to indulge in some dining onshore if the food onboard is not to your liking. I would normally say go to the Speciality restaurants, too, but there is only one onboard Musica & Poesia and it's Kaito Sushi Bar, so not to eveyone's taste.

 

 

 

Are you in a loyalty scheme with any of the cruiselines you've sailed with? If so, have you status-matched with MSC's Voyagers Club? If you haven't, you should. You'll receive a 5% discount off the price of your cruise once you've registered. Details are on the website here:

 

 

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Loyalty-Match-Program.aspx

I did the status match from my Marriot platinum elite. For msc black, which makes this SO attractive. It just seems so awesome. We typically are the lowest rank cruise loyalty with other lines so being the highest rank gives me even more reason. My wife is nervous for a few reasons:

-Food

-We only speak English and she think RCL will be a lot more America like. I get it, we are in Europe, but we have 2 kids and we want it easy with them

-my son is allergic to pistachio, and we saw on a picture of that as gelato topping at the Igauna bar. We know how to avoid eating it and talk to the restaurant before hand. But we are worry about ice cream around the deck with pistachio lying around. Does RCL jewel have food laced with pistachio lying around also?

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I have sailed twice on MSC and several times on RCL. The Jewel class on RCL is my all time favorite ship design. With that being said, I do not believe she is worth twice the money.

 

A European cruise is much different than a Caribbean cruise. Port days are long, hot, and exhausting (in a good way). The ship matters much less on this port intensive itinerary. BTW, are you sure these are 4 day cruises? That is odd for a Greek Isle itinerary.

 

Now, I would caution you to keep your expectations in line with the price paid. MSC is a great value, but it lacks many of the Jewel class bells and whistles. For me, MSC yep, food was much less appealing, but that is subjective and I never went hungry. For me, yes MSC was disorganized and don't even get me started on their web page. I don't necessarily agree with rude passengers, but there are cultural differences you should be ready to embrace (example queing). And, you may need to pay for a glass of water in the dining room (again cultural).

 

In your position, I'd choose MSC over RCI, but lower my expectations for the actual cruise experience and use that money toward personalized tours of the Greek Isles.

You are right. I had a typo. It should say 7 nights

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Hi. We have been all 6 cruises with RCL,NCL, Carnival and Celebrity before but all out of US or Canada. We want to do Greece next year and found a company called MSC. They have 2 ships from Italy-Musica and Poesia. With kids sailing free, it's only 3500 USD for 4 of us in a balcony room for 4 nights with unlimited drinks. That's about 900 USD per person which is insanely cheap. RCL for the similar itinerary is 2x the price. Anyone with experience that can share? Is the deal too good to be true? From reading different reviews, I'm seeing common themes

-bad food

-disorganized

-rude passengers

Is the RCL jewel of the sea 2x better?

We typically pick cruises based on price and itinerary. This is the first time we are seeing a huge price difference

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