phred119s

We have sailed on MSC 5 times - sometimes in YC, sometimes not. The last one was in Europe and not in YC. @Essiesmom is spot on. Sometimes people go into the cruise with different expectations than reality. Even the US based cruises are way more diverse in passengers than American cruise lines. We have had hiccups on occasion, but overall have been very pleased with our experience with MSC. Announcements have always been made in English and a few more languages. 
 

We are similar to your ages (child is a little younger). Our next trip is in YC, and I would absolutely recommend it. 

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

I think he told us he will be there until August.

Thank you!

@morpheusofthesea do you happen to know how much longer he will be YC director? Our trip is in a month. 

7 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

This is also new to us. Captain Tuvo has become more involved with the goings on aboard the ship. He still comes 'some' mornings to the YC restaurant to say 'good morning' personally, table to table. He has an evening set aside for pictures. Than another with pictures of himself with the children individually. He is MC at the FCC raffle for additional OBC. Heard last night that he started "Dance with the Captain and Officers Night" . One will see more of this Captain than they will of the Cruise Director Ted. Bye-Bye.....

He’s always been like this, at least in our experience. 

We sail in a month. I bid slightly over the minimum and got the upgrade notification this morning. 

There have been a few cruises where we have bid at varying price points over the minimum where we did not get the upgrade. The notification that our bids had not been accepted has always come the same day of the cruise.

It is interesting to think about. 
 

I remember how nervous I was when we booked our first MSC cruise. All the bad stuff that I had read had me terrified. I was also quite perplexed by a comment we frequently heard about how it was “very European.” As a family that has visited various countries (numerous times) on the continent, I couldn’t quite figure out what that meant. Especially considering we had always had enjoyable experiences.  A friend of ours is a MSC captain. When I was talking to him about our nervousness I was told to take a deep breath that we would be fine. 
 

He was right. We cruised MSC 4 times in a row last year. We learned that the passengers are much more international than American based cruise lines. So far we have only done MSC from the US (going out of the UK next month). We sailed from Italy on an American cruise line last fall, and the passengers were heavily American. MSC from Florida was not comparatively. 

I know an individual that works on board. We were messaging about an hour ago. I don’t believe so. They just left Ocean Cay a few hours ago. 

On 8/21/2023 at 5:59 PM, TravelandLeisure85 said:

We were assigned my time dining on our July Seaside cruise. It was a 3 night. The Seashore was MTD and Ipanema was set dining. I don’t like set dining times, so I was pleased.

We were on your sailing and had early dining in Ipanema. But we were part of a group of 23 so I’m sure that’s why. We are sailing again next week and wishing for anytime!

On 7/15/2023 at 11:26 PM, Essiesmom said:

Please come back and report on the atmosphere on the Seaside 3 nite cruise.  I will be doing that one in August, amid the Great Unwashed.  EM

We had a great time! We actually might do it again at the end of the month. 

Just now, Classynfun1 said:

Will still be nice to know there are other good people onboard! We actually booked 2 weeks ago so I get it. I've never needed a vacation so bad and yet also been so unprepared at the same time. Lol

Ha! We were supposed to be on another ship, another date. Then we had some scheduling conflicts and it was get what you can with a lot more costs involved than the first one. We are getting off the Seaside Sunday morning and on Seascape Sunday afternoon. 

Just now, Classynfun1 said:

Wonderful! Are you also sailing YC? 

Nah. We booked pretty last minute (not even 2 months ago) so we are hanging with the masses. Haha

10 hours ago, Classynfun1 said:

Thanks so much for this thread. Bummed you are disembarking on the 23rd, right as we will be getting on the ship! Would gave been nice to meet you since, without even knowing it, you are one of the reasons we decided to give MSC a go! We did our first MSC cruise in December, in yacht club of course. Getting cruise #2 in next week before I start a new job on the 31st. 

 

After 450+ days on ships, most on Celebrity (in The Retreat or suite class before it existed), we enjoyed our experience in the yacht club. So..thank you! 🙂

I’ve thought the same (getting off/getting on). We are sailing with you!

5 hours ago, lola2013 said:

Unless your Captain Tuvo has a twin, it looks like he jumped ship from Princess.  I watched a Smithsonian Channel program last night showcasing Sky Princess which featured Captain Mikele Tuvo!  

5 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

I was thinking the exact same thing!

It is definitely him!

21 hours ago, GenerationX said:

 

When I took Gen Z up to one of the slides for the first time, while we were waiting for the last rider to clear the slide so that Gen Z was safe to launch, I smiled at the attendant and asked how he was doing today.  His face lit up and he said “oh! You are so kind! Nobody ever asks me this!” 

 

 

 

 

 

We make a point of this also! It’s always so lovely to see the crew faces light up. 

8 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Please come back and report on the atmosphere on the Seaside 3 nite cruise.  I will be doing that one in August, amid the Great Unwashed.  EM

Ha! I’ll try to remember. We are all on that one to celebrate my child’s birthday. About half & half first time cruisers and previous cruisers. 
We typically try to avoid 3 nights on the weekends. It can’t be as bad as the lapse in judgement (it’s so cheap) that landed us on Carnival Liberty back in January, right?. Never again on Carnival…

During the drive back, we decided to have the weekend birthday celebration though. 🤔 

14 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Have learned something. It takes longer than 4 weeks to lose the weight from one cruise to the next. I only lost one pound from the last cruise. I'm doomed.....

Great. 😂😂 sailing Thursday on Seaside and getting on Seascape when you get off. No hope of losing the weight, I suppose. 🤣

10 minutes ago, suzyed said:

We have done 2 MSC cruises...I thought the MDR food was poor but the specialty restaurants were very good to excellent!  I also thought the shows were great!  Was Captain Tuvo on your sailing yet when you sailed?  Which ship are you going on?

 

He will be on the “group recovery” cruise. We are sailing on Seaside and Seascape in the next couple of weeks. 
 

we were on Meraviglia in April. Actually thought the MDR food was better than some we’ve had while on Princess the last couple of trips. 

On 7/10/2023 at 12:27 AM, MortySails said:

I am very “Brand Loyal” to Princess, having proposed on Island Princess, married on Caribbean Princess, and part of the Guinness Book of Records Wedding Vows renewal in Regal Princess.  I had the pleasure of meeting many of the Captains from Princess and briefly chatting with Captain “ByeBye” Tuvo in Sky, found him to be affable, visible, personable, and a great part of the Princess onboard culture.  My one time experience on MSC, was in one word, extreme,y disappointing. Won’t discuss the bad service, bad food, bad entertainment, terrible customer service both on board and and shoreside, salvaged only by a great itinerary. I truly wish him the very best and safe and clear seas in his future.

Sometimes I wonder if we go into a brand closed minded…expecting things to be what we are used to. We booked a cruise on MSC during late summer last year for a spring cruise (not even in YC). I was nervous based off the things I had read. Captain Tuvo told me that we would be fine. He was right. We still prefer Princess to MSC, but we didn’t have a bad experience at all. We are sailing on MSC twice during the next few weeks. One as a group and one to recover from sailing as a group. Haha 

On 7/9/2023 at 8:17 AM, Essiesmom said:

Loving those black patent Mary Janes.  Did you have a matching starry night dress?  EM

That dress! @GenerationX I also have a 10 year old. She would be all over that dress!! 
 

we are on Seaside and Seascape over the next couple of weeks. I’m so excited. 

My password that I’ve been using since they required a special character is now not working. Tried the super old one without the special character and it worked. Go figure. 

For what it’s worth, we were looking at X for Spring Break next year from Athens. Loved the itinerary…the non refundable deposit was more than an entire MSC cruise. We chose MSC. (Not apples to apples itinerary wise, but both include Egypt which my child wants to visit.)

On 6/12/2023 at 9:11 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Well this never ever happened on any cruise we have ever been on in 50 years of cruising. It even shocked the staff in the YC Restaurant. At around 7:45 am while waiting for our breakfast to be brought to our table, I feel the light touch of a hand on my shoulder of an officer welcoming us to the Seascape. My reaction was to get his name for tipping at the end of the cruise. He went to each and every table (10) that had guests this first morning. Come to find out the officer was our new Captain Michele Tuvo. He was accompanied by the staff captain in the background. Soon after the maitre d' Arthur Javier also made the rounds and said how astonished the staff was that the Captain made such a grand gesture toward the YC guests. Another first for MSC.

He’s the best! (And the reason we are sailing on Seascape next month.) Much like you mentioned above, we met him at breakfast on the first morning of our cruise many years ago. 

Thank you for your review. We are sailing on Seaside in July as a group of 23 for my daughter’s birthday. Then we are getting on Seascape the day we get off Seaside.  We tried MSC for the first time in April. We now have 3 booked between now and March. We also really enjoyed it. 

On 5/9/2023 at 1:13 PM, wayne_trisha said:

We are a month out from our Seaside cruise. Diamond on RCCl and their prices are ridiculous. Looks like the June 11th sailing has no insides so i cannot get the prices but the June 4th is currently listed at $3060 PP plus taxes/fess for an inside on Wonder OTS. We're on Seaside for less than $2700 total in a balcony with drinks, wi-fi, and $225 OBC. RIDICULOUS! Don't care that it is the newest Oasis class. Been on 10 or so Oasis class cruises and the upgrades/changes have little value to us.

ha! we've been 1 point from Diamond since 2017. Money isn't everything, but we've frequently sailed Princess (and MSC) for much, much less than Royal when pricing it out. In fact, apples to apples as far as days and room type, our July 20 cruise was $1,000 less than Royal wanted since we were inviting others onboard to celebrate our daughter's birthday it was a no brainer!

3 hours ago, LuckyStar said:

I recently booked two B2B cruises, unfortunately, I had to cancel the second leg.  I requested a refund of my deposit.  I should have asked if they could apply it to my still booked cruise but I didn't think of it.  Anyway, they told me it could take up to 3 billing cycles, which is end of August, to get my refund.  I'm ok with that, in theory, I'll just post a calendar entry and watch for it.  Has anyone else had refunds take this long?  

I just cancelled one I had for 8/31 (to book another for 7/23) and was told they could not transfer the money.  They told me 2-3 billing cycles this afternoon when I called to see if I needed to request the refund (they said no).