Markanddonna

An assortment of otc meds is important. You need to get things from the medical center if you really need them.

Just now, Markanddonna said:

Only saw regular artificial sweeteners. Bring your own if you really need that. 

Btw, they often don't give you a box of Kleenex, so I doubt they would have anything special.

Only saw regular artificial sweeteners. Bring your own if you really need that. 

1 hour ago, styles27 said:

I completely agree that it was the off putting behaviour of most of the passengers on our cruise that made the cruise so disappointing.

Also the ship was packed over New Year's, although I see you have 3500 on your sailing which is only 300 less than we had.

 

I really think that MSC's lower pricing is playing a part in this.

 

Here's an example: we are paying more for 7 days on NCL in April (without the drink package) than we paid for 14 days on Divina with drinks and wifi included.  It's a significant amount more too and our room and balcony on Divina were better.  

 

I think with that kind of price difference MSC ships will continue to be pretty full.  Add unlimited alcohol and chances are you end up with something like our experience and like the OP is describing on this and other threads today.  

 

 

So if you aren't eating in the MDR and the buffet where are you eating?  Are you in the YC.

 

 

Edit to add: we had positive interactions with 99% of the crew...I'd never blame the crew for what happened on our cruise.  I do place that blame on the companies that are over selling when they know they aren't staffed to handle it.  It's not fair for the crew or the passengers.

Exactly. I didn't see any bad passenger behavior, just people who expect more than one bartender at the bar.

Btw, w we witnessed two staff disciplines and one crew member baring his soul to us. 

We are on the Msc Divina right now in Cartagena and no one has ever checked our COVID cards. Not at registration or at port.

In Colombia, the vendors are a step more aggressive than in Jamaica. They will put a hat on your head and then demand payment. That sort of thing. I am on the ship in Cartagena right now and since I had seen the sites last time, just stayed in port at Port Oasis. I will report on what my table mates say this evening.

49 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm sorry the OP @Markanddonnais leaving MSC after this incident. It seems a rather strong reaction to punish the whole cruise line (and, by extension, all the crew members) due to one incident, but it's your money and your time. You have to decide what's best for you. Since staffing, supply chain and budget issues are hitting all of the lines, it remains to be seen which ones will fare best in the long run. Good luck to you in the future and yes, I join you in wishing MSC reads this and doesn't treat crew this way again. Very unprofessional to scold them in front of passengers like that.

We are diamond on MSC and have been exasperated with their IT problems that haven't been resolved in ten months. This present cruise,  a seven day and 10 day b2b was our test to see if we would continue with Msc. We had two great rcl and ncl cruises this year with RCL and NCL. We were on a problematic sailing on MSC this March, so this isn't a rash decision. 

After sailing with the big six, I have to say MSC ranks at the bottom. I'm on (probably my last) Msc cruise right now. You won't starve is a good way of summarizing the food. Of course, that is a pretty sad statement. Italian cream cakes and some of the fish is good. Butcher's Cut always great. The apple strudel last night was horrible. We all struggled to cut the show leather crust with a knife! The inside was like apple sauce. The buffet is swamped and runs out of cups and mugs. They oversold and the poor crew is really struggling. Long lines to get into the black Crab restaurant because the buffet is so challenging.

We are not happy with after witnessing crew members both individually and collectively being disciplined in front of passengers. The crew has been very hard working and polite. We also spoke with a crew member who told us about all the extra work the crew has been assigned. We have about 25 cruises under our belt with many different companies and have never witnessed this before. If an MSC reads this, please let the company know that the cutbacks are very noticeable, and your crew has been excellent with efficiency and a smile despite the problems. The number of passengers on this sailing is too many. Cut off the excess sales when you approach the tipping point. Doubt we ibook another Msc despite being diamond.

The only thing we didn't like about the Epic was the bathroom layout. Otherwise, we were very pleased. It is always better to NOT take ship excursions.

The weather is great but my dh has bronchitis now with COPD so we are laying low. Will venture to port Oasis today. The ship doctor was great but just verified all the meds and antibiotics from home were the right ones. 

The line to the Black Crab at breakfast was insane. 

I understand they added 600 passengers at the last minute. Casino club?

We are not happy with after witnessing crew members both individually and collectively being disciplined in front of passengers. The crew has been very hard working and polite. We also spoke with a crew member who told us about all the extra work the crew has been assigned. We have about 25 cruises under our belt with many different companies and have never witnessed this before. If an MSC reads this, please let the company know that the cutbacks are very noticeable, and your crew has been excellent with efficiency and a smile despite the problems. The number of passengers on this sailing is too many. Cut off the excess sales when you approach the tipping point. Doubt we ibook another Msc despite being diamond.

On 1/30/2023 at 3:28 AM, woodley said:

We have one booked with MSC and one with Azamara.  Lets hope they are better.

 

We are currently on a MSC B2B. So many cutbacks and things broken. No cups or glasses at times in the buffet. Lovely ships, hard working crew, but our NCL in November was much better. 

17 hours ago, JeanieC,Aston said:

If you only have one day it Istanbul I would do the ships excursion to see Hagia Sophia,The Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar.,,,,the 3 must sees in Istanbul.

If you don’t like being hassled give the Bazaar a miss.

Blue Mosque is currently under renovation so check the status. It is not worth the visit at this time 

On 1/28/2023 at 3:59 PM, styles27 said:

Nice! You must be doing the itinerary we did to Colombia, Panama etc 

Have fun! I’ll be interested in hearing how it goes for you. 
 

We have 3,500 on the 10 day. Very crowded. Yesterday at breakfast, they ran out of cups and glasses in the buffet. Pool chairs and loungers are only for those who wake up really early on sea days. Three evening meal times. 

They are allowed. I even bought a new one at port that made it through security just fine.

1 hour ago, styles27 said:

Happy to hear it’s a better start!

Are you doing the B2B on Divina?

Yes, we did the Jan 20th seven day and are on the same ship, same cabin on the 10 day. We found a quiet place to play cards and games: 7th deck in the balcony area for the theatre.

Fewer children's and twenties on the 10 day. Many more internationals. 75% of ship and that doesn't count non English speaking Americans.

On 1/27/2023 at 10:47 AM, styles27 said:

Agree about the CD, nice guy but boring and we never saw him other than when he introduced some of the entertainment in the theater. 
 

Yes the aft pool lifeguard was doing that on our sailing as well but we actually appreciated it because I saw some chair hogs who somehow got extra towels and they would save chairs in the sun and some in the shade and then go back and forth depending on how they felt. He put a stop to it lol

 

Lido deck lifeguards/pool attendants didn’t care if chairs sat empty for hours they wouldn’t take the towels. 
 

We didn’t attend the Voyagers or Diamond parties…they were at odd times when we were in port on excursions on our sailing. 
 

Sorry your cruise was disappointing. We got off feeling the same a couple weeks ago. 

We are on day two and the atmosphere is better. Our mdr waiter is much better as are our tablemates. More crowded though and pool area is crazy. Dancing in the Latin lounge was great.

Btw, we are disappointed Diamond status members with lots of cruises under our belt. MSC is really cutting back. I will report back in 10 days.

Crew was just fine.

5 minutes ago, styles27 said:

How was your cruise other than that?

Saw there was a medical emergency on another social media  site yesterday.

This was my test cruise to see if we will continue to cruise with Msc. After the seven day one, I would say we were both disappointed. Food, except for Butcher's Cut was mediocre. Entertainment was fine and there were production show of the same type six of the seven nights. 

CD Pedro disappeared last night with a much jollier replacement. Pedro was the most boring cd ever. Both Voyagers and Diamond parties were a step down from the past. 

First time I ever witnessed really strict enforcement of no chair hogs in adult only area. The guy even stopped a seven AM chair hog from even attempting to do so. He also abided by the word of others who wanted the loungers with no people at them. It appeared a certain country group worked together to get a large group chairs this way. The guard would fold up the towels and place them on the pool deck. 

What type of dance instructors does Celebrity have? I love the ones on rccl past cruises who were great mature couples who really knew how to teach. These 20 year old professionals are so inferior to those who are more mature and experienced. Just got off an msc cruise and they went way too fast and didn't work with couples.

We also tried to use our diamond tender passes but were just lumped with the waiting group.

We just got off the Divina and they shortened the time to leave Ocean Cay at 7:00 instead of 10:00. No explanation but the daily planner obviously predicted bad weather, which never happened. The planner said to watch the lighthouse show at 6:45 from the ship. That means early diners miss out. I asked about our next 10 day cruise and the csr said we will also leave at 7:00 instead of ten. So, saying it was weather was a lie. I think it is cutbacks. 

We also had to leave even earlier than 7:00 because ora medical emergency.

Any other experiences?

We went to butcher's cut this past week. Steaks were excellent as was the waiter.