3DogDay

10 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

t was the Seaside out of Rio, and maybe that’s what made the difference. Giving credit where it is absolutely due, our cabin attendant was great. He even straightened the balcony chairs, which I had a bad habit or rearranging. 

I wanted to make a correction - it was the SEAVIEW and NOT the Seaside. 

10 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

it was the Seaside out of Rio, and maybe that’s what made the difference. Giving credit where it is absolutely due, our cabin attendant was great. He even straightened the balcony chairs, which I had a bad habit or rearranging. 
 

I still owe @JamieLogical a full write up, and I’m going to get to that this weekend. 

I wanted to make a correction - it was the SEAVIEW and NOT the Seaside. 

1 hour ago, mcoler181 said:

16 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

What ship was this on out of interest?

 

We never experienced anything like that in the full 14 nights. One thing we did have an  issue with was the room attendant not leaving spare toilet roll, a few times we had to go looking for some.  

it was the Seaside out of Rio, and maybe that’s what made the difference. Giving credit where it is absolutely due, our cabin attendant was great. He even straightened the balcony chairs, which I had a bad habit or rearranging. 
 

I still owe @JamieLogical a full write up, and I’m going to get to that this weekend. 

5 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Funny, I was literally JUST reading a review today of the Enchanted Princess and someone was complaining about the hand soaps always being empty in the public restrooms. Not that there is any excuse for that on any line, but it certainly doesn't seem to be unique to MSC.

I’ve never cruised with Princess and now that I know this it’s very unlikely that I ever will 

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

On 2/13/2024 at 3:20 AM, Ryan82 said:

I nearly cancelled my first MSC cruise booked in October 22 reading the horrible reviews and seeing comments on the book of faces.

 

7 cruises in - I love MSC to the extent they now take most of my disposable cash like a nagging teenager. I refuse 100% my partner's suggestions that we try a new line...

 

It genuinely puzzles me when I read comments and revies of itineraries I've recently completed like "the staff are rude", or 'impossible to get a drink" , "all the food was terribl" when that's not my experience at all.

 

What do you think the underlying cause is for the bad reviews?

 

1. MSC over-sell their experience

2. Some passenger's have unrealistic expectations?

3. Some people innately like to whinge

4. Something else

2 and 3.

If things like no soap in the public restrooms and not having to sit at a table full of some else’s dirty every day (wish I had taken pictures) are unrealistic expectations and me just being someone who likes to whine then I’ll own that. I can forgive the mediocre food or the outlier rude staff member, but I should have to be constantly praying that I make it off the ship without contracting norovirus. If I can go to McDonald’s and not have to face these issues, shouldn’t be the same on a ship? I’ve been other lines which all had their pros and cons but I can say that these issue were only present on MSC. 

9 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

17 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

Unfortunately some of the issues that I experienced were more than I wish they had 1200 thread count sheets on the bed or that there was no steak and lobster on the gala night.

Good, because lobster at gala night is not something you can expect at MSC, I never had it from 2011 to 2023 and will not have it in 2024😄 I know that on some ships at some times MSC did offer it, I only believe because I saw the photos. 

I think those days are long gone for almost all the lines (at least the ones for us commoners anyway 🙂). 

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We’ve been sailing MSC since 2011 and couldn’t agree more with that statement. 

Oh, we started cruising MSC in the same year! 🙂

And certainly this is true. But who expects MSC to address all these things we all know? I don´t and I think their success does not depend on this at all. Over the years so often I was thinking to leave them, but the others are usually not able to offer a product that matches MSC with the combination of quality, itinerary, value and reliability. Every year I try to book Costa, always they miss the final comparison. My only "problem" is that the 2024 prices are really much higher than before. Still I found no other option for the week in May I needed.

Unfortunately some of the issues that I experienced were more than I wish they had 1200 thread count sheets on the bed or that there was no steak and lobster on the gala night. My biggest issues were thing that impacted cleanliness and hygiene, and I have seen these issues mentioned numerous times in other posts. As I said I will detail my experience when I have a moment, but I will end this by saying that I would have gladly traded the nice to haves to correct  the other issues. 

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

1 hour ago, 3DogDay said:

I just got off my first MSC cruise and I will try to be as objective as possible. There were a couple they did exceptionally well as in “How has no other cruise line figured this out?”  There were other things that they did about as well as other lines and quite a few things the were done only to barely reach the “good enough” level. Finally there were numerous things that were stunningly bad. Worst cruise ever? Not even remotely close. But have they won me over as a repeat customer? Not likely. They don’t seem to be unaware of the things that they could do better, they just appear to chose not to. A lot of people choose to you use Carnival as the lowest bar to set for cruising, yet I have been on several Carnival cruises and they all have exceeded this one. I chose MSC for the itinerary as they were the only ones doing anything like it. I would probably cruise with them again only if it were a similar situation and even then I would really have to think long and hard about it. 

Expand  

 

Would you mind elaborating on the things you felt they did well and the things you feel the

 

It wasn’t intended to be a review as much as it was my over all and first impression. And from what I have read I would be repeating more of the same, which is why I believed MSC is more than aware of their short comings but not interested in addressing my them. But yes, when I have more time to enumerate each point and expand upon each of them I will do so. 

I just got off my first MSC cruise and I will try to be as objective as possible. There were a couple they did exceptionally well as in “How has no other cruise line figured this out?”  There were other things that they did about as well as other lines and quite a few things the were done only to barely reach the “good enough” level. Finally there were numerous things that were stunningly bad. Worst cruise ever? Not even remotely close. But have they won me over as a repeat customer? Not likely. They don’t seem to be unaware of the things that they could do better, they just appear to chose not to. A lot of people choose to you use Carnival as the lowest bar to set for cruising, yet I have been on several Carnival cruises and they all have exceeded this one. I chose MSC for the itinerary as they were the only ones doing anything like it. I would probably cruise with them again only if it were a similar situation and even then I would really have to think long and hard about it. 

So I guess my fears were all for naught. Embarkation was completed with no questions asked. I still think MSC could have been a little more forward thinking when it came to updating their website and informing their customer service representatives with a “Hey, you might get calls about this.”  But that’s all water under the bridge now. 

@B_A_H Yeah I think we’re both good. What had me unhinged was Tracy’s response (or lack there of) and made me think that maybe all MSC employees were not in the know. Still printing out this information just in case, but I’m way more confident than I was on Saturday.

Have a great trip!

When reading MSC's document it says the following:

"Please note that the information provided is subject to change by the official authorities without notice."  This is true and it WAS changed as per the government website of Brazil - https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/consulado-mumbai/news/necessidade-de-visto-para-portadores-de-passaportes-americanos-apos-10-de-abril-de-2024 and as the same is also stated on the U.S. Embassy in Brazil's website - https://br.usembassy.gov/message-for-u-s-citizens-new-visa-requirement-for-u-s-citizens/

It also says "It is every Guest responsibility to verify the requirements and restrictions before booking the cruise and before the cruise departure" I have indeed done that and I have proof of my due diligence, which I will make sure to have with me on embarkation. Also, this statement is saying that if the official requirements change but are not detailed in this document, then it is my responsibility to know that. So let's say the date had been moved back to Dec. 10, 2023, but the document was not updated to reflect that, then I would be accountable for not knowing this. So if that is true, then it should be the same if the date has been moved up. And finally, if there was some arbitrary reason that MSC had decided to require a visa for reasons outside of the government regulations, then THEY should have made THEIR requirements clear, which they haven't.

I feel pretty confident now that I am in the clear and am fully prepared to use their own document against them if there are any issues. Also, if I am denied boarding, I am fairly certain that I have something actionable against them as I did exactly what their document said. So, we'll see,

I'm a US citizen booked on the Seaview sailing out of Rio on Feb. 29, 2024. As this was not my first time on an international cruise, I checked the State Department and consulate websites for their visa requirements. Argentina and Uruguay only required one if the stay would be longer than 90 days and Brazil would not begin requiring them until Apr. 10, 2024. Since none of these parameters fit I figured I was good. Then I saw a document on the MSC website saying that a visa is required as of Jan 10, 2024. I called MSC's service line and spoke to a breathtakingly unhelpful woman named Tracy who literally did nothing more than read to me what was on the website, which was something that I had already done. I looked at the MSC document again and noticed that it was dated Oct. 2023. After some additional research, it turns out that the Jan. 10 date was correct as of October but was later postponed to April as of the beginning of Jan. 2024. I called back and spoke to a man named Enoch and I just asked him why all of the official government documentation was giving one date while theirs was giving another. I explained that I had confirmed with my airline that there shouldn't be an issue upon entering the country at the airport. so why would I be denied boarding because of something the government was not requiring?  He did some additional research and agreed that there shouldn't be an issue as the immigration process at the airport should be the same as at the port. He did say to print out the information just in case there were any questions.

Now my only concern is what if some woefully uninformed boarding agent decides that I can't board because this person has stale information and does the same as Tracy. So I wanted to put this out there to see if there is anyone who has recently sailed with MSC out of Brazil and if they were able to do so with no visa as is the current policy in effect. I'm pretty sure that everything will be fine and I have all the information to back this up, but a relief (or maybe not) to hear what others have experienced.

We’re on the cruise after yours. We’ll wave to you when you disembark 😀. Have a great time!

Wow..... I'm a bit amazed that this thread is still alive. I had almost forgotten that I had even posted it - had no idea that this would be a topic that would go on for almost 3 years!

In January of 2016 we did a 14 day SE Asia itinerary on the Celebrity Millennium. There was a couple from our home town who lived close by (we only know this because we asked) and was traveling with another couple that just so happened to be on our flights. And as it turned out they were in cabins down the hall from us. We saw that the LGBT gathering was posted on the community bulletin board, so we figured we had nothing to lose. We showed up to the gathering, and the local boys and their friends were there holding court with some ladies. As they were the only ones there and they never even looked our way, we just had a drink and left (oh well, the purpose of flying 10k miles wasn't to meet them anyway - we could just as easily be ignored by them back home). But that being said, we ended up meeting two Australian couples just by hanging out at the pool. We would have had a wonderful time regardless of whether or not we had met anyone, but they just made it all the more fun.

In April of 2017 we did a 7 day Western Caribbean on the Carnival Glory (my partner absolutely put his foot down and refused to get on any plane that was flying for more than 2 hours) and they actually had the gathering listed in the daily Fun Times. At the first gathering it was only two younger guys traveling together and us. We talked to them for a bit and they were nice. But the next night they were hanging out with a couple much closer to their age, and they seemed like they would rather keep the group to just themselves. We could hardly blame them for that and didn't intrude. There were also a few other obviously gay couples on board, but we neither saw them at any of the gatherings nor did they seem as though they wanted to be engaged. But once again, we met a really great lesbian couple while hanging out at the pool along with several other straight people from various excursions.

I guess the moral of the story is that you have nothing to lose by checking out any of the gatherings. You may meet some nice people, if only for a brief time, you may meet no one or you may be completely ignored. But if nothing else, hang out by the pool - this seems to be where all of the interesting people are! But regardless of whether you meet 100 people or none, enjoy your cruise.

We leave for a Med cruise out of the UK on the Navigator of the Seas in 42 days. Will let you know what happens - hopefully it won't be too cold to hang out by the pool.

Leaving today for a 14 day Southeast Asia cruise from Singapore on Celebrity. I've been in contact with another couple who said that they will attend the gatherings, but we'll see.

Just promise to show up[emoji1]

Seems like no one has been attending the gatherings on our last few cruises, but maybe this cruise will be different. We did end up meeting a lot of really nice straight people though.

Only 11 more day (and only 9 until our flight)! See you there!

Hi Irwin and Michael

We're Rich and Tony from Columbus, Ohio. I was beginning to think we were the only ones Look forward to seeing you there. Only 13 short days!

Oh well. Three weeks from today.

Only 48 more days!

You guys are no fun.

[emoji53]

C'mon!

No one???

[emoji80]

Mid 40's couple from Columbus, Ohio - anyone else?

Mid 40's couple from Columbus, Ohio - anyone else going?