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Poesia Trip..Awful! First and Last Time w.MSC


ILikeVacations

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We were on the 1/9-16 trip on the MSC Poesia. This was our 10th cruise and first with MSC. It was also the last.

Deck 13 often smelled like Poop. My husband said it was sewage gas. It was disgusting. I could not stay at the pool when the smell was active.

Food was terrible. Good cruise to go on if you do not want to gain weight.

Buffet was boring and lukewarm. Same breakfast for 7 days. Lunch also same with a slight variation by day. Dinner was boring and blah. The "Lobster Dinner" was 1/2 of a clawless lobster drowned in garlic butter. Guess they had to do that because it was tasteless and rubbery.

Dessert was always ice cream, sorbet, and one other choice. Soups

were always the same too. I was so disappointed in the food.

Excursions were well organized but avoid the "Panoramic" tour of Nassau unless you think the suburbs and graffetti poorer areas of town are your idea of panoramic. That one included 30 min at Atlantis (why bother!).

I did get to see the car dealerships of Nassau on that tour.

Embarkation, Disembarkation were both well organized. Eat in the dining room on disembarkation day as they ran out of coffe in the buffet area!

Ship gift shops are unremarkable. Make sure you bring everything you need because they really only have minimal items for sale. I overheard a guest ask where he could buy a magazine and there was none for sale.

I wanted to buy my son a tee shirt and they did not even have that!

Kids very disappointed that there was no pool slide, especially when the disney ship pulled up alongside us with 2!

Port time is VERY short. Only enough time for a tour so you have to decide between tour or walk locally.

Our head waiter was very nice but the regular waiter did not have a clue.

The desk staff is VERY nasty. They add on $12 per person per day as a

service charge and give you 4 hours on the next to last day of trip to change this! They would not address this issue at any other time.

This was our first and last time with MSC.

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WOW

 

Im amazed at how 2 difFerent reviewers, having sailed the same week be polar opposites .

 

Yesterday almost all the reviews I read for that week were good to great..today you posted 4 diferent times in responses that it was horrible....I am refrerring in particular to a review by spacy, I believe it was, who gave a balanced honest with some minor shortcomings, yours absolutely trashed the ship,

 

HOPE YOU GET YOUR BONUS

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I concur wiuth everything you said in your review. I too read multiple reviews before sialing, both good and bad and went in with an open mind. I was actually going into this more positive than my mom who seemed to only read and point out bad reviews. I was more willing to give MSC a shot.

 

We must have been on the same panoramic tour of nassua. Were you on the bus that had two young boys?

 

Unless it were free, i would not sail with msc again and I am not endorsing them to friends who were anxiously waiting to hear what i had to say about them. next time, i will save more of my hard earned money and go with Holland America. of the three lines we've been on they are our favorites.

 

We adjusted the service charge to $0 and gave cash to the people we feel deserved a tip. We found out a fewe days in advance where to go to adjust the service charge so my husband was one of the first in line on Thursday.

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I think the OP is crazy!!

 

YOu dont check the ports and times before booking a cruise???

You dont check the facilities a ship has to offer for your kids before booking a cruise either???

 

:confused::confused::confused:

 

I think MSC and all fellow passengers are happy that you wont return!

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I concur wiuth everything you said in your review. I too read multiple reviews before sialing, both good and bad and went in with an open mind. I was actually going into this more positive than my mom who seemed to only read and point out bad reviews. I was more willing to give MSC a shot.

 

We must have been on the same panoramic tour of nassua. Were you on the bus that had two young boys?

 

Unless it were free, i would not sail with msc again and I am not endorsing them to friends who were anxiously waiting to hear what i had to say about them. next time, i will save more of my hard earned money and go with Holland America. of the three lines we've been on they are our favorites.

 

We adjusted the service charge to $0 and gave cash to the people we feel deserved a tip. We found out a fewe days in advance where to go to adjust the service charge so my husband was one of the first in line on Thursday.

 

That sems fair, any pushback from the adminstrators?Questions as to your level of satisfaction? Did they try and resolve issues?

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Totally unfair of you to withhold tips and just give the few people you KNEW that worked. There are so many behind the scene workers on the ship , SHAMEFUL! Did you give them the full amount or were you just mad and wanting to withhold and not tip people who did their jobs, even those unseen.

 

AS for the sewage smell.... I have smelled that smell on RCI ships...i guess it happens and I have no idea from what or why! I doubt it was sewage on deck 13!

 

Poor kids had no slide and it made it worse when they saw Disney....you have got to be kidding me! Do you not do any research when you look into a ship? They had a tennis court/basketball court, fooseball, ping pong and mini golf. Also, for the kids as well as adults they had 2 art projects every day on deck 13. There was enough for the kids without a slide. If a slide was important then you should have sailed Disney (or CCL).

 

I have never had any good lobster on any cruise.... why do they even bother with it...seems like it bites them in the --- serving this.

 

As far as dessert....did you only order from the stars and stripes side?

We had wonderful desserts each night!

 

T shirts can be found in every port. By the sound of your letter would you have bought an MSC t shirt?

 

We won one playing the games....WE wear it proudly!

 

The shops on MSC were varied and very pleasant to shop in. I have no idea what your issue is. Yes it was not in one area...did you go into the shops on deck 6 in the lounge area in addition to the shops in the atrium area?

They had plenty to browse and to buy. They had wonderful jewelry and clothes and many other shops.

 

I do not understand the port time issue. They print this before you book the cruise. If for some reason they needed to adjust the times in port did you ever think maybe this was for a reason...maybe they detected rough weather incoming and needed to head out...or storm, or maybe earthquake activity that would change the ocean...and needed the extra time.

That is up to the Captain, and i am sure he is fully trained and takes everyones safety into these decisions.

Sorry your cruise fell short of your expectations. MSC always surpasses mine( and we have cruised 15 times, 9 with RCI, X and other cruise lines).

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Or should we say passengers passing in the night? We never seem to be amazed at reviews coming from a small percentage of 2600+ passengers -- it would seem that we all were on a different ship. Perception is everything. Perhaps it is our age, or could it be that we are "seasoned" (do not quite like that word) travellers?

 

Daily gratuities are shared by all staff. Wait staff at dinner rotate and work between breakfast and lunch, some of the newer hires work the buffet. Cabin steward has assistants that vacuum, clean your bathrooms, and pick up after you. Passing by some cabins it is difficult to comprehend how cabin staff can work around the mess some guests leave.

 

Cruising should always be an experience, cruise with an open mind, do your research, if a ship does not offer what you would like it to, then why book? The cleanliness of MSC should be a major consideration -- the cabins are vacuumed and sometimes shampooed during your cruise; there is no litter in the elevators or stairwells, the brass is always being polished, the trim on the stairs to Deck 14 was being polished when we were in Nassau.

 

There is no comparison between Disney and any other cruise line currently in existence. It is special, and worthy of a one-time experience. We did that with ten of us, loved every minute and felt like we bought a share in the ship.

 

If complaining about all meals at the buffet, then try the DR. The wait staff is definitely child-friendly. At lunch one day we observed a little one hit its head and without a moment's hesitation the young assistant ran for ice, put it in a napkin and waited until the Mother was settled.

 

We have enjoyed 30+ cruises with many cruise lines, struggled through "shakedown" cruises of some major lines -- they were somewhat disastrous, but to blame it on the cruise line in general is inappropriate. We were on the first tariff cruise of MSC Opera when she arrived in the USA in 2004 and it was such a pleasure that we continue to cruise MSC as it fits our plans.

 

Happy Cruisin'

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That sems fair, any pushback from the adminstrators?Questions as to your level of satisfaction? Did they try and resolve issues?

 

No pushback, and no questions. They did not try to resolve issues.

 

as for who said I was rude in adjusting our tips, we tipped cash to the two room stewards that we saw on a daily basis. They were the only two people we ever saw in our room. They both got cash. Luigi and our two other servers (had a long name that I cannot remember) both got cash as well. If there are so many other people who are in tipping positions as you say there are then the amount charged after divided up amongst all those people....the money would be minimal. Who is to say that everybody else onboard has a job that is tip oriented?

 

These guys got tax free cash in their pockets.

I honestly think that the ships have this automatic gratuity/ service charge and take a cut of it. Its another way for them to make money. I believe in tipping cash. Why would i tip someone in the buffett for servining if it was self service? they guy supposed to clear the tables? He was talking to a colleague instead of clearing off the garbage from the tables.

 

I think the service is sufferring on cruise ships because they do not have to work for their gratuities anymore because they are pretty much guaranteed by this service charge. Our first carnival cruise had a shakedown tactic, but you are only shaken down if you allow yourself to be. On that cruise the first and only time we saw the Maitre'd was the night he came around with a complimentary picture as a reminder that he should be tipped as wel as the server. Nice try but it did not work. The server did the work, not the maitre'd. Much like Luigi on our msc cruise.

 

As for the port time issue, I do disagree with the OP because in two ports we had more time than was scheduled. I printed out the intinerary provided by MSC on the internet and the times we arrived at port varied by hours from what I printed out before we left. I would have planned for more time had I have had more notice other than reading about it in the program the night before we got to port. When booking excursions for Puerto Rico, since I thought we were getting there at 5pm, I did not book anything to do with out kids. I simply did not want to take them out in Puerto Rico at night. Unbeknowst to us, the ship arrived at 2pm and we would have had time to do something with them.

 

It seems that people either love or hated msc and there is no inbetween and we just have to accept that. i am still trying to uderstand what people love about it so much that is not offerred anywhere else and maybe a little better. I did not go into the cruise with high expectations, but I do have standards!

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The head waiter makes sure that your wait staff is getting all the food in a timely manner. the people in the buffet areas clear your table that you sat down in and if you get up for another plate, they clear also. What about the servers at breakfast in the dining room? Were they not entitled to any of your tips? Just because you did not see people working for you did not mean they were not. Shameful to hold back tips. You knew they charge the 12 a day pp. Did you get sick...no. The man cleaned those railings night and day so when you touched it to walk up or down YOU did not catch anything from the last person who just sneezed, wiped his nose with his hands and touched the railing. I guess this man should not be given even his small share of the tip. Did you ask how it is broken down and who gets what and how much???

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I think it is great that we won't be seeing those malcontents on future MSC cruises.

Awful??? Terrible??? Disgusting??? Nasty??? Boring??? Blah??? Rubbery??? Tasteless??? EVERYTHING was wrong. Same 14 items to choose from for breakfast every day. How limiting!!!

 

What miserable people. I would like to see what they eat at home. Same old 14 items every day?

I think the smell on deck 13 was her own gas!!!

 

No pool slide? You knew that going in, fool. If the slide was so important to your wonderful kids(hope that omission didn't ruin it for them, after all that lousy food)) you should have taken them on the Disney cruise...DUH!!! Then again you would have hated that too.

Whiners and complainers are just unhappy anywhere. Spreading their bad attitude around gives them some kind of satisfaction.

 

The ships are all going to standard automatic tipping and do not get a cut. Nice try trying to justify gypping the behind the scenes workers. We were happy to pay it and added $50 more as our service and food were great. We managed to get by on 14 items per day at breakfast.

Legit reviews are welcome and appreciated but this ridiculous trashing of a new line in the area smells like the gas she emitted on deck 13!! Whew!!

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No pushback, and no questions. They did not try to resolve issues.

 

as for who said I was rude in adjusting our tips, we tipped cash to the two room stewards that we saw on a daily basis. They were the only two people we ever saw in our room. They both got cash. Luigi and our two other servers (had a long name that I cannot remember) both got cash as well. If there are so many other people who are in tipping positions as you say there are then the amount charged after divided up amongst all those people....the money would be minimal. Who is to say that everybody else onboard has a job that is tip oriented?

 

These guys got tax free cash in their pockets.

I honestly think that the ships have this automatic gratuity/ service charge and take a cut of it. Its another way for them to make money. I believe in tipping cash. Why would i tip someone in the buffett for servining if it was self service? they guy supposed to clear the tables? He was talking to a colleague instead of clearing off the garbage from the tables.

 

I think the service is sufferring on cruise ships because they do not have to work for their gratuities anymore because they are pretty much guaranteed by this service charge. Our first carnival cruise had a shakedown tactic, but you are only shaken down if you allow yourself to be. On that cruise the first and only time we saw the Maitre'd was the night he came around with a complimentary picture as a reminder that he should be tipped as wel as the server. Nice try but it did not work. The server did the work, not the maitre'd. Much like Luigi on our msc cruise.

 

 

I must say that I have to agree with you re the tipping, I live in Australia where tipping is almost nonexistent, and it really sticks in my throat to have to pay a daily gratuity regardless of good, bad or indifferent service.

These people are paid wages are they not? I do occasionally tip people when travelling overseas, but only when I get service well and truly beyond what would be expected, which happens rarely.

I never tip in Australia and no one expects it, staff get paid wages by their employer, that is all they expect.

I also will be visiting the purser to have this automatic gratuity removed, if I happen to receive some exceptional service during the cruise I will tip those individuals.

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I believe that this is what the poster was aluding to, tipping the auto 15% is o.k by me, unless the service is less than acceptable, by that I mean really sucked, you should, as the poster wrote be able to adjust the % but not deny it completely, I agree that the behind the scenes people do alot of hard grunt work and should participate in the %, by giving the front staff cash, denies these hard workers their share...

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I must say that I have to agree with you re the tipping, I live in Australia where tipping is almost nonexistent, and it really sticks in my throat to have to pay a daily gratuity regardless of good, bad or indifferent service.

These people are paid wages are they not? I do occasionally tip people when travelling overseas, but only when I get service well and truly beyond what would be expected, which happens rarely.

I never tip in Australia and no one expects it, staff get paid wages by their employer, that is all they expect.

I also will be visiting the purser to have this automatic gratuity removed, if I happen to receive some exceptional service during the cruise I will tip those individuals.

 

Yes they are paid wages but pitifully low ones for 12-14 hours a day, 7 days per week. they laos have to pay for their uniforms and visas and have to pay the local cruiseline agent in their home country a fee as well. So tips make a huge difference to them.

 

Personally I hate the system. I'd much rather they charged more for the cruise and paid them a decent wage for the work that they do. However until they do, I won't remove the auto tip as it hurts all those behind the scenes workers the most. The poor bloke that has to heft my massive luggage up to my cabin and back......the guys cleaning and polishing at all hours....the people who do the laundry etc.

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Yes they are paid wages but pitifully low ones for 12-14 hours a day, 7 days per week. they laos have to pay for their uniforms and visas and have to pay the local cruiseline agent in their home country a fee as well. So tips make a huge difference to them.

 

Personally I hate the system. I'd much rather they charged more for the cruise and paid them a decent wage for the work that they do. However until they do, I won't remove the auto tip as it hurts all those behind the scenes workers the most. The poor bloke that has to heft my massive luggage up to my cabin and back......the guys cleaning and polishing at all hours....the people who do the laundry etc.

 

If all staff know they are going to get a cut of the gratuities pool regardless of their efforts, there is absolutely no incentive to please the customers. Point taken on the "back of house" people, perhaps MSC should pay those that have no contact with the customers a decent wage, and those that have the opportunity to earn tips a lesser amount that can be made up if they perform.

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Yes, I did write a review earlier this week and did try to be as fair as possible. Everyone's entitled to their opinions but it seems like it's so easier to complain.

 

"Poop" smell: I didn't notice this around the pools on deck 13. If you did notice it, did you try to ask the staff why and see if it could be fixed?

 

Food: I thought the buffet food was mediocre, but nothing close to awful. If you hated it, why not try the various other dining options (i.e. different dining places, items on the right side of the menu) that were available?

 

Excursions: I hope you take the panoramic tours for what they are, tours of the area, which include the good and bad. That's just plain reality. Did you think your safety was in danger? If so, you should have raised it with the tour guide.

 

Ship gift shops: I looked around them and didn't find anything to love or hate. I'm not sure how you can find gift shops awful, though.

 

Pool slides: Yes, like everyone else has suggested, please do your homework and read a little about the ship before you book a cruise on it.

 

Port time: I do agree with you here that, for me, the time at port could have been longer. I noticed our ship leaving before most of the other ships that were already docked. But I didn't let it ruin my cruise like it seemed to ruin yours.

 

Service charge and tipping: I believe different cultures have different ideas of tipping and even people who do tip have different ideas on tipping. Ultimately, the ship did give you options to change the service charge, and they did give you at least two days notice that you can do so. I personally found all the staff I interacted with nice and the service charge helped simplify tipping to each of them.

 

It seems like there's a lot of passionate people when it comes to cruising!

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So because you are from Australia you do not tip? So you can be served meals and never tip? Then go on the Premier Luxury Lines that include the tip and pay more upfront. Shameful to think that you will cruise, and you will not tip since you are not accustomed to this .... well, you should get use to it or just sail on Australian cruise lines where the staff would never think about getting a tip!

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I have travelled to Australia and found it odd there wasn't tipping, but that's customary there I guess. I certainly wouldn't travel to another country and be disrespectful. You may not like the tipping procedure, but like everyone else says, there are a lot of people involved. I worked for years in the service industry and relied on tips. I don't believe that because someone is getting an automatic gratuity it makes them work less hard. In fact, I often worked harder because the chance is always there they may tip more.

 

On another note to the poster who thought the cruise was "awful"...I'm afraid it wouldn't matter where you were it would have been awful. Even if you had the Disney cruise! If you had done research, you would have seen that this cruise probably isn't something kids/teens are going to be interested in if you need to have them occupied with water slides and themes designed just for kids. I'm sure it was the price that lured you into it, and now your complaining about it, when the truth is you didn't do your homework. I've been on cruises where perhaps the food isn't all so wonderful, but it's never been horrible. I've always been able to find something to eat. I don't see anyone starving after they get off a ship. Perhaps you just wanted to be wined and dined and treated like a queen/king. Maybe you watched too many movies. You can almost always bet the food in the dining rooms will be better than the buffet. I haven't found any buffet to be anything different. It's nice for a quick snack or just to investigate. We usually eat there once to check it out and then eat in the dining room for the rest of the meals. Hope you find a cruise that meets your needs someday.

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We did the 10 night cruise on Poesia Nov 30-Dec 10 and the food was like being wined and dined. Our service was super too. Before we all got to our large table the waiter knew we all loved ice tea with lemon and had it there upon our arrival. Not only was the cruise priced like a 7 night cruise, our service was better than on RCI. Wonderful cruise, wonderful food and top in entertainment.

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So because you are from Australia you do not tip?

 

Not never .... rarely.

 

So you can be served meals and never tip?

 

Yes

 

Shameful to think that you will cruise, and you will not tip since you are not accustomed to this ....

 

Just because Americans tip doesn't mean the rest of the world does.

I have spent quite a bit of time in the UK and some time on the continent and don't see much tipping there either, especially in the UK which might explain Australians attitude since most of us are UK descendants.

Just cos you do it ... mate ... doesn't mean I have to.

On the other hand I may choose to tip an individual if I get some exceptional service ... the operative word being choose ....

:)

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We did the 10 night cruise on Poesia Nov 30-Dec 10 and the food was like being wined and dined. Our service was super too. Before we all got to our large table the waiter knew we all loved ice tea with lemon and had it there upon our arrival. Not only was the cruise priced like a 7 night cruise, our service was better than on RCI. Wonderful cruise, wonderful food and top in entertainment.

 

How much are they paying you ? ... positive reports are one thing, but have taken this whole "fanboy" thing to a new level ....

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It is a custom that in North America we use to tip people from 10% to 25% in restaurant etc.

 

For the Disney cruise and for many years that we always want to take the kids to go on one of them but everytime, we look at their price, we step back. If compare Disney and MSC, we save easily over $1000 on MSC if compare same time and itinerary.

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