Is Costa and MSC worse than other cruise lines

[JensJ]

In the reviews on this site of the cruise lines I can see these results:

 

Royal Caribbean: 81% loved it

Princess: 78% loved it

Holland America Line: 76% loved it

Carnival: 74% loved it

Norwegian: 71% loved it

Celebrity: 70% loved it

 

Costa: 55% loved it

MSC: 53% loved it

 

Is Costa and MSC really worse than other cruise lines? And why yes or no?

[Keith1010]

In the end one cruise line might work for one person and not another so when it comes to best and worst that is in the eyes of the beholder.

 

Also keep in mind cruise fares. You might get a much lower cost on some lines and for a higher cost you can find something of higher quality.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

Cruise Critic members are predominantly North Americans.

Ask Italians, & the results would probably be reversed.

 

The Italian lines aren't better or worse, they're different.

 

Same applies in a much more diluted way, with UK cruisers using UK/US/Italian cruise lines.

 

JB :)

[sailinglisa]

I would love to cruise with MSC one day. Their ships are beautiful! And I have heard the pasta on their ships is really really good. One of my friends cruised with some of her family on MSC and praised the ship/food/service. But as an American you might be in the minority on one of their ships.

 

I think what you are running into is that the majority of posters on CC are North American and tend to be drawn to the cruise lines that mainly catering to us....Carnival, Princess, HAL, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. Therefore, the ratings for those two cruise lines will be lower than the ones that basically cater to North Americans.

 

MSC and Costa primarily base only one or two ships in the Caribbean while the rest of their fleets are spread out over Europe/Asia.

[paul929207]

Costa has had some problems (putting it mildly) recently. That may have hurt their rating.

 

Both lines cater to people of many nationalities. In is my understanding that announcements are made in multiple langauges. I have never sailed with either, but prefer being on a ship where only English is used for announcements.

[Gunner22aa]

Approximatly 70% of the cruise market is North American. I agree with the post that there may be a slant to the rating based on this demographic. That being said I personally have no desire to cruise MSC or Costa. Not because I have a pre conceived idea that they are bad but rather I am very happy with my current cruise line of choice. I suspect that the atmosphere on these lines would be distinctly European and different from your average North American sailing.

[lisiamc]

Costa has had some problems (putting it mildly) recently. That may have hurt their rating.

 

Both lines cater to people of many nationalities. In is my understanding that announcements are made in multiple langauges. I have never sailed with either, but prefer being on a ship where only English is used for announcements.

 

We took a Costa cruise last year and loved it. I am grateful that the announcements were not just in Italian, however. The cruise director spoke very quickly, and my Italian language skills were not up to the job.

 

We like travelling on a ship with a good mix of nationalities. And any time there is a significant group of people from any particular country on a ship, it seems like a courtesy to make the announcements in that language too, as well as a really good idea for safety announcements.

 

I agree with other posters that because it is mostly North Americans rating the cruise lines, that will skew the results to lines that cater to North Americans. Costa can be a lot of fun, if you know what you are getting into. We will cruise with them again.

[marco]

We've sailed on both a few times. We really, really liked them in the Caribbean, and would sail either again, there. We really, really did NOT like them in the Med and would NOT sail with them again, there. I sailed many, many times years back on the "Italian Line" and my biggest disappointment with MSC and Costa is that they are not as "Italian" as I was hoping they would be.

[DonnaK]

We've sailed on both a few times. We really, really liked them in the Caribbean, and would sail either again, there. We really, really did NOT like them in the Med and would NOT sail with them again, there. I sailed many, many times years back on the "Italian Line" and my biggest disappointment with MSC and Costa is that they are not as "Italian" as I was hoping they would be.[/quote]

 

Interesting comment. I was considering these lines in Europe because we wanted an Italian experience.

[Bonnie J.]

Been on Costa 4 times. Costa is or was the #1 line in Europe. The 1st 3 cruises the Europeans didn't know it was doing the Caribbean. On our 4th cruise we didn't leave Fort Lauderdale unitl 7:30! Why? Because at 6:30 two bus loads of passngers arrived- saw then out our window. Decided it was a charter flight from maybe, Italy . Muster took a while with different languages. In the dining room for breakfast or lunch, you are asked if you want a menu in English, Italian, French, Dutch or German. Too many passengers who did not speak any English for us

[Taxguy77]

Cruise Critic members are predominantly North Americans.

Ask Italians, & the results would probably be reversed.

 

The Italian lines aren't better or worse, they're different.

 

Same applies in a much more diluted way, with UK cruisers using UK/US/Italian cruise lines.

 

JB :)

 

Totally agree!

Remarks of some people here indicate they want to be provincial and enjoy our culture only. That's fine. Others like to explore a little and see what else is in this world.

Our pre-cruise hotel in Lisbon, we only heard one other guest speak English (Except for a couple of people at the desk). Neither of us speak Portugese, but neither did any of the Japonese pasengers on the bus that stayed there two nights.