Is Princess worth the extra cost?

[octoberdana]

Currently have a deposit down on a MSC cruise in August to celebrate our 20th wedding anniverisary. However, we've talked to several friends who've all said that we would enjoy Princess more.

 

Princess is considerably more expensive... we would pay more for an ocean view room than we are for a balcony on MSC.

 

What benefits does Princess offer that would make it worth the extra money?

[rollingstone]

Have you ever cruised before? If no , you will not know that there is any difference. If this is your first cruise, I think I would rather have a balcony on MSC than an ocean view on Princess. The point is to have a good time.

Yes, Princess is a whole lot better ( my opinion) and my favorite, but I have been on most cruise lines and have had fun on every one.

Happy anniversary!

 

 

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[Drews_Cruise]

I love Princess but I would go for the balcony. Its about the experience and not the brand.

[Loonbeam]

Same itinerary?

[golfb4cruzing]

Always a chance of price drops. We are balcony snobs, only way to go.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes where in the world?

[Dancer Bob]

Your friends know you better than we do. You've told us nothing about what's important to you. Go with your friends' advice.

[Iamcruzin]

Have you ever cruised before? If no , you will not know that there is any difference. If this is your first cruise, I think I would rather have a balcony on MSC than an ocean view on Princess. The point is to have a good time.

Yes, Princess is a whole lot better ( my opinion) and my favorite, but I have been on most cruise lines and have had fun on every one.

Happy anniversary!

 

 

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I couldn't agree more with the above statement. To add have your friends ever been on MSC to offer a comparison of the two lines? MSC has been advertising on TV and I have to say their commercials intrigued me enough to check out their website. I have never considered them in the past. Princess is my first choice given equal value and itinerary but you never know what you may like until you try it.

[sayaguru]

I disagree that you won't know the differnece. Yes sure you can't compare cruises but if you have ever been to a nice restaurant you know the difference between good and bad food and good and bad service.

To me that can ruin a cruise. It is NOT enjoyable getting aweful food and having to wait hours for it. We had fixed dining and halfway through the cruise the dining room was half empty. On the last night less than 30% turned up.

 

I was VERY dissapointed with my MSC cruise but reading reviews form other MSC cruises I just think it was that ship. It had lots of issues. I would never travel on Magnifica again but at the right price I would give their other ships a try. It would have to be condsiderably cheaper though.

 

The ship was nice and their balconies are nicer than some other ships, I have to admit. It was just the food and lack of service (or anyone that cared) that turned me off.

Edited March 29, 2014 by sayaguru

[kendon]

I was considering MSC after docking next to the Musica, a gorgeous ship! The beauty ended there after I read the CC reviews. Most were not just a little bad, but a lot! I'd go with Princess.

[Coral]

I was considering MSC after docking next to the Musica, a gorgeous ship! The beauty ended there after I read the CC reviews. Most were not just a little bad, but a lot! I'd go with Princess.

 

I tend to agree. Some of the reviews are just awful of MSC - enough to scare me.

[navybankerteacher]

I've spoken with a number of friends whose judgement I trust and who feel that MSC runs a distant second to the lines under the Carnical and Royal Caribbean umbrellas - quality of food, service, entertainment and even decor is significantly lacking in comparison--- even NCL scored better.

[Rosethorn40]

I have looked at MSC cruises. The prices are attractive and the ships look stunning. What might put off some people is the type of passengers they tend to attract. With Princess your fellow passengers will be mostly American, British, Canadian, and Australians-in other words mostly English speaking. MSC attracts a more diverse group of people, which is not a bad thing, but English will most likely not be the main language spoken on board. When I read the negative reviews on MSC it does seem that many are put off by difficulty communicating, food not always to American tastes, and cultural differences that we may find rude, but are considered acceptable and even the norm in other parts of the world.

 

Are you smokers? Princess ships are nearly smoke free, while I don't believe MSC is. Many Europeans still smoke and you may find you balcony almost unusable if next to a heavy smoker (That is if you find smoking distasteful).

 

Whatever you choose, Happy Anniversary and have a wonderful cruise.

[fishywood]

We really need to know where in the world you are cruising. If you have booked the MSC ship sailing from Miami this summer, MSC claims to be tailoring it to the US audience. But I assume you are not as I don't think that Caribbean Princess out of Ft. Lauderdale would be that much more costly.

 

So if you are headed for the Med...MSC will be quite a culture shock. The primary language will be Italian, and the level of service experienced will be somewhere in the European range of indifferent to condescending. You cannot ask for a glass of water in the dining rooms, you must purchase bottled. And in the bars and restaurants if a woman in a skimpy dress walks in she will be served next no matter how long everyone else has been waiting. (A fact I have read in more than one professional review of an MSC cruise). And if you think you have seen queue jumping and poor elevator etiquette on ships before, just wait until you are onboard with 2/3 of fellow passengers from the Continent--especially with all the large families vacationing in August.

 

Do yourself a big favor and find it in your budget to sail Princess.

[paul929207]

Have you checked discount travel agents? Princess allows them to discount prices. We usually save 10 to 15% off the Princess price.

[lovevacadays]

Not knowing what the price difference is and where you are cruising makes it challenging to give you an answer. However, I do love Princess and think they provide a great cruising experience. For me, I am willing to pay more to get the cruise experience I want. What you are looking for in a cruise will differ from others. I would read as many reviews of both lines as you can. That way we will start to see enough information to help you make an informed decision.

[octoberdana]

We are booked on MSC Divinia out of Miami cruising to the Caribbean: St. Maarten, San Juan, and the Bahamas. Balcony room was less than $600 per person.

 

We are wanting a more romantic, peaceful to our cruise being that it is our anniverisary. We really like sitting in the sun reading, we are not gamblers and don't care about the casinos. We do like entertainment and as such would like to attend some of the shows on board the ship. We were hoping to get a cruise with less kids- not because we don't like them, but because of the purpose of our cruise. We are concerned with MSC's kids sail free that there might be a lot more than normal.

Edited March 30, 2014 by octoberdana

[ar1950]

We just finished watching the movie Escape. After seeing that I am not so sure that I would want to sail on MSC (see the last 60 seconds of the movie to understand what I mean, nothing to do with the rest of the movie ;)). :cool:

Edited March 30, 2014 by ar1950

[PrincessVIP]

We started out on several different lines before finding out home on Princess. If you don't try what's out there you'll never know for sure.

[MrJulius]

I looked at MSC. The smoking issue completely turned me off. We sail with Princess in April.

 

 

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[sayaguru]

We were hoping to get a cruise with less kids- not because we don't like them, but because of the purpose of our cruise. We are concerned with MSC's kids sail free that there might be a lot more than normal.

 

Why would you book MSC with their child free policy if you don't want lots of kids? That's something I was concerned about but ours was OK. Check school holiday times. That's when it gets LOTS of kids. And MSC apparently aren't as strict with unsuppervised children as Princess are.

 

On my last cruise a family was taken off mid cruise due to their children's behaviour. That wouldn't happen on MSC.

[RetiredNTraveling]

We are wanting a more romantic, peaceful to our cruise being that it is our anniverisary. We really like sitting in the sun reading, we are not gamblers and don't care about the casinos. We do like entertainment and as such would like to attend some of the shows on board the ship. We were hoping to get a cruise with less kids- not because we don't like them, but because of the purpose of our cruise. We are concerned with MSC's kids sail free that there might be a lot more than normal.

 

Princess is the tops when it comes to Romantic, We celebrated our 50th on the Star and it was magnificent! Can't go wrong!

[pris993]

We have not cruised MSC... that being said if the price is a lot less, one needs to adjust their expectations. I say that because we booked a NCL cruise because we liked the itinerary and the price was a lot less, we knew doing so NCL and Princess are not the same. We were okay with NCL based on what we paid and what was offerred. We would do NCL again, for the right itinerary and price. Do we like Princess, HAL, Cunard and Celebrity better than NCL, you bet... one gets what they pay for.

[venicecruiser]

I've cruised on both MSC and Princess. Princess is DEFINITELY better IMO..........

 

 

Claudia

[Essiesmom]

WE sailed MSC Divina on her first US cruise, 3 days. They still ahd a lot of things to iron out, especially checkin, but we agreed that we would be willing to sail them again in six months. They have greatly modified their smoking policies to suit the North American expectation. EM