Intrigued by MSC.... Will it fulfill our vacation expectations?

[tarheelmjfan]

We live between Port Everglades & POM. I was browsing the other day for cruises & MSC came up with great prices. Naturally, that caught my attention. ;) I've been on here reading a few days & looked at their site, but I'm still confused about a couple things. :o My DH asked me last night, if I had learned any new info on this cruise line. My reply was that I now know enough to be more confused. :p I have learned that MSC appears to be a more formal line than some of the others (we're Celebrity fans for this reason also). That's a big plus in their favor.

 

Anyway, DH & my top priority on vacation is excellent food. We like high quality food with a nice atmosphere & don't mind paying extra for it. From my research, I can't tell if the specialty restaurants on MSC are what we're looking for. For example, I was looking at the dining package & it appears one of the specialty restaurants highlights pizza. Am I miss understanding what I'm reading? We like pizza, but don't consider it a nice, vacation dinner. Would someone be kind enough to explain what each of the specialty restaurants are like? (If it matters, we'd be booking Divina.) Also, we enjoy room service on our balcony for breakfast & lunch. It appears the only way to have a nice breakfast or lunch from room service is to book a suite. Is there a way to pay for a nicer meal similar to Princess' Balcony Breakfast? An expanded room service menu is really the only suite perk we'd care about. Booking a regular balcony & paying extra for better food is preferable, if it's possible. DH can run to the buffet & bring back food, but he'd rather not do that every day.

 

Last question, I checked the MSC site & it appears the fall/winter 2015 schedule isn't released yet. From what I've read here, Divina will be back to POM in November 2015. Is this correct?

 

While we are picky about food, we're not picky about anything else. I'm sure everything else about the ship would be fine, if the dining options work for us.

 

Thanks in advance for clearing up the confusion. :)

[American Bear]

We live between Port Everglades & POM. I was browsing the other day for cruises & MSC came up with great prices. Naturally, that caught my attention. ;) I've been on here reading a few days & looked at their site, but I'm still confused about a couple things. :o My DH asked me last night, if I had learned any new info on this cruise line. My reply was that I now know enough to be more confused. I have learned that MSC appears to be a more formal line than some of the others (we're Celebrity fans for this reason also). That's a big plus in their favor.

 

Anyway, DH & my top priority on vacation is excellent food. We like high quality food with a nice atmosphere & don't mind paying extra for it. From my research, I can't tell if the specialty restaurants on MSC are what we're looking for. For example, I was looking at the dining package & it appears one of the specialty restaurants highlights pizza. Am I miss understanding what I'm reading? We like pizza, but don't consider it a nice, vacation dinner. Would someone be kind enough to explain what each of the specialty restaurants are like? (If it matters, we'd be booking Divina.) Also, we enjoy room service on our balcony for breakfast & lunch. It appears the only way to have a nice breakfast or lunch from room service is to book a suite. Is there a way to pay for a nicer meal similar to Princess' Balcony Breakfast? An expanded room service menu is really the only suite perk we'd care about. Booking a regular balcony & paying extra for better food is preferable, if it's possible. DH can run to the buffet & bring back food, but he'd rather not do that every day.

 

Last question, I checked the MSC site & it appears the fall/winter 2015 schedule isn't released yet. From what I've read here, Divina will be back to POM in November 2015. Is this correct?

 

While we are picky about food, we're not picky about anything else. I'm sure everything else about the ship would be fine, if the dining options work for us.

 

Thanks in advance for clearing up the confusion. :)

 

Yes, the Divina will continue to Port in Miami in the fall, winter, and spring, and after this year's journey to Brazil will summer in the Med..

Transatlantic cruising on the Divina in the Yacht club, we've already started saving!

The word heard (shhhh!) is one of the first new Oasis sized ships MSC has contracted for will come to Miami in 2017-2018, offering a lot more activities, etc. many are wanting in the larger newer ships!

The Divina's specialty restaurants are excellent in food quality, and service, (our opinion)! The Eataly atmosphere hit us as a 'modern' look rather then luxury, but the Galaxy Rest. was a great location on top of the ship! This is subjective, so I'd suggest you look at the pictures easily found on Google, etc.!

Since you said you wouldn't mind paying extra, look at the Yacht Club which might be a better choice for you where the entire cruise experience is first class service, first class bar facilities, a private area to/for sun/pool/jacuzzi, and the private restaurant for the Yacht Club is luxury!

Our opinion, the Divina was one of the best buffets we've had, and that includes the Oasis class RCL ships, equal to Celebrity, and since Princess cutbacks, better then Princess!

Galaxy Rest.

 

Yacht Club Rest.

Edited May 22, 2014 by American Bear

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the reply & pictures. I really appreciate it. I've read about a lot of foot traffic in the specialty restaurants, so I'm more concerned about noise level & chaos than décor. Are they generally on the quiet, romantic side?

 

We're more than happy with the activities on small ships. As a matter of fact, we prefer sitting on our balcony to participating in activities. We may stop by a bar for karaoke or similar an evening or two & see an occasional show, but that would be a busy cruise for us. :D As long as we have a balcony & excellent food, the rest of the ship could be a wasteland as far as we're concerned. :p We're willing to try bigger ships though.

 

I'll have to do more research on Yacht Club to see if it's a good fit for us. We don't care about exclusive areas, being pampered, or getting special attention. If this is the only way to guarantee the dining experience we prefer, we may be forced to go that route. Although, a regular balcony works for us as far as the cabin itself is concerned.

 

Thanks again for the reply. :)

[jkgourmet]

When I read what you and DH enjoy and want from your cruise, hear Crystal, Windstar, Regent, etc as cruise lines that you should be considering. I'm not being snotty - it's simply that they offer what you want without all the activities and entertainment, etc you don't want. I simply suspect it's a better fit.

[tarheelmjfan]

When I read what you and DH enjoy and want from your cruise, hear Crystal, Windstar, Regent, etc as cruise lines that you should be considering. I'm not being snotty - it's simply that they offer what you want without all the activities and entertainment, etc you don't want. I simply suspect it's a better fit.

 

Thanks for the input. The mass market cruise lines suit us perfectly, if excellent food can be found. As a matter of fact, we've always loved Celebrity. We're open to new experiences, & have tried Princess & NCL, so I thought I'd look into MSC. I've never really looked into the luxury lines. As I mentioned earlier, we'd never even consider a suite on a mass market line, unless that was the only way to assure excellent food. Honestly, we're not the least bit snobby. We don't want to be doted on & treated like we're special, so we'd be paying more than necessary on accommodations to get the quality of food we desire. We'd rather not do that, but would consider it, if we felt forced to. Before trying luxury lines, we'd return to Celebrity hoping their food hasn't gone downhill substantially in the past few years. I keep reading on all the boards about cutbacks & how the food has gone downhill on all lines. Hopefully, it hasn't changed that much.

[buggins0402]

Thanks for the input. The mass market cruise lines suit us perfectly, if excellent food can be found. As a matter of fact, we've always loved Celebrity. We're open to new experiences, & have tried Princess & NCL, so I thought I'd look into MSC. I've never really looked into the luxury lines. As I mentioned earlier, we'd never even consider a suite on a mass market line, unless that was the only way to assure excellent food. Honestly, we're not the least bit snobby. We don't want to be doted on & treated like we're special, so we'd be paying more than necessary on accommodations to get the quality of food we desire. We'd rather not do that, but would consider it, if we felt forced to. Before trying luxury lines, we'd return to Celebrity hoping their food hasn't gone downhill substantially in the past few years. I keep reading on all the boards about cutbacks & how the food has gone downhill on all lines. Hopefully, it hasn't changed that much.

 

You might also check out Oceania. Positions itself between the all inclusive luxury lines and the mass markets. Specialties and all non-alcoholic beverages are included in price, as are taxes and port charges. Known as the "foodie" cruise line. No formal nights, no suit and ties required - it's country club casual. It's not known for it's entertainment however.

[tarheelmjfan]

You might also check out Oceania. Positions itself between the all inclusive luxury lines and the mass markets. Specialties and all non-alcoholic beverages are included in price, as are taxes and port charges. Known as the "foodie" cruise line. No formal nights, no suit and ties required - it's country club casual. It's not known for it's entertainment however.

 

Thanks, I'll look into Oceania. Though, we do enjoy dressing up & don't have many opportunities to do so. That's one reason I continued researching MSC. It seems to be one of the more formal lines.

[buggins0402]

Thanks, I'll look into Oceania. Though, we do enjoy dressing up & don't have many opportunities to do so. That's one reason I continued researching MSC. It seems to be one of the more formal lines.

 

Actually you might be on the right track with MSC. You personally may be more happy in a Yacht Club - haven't been there, done that. Talk to those that have done it on this board. I've only lurked on this board after doing a MSC cruise about 5 years ago (Med) and enjoyed it. Personally, I think MSC is an underrated value. However, Celebrity is our go-to line (our sticking point is open seating dining - it's a must have). Oceania has always been on our hit list (trying it for first time) because it ticks all our boxes - DH hates the ties on vacation. But, YC would tick our boxes - it's open seating, and I haven't seen a bad review yet. But I'm finding the itineraries I desire are only on Musica - no YC on that ship.

Edited May 23, 2014 by buggins0402

[cruisetrail]

 

Anyway, DH & my top priority on vacation is excellent food. We like high quality food with a nice atmosphere & don't mind paying extra for it. From my research, I can't tell if the specialty restaurants on MSC are what we're looking for. For example, I was looking at the dining package & it appears one of the specialty restaurants highlights pizza. Am I miss understanding what I'm reading? We like pizza, but don't consider it a nice, vacation dinner. Would someone be kind enough to explain what each of the specialty restaurants are like?

 

While we are picky about food, we're not picky about anything else. I'm sure everything else about the ship would be fine, if the dining options work for us.

 

 

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one.

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

Edited May 24, 2014 by cruisetrail

[legion3]

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one. thats three resturants technically

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

 

The menus and photos will be useful. Perhaps they should not be accompanied by any written words. They should stand alone, sort of like a picture is worth a thousand words. Its just a thought.

 

But you didn't eat at both or actually 3 specialty resturants. How about Galaxy brunch? So all in all this is likely a food review with little depth or actual tasting of the food. Hmmm well lets see what comes of it anyway.

[jkgourmet]

Thanks for the input. The mass market cruise lines suit us perfectly, if excellent food can be found. As a matter of fact, we've always loved Celebrity. We're open to new experiences, & have tried Princess & NCL, so I thought I'd look into MSC. I've never really looked into the luxury lines. As I mentioned earlier, we'd never even consider a suite on a mass market line, unless that was the only way to assure excellent food. Honestly, we're not the least bit snobby. We don't want to be doted on & treated like we're special, so we'd be paying more than necessary on accommodations to get the quality of food we desire. We'd rather not do that, but would consider it, if we felt forced to. Before trying luxury lines, we'd return to Celebrity hoping their food hasn't gone downhill substantially in the past few years. I keep reading on all the boards about cutbacks & how the food has gone downhill on all lines. Hopefully, it hasn't changed that much.

 

Have you iven mucu consideration to dropping cruise holidays in favor of land holidays? At least, some of the time. We mix both, and what you have described as your ideaibis not likely to be in any cruise ship (especially the food),

 

Please note that I'm not bashing cruises. We love them. But fibe dining is far easier and more reliably located on land than at sea,

Edited May 24, 2014 by jkgourmet

[tarheelmjfan]

Actually you might be on the right track with MSC. You personally may be more happy in a Yacht Club - haven't been there, done that. Talk to those that have done it on this board. I've only lurked on this board after doing a MSC cruise about 5 years ago (Med) and enjoyed it. Personally, I think MSC is an underrated value. However, Celebrity is our go-to line (our sticking point is open seating dining - it's a must have). Oceania has always been on our hit list (trying it for first time) because it ticks all our boxes - DH hates the ties on vacation. But, YC would tick our boxes - it's open seating, and I haven't seen a bad review yet. But I'm finding the itineraries I desire are only on Musica - no YC on that ship.

 

I know it's been a few years, but how did MSC compare with X? Celebrity is also our cruise line of choice. We're mostly concerned with food quality & variety & we do enjoy the opportunity to dress nicely, including formal wear.

 

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one.

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out your review.

[tarheelmjfan]

Have you iven mucu consideration to dropping cruise holidays in favor of land holidays? At least, some of the time. We mix both, and what you have described as your ideaibis not likely to be in any cruise ship (especially the food),

 

Please note that I'm not bashing cruises. We love them. But fibe dining is far easier and more reliably located on land than at sea,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. We do usually take one or two, one week or less, land vacations a year, but have found ourselves gravitating toward cruising more as we get older. I'm in my mid 40s, but have back & knee problems. I'm just no longer able to walk around a city all day. On cruises, we get off for a little while to see the highlights, then head back to the ship to relax. I think we were the only couple on our Panama Canal cruise who were happy they wouldn't let us off in Panama due to political unrest & skipped Grand Cayman due to weather. :p At this point in our lives, we'd be happy with a 14 day cruise to nowhere. :D As I said earlier, a balcony to relax on & above avg. food is all we need to have a fantastic vacation.

[legion3]

I know it's been a few years, but how did MSC compare with X? Celebrity is also our cruise line of choice. We're mostly concerned with food quality & variety & we do enjoy the opportunity to dress nicely, including formal wear.

 

 

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll check out your review.

 

 

Good luck with checking out that review.

[tarheelmjfan]

We usually have 2-3 dinners in specialty restaurants on cruise ships.

On the Divina we tired one of the two (The Galaxy and Eataly & Ristorante Italia) and decided to skip the second one.

 

"Specialty Pizza" is a separate venue.

I agree, junk food like pizza and burgers is not what we consider cruise ship food.

 

Le Muse is a dedicated dining room for Yacht Club guests.

That's a higher level that matches specialty restaurants on other ships.

 

Menus and photos of all these venues will be in my MSC Divina review.

 

I'm sure it's right in front of me, but I don't see a Divina review. What am I missing?

[legion3]

I'm sure it's right in front of me, but I don't see a Divina review. What am I missing?

 

No your eyesight is excellent. Any YC review is TBD. There is another thread where there is some confusion about who sailed in the YC and who didn't. Once thats all sorted out I'm sure that review will be helpful in some way.

[tarheelmjfan]

No your eyesight is excellent. Any YC review is TBD. There is another thread where there is some confusion about who sailed in the YC and who didn't. Once thats all sorted out I'm sure that review will be helpful in some way.

 

Thanks, I'll look for that thread.

 

ETA: I see it's the review I was looking for. There's just not a link in his/her signature. I'll wait for you all to work things out, then read it. :p

Edited May 24, 2014 by tarheelmjfan

[flahagan]

We've sailed all the mainstream lines except NCL and we absolutely LOVED the Divina. We're still talking about it, and our cruise was March 22nd.

We loved the buffet for breakfast and lunch - a huge variety of wonderful food, including Mediterranean. I've never been on a ship where I could cut off a chunk of bleu cheese or aged parm for my salad. Terrific selections.

We didn't go to any of the specialty restaurants though, so I can only offer our thoughts on the MDR for dinner. Delicious breads and pasta courses, entrees more hit or miss. I would rate the MDR as good.

If you enjoy a cocktail, the Divina has the most incredible selection of drinks we've ever seen, and wow were they good! Most were served in large hurricane-style glasses, not plastic cups like some lines, and you could certainly taste the alcohol.

Where the Divina really shines is in entertainment. You can't walk 50 feet at night without hearing an incredible musical talent on display. The entertainment alone is worth the price of a cruise on this ship, in my opinion.

[legion3]

Thanks, I'll look for that thread.

 

ETA: I see it's the review I was looking for. There's just not a link in his/her signature. I'll wait for you all to work things out, then read it. :p

 

Well I am not sure its the review you are looking for to make any sort of informed decision and as far as waiting for us to work things out...good luck with that as well.

[buggins0402]

Good luck with checking out that review.

 

LOL! It was a comparison with MSC and Norwegian back then - our only other cruise experience at that time. Did it on the board, rather than a review.

 

It is funny though, I still lurk on the MSC board 5 years later! Great board! The bacon thread has been my absolute all time favorite on cruise critic! We cruise where we see relative value and are not tied to any cruise line.

 

To OP, all I can say is MSC is closer to Celebrity than NCL is! Is the North American exec still the guy that cut his teeth at Celebrity.

[legion3]

LOL! It was a comparison with MSC and Norwegian back then - our only other cruise experience at that time. Did it on the board, rather than a review.

 

It is funny though, I still lurk on the MSC board 5 years later! Great board! The bacon thread has been my absolute all time favorite on cruise critic! We cruise where we see relative value and are not tied to any cruise line.

 

To OP, all I can say is MSC is closer to Celebrity than NCL is! Is the North American exec still the guy that cut his teeth at Celebrity.

 

Actually I must apologize it was not your review I meant to comment on it was the epic review of another poster.

 

I'm sure your review is an actual review as opposed to a hit piece.

 

The bacon thread is near and dear to me too.:D

[tarheelmjfan]

I've been reading more about Yacht Club & I'm not sure that's for us. The food & bar set up sound nice. Other aspects of staying in that area aren't quite as appealing. One review said the butler escorted them to dinner making the other guests step aside to let them pass. I would feel horrible, if that happened to us. The way I see it I have no more right to that space than they do. We're still considering it for a cruise next fall. We'll just ask the butler, concierge, etc. to tone down the special treatment, if it becomes an issue.

 

LOL! It was a comparison with MSC and Norwegian back then - our only other cruise experience at that time. Did it on the board, rather than a review.

 

It is funny though, I still lurk on the MSC board 5 years later! Great board! The bacon thread has been my absolute all time favorite on cruise critic! We cruise where we see relative value and are not tied to any cruise line.

 

To OP, all I can say is MSC is closer to Celebrity than NCL is! Is the North American exec still the guy that cut his teeth at Celebrity.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I would hope the food is better than NCLs. :eek: That's really the only problem I had with them, except for the pathetic glacier they took us to. That wasn't their fault though. My sister booked the cruise & chose a less than desirable itinerary. If we take another NCL cruise, we'll be eating in a specialty restaurant for every meal possible.

Edited May 25, 2014 by tarheelmjfan

[legion3]

You can not have the butler escort you. They are there to help, if you don't want the help you don't have to partake.

 

We did a cruise on NCL and never once ate in the MDR or Buffet. A different specialty every night. La Cucina and LeBistro twice.

We had no regrets as the MDR menu never appealed to us and the lines to get in seemed long often.

 

Some were better than others.

[Mikesa1721]

Tarheel, we stayed in the Yacht Club on Divina last week. I can assure you we were never escorted to the restaurant. Our butler Jonathan, escorted us on to the ship during embarkation, escorted us off the ship for shore excursions, and then off the ship for debarkation. He was relatively transparent unless we requested something. We are simple people who just choose to stay in the Yacht Club for the all inclusiveness of it, the other perks are just a bonus.

[buggins0402]

I've been reading more about Yacht Club & I'm not sure that's for us. The food & bar set up sound nice. Other aspects of staying in that area aren't quite as appealing. One review said the butler escorted them to dinner making the other guests step aside to let them pass. I would feel horrible, if that happened to us. The way I see it I have no more right to that space than they do. We're still considering it for a cruise next fall. We'll just ask the butler, concierge, etc. to tone down the special treatment, if it becomes an issue.

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I would hope the food is better than NCLs. :eek: That's really the only problem I had with them, except for the pathetic glacier they took us to. That wasn't their fault though. My sister booked the cruise & chose a less than desirable itinerary. If we take another NCL cruise, we'll be eating in a specialty restaurant for every meal possible.

 

MSC might not be your ticket - but that's ok. You're doing the right thing by researching and knowing your hot-buttons. Some make it a must that a ship has a Promenade :). It's just me - but I don't care, but if the fitness center is not up to snuff - I'd knock the ship right out of contention. Then there are those that have itinerary as a first cut - I'm usually in that group. But, after this last winter up north - anything warm will do. For us, I love the Musica itineraries, flexible as to port entry (we're still working, so schedule is important), don't care a whit about it being a Euro based ship, but can't deal with it not having flexible dining. Love classical ensembles - MSC has that, but they're not always there on Celebrity anymore (and Celebrity used to put them in a small lounge where they could be enjoyed). Everyone has their own thing that is important.

 

We personally hate announcements by the CD. It's a tie - Celebrity and MSC - very few announcements- but pleasantly surprised by NCL on our last cruise (very little upsell, but it was a European Holylands cruise. Actually, that cruise was our favorite trip out of many, many trips around the world.) As cruisers, we're definitely itinerary driven.

 

Breakfast - if you're absolute hot button is having a hot breakfast delivered to your regular verandah suite - look elsewhere. You would have to ask others on this board if it's possible in YC. And, if you went with Oceania (that I originally recommended for a foodie) you'd have to be in at least concierge. But, if having mortadella on a breakfast buffet rather than cooked to order omelets and waffles you might be on the right track.

 

Guess all I'm saying is keep doing your due diligence and find the right ship. It may be Celebrity and it may be MSC. Or, it may be another line.