Just off MSC Magnifica - 12 night Med Review!

[addictedinflorida]

I started a live blog post while I was on board, however due to the terrible internet speed, limited data and just being very busy, I couldn't keep it going, so instead I elected to post my final review here for anyone considering MSC as their first, this ship or considering this itinerary.   The review is going to be long as there is a lot to write, but I've highlighted it into certain areas if you'd like to jump through.  Or, thanks for reading it all! 😉

 

We embarked in Marseille on Sunday 11/4 and disembarked in same port on 11/16.  

First MSC cruise, but about number 15-16 in cruises in general, so you'll see lots of comparisons as well for those asking.

 

First, the GOOD (overall observations):

 

- This is a GREAT itinerary...particularly if you are looking to do many of the popular ports in one trip.  More info on the ports below, but we visited Barcelona, Malta, Athens/ Piraeus, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Rome/ Civitavecchia, Genoa and Marseille.

- The ship is beautiful...and immaculate!  You always see crew cleaning, painting, etc.  You can tell they really take pride in the actual ship.  Even though I've heard that this ship is going into refurbishment (although no one that we spoke to on board knew any details), there were no signs that anything was worn, outdated or needed repair.  Also pretty well laid out.  Easy to find everything and navigate all the decks.

- We had a Bella Balcony on deck 9.  The cabin was also great, good size and lots of storage!  Despite having minor difficulty getting an extra sheet the first day or so the cabin steward was also very good.  He did not make the bed with the extra sheet properly but only laid it on the bed at night, but otherwise the room was always clean and he was fast!  We'd go to breakfast in the morning and by the time we got back the room had been cleaned and refreshed.  We joked that they must have sensors or cameras to know when people leave because it wasn't the same time each day and he was nowhere to be found when we left in the morning!  LOL

- The entertainment staff themselves were very good, lively, got involved with guests and have a TON of energy!  The entertainment itself needed some work (see below), but the staff was great at least.

- Embarkation was pretty easy.  Even though it stated on our ticket that we could not get on until 3:45pm we went earlier about 1:30 from reading online that they issue numbers.  Maybe due to the lack of people getting on at Marseille as opposed to other ports, but it was very quick and easy.  Our baggage was also in our room quickly.

- We also enjoyed that there were a lot more casual nights than expected or previously experienced.   We had 3 elegant nights, 1 informal and the rest casual/ combo of theme.  

 

Ok, time for the BAD (overall observations).  I will freely admit here that I doubt we will sail MSC again.  While we greatly enjoyed our trip, just the amount of negatives on this ship compared to other lines is enough to make us want to look elsewhere.  

 

- One of the biggest issues for us was the lack of English speakers on board.  Although MSC is an Italian line, due to them attempting to get more involved in the US and even other parts of the world, I expected a bit more variety of passengers, along with the crew being able to speak better than they did.  I would estimate that 95% of the passengers were Italian, French and Spanish.  We would occasionally run into some crew and the entertainment staff that spoke pretty good English, but many of the others, even our waiter at dinner spoke English brokenly and at times was hard to communicate.  Additionally, having to listen to every announcement and every show in 5 different languages really got old at times as it took significant time to get through.   We also noticed a significant majority of older passengers on this cruise.  My SO and I are late 40s-mid 50s so not too young, but we did see a lot more people in their 60s-70s+ as compared to any other cruise we have ever been on.

- Lots of mistakes.   No one is certainly perfect and mistakes are bound to happen but when they occur frequently it tends to lead us to believe it was just negligence.  Everything from stating we did not go to muster when we did, having issues with additional charges on board that we did not approve (telephone, Unicef, etc.)  issues with attempting to get an extra sheet for the bed, issues with our dining reservation time, etc were things we had to take time out of our vacation to deal with.

- Expect everything to be a la carte on MSC.  Movies in the cabin, bowling, pool table in the sports bar, gelato, water outside of dining room/ buffet, coffee outside of buffet, steak, fresh squeezed juice in the buffet.  Other things such as spa, photos, upgraded coffee drinks, etc. are expected, but I have noticed that MSC tends to want to nickel and dime for a lot of things that other cruises include at no additional charge.

- Food - in general just ok. Only thing that was great about this was that our server in the dining room found out one evening that we really like Indian food and/or food with a lot of flavor so the next evening we had our very own special meal made just for us which was fantastic!   More details on food below.

 

Specific Details: 

 

      - STAFF:

           - As mentioned above, the entertainment staff was really good and the issues with the English speaking was a hassle at times, but other issues with the maitre'd wanting to argue with us the first evening of the cruise as we attempted to get our table reservation fixed was not appropriate.  The older gentleman that works the photo gallery in the evening was also quite rude.  We received a free gift voucher in our cabin the night before for Mediterranean night, not realizing that it was only for photos to be taken during dinner itself, not throughout the evening, only to be met with rude comments such as "with 3,000 people on board we aren't going to take the time to make it more clearer for you".

           - Servers in the bars and bartenders are hard to track down at times.  You can go through 1/2 a show before you'll see anyone to get a drink order.  Bartenders in general are just stoic.  No personality, no interactions at all, just there to do their job obviously.  The majority of our bar visits were spent between the Tiger Bar, Sporting Bar and L'Ametista Lounge.

            - In all the cruises I have been on, I have never been on one where you NEVER saw the cruise director!  The only time we saw her face throughout 13 days was the first 10 minutes of the show in the theater at night.   

            - Very pushy photographers! If you love to have your photo taken, you're going to have plenty of opportunities.  If not, be firm because most of the time you cannot walk down the hall without the photographers jumping out in front of you and being very pushy with the camera!  Even after declining, it takes 3-4 times of saying no, promising tomorrow instead, etc. to get them to leave.

 

    - ENTERTAINMENT:

           - Entertainment on our cruise was severely lacking!  The first few days, we were sure that we were on a cruise only for ages 70+ as the only shows we were seeing in the evening were classical, ballet, opera, etc.  It did get slightly better towards the second half of the cruise with shows such as acrobatic type talent, Addams Family, West Side Story, etc.  Even those shows were average.  ~30 minutes was about the average length for a show so each segment was very quick and I'm not quite sure what I expected when it came to the Addams Family, maybe some sort of scripted show, but it was nothing like I had ever experienced from the Addams Family.  Maybe 2? songs total, being sung by Morticia and Gomez, but the rest was abstract dance types.  Many people walked out during this show.

           - A few really stand out entertainers - The female and male singers were fantastic!  Their voices are incredible and really maintain the show even by themselves.  And the Michael Jackson impersonator from the Rock & Roll night was also great!  He could run an entire show just by himself.  Don't miss that part if you get a chance to see it.

           - Don't expect any sort of welcome aboard show or too many fun and lively shows to get the crowd involved. Towards the second half of the cruise they did start having music games in the evening which was a 'Name that tune' contest essentially, however unless you get there super early and are in the front row, you really don't have much of a chance of winning and one of the evenings really was in bad taste as it was specific to Italian music only.  So, MSC essentially excluded and snubbed anyone that was not Italian that entire show which we didn't think was appropriate.

           - One of the biggest issues we had with the entertainment was the sheer lack of it!  If you are at all used to other lines that have many things going on at once that you can choose from, you will be disappointed.  The only time during our entire cruise that I saw more than one thing going on at a time was the last 2-3 days, otherwise during the evening, you either go to the main show or nothing at all as there isn't anything else to do except sit and drink and listen to music.  Sea days also tended to be pretty weak.  A few events here and there but these consisted of things such as arts & crafts, bingo, 1 quiz show.   The MasterChef at sea was good the first day, although the actual competition was lacking as well as the only thing they gave the contestants to make was a salad!   There would be several times during the cruise that there were 3-4 hour time blocks with nothing to do!   Also, the ship was very heavy on dance lessons.  These were fun, although limited as well as the dance lesson lasts only about 15 minutes.  The instructors will show you on average about 3 steps, you'd repeat them a few times and then it's over.  Hardly enough to actually get out on the dance floor afterwards and actually DO the dance!

        - Any of the theme nights they would have a party where the staff would perform for about 10 minutes and then spend time dancing and interacting with the guests.  Nice effort, however these parties did not start until 10:45pm at night!  

       - Going along with the last point, they ship also has a disco which seems like a great idea, it's on a very high top floor (deck 14) but not only does it not get started until 11:30pm, it was dead!  A few people sitting around, but no signs of any staff being present to get anyone involved.   So, if you are having to get up early in the morning to get into port, why in the world would a ship not even start the evening fun activities until between 10:45-midnight??  Really, really bad planning here.

      - Every evening in some bars and lounges such as the L'Ametista, it would mention putting on your dancing shoes and enjoying live music, however if you are anything like us with a different opinion on what dance music is, don't bother.  While we didn't necessarily expect pop type music like in the disco, the ship's opinion of dance music is also catered more towards the older crowd with certainly nothing modern and more like big band type music instead.

 

 - FOOD/ DINING:

       - We had breakfast in the buffet each morning so I cannot comment on any dining room options.   The buffet itself is just chaos!  A bad design layout allows for only 2-3 people across at a time so if you have people walking in each direction, the food area gets quite crammed.  Combine this with a combination of people that either want to walk through the line in the other direction at 100mph making you have to dodge them with a plate of food and drink in your hand to the people that just stop in the middle of the aisle to all of the walkers/ scooters, etc. in the way, I was usually just happy to get out of that area in the morning.  Luckily we usually did not have any problem finding a place to sit however as there are plenty of tables.   If you want a special experience, head directly out back of the buffet passed the palm tree in the center and there are about 6 tables on the outside deck directly aft.  

      - The breakfast wasn't too bad. A good enough selection despite what I had read previously.  A few different types of eggs and omelets (although ready-made, no omelet station) with yogurts, cereals, breads, croissants, etc.  English bangers were offered each morning, although if you are at all like me and prefer your bacon to be actually cooked!? skip it.  The bacon is practically served raw and very fatty.  Also, for the most part any fruit was canned, such as canned peaches, pears, etc.   At times you'd find whole fruits like a banana, kiwi, orange, etc. but certainly don't expect anything like fresh cut up pineapple for instance.  There was only one morning that I saw the buffet offering fresh cut watermelon...you would have thought this was some special offering that they had because it certainly wasn't the norm.   Temperature of the food is lukewarm. It's not going to be piping hot and not cold.

      - Food in the dining room for dinner was pretty bland actually.  Even our waiter mentioned that it has to be because of the variety of passengers which is when we were told about the special meal offering.  They stated they only need 1 day's notice if there is anything in particular that you want so look into that as an option.  I will say they truly outdid themselves with our special dish.  Most of the normal offerings of food is pretty small, but when we were served curry, it was huge! 2 full crocks of different types, along with rice, bread and chips.  If only the rest of their food could be that good!  This was the best meal we had in 2 weeks!   Don't expect anything of substance when it comes to the meats for instance.  When I order a steak anywhere I actually expect something that resembles one!  It doesn't have to be super big or premium, but any filets or beef that they offered in the evening was razor thin slices, usually smothered in gravy to make it taste better!  You can upgrade your steak for $18 and order a lobster as well for an additional cost, although you have to do it during the day so they can have it ready for dinner.  There are staff walking around the buffet usually with signs for steak, lobster and freshly squeezed juices for an additional cost.

    - For the most part, a lot of the desserts from the dinner menu are also available in the buffet at night, so base your decision at dinner on things like ice cream, etc. instead as any sort of cakes, tarts, etc. can be had up until about 9 or after midnight if you want to try others.

    - Speaking of the buffet...although there is food available 20 hours a day, from about 9pm-midnight its only pizza.  Many times we would want to go to the buffet after the evening show about 9:30-10pm for a cup of tea and a desert before bed only to find out there were none available!  So either get it before dinner ends or wait (again!) until after midnight.  We never made it to the midnight buffet so I can't comment on what this was like.

       - Don't expect any cream to be found on the ship for coffee.  Only milk.   Milk is also only offered hot in the morning.  Rest of the day and evening if you want milk in your coffee or tea, it's only offered cold.  They do seem to have a pretty good selection of teas in the dining room though so if tea is your thing (and believe me, its better than the MSC coffee!) you have your choice of at least about 6 different types.

 

   - OTHER STUFF:

        - The muster drill on MSC is long and difficult so be prepared!  All other cruises have significantly reduced these to showing up (without a life jacket) to your muster station or another determined spot, waiting a few minutes and then you are released.  On MSC, you are required to visit the theater, take your life jacket, watch/ listen to a presentation in multiple languages, have a show and tell where you need to put on your life jacket, then the staff will proceed to walk the various groups through the ship to your muster location.   Also make sure that your cruise card gets scanned properly when you enter.  They did scan ours but then we received a letter later stating that we did not attend.

       - No towel animals.  Not a huge deal here, but just worth mentioning as I usually looked forward to them at night on other cruises.  Don't expect them here.

       - Note that the pools and hot tubs close at 9pm!  Don't think of going to sit in a hot tub at night before bed or when there is nothing else to do at night because its closed!  Also, no drinks allowed in or near edge of pool or hot tub.  Despite all drinks on the pool deck being served in plastic glasses, you cannot sit and have a drink in the hot tub either!  The lifeguard does a pretty good job of ensuring that too many people aren't in the hot tub at at time as it's limited to 6, but nothing was ever said to any kids or parents putting babies and kids in diapers in the pool or tub.  There were notices in the daily program about this, but unfortunately it seems as if many of these people thought it was their own personal tub.  I sat and waited one day until a group of women decided to finally get their ~4 year old child out from snorkeling(!!!!) in the hot tub!

     - Too many announcements.  I expect at times for the CD or other staff to make an announcement, and even in the morning once we have been cleared to enter port for instance, but MSC seems to go a bit overboard on the announcements.  Despite not all of them being piped into the room, they are so loud in the hallway that don't think about being able to relax or take a nap as you will be woken!  For some reason, one of the days muster drills was also piped into the room so for at least 30 minutes due to all the different languages, we had to listen to someone provide us again with a safety briefing right over the bed in the late afternoon while trying to rest before dinner!  Not happy about this!

     - Don't expect any port talks on this line or ship either, so make sure you do your research ahead of time.  There is of course the excursion desk, although at times it can get so busy that the staff is pretty short with you attempting to get rid of you as soon as possible.   No additional offerings of any discussions that you can attend on what to do, what not to do, where to go, where to shop, etc.  Be prepared!!

    -  This ship moved more than any other ship I have been on since some of the really old 80s type of cruises.   Not a big deal for me as I usually enjoy some movement, but for others that are more sensitive to it it may be bothersome.  It's not even just the rocking although as we did have some bad weather coming out of Barcelona it was doing some good rocking, but this ship SHAKES!  It's so weird...but you'll be laying in bed, on a deck or at a table and the boat is physically shaking underneath of you as opposed to swaying side by side.  Maybe the engine room actually needs the refurbishment because in all my years of cruising and being on the water I don't usually experience anything like this.

 

I think this is enough for now. I was going to add in a section about the ports as well, but didn't want to make this too long.  If anyone has any questions though I can answer them, or even start another post on ports if needed.  We didn't do any of the shore excursions as we found better and cheaper ways to get around and even see more than the ship provided so we'd be happy to send along any tips if needed.

 

[Suzieanna]

Thanks for this informative and well balanced review.   There is a lot of information here which will come in very useful.  Forewarned is forearmed etc!

 

We are going to be first time MSC guests in April and I am very much looking forward to it.   We have had experience of music and dancing being the "main" entertainment... just got off a P&O ship, and if you didn't like singing and dancing - well, you were stuffed basically.     even the Magic show was mainly singing and dancing!!

 

Handy to know about the buffet after 9pm too - and the protracted muster!

 

thanks again

suzie

 

 

 

[sidari]

Thanks for your review, I find it odd that MSC in the Med are still making people take life jackets to the Muster drill, meanwhile on both our Seaside cruises in the Caribbean they were not required ! Still looks like the Left hand does not know what the Right hand is doing! After a while we learned to ignore the other announcements not in English and got on with our day.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[citizenfrank]

48 minutes ago, sidari said:

Thanks for your review, I find it odd that MSC in the Med are still making people take life jackets to the Muster drill, meanwhile on both our Seaside cruises in the Caribbean they were not required ! Still looks like the Left hand does not know what the Right hand is doing! After a while we learned to ignore the other announcements not in English and got on with our day.

Yes just back from Med & the old life jackets were mobile!

Didn't take mine, not because I'm a rebel but it is crazy...I did attend, but couldn't get card swiped due to no jacket! So of course a note under the door morning one. Went to guest services & advised I had attended, in contradiction to the note, adding where my station was (sports bar) ….No issue & an apology!

[citizenfrank]

Sorry I hijacked this thread linked to muster drills!

Nice & comprehensive review, well balanced & although I do not agree with everything I respect your thoughts linked to experiences on this sailing.

Sad to read you will not be sailing MSC again though.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

We sailed on the MSC Seaview in the Mediterranean in July and we where not required to bring the life vest to the emergency drill. 

 

Thanks for your report from the beautiful MSC Magnifica 👍

[sfibelko]

Thank for the review.  Can I ask about the formal nights?  We sail on December 11, our 27th cruise, but first with MSC.  Their web site seems to imply that they are strict about dress code on formal nights.  In addition the claim to restrict jeans anywhere on the ship after 6pm.

 

We prefer a casual experience - Jean or khakis at best in the evenings.  

 

How how was your experience with formal nights?  How strict are they?  Can we go to evening shows in blue jeans?

[Hlitner]

On 11/20/2018 at 10:12 AM, sidari said:

Thanks for your review, I find it odd that MSC in the Med are still making people take life jackets to the Muster drill, meanwhile on both our Seaside cruises in the Caribbean they were not required ! Still looks like the Left hand does not know what the Right hand is doing! After a while we learned to ignore the other announcements not in English and got on with our day.

On the Divina ( in the Caribbean) now and we were required to take our life jackets to the muster drill.  But nobody cared if passengers put them on or just used them for window dressing.  So much talking during the drill that you could not hear all the announcements.

 

Hank

[sidari]

Hank ... On our two Seaside sailings they were not required!

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for taking the time to post your detailed and balanced review.

Very informative.

[BubMunkeyBles]

Enjoyed reading another view. You got off the same day we got on it looks like. 🙂

[Italian_Cruiser]

Addictedinflorida, thanks for your review.

 

Did you had the chance to visit the onboard SPA?

I'm willing to buy the weekly pass, but i fear that the SPA will be packed during the new year's eve cruise.

[Heather.canada]

Very informative review!  Thank you

we will be doing the Eastern Med itinerary so the only ports in common are Athens and Corfu. We are also looking st booking independent tours/excursions. Did you find it takes a long time to get off the ship at the ports if you don’t book MSC excursions?

thanks.