Do you believe all the negative reviews?

[electro]

3 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

also,  a lot of Americans are saying that the customer service is so lacking on both European and Caribbean cruises, that MSC would really need to step up with the CS quality if they really want to get a chunk of the US market.

 

 

yeah, maybe, like "the customer is always right"... That would be nice.

But the customer is not always right.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

11 minutes ago, electro said:

But the customer is not always right.

and that's the difference between a great customer service and a sucky one. Americans are used to a great customer service in general. And that's why we tip.

[April42749]

1 hour ago, electro said:

This!

I have been 5 MSC cruises, I am about to go on number 6 in 2 weeks, all in Europe.  The the thing I love about them is that when I'm on the ship I still feel like I am in Europe. 

This seems to be what most people complain about, too many languages, food not " Meat and potatoes" , entertainment like opera, culture of fellow passengers, service not over the top friendly. 

So pretty much it is not American enough.

the European feel is why I love MSC and why I'm reluctant to sail with them  in North America because I'm afraid they will cater too much to the American style.

 

The first trip I did with them was out of Miami and not "American Style".  I felt like I was in Italy (that's a good thing).  We're going on the Meraviglia out of NY in Oct and I hope I get transported back again!

Most of the passengers on our trip were not American. I remember a lot of South Americans.  One thing that stood out was an American woman complaining that the shower was too small for her husband.  Well, the reality was that he was too big for the shower.

[Stoffel1982]

I do agree with most of the replies!

 

The one thing that really bothers me, is that some people can not say one good word about some cruiselines. For example, one told me that the ship is the most ugly ship she/he has ever seen. Not nice when you booked a cruise on that specific ship. Although 99% does love the ship 🙂

 

[cowmilker]

My husband and I spent a week on the Meraviglia last fall, in the Med, sandwiched between a longer cruise (in the Med) on HAL's Koningsdam and a TA on the Norwegian Star.  Three different cruise lines, same area of the world.

It was our first cruise with HAL.  It was our fourth with Norwegian (counting back to backs separately).  It was our first with MSC.

It was also our last with MSC.

We wouldn't do that week again if it was free.

I went into it knowing all about the bad reviews. I discounted them entirely, because I've read bad reviews of the Norwegian Star and we love that ship.  I knew the Meraviglia would be overwhelmingly European.  We were  prepared for it.

Here's what we were not prepared for.

1. The ship is massive. (We knew that.) There is almost no public space that is not crammed with human beings all the time. There is no place to go that isn't just wall-to-wall people. I did not realize how badly that would bother me. There are fifty million elevators. They are always full, crammed. They simply have too much space taken up with cabins and not enough public space. If the weather is bad and people can't get out to the pool area, it's that much worse.

2. The buffet was so bad that we tried very hard to avoid it.  It wasn't the food. It was the human beings. Too many people all trying to do the same thing at the same time in the same space. I quit bothering trying to find food I liked and just was satisfied with finding anything at all that I could get to without an elbow in my face. I am not overstating this. It was absolute chaos. They would put out one pan of french fries, one pan, for god knows how many hundred people who all descended on it at once. It would be cleaned out in about 10 seconds and then there were no more. There were never enough plates, or silverware or anything. They have little cubbies where the plates are stored and they were often empty.

3. The dining room was the best part of the whole cruise. I didn't know how we'd do with fixed dining (we've never done that before) but it was GREAT.  The positives were that our wait staff all spoke very good English. I  am quite sure they were specially assigned to our area because they did.  You have to consider that when your language is the minority language, and the wait staff generally aren't native English speakers, exactly when are they supposed to practice speaking English -- most of the folks they were serving spoke Italian or German or Spanish.  At any rate, it was so nice to have the waiter understand what I was saying. I don't fault anyone for this, but it is what it is.

 

We also discovered that with a bit of extra effort, we could eat breakfast in one of the dining rooms and avoid the Buffet From Hell, so we did that as much as we could.

4. The food in the dining room was fine. It wasn't great, fabulous, unforgettable, but it was fine. Our wait staff were great, in my opinion, the best folks on the whole ship.

 

5. Because English is a minority language (in the Med), most of the announcements are not in English. Hence, we had no idea what in the hell they were talking about. The daily whatever-they-call-it wasn't much help either. We had no idea where to go, for example, to leave the ship.  Every port, it seemed, had the exit at a different place, different floor.  Nobody told us anything. We just sort of followed the massive crowd of humanity and got off that ship.

 

6. It was a very port intensive trip, no sea days. That was a huge plus because it meant that we basically just used that ship as a floating hotel at night and got off as rapidly as we could every morning and stayed off until we absolutely had to go back. One day (Marseilles), since we'd already been there once and didn't want to go back, we just got off the ship, bought wifi in the port and spent the day in there. I am not kidding. Anything was better than the ship.

 

The reason I'd booked that cruise was as a filler between the end of the Koningsdam cruise and the embarkation of the Star. It just worked out, and the ports, with one exception, were not repeats. The MSC ports were less well-known, and actually we loved the ports. 

7. We attempted one show. To go to a show,  you have to make a reservation, and show up on time or they give your seat away. It's a huge pain. The show was pretty awful (a production thing) and we left. We didn't try to go to any others with one exception, Cirque.

 

8. We did do Cirque at Sea twice, both shows. I'd reserved those prior to boarding. If you don't, forget it.  They sell out almost immediately. They were very good, well worth the $16 or so it cost for a seat and a drink.

 

9. One other thing I'd mention about the buffet. I watched one day as a waiter cleaned a table beside us after some folks had left. He wiped down the table with the dirty napkin that had been left by the previous people. I am not kidding. That's what he used.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

So I paid attention, and realized that a lot of the time, that's what they did - clear away the dirty dishes, grab a dirty napkin, wipe the table down and that was it. We tried very hard to stay out of there.

 

10. As we were disembarking, we realized that some people whose table had been near ours in the dining room were in line to leave right in front of us, so a whole pile of us began singing the Hallelujah Chorus as we left the ship.  🙂

I know it's supposed to be a lovely ship. It's very new and shiny.  The LED ceiling in the promenade/store area is nice if you want to fight the human beings to get there. Once or twice was enough for us.  Once you've seen the chocolate shop, you've pretty much done all that.

 

Contrast this with the Koningsdam, where it's possible/easy to find a nice little spot to have a seat and a drink and be all alone if you want, where it's quiet if you want, where you don't have to stay in your stateroom to get away from the din.  

 

I did a lot of walking on that trip, and if I didn't get enough steps in during the day, I did them in the halls on our floor since it was impossible to use a treadmill (they are there, but omg, no way, the gym is so crowded) and there is nowhere to walk outside. I tried to do this either very early in the mornings or late at night to avoid the masses.

11. We were in an inside cabin. They are roomy. You get one drawer. That is all. We used our suitcases as storage and never bothered to unpack. There simply wasn't enough storage space. The bathroom was super nice. The TV is so far from the bed that you'd need binoculars to watch it. The only way to watch TV was standing up. We didn't bother with that either.

 

I am totally aware that Europeans don't do things the way Americans do them.  That's fine. In fact, it's nice to have a change. We were in Europe. I didn't expect everything to be all American. But I don't like being pushed and shoved and crowded all the time. I don't like people breaking in line ahead of me after I've waited patiently for other people.  A few times would have been okay.  Every day, all day, every time we left the room and it got really old.

I am 70 years old, and found myself swearing loudly at one point. I found out that the F-word is understood by everyone.

 

I know how nit-picky it sounds sometimes when people complain about a cruise. Honestly, I take it all with a grain of salt. If you have the money to spare, and the time to risk, take me with a similar grain. I wish I'd paid closer attention, though, when I read the negative reviews.

No more MSC.  Not even free.

 

 

[chadcf]

I've been on 4 cruises to date, all of which had a bunch of negative reviews. I loved all 4, even the el cheapo carnival cruise on an old boat going from LA down to baja. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I don't let negative reviews get to me. I've booked an MSC cruise on seaside for next summer because there are really only 3 boats that are an option for us and MSC looks like the best value for the itinerary (Harmony of the seas would be a whopping $2500 more for 2 balcony cabins). I'm also really excited about stopping at their new private island with a late 11pm departure which is something I don't think any other cruise line does (at least all the ones I've done depart their private island by 5 or 6 pm and you never get to spend an evening there). 

 

Most of the complaints don't concern me. I've seen complaints about too many rude foreigners on board. Well every cruise I've been on has been full of rude people and I don't personally care what nationality they are. Staff who aren't always in your face happy? That sounds better, I get slightly freaked out by the Disney style of service where it's just so over the top trying to make everything "magical". I've seen show complaints but then descriptions and reviews of the shows sound great to me and I like that they are shorter and offered every night rather than most cruise lines doing 2 big 1+ hour shows a few nights of the cruise. 

 

The only things that slightly concern me are:

 

1. Lack of comedy shows. Improv is ok but I always enjoy stand up on boats.

2. Lack of casual dining options. My kids really liked having johnny rockets and the like on RCL ships, looks like on seaside your options are basically buffet or dining room.

3. All the yacht club people on here talking about how non yacht club passengers are treated like dirt. I suspect it's just a bit of snootiness from people with large pockets and high standards and we'll be just fine but it does make me wonder if my bella balcony experience is really the modern equivalent of steerage...

 

At the end of the day though I'm pretty undemanding and don't get worked up over things, and every cruise I've been on had bad parts which in the end aren't a big deal if you just accept it and enjoy your trip. And I look forward to trying something a bit different. When we were on Harmony last summer we saw the Seaside and I'd never heard of MSC before but though the ship was beautiful and different, so I can't wait to give it a try. 

[ziggyuk]

8 hours ago, cowmilker said:

We also discovered that with a bit of extra effort, we could eat breakfast in one of the dining rooms and avoid the Buffet From Hell, so we did that as much as we could.

 

I'm interested to know more, I never use the buffet and am on my first MSC this year what effort is needed to use the dining room for breakfast, I was expecting to take breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room.

[Beamafar]

12 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I'm interested to know more, I never use the buffet and am on my first MSC this year what effort is needed to use the dining room for breakfast, I was expecting to take breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining room.

 

That puzzled me a bit, too, Ziggy.  I'm assuming it may have something to do with the more restrictive time that breakfast is served in the MDR as opposed to the lengthier time slot in the buffet.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[Missaims]

Thanks to OP for starting the topic and for the replies so far! Found this an interesting read having recently booked MSC for the first time due to price and itinerary but apprehensive about some negative comments. Like some of the previous posts I read negative reviews and see what they are actually complain about (eg - if that’s the worst thing that happened I can live with it) and try to work out if they are people looking for something to moan about or not.

 

On my last cruise I got so wound up by the number of people complaining when I was having a fantastic time, it was often from people not doing research beforehand or having what I thought were too high expectations (In some cases I thought TA’s had been misleading !?!?) - just shows how different people can have such varied opinions even on the same sailing.

 

When I read about poor service I just thought to myself “at that price I don’t care”, if the service in the dining room is poor I’ll eat in a speciality restaurant, slow drinks service we’ll sit at the bar.

 

Hope I’m not being too naive (!) - but at £45 pppn we’re getting accommodation and all of our meals (compared to the £120 our original choice on Celebrity for a similar itinerary - we’re definitely itinerary first people) 😁

[EngIceDave]

I think it’s funny that people book something because it’s cheap, then complain when it’s not a 5* Resort or Michelin Star cuisine. 

 

You went on on the cheap, Bro, what you expect?

[deliver42]

We've been on MSC , both in a YC and not. Never treated any different by any of the crew. I also never had an problem with service.

[sconter]

1 hour ago, EngIceDave said:

I think it’s funny that people book something because it’s cheap, then complain when it’s not a 5* Resort or Michelin Star cuisine. 

 

You went on on the cheap, Bro, what you expect?

 

In life you generally get what you pay for. 

 

I would imagine people choosing MSC are doing so based on price and itinerary for example I chose my cruise in July on the bellisima based on its facilities for kids and price. A similar cruise round the med on RCI and NCL would have cost me between £1000 and £2000 more for my family of four. 

 

I will temper my expectations accordingly, I don’t expect everything to be perfect but then again it wasn’t on any of the cruises I’ve taken with the companies mentioned above. 

 

Finally I would be amazed if my family never had one of the most awesome experiences we’ve ever had. (Kids 1st cruises)

[EngIceDave]

I think you make the point, temper your expectations accordingly.

 

You want 5* Michelin cuisine, pony up!

[cowmilker]

My comment about eating breakfast in the dining room requiring a bit of extra effort was about a limited time frame. They don't serve it as long as the buffet is open. It was also that on the Meraviglia there are several different dining rooms, and they all don't serve breakfast. There were a couple of days when we had to go to the buffet or do without food simply because we had a tour scheduled and needed to grab something and go.

One other thing: the cruise we were on wasn't the cheapest one out there. We chose it solely because the itinerary wasn't a repeat, and the timing worked. It wasn't that we were tightwads and trying to get a big bargain.  We knew we were getting on a mega ship. Frankly, I spent the first couple of days making every excuse in the world for MSC trying to like it. I felt badly because I chose the cruise and I knew after a couple of days that it wasn't going to get better. IIRC, our cruise on Holland America was about the same price per day.

I do understand that a mega ship is not a little ship. I get that.  I also knew that we'd be cruising with lots of families with lots of kids and that the ship has lots of kid-friendly stuff on board.  That means that valuable public space is occupied by a bowling alley and all sorts of stuff like that instead of lounges.

 

None of that makes the buffet any better. When we first went there, upon boarding, because it was the only place to eat lunch, we excused the chaos. It was embarkation day, boarding had been terribly delayed due to really bad weather, nobody had been able to leave the ship for the day (in the Med, every port takes on passengers and some passengers leave, like a ferry). It was understandable that everyone was hungry and tired and went to the buffet all at the same time.  But the chaos which started in the terminal never stopped.

 

Another example was the day we spent in the terminal at Mersailles. My husband went back to the ship before I did, so when I started back, I asked an MSC staff member where I should go to reboard.  I was pointed to a line. I got in the line, got pushed and shoved and waited until I got to the scanner. At the scanner, I presented my key card and was informed that I was in the wrong place and needed to go downstairs.

 

So I went downstairs, found another MSC staff member and asked. I was told that I needed to go upstairs. I explained that I'd just been there and showed them my key card. I was a returning passenger, not a new one. This took forever, because of the language barrier. The guy ended up talking more and more loudly to me, in Italian. Saying something that another person does not understand is not improved by getting louder. I still didn't understand. Because I knew that the terminal workers might not know what I was asking, I specifically looked for people in MSC uniforms. 
 

The terminal is large. I was in the wrong place, obviously, but I had no idea where the right place was.  Finally, in exasperation, the guy took me to the right place and I got in line again. I was pushed and shoved some more. Right as I got to the scanner, a woman shoved past me with her two kids and took my spot, at which point I finally just lost my temper.  I'd been dealing with this stuff for the better part of an hour and I was sick of it. She got the idea but still went in front of me. 

This was well toward the end of the cruise and really, I was so done. We seriously considered leaving the ship in Marseilles and making our own way back to Civitavecchia to board the Star a couple of days later, but didn't. We just spent as much time as possible either off the ship or in our room.

 

We are not demanding self-entitled people. We tend to go with the flow pretty well. We're happy using public transport in Rome, staying at a relatively inexpensive BnB outside the city center, figuring stuff out on our own. We dealt with the massive lines at the Vatican and didn't pitch a fit. We dealt with the odd closing times for restaurants in Civitavecchia on a Sunday afternoon and ate at McDonald's without complaining about it.  Everything does not have to be perfect for us to have a wonderful time. 

 

There were parts of the MSC cruise that were fine, even superb, as I tried to make clear. But the stuff that was bad was so bad we'll never do it again. Cruises involve more than just the fare. They also involve an investment of time and we're not willing to risk any of that a second time. I know I'd never get my husband on board another MSC ship. 

 

BTW, we were whatever the  "experience" level is above the basic one. I forget what they call it. For that, we got a little booklet that gave us a dozen or so free drinks. That was very nice. We didn't use them all up, so at the end of our cruise, our waiter brought us a bag with the extras in it (we got cans of peach tea) which we toted over to the Star.  We also got free bottled water in the dining rooms.  You kind of have to argue about that one because many of the wait staff don't understand it (it applies only to North American passengers, which is just bizarre - I understand why it's confusing).

I expect that some of these problems go away if you're on an MSC ship in the Caribbean, since they expect a North American presence on board. Really good weather, which we didn't have (and which isn't anyone's fault), would improve the situation as well, simply because a lot of people could be out by the pool.  But if the Meraviglia is full, dear god, it's very full.

Oh, and one other thing. We paid the gratuity without a gripe of any sort. It's not the fault of the staff. They work hard. They aren't as friendly as the staff on Norwegian or HAL, but good god, look at what they are dealing with.  By the end of a week on that ship, I wasn't friendly either.  Problems like the ones we encountered are due to poor management, not bad staff.

[CruiseLand]

OMG!!! I don't know about needing to buy water or drink in the MDR until last night. We were cruises with RCI many times before. Our trip will be in 20 days with Bellissima. We don't have drink packages. Wow !!! My question is can we buy some drink with us onboard from the stops? Can we carry the drink from Buffet to the dining room? Just something new for me that MDR does not include even water. This not about complains but just want to know what we should do.

[sconter]

46 minutes ago, cowmilker said:

My comment about eating breakfast in the dining room requiring a bit of extra effort was about a limited time frame. They don't serve it as long as the buffet is open. It was also that on the Meraviglia there are several different dining rooms, and they all don't serve breakfast. There were a couple of days when we had to go to the buffet or do without food simply because we had a tour scheduled and needed to grab something and go.

One other thing: the cruise we were on wasn't the cheapest one out there. We chose it solely because the itinerary wasn't a repeat, and the timing worked. It wasn't that we were tightwads and trying to get a big bargain.  We knew we were getting on a mega ship. Frankly, I spent the first couple of days making every excuse in the world for MSC trying to like it. I felt badly because I chose the cruise and I knew after a couple of days that it wasn't going to get better. IIRC, our cruise on Holland America was about the same price per day.

I do understand that a mega ship is not a little ship. I get that.  I also knew that we'd be cruising with lots of families with lots of kids and that the ship has lots of kid-friendly stuff on board.  That means that valuable public space is occupied by a bowling alley and all sorts of stuff like that instead of lounges.

 

None of that makes the buffet any better. When we first went there, upon boarding, because it was the only place to eat lunch, we excused the chaos. It was embarkation day, boarding had been terribly delayed due to really bad weather, nobody had been able to leave the ship for the day (in the Med, every port takes on passengers and some passengers leave, like a ferry). It was understandable that everyone was hungry and tired and went to the buffet all at the same time.  But the chaos which started in the terminal never stopped.

 

Another example was the day we spent in the terminal at Mersailles. My husband went back to the ship before I did, so when I started back, I asked an MSC staff member where I should go to reboard.  I was pointed to a line. I got in the line, got pushed and shoved and waited until I got to the scanner. At the scanner, I presented my key card and was informed that I was in the wrong place and needed to go downstairs.

 

So I went downstairs, found another MSC staff member and asked. I was told that I needed to go upstairs. I explained that I'd just been there and showed them my key card. I was a returning passenger, not a new one. This took forever, because of the language barrier. The guy ended up talking more and more loudly to me, in Italian. Saying something that another person does not understand is not improved by getting louder. I still didn't understand. Because I knew that the terminal workers might not know what I was asking, I specifically looked for people in MSC uniforms. 
 

The terminal is large. I was in the wrong place, obviously, but I had no idea where the right place was.  Finally, in exasperation, the guy took me to the right place and I got in line again. I was pushed and shoved some more. Right as I got to the scanner, a woman shoved past me with her two kids and took my spot, at which point I finally just lost my temper.  I'd been dealing with this stuff for the better part of an hour and I was sick of it. She got the idea but still went in front of me. 

This was well toward the end of the cruise and really, I was so done. We seriously considered leaving the ship in Marseilles and making our own way back to Civitavecchia to board the Star a couple of days later, but didn't. We just spent as much time as possible either off the ship or in our room.

 

We are not demanding self-entitled people. We tend to go with the flow pretty well. We're happy using public transport in Rome, staying at a relatively inexpensive BnB outside the city center, figuring stuff out on our own. We dealt with the massive lines at the Vatican and didn't pitch a fit. We dealt with the odd closing times for restaurants in Civitavecchia on a Sunday afternoon and ate at McDonald's without complaining about it.  Everything does not have to be perfect for us to have a wonderful time. 

 

There were parts of the MSC cruise that were fine, even superb, as I tried to make clear. But the stuff that was bad was so bad we'll never do it again. Cruises involve more than just the fare. They also involve an investment of time and we're not willing to risk any of that a second time. I know I'd never get my husband on board another MSC ship. 

 

BTW, we were whatever the  "experience" level is above the basic one. I forget what they call it. For that, we got a little booklet that gave us a dozen or so free drinks. That was very nice. We didn't use them all up, so at the end of our cruise, our waiter brought us a bag with the extras in it (we got cans of peach tea) which we toted over to the Star.  We also got free bottled water in the dining rooms.  You kind of have to argue about that one because many of the wait staff don't understand it (it applies only to North American passengers, which is just bizarre - I understand why it's confusing).

I expect that some of these problems go away if you're on an MSC ship in the Caribbean, since they expect a North American presence on board. Really good weather, which we didn't have (and which isn't anyone's fault), would improve the situation as well, simply because a lot of people could be out by the pool.  But if the Meraviglia is full, dear god, it's very full.

Oh, and one other thing. We paid the gratuity without a gripe of any sort. It's not the fault of the staff. They work hard. They aren't as friendly as the staff on Norwegian or HAL, but good god, look at what they are dealing with.  By the end of a week on that ship, I wasn't friendly either.  Problems like the ones we encountered are due to poor management, not bad staff.

 

Everyone has a different experience but I would imagine booking a ship based on itinerary you would also need to take into consideration when and where you are going. 

 

For example one of the new mega ships with water slides, rope courses and lots of outdoor space shouldn’t be taken round the med unless the weather is good between let’s say may and September. 

 

Food is subjective, I hate sea food and I wouldn’t go on a ship taste the scallops and complain they were rubbery. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

3 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

I think it’s funny that people book something because it’s cheap, then complain when it’s not a 5* Resort or Michelin Star cuisine. 

 

You went on on the cheap, Bro, what you expect?

but for the same price Princess offers great food and customer service. I wait and look for bargains, but I am also limited to school breaks (and we all know that school break cruising is a lot more expensive), but I end up booking Princess, RCI, NCL and MSC for roughly the same amount.

 

We cruise with different lines for different reasons. We overlook mediocre food and CS on NCL and RCI in exchange for great entertainment and family activities. We enjoy great food on Princess at the expense of entertainment and family fun. We'll see if we find something to love about MSC next year. We do sail with an open mind and only form an opinion after we sail, but not before.

P.S. Except for my DH, who is not willing to try Carnival because of all the technical problems they've had in the past. Now that I see that NCL is in the same boat, we are hesitant to sail with them as well.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[cowmilker]

"Food is subjective, I hate sea food and I wouldn’t go on a ship taste the scallops and complain they were rubbery. "

I had no complaints at all about the food. It was fine. The elbow in my ribs wasn't. 

Even in the dining rooms, the tables are crammed up close to each other, far closer than I've ever seen before, so close that the wait staff couldn't get completely around some of them. And the dining rooms are delightful compared with the buffet. Imagine trying to eat lunch in the Sistine Chapel filled with tourists and there are not enough plates.  That's a slight exaggeration but only slight.

[Beamafar]

1 hour ago, cowmilker said:

 We also got free bottled water in the dining rooms.  You kind of have to argue about that one because many of the wait staff don't understand it (it applies only to North American passengers ...

 

Just to clarify ...guests from UK and Ireland also have water included (plus coffee and tea).

 

We've done 21 MSC cruises - most in the Med and including Meraviglia.  We've never experienced the kind of problems you did;   sorry it was such a disappointing time for you.  We did have one really bad experience onboard (though it wasn't down to the passengers!).

Edited March 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[CruiseLand]

4 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

Just to clarify ...guests from UK and Ireland also have water included (plus coffee and tea).

I confuse. OK someone just got off the Bellissima and she said the water not even include in MDR. I will be sailing Bellissima in 21 days so I need to pay for bottled water in MDR and my 6 yr old son milk. I do not know about this before until last night.

[Beamafar]

7 minutes ago, CruiseLand said:

I confuse. OK someone just got off the Bellissima and she said the water not even include in MDR. I will be sailing Bellissima in 21 days so I need to pay for bottled water in MDR and my 6 yr old son milk. I do not know about this before until last night.

 

I read that post.  I don't know if the policy has changed for US passengers, but MSC, according to the Ireland website:

"will now be offering a complimentary package of tea, water, and filtered coffee to all guests who book a new cruise! This offer is available on ALL new bookings made from 1st May 2018 and will be available to all guests on all our ships. The hot drinks and water will be offered to guests during lunch and dinner in the main dining room."

 

While it states "to all guests" it's actually only applicable to the Irish and British markets.

 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Beamafar

[CruiseLand]

2 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

 

I read that post.  I don't know if the policy has changed for US passengers, but MSC, according to the Ireland website:

"will now be offering a complimentary package of tea, water, and filtered coffee to all guests who book a new cruise! This offer is available on ALL new bookings made from 1st May 2018 and will be available to all guests on all our ships."

 

While it states "to all guests" it's actually only applicable to the Irish and British markets.

 

It is so sad that MSC does this though. Charging for the water and milk for the little kid that need it. This is new to me. 

[Stoffel1982]

3 minutes ago, CruiseLand said:

It is so sad that MSC does this though. Charging for the water and milk for the little kid that need it. This is new to me. 

 

Guys, let's stay on topic 😉

 

[CruiseLand]

2 minutes ago, Stoffel1982 said:

 

Guys, let's stay on topic 😉

 

I am sure I mention the USA cruiser with Bellissima said MSC charged for the water is on the topic because it was from her review. I will find down about this in 21 days when I will be on the ship.  

[Divingduck]

We were on the maiden Bellissima  cruise recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. The ship was amazing, the food was fine and the staff were on the whole friendly, hard working and helpful.

 

I did hear complaints from some British passengers, all were more experienced cruisers, but some of the comments left me speechless;

 

• horrible staff - I think if you approach people in a friendly and respectful manner then that is what you can expect back, but the reverse is also true.
• The atrium wasn't high enough - obviously 3 decks aren't enough for some
• Didn't like the décor - The one thing we were sure to expect was glitzy and blingy. It was but we loved it.
• Poor food - yes the buffet was a bit samey, but the MDR was good and the speciality dining was a notch higher.
• Didn't like the entertainment - The singing and dancing were fine and we particularly liked the short interpretation of Carmen, but a ventriloquist act in 5 languages is never going to work.
• Lifts too far from cabins- decks plans are available

The conversations usually ended with ' well we are so pissed off we've withdrawn our gratuities ' or words to that effect. I did wonder if some of the complaints were just poor justifications for a premediated action, as I can't see how penalising the hard working staff will improve matters.

 

We liked the international feel of the ship, but understand that it'll never suit some people.