Do you believe all the negative reviews?

[glittergal1]

21 hours 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.

 

 

My feelings exactly and the reason I love MSC , MSC are beginning to cruise more ships out of the UK and have "British fied" them in some ways, We sail from the UK with MSC for the first time next year so Im hoping it hasnt lost too much of the Usual MSC vibe , we have 3 cruises booked so far all with MSC 

[ssmea03]

On 3/22/2019 at 10:25 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the thing is, we are not talking about 2-3 sour apples. Look at the review stats: 38 terrible vs. 52 excellent, with about the same 40-44 reviews per category in between. So, just about equal.

 

 

and then look at Seaside:

with 4x the reviews, Excellent category is 2.5x more than Terrible.

 

 

and then, just for giggles, let's look at the Allure of the Seas: do you see the difference?

 

 

Yes, the difference is 2860 (50% of the passengers) reviewed Allure, while only 215 reviewed Mereviglia (just 5% of the passengers). However only 82 people thought Mereviglia was poor or terrible,  but 215 thought Allure was.

[Nunagoras]

Both @Beamafar; @Homosassa and @Nashna have said it all to answer the OP's question. It is it! Thank you from someone with 6 happy MSC cruises!... 🙂 Were they 100% perfect? No. But nothing is perfect!

 

Meanwhile: To compare such a ship like the RCI Allure with the MSC Seaside??? Really???... TBHH: Even the professionals doing the professional Cruise Critic reviews won't go on that one! That's a no go for sure! The Allure is part of a class of its own with features of its own and a vibe of its own! The Seaside is certainly good, pairing with the same standard of any other MSC ship... But let me to have a break here: The Seaside remains just another mainstream cruise ship! And it doesn't matter whom of them is better on this or that. It's a different experience for different needs!...

 

Have a nice day!... 🙂

[Itchy&Scratchy]

7 hours ago, ssmea03 said:

Yes, the difference is 2860 (50% of the passengers) reviewed Allure, while only 215 reviewed Mereviglia (just 5% of the passengers). However only 82 people thought Mereviglia was poor or terrible,  but 215 thought Allure was.

38% of the reviewers on Meraviglia thought it was terrible or poor, and only 7.5% of Allure reviewers thought it was terrible or poor.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Meanwhile: To compare such a ship like the RCI Allure with the MSC Seaside??? Really???... TBHH: Even the professionals doing the professional Cruise Critic reviews won't go on that one! That's a no go for sure! The Allure is part of a class of its own with features of its own and a vibe of its own! The Seaside is certainly good, pairing with the same standard of any other MSC ship... But let me to have a break here: The Seaside remains just another mainstream cruise ship! And it doesn't matter whom of them is better on this or that. It's a different experience for different needs!...

but the thing is  - people who reviewed Meraviglia were mostly complaining about the poor customer service and hoards of people in the buffet who were cutting in line. This has nothing to do with the amenities, features, vibe or the fun activities the Allure offers or even any other mainstream cruise line.

[ssmea03]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

but the thing is  - people who reviewed Meraviglia were mostly complaining about the poor customer service and hoards of people in the buffet who were cutting in line. This has nothing to do with the amenities, features, vibe or the fun activities the Allure offers or even any other mainstream cruise line.

The Mereviglia sample is too small to be accurate. And yes MSC, particularly in the Caribbean, does seem to attract more than it's fair share of whiners.

[Stoffel1982]

6 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

but the thing is  - people who reviewed Meraviglia were mostly complaining about the poor customer service and hoards of people in the buffet who were cutting in line. This has nothing to do with the amenities, features, vibe or the fun activities the Allure offers or even any other mainstream cruise line.

 

Agree. Customer sevice at MSC can be (much) better. 

But ... their ships are a-m-a-z-i-n-g!

[Captain-John]

On 3/23/2019 at 2:10 AM, cowmilker said:

 

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.

🙂

 

I'm sorry you had such a poor trip and I understand you picked this route because there were few repeat ports. However my impression is always that the ship is much, much quieter on port days - and I get the impression the bulk of your issue stemmed from ovecrowding. Would you not have conisdered staying aboard the ship on the assumption most other guests would be leaving to explore Mareseilles? I'd rather be on a near empty billion dollar ship than in an industrial port for my vacation.

 

Not dismissing any of your experience by the way - just curious as to why you didn't want to spend any time on the ship even when it would be quieter...

[Bluewake]

17 hours ago, ssmea03 said:

Yes, the difference is 2860 (50% of the passengers) reviewed Allure, while only 215 reviewed Mereviglia (just 5% of the passengers). However only 82 people thought Mereviglia was poor or terrible,  but 215 thought Allure was.

 

While such comparisons are interesting, I think it's important to keep in mind that statistical inferences are only as meaningful as the data  upon which they are based.   In this case, the "data" is the summary score of Cruise Critic reviews which are voluntary, posted only by those who are aware of the existence of CC, and - I think can reasonably be assumed - are likely to be from posters who are motivated to submit a review because they either are highly pleased or displeased...although I certainly realize that not every poster falls into those two categories.   Still, without any sort of randomization, the review data is inherently biased which gives rise to serious questions about the accuracy and  value of any conclusions about the results.   Kind of fun to read and discuss but not something on which to base spending your hard-earned money.   What I do find helpful are detailed reviews about various aspects of the cruise.  It's interesting to read the subjective "take" of the reviewer about those things because it usually tells you what their expectations were vs. what they found...and that is what makes one person love a cruise while another comes away hating the same cruise.

[April42749]

I think that it comes down to "the majority group" or "a  large minority" on the ship and how their behavior affects you.

 

It's really a "hit or miss" situation.

 

If school's on vacation, it's going to be more crowded and you'll always have parents who are "taking a week off from active parenting".

[ssmea03]

2 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

 

While such comparisons are interesting, I think it's important to keep in mind that statistical inferences are only as meaningful as the data  upon which they are based.   In this case, the "data" is the summary score of Cruise Critic reviews which are voluntary, posted only by those who are aware of the existence of CC, and - I think can reasonably be assumed - are likely to be from posters who are motivated to submit a review because they either are highly pleased or displeased...although I certainly realize that not every poster falls into those two categories.   Still, without any sort of randomization, the review data is inherently biased which gives rise to serious questions about the accuracy and  value of any conclusions about the results.   Kind of fun to read and discuss but not something on which to base spending your hard-earned money.   What I do find helpful are detailed reviews about various aspects of the cruise.  It's interesting to read the subjective "take" of the reviewer about those things because it usually tells you what their expectations were vs. what they found...and that is what makes one person love a cruise while another comes away hating the same cruise.

Brilliantly said, hear hear.

[Nunagoras]

Exactly dear @Bluewake! And may I add that CC is an English speaking community where most of its members come from the USA, the UK and other predominantly English speaking countries. So now note that most of the MSC guests come from outside that group and most of them doesn't even know there is such a thing named CC!... 🙂

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, Nunagoras said:

Exactly dear @Bluewake! And may I add that CC is an English speaking community where most of its members come from the USA, the UK and other predominantly English speaking countries. So now note that most of the MSC guests come from outside that group and most of them doesn't even know there is such a thing named CC!... 🙂

 

That is the key.

Most CC members are North American and that is reflected in the reviews, reading CC reviews will only give you a predominantly North american perspective.

[ziggyuk]

12 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

hoards of people in the buffet who were cutting in line.

 

I don't get this "Cutting in line" at the buffet, I'm sure North Americans enjoy standing in line.

 

We never use the buffet on cruises but 2 week ago on NCL my other half wanted some watermelon from the garden cafe, he grabbed a plate walked past the line to the fruit area (which was clear of people), took some watermelon and walked to a table... 10 seconds, you should have see the dirty looks he got for what we can only assume was considered "cutting in"!

 

I use buffets on land and with the exception of short buffets where you collect a plate and walk a very short area, the exception of eggs or pancakes stations where food is prepared, the whole point of a buffet is to grab the food you want, from the area you want and go, I never push in.... but I'm in and out of gaps filling my plate with what I want.

 

Stand in line at a buffet, unless really busy...... no chance.

[cowmilker]

6 hours ago, Captain-John said:

 

 

Not dismissing any of your experience by the way - just curious as to why you didn't want to spend any time on the ship even when it would be quieter...

 

Because by the time we got to Mersailles, we'd frankly had it. That's the port where we strongly considered just taking our bags with us and walking away entirely.  All we wanted to do was get off the ship, period. 

With hindsight, we made a huge mistake.  We had a week to kill, basically, between our two primary cruises. We should have gone someplace like Venice and spent that week in a BnB.  If we had it to do over again, that's just what we'd have done.

You know, I sort of resent the implications that I am a "whiner."  We're not. We love cruising. We love it so much that we just booked another one and this one is a biggy: a Grand Voyage (South America) with HAL.  We'll have a great time. I'm quite confident in spending that wad of cash.  We don't nitpick about stuff. We're happy in an inside cabin. We don't need anyone to cater to our every whim. We don't need somebody to constantly entertain us. If the show is boring, we quietly get up and leave, or nap. We don't ***** about it.

This thread asked a question. I answered it from my own experience. This may not be your experience. I know that. But I wish somebody had told me exactly what they didn't like about MSC before we left. The complaints are often nonspecific: "poor customer service."  I'm not sure what that means.

But I know exactly what it means when a waiter cleans a table using the dirty napkin left by the previous diner, not once, not one waiter, but repeatedly.  I wish I'd gotten video of it.

I know exactly what it means when people repeatedly push and shove and cut in line and put their elbows in my face. It's fine occasionally. It's not fine when it happens every time you leave the room.

People can take this or leave it. I will happily pay more to cruise another line. Almost any line. Don't ask a question if you don't want to hear the answers.

[cowmilker]

51 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

 

We never use the buffet on cruises but 2 week ago on NCL my other half wanted some watermelon from the garden cafe, he grabbed a plate walked past the line to the fruit area (which was clear of people), took some watermelon and walked to a table... 10 seconds, you should have see the dirty looks he got for what we can only assume was considered "cutting in"!

 

 

That's not what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about people massed together so that there are always three or four people in front of the food, any of the food, everywhere. You have to wait to get to the front.  Or you can shove.

On the Meraviglia, in the Med, last October, shoving was the preferred way of dealing with it. It was nearly universal. 

And I am not talking about kids. The kids were actually fine. There were a lot of them, of course, and sometimes they're rowdy, but they're kids.  It's not a problem.  We never got irritated with children.

It's adult elbows in my face that I object to.  

You know those ropes they put up to make lanes when you're boarding, or when you're leaving, those portable barriers?  (Not the in the buffet, but in the terminal, for example, or in the atrium to lead people to the exit.) You know how the passengers on the Meraviglia viewed those?  They saw them as suggestions.  They went over them or under them. Only chumps like us stayed in our lane. And if they slam into you in the process, well, that's all part of the game.

What amazed us was how everyone just accepted this as normal. Nobody cared as long as there wasn't a fist fight.

One of my nightmares while on board was that there would an emergency and we'd need to evacuate.  Just imagining it made me shiver.

[PTC DAWG]

Sailing MSC Seaside end of April.....I expect the Bride and I’ll have a great time, just like every cruise we have been on.  14th floor balcony...

 

Agree on staying on board at a few ports, nice to have the ship to yourself...

 

IF it just awful, I’ll be surprised, but will report back, one way or another. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by PTC DAWG

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 3/23/2019 at 9:53 AM, 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. 

 

And yet it is almost universally the case in Europe.  It is probably new to you to be asked 'gas or no gas' if you order (order, because you will pay for it) water in a restaurant. Thsee are 'cultural differences' complainta.  Which is what makes up the vast majority of the complaints about MSC, IMO.

[ufyellowfin]

We are in Seaside right now and I would NEVER EVER sail with them again. Unless I missed something a Grand suite consisted of 2 bathrooms one with a shower one with a tub. Also includes large balcony. The “grand suite” we are in on 13 th floor has one small bathroom and about the most obstructed view balcony I’ve seen. 

 

We’ve sailed Carnival and always had a good time even though we knew it was more of a “budget” friendly line.  This MSC make Carnival look Cunard. The most rude passengers I’ve been around. Pushing shoving , shoving my kid out of the way because their kid needed an ice cream more. (No it’s not entirely MSC’s fault but their employees did nothing.)   I also understand it being spring break but this sucks.

 

I will never do another cruise on MSC or out of Miami again. I’ll stick to what I know, Disney RC or Carnival from Port Canaveral is tough to beat.

[Annapolisr]

New to this forum and cruise critic.  Booked MSC last week, and it is my first cruise with MSC.  Armonia, inc. Havana, Jan. 27, 2020.  Booked for price and itinerary.  Senior Solo traveler.   

 

Have sailed other lines, and just got off the Bliss on February 3.  I could write some negatives.  I could write some positives.  The ship is just not for me.  

 

So, in looking at all the positive/negative reviews, I take what is useful to me.  IMO, you get what you pay for.  I find that have less expectations allows for pleasant surprises.  

 

 

[ufyellowfin]

Just now, Annapolisr said:

New to this forum and cruise critic.  Booked MSC last week, and it is my first cruise with MSC.  Armonia, inc. Havana, Jan. 27, 2020.  Booked for price and itinerary.  Senior Solo traveler.   

 

Have sailed other lines, and just got off the Bliss on February 3.  I could write some negatives.  I could write some positives.  The ship is just not for me.  

 

So, in looking at all the positive/negative reviews, I take what is useful to me.  IMO, you get what you pay for.  I find that have less expectations allows for pleasant surprises.  

No offense and I’m not sure if this is a European attitude but I work dang hard for my money. And 6k+  to take my wife and two kids on a trip shouldn’t require me or anyone to lower expectations. I expect a 6k dollar trip just like when I sailed Carnival sunshine the first time I spent 2k and expected a 2k trip. 

 

I hope you have an amazing time on your cruise. Probably why my dad always said “Different boats for different folks.” 

Quote

 

 

[Annapolisr]

4 minutes ago, ufyellowfin said:

No offense and I’m not sure if this is a European attitude but I work dang hard for my money. And 6k+  to take my wife and two kids on a trip shouldn’t require me or anyone to lower expectations. I expect a 6k dollar trip just like when I sailed Carnival sunshine the first time I spent 2k and expected a 2k trip. 

 

I hope you have an amazing time on your cruise. Probably why my dad always said “Different boats for different folks.” 

 

Nw.  Hope I meet some other Folks on my roll call to have a meet and mingle!  My strategy is to bare bones it on a first cruise with any line.  That way, I get a feel for where to put the money...if any.  

 

Btw, does anyone know if MSC loyalty match is just for one loyalty program from another line?  or, can you aggregate.  

 

The problem arises for me, like my most recent cruise in feb. with NCL on the Bliss...is that an experience on one ship/itinerary doesn’t translate the same for another ship/itinerary.  I likely won’t do another Bliss sailing unless it’s a grandkids and family travel plan.  

[rosie2018]

I've booked Seaside for June 2019 and feeling very nervous about this company. After booking, I called my travel agency and requested to change a different room but same category and the price jumped almost $200. According to the agent, the price should be the same. I was on chat with him over two hours for MSC to get it fixed. He kept saying sorry but it was MSC computer system that's not as updated as other cruise lines. Every time I called, the agent would say MSC system is down or they have a hard time doing the updates. Just called to pay the final payment a few days ago and the agent and I couldn't hear each other and she said MSC was doing an update. Couldn't do payment online because they booked it manually.

Tried signing up to register our account a few days ago and the system kept saying it was not our booking and it couldn't find my voyager number. Called and talked to MSC agent she tried walking me thru, but also said their system was corky and she guessed it was being updated. Tried again yesterday and today and it's doing the same thing. It does the same thing with hubby and he's a computer wiz. Does anyone else have this much problems with their computer system? We have cruised with HAL, RC and NCL and never had any problems with doing anything online. Feeling nervous and skeptical.

TIA

[grandgeezer]

The reviews, positive or negative, have little influence on me. You can go on any board, for any ship, and find positive and negative ones. Just because one side is dramatically higher than the other means nothing. I'm a big, fairly intelligent, boy and know what I like/need and believe the person footing the bill is the only opinion that counts. I used to be a huge Celebrity advocate, with 22 cruises with them, and now they aren't even on my radar. I switched to the Oasis class ships on Royal Caribbean and I have my second cruise on MSC Seaside coming in October. If it's as impressive as the first one, I'll keep coming back no matter what the naysayers say. I will say that the Yacht Club Deluxe Suite is the only accommodations I would book. 

[Toofarfromthesea]

The obsession with reviews - reading them, writing them, and especially the incessant importunings for a review, or lobbying for a high review, are the bane of the 21st century, IMO.  What ever did businesses and customers do before the review culture exploded?