New to MSC

[Cruzlover7]

Hello fellow cruisers! After 21 Carnival Cruises I’ve decided to give MSC  a try.  Any advise for a newbie to MSC? We will be sailing on a short 4 day mid-December on the Divina.  I’ll be searching this board doing my homework, but welcome any tips. 

 

 

[cellfree]

We were similar to you except about 17 Carnival cruises and we now have sailed on the Divina three times and the Seaside two times and have the Meraviglia booked for November. Our last two cruises have been Side by Sides with MSC and Carnival. All that to say we thoroughly enjoy both cruising experiences. MSC is quite multicultural with various languages spoken throughout the ship. Shows are very good, we enjoy the food, we have always had excellent cabin and dining room service. The Sports Bar on the Divina has a limited menu and food is free and good, particularly the MSC Burger. Upon embarkation if you go to the buffet walk all the way to the back of the buffet, the back of the ship, there will be plenty of seating and much more relaxing. Our MSC cruises have been seven or ten nights so not sure what activities will be offered on a shorter cruise. In January we had Dance Class at least twice a day which was fun. In the evening the various venues offer a variety of music. Any questions, please ask. 

[Cruzlover7]

26 minutes ago, cellfree said:

We were similar to you except about 17 Carnival cruises and we now have sailed on the Divina three times and the Seaside two times and have the Meraviglia booked for November. Our last two cruises have been Side by Sides with MSC and Carnival. All that to say we thoroughly enjoy both cruising experiences. MSC is quite multicultural with various languages spoken throughout the ship. Shows are very good, we enjoy the food, we have always had excellent cabin and dining room service. The Sports Bar on the Divina has a limited menu and food is free and good, particularly the MSC Burger. Upon embarkation if you go to the buffet walk all the way to the back of the buffet, the back of the ship, there will be plenty of seating and much more relaxing. Our MSC cruises have been seven or ten nights so not sure what activities will be offered on a shorter cruise. In January we had Dance Class at least twice a day which was fun. In the evening the various venues offer a variety of music. Any questions, please ask. 

Thank you cellfree. I hope to sail the Seaside in the future. I am sure we will enjoy the cruise and the change in scenery.  

[patrice1]

Same here! We're 18 on CCL, but now live in Lisbon, Portugal. Decided to do a Med cruise and CCL isn't doing Med cruises until 2020. Best deal was MSC and we're looking forward to our first cruise with them on Sinfonia.

[Cruzlover7]

59 minutes ago, patrice1 said:

Same here! We're 18 on CCL, but now live in Lisbon, Portugal. Decided to do a Med cruise and CCL isn't doing Med cruises until 2020. Best deal was MSC and we're looking forward to our first cruise with them on Sinfonia.

Patrice1 MSC status matched me. The  price for balcony with the fantastica experience and including basic drink package beat the best offer on CCL, even with casino cash. I will definitely cruise CCL again but mix it up a bit 

Edited April 14, 2019 by Cruzlover7

[cellfree]

Cruzlover7, we had Drinks On Us on the Divina in January which has been replaced with a different ‘basic package’ but appears to be very similar. Margaritas were not on the DOU list however upon embarkation we went one deck down to the Atrium instead of heading right to the buffet - no one was at the bar - found a great waiter - discussed what our options were - said “oh we can give you a Margarita” - he took care of us the entire cruise every evening before dinner - never ran out of Margaritas - we have a friend for life - hope he is on our 2020 Divina cruise!

[patrice1]

5 hours ago, Cruzlover7 said:

Patrice1 MSC status matched me. The  price for balcony with the fantastica experience and including basic drink package beat the best offer on CCL, even with casino cash. I will definitely cruise CCL again but mix it up a bit 

 

We’re working on it. Don’t have a card and don’t know how to get all the info they say they need. Already submitted and they kicked it back because they say I didn’t provide all the info.

[Cruzlover7]

5 hours ago, cellfree said:

Cruzlover7, we had Drinks On Us on the Divina in January which has been replaced with a different ‘basic package’ but appears to be very similar. Margaritas were not on the DOU list however upon embarkation we went one deck down to the Atrium instead of heading right to the buffet - no one was at the bar - found a great waiter - discussed what our options were - said “oh we can give you a Margarita” - he took care of us the entire cruise every evening before dinner - never ran out of Margaritas - we have a friend for life - hope he is on our 2020 Divina cruise!

Hmm I wonder if he would make me a Pina Colada. That’s my favorite frozen.  Thanks for the info. I’ve been doing a lot of research on the basic and food options. I would like to try the Italian pay restaurant but it won’t cone to fir an option to book. Amy suggestions?

[cellfree]

The restaurants can be booked once on the ship.  About the Pina Colada, order something zero proof off the list and a shot of a liquor choice. 

[Cruzlover7]

50 minutes ago, cellfree said:

The restaurants can be booked once on the ship.  About the Pina Colada, order something zero proof off the list and a shot of a liquor choice. 

Will do, thanks

[jaceyar]

We recently did our first MSC on Divina after 30+ cruises on other (mostly Carnival Group) brands. The ship is fantastic, food ok, service good, cabins good (no body lotion supplied though). The multi-lingual muster was ridiculous and if there was an emergency I wouldn't fancy our chances. The management of arrival at ports is appalling (ie:nonexistant) - no information given and hundreds of people pushing and shoving to get off. This may seem negative but actually was our experience - in New York and Ponte Delgada I've never known such chaos.

The ship is very lively and the Black & White lounge at the back is buzzing every night and the dance floor is full. We were status matched to Black Card and the parties we attended were amazing - loads of drinks available throughout. There are no self service laundries onboard which is unfortunate but you can pay for laundry services. Lots of our fellow passengers were Italian, French, Spanish, Portugese, German etc which made the dining rooms very noisy and Tannoy announcements took a while. The quality of the Theatre shows was good especially the dancers. We unfortunately didn't have good weather on our cruise because the deck area is fantastic with a lovely adults only pool at the back. We elected not to purchase a drinks package and were £200+ ahead at the end despite the drinks being pricey. It was cheaper to buy bottles of wine rather than individual glasses. All in all we enjoyed our cruise and if an attractive itinerary comes up and the price is right, we may try MSC again.

 

 

[Cruzlover7]

23 hours ago, jaceyar said:

We recently did our first MSC on Divina after 30+ cruises on other (mostly Carnival Group) brands. The ship is fantastic, food ok, service good, cabins good (no body lotion supplied though). The multi-lingual muster was ridiculous and if there was an emergency I wouldn't fancy our chances. The management of arrival at ports is appalling (ie:nonexistant) - no information given and hundreds of people pushing and shoving to get off. This may seem negative but actually was our experience - in New York and Ponte Delgada I've never known such chaos.

The ship is very lively and the Black & White lounge at the back is buzzing every night and the dance floor is full. We were status matched to Black Card and the parties we attended were amazing - loads of drinks available throughout. There are no self service laundries onboard which is unfortunate but you can pay for laundry services. Lots of our fellow passengers were Italian, French, Spanish, Portugese, German etc which made the dining rooms very noisy and Tannoy announcements took a while. The quality of the Theatre shows was good especially the dancers. We unfortunately didn't have good weather on our cruise because the deck area is fantastic with a lovely adults only pool at the back. We elected not to purchase a drinks package and were £200+ ahead at the end despite the drinks being pricey. It was cheaper to buy bottles of wine rather than individual glasses. All in all we enjoyed our cruise and if an attractive itinerary comes up and the price is right, we may try MSC again.

 

 

Thank you Jayceyar. Embarkation and debarkation will be vastly different for us as with CCL we are Platinum. I hope this process has improved somewhat since your sailing.  Either way I love to cruise and I know we will enjoy. 

[madthumper]

On 4/14/2019 at 4:13 PM, patrice1 said:

 

We’re working on it. Don’t have a card and don’t know how to get all the info they say they need. Already submitted and they kicked it back because they say I didn’t provide all the info.

I pulled up my VFIP page on the CCL web site and took a screen shot of it and sent it to them.

Edited April 16, 2019 by madthumper

[jaceyar]

The MSC website isn't working properly. I tried around 50+ times to enter into for checkin and status match and it was rejected everytime. I tweeted them and eventually it was sorted.

[Cruzlover7]

19 hours ago, jaceyar said:

The MSC website isn't working properly. I tried around 50+ times to enter into for checkin and status match and it was rejected everytime. I tweeted them and eventually it was sorted.

Jayceyar, I also had a lot of problems with the website on my phone.  I tried on my PC  and still had issues.  Eventually I was able to book and then use the check in link.  It took a few times.  Today, I finally received a confirmation that included all booking info.  

[Tapi]

Another Carnival Platinum who has sailed MSC here. Our first MSC cruise was on the Divina out of Miami. We decided to give MSC a try because of all the promotions that they offered which made our 7 night summer cruise cheaper than a weekend booze cruise in September on Carnival. Long story short, we had an enjoyable time. The ship was beautiful, we truly enjoyed the European vibe, but the overall experience failed to impress. MSC USA was still ironing out a lot of kinks at the time. Food was mediocre, service was inconsistent, and there were several snafus over the week. But for the price we paid, we really couldn’t justify complaining about anything. Overall, we placed that experience one notch above Carnival and one notch below Royal. 

 

We decided to sail on MSC again last November, this time in the Mediterranean aboard the Meraviglia. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and it easily ranks as one of the best cruises I’ve ever taken in my 30+ years of cruising. The ship was absolutely beautiful, with a wow factor comparable to Royal’s Oasis class ships. Food and service were greatly improved from our experience on the Divina 2 years earlier, we didn’t encounter any technical glitches, and the itinerary was wonderful. MSC runs like a well oiled machine in the Mediterranean. 

 

Even though our first MSC cruise was so so, We were attracted the second time to MSC again because of pricing. With cheap fares, a kids sail free promo, and loyalty match discount, we were able to afford an Aurea Duplex Suite (loft style suite with separate bedroom, living room with dining table, 2 bathrooms, walk in closet/dressing room, forward facing balcony with hot tub, Nespresso system, unlimited drink package, access to the thermal suite, free massages, access to a private solarium for suite guests, dedicated section in the MDR with open seating, and priority embarkation). All of this for less than what a standard balcony in the Caribbean cost us the previous year on another cruise line. MSC truly spoiled us. It was an absolutely memorable experience. 

 

I dont know if the improvements we noticed between our Divina cruise and Meraviglia cruise were geographic (sailing in the Caribbean vs the Mediterranean), or because 2 years have made that much of a difference, or if it was because we were sailing on a brand new, enormous and beautiful ship. The bottom line is that this cruise made me a huge fan of the MSC product and I now easily rank them as one of my favorite cruise lines. 

 

Best piece of advice that I can give you is that you embrace the differences and don’t let them annoy you. A lot of people seem really hung up on those differences to the point of making the experience worse for themselves. 

Edited April 18, 2019 by Tapi

[Epos Man]

I think that MSC are renowned for the Med side of the company its there bread and butter.

 

Like all new ventures they will get it right in the USA