Compare RC and MSC...

[tcmagnum]

Looking at booking our first cruise with MSC and looking for opinions on the difference...

 

Thanks!!

 

[Cruzaholic41]

Go for it. I’ve only cruised MSC twice recently - Divina and Seaside. I loved both of them. Entertainment is excellent and the service is every bit as good as RCI. Plus, they status match - both cruise and hotel programs. 

 

They've come a long way. I swore them off after an older European cruise with them. I’m happy I changed my mind and started cruising them here locally. 

[APDMOM]

We tried MSC Seaside this summer and LOVED it.  DH decided it is his new favorite cruise line.  I still prefer Royal, but we booked 4 more weeks on Seaside for next year.  You can’t beat their 14-day price for summer cruising.  Shows were excellent.  Buffet was the best (variety and taste) we have found on all the cruise lines we had sailed.  

 

You have to accept that it will have more of an international/European flair, including announcements in different languages.  They are very efficient though.  

 

See my signature for my review of our experience.  🙂

[Clarea]

Check this:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2591615-royal-vs-msc/?do=findComment&comment=55894367

 

[massmomoftwins]

We tried Seaside this year and HATED it. Food was inedible in dining room. Service was LOUSY. And I am not a picky person. Slides and gelato were great and that's about it. But to each their own. 

[renza]

     Never ever would I go back to MSC. We tried the seaside last year. The ship is beautiful, but that is it. Well the pizza is good too, everything else is crap. They do not care about Americans, customer service is a complete joke. Food was awful. Forget it. Stick with royal or even carnival. The only thing we enjoyed is we meet some great friends that hated the ship as well. You could not pay me to go back. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

2 hours ago, renza said:

They do not care about Americans,

👍

Why should they and how? 🤔

[John&LaLa]

7 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

👍

Why should they and how? 🤔

 

Because Seaside sails from Merica 

[renza]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Because Seaside sails from Merica 

No it sails from Miami Florida. They are extremely rude to Americans on the ship. 

[George C]

Msc yacht club on paper sounds much better than rccl suite for perks ,  we normally cruise rccl and in suites but really looking forward to msc yacht club with private pool and bars for yacht club people. 

[renza]

24 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

👍

Why should they and how? 🤔

We you are sailing from American ports you need to learn to  cater to Americans.  All the cruise lines do there best to want you to come back and sail with then. Not the case on Seaside. That’s the number one complaint from everyone sailing on it. Customer service is just down right rude. 

[renza]

2 minutes ago, George C said:

Msc yacht club on paper sounds much better than rccl suite for perks ,  we normally cruise rccl and in suites but really looking forward to msc yacht club with private pool and bars for yacht club people. 

Good luck

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, George C said:

Msc yacht club on paper sounds much better than rccl suite for perks ,  we normally cruise rccl and in suites but really looking forward to msc yacht club with private pool and bars for yacht club people. 

 

Ford thought the Edsel sounded good on paper 😉

[ONECRUISER]

52 minutes ago, renza said:

No it sails from Miami Florida. They are extremely rude to Americans on the ship. 

He said "Merica" you know slang for America

[Saab4444]

They are also rude to Europeans. This refers mainly to some Italian waiters and service staff, but it is not different if you travel as a foreigner to Italy.

[frank808]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Msc yacht club on paper sounds much better than rccl suite for perks ,  we normally cruise rccl and in suites but really looking forward to msc yacht club with private pool and bars for yacht club people. 

We sailed 2 weeks last summer on Seaside in yacht club.  Much better experience and value than sky class on royal.  Now the balcony suites on seaside are the size of JS on royal.  But the yacht club enclave is better than what royal provides for sky class on oasis and quantum ships.

 

Entertainment was the weak spot for MSC for me.  And we missed the crown lofts on oasis class.  But the butlers, private restraunt, big lounge, YC pool and hot tubs made it bearable for 2 weeks.  Also the spa is better than royal by far.  Thalossotherapy pool, salt room, snow room, and a lot of different fragrance showers that is included for YC guests.  

 

Since those MSC cruises we have gone on 10 royal cruises before getting to do YC again.

[Tree_skier]

We did a MSC Med cruise in 2017.  I was thoroughly underwhelmed.  We sailed on Orchestra. We had a balcony cabin on the forward part of the ship on the 8th deck.  Service was mediocre at its best, indifferent at at its worst. Our waiter in the MDR just went through the motions. The food itself was definitely a step down from Royal.  The buffet, during breakfast and lunch time, was like feed time at the monkey cage.

 

 Our cabin steward was fine but we are really quite low maintenance in that regard so it wasn't much of a test.  The bars were utterly packed all over especially the pool deck and getting served there was a nightmare.  Often it would be three deep and slowly wiggling your way to the front only to be ignored once you got there was frustrating.  Sitting at a table waiting for someone come and serve you was an exercise in sobriety.  The entertainment in the evening was utterly dire. Going to guest services with a charge I was unfamiliar with on our onboard account and I was treated with utter disdain. I wouldn't get on an MSC ship for free.  

[diesel1973]

I also did a cruise on the Seaside. Usually cruise RC or X and was excited to try something new. Boy was I mistaken. Food quality and service, customer service, size of room, and  entertainment was terrible. Have done many cruises and have been to Europe  many times and this was far from what I experienced there. Couldn't wait to get off that ship and get on a RC cruise the next day. What a joke that was!

[nat9511]

Add me to the list of people who would never go on MSC again.  There were so many things that went wrong on my cruise on Seaside.  The personnel were just plain rude and not even interested in correcting a problem.  The only good thing I can say is the pizza was delicious.

[FionaMG]

We have sailed MSC twice, both times in Europe, once on Poesia and once on Divina. On both occasions it was because Royal had nothing comparable available at the time we were able to cruise. Both times we opted for their cheapest "experience" (Bella, I think they call it).

 

Both cruises were good; food could be hit and miss but that applies to Royal too. We actually preferred the entertainment on MSC because it tends to be more visual and less dependent on language due to all the different nationalities aboard. Often on Royal we skip shows, especially comedy, mainly because DH's first language is not English and a good grasp of the language and culture is necessary to appreciate any comedy.

 

I can understand that US cruisers might find the repetition of announcements in a number of languages tiresome; as Europeans we are used to this, so barely notice it. Once we have heard the announcement in our own language we simply tune out the rest.

 

We did not notice any of the rudeness referred to by other posters. What we did find was that the service staff tend not to try and anticipate passengers' needs as they do on Royal; rather, you have to go looking for someone and ask for what you need. This is one of the reasons why we prefer Royal but we would have absolutely no hesitation in booking another MSC cruise if it suited our schedule and plans better than anything Royal was offering.

[Norwich Cruiser]

As the old saying goes you get what you pay for.

After cruising with MSC we’d definitely pay the additional charges to sail with Royal as there cruises normally price out more expensive.

The reasons have all been mentioned in the above posts.

Although Butchers Cut was excellent.

[Arzeena]

We had a terrible experience on MSC Seaside. Would not be looking back at MSC for a very long time!
 

I can live with terrible food and over crowding, but to target people is absolutely unacceptable. Like a poster above mentions, rude, insulting and not willing to solve any problems (they created in the first place) for the passengers. Management is terrible. It made me appreciate NCL, Royal, Celebrity and Carnival, even with their cut backs.

 

And the powers be do not want to hear one negative word about them.....why? $$$$? free cruises? who knows.

[George C]

Seems like most of the complaints on msc were not from people in there yacht club, we also did a msc cruise about 12 years ago and loved the food. I love rccl entertainment and do not think msc will be that good, only entertainment we have ever seen better was music charters.  I am sure it will not be perfect but neither are rccl cruises. 

[frank808]

2 hours ago, George C said:

Seems like most of the complaints on msc were not from people in there yacht club, we also did a msc cruise about 12 years ago and loved the food. I love rccl entertainment and do not think msc will be that good, only entertainment we have ever seen better was music charters.  I am sure it will not be perfect but neither are rccl cruises. 

Yes I have seen very little complaints about YC also.  Met another D couple on Seaside The YC restaurant was very good.  The food was better than coastal kitchen imho.  Did check put the buffet a few times on our 14 night cruise.  Liked the buffet food as there were many options and food was hot.  It might not have had the variety of royal but the preparation was excellent. MSC has better pizza than royal.  If you thought their buffet pizza was good, order their room service pizza, it was even BETTER!  Also are in Buthcers cut twice and it was very good.  I would say it was a little better than our Chop experiences but they are close.  

Not having to deal with chair hogs, awesome spa experiences, private lounge and pool deck for YC guests only (no top tier allowed, unless booked in YC), very good service from the pool attendants to the butlers has our family sailing with MSC in the future.  But we also love our royal cruises.

[grandgeezer]

Last year we did the MSC Seaside in September, in a Yacht Club Deluxe Suite and the end of October we did RCL Allure in a Grand Suite. We have booked the Seaside for this October, we have not booked the Allure again.

From what we saw and heard, it's either the Yacht Club or stay home.

It's not a knock on the Allure, we just thought we got a much better bang for our buck on the Seaside. We'll see if our opinion changes by the end of October.