Jump to content

A few questions for my first MSC cruise (compare to NCL)


numberguy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone!

 

DH and I are going on our first MSC cruise over American Thanksgiving week (Nov 24-Dec 1, 2019).  Got a great deal and got status match and 2for1 and a free upgrade to a balcony and everything else for a Greek Isles cruise out of Venice!  Anyway, almost all of our experience has been on Norwegian Cruise Line, so I just want to ask a few questions for comparison purposes.  If I think of other questions later, I'll also ask them here.

 

1.  How is the internet on MSC?  How does it compare speed-wise and price-wise to NCL?

 

2.  How do they handle disembarkation?  Do they use colored tags with times?  We're spending a day and night in Venice so we can be among the last ones to disembark, so I just want to figure it out before we get on the ship.

 

3.  Now this is just an opinion and not anything related to MSC or NCL:  we've already been to Athens (Piraeus), and I don't think there's much to do in Piraeus proper, and EVERY MSC shore excursion to Athens includes the Acropolis.  DH has had leg surgery and I've had a mild stroke, so we're not too keen on going to the Acropolis again.  DH suggested staying on the ship in Piraeus.  Opinions?

 

Further questions to come if I think of them.

 

--Michael

Edited by numberguy
typo correction
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. I have experienced wifi on MSC and NCL. They are comparable in terms of speed. MSC costs less. You may pre-order it online before you sail.

 

2. Yes, you can expect colored tags. We had a late flight out of Barcelona and stayed on the ship in a public area a little while after all the colors were called.  No one rushed us off the ship.

 

3. Imho staying on the ship is very enjoyable. I met some folks who had taken a relatively cheap HOHO bus and enjoyed it.  Maybe that would be a comfortable option?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, numberguy said:

Just a few comments:
I am platinum on NCL, but LOVED our first MSC cruise on the Divina. Booked three more MSC since then.

2.  How do they handle disembarkation?  Do they use colored tags with times?  We're spending a day and night in Venice so we can be among the last ones to disembark, so I just want to figure it out before we get on the ship. We self disembarked and hung around until the end. No problem and a very speedy process. Of course, so much depends on the port and customs at each port.

 

3.  Now this is just an opinion and not anything related to MSC or NCL:  we've already been to Athens (Piraeus), and I don't think there's much to do in Piraeus proper, and EVERY MSC shore excursion to Athens includes the Acropolis.  DH has had leg surgery and I've had a mild stroke, so we're not too keen on going to the Acropolis again.  DH suggested staying on the ship in Piraeus.  Opinions?  We are going to Corinth. You might want to look at a private excursion.  We are using AthensShoreExcursion. 

 

 

 

Edited by Markanddonna
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Here's another question:  How formal are the dinners in the main dining rooms on European cruises on MSC?  Jacket/tie required?

 

I usually go in khakis and a button down shirt, but I think MSC might be a tiny bit more formal than Norwegian.  Any thoughts?

 

Leaving in 19 days from Venice...

 

--Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, just got off MSC Fantasia this weekend, in and out of Genoa, visiting Corfu, Katakolon (Olympia), Sicily, Sardinia and Napoli.  

 

Embarkation was the quickest ever, but organisation went downhill from there.  Muster was delayed by an hour (with no explantation), one day we had to take tenders to get back to the ship and they didn't expect everyone to turn up as late as possible to the last tender (2pm) so we had to wait more than an hour in the blazing sun.  

 

Disembarkation - we got to port at 9.30 and we only made it off by noon.  They don't actively promote self-disembarkation but we saw several people queuing to do that.

 

Dress code - only 2 formal nights and everything else was described as casual.  I actually found it less dressy than NCL.

 

We too had a cheap cruise with a great itinerary so we made the most of it, and it helped that we buddied up with some nice fellow cruisers.  But I can't see we will be going on MSC again because of the organisational issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/5/2019 at 12:43 PM, numberguy said:

Here's another question:  How formal are the dinners in the main dining rooms on European cruises on MSC?  Jacket/tie required?

 

I usually go in khakis and a button down shirt, but I think MSC might be a tiny bit more formal than Norwegian.  Any thoughts?

 

Leaving in 19 days from Venice...

 

--Michael

You will be just fine.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Question #2 : Disembarkation

In our cruise that disembarked in Venice, watch out for your ETA. We were originally scheduled for 9:00 AM arrival but got moved to 10:00 AM. But because of thick fog, we got delayed and arrived at 3:45 PM. Bottom line, there could be a possibility of delayed disembarkation. Like you, our flight out of Venice was a day later. That saved us a lot of stress. Our only disappointment was that our time in Venice was shortened.

 

They use colored tags. There was no self-disembarkation in our cruise. Instead, we requested a tag for those who have made separate arrangement/booking after the cruise (not excursion). We were on the 6th group that were allowed to disembark. We disembarked after about 40 minutes from the 1st group. The next group were those on Deck 5 (and so on...). If you are on the higher Decks, your disembarkation will be later.

 

I've noticed that the rush of passengers getting off the ship happens within the early group vs the later group.

 

Question: MDR attire

Your preference of khaki and button down shirt will be just fine. They have a formal night. You might want to dress up for the camera but otherwise, it is not necessary.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did ours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...