MSC OR RCCI for Mediterranean cruise

[belles]

Hello everyone, I am thinking of a Mediterranean cruise in April or May.  I have never cruised on MSC or Costa.  I've cruised many times on RCI, Carnival and Princess.  I have decided against Costa so unsure if it will be RCI or MSC.  

Regarding MSC what is included in the cruise price?  Does the Fantassia or Diviina have self laundry?

If anyone has cruised on both the Allure of the Seas and Fantassia or Divina I would love to hear your recommendations.

 

[niko40]

Is laundry a deal breaker??

I have done 18 rci cruises bit this year our first MSC the difference is about £1200 each on a 14 night cruise thats with premium drinks pkg.

So im not expecting the royal experience by any shot if thats what u want stick with rci you get what yp6u pay for. 

[belles]

No LOL laundry is not a deal breaker

just not sure if I should try MSC 

There are a lot of food options on RCI, will I find that on MSC and there are a lot of ports so not sure if the drink  package is worth it

 

[BermudaBound2014]

How much cheaper is the MCS cruise? 

Can you post the itineraries of both?

 

Generally speaking, MSC is a budget line, BUT they do things differently in Europe than the US. I have always thought that taking MSC in the Mediterranean would be a more authentic experience, however I would only select MSC if they were significantly cheaper than the competition. 

[GOLDENBONNY]

2 hours ago, belles said:

Hello everyone, I am thinking of a Mediterranean cruise in April or May.  I have never cruised on MSC or Costa.  I've cruised many times on RCI, Carnival and Princess.  I have decided against Costa so unsure if it will be RCI or MSC.  

Regarding MSC what is included in the cruise price?  Does the Fantassia or Diviina have self laundry?

If anyone has cruised on both the Allure of the Seas and Fantassia or Divina I would love to hear your recommendations.

 

We spend most of the time outside the ship in Europe and eat most meals ashore .So for Europe I would go by ports- price combination . There is no self laundry on MSC ships and I hope never be one. 

[travelberlin]

7 hours ago, belles said:

Hello everyone, I am thinking of a Mediterranean cruise in April or May.  I have never cruised on MSC or Costa.  I've cruised many times on RCI, Carnival and Princess.  I have decided against Costa so unsure if it will be RCI or MSC.  

Regarding MSC what is included in the cruise price?  Does the Fantassia or Diviina have self laundry?

If anyone has cruised on both the Allure of the Seas and Fantassia or Divina I would love to hear your recommendations.

 

RCI and MSC are for me both three stars experience. If prices are similar, I would choose RCI instead of MSC on the Mediterranean. Mainly because RCI would have more English speaking guests and probably the MSC ship would behave like a shuttle embarking and disembarking passengers in each port.

[sidari]

We have sailed on Oasis and Divina, sailing with kids I would choose Allure of the seas unless the ports are more important to you.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

If you were sailing in the Caribbean with kids...I would probably say RCI.  If you are looking for the best deal in the Med with lots of port stops I would say MSC.  Where you will be visiting a new port everyday and dining onshore I would think MSC would be good for you...a much better deal $$$ wise than RCI.  Will you really need all the extras on the Allure when you are doing a port intensive cruise??  

[Norwich Cruiser]

There is simply in my humble opinion no comparison.

Allure beats anything MSC has to offer.

[deliver42]

Neither RCCL or MSC have self serve laundry.

[Markanddonna]

I've been on the Divina in the Caribbean and the MSC Grandiosa in Europe and several RCCL cruises in Europe. I would need to know more about your travel goals and the specific itineraries AND if you are sailing with kids. I loved the Divina, and it is very kid friendly (I don't have any.) 

 

It is true that passengers should be getting on and off at different ports on your MSC cruise, but unless you are looking for friends to eat and socialize with, MSC wouldn't be a problem.  If you are looking for lots of English speaking people willing to carry on a conversation with you, there would be slim pickings on MSC. 

[BermudaBound2014]

I have sailed on both the Allure of the Seas and Divina. Both are lovely ships, but very very different. If Allure pricing is close to Divina, it's a no brainer. Allure simply has much more to offer. BUT, pricing for Divina should be significantly lower than Allure and the med is port intensive. 

 

To save a couple thousand dollars, I'd choose Divina, but if the savings was just a couple hundred dollars, I would choose Allure,  as it's offers significantly more in terms of food, service, and entertainment.

 

Of course, look at ports and port times would play a major factor since, for me, the Med really is more about the ports than the ship.

[George C]

I loved our msc seaside YC Caribbean cruise, however not sure about them on Europe, worst part of Caribbean cruise was there lifeboat drill could not understand half of what was said, also will have less English speaking passengers. Really enjoyed our rccl Europe cruise.

[niko40]

On 2/3/2020 at 4:00 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

How much cheaper is the MCS cruise? 

Can you post the itineraries of both?

 

Generally speaking, MSC is a budget line, BUT they do things differently in Europe than the US. I have always thought that taking MSC in the Mediterranean would be a more authentic experience, however I would only select MSC if they were significantly cheaper than the competition. 

So 14 nights on Anthem med cruise in September balcony with drinks packaged was about £2780 pp with D+ discounts

14 nights europe cruise on MSC Preziosa Arura Balcony with upgraded premium drinks €50 obc each was £1695 pp 

Brest France

Sea

Lisbon

Cadiz

Malaga

Sea

La coruna

Sea

Rotterdam over night

Hamburg

Sea

Le Harve

Southampton 

Anthem was like a med beaches itin.

So with £1000 pp difference  we thought we would give it a go plus there were a few ports we had never been to and we have done med last 3 years so nothing new for us.

[BermudaBound2014]

32 minutes ago, niko40 said:

So with £1000 pp difference  we thought we would give it a go plus there were a few ports we had never been to and we have done med last 3 years so nothing new for us.

 

That would be my pick also. $2,000 gives you plenty of money for awesome excursions. Plus you get to visit new ports. There is nothing about Divina that will prevent you from having an amazing vacation! 

[niko40]

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

That would be my pick also. $2,000 gives you plenty of money for awesome excursions. Plus you get to visit new ports. There is nothing about Divina that will prevent you from having an amazing vacation! 

Preziosa we are booked on but were happy with the deal plus we got the status match to their Black/Diamond level so we also get the free Butchers Cut dinning experience looking forward to trying something new and to be honest i think Royals dinning and overall experience has dropped over the years certainly since we first started cruising with them.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 minute ago, niko40 said:

Preziosa we are booked on but were happy with the deal plus we got the status match to their Black/Diamond level so we also get the free Butchers Cut dinning experience looking forward to trying something new and to be honest i think Royals dinning and overall experience has dropped over the years certainly since we first started cruising with them.

 

I would agree. I am in the minority, but I think Royal's food quality has really tanked. On the big ships there is Central Park which always provides something healthy, tasty, and fresh, but the MDR was yuck on 3 of 7 nights last year. IMO, where Royal excels is it's ship designs and what the ship offers for multi-generational cruisers. The bells and whistles aren't needed on a port intensive sailing. Have a wonderful cruise.

[niko40]

7 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I would agree. I am in the minority, but I think Royal's food quality has really tanked. On the big ships there is Central Park which always provides something healthy, tasty, and fresh, but the MDR was yuck on 3 of 7 nights last year. IMO, where Royal excels is it's ship designs and what the ship offers for multi-generational cruisers. The bells and whistles aren't needed on a port intensive sailing. Have a wonderful cruise.

Wouldnt say we have had a terrible meal in mdr but just noticed the decline and certainly in the little extras you used to get but i guess thats the way they survive the ever growing competition that wasn't there 10 or so years ago