New to MSC, best advise please

[Two Wheels Only]

17 minutes ago, colorado14 said:

So true. If they cancel nothing Is given. Not the industry standard 125 percent fcc.

 

I received 125% in the form of FCC. I used it on another cruise that was cancelled and received the correct amount of FCC in return. I didn't get 25% on top of the 125% amount, though.

[morpheusofthesea]

On 10/8/2021 at 1:46 PM, RNic said:

We’ve sailed CCL and NCL. We have decided to try other lines to see what they have to offer.  We like to lounge poolside, good mixologists, entertainment and we’re foodies. 

Never sailed CCL. Like NCL product, gravitated to the Haven later in life. Like Celebrity even more, gravitated again to the Retreat. Read the reviews of MSC here and did not like what I read about the ship experience outside the Yacht Club, so to give MSC a chance we booked only the YC, and LOVED IT ! We would cruise nothing else, and our priorities are not food or drinks. We enjoy all the entertainment, in the theatre and through out the ship. One guitarist they had played Santana better than Santana himself. Love a balcony large enough to lounge out on all morning and afternoon in the shade. Right now we are booked all this year in the Retreat because of their no mask policy, we were booked on Meraviglia. We are booked again next year on the Seashore and hope to have no masks by February cruise on forward. Should you decide, do not base your experience on any MSC outside the YC, one is no service versus "Anything you want, Mr. Morpheus".

[shipgeeks]

We found the service in Bella (non-YC) excellent, too.  And we enjoyed the theater shows, the guitarist, and all the rest.

[DCGuy64]

On 10/8/2021 at 12:37 PM, RNic said:

We are sailing on the Meraviglia in November. We’re not new to cruising, but new to MSC. What do we need to know?  

If you use a travel agent as we always do, you should be fine. If you choose to deal with MSC's customer service department, you may wind up so frustrated that you end up canceling before the cruise (which would be a shame because the ships and crew are amazing). I am told that MSC's US operation in Miami has just 65 employees, which given the number of people who must call and email every day, there's no way they can process everything in a timely manner. We love MSC and its European vibe. Understand and embrace the differences and you'll have a great time. I don't know your background in terms of cruising, but I can say I've read many negative reviews of MSC that clearly came from people only accustomed to sailing with Americans, eating American food, only speaking English, and with a fairly dressed-down experience. By contrast, MSC is very European, people speak many languages, service is decidedly more low-key, and people dress up for dinner. We love it for exactly these reasons, and I hope you give them a try.

[RNic]

Thanks for all the input everyone!  We’re looking forward to trying MSC and to see the differences from CCL and RCCL. We love to try new things and enjoy meeting different people from different places, so MSC sounds great, realizing it may be all Americans right now. Sounds like the YC is something to look into but we’ll be sailing the Bella experience this time. We’ll be on a cruise ship, so it’ll be just fine!

Edited October 12, 2021 by RNic

[Gatordad1967]

Great service.  The staff was very attentive to our needs.

 

Food is primarily Italian.  I thought it was very good.  Pizza on buffet is out of this world.  

 

 

My best advice is to go in with an open mind, and not let the opinions of other jade your experience.

 

 

[Homosassa]

On 10/11/2021 at 7:36 PM, shipgeeks said:

We found the service in Bella (non-YC) excellent, too.  And we enjoyed the theater shows, the guitarist, and all the rest.

👍

 

Totally agree.

 

We have also only booked Bella on MSC. And those cabins were our preferred inside  cabin amidship location.

 

Anyone who has seen my post over the years will also know that we cruise on lines that are considered upscale (Viking, Oceania, etc.)

 

We enjoy MSC as much as those lines.

 

We do not cruise Carnival, NCL, or Royal Caribbean as they do not deliver an enjoyable cruise experience for us.

[Gatordad1967]

21 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

👍

 

Totally agree.

 

We have also only booked Bella on MSC. And those cabins were our preferred inside  cabin amidship location.

 

Anyone who has seen my post over the years will also know that we cruise on lines that are considered upscale (Viking, Oceania, etc.)

 

We enjoy MSC as much as those lines.

 

We do not cruise Carnival, NCL, or Royal Caribbean as they do not deliver an enjoyable cruise experience for us.

I don't understand the dislike for MSC.... I agree with you, they give an awesome cruise experience.

[deliver42]

I don't understand it either. Calling can be frustrating at times, especially getting a rep who knows less than you do, but get a good one, and it's easy peasy. The ship is totally different, and a real pleasure. Sailed twice, and have the Seashore booked in May.

[shipgeeks]

And if you don't have any reason to call before the cruise (we never have), the entire experience is a real pleasure.

[colorado14]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:12 PM, alyssamma said:

Wow...you really just come here to dump on MSC. You have very few posts here and they are all anti-MSC. Why follow this board if you hate them so much?

 

They do have a lot of problems, but food is def not one of them.

 

On 10/10/2021 at 9:12 PM, alyssamma said:

Wow...you really just come here to dump on MSC. You have very few posts here and they are all anti-MSC. Why follow this board if you hate them so much?

 

They do have a lot of problems, but food is def not one of them.

Because just saying facts. 

[alyssamma]

31 minutes ago, colorado14 said:

 

Because just saying facts. 

LOL, ok...I guess if that's what you want to call it.

 

I don't see anything factual, just complaining, but hey...

[morpheusofthesea]

I read a post on CC a couple of years ago when the Seaside just came out sailing the Caribbean. The 'gentleman' posted that he could have had a better time in his garage for the week than the week on board this ship. The captain of the Seaside even posted on social media, promising things will be better. Slowly the negative reports subsided and reports of the Yacht Club were glowing on CC. We tried the Seaside in the YC and now would sail on that ship around the world ,if I could only afford it, and never get off.

[dexddd]

12 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I read a post on CC a couple of years ago when the Seaside just came out sailing the Caribbean. The 'gentleman' posted that he could have had a better time in his garage for the week than the week on board this ship. The captain of the Seaside even posted on social media, promising things will be better. Slowly the negative reports subsided and reports of the Yacht Club were glowing on CC. We tried the Seaside in the YC and now would sail on that ship around the world ,if I could only afford it, and never get off.

When Seaside came out it had a rough start for IIRC the first year.  Reports here from reliable sources at the time.

 

Things did improve.  We sailed twice in 2019 and it was great.

[shipgeeks]

At least one of those early Seaside reports said it was horrible because, among other things, the pizza was not like his hometown pizza, and the shows were nothing but opera.