Compare MSC to Holland America

[Hflors]

I am considering a world cruise on MSC.  My main cruising has bern on holland America.  Can anyone eho has sailed on both compare them?   Thanks in advance.

[rkacruiser]

I imagine that MSC's ship will be larger than whatever ship HAL will use.  (My one and one half  experiences were on Amsterdam.)

 

MSC Meraviglia's entertainment in January, 2020 blew away anything that I have experienced on recent HAL cruises, including two cruises on the Volendam and the Eurodam in the same time period of my MSC cruise.  My HAL world cruise had performances of two "name" entertainers:  Regis Philbin and The Osmond Brothers.  Both were great.  In between, the main theater entertainment varied from very good-good-to why did I waste my time.  

 

 

 

Crew friendliness was the same.  Nationalities were much like was what HAL are now employing.  I was a YC guest and was well pleased with cuisine both in the YC Restaurant as well as in another dining venue that I tried.  

 

HAL has so much experience in providing--often--excellent enrichment lecturers that add so much to their long cruises, that would have to be a serious consideration for me as to whether booking a world cruise on these two lines.

 

MSC is likely to have a more diverse international guest list.  

 

If I was able to book another world cruise, I would look at the itinerary first.  Then, finding some that was attractive to me, I would then do more researching into which to select.  Given the changes that HAL has recently experienced and comparing them with what I experienced on MSC as well as Princess, I am shopping for my next cruise.  Silverseas and Seabourn loom large on my radar screen.  That may give you a sense of the frame of mind that I have currently.  

[dznymom]

I have done 3 MSC and 5 HAL (and a bunch of other lines).  Looking quickly at your history, I see we both sailed Veendam & the Zuidy, so I will compare those to my MSC cruises on Seaside and Divina.  

 

HAL definitely is more sedate with an older crowd.  MSC is more energetic and glitzier and her ships are larger.  Significantly larger!  There are more extended family groups on MSC than I experienced on HAL.    MSC has more bells & whistles (most of which are wasted on me) but Hal has a warmth and charm that is hard to find elsewhere.

 

HAL's entertainment is more refined.  We always enjoyed the classical music, jazz trios and such.  My husband really enjoyed the more educational offerings throughout the cruise.  MSC has rather unusual production shows which definitely aren't to everyone's taste.  The music around the ship varies from quite good to not so good, but always lots to choose from.

 

If you gamble (I do), the casinos on HAL are small and dull, whereas MSC's are lively and larger.  

 

I hate to say much about food because people get so impassioned about it.  Suffice it to say that we enjoy the food on both lines.  I actually slightly prefer MSC food because the Italian offerings skew to my taste more, but both are very good.  

 

Both lines have fabulous private islands.  We always loved Half Moon Cay, but Ocean Cay can give her a run for her money.  That crescent beach at HMC is spectacular, but the variety of beaches and bars on OC is truly special.

 

Service on both lines is Excellent.  MSC's pre-cruise customer service has issues.  Using a TA seems to alleviate much of the problem.  I book myself, and haven't had any serious issues, but I also have time and patience to spare.  

 

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts.  I am very happy sailing on both lines, but the experiences are very different.  Tomorrow I embark on #4 (and 5) on MSC, so clearly I have found lots to like about the MSC experience.  But I would jump on a dam ship in a heartbeat if they would go back to their Bermuda cruises!

[Homosassa]

MSC reminds me of the HAL of the old days where the Dutch heritage was part of the on board experience in food and customs.

 

That is gone now for HAL.

 

MSC is Italian and will showcase that heritage in the on board experience.  Besides the food, there is usually an shortened opera offered one day at sea. 

 

If the size of MSC ships are off putting, try the MSC Armonia. It is a smaller ship that has some of the characteristics of the small HAL ships of old - plentiful public space for the passengers and not as much of the glitzy useless offerings that may be of no interest to you (such as the formula one racing).

 

An additional plus, at least for me, was that the gelato was free on the Armonia unlike the larger ships where it is an extra cost.

[Nunagoras]

Never gone on HAL, but let me to add my 2 cents from average cruising common sense coupled with my MSC experience:

 

A World cruise on MSC will cost you just a fraction of what an HAL world cruise would have cost you. Certainly one gets what one is paying for once they're on a different market segment. For example, on the longer itineraries, transatlantic ou world cruise MSC will to have some sort of enrichment program, but it is usually minimal and multilingual. Bear that in mind, if that is a deal breaker for you.

 

The ships used for the MSC World cruises are Musica class ships, ~80,000 Gross Tonnes, ~3,000 passengers on double occupancy, no Yacht Club, so middle sized like all the HAL fleet, perhaps with some more passengers. Little to no kids on those sailings, like on the transatlantic ones. For you to have an idea, on my MSC Brasil to Portugal 2018 transatlantic we had some nearly 15 kids aboard, mostly on the 2-5 years old age group, and only some 2 to 5 teens. On those cruises the average age is older, but again it was surprisingly younger than what I'd think about on my sailing. Average age of the sailing rounded 45!...

 

Hope to have helped a bit.

 

Have a nice day!...

[Frode]

I've cruised onboard many of MSC's cruise ships as well as onboard HAL (i e two of the sister ships within the Vista class: ms Oosterdam and ms Zuiderdam)....and as well onboard NCL, RCCL and Celebrity.

The vessel which will sail the MSC world cruise Jan-Mar 2023 is MSC Magnifica which has almost the same size/measures as the two HAL-sisters.
 

MSC Magnifica (introduced year 2010): Approx 95 000  GT, length 293 meters, 2 500 pax in dbl-cabins, 1 027 crew.
HAL's Oosterdam/Zuiderdam (intro year 2003 and 2002): 82 000 GT, length 290 m, 1 965 pax in dbl-cabins, 812 crew.

My clear experience is that MSC is a cruise line company with a "cheap" cruise product; honestly speaking I am finished with them and I will never book MSC again 🥶
The food (according to my personal experiences) is very blend and repetitive; the entertainment very budget and repetitive as well; the poor crew is not happy...which now and then is reflected in a boring atmosphere; the Italian officers are invisible and silent (it is very rare for the captain to be heard in the speakers - he delegats that to others).
The contrast to HAL is enormous; HAL is better in EVERY way! 😀 The HAL-vessels are containing quality and nice environments onboard, while MSC means a lot of mirrors, fake gold and bling-bling, kitschy details etc.

However, it is a fact that the average age of the passengers sailing HAL is higher than onboard MSC...but we (just turned 60) - who were looking for quality and a enjoyable cruise with other adults/a minimum of children - had really good cruises and a great, nice time having the best conditions to rest and enjoy. 
Though, even if MSC is very family friendly, of course there will not be a lot of children onboard a MSC world cruise.

I would say it would mean a very big challenge for you to switch from HAL to MSC 🧐




 
 

[rkacruiser]

On 12/4/2021 at 9:59 AM, Homosassa said:

MSC reminds me of the HAL of the old days where the Dutch heritage was part of the on board experience in food and customs.

 

That is gone now for HAL.

 

Thanks for this thought.  There was once a sense that you were sailing on a vessel registered in The Netherlands or the Netherland Antillies.  That has been lost for the most part.  Senior Officers are sometimes Dutch; sometimes not.  Maybe there is a corporate "thought" of trying to restore a bit of that with the addition of the Dutch Cafe on the newest ships.  At one time, some of the events as well as the composition of the crew helped to make HAL unique among the cruise lines.  

 

On 12/4/2021 at 9:59 AM, Homosassa said:

MSC is Italian and will showcase that heritage in the on board experience.  Besides the food, there is usually an shortened opera offered one day at sea.

 

And, one senses that to a certain extent.  (At least, I did.  But, I wonder how what I experienced would compare to a Costa cruise?)  The shortened opera was a delightful and welcome addition to the "ordinary" events of a cruise day.  On my cruise, both the male and female performers had "opera quality" voices.