Detaching From The Diamond Plus

[neverbeenhere]

I suggest two consecutive Carnival cruise line booze cruises out of Long Beach, after that you’ll be back into a RCL mind set. 

[Sassy19305]

We sailed on Azamara (Alaska) and had the equivalent status from RCL (we are D+). If you enjoy great food, Azamara was wonderful. The beds were among the most comfortable we have ever slept in while sailing. The showers were even smaller than the ones in RCL cabins. If you are into the big production shows on RCL, then Azamara doesn't have anything like that. It's a much more intimate cruise, with very little up charge. They did have the best borrowing library I have ever seen on a ship.

[Maria63]

1 hour ago, Sassy19305 said:

 They did have the best borrowing library I have ever seen on a ship.

 

I do regret that the libraries are becoming a thing of the past on most ships! Forgot to mention that we did Cunard too, though only once. Wasn't really our cup of tea, but it was very different from the other companies we've tried.

 

For those who really love to dress up, and if you are into ballroom dancing and traditions like high tea, Cunard is worth considering though. The library was indeed very impressive, and they had a whole area, complete with custom made tables, dedicated to old-school jigsaw puzzles as well, and the daytime lectures were educational and not just entertainment & sales pitches (our Cunard cruise was pre-Covid, so I can't say if things might have changed now).

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, Sassy19305 said:

We sailed on Azamara (Alaska) and had the equivalent status from RCL (we are D+). If you enjoy great food, Azamara was wonderful. The beds were among the most comfortable we have ever slept in while sailing. The showers were even smaller than the ones in RCL cabins. If you are into the big production shows on RCL, then Azamara doesn't have anything like that. It's a much more intimate cruise, with very little up charge. They did have the best borrowing library I have ever seen on a ship.

I did a non-stop 10 night Lisbon to San Juan transatlantic in Oct. 2011 on Azamara Journey.  At that time they weren't all inclusive, but they did have free gratuities and free house wine at lunch and dinner.  Had a great time and I really liked the "one big family" atmosphere.

[AllAboardatSea]

Perhaps I can give you some perspective on RCCL vs MSC as I did somewhat of a similar thing as you. I matched to MSC in 2018 to black (now diamond) and I don’t even remember what I matched from it was so long ago. I remember there being the silly (but quite smart from their POV) restriction on having to take a cruise every 36 months to keep it. Low and behold I never did a cruise on them but received an email earlier this year warning me I would lose it if I didn’t go. So I booked them, not knowing what to expect.

 

It was certainly interesting, very different from the usual royal, carnival, Norwegian experience. Very reasonably priced with drinks and Wi-Fi included in the initial purchase. Their Wi-Fi is beyond bizarre and annoying as it registers to one device only, the dining is set time only if you buy their cheapest Bella price package, and everything has a very European feel to it. The cabin steward was non-existent/visible, which I found out is also a European preference, and I didn’t mind that at all. The food was bland like something I couldn’t believe. They season nothing, with anything. That was the oddest thing I experienced.

 

But as far as the loyalty program, it’s pretty great. I enjoyed the private party, and the free specialty dinner at the steakhouse, chocolate ship, and bubbly delivered to the room. MSC’s steakhouse is by far the best I’ve experienced on a ship, I was so surprised. So if you can get the match to diamond is certainly worth giving them a try.

[L454S]

Have had good luck with Princess since 2004. Have a T/A booked now on the Enchanted princess with all in package. Right now on the sailings we looked at, they have the best value for the dollar IMO.....

 

Just booked a Holland America T/A(Nieuw Statendam) with a B2B on MSC Seaview(Yacht Club)

 

Could be I'm seeing RCI ships and itineraries growing a bit long in the tooth.

 

Try a few other lines, you might be surprised.

Edited August 26, 2022 by L454S

[Sancho_proudfoot]

We were booked to go on MSC seashore on a Barcelona 》》Dubai Suez transit cruise for 2019.  Of course Covid-19 git in the way.  We status matched to our RCL Diamond level.

 

Three years on, we still haven't  done the Suez yet, BUT have booked for October 2023, again with MSC and they have maintained our MSC status, despite not having ever cruised with them.

[frank808]

RCL Pinnacle matches to MSC Diamond

RCL Diamond and Diamond Plus matches to MSC Gold

 

When we matched our D+ status in 2018 to MSC we were matched to Black (now called Diamond). I believe MSC stopped matching D+ to Black in 2020.

 

We have sailed 6 times on MSC Yacht Club (just got off Seashore in July) and loved the experience and it is a great value compared to Sky class on Oasis class ships. Big difference in that newer MSC ships with YC enclave has a much larger suite lounge and Coastal Kitchen. I would say the food is better than what CK serves. I think the filet is better than CK and you can order it every night! Also getting the premium drink package included with your YC MSC experience is great. Now the standard blacony YC cabin is about the size of the JS on Royal. But the shower stall on MSC is only second to the Crown Loft showers on Oasis and Allure IMHO.  Also you have access to a private YC pool deck with 2 large hot tubs, a full service bar and bar b que. Having pool chairs always available and not having to deal with chair hogs is priceless.

 

Now we still cruise Royal and will be going on a B2B next week on Navigator. With MSC it is a nice change but we still love Royal. Now the main show on MSC is a lacking compared to the Royals shows. But I have found the other live entertainment like singers and piano players to be comparable to Royal.

 

Enjoy your cruise and dont be afraid to try YC on MSC. You never know as you might really enjoy it.

[Moltar]

9 hours ago, Sassy19305 said:

We sailed on Azamara (Alaska) and had the equivalent status from RCL (we are D+). If you enjoy great food, Azamara was wonderful. The beds were among the most comfortable we have ever slept in while sailing. The showers were even smaller than the ones in RCL cabins. If you are into the big production shows on RCL, then Azamara doesn't have anything like that. It's a much more intimate cruise, with very little up charge. They did have the best borrowing library I have ever seen on a ship.

We did an 11 night Rome to Greece cruise on Azamara in 2012 for our Honeymoon and it is still to this day the best cruise from service to food to the ports we have ever been on. 

[Surfguyxxx]

16 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

IIRC, that was only for a limited time.

 

https://www.mscbook.com/pages/sdl/img/B2B_TA_Status Match_Conversion Table.pdf

Thanks 😎😉

[blueslily]

16 hours ago, Maria63 said:

We've tried MSC, and also Costa, Celebrity, Princess, NCL, Azamara and Viking. But we keep coming back to Royal, and one reason is that the loyalty program is in our opinion perhaps the best in the industry once you reach Diamond. Even if MSC, or some other company for that matter, does the matching, the benefits you get don't necessarily at all compare to Royal or even to Celebrity.

 

MSC can be quite nice though - but one thing to be aware of is that the Yacht Club takes up a significant chunk of the ship's available space. If you are not in the YC yourself, it can get rather crowded elsewhere if the ship is at full capacity. Also, when reading reviews, it's worth keeping in mind that the YC-reviews do not reflect the experience on the rest of the ship. Still, you can have a very nice cruise on MSC if you have realistic expectations and chose your cabin visely.

I've cruised on MSC outside of the YC and have always had a great experience. It could be fun to mix it up as the OP is considering.

 

Happy sailing everyone 🙋‍♀️🌞🛳🏝

[SargassoPirate]

17 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

I'm starting to venture out of my comfort zone and try something new vacation wise..   My TA is looking into some all-inclusive options but I told her, maybe a new cruise line is all we need to shake things up a bit.   I know MSC does status matches, but does any other line match RCI's status?

I'm D+ and have been happy with Princess as well as RCI and Celebrity.  So much so, in fact, that I'm Elite with Princess which gives me a free mini bar setup for each cruise and free laundry/pressing services as part of the Elite benefits.  Before I achieved Elite, I was just happy to have on board guest laundromats since my first two cruises were 33 and 49 days respectively.

 

 

 

 

[Another_Critic]

11 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I'm D+ and have been happy with Princess as well as RCI and Celebrity.  So much so, in fact, that I'm Elite with Princess which gives me a free mini bar setup for each cruise and free laundry/pressing services as part of the Elite benefits.  Before I achieved Elite, I was just happy to have on board guest laundromats since my first two cruises were 33 and 49 days respectively.

Yeah, I liked the guest laundromat on Princess for my 14 night transatlantic.

 

Azamara Journey also had a guest laundromat; don't know if it still does. 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 8/25/2022 at 2:07 PM, RCCL Fan said:

I'm starting to venture out of my comfort zone and try something new vacation wise..   My TA is looking into some all-inclusive options but I told her, maybe a new cruise line is all we need to shake things up a bit.   I know MSC does status matches, but does any other line match RCI's status?

Just try to get MSC status match approved. We tried for 6 months. And you know its one time use and no free drinks!

[nferr]

Diamond matches to MSC Gold. Problem is MSC Gold offers very little next to what RCL gives you with Diamond. Look it up on MSC. 

[kernow]

4 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Just try to get MSC status match approved. We tried for 6 months. And you know its one time use and no free drinks!

It's not one time use, you keep the status if you cruise at least once every 3 years which is the same rule as those who have earned all their points on MSC. It's true that there are nowhere near as many perks as RCL give but still nice to have a few extras. We did it when they were giving D+ black (now called diamond) and now we enjoy both MSC and RCL and cruise both lines regularly.

[mitz18]

On 8/25/2022 at 3:17 PM, RCCL Fan said:

 

I've lost count  but I've had a few bad ones.  🙂

Have you tried Silversea?  No match as they really don't have a program but really nice AI cruises.

[brillohead]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:25 AM, AllAboardatSea said:

The food was bland like something I couldn’t believe. They season nothing, with anything. That was the oddest thing I experienced.

So it wasn't just me, eh? 

I was SO EXCITED to try MSC, figuring that an Italian line HAD to have delicious food, right?  I am not a foodie by any stretch, but I was so incredibly disappointed in the food.  I was on a 14 day repositioning cruise, and I don't think I ever tasted anything that had any salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, basil... ANY type of seasoning in it.  Their marinara sauce was just cooked tomatoes run through a blender.  Major disappointment.  If I ever cruise with them again (and it would have to be an amazing deal), I would definitely bring my own shakers of Garlic Salt and Italian Seasoning Blend.  

[barb in ga]

We have gone through the idea of trying out other cruise lines too, especially since reaching Diamond plus. Royal makes the point spread from D+ to Pinnacle very difficult to achieve, especially since we are over 70 and only cruise a few times a year. 

Oasis class ships are our first choice, but we've sailed them all multiple times(except Wonder).

We did a Princess, a couple of Celebrity, and have a sailing booked on MSC for new years. 

[Morecruisesplz]

On 8/29/2022 at 1:36 AM, brillohead said:

So it wasn't just me, eh? 

I was SO EXCITED to try MSC, figuring that an Italian line HAD to have delicious food, right?  I am not a foodie by any stretch, but I was so incredibly disappointed in the food.  I was on a 14 day repositioning cruise, and I don't think I ever tasted anything that had any salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, basil... ANY type of seasoning in it.  Their marinara sauce was just cooked tomatoes run through a blender.  Major disappointment.  If I ever cruise with them again (and it would have to be an amazing deal), I would definitely bring my own shakers of Garlic Salt and Italian Seasoning Blend.  

Thanks for the heads up. We were considering an MSC out of Naples. Better stick with Royal. 

[Homosassa]

On 8/29/2022 at 1:36 AM, brillohead said:

So it wasn't just me, eh? 

I was SO EXCITED to try MSC, figuring that an Italian line HAD to have delicious food, right?  I am not a foodie by any stretch, but I was so incredibly disappointed in the food.  I was on a 14 day repositioning cruise, and I don't think I ever tasted anything that had any salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, basil... ANY type of seasoning in it.  Their marinara sauce was just cooked tomatoes run through a blender.  Major disappointment.  If I ever cruise with them again (and it would have to be an amazing deal), I would definitely bring my own shakers of Garlic Salt and Italian Seasoning Blend.  

LOL - typical post of some one who has only had quasi Italian American cuisine and runs up again the true lighter  and fresher cooking of the various regions of Italy.

[Homosassa]

RCCL Fan, how far outside your comfort zone do you want to go?

 

MSC is a wonderful cruise line if one is prepared to realize that the rest of the world does not revolve around the US.

 

You will be exposed to passengers from around the world.  Food will be good to excellent, but will not appeal to the limited tastebuds of many US citizens. Besides the excellent Italian food from the Campania region of Italy, there will also be food offering from around the world for the different nationalities on board ship.

 

If I remember correctly you have two daughters that you cruise with.  MSC prides itself on being a family cruise line, but its idea of a family cruise is to provide an environment where families enjoy each other's company.

 

While there is a kids program on board ship, the family activities are designed for families to do together. Children in the kids program are not bought to the family activities by the staff.

 

There many of us that are experienced travelers (not just cruisers), that enjoy MSC because of the cosmopolitan experience on board an MSC ship.

 

Don't be hung up on a status match. While you may enjoy a match with your status on RCCL, it is not necessary to have on MSC. All passengers are treated with the same high level of professional courteous service (no obsequious bowing and scraping and begging for a high rating).

 

Of course, there are those who need their egos attended to, but luckily they are usually segregated in a small section of the ship (Yacht Club) and will not be swanning about the ship.

 

Give MSC a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.

[grandgeezer]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:50 PM, Starry Eyes said:

Per that link, “Guests may only use status match comparison one time, even if they belong to multiple loyalty programs.”

So, if we status match, we get one cruise at the high status, then if we take a second MSC cruise we back at the bottom (our earned status)?

Must be a change since the pandemic. We are Elite Plus on Celebrity which is Black on MSC. We went on MSC twice, September 2018 and October 2019, both in the Yacht Club balcony, and got Black perks both times. For comparison, we did a the Grand suite on RCL, on the Allure, in October 2018 and Sky suite, with all four perks, on the Celebrity in August 2019. Both the RCL and MSC cruises were over $100 per person per day cheaper cheaper than Celebrity. MSC had a drink package included that covered anything we wanted as well as an internet package, no obc or tips. The tips were $12.50 per person per day which after payment still left us over $100 p.p. per day cheaper than Celebrity.

Bottom line, we’ve sailed on 47 cruises, almost 500 days at sea, on all the major cruise lines, except Carnival, and our two favorites, by a landslide, are the two MSC ones.

We swore MSC or nothing, then pandemic hit. Now MSC Yacht Club pricing is up with the other ones, and we so no value in cruising anywhere. Besides, our MSC match has expired.

 

[zanydoc]

We’re Diamond Plus, too. You have a couple of preteen kids, right? My family really enjoyed Moon Palace Cancun when my son was that age. In fact I think we may be looking at that for spring break next year. Lots of fun things to do and many different tasty restaurants. Great kids program, rock climbing, huge arcade, fun shows, golf, flowrider. I think they still offer resort credits that you can use for excursions. And it is very close to the airport in Cancun. Only “bad” thing was they didn’t really have a nice beach. But they had an awesome pool than went all around under bridges and stuff-kinda like CocoCay, but bigger. We loved it there! We also have booked a Pre-Christmas NCL Breakaway 5 day cruise, so I’ll try to report back about that. 

[Tin can]

On 8/25/2022 at 8:07 PM, RCCL Fan said:

I'm starting to venture out of my comfort zone and try something new vacation wise..   My TA is looking into some all-inclusive options but I told her, maybe a new cruise line is all we need to shake things up a bit.   I know MSC does status matches, but does any other line match RCI's status?

 

Being based in the UK we felt the same with the usual Mediterranean cruises on offer as probably you folks in the States feel about the same  Caribbean cruises.

 

We have Anthem booked from New York next Easter and have Harmony booked from Galveston in 2024. Galveston is an 11 hour flight from London but like you we want to get out of the comfort zone a bit and have visited the States many times but not down South.

 

Might be an option to look at a cruise from Europe if you haven't already?