$521…for real?

[CruisingNole]

As of this posting, I can purchase 3 night interior cabin on Meraviglia in March with the basic drink package, wifi and gratuities for $521. And that’s with the single supplement!

 

I can’t help but wonder…why are they doing this? Why devalue an already diminished experience? When you look at what RC, NCL, Carnival are currently charging for sailings out of PC, it really defies all logic.

 

Considering how understaffed they are, is it really a wise move to practically give cruises away for the sake of filling the ship? This is greed at its worst. I almost booked, but I can’t help but think of the crew who are already being worked to death.

 

Hey MSC…DO BETTER!

[perakcruiser]

54 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

As of this posting, I can purchase 3 night interior cabin on Meraviglia in March with the basic drink package, wifi and gratuities for $521. And that’s with the single supplement!

 

I can’t help but wonder…why are they doing this?

Cruises are cheap when the boat is half-empty. Cruises are expensive when the ship is almost sold out.

 

Had two cruises with MSC last year, both were very cheap and the ships were still half-empty. And dramatically overstaffed. Checked what the prices would have been during christmas holidays, one was more than double price, the other more than triple. Both at the end at full capacity. Surely at this time they are understaffed. 

 

If you don´t have kids at school and the flexibility to go whenever you want, just enjoy it. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

We felt no shortages on our 4 night Meraviglia cruise. It was awesome and the price was right. Had a blast!  If you ask me, MSC are  seizing the day!  Capitalism at its finest. If one doesn’t agree, then one need not book. 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

Cruises are cheap when the boat is half-empty. Cruises are expensive when the ship is almost sold out.

Exactly. When there is a lot of supply but not so much demand, prices go down. A ship that sails with empty cabins can never regain that revenue. The OP should be jumping at that price instead of complaining about it.

[CruisingNole]

The demand for cruising is through the roof. Interior cabins on Royal’s Independence, same port and similar itinerary, are selling for $900+ and that does not include alcohol, wifi etc like MSC is handing out.

 

They are devaluing the product, it doesn’t need to be this way.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Simple solution… book on RCL. And I mean that with all due respect. When we sailed on Meraviglia back in November I was left to wonder why other lines were charging so much for the same product. 

[mcoler181]

We are not regular cruisers, have done 4 since our first in 2004 on Jewel of the Seas, have also been on Allure, Adventure and a British ship called Ocean Village.

 

We have booked one for next Feb on Seascape, $3,700 for two adults, a teen and a child in an inside with drinks and Wifi for 14 nights. We were looking at RC but were being quoted more for 7/8 night cruises without drinks. Have done a lot of reading up and I think we will enjoy it, we are form England so will probably be more accustomed to the European style of food and service which probably isn't as a high standard as the American lines.

 

For the price though, you can't complain.

[insidecabin]

UK the lowest price pppd  so far I think is on the 7n northern  £300($360), add the premium drinks it goes to  £470($560) 

 

grats are always included in the UK. 

 

solo that was £360($430)  £560(£670)

 

That's $96pd with the better drinks but no wifi against  that 3n at  $174pd

 

$174pppd gets you into YC(2pax) on some UK trips(rare to have the same great solo rates).

 

Have a look at the youtube reviews by UK customers of the Virtuosa during the summer UK season and now the winter northern Europe,  generally positive except for the school holidays when they fill  the ships with free kids places.

Reaching out to solos is a way to get the cabins occupied but at lower total capacity than 2 in a cabin.
Wonder if solos also spend a bit more. 

 

 

The prices are attracting a wide demographic and lots of families and solos.

MSC sell as family(loads for kids to do) and party(themed every night) 

 

UK people tend to be quite respectful on no smoking(in the wrong places and the wrong stuff).

Biggest problem tends to be on busy ships with alcohol people can get frustrated about lack of seating and that does spill over.
Then the feral kids(bad parents) as some can be quite rough and others have no street  so there can be bullying.

 

 

[mcoler181]

1 hour ago, CruisingNole said:

 A 14 day vs a 3 day itinerary is like comparing night and day. Your experience couldn’t possibly be any worse than what’s happening on these overbooked and understaffed 3 night sh*t shows.

I have never been on anything less than a 7 night cruise so couldn't comment, was just chirping in on the price.

 

Do you tend to get a lower level of service on the 3 night cruises?

[KennyFla]

They seem to be operating under the model the theme parks do, that when you are on the ship you will spend extra money.  Probably more if the fare was low.

 

And these comments about the crew not liking the full ships, the more people the more service charges the more money they make.  I bet they are not that upset.

[insidecabin]

47 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

They seem to be operating under the model the theme parks do, that when you are on the ship you will spend extra money.  Probably more if the fare was low.

 

And these comments about the crew not liking the full ships, the more people the more service charges the more money they make.  I bet they are not that upset.

With MSC if you plan ahead you can go full cruise with no spends, they encourage this with heavy discount over the onboard costs. 

main adds 

drinks : often dirt cheap as low as £11pppd for the premium package

dining : 4 meal £100 pretty decent loads more on board 

spa thermal  :  £82 for a week good if you plan to use it that's a couple of day passes

fun pass : £72 get £140 on board spend at the entertainment complex

[styles27]

9 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Yeh but it’s a review. What about all the other satisfied customers who didn’t leave a review?  I just can’t imagine a cruise or any vacation that I wouldn’t (or would, for that matter) book based on someone else’s review. At the end of the day, it’s up to me to decide. 

It’s a review that I hope you guys never have reason to write. 

 

We read reviews and weed out the very bad AND the very good.

We still can’t believe what we experienced for the first 10 days of our B2B cruise with fellow passengers last month. 

We were especially surprised because it was not a 3 or 4 day cruise but a 10 day. (followed by a 4 day that had better passengers and 1500 less people overall)

 

We had a great aft balcony on deck 10 with drinks and WiFi for 2 people for under $3k (including taxes, port fees and service charge)14 days total.
 

That is insanely cheap. We’re paying more than double that on our upcoming NCL 7 day cruise but we feel it is worth it to have a better group of people. 
 

I spent some time reading CC reviews last night and there’s definitely a trend leaning bad on my favorite ship Divina. I didn’t read any reviews on their other ships yet. 
 

The common denominator? The terrible behavior of passengers. 
 

In fact only a couple mentions of problems with crew or food. Most praised the crew and sympathized with them. 
 

I hope MSC reads these reviews and our surveys because we would love to cruise with them again (at least I would…still working on my husband) but we won’t until I see this current trend shift. 
 

They need to stop filling their ships to capacity with bargain prices…especially when they include alcohol. 

MSC USA is not the same experience as we enjoyed in Europe.
 

What a shame for us. I really thought we had found our “go to” cruise line after our first 2 wonderful cruises with them. 

 

What a shame that people act like animals and don’t care about others. That’s who they’re attracting with these deals. 
 

I’m not seeing pricing like their’s on other cruise lines. I hope it doesn’t take a tragedy to make them wake up. 
 

I don’t say why is MSC charging so much less for the same product their competition is offering anymore…because it is not the same product when you’re cruising with thousands of terribly behaved people.

That is a fact that many of us have experience lately. 
 

[d9704011]

2 minutes ago, styles27 said:

It’s a review that I hope you guys never have reason to write. 

 

We read reviews and weed out the very bad AND the very good.

We still can’t believe what we experienced for the first 10 days of our B2B cruise with fellow passengers last month. 

We were especially surprised because it was not a 3 or 4 day cruise but a 10 day. (followed by a 4 day that had better passengers and 1500 less people overall)

 

We had a great aft balcony on deck 10 with drinks and WiFi for 2 people for under $3k (including taxes, port fees and service charge)14 days total.
 

That is insanely cheap. We’re paying more than double that on our upcoming NCL 7 day cruise but we feel it is worth it to have a better group of people. 
 

I spent some time reading CC reviews last night and there’s definitely a trend leaning bad on my favorite ship Divina. I didn’t read any reviews on their other ships yet. 
 

The common denominator? The terrible behavior of passengers. 
 

In fact only a couple mentions of problems with crew or food. Most praised the crew and sympathized with them. 
 

I hope MSC reads these reviews and our surveys because we would love to cruise with them again (at least I would…still working on my husband) but we won’t until I see this current trend shift. 
 

They need to stop filling their ships to capacity with bargain prices…especially when they include alcohol. 

MSC USA is not the same experience as we enjoyed in Europe.
 

What a shame for us. I really thought we had found our “go to” cruise line after our first 2 wonderful cruises with them. 

 

What a shame that people act like animals and don’t care about others. That’s who they’re attracting with these deals. 
 

I’m not seeing pricing like their’s on other cruise lines. I hope it doesn’t take a tragedy to make them wake up. 
 

I don’t say why is MSC charging so much less for the same product their competition is offering anymore…because it is not the same product when you’re cruising with thousands of terribly behaved people.

That is a fact that many of us have experience lately. 
 

Are you saying that MSC should jack up their price in an attempt to shut out the riffraff (animals)?

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, styles27 said:

It’s a review that I hope you guys never have reason to write. 

 

We read reviews and weed out the very bad AND the very good.

We still can’t believe what we experienced for the first 10 days of our B2B cruise with fellow passengers last month. 

We were especially surprised because it was not a 3 or 4 day cruise but a 10 day. (followed by a 4 day that had better passengers and 1500 less people overall)

 

We had a great aft balcony on deck 10 with drinks and WiFi for 2 people for under $3k (including taxes, port fees and service charge)14 days total.
 

That is insanely cheap. We’re paying more than double that on our upcoming NCL 7 day cruise but we feel it is worth it to have a better group of people. 
 

I spent some time reading CC reviews last night and there’s definitely a trend leaning bad on my favorite ship Divina. I didn’t read any reviews on their other ships yet. 
 

The common denominator? The terrible behavior of passengers. 
 

In fact only a couple mentions of problems with crew or food. Most praised the crew and sympathized with them. 
 

I hope MSC reads these reviews and our surveys because we would love to cruise with them again (at least I would…still working on my husband) but we won’t until I see this current trend shift. 
 

They need to stop filling their ships to capacity with bargain prices…especially when they include alcohol. 

MSC USA is not the same experience as we enjoyed in Europe.
 

What a shame for us. I really thought we had found our “go to” cruise line after our first 2 wonderful cruises with them. 

 

What a shame that people act like animals and don’t care about others. That’s who they’re attracting with these deals. 
 

I’m not seeing pricing like their’s on other cruise lines. I hope it doesn’t take a tragedy to make them wake up. 
 

I don’t say why is MSC charging so much less for the same product their competition is offering anymore…because it is not the same product when you’re cruising with thousands of terribly behaved people.

That is a fact that many of us have experience lately. 
 

Excellent points all the way around. Admittedly, we’ve only sailed in YC so I’m guessing my opinion is skewed. Thank you for giving me something to consider. 

[PTC DAWG]

Pay more elsewhere if you choose.

 

Recently sailed on a 7 day YC cruise on the Mera out of PC..it was great. We had zero issues with passengers /service when we were outside of YC. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[styles27]

3 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Excellent points all the way around. Admittedly, we’ve only sailed in YC so I’m guessing my opinion is skewed. Thank you for giving me something to consider. 

Oh for sure. YC would have saved it for us as we could have escaped to the sanctuary of their pool deck or TS lounge. 

 

We didn’t think we had to book YC because our second cruise was not in the YC and we loved it.
But that was during Covid in 11/2021 with less than 500 people on board total. It was like cruising on our own private yacht. 

Our first cruise in Europe was in YC and it was amazing. 
 

We were definitely wearing rose colored glasses after those 2 cruises which is why last month’s experience was such a shock to us. 

[At Sea At Peace]

12 hours ago, CruisingNole said:

As of this posting, I can purchase 3 night interior cabin on Meraviglia in March with the basic drink package, wifi and gratuities for $521. And that’s with the single supplement!

 

I can’t help but wonder…why are they doing this? Why devalue an already diminished experience? When you look at what RC, NCL, Carnival are currently charging for sailings out of PC, it really defies all logic.

 

Considering how understaffed they are, is it really a wise move to practically give cruises away for the sake of filling the ship? This is greed at its worst. I almost booked, but I can’t help but think of the crew who are already being worked to death.

 

Hey MSC…DO BETTER!

 

One of the most inexplicable MSC posts of late. 

 

First, a complaint because a solo on a 3N 'interior' on one of MSC's newer ships, with drinks, etc. is too good a deal?🤨

 

Second, the assertion via 'why devalue an already diminished experience?' is based upon exactly what line of thought and what supporting reference or data?  Every major line, the big publicly owned three and private MSC, cruise line social media forums are rife with complaints about rising costs and reduced quality. 🍎 to 🍎

 

Finally, the assertion via 'considering how understaffed they are?" is based upon exactly what line of thought and what supporting reference or data?  🤨

[styles27]

20 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Are you saying that MSC should jack up their price in an attempt to shut out the riffraff (animals)?

Yes. They have a great product and beautiful ships. They don’t need to give it away. 

Edited February 17, 2023 by styles27

[insidecabin]

I thought i saw a post that mentioned Virtuosa in the UK but it has gone..

MSC were primarily a European line but a few years back needed to expand not just where they cruised but who cruises with them.

 

In the UK a consistent complaint was it's too Italian, not like P&O etc so they addressed  that by sticking a ship in Southampton and making it more British, added kettles to the cabins, British brand tea, more British food on the Menu, British guest entertainers and lounges.

with decent prices they started to attract the passengers.

 

Post covid a lot of the world was still shut down cruise lines were struggling to deploy  they made a very smart move, people were just starting to travel again airports were a mess they stuck a ship in Southampton over the winter 21/22 doing northern Europe 7day trips.

 

Before xmas you sell as Xmas market cruise which have always been popular the new year was a risk..

 

The prices were good no fly cruise attracted plenty of people and it was seen as a success as no one else does it on that scale. they reported 50% new to cruise which is very much higher than the UK norm which is around 30%.

 

They added a full summer program in £ with service included and are repeating the winter 7n 22/23 sticking in a longer Jan canaries run which will be popular.

 

As a fmily ship with good kids rate they fiiled during the school holidays one report was 1700 kids on a summer trip.

the other dates do well with couples and solos attracted by the rates, reasonable drinks and the MSC party program every night

 

P&O a significant competitor has started adding a lot more solo rates as I suspect they have been losing that business.

 

Last year NCL and Princess got our business early on, later in the year we moved to MSC.

MSC is the feature for early 2023 and heir full UK program is on the watch list as they may get cheap enough to do extra trips.

 

NCL have a couple we are interested in for the itinerary, prices are a bit higher but acceptable.

 

Princess priced themselves out when they put their package upto £50pppd they may need to review that before we can use them again.

 

 

 

 

[CruisingNole]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Excellent points all the way around. Admittedly, we’ve only sailed in YC so I’m guessing my opinion is skewed. Thank you for giving me something to consider. 

Every review/comment about MSC should come with a disclaimer if the writer stayed in YC. You cannot give a fair evaluation of a cruise if you’re spending 2x - 3x what everyone else is paying so you can spend the majority of your time in a bubble to insulate yourself from what’s on the outside. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with paying to stay in YC…but to think your experience on the same sailing might mirror someone staying in a GTY interior would be naive, to put it nicely.

[CruisingNole]

2 hours ago, mcoler181 said:

I have never been on anything less than a 7 night cruise so couldn't comment, was just chirping in on the price.

 

Do you tend to get a lower level of service on the 3 night cruises?

Absolutely! A lower level of service and a lower class of passengers. Lots of bachelor/bachelorette parties, obnoxious drunks and the like.

[8420PR]

MSC generally offers good value - especially in the shoulder and off season.   $521pp for 3 nights in an inside cabin with easy drink package and Wi-Fi sounds like a lot to me, but I don't know the single supplement portion and personally tend towards lower cost cruises anyway.

 

But you get what you pay for.  For many it is a great vacation but for others perhaps the opposite.

 

MSC has a defined product that they offer, and their objective is to charge as much as possible for that product.  Some people here seem to want MSC to change their product, but that is a much bigger, riskier and complex undertaking for a company to take.  From my point of view the product has barely changed the last 6 or so years - just some minor tweaking here and there.  

Edited February 17, 2023 by 8420PR

[RandomUser123]

Last Month we booked a 6 night cruise in November to Bermuda on Meraviglia for me, my wife and our 2 kids (9 and 6 at time of sailing). The price of the cruise included the Easy Plus Package for me and my wife, Minors Package for the kids and Wifi for 2 devices. The price was really really cheap when we booked. I could not believe it. We had never done MSC before so we went for it. We saw mixed reviews but the price was too good to pass up and figured it was worth the risk plus we are pretty easy going. Since then the price has gone up but not ridiculously. 

[insidecabin]

9 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

Every review/comment about MSC should come with a disclaimer if the writer stayed in YC. You cannot give a fair evaluation of a cruise if you’re spending 2x - 3x what everyone else is paying so you can spend the majority of your time in a bubble to insulate yourself from what’s on the outside. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with paying to stay in YC…but to think your experience on the same sailing might mirror someone staying in a GTY interior would be naive, to put it nicely.

We do both, the YC is a nice safety net if you do end up on a cruise with problems, ours was just after a very busy holiday cruise packed with kids.

 

We worked round the busy ship issues and still had a great time from our bella inside no package(got looked after). big issues getting seated in the evenings  and buffet was hell at times. 

The YC was almost sterile with low capacity it was empty a lot of time, impeccable attention and service levels which was very nice at time  but we had to get out and go back to our regular venues which were a lot quieter than the previous cruise, we still got looked after by our previous regular crew.

[Georgia_Peaches]

49 minutes ago, CruisingNole said:

Every review/comment about MSC should come with a disclaimer if the writer stayed in YC. You cannot give a fair evaluation of a cruise if you’re spending 2x - 3x what everyone else is paying so you can spend the majority of your time in a bubble to insulate yourself from what’s on the outside. And I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with paying to stay in YC…but to think your experience on the same sailing might mirror someone staying in a GTY interior would be naive, to put it nicely.

Naive?  That may be a little unfair.  We spent a lot of time outside the YC...went to the water park, sport court and arcade...also did the simulators and watched bowling.  We walked the outdoor decks daily.  Inside, we spent a lot of time on the main promenade watching the overhead light show, listening to live music, in the casino and the shops.  Went to the sports bar/pub and had dinner in the steak house.  On the private island we hung out at the lighthouse bar and a beach near the spa area.  Had lunch at the YC restaurant.  In all those venues we never encountered unruly passengers or poor service.  I will say that the pool decks were hopping with activity as was the buffet.  Both areas were a little more lively for my taste but that's just me...

 

Do I think YC is better?  Yep...but I didn't choose the YC to get away from unrulies, I chose YC because we are at a point in our lives where we choose to sail in suites...regardless of the ship.  And like all the other categories on MSC, the YC prices are better than NCL and Celebrity...

Edited February 17, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches