Long time Princess Cruiser considering MSC

[NCteacherlovescruising]

19 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

tell me you are rich without telling me that you are rich. Yes, I've already seen this post of yours in other threads.

Thanks. Not everyone can afford YC, but many may want to cruise.  We've always been treated wonderfully on Princess and RCI whether we traveled in a lowly inside or balcony. No YC was needed to feel special and cared for.  And free soft serve is included for everyone.

I found their YC pricing comparable to a Veranda on Celebrity or Royal.  

Edited May 17, 2023 by NCteacherlovescruising

[wbingham]

23 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

tell me you are rich without telling me that you are rich. Yes, I've already seen this post of yours in other threads.

Thanks. Not everyone can afford YC, but many may want to cruise.  We've always been treated wonderfully on Princess and RCI whether we traveled in a lowly inside or balcony. No YC was needed to feel special and cared for.  And free soft serve is included for everyone.

 

That is my issue that seems to be vetting out is that if you want a good MSC experience, you have to sail and pay for YC most of the time.

 

With sailings on RCCL, outside of a few Suite level perks on 1 of them, I've never felt I got less service in the common areas when sailing an inside, oceanview, or simple balcony cabin. 

 

All cruise lines have dedicated attendants for their Suite or other guests paying to be treated like royalty, but 80% of the ship and experience is the same as for inside cabin.  My experience on MSC and conclusion from most pro-MSC posts is that if you have to pay for YC for an equal experience to other cruise lines.

 

Also, as a mostly solo cruiser, MSC doesn't have much.  Between that and the non-YC experience, it felt like I was nothing but a cruise fair.

[wbingham]

Deleted double post.

Edited May 17, 2023 by wbingham

[Itchy&Scratchy]

42 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I found their YC pricing comparable to a Veranda on Celebrity or Royal.  

Here is a veranda pricing for the cruise we will be taking next year:

 

 

And here is MSC pricing: this is the cruise we were booked on next year for the same week as Celebrity. YC is $6,137 total vs $1,947 total for a regular balcony for 3 people. We can cruise 3 times in a regular MSC balcony for the price of one YC sailing. 

 

 

YC is 2 times more expensive than Veranda....

 

Now, RCI prices are currently out of control, so yes, I wouldn't be surprised if their regular balcony for 3 were around $5-6K.

 

To sum it up: I will be able to describe our MSC experience in a Fantastica balcony compared to a regular balcony or inside on Princess and RCI in November. I truly hope that we love it and that there is nothing to worry about when trying MSC after Princess or RCI.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[NCteacherlovescruising]

48 minutes ago, wbingham said:

 

That is my issue that seems to be vetting out is that if you want a good MSC experience, you have to sail and pay for YC most of the time.

 

With sailings on RCCL, outside of a few Suite level perks on 1 of them, I've never felt I got less service in the common areas when sailing an inside, oceanview, or simple balcony cabin. 

 

All cruise lines have dedicated attendants for their Suite or other guests paying to be treated like royalty, but 80% of the ship and experience is the same as for inside cabin.  My experience on MSC and conclusion from most pro-MSC posts is that if you have to pay for YC for an equal experience to other cruise lines.

 

Also, as a mostly solo cruiser, MSC doesn't have much.  Between that and the non-YC experience, it felt like I was nothing but a cruise fair.

But you can’t touch a suite on those lines for the price of the YC. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

45 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Here is a veranda pricing for the cruise we will be taking next year:

 

 

And here is MSC pricing: this is the cruise we were booked on next year for the same week as Celebrity. YC is $6,137 total vs $1,947 total for a regular balcony for 3 people. We can cruise 3 times in a regular MSC balcony for the price of one YC sailing. 

 

 

YC is 2 times more expensive than Veranda....

 

Now, RCI prices are currently out of control, so yes, I wouldn't be surprised if their regular balcony for 3 were around $5-6K.

 

To sum it up: I will be able to describe our MSC experience in a Fantastica balcony compared to a regular balcony or inside on Princess and RCI in November. I truly hope that we love it and that there is nothing to worry about when trying MSC after Princess or RCI.

That wasn’t the case when we were looking this summer. I tried to go back to screenshot prices, but they sold out. We found the value for the YC to be better than Celebrity at that time, and Royal’s prices were just crazy. We still love Celebrity (we’ve only sailed with them twice, once in concierge class, the other aqua) and will continue cruising with them.  They were my first choice until I saw their prices for next month. However, we may end up loving the yacht club. 

[morpheusofthesea]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Thanks. Not everyone can afford YC, but many may want to cruise.  We've always been treated wonderfully on Princess and RCI whether we traveled in a lowly inside or balcony. No YC was needed to feel special and cared for.  And free soft serve is included for everyone.

Sorry I wasn't more helpful to you.

  I guess you missed my other posts about cruising the past 50 years in only cabins on the inside with 2 lower 'twinettes' ( not even full size twins ). Cabins with a double bed were extra cost. During those times we would complain about not having any "free" bottled water. Now in our twilight years we decided to cruise in suites and still find we have to purchase drink packages in addition to the high price of the suite in order to get bottled water. So your soft serve ice cream is our bottled water. RCCL, NCL, Holland America are charging for bottled water. MSC has included it for all YC cabins. One just has to weigh all the pluses and minuses in choosing a cruise ship.

[morpheusofthesea]

16 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

tell me you are rich without telling me that you are rich

I will try to tackle this apparently inimical statement. First I went in search of the meaning of being rich. Fifty years ago it meant to me living without debt. So after fifty years of living below our means and paying off all our debt, we felt it time to ‘cash in’. A couple of years ago we took out a HELOC to fund our plan of paying for cruise ship suites not wishing to touch our retirement accounts until required to do so. Want to see if cruising in suites is the ‘nirvana’ we have all been hoping.

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I will try to tackle this apparently inimical statement. First I went in search of the meaning of being rich. Fifty years ago it meant to me living without debt. So after fifty years of living below our means and paying off all our debt, we felt it time to ‘cash in’. A couple of years ago we took out a HELOC to fund our plan of paying for cruise ship suites not wishing to touch our retirement accounts until required to do so. Want to see if cruising in suites is the ‘nirvana’ we have all been hoping.

First thing about this.... check to see meaning of 'inimical'.

[morpheusofthesea]

9 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

First thing about this.... check to see meaning of 'inimical'.

inimical

ĭ-nĭm′ĭ-kəl

adjective

#1Injurious or harmful in effect; adverse.

#2Unfriendly; hostile.

#3Having the disposition or temper of an enemy; unfriendly; unfavorable; -- chiefly applied to private, as hostile is to public, enmity.

 Number 3 has more the 'tone'

[nattie]

That discussion went off the rails quickly...

Back to subject at hand? We have also been considering MSC, especially because they sail out of NY and Port Canaveral. We are mostly Princess cruisers with sprinkling of other lines here and there. We tried NCL's Haven last year and liked the experience but are not huge fans of NCL's regular product for various reasons. MSC's YC seems to be similar concept for less of the price tag.

Anyone sailed both MSC and Princess and what were your thoughts?

Also, in general my biggest issue with NCL were smoking areas of the ship and their locations. I felt like the whole ship stank outside of Haven. With MSC being European line, how bad is the smoke?

[ready2cruzagain]

9 hours ago, d9704011 said:

First thing about this.... check to see meaning of 'inimical'.

whew, thought it was just me but I also had to look up HELOC. 🤣

[ready2cruzagain]

6 hours ago, nattie said:

That discussion went off the rails quickly...

Back to subject at hand? We have also been considering MSC, especially because they sail out of NY and Port Canaveral. We are mostly Princess cruisers with sprinkling of other lines here and there. We tried NCL's Haven last year and liked the experience but are not huge fans of NCL's regular product for various reasons. MSC's YC seems to be similar concept for less of the price tag.

Anyone sailed both MSC and Princess and what were your thoughts?

Also, in general my biggest issue with NCL were smoking areas of the ship and their locations. I felt like the whole ship stank outside of Haven. With MSC being European line, how bad is the smoke?

I am an ex smoker of 30 years and I have been on the Seaside, Seashore and Divina and never once smelled smoke unlike the Ruby and Caribbean Princess that reeked of smoke anywhere near the casinos.

[nattie]

1 hour ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I am an ex smoker of 30 years and I have been on the Seaside, Seashore and Divina and never once smelled smoke unlike the Ruby and Caribbean Princess that reeked of smoke anywhere near the casinos.

Very helpful, thank you!
We don’t go to the Casino, so may be that’s why we have no issues with smoke on Princess 😀. 

[capriccio]

10 hours ago, nattie said:

That discussion went off the rails quickly...

Back to subject at hand? We have also been considering MSC, especially because they sail out of NY and Port Canaveral. We are mostly Princess cruisers with sprinkling of other lines here and there. We tried NCL's Haven last year and liked the experience but are not huge fans of NCL's regular product for various reasons. MSC's YC seems to be similar concept for less of the price tag.

Anyone sailed both MSC and Princess and what were your thoughts?

Also, in general my biggest issue with NCL were smoking areas of the ship and their locations. I felt like the whole ship stank outside of Haven. With MSC being European line, how bad is the smoke?

We are elite on Princess and currently always reserve a mini-suite (before we retired we would sometimes reserve full suites) and when I told my long-time TA in 2019 that we were thinking of cruising on the MSC Meraviglia in January 2020 she was quiet and then I added "in the Yacht Club" she let out a sigh of relief and said that she had just been on a familiarization cruise and was very impressed with the YC and it was the only MSC 'experience' she would recommend to us. 

 

We loved the YC venues, the food (we lived in Italy for 5 years and appreciated the Italian dishes especially), the low key atmosphere of the YC, and Ocean Cay.  We are very low maintenance and appreciate the butler(s) but really had little use for them after the familiarization tour.  We did spend most of our time in the YC.  The Meraviglia was the biggest ship - by far - that we had ever been on and the public areas seemed packed.  I am not a fan of crowds (when we sail the Caribbean on Princess we always book the Sanctuary for the entire cruise) and high noise levels so we didn't spend much time out and about. 

 

We started talking about our next MSC cruise while still on the first but Covid hit and we didn't start cruising again until 2022 (3 cruises on Princess - 7, 10 and 28 days).  Luckily MSC extended the expiration dates of status matches by a year so we now have our next MSC cruise in the Seascape YC booked for December.

 

If you do decide to give MSC a try, make sure you do the status match and if you qualify for the active and retired military/civil service (local, state, and federal) discount submit your paperwork.

[mscdivina2016]

On 5/13/2023 at 6:03 PM, wallyworld1059 said:

We have cruised Princess almost exclusively for the past 10 years.  Looking for a change in scenery (itineraries) to something Princess does not offer.  Will I be happy shifting to MSC?  Does MSC recognize other loyalty programs?  For those who have sailed Princess, Celebrity or Royal, what are the big differences I can expect?

Having done 3 MSC sailings this year and many prior only in yacht club the past 3 years, I am jumping to princess, NCL and others again. 

 

 Make sure you use a TA.  Their customer service does not exist. If you have an issue,good luck.

 If you are looking at Caribbean sailings you will be happy. Any other countries, probably not. Every one has their likes and dislikes.

  I would never sail MSC outside of yacht club. That's my preference and it's well within my budget.

 Try them and make your own mind up.

[20165]

On 5/13/2023 at 10:48 PM, BamaVol said:

Does not have to be a cruise line status to match.  They matched my HiltonHonors Diamond to their highest level.

Wow, that caught my eye.  How do you do that?  Im also diamond at hilton and would love to have that carry over to MSC

 

[capriccio]

2 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Wow, that caught my eye.  How do you do that?  Im also diamond at hilton and would love to have that carry over to MSC

 

Same way you do a cruise line status match:  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match

[20165]

9 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Same way you do a cruise line status match:  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/msc-voyagers-club/status-match

Thank you.  I didnt realize that worked for hotel status.  Thats awesome.  Thanks again

[capriccio]

3 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Thank you.  I didnt realize that worked for hotel status.  Thats awesome.  Thanks again

Should you decide to try MSC, see if you qualify for the active and retired military discount:  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/military-discount-rates. 

 

That same discount is offered to active and retired civil servants (local, state and federal government) in the small print of the T&Cs at the bottom of that screen.  My DH is a retired Fed and we have had no issue getting the 10% discount on our past and upcoming MSC cruises.

[Two Wheels Only]

Pricing is always an unpredictable comparison with different cruise lines. 

 

Just for fun, I compared what I currently have booked in Yacht Club on MSC with a NCL Haven suite (close in size), a Princess Mini-suite (suites are sold out), and a Celebrity Aqua Sky suite (smaller stateroom and smaller balcony) for the same week and nearly the same itinerary....

 

The NCL Haven suite (not the largest) was about $200 shy of being double the MSC Yacht Club Royal Suite. 

 

The Princess mini-suite (one room) was $170 more than the Yacht Club Royal Suite. 

 

The Celebrity Aqua Sky suite (one room) was over $1,500 more than double the Yacht Club Royal Suite. 

 

I made the mock bookings as close as I could (drink package, wi-fi, etc.) and went by the total after taxes, fees, etc. for a family of 4. 

 

None of them are brand new ships (Seashore, Escape, Sky Princess, APEX) and the prices would be even higher if they were newer ships. It's also during a holiday so prices are inflated for all. 

[flsun]

Currently onboard the Meraviglia for the 6th time. We came over from Celebrity and haven’t looked back. For the money, you get a great product with MSC. Don’t walk onboard comparing it to any other line; they’re all unique. Been on 5 MSC ships and can honestly say their staff is the best. For those complaining about the food, I offer a few current pics. 

[NCteacherlovescruising]

7 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Having done 3 MSC sailings this year and many prior only in yacht club the past 3 years, I am jumping to princess, NCL and others again. 

 

 Make sure you use a TA.  Their customer service does not exist. If you have an issue,good luck.

 If you are looking at Caribbean sailings you will be happy. Any other countries, probably not. Every one has their likes and dislikes.

  I would never sail MSC outside of yacht club. That's my preference and it's well within my budget.

 Try them and make your own mind up.

 

Why not anywhere besides the Caribbean?

 

5 hours ago, capriccio said:

Should you decide to try MSC, see if you qualify for the active and retired military discount:  https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/military-discount-rates. 

 

That same discount is offered to active and retired civil servants (local, state and federal government) in the small print of the T&Cs at the bottom of that screen.  My DH is a retired Fed and we have had no issue getting the 10% discount on our past and upcoming MSC cruises.

 

How do you get the civil servant discount?

[Brighton Line]

Agree with comparing NCL Haven to YC, for my cruise I did the same, itinerary was close and Haven was almost double as well. 

[mscdivina2016]

14 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

 

Why not anywhere besides the Caribbean?

 

 

 

MSC has a USA office and a European office.  If you are not on a USA sailing and you have an issue you will need to deal with the European office.

 

Simple solution is to use a TA. If a problem arises, let them deal with the BS