Royal vs Msc

[Pandamonia]

14 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

The Cirque du Solei we saw on MSC was absolutely awful.

 

Thats pretty disappointing. 

 

Im quickly coming to the conclusion that cruising really is just a 3 star value holiday and I'm adjusting my expectations accordingly. At least this way ill feel like im getting exactly what i expected and if something is better than expected it will be a nice surprise. 

 

Between Royal, MSC and P&O there will always be some deal to be had. As long as the sun is out and there is alcohol to be drunk and the food doesnt give me the squits then it will serve its purpose as my default budget holiday when i just want to get away a few times a year. 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

On 7/2/2023 at 2:42 AM, Cruise5life said:

oh yeah.  No ketchup either.  Lol 

Well, what do you do with ketchup if there are no hamburgers or hotdogs?😇

[Ocean Boy]

23 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

Hello,

We really enjoy RC Oasis class ships.  The entertainment and food IMO is great.  MSC not the same.  If you travel and you really care about Pizza, go to New York for the best pizza in the country.  All around, we always enjoy RC.  Another option for us is Celebrity.  Not a fan of MSC.  

RCI's O class ships do have great entertainment. However, R/V/F class ship entertainment is not necessarily anything to write home about. Those old RCI Singers and Dancers shows are old, tired, and needed to go a long time ago. RCI also seems to be moving away from Broadway shows on its newer ships,  a cost cutting move most likely.

[Norwich Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Pandamonia said:

 

Thats pretty disappointing. 

 

Im quickly coming to the conclusion that cruising really is just a 3 star value holiday and I'm adjusting my expectations accordingly. At least this way ill feel like im getting exactly what i expected and if something is better than expected it will be a nice surprise. 

 

Between Royal, MSC and P&O there will always be some deal to be had. As long as the sun is out and there is alcohol to be drunk and the food doesnt give me the squits then it will serve its purpose as my default budget holiday when i just want to get away a few times a year. 

 

 

Exactly our thoughts also

[Biker19]

6 hours ago, sockmonkeygirl said:

Do you think any travel agent can do this?  Or should I be seeking a high volume agent?  

You'd have to find an agent with access to group rates - not all do.

[Pandamonia]

55 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

RCI's O class ships do have great entertainment. However, R/V/F class ship entertainment is not necessarily anything to write home about. Those old RCI Singers and Dancers shows are old, tired, and needed to go a long time ago. RCI also seems to be moving away from Broadway shows on its newer ships,  a cost cutting move most likely.

 

I find those type of shows more cringe than entertaining anyway. 

 

The Oasis class has the variety and size to accommodate better types of entertainment. Problem is that the food is notably less consistent the larger the ship gets i find and the cruises are always limited to 7 days on Oasis class. Thus making a 2 week holiday much more expensive as well as the cost of flights 

[jcl410]

I've been on a bunch of RCI cruises since 1996. I took my first MSC cruise i March.

 

It was a 13 day transatlantic from Brazil to Portugal.... The vast majority of the passengers were from Brazil and Portugal.

 

good things

 

1) fresh pizza and fresh pasta were excellent

2) overall food was on par with RCI (The buffet menu on MSC didn't change much from daya to day, though)

 

 

non-complaints:

1) all announcements were done in 5 languages

2) no wash cloth in bathroom - I expected that, knowing i was a European line, and they were supplied by my cabin attendant

3) production shows were mainly danced based, with a few songs in english/spanish/portuguese. talking to our table mates from the UK, this is normal on their European itineraries as well, due to the number of languages spoken. The productions themselves  were fine.

 

complaints -

 

1) free water hard to find.... on our cruise, free bottled water, coffee and tea was provided in the main dining room only.... Outside of that, the only free water was in the Buffet. Unlike RCI, bars will not pour you a glass of tap water.

2) related - Because I didn't have a drink package, my card showed the default USA Free water/dining room.... Half the time when I'd order a drink, the bartender would say "Your package doesn't cover that.", and I'd say, "I know, I want to buy one." a minor annoyance, but it got tired. (Many of the bars I frequented eventually figured it out.)

 

3) drink packages - they don't offer a soda package, which is what I get on RCI. They do have a non-alcoholic package, but it requires both people in cabin to get it....    My wife doesn't drink a lot, so we didn't get any packages... I cut back on the number of diet coke's I drank, and we ended up spending less than if we had bought any packages.

 

4) Trivia games were painful to sit through because of the multiple languages, and the fact they  were mostly held by the pool...

 

I would travel on MSC again ... if ... the price was right, and a unique itinerary. 

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

[sockmonkeygirl]

13 hours ago, Biker19 said:

You'd have to find an agent with access to group rates - not all do.

 

I've spoken to 2 TA's and they both said I need to book 7 or 8 rooms for a group discount. 😑

[Ocean Boy]

33 minutes ago, sockmonkeygirl said:

 

I've spoken to 2 TA's and they both said I need to book 7 or 8 rooms for a group discount. 😑

Or you get added to a group that the TA has. You don't have to book 8 rooms yourself. You have to find a TA with a group.

[Donsyb]

We did an MSC cruise from Cuba, so there were no Americans on board, just lots of Canadians and Europeans (we are European).

 

food - bad. Usually cold to luke warm, pizza I had been really looking forward to based on reviews on CC but it was no better than sorrentos.

 

entertainment - poor. That’s compared to oasis & anthem, celebrity and P&O.

 

listening to everything repeated in so many languages got really tiring by the end of it.

 

service - poor. Very Italian! So laid back, you’d wait ages to hear back, nothing was on time etc.

 

we got status matched from a hotel status to their highest status - I dread to think how we would have been treated without it 😂

 

we both said at the end of it MSC would never be our first choice again unless they were the only ones offering the itinerary we wanted (which was the case with Cuba, as no is based companies can go there). Not bad enough to say never again, but not good enough to consider before RCI, celebrity, P&O, NCL, virgin etc

[Biker19]

11 hours ago, sockmonkeygirl said:

 

I've spoken to 2 TA's and they both said I need to book 7 or 8 rooms for a group discount. 😑

There are two types of groups. The one the TA mentioned you establish yourself at the current pricing and you get a discount once your reach 8 cabins.

 

The second type of group is the kind the TA establishes. That has refundable rates, can be combined with discounts and many times is at a price lower than the published NRD rates.

 

It's this latter type you are looking for - available mainly at the bigger TAs.

[graphicguy]

Have sailed both…..

 

MSC is probably the most similar to Royal than any of the other mainstream lines.  

So, the jump from one to the other is less about differences than similarities.  As mentioned, the pizza and pasta are way better on MSC.  More traditional menus favor Royal.  I like the international bend of the food on MSC than the typical cruise food fare on Royal.

 

Both have very large ships with neighborhoods.  Entertainment on MSC is good but geared to more international audiences than Royal.  Meaning….shows with singing, dancing and acrobatics with little in the way of story telling.  Royal does shows with (usually) a story to tell.

 

Cabins are similar.  Yacht Club is way less expensive than Royal’s similar Star Suites.

 

Regular cabins are similar.

 

Service is similar.

 

Pretty close one to the other.  You’ll get more of the European feel on MSC than you will on Royal.  Not better…not worse…..just different.

[renza]

On 7/1/2023 at 1:30 PM, Giantfan13 said:

We are Diamond on Royal but we have done 3 MSC cruises and another booked for October. The first thing about MSC. If you booked them in the States it is so different cruising MSC in Europe. They deal with an entirely different clientele and, while we feel like strangers sometimes, as most of the passengers are European, we enjoyed those cruises. Their shows are well done and the cast of their shows, at least the women, are simply gorgeous.

Royal has been nickel and diming its passengers to death and continually taking away things that brought many of us to Royal in the first place. We still cruise with Rpyal but we are now exploring other options.

 

Cheers

Len

What nickel and diming on Royal??  You mean MSC where they charge for a zip line. Shows are all free. 

[thistimeplease]

On 7/3/2023 at 8:20 AM, schooner_Drinker said:

You might want to read a couple of posts and reviews from two long time experienced Royal cruisers who WERE also MSC cheerleaders before their last MSC seascape cruise out of MIAMI

 

You mighty want to go with Royal 

 

 

 

These reviews were written after the Port of Miami accident and it has become obvious that they couldn't get past the bad start in the port.  We have cruised with both RCL and MSC and definitely would put MSC above the Anthem.  Although we loved our Anthem cruise the ship was somewhat claustrophobic.  We sailed MSC Seacape in May and found the service was the best we've had on any cruise.  We loved the ship, shows and everything about this cruise.  Although we consider NCL our favorite MSC is right behind it.  

Edited July 4, 2023 by thistimeplease
put in wrong spot

[thistimeplease]

11 minutes ago, schooner_Drinker said:

See

I believe  the two people who were actually ON the ship

Rather than someone who was on the ship months before.

 

Regardless of the boarding day fiasco, how it was handled, both took it in their stride and actually did get past the boarding day fun, I know from personally speaking to them 

 

One of those review writers actually had a valid complaint with noise onboard which was not dealt with by YC staff 

Other than that, they pretty much raved about how good the cruise was and promoted MSC to a BIG group of Royal cruisers on social media and posted pictures of how great a time they were having.

On a Previous group cruise with over 50 Cc members, yes 50 cc members 

One of those reviewers whose wife is a TA wouldn’t say a bad word about MSC and sailing in the YC

and recommended all to give MSC a go
 

Why would they promote a brand a ship a company, with photos and positive comments, then after 3 nights of noise complain and lie about not being able to sleep 

I’m confused how you think they didn’t get over boarding day 

But you were not even on the ship, so how would you actually have

any evidence how bad it was.

 

See you have not done your homework and all you keep saying is in May all was great and nothing could ever go wrong on MSC 

Fast forward and all those PAX and customers that they had recommended MSC to give a try..   No more 

 

The TA is happy to lose her commission and lively hood on advising her customers to sail on MSC than lose her reputation as a caring TA

She will lose quite a hefty commission on 8 cruises that have now been canceled on MSC

 

See I believe someone who has a horse in the race, 

and that’s why I don’t believe you understand how bad that cruise and experience was 

You were not there 

 

Royal everyday of the week 

 

Enjoy Royal there are different cruiselines for different people.  Personally, I think they are more alike than different.

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, schooner_Drinker said:

Here is another review written by someone actually on the sailing 

 

starting to see the picture unfold 

 

Just read the review. I feel for the guests on that sailing. 

[Airbear232]

On 6/30/2023 at 11:34 AM, Rewind said:

I have done many Royal cruises and only one MSC cruise.  In general, I think they are more alike than different.  But a quick comparison of our one cruise on MSC Seashore:

Food quality is a bit better on MSC (pizza hands down is better).
Trying to find complementary food on MSC is more difficult; Royal has a good handful of complementary venues and someplace open 24 hours to find food.  At least on the Seashore, only the MDR and the Buffet were complementary and everything else was an extra cost.
The MSC production show staff did a different show each night.  Royal's production cast will do at most two shows, but they also have the Ice Skating show, the Aqua Theater show, and a couple guest performers.

I can't compare ship design across fleets with my limited MSC knowledge, but I will say the MSC Seashore felt very much like Royal's Anthem - to me both felt cramped and did not manage crowds very well.  I do love Royal but I'm not a fan of the Quantum class design - not saying I had a bad cruise, just didn't like the ship.  Same with MSC's Seashore - drove me absolutely nuts that there wasn't a place that passengers who did not book into MSC's suite classes could see where the ship was headed (no public spaces look forward).

However, I do think you will be blown away by Symphony.  There is so much to do on the ship itself, you might miss a few thing - we did while we were on a 12 night transatlantic on a sister Oasis class.

Just saying, on Quantum class, great views forward from the Solarium and aft from 270.  Not doubting your experience as YMMV for everyone.  I really find Quantum and Oasis shops very spacious.

[Airbear232]

On 7/3/2023 at 6:58 AM, Ocean Boy said:

 RCI also seems to be moving away from Broadway shows on its newer ships,  a cost cutting move most likely.

The word is the “Wizard of Oz” will be the show on the Icon.