MSC Seascape - One and Done

[KittyCruz]

On 7/7/2023 at 10:42 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Welcome to the Cruise Critic boards. Nothing like a spoiled cruise to gain a new subscriber. Must  be your first cruise, otherwise how do you know the difference ? Every cruise starts out the way you describe. No one prepares for an emergency today. No one travels with an extra bottle or two of water or protein bar. Everyone expects to be 'taken care of' from cradle to grave. Surprised so many use the wash rooms as when they board no one uses them to wash before entering the buffets. The unused ones on the ship are pristine for the entire cruise. No one cleans up after themselves when they do use it. "We have met the enemy, and they is us" Walt Kelly

 P.S. Then I wondered why there are no bathroom attendants on hand? It dawned on me, because these same travelers are the 'tightest' in the world, seldom tipping a porter let alone an attendant.

And this is precisely why I travel with snacks to last a day or three, one must be prepared.

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I will also add that we were on one of the first cruises to be denied port right as covid started to become what it became and the Captain of the Meraviglia at the time communicated the who, what, where, when and why to the best of his abilities, provided compensation and staff were delightful despite the stress and unknown that was brewing.  

[Sailor75]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:57 PM, snoozecrooze said:

I believe Captain Tuvo was your captain for the Seascape, based on his social media activity? AKA Captain Bye-bye of Sky Princess fame, who unceremoniously bounced to MSC from Princess rather randomly?

 

Anyways, quite disappointing at his absence of leadership, according to your experiences, but at the end of the day, corporate leadership (or more specifically, the positive workplace culture) seems to not be there.

The fat Captain (I don't know his name) on the Meraviglia unceremoniously bounced to MSC from the Carnival Legend too; I guess MSC hires the rejects. He was the captain involved in the family brawl out of Australia that went viral.

[snoozecrooze]

15 minutes ago, Sailor75 said:

The fat Captain (I don't know his name) on the Meraviglia unceremoniously bounced to MSC from the Carnival Legend too; I guess MSC hires the rejects. He was the captain involved in the family brawl out of Australia that went viral.

I hear you, but I don't think the circumstances are the same for all. For the specific example I had brought up, Captain Tuvo was very well-respected and well-liked by corporate and loyal fans alike (he took the Sky Princess directly from the shipyard and had built a very strong reputation overall throughout the years), but I obviously can't speak to anything that may or may not have happened behind-the-scenes.

 

At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure it's all about the money (of which MSC has a ton more to offer than Carnival corporate), and the fact that MSC's essentially Italian so there's more of an air of familiarity or camaraderie there.

[insidecabin]

 

 

MSC is generally not great with deviations from the norm.

 

Even the norm is often chaos.

 

Things like disembarkation they have the plan but don't police ormonitor so it becomes a free for all, many think if they use self debark they can avoid delays, so many chose that option they end up with a long line of people with cases, stollers, scooters, mixed in are those that won't wait for their call

 

Even short delays cause extra chaos as even more want to join the get off quick mob.

 

The best strategy with MSC is plan to get off last even on regular cruises without issues.

YC can help but you still end up in a busy terminal, just wait.

 

In our experience anything extra that needs organisation gets messed up.

 

Did MSC drop the ball with this extended delay, yes big time will they learn probably not.

[sverigecruiser]

53 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

YC can help but you still end up in a busy terminal, just wait.

 

 

Depends on where. In Barcelona a butler follow you all the way through the terminal and leave you outside. I know that in the US they are not allowed to do that.

 

We embarked in Barcelona last friday. Our butler took both our carryons from the lounge to the luggage claim. There he gave us the carryons and took both our large bags all the way to the taxiline.

[Heartgrove]

Everytime I read one of these MSC complaint threads, I feel that the MSC in the USA and the MSC in Europe are two different companies.

 

We too had our butler escort us from the YC then off the ship to where a taxi was waiting in Genoa, about a four minute walk. One of the reasons that the butlers can maybe take the time to do that is most cruises in Europe do "bus stop" embarkation. Only a percentage of the passengers actually disembark at each port.

[JAGR]

2 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Everytime I read one of these MSC complaint threads, I feel that the MSC in the USA and the MSC in Europe are two different companies.

 

We too had our butler escort us from the YC then off the ship to where a taxi was waiting in Genoa, about a four minute walk. One of the reasons that the butlers can maybe take the time to do that is most cruises in Europe do "bus stop" embarkation. Only a percentage of the passengers actually disembark at each port.

I'm not so sure it is a time availability issue. I think the bigger reason stateside is that the butlers are generally not allowed off the ship, or at least through customs and immigration.

[maehara]

10 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

Everytime I read one of these MSC complaint threads, I feel that the MSC in the USA and the MSC in Europe are two different companies.

 

We too had our butler escort us from the YC then off the ship to where a taxi was waiting in Genoa, about a four minute walk. One of the reasons that the butlers can maybe take the time to do that is most cruises in Europe do "bus stop" embarkation. Only a percentage of the passengers actually disembark at each port.

Also remember that US-based cruises are crossing borders where border checks are in place, so they'll not let anyone off the ship without going through immigration. 

 

Western Med cruises, on many itineraries all stops are within the Shengen free-travel zone.  Won't be anyone on board that hasn't already been through the required immigration checks before boarding in the first place.

Edited July 24, 2023 by maehara

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

I'm not so sure it is a time availability issue. I think the bigger reason stateside is that the butlers are generally not allowed off the ship, or at least through customs and immigration.

Butler's escort shoreside at Southampton.

[JAGR]

2 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Butler's escort shoreside at Southampton.

That's why I said stateside, as in "United States."

[deliver42]

To try to compare MSC with communication, especially on something outside the norm is an oxymoron.

[Heartgrove]

4 hours ago, JAGR said:

I'm not so sure it is a time availability issue. I think the bigger reason stateside is that the butlers are generally not allowed off the ship, or at least through customs and immigration.

 

Yes, I agree with that being the primary reason.  Sorry that US passengers miss that last touch. But - if the butlers are providing escort in Southampton, Southampton is not in the EU.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2023 by Heartgrove

[insidecabin]

38 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Yes, I agree with that being the primary reason.  Sorry that US passengers miss that last touch. But - if the butlers are providing escort in Southampton, Southampton is not in the EU.

 

 

Its not EU its Schengen area that covers borders.

 

Eg

Ireland is in the EU but not part of Schengen area.

Iceland, Norway, Switzerland are not in the EU but are in the Schengen area.