Is it me is it msc or is it them? Bad reviews

[Stockjock]

Some gripes are legit (especially shoreside customer service), but generally speaking, I feel people are overly negative.  I think we did our first MSC cruise in 2016 or 2017 on Divina and the reviews were awful.  We had such a great time!  I kept reading about how there was nothing to eat in the buffet other than burgers and hot dogs, which was totally false.  The only thing (then) that was legit was that they had a very grumpy and unfriendly eastern European crew, but that's largely been resolved.

I think people are more inclined to write a review when they're annoyed about something or other.  MSC is a bit different than some other cruise lines, so maybe they didn't like those differences, or perhaps they went forward with the wrong sort of expectations.

I've read some negative reviews for MSC and others and it felt as if I wasn't on the same ship, as their experience was so different from mine.

Edited February 25 by Stockjock

[JamieLogical]

I just returned from my 5th MSC cruise. It was my 1st sailing on the Divina. The other four were on the Meraviglia. In total, I have been on 21 cruises. Prior to COVID, I cruises exclusively on NCL. After the restart, I did several Celebrity cruises as well as one Princess cruise.

 

Celebrity has gotten cost prohibitive. NCL has cut back on services I really enjoyed like free room service breakfast, evening turn down service, and late-night snack. Plus their prices have also climbed drastically.

 

I was incredibly reluctant to try MSC. Prior to COVID, my husband and I had tried to do status match and book an MSC sailing. We ran into so many incredibly frustrating issues with shoreside customer service that we finally canceled the cruise and went back to NCL. So that all left a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

 

However, post-COVID, I met a couple of other solo cruisers on the NCL Breakaway cruise and they convinced me to try the Meraviglia after it repositioned to NYC. I decided to give MSC another shot and I am really glad I did.

 

My experiences with MSC since that first sailing have not matched the reviews at all. I have found the crew to be incredibly friendly and helpful. I have found the food and drinks to be great. I have found the cabins to be comfortable. I have found the ship's to be well maintained. While there have been hiccups with every sailing, that has been the case on every cruise I have ever taken.

 

The main challenges we have faced onboard are chaos in the buffets and disorganization around disembarkation at port stops, particularly tendering on a CA & NE cruise and then the first two ports on my recent Divina sailing in Ocho Rios and Aruba.

 

The one thing I can say with absolute conviction is that MSC is by far the best value of any of the cruise lines I have sailed. They still have many of the services that other cruise lines have cut post-COVID. Their included drinks and wifi packages have always met my needs. I have only ever had to pay the difference on one drink I have ordered and I have always been able to keep up posting my live blogs, even chock full of photos.

 

Yesterday, a couple of my solo friends booked the 7-day Halloween sailing on the Meraviglia out of NYC along with my husband and I. When pricing out the sailing, all with drinks, wifi, and Fantastica, it was $700 for a deluxe interior stateroom as a solo. It was just over $1000 for a deluxe balcony as a solo. My husband and I booked a deluxe balcony together and the total price was $1357.

 

Just for comparison, I looked at the NCL Breakaway sailing out of NYC for that same week and the price with Free at Sea was more than double for every single one of those categories. Two people in a balcony comes out to over $3000!

 

It's not a true apples to apples comparison, since the Breakaway is going to Bermuda and the Meraviglia is going to Port Canaveral and the Bahamas, but that itinerary certainly isn't worth double the price, especially since late October is outside of the normal Bermuda season. Harbor Nights will be over by then and temps could be low enough to prevent swimming in the ocean.

 

So for half the price we will have room service breakfast, evening turn down service, late-night snack, unlimited fast wifi, bottled water, specialty coffee, and I won't have to pay a $1.20 upcharge for a shot of Bailey's in my coffee.

 

Edited February 25 by JamieLogical

[shipgeeks]

11 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

interesting thread.  I'm looking to do my first MSC cruise, having done 9 on NCL.  Up until now, my only disappointments have been assigned dining and no cigar lounge, not that I would allow those two issues to ruin my cruise or anything.  But this thread is helping me set the proper expectation.  thanks for all the comments 

One of the "quirks" of MSC is the four Experiences, which, in part, determine one's dining arrangements.  In our case, we will only sail with assigned dining, so we choose Bella or Fantastica. Those who want anytime dining need to choose Aurea.

 

[dbrown84]

19 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

One of the "quirks" of MSC is the four Experiences, which, in part, determine one's dining arrangements.  In our case, we will only sail with assigned dining, so we choose Bella or Fantastica. Those who want anytime dining need to choose Aurea.

 

yes, it took a little while for me to figure out the experience thing.  anytime dining isn't worth paying for, for me.  Besides, I don't think I get to pick any experience anyway as I'm booking thru the casino.  I think it's bella by default.  If the assigned dining doesn't work for me, there is always the buffet

[Two Wheels Only]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

So for half the price we will have room service breakfast, evening turn down service, late-night snack, unlimited fast wifi, bottled water, specialty coffee, and I won't have to pay a $1.20 upcharge for a shot of Bailey's in my coffee.

 

Plus, the DSC/hotel charge is lower with MSC. 

[Anastas617]

I think there is a lot of mob mentality when it comes to MSC which leads to a lot of hyperbole in the reviews. I always discount any review where the reviewer obviously has an axe to grind or is being overly dramatic.

 

I'm taking my third MSC cruise next month (Meraviglia). It's on a casino comp, so I have the Bella experience which I am not particularly enthused about as I have no control over my dining time (I don't know if Bella customers can get it changed, but I will certainly try if they stick me with 17:30).

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my first Meraviglia cruise. My Grandiosa cruise in the Mediterannean was a bit less enjoyable for a number of reasons (mainly rudeness of other guests and everything on a later time schedule), but I will still quite satisfied based on the price I paid and would happily go again.

 

My biggest gripes on MSC have been the buffet* (both food and the crowds), the $&%^! photographer set-ups**, the cocktails***, and the lack of any casual complimentary eatery****

 

*I am up eating breakfast as soon as buffet opens, so that keeps me away from the crowds. I rarely will go to buffet for lunch or dinner, but if I do I will try to avoid the prime times.

**Minor thing, I'm sure, but the photo nights created a big logjam in foot traffic as they seem to set-up in the most common walking areas.

***I do not drink a lot of cocktails, but my daily bloody mary and pina coladas were decidedly inferior to anything I've had elsewhere.

****At the price point, I understand and don't mind paying a few bucks to eat at the Mexican joint or British pub (based on the ships I have been on).

 

The MDR was perfectly fine for me. Was it great? No, but it wasn't bad or much different than what I experienced on Princess (HAL was another level food-wise, imo).

 

I'm a solo traveler that is fairly easy to please, don't get riled up too much, don't need to make friends on a cruise and therefore do not care if they have solo events. The studio interior cabin was perfect for my needs on the Meraviglia, the studio aft balcony on Grandiosa did not have as good a bed and I hated the bathroom (or bathtub more specifically). I look forward to my first experience in a full size room next month.

 

I got way too wordy, but bottom line is to not buy a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and expect it to be equivalent to a Johnnie Walker Green and when it's not try to label it as some $5 rotgut. Temper your expectations because Black can be quite enjoyable for a large percentage of folks. (Or I think, I don't know, I don't drink whisky 🙂 )

 

[LMHC]

We had our first MSC cruise in December and we went on the Divina for the price and itinerary.  We have been on all the mass market lines and are generally low maintenance.  On our Pros list were beautiful ship, friendlier staff than we thought and nice aft balcony cabin.  The cons would be the food wasn't as good as other lines and very inconsistent in quality.  The buffet lines were the worst I have ever seen on a ship and we have probably been on 30 cruises total.  The organization on this ship was the worse that I have seen, so disembarkation, ports and debarkation were all a long terrible mess.  MSC would be our bottom choice by a decent margin when we are looking to book a cruise, but perhaps it was just this ship, however not taking that chance again unless it's super cheap or somewhere I haven't been.  

[dbrown84]

1 hour ago, Anastas617 said:

I think there is a lot of mob mentality when it comes to MSC which leads to a lot of hyperbole in the reviews. I always discount any review where the reviewer obviously has an axe to grind or is being overly dramatic.

 

I'm taking my third MSC cruise next month (Meraviglia). It's on a casino comp, so I have the Bella experience which I am not particularly enthused about as I have no control over my dining time (I don't know if Bella customers can get it changed, but I will certainly try if they stick me with 17:30).

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my first Meraviglia cruise. My Grandiosa cruise in the Mediterannean was a bit less enjoyable for a number of reasons (mainly rudeness of other guests and everything on a later time schedule), but I will still quite satisfied based on the price I paid and would happily go again.

 

My biggest gripes on MSC have been the buffet* (both food and the crowds), the $&%^! photographer set-ups**, the cocktails***, and the lack of any casual complimentary eatery****

 

*I am up eating breakfast as soon as buffet opens, so that keeps me away from the crowds. I rarely will go to buffet for lunch or dinner, but if I do I will try to avoid the prime times.

**Minor thing, I'm sure, but the photo nights created a big logjam in foot traffic as they seem to set-up in the most common walking areas.

***I do not drink a lot of cocktails, but my daily bloody mary and pina coladas were decidedly inferior to anything I've had elsewhere.

****At the price point, I understand and don't mind paying a few bucks to eat at the Mexican joint or British pub (based on the ships I have been on).

 

The MDR was perfectly fine for me. Was it great? No, but it wasn't bad or much different than what I experienced on Princess (HAL was another level food-wise, imo).

 

I'm a solo traveler that is fairly easy to please, don't get riled up too much, don't need to make friends on a cruise and therefore do not care if they have solo events. The studio interior cabin was perfect for my needs on the Meraviglia, the studio aft balcony on Grandiosa did not have as good a bed and I hated the bathroom (or bathtub more specifically). I look forward to my first experience in a full size room next month.

 

I got way too wordy, but bottom line is to not buy a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and expect it to be equivalent to a Johnnie Walker Green and when it's not try to label it as some $5 rotgut. Temper your expectations because Black can be quite enjoyable for a large percentage of folks. (Or I think, I don't know, I don't drink whisky 🙂 )

 

awesome post.  I'm also trying out MSC on a casino comp.  Thanks for confirming for me that it is the bella experience.  I'm not to particular when it comes to cabins, so it will be hard to disappoint me there.  I'll make due with dinner.  But since the only cost is the gratuities, I figured why not try something else.  All of my previous cruises have been on NCL, where you do have to pay the port fees and their admin fee.

[shipgeeks]

When we sailed Bella, we were given a dinnertime we did not want. We were able to easily change it by speaking with the headwaiter at the time and place noted, after boarding.  I'm sure it all depends on availability on any given cruise, but it's worth a try.

Overall, we had no complaints at all.  We were treated fabulously in all venues.  

We would sail Bella again without hesitation.  (And we are not casino users.)

[Swin-2-win]

Just back from our first MSC cruise on Meriviglia 2/18-2/25.  For us (family of 48M, 48F and 16F that has sailed 12 times prior - Carnival/NCL/RCL), we won't return to MSC and can't in good faith recommend them to others.  The lower cost of the trip was great, but just not worth it in the end due to all of the add-ons and inconsistencies.  Reading reviews of the Yacht Club for this same sailing seems like they were on a completely different ship so it definitely seems worth paying more for that experience.  Honestly, even if we were offered a casino comp cruise and it was a non-school vacation week, I think we would pass.

I would blame most of our dislikes on the full capacity due to February school vacation, but I think that's a poor excuse on their part for not being better staffed.  We've done other school vacation weeks on other lines and had minimal issues.

We enjoyed 'most' of the buffet food (Pizza was the best on any boat we've sailed) but found the MDR to be unbelievably inconsistent.  Some great - the filet mignon on Gala night - and some barely edible - Italian night - shouldn't they get this one right?.  Just about all desserts were good to fantastic.

Understaffed lines for Bingo (40 minutes to get 3 cards), changing MDR dinner time (over an hour to not actually have the time changed - that was fun), and countless other lines we walked past wondering what on earth people were waiting for.

Super clean ship, although many of the floors had odd smells going on in the hallway and our room also had weird smells on multiple days.  Great staff that looked overwhelmed and awfully overworked.

For what it's worth, their private island was one of our favorite stops ever.  Really beautiful, low key island for relaxing.

Edited February 29 by Swin-2-win

[MsTabbyKats]

@Swin-2-winJust to let you know...the YC is a completely different experience, and well worth the price.  Our first YC was the interior...it was an NCL balcony vs YC interior...for about the same price.  Booking YC was a no brainer; I wouldn't go on MSC outside the YC.  We were offered a free cruise...with the masses....and I passed on it.

 

[JamieLogical]

6 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@Swin-2-winJust to let you know...the YC is a completely different experience, and well worth the price.  Our first YC was the interior...it was an NCL balcony vs YC interior...for about the same price.  Booking YC was a no brainer; I wouldn't go on MSC outside the YC.  We were offered a free cruise...with the masses....and I passed on it.

 

 

Every single one of my MSC cruises has been outside the YC and I have still had great cruises and see no need to shell out the extra cash....

[MsTabbyKats]

@Swin-2-winSorry...wanted to add we sailed on the Mera Oct 2019 with "the masses". 

 

Although I loved the cruise (big pizza eater here) the crowd seemed to be a lot of "foreign groups" with different cultural norms. I'm not xenophobic....and I'm a NYCer....so I'm used to "non Americans pushing" etc...but I can understand why a lot of people get turned off.

[MsTabbyKats]

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Every single one of my MSC cruises has been outside the YC and I have still had great cruises and see no need to shell out the extra cash....

When you get to be my age...and DH uses a cane...you'll gladly shell out the extra cash.  We only tried YC because I needed a rest from being his butler!

We were in with the masses on Carnival and NCL after our YC experience...and both were good cruises. But YC...was not "good"...it was "uber great"!

[shipgeeks]

7 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@Swin-2-winSorry...wanted to add we sailed on the Mera Oct 2019 with "the masses". 

 

Although I loved the cruise (big pizza eater here) the crowd seemed to be a lot of "foreign groups" with different cultural norms. I'm not xenophobic....and I'm a NYCer....so I'm used to "non Americans pushing" etc...but I can understand why a lot of people get turned off.

 

4 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

When you get to be my age...and DH uses a cane...you'll gladly shell out the extra cash.  We only tried YC because I needed a rest from being his butler!

We were in with the masses on Carnival and NCL after our YC experience...and both were good cruises. But YC...was not "good"...it was "uber great"!

One of the things we liked The Most was the passenger makeup, with Americans in the minority; it just felt more like being away on vacation rather than close to home with people just like us.  So much easier than having to fly to Italy.

And we are probably older than you; both of us sometimes use canes....and we would still book Bella and cruise with the masses.

[MsTabbyKats]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

 

One of the things we liked The Most was the passenger makeup, with Americans in the minority; it just felt more like being away on vacation rather than close to home with people just like us.  So much easier than having to fly to Italy.

And we are probably older than you; both of us sometimes use canes....and we would still book Bella and cruise with the masses.

My whole life involves "non-Americans" (seriously...I'm the only "native" in my crowd)....but some groups come from countries where they don't know how to line up, or cutting in line is acceptable. As a New Yorker, I'm well versed in "the art of assertive walking"....but large groups shoving to get something from the buffet.  No thanks.......   It's not whether the people are American or Italian or Mexican...it's that they have manners. 

 

I've actually often said sailing on MSC is like going to Italy...but you don't have to fly there.

 

I spent most of my life "booking Bella" and booking guarantees...inside guarantees actually. We saved alot...and now it's all about comfort and convenience!  

[3DogDay]

I just got off my first MSC cruise and I will try to be as objective as possible. There were a couple they did exceptionally well as in “How has no other cruise line figured this out?”  There were other things that they did about as well as other lines and quite a few things the were done only to barely reach the “good enough” level. Finally there were numerous things that were stunningly bad. Worst cruise ever? Not even remotely close. But have they won me over as a repeat customer? Not likely. They don’t seem to be unaware of the things that they could do better, they just appear to chose not to. A lot of people choose to you use Carnival as the lowest bar to set for cruising, yet I have been on several Carnival cruises and they all have exceeded this one. I chose MSC for the itinerary as they were the only ones doing anything like it. I would probably cruise with them again only if it were a similar situation and even then I would really have to think long and hard about it. 

[JamieLogical]

16 minutes ago, 3DogDay said:

I just got off my first MSC cruise and I will try to be as objective as possible. There were a couple they did exceptionally well as in “How has no other cruise line figured this out?”  There were other things that they did about as well as other lines and quite a few things the were done only to barely reach the “good enough” level. Finally there were numerous things that were stunningly bad. Worst cruise ever? Not even remotely close. But have they won me over as a repeat customer? Not likely. They don’t seem to be unaware of the things that they could do better, they just appear to chose not to. A lot of people choose to you use Carnival as the lowest bar to set for cruising, yet I have been on several Carnival cruises and they all have exceeded this one. I chose MSC for the itinerary as they were the only ones doing anything like it. I would probably cruise with them again only if it were a similar situation and even then I would really have to think long and hard about it. 

 

Would you mind elaborating on the things you felt they did well and the things you feel the did not? Your review is a bit vague.

[3DogDay]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

1 hour ago, 3DogDay said:

I just got off my first MSC cruise and I will try to be as objective as possible. There were a couple they did exceptionally well as in “How has no other cruise line figured this out?”  There were other things that they did about as well as other lines and quite a few things the were done only to barely reach the “good enough” level. Finally there were numerous things that were stunningly bad. Worst cruise ever? Not even remotely close. But have they won me over as a repeat customer? Not likely. They don’t seem to be unaware of the things that they could do better, they just appear to chose not to. A lot of people choose to you use Carnival as the lowest bar to set for cruising, yet I have been on several Carnival cruises and they all have exceeded this one. I chose MSC for the itinerary as they were the only ones doing anything like it. I would probably cruise with them again only if it were a similar situation and even then I would really have to think long and hard about it. 

Expand  

 

Would you mind elaborating on the things you felt they did well and the things you feel the

 

It wasn’t intended to be a review as much as it was my over all and first impression. And from what I have read I would be repeating more of the same, which is why I believed MSC is more than aware of their short comings but not interested in addressing my them. But yes, when I have more time to enumerate each point and expand upon each of them I will do so. 

[Beamafar]

12 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

It wasn’t intended to be a review as much as it was my over all and first impression. And from what I have read I would be repeating more of the same, which is why I believed MSC is more than aware of their short comings but not interested in addressing my them. But yes, when I have more time to enumerate each point and expand upon each of them I will do so. 

We’ve been sailing MSC since 2011 and couldn’t agree more with that statement. 

[perakcruiser]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We’ve been sailing MSC since 2011 and couldn’t agree more with that statement. 

Oh, we started cruising MSC in the same year! 🙂

And certainly this is true. But who expects MSC to address all these things we all know? I don´t and I think their success does not depend on this at all. Over the years so often I was thinking to leave them, but the others are usually not able to offer a product that matches MSC with the combination of quality, itinerary, value and reliability. Every year I try to book Costa, always they miss the final comparison. My only "problem" is that the 2024 prices are really much higher than before. Still I found no other option for the week in May I needed.

[teiseler]

My experience with MSC went bad before the cruise even started.

I had FCC from a cancelled cruise during COVID. Then, when I tried to use them, the price of the cruise I booked magically went up by 300USD, exactly the amount of my FCC.

That was a scam perpereated by MSC.

And to add insult to injury, I called them, emailed them, snail mailed them for about a month to fix the price of the cruise, often without getting any reply whatsoever.

In the end, I ended up canceling the cruise for a full refund, which took them 4 months to credit me.

 

After that experience, I vowed never to give MSC one single cent.

The cruises might be OK, but MSC's customer service is almost non existant and scummy to boot.

 

I'd advise anybody to stay far far away from MSC!

[3DogDay]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We’ve been sailing MSC since 2011 and couldn’t agree more with that statement. 

Oh, we started cruising MSC in the same year! 🙂

And certainly this is true. But who expects MSC to address all these things we all know? I don´t and I think their success does not depend on this at all. Over the years so often I was thinking to leave them, but the others are usually not able to offer a product that matches MSC with the combination of quality, itinerary, value and reliability. Every year I try to book Costa, always they miss the final comparison. My only "problem" is that the 2024 prices are really much higher than before. Still I found no other option for the week in May I needed.

Unfortunately some of the issues that I experienced were more than I wish they had 1200 thread count sheets on the bed or that there was no steak and lobster on the gala night. My biggest issues were thing that impacted cleanliness and hygiene, and I have seen these issues mentioned numerous times in other posts. As I said I will detail my experience when I have a moment, but I will end this by saying that I would have gladly traded the nice to haves to correct  the other issues. 

[perakcruiser]

8 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

Unfortunately some of the issues that I experienced were more than I wish they had 1200 thread count sheets on the bed or that there was no steak and lobster on the gala night.

Good, because lobster at gala night is not something you can expect at MSC, I never had it from 2011 to 2023 and will not have it in 2024😄 I know that on some ships at some times MSC did offer it, I only believe because I saw the photos. 

[3DogDay]

9 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

17 hours ago, 3DogDay said:

Unfortunately some of the issues that I experienced were more than I wish they had 1200 thread count sheets on the bed or that there was no steak and lobster on the gala night.

Good, because lobster at gala night is not something you can expect at MSC, I never had it from 2011 to 2023 and will not have it in 2024😄 I know that on some ships at some times MSC did offer it, I only believe because I saw the photos. 

I think those days are long gone for almost all the lines (at least the ones for us commoners anyway 🙂).