So Far Carnival is Winning vs NCL

[sgttami]

Once on MSC:  A friend invited me on MSC Divina out of Miami back in 2017.  I was Diamond Plus on RCL so they matched my status for the trip and we had the top perks.

 

We had fun overall but neither of us was crazy about it.  Met some nice people but some were very obnoxious.  Once was enough.

 

Thought about it again when I saw NY sailings but looking back, Once was enough!

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I will probably try Seascape when it comes to Galveston. They have status match and matched me up to gold which is their equivalent of platinum. Hopefully they'll match me again up to Diamond when I get there. 

 

Nope. MSC used to, but poached too many customers away. MSC cutback on the benefits and match. The other shoe is if you don't keep cruising with them - at least once every 3 years - they boot you from the program.

[Stick93]

MSC has too many negatives after the ships look nice… - on this the Carnival wins 

[Illbcruzn4life]

5 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

No comedy and no piano bar combined with too much European skewed stuff is what turned us off to MSC.

We had a so called comedian on Meraviglia. It was so quiet in there you could have heard a pin drop. He was not funny at all.

[KKB]

18 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Celebrity is in our rearview mirror because of their changes with their drinks packages.  I'm ok with the classic but my DH likes to upgrade to the premium.  Until our 18 day B2B on them last year, the charge to upgrade was 10 + 2 for grats per day.  It's now 20 + 4 and both occupants need to do it.  So what was 12 bucks a day for 1 is now 48 a day for 2.  The removal of gratuities in their package also costs an extra 250 or so to a 7 day sailing.  We usually stay in an inside HC cabin and like to keep the costs as low as possible.  Comparing X to Princess price wise is a joke.  Because of this and the way that we've enjoyed our previous two B2B's on Princess, we currently have 11 cruises booked on them over the next two years consisting of 28 on Sun, 28 on Star and 35 on Enchanted.

Good to know--I usually upgrade myself for the wine choices but DH is a beer guy. Will be cheaper to pay a few $ a day for upcharge for me.

I agree they keep raising prices plus dropping gratuities on AI...I need a pretty good deal to pull the trigger even if they are my fav.

[KKB]

21 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

to be honest because it was cheap. Figured I would give them a second chance and see if it's any different out of Florida opposed to Brooklyn. Also going when school is still in so hopefully the kids won't be as plentiful. 14 day cruise for $1500. I also have had the World America booked for a long time. If this doesn't pan out I'll cancel that the day I get back and wait 2-3 months for my refund.

 

17 hours ago, LatinaInTexas said:

That's crazy! We sailed out of Florida. One thing I noticed about the passengers was that they were quiet. They mostly kept to themselves. Polite, maybe a bit reserved and so were the crew. Not like on Carnival where no matter where you are or what you are doing someone will strike up a conversation with you lol.

We aren't social butterflies so it was ok for us.

Huh. 

Divina out of FL last Feb. B2B

Plenty of rudeness to go around. I remember talking with a guy from Illinois & he asked "Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of rude people on this cruise?"  I agreed...We had just gotten off a tender where people began to stand & walk for the exit before the tender was even at the ship much less stopped. They were told to sit down for everyone's safety & so the captain could see where to go. They sat for maybe 20 seconds...then just did it again.

I remember trying to walk around the deck above the pool...impossible to do w/o zig zagging around loungers. They were pulled anywhere & everywhere. I had never seen such a thing.

 

[Saint Greg]

NCL has the $500 cruise first certificates for $250 today.

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program
 

 

[LatinaInTexas]

3 hours ago, KKB said:

 

Huh. 

Divina out of FL last Feb. B2B

Plenty of rudeness to go around. I remember talking with a guy from Illinois & he asked "Is it just me, or are there an awful lot of rude people on this cruise?"  I agreed...We had just gotten off a tender where people began to stand & walk for the exit before the tender was even at the ship much less stopped. They were told to sit down for everyone's safety & so the captain could see where to go. They sat for maybe 20 seconds...then just did it again.

I remember trying to walk around the deck above the pool...impossible to do w/o zig zagging around loungers. They were pulled anywhere & everywhere. I had never seen such a thing.

 

I have seen plenty of less than stellar reviews concerning MSC cruises, Davina and Meraviglia mostly and a lot from 5+ years ago. I started checking out MSC about 7 years ago but a friend that cruises a lot advised me to wait a bit, they were still struggling to connect with their American passengers. I did wait and had a great cruise. Have actually seen just as many less than stellar reviews about most every cruise line. But I don't think I have really seen any bad reviews about the Seashore which is the ship I sailed on.

 

[cacruisin]

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

[LatinaInTexas]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

NCL has the $500 cruise first certificates for $250 today.

 

https://www.ncl.com/cruisefirst-program
 

 

Thanks, have used the two I had guess I better grab another one. I have a feeling I will want to go back to Alaska next year.

[KKB]

19 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

Good question...having sailed MSC, I'm not sure what they mean either...

[LatinaInTexas]

1 minute ago, cacruisin said:

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

Is sounds like I had a one off MSC cruise in that I loved it but here are my thoughts.

The people onboard seemed to be from many different countries with Americans maybe being the minority. The cruise director announced just how many different countries and it was a huge number but I don't remember exactly how many.

The passengers were quite pretty. Meaning they looked tanned, fit, healthy, and dressed nicely. I think I saw exactly one scooter the whole cruise.

The passengers were polite to a fault, no rushing the elevators, lines were orderly, no getting crowded and bumped into.

Like I mentioned the passengers were quiet and kept to themselves. They didn't really talk to you or make small talk. I didn't hear a lot of English spoken so that might be part of it.

The passengers liked to eat late so if you like to eat earlier it was much less crowded.

There were times when at the pool there were rows of loungers available until almost 11 am. Didn't really see chair hogs.

Like I said I sailed on the Seashore and it was designed with lots of outdoor space so the indoor spaces never felt crowded. We sailed at capacity and there were so many nice relaxing places indoors that just sat empty.

The food was presented beautifully and tasted delicious. We eat a lot of meat at home and there was some type of beef, pork, or chicken every night, not everything was Italian but what I tried I loved. For the first time in a long time I actually ate and liked the food at the buffet.

The staff and workers were different compared to other lines. They were more serious and work focused. They were very polite and nice but didn't really chat or socialize. My husband was called Sir Billy and I was called Madame Linda the whole cruise. One time we were at the pool and we had a young server attending to us. We told him we were going to leave out stuff and go to lunch. When we got back to our loungers there were 2 drinks waiting for us, ice wasn't even melted. I don't know how he timed that but it was impressive lol.

Those are my views on my cruise. I hope when I sail them again it's a great experience again!

[cacruisin]

12 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Is sounds like I had a one off MSC cruise in that I loved it but here are my thoughts.

The people onboard seemed to be from many different countries with Americans maybe being the minority. The cruise director announced just how many different countries and it was a huge number but I don't remember exactly how many.

The passengers were quite pretty. Meaning they looked tanned, fit, healthy, and dressed nicely. I think I saw exactly one scooter the whole cruise.

The passengers were polite to a fault, no rushing the elevators, lines were orderly, no getting crowded and bumped into.

Like I mentioned the passengers were quiet and kept to themselves. They didn't really talk to you or make small talk. I didn't hear a lot of English spoken so that might be part of it.

The passengers liked to eat late so if you like to eat earlier it was much less crowded.

There were times when at the pool there were rows of loungers available until almost 11 am. Didn't really see chair hogs.

Like I said I sailed on the Seashore and it was designed with lots of outdoor space so the indoor spaces never felt crowded. We sailed at capacity and there were so many nice relaxing places indoors that just sat empty.

The food was presented beautifully and tasted delicious. We eat a lot of meat at home and there was some type of beef, pork, or chicken every night, not everything was Italian but what I tried I loved. For the first time in a long time I actually ate and liked the food at the buffet.

The staff and workers were different compared to other lines. They were more serious and work focused. They were very polite and nice but didn't really chat or socialize. My husband was called Sir Billy and I was called Madame Linda the whole cruise. One time we were at the pool and we had a young server attending to us. We told him we were going to leave out stuff and go to lunch. When we got back to our loungers there were 2 drinks waiting for us, ice wasn't even melted. I don't know how he timed that but it was impressive lol.

Those are my views on my cruise. I hope when I sail them again it's a great experience again!

Thank you for taking the time to give an explanation.  

[BlerkOne]

46 minutes ago, cacruisin said:

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

One thing, as I understand it, is all PA announcements are made in about 50 languages. I find 1 to be annoying enough.

[jimbo5544]

23 minutes ago, KKB said:

Good question...having sailed MSC, I'm not sure what they mean either...

It has been a good long while since we sailed on the Orchestra when she came over and was MSC's first venture in the US market.  Then (not sure now), there were several things which made it different.  First was, because many Europeans were on the ship, every announcement was done in five languages.  Not a big difference, but got boring.  MDR experience was different as well.  Service was, they seemed to.....be slow.  This was done consistently.  I had a high expectation level for the food, and was disappointed.  The entertainment was VERY different, not bad, but different.  Pool chairs around the pool were chair to chair all over the deck.  Very packed in feeling.  again, this was years ago. 

[KKB]

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

It has been a good long while since we sailed on the Orchestra when she came over and was MSC's first venture in the US market.  Then (not sure now), there were several things which made it different.  First was, because many Europeans were on the ship, every announcement was done in five languages.  Not a big difference, but got boring.  MDR experience was different as well.  Service was, they seemed to.....be slow.  This was done consistently.  I had a high expectation level for the food, and was disappointed.  The entertainment was VERY different, not bad, but different.  Pool chairs around the pool were chair to chair all over the deck.  Very packed in feeling.  again, this was years ago. 

Still do announcements in several languages.

Agree, overall, food wasn't that great (huh--I LOVE food in Italy!) 

Except pizza--AMAZING.

Chairs are usually fairly packed in on most cruises...

Service--other than some dinners, happy to say, I had exceptional bar & server service. 

Chatted them up; they knew I was solo--they took care of me.

[Illbcruzn4life]

6 hours ago, cacruisin said:

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

I don't see much difference between MSC and the established cruises like Carnival, NCL, etc. I must say that if things go sideways on MSC they seem to be at a loss as to how to correct anything. The interaction I had at the excursion desk was flawless but the maitre'd interaction I had was a zero.

[CruizinSusan70]

With there being so many different people from different countries the entertainment is different so that language would not be a barrier.  There is also no piano bar or comedy club and they even had opera.  The multiple language announcements usually occur in the cruises that sail in Europe.  The two cruises we sailed in 2018 and 2023 in the Caribbean only had announcements in English.

[firefly333]

19 hours ago, cacruisin said:

You guys have peeked my interest, what are the differences between a more "European" style to cruising and the "American" style.  Not referring to the low class aspect...

 

Just out of curiosity....

 

TIA.....

10 years or maybe longer ago msc didnt think ice was needed in soft drinks for instance. I hear this is european or maybe that too has changed. MSC was different from carnival back then. Desserts were less sweet. 

 

I think they finally have come around I hear these days.

[Ladyinflight]

Just came off the Escape last week. The food was good, the cruise drector (Henry) was excellent but, the entertainment sucked, terrible, stink, rotten and just plain awful.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the cruise.  There's nothing special about Escape.

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Ladyinflight said:

Just came off the Escape last week. The food was good, the cruise drector (Henry) was excellent but, the entertainment sucked, terrible, stink, rotten and just plain awful.  Otherwise, I enjoyed the cruise.  There's nothing special about Escape.

I am confused…..did you like the entertainment?😎

[jimbo5544]

On 3/14/2024 at 4:54 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

We never witnessed that on our Meraviglia sailing, but if it's indeed true, that would be even lower than the Loyal Royals calling Carnival the Walmart of the Seas.

Meh….loyal royals cannot help themselves, they are lemmings.  Went to a comedy (overstated) show on Oasis and his entire rant was on CCL.