How does MSC compare?

[sjde]

I've been on many cruise lines but never MSC. A friend whose parents are travel agents told me they prefer MSC. How do you think I'

d find it compared to RCCL, Princess, Norwegian, etc? TIA!

[Toofarfromthesea]

I've only sailed MSC in the Yacht Club.  It was wonderful, and since it is not nearly as expensive as other lines' ship within a ship offerings I think it is the best bang for the buck at sea.

[sjde]

This is probably like The Haven on Norwegian?

[George C]

22 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

I've only sailed MSC in the Yacht Club.  It was wonderful, and since it is not nearly as expensive as other lines' ship within a ship offerings I think it is the best bang for the buck at sea.

We are also a huge fan of MSc yacht club , sailing her again in December. We also do nothing but suites on rccl and celebrity, rccl is a distance 3rd compared to the other two . Celebrity prices were crazy recently but have recently lowered the price of there suites.

[capriccio]

We usually sail in Princess mini-suites or, a decade ago when we were both still working and splurging, full suites.

 

In 2019 we decided to try MSC.  When I told my long time travel agent that we were thinking of trying MSC there was a long pause on the other end of the line.  When I added "in the Yacht Club" she let out an audible sigh of relief and said "That's the only level I would recommend.  You'll love it!"  She was right.  We sailed in the YC in January 2020 and December 2021. 

 

Princess has just introduced a new ship (the Sun Princess) which is meant to have a suite area in competition with the Haven, the Retreat and the Yacht Club.  We are trying it next January but based on initial feedback that remains to be seen.

[rrraydon]

I sailed MSC for the first time last month. I've recently booked a half dozen or so solo cruises on RC, Celebrity and even Carnival and while cruise shopping, I found a really good last-minute deal on MSC and I thought, "what the heck, give it try". I sailed on the Magnifica (in the cheap seats), and I had a very enjoyable cruise. My expectations were low after reading some reviews, but my experience was nowhere near what some of the reviewers experienced. I found MSC to be above Carnival and equal to RC in many ways. Their shows were not as good as RC but MSC has a lot more lounges and bar areas than RC and every time I walked in to one there was live music playing. RC I feel like only has live music playing at 2 or 3 of their lounges at one time and a lot of times in their lounges or bar areas it's just a DJ or music streaming through speakers.

 

I enjoyed MSC so much I am looking to cruise in the YC. I started looking yesterday to book for next year. In the meantime, I booked another short one in the cheap seats for next month. 😆

[sfaaa]

Beautiful ships, low price, average food, ships mostly going to Caribbean only in N America. You also see a lot more passengers from S America and Europe. I would not hesitate to book MSC if the price is right.

[Toofarfromthesea]

7 hours ago, sjde said:

This is probably like The Haven on Norwegian?

Way less expensive.  Beyond that I can't say, but I believe there are a number of YouTube videos comparing Haven with Yacht Club.

[John Bull]

We've sailed MSC a couple of times, and another coming up.

Being poverty-stricken pensioners 😏 we've never sailed Yacht Club but still enjoyed the cruises.

 

Youngest and most-stylish fleet in the business, a real wow. And with lots of toys - depending which ships things like F1 simulator & bowling alley (both pay-extra), incredibly-technical theatre stage, massive & feature-filled kids' adventure & water playgrounds, etc.

Keen prices, esp for kids.

 

A few negatives.....

A smart-phone based booking system for everything including dining. But other ships are going the same way,.no fun for techo-dinosaurs like JB 

Multi-lingual PA announcements & theatre compere, which get to be extremely boring - especially when that compere loves to show off his linguistic skills with long monologues. Lots of passengers whose first language isn't English, so some very stilted conversations. But no significant language difficulties with the crew, the only recurring problem is explaining "shandy". Those linguistic matters apply to European cruises, others can tell you if its the same on the other side of The Pond.

MDR food involves a lot of pasta, service is laid-back, and you may have to ask for a jug of water on the table or a post-dinner coffee, and that's a clue about why MSC get poor English-language reviews. Americans & Brits are surprised to find that Italian ships do things the Italian way 🙄. Expect the American or British way & you'll be disappointed, go with the flow & you'll have a great cruise.

 

JB 🙂

[Tapi]

I find it to be at par with Royal Caribbean but with a European flair. Big ships with a "wow" factor. Definitely a mass market cruise line with similar activities, cuisine, and upcharge options. If sailing on an itinerary that features their private island in the Bahamas, I prefer Ocean Cay over Coco Cay. (Ocean Cay has more of a laid back, private island feel. Coco Cay feels like an amusement aquatic park).

 

I've sailed on MSC in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, and I prefer their product in the Mediterranean.

 

There's always a debate about MSC only being worth it in the Yacht Club. I disagree. While its true that the Yacht Club offers a fantastic product that elevates the entire experience (the same can be said for other cruise lines offering a similar product), I personally feel that it's not a must to enjoy an MSC cruise. We've done Fantastica, Aurea and Yacht Club, and have enjoyed all of them. 

[Markanddonna]

Unless you are able to pay for the Yacht club, ignore the comments about that category. I find MSC pretty close to NCL and RCL. The food is somewhat disappointing, but like others have said, you can always find something appealing. Really, I make much better Italian food! 

 

On our last MSC cruise last month, I'd say the theatre entertainment was perhaps the second-best of all our cruises. The lounge entertainment was mediocre.  

 

Every sailing is different. For example, we traveled about 5 years ago in Europe out of Rome and there were announcements in EIGHT language (1/3 of the passengers were mainland China.) That got irritating really fast. Last month, the announcements were ONLY in English out of PC.

 

 

[sjde]

With this being the case-

“Youngest and most-stylish fleet in the business,“ how can they be less expensive than others like RCCL? 
I know in the case of river cruises , we found Grand Circle to be Much less than the others ( except Gate 1) and there’s an understandable explanation. They don’t advertise( except to past cruisers) and they don’t pay travel agent’s commission , so those savings are passed down to the passengers. 

[ZandZ]

I've cruised RCI exclusively pre-pandemic.  My last two cruises with them I began to get tired of the food options, especially at the buffet.  Cruised with MSC last May, really enjoyed it, so much more than RCI.  We were Balcony Aurea, which gave us the "my time dining" experience.  We used the spa heavily and stayed clear of entertainment - just best friends enjoying card games, Netflix and books.  My only dislike about MSC Meraviglia was that for me, their gym was too small and crowded, as compared to most RCI gyms.  

 

Booked into Magnifica with my 14yo later this month.  We plan on doing more "partying" and socializing than my last cruise.

 

For me, even if price and itinerary are the same, I would chose MSC at this point.  Maybe I will go back to RCI at some point, but certainly not at their current prices!

Edited April 9 by ZandZ

[JimmyTheSaint]

We did one MSC cruise in the Mediterranean a few years ago and it was one and done for us. The ship was the nicest ship we've sailed on, great cabin, really nice fixtures and fittings throughout the ship. Everything else about the cruise and the ship was very disappointing. The food, service and entertainment were very poor, nowhere near the standards you get with RCI, NCL or Carnival. Multiple announcements throughout the day in multiple languages so they lasted about 20 minutes per announcement. There were passengers embarking and disembarking daily and using some of the communal areas for muster station reporting or assembly before disembarking. It all seemed a bit chaotic and lacking organisation. No thanks. 

[Essiesmom]

3 hours ago, sjde said:

With this being the case-

“Youngest and most-stylish fleet in the business,“ how can they be less expensive than others like RCCL? 
 

Because MSC is a family owned company, no stockholders to appease.  Likely they didn’t suffer any debt because of Covid…being sister company of MSC cargo, probably the largest cargo company…likely any funds to sustain came out of the cargo coffers.  EM

[shipgeeks]

If considering MSC, I would recommend acquainting oneself with the four "experiences". Each one has a different base price, and perhaps equally important, different benefits. Bella and Fantastica, the lower end, have assigned dinner times; Aurea has "anytime" dining. That was an absolute deciding factor for us, as we will only do fixed dining. We booked Bella, and had two very fine cruises. Aurea is more spa-related, and so on.

If you have a loyalty level with another cruise line, it can be worthwhile doing a Status Match, which can give you some nice onboard benefits.

And finally, you might find some elements that some find shocking, others rightly put down to cultural differences. If you order toast, it might not automatically include butter, as that is not a European thing.  You might need to ask for washcloths in your cabin, if they are not there. Again, a cultural thing.  We found the passenger mix, and these amenity differences, a very positive element of our cruises; more like truly being "away" instead of next door for our vacation.

[wcook]

I’m sailed MSC in steerage. Similar product to Carnival/Royal/Norwegian. Only noticeable downside was weak entertainment shows. I’d happily sail again if they have the right price and itinerary. 

Edited April 9 by wcook

[SelectSys]

7 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Because MSC is a family owned company, no stockholders to appease...  

Absolutely a big advantage when you don't have to manage shareholders and have a much easier time investing in projects/areas that have longer payback periods to achieve a desired return.

 

7 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

sister company of MSC cargo, probably the largest cargo company…likely any funds to sustain came out of the cargo coffers

Super deep pockets to support investment.

[Markanddonna]

Another observation. I've been on 30 cruises and generally found every crew to be top notch, efficient and polite. Two out of our three past MSC cruises had some really significant crew problems. The worst MDR server we have ever had, and on one ship that was way understaffed, we saw the crew looked weary and sad. One in the buffet even told his stories of MSC woes to us. He said that they now had three times the responsibilities. That MDR server kept blaming the slow kitchen, but it was her curt, surly tone that was bothersome. Someone should have told her that saying "yeah, yeah" in a sour tone after every request is viewed as impolite. Calling women who were of any motherly age "Mama" and anyone younger "baby" is not cool.Unreal. 

[sverigecruiser]

On 4/9/2024 at 9:31 AM, Toofarfromthesea said:

Way less expensive.  

 

And better!

[jdvmd]

Love MSC and would not hesitate to book them again. Have been on several as well as every other cruise line numerous times.