Blows me away to read the disparity of opinions on MSC.

[Stockjock]

I was just looking at the reviews of MSC passengers.  It seems as if there is no middle ground in terms of opinions.  I'll read a long list of 1-2 star reviews, followed by a string of 4-5 star reviews.

As an example, one passenger on Divina, said the ship was old and tired and badly in need of a remodel, while the next review, possibly by someone on the same cruise, called Divina "a beautiful ship."

I wonder if there's a more controversial cruise line?  You apparently love them or hate them.

Here are the MSC reviews here on Cruise Critic.  I've always had a nice time on MSC, with a few missteps here and there, but obviously some feel differently.  As I've mentioned, shoreside customers service does suck and should be avoided, if possible.  That's not the agents' fault, but rather, the system that MSC has in place where agents are not empowered to solve problems.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/msc/reviews
 

[bucfan2]

40 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

I was just looking at the reviews of MSC passengers.  It seems as if there is no middle ground in terms of opinions.  I'll read a long list of 1-2 star reviews, followed by a string of 4-5 star reviews.

Prior to sailing MSC, we were advised 'If cruising in steerage, steer far far away.  If cruising in YC, get ready to be blown away'.

 

We have only sailed in YC, and can say it beats any suite experience we've ever had cruising. 

[Two Wheels Only]

Costa and Carnival are a bit more "love it or hate it" but MSC is up there, too.

[Mommapadraig]

36 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

Prior to sailing MSC, we were advised 'If cruising in steerage, steer far far away.  If cruising in YC, get ready to be blown away'.

 

We have only sailed in YC, and can say it beats any suite experience we've ever had cruising. 

We were told the same thing so we stay in Yacht club and yes we were blown away. Far exceeded any Haven experience. That being said I may look at trying steerage on one cruise. I have met many people who absolutely love it.

[Stockjock]

3 minutes ago, Mommapadraig said:

We were told the same thing so we stay in Yacht club and yes we were blown away. Far exceeded any Haven experience. That being said I may look at trying steerage on one cruise. I have met many people who absolutely love it.

I've not done YC, but I have enjoyed my trips in "steerage."  Much cheaper too.

[hapytobehr]

I have done both-"steerage" on the Divina and YC on Seaside.

 

No comparison.  We are doing YC on Seashore for Halloween-can't wait.

 

I will say that both ships were beautiful.

[ready2cruzagain]

54 minutes ago, bucfan2 said:

Prior to sailing MSC, we were advised 'If cruising in steerage, steer far far away.  If cruising in YC, get ready to be blown away'.

 

We have only sailed in YC, and can say it beats any suite experience we've ever had cruising. 

I have sailed 14 cruises on MSC in "steerage" and hate when I read things like "stay away". Getting ready to go on our 60th cruise on different cruise lines and MSC "steerage" is awesome! We sail 3 to 4 weeks on a ship at a time and I can do that in "steerage" where as I would only be able to do 7 days in YC.  MSC has the nicest crew of any cruise ship I have ever been on and after our next 22 days on NCL will be looking at going back to MSC.

[squigglydownunder]

While we enjoyed our cruise overall and it was a beautiful ship but there were a lot of little annoyances that added up.

 

I can see that depending on your personality type and expectations, those things may not detract from the overall experiences or it can be death by 1000 cuts.

 

I can totally understand now how MSC gets extremes when it comes to reviews.

[bucfan2]

3 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I have sailed 14 cruises on MSC in "steerage" and hate when I read things like "stay away". Getting ready to go on our 60th cruise on different cruise lines and MSC "steerage" is awesome! We sail 3 to 4 weeks on a ship at a time and I can do that in "steerage" where as I would only be able to do 7 days in YC.  MSC has the nicest crew of any cruise ship I have ever been on and after our next 22 days on NCL will be looking at going back to MSC.

Awesome.  We would like to try ourselves, and probably will at some point;  been reluctant to do so based on experiences of friends as well as overall reviews. We're pretty easy to please, so that will help if we decide to do so. 

[Mommapadraig]

12 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I have sailed 14 cruises on MSC in "steerage" and hate when I read things like "stay away". Getting ready to go on our 60th cruise on different cruise lines and MSC "steerage" is awesome! We sail 3 to 4 weeks on a ship at a time and I can do that in "steerage" where as I would only be able to do 7 days in YC.  MSC has the nicest crew of any cruise ship I have ever been on and after our next 22 days on NCL will be looking at going back to MSC.

I know there are different experiences. What do you recommend?

[ready2cruzagain]

1 minute ago, Mommapadraig said:

I know there are different experiences. What do you recommend?

We sail in Fantastica because we like to pick our own cabin. Bella you get a guarantee cabin. Both of those are set time dining. If you have to eat at anytime dining then you could do Aurea. 

[DaKahuna]

 I take most reviews with a grain of salt.  Everyone sees the world through their own view and 99% of the time your view and someone else's view is different.  

 

 I have found that cruising, like life, is what you make of it.  No one is going to be able to affect  your view of something but yourself.  Life is too short.  You are on a cruise, if one place is too crowded or loud for you, go somewhere else that isn't don't stay where you are not happy.  

 

 Don't like the food you were served, order something else. 

 Bar service slow at your favorite bar, find another bar. 

 Music too loud or not to your liking, go somewhere else. 

 

 

[Two Wheels Only]

43 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

I have sailed 14 cruises on MSC in "steerage" and hate when I read things like "stay away".

 

I confess that I like the bad reviews...because they keep people away.

 

"Stay with Carnival...."  is the best way for a bad review to end.

[MISTER 67]

We’ve been on 5 MSC cruises and just booked the 6th. The first 4 were on the Divina and we loved that ship, the 5th was on the Seaside, beautiful ship but it seemed like they were going after a younger crowd with ear shattering music with the DJ In the Atrium, our next cruise is on the Seashore on August 4th.
Food has always been good, not great. We’ve always had very good service. The entertainment has always been outstanding, we always enjoyed the condensed versions of some very well done Opera presentations. On board prices have always been fair and we didn’t see the gouging that we have seen on other lines. We haven’t sailed with them since 2019 so it will interesting to see if things have changed. We have been cruising since 1982 with 74 cruises so we know most of the cruise lines and for those wondering I would say go ahead and book with MSC.

 

 

[no1talks]

52 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

"...we always enjoyed the condensed versions of some very well done Opera presentations."

By all reports, these are a thing of the past. I've not read of one such operatic matinée performance in a year or more. 

Edited Monday at 09:37 PM by no1talks

[MISTER 67]

9 minutes ago, no1talks said:

By all reports, these are a thing of the past. I've not read of one such operatic matinée performance in a year or more. 

Sorry to hear that. I actually cried during Madame Butterfly. 

[Mommapadraig]

2 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

We sail in Fantastica because we like to pick our own cabin. Bella you get a guarantee cabin. Both of those are set time dining. If you have to eat at anytime dining then you could do Aurea. 

Thanks

[Mezqal]

DW and i cruisin since 2018, there we booked a cruise to Iceland from Hamburg. We booked fantastica and were  upgraded to an interior YC on MSC Meraviglia. 

 

Once YC, always YC.... Only one out of 13 cruises was with gen pop, Grandiosa in 2022 to Norway. We learned never again without YC.... it was not as bad, as.it sounds like, but if you know the amenities in YC it's tough to miss the special treatments you get with a YC booking if you book normal cabins.

 

And no, we're no Cheerleaders for MSC because of some strange/unfortunate circumstances with the pandemic or the lack of organisation or service we'd been through with MSC. Once we had even a lawsuit with them.

 

But: YC is overall such a great product with loads of benefits for a affordable amount of money that we always go on with booking MSC YC.

 

 

[luckyinpa]

all my cruises except 2 (balcony on NCL and mini suite on princess) are in suites across all lines. OP doesnt say if they are suite or not suite seekers.

 

But the service of YC was superior to my Royal suite on liberty of the seas, my 1BR aqua on oasis of the seas as well as the crown lofts. my butler for my 2 BR haven suite was pretty much non existent. the balcony on the 2BR haven suite was the same size as my balcony YC suite on the Mera. amazing.

 

for the price the balcony cabin in YC is where im pretty happy now. booked the 2nd YC balcony for september. 2600 for a week in bermuda is cheaper than even my first crown loft in 2021. But you get free drinks, refilled fridge to your liking, free wifi, butler, suite deck pool, fantastic pool deck buffet, and attentiveness i never have gotten before (well for my royal suite on liberty they did literally walk me on the ship and to my cabin before everyone else). oh and they give you a bottle of booze in YC as well.

 

im sure someone else has done a breakdown but no one can beat this value. if you want a fancy cabin, as i normally have in the past you may not find it in YC (i never was in the 2 story suite or royal suite in YC to judge).  but if you want better service at a cheaper price with more perks you really need to at least try YC.

 

also every other part of the ship i did visit and enjoy, i saw nothing wrong with it. i never did go to the buffet so maybe thats the issue people hate.

 

i will criticize the butler for not consistently delivering snacks (though since i never asked for any can it really be a criticism?)  and it did take 2 days to get the newspaper i requested. so i guess there are my complaints 🙂

Edited Monday at 10:31 PM by luckyinpa

[JustAPilot]

Having sailed YC in the Med on Splendida I will say the reviews are justified. The experience in YC is not consistent across the board which for example with Haven it’s pretty consistent and you know what to expect. The daily newspaper I never requested it but talking to some guests who did they were told to download the app and read it from there and that they don’t give out physical papers anymore..?

 

Food is subjective of course but I didn’t find the quality to be very high standard, only 1 dinner they had lobster tails on the menu and the meats were not of the highest quality, kind of fatty. Wine options for the pairings were not anything more than $20 a bottle, Haven has Napa Valley Cab’s like Silverado and Veuve champagne. Which leads me to the bar discussion and asking the bar to make you something with this ingredient and liquor, there wasn’t any creativity like the Haven bar and your essentially having to tell them what you want. Still had a fantastic experience and the staff really make the experience in YC just fantastic and the word “no” was not in their vocabulary. 
 

Edited Tuesday at 02:58 PM by JustAPilot

[Sharon_and_TC]

18 minutes ago, JustAPilot said:

Which leads me to the bar discussion and asking the bar to make you something with this ingredient and liquor, there wasn’t any creativity like the Haven bar and your essentially having to tell them what you want. Still had a fantastic experience and the staff really make the experience in YC just fantastic and the word “no” was not in their vocabulary. 
 

After a couple of weeks in the Haven on the NCL Bliss last year, we definitely agree that the bar service in the Haven definitely outdoes what we got in the YC on Seascape by leaps and bounds.  But that is the difference between bartender and mixologist.  The Haven's different infused liquors (some infused by the mixologists themselves) definitely improved the taste and enjoyment of the drinks.  

 

However, the bar service, in our opinion, is not enough to justify the huge cost difference.

 

We also agree with the willingness to do whatever to deliver (aka, "no" not in their vocabulary) is one of the high points of Yacht Club.

[JamieLogical]

As you know, I am a big MSC cheerleader at the moment. If you sail in steerage, like me, I think it is the best bang for your buck than any of the other mainstream lines right now. I can understand how MSC's product can seem inconsistent. They have been making a lot of changes since moving to the US market and have really accelerated those changes post-COVID on sailings out of the US at least. So, it makes sense to me that you might get wildly different reviews between ships and itineraries as that transition continues.

 

I think the source of a lot of the negative reviews about US sailings is that MSC is still not completely in line with the "Big 3" in the US on some things that experienced cruisers might expect. Some of the main differences I point out whenever I recommend MSC to people are: fixed dining times, smaller portions in the MDRs, "fancier" food options in the MDR, limited TV channels, production shows with little plot/dialog, and less artificially cheerful crew.

 

If those things or the combination of them are things that will make or break your cruise, you probably won't have a great time. For me, none of them are a big deal. I actually found that I kind of missed fixed dining on my most recent Princess cruise! Smaller portions in the MDR are perfect for me because I had weight loss surgery years ago and can't eat much in one sitting. I like the fancier food items and getting to try new things. I had frog legs for the first time on my Divina cruise in February! I don't go on a cruise to watch TV, but I am thrilled that MSC has every NFL game available on in-room TVs throughout the NFL season in the US. The less structured production shows are fine with me. I don't often go to production shows anyway. I like that MSC's are short and I get that it's better for an international audience to not have a lot of dialog, as half of them might not understand. I do wish we could bring our drinks into the theater, though! And, while the crew are less artificially chipper, they are all friendly and wonderful if you actually talk to them, get to know them, and treat them like actual humans.

[TheBeardedCruiser]

Every cruise line is going to have some things that they excel at, and things that need improvement. I personally think that MSC Cruises is the best for balancing what you get for what to pay!

 

My only big complaint about MSC Cruises is that they don't seem to change the home port of their ships as often as the other cruise lines. I'd love to see a different ship home port in NYC. The Meraviglia is beautiful, but it's fun to try other ships.

[Mommapadraig]

@JamieLogical thanks. Very good points. I’ve only cruised in the YC but the more I read I think we will try a regular balcony room. BTW on the Seashore in May we brought our drinks into the show. We too found the staff wonderful and very willing to share their personal life with us.

Edited Tuesday at 07:02 PM by Mommapadraig

[JamieLogical]

5 minutes ago, Mommapadraig said:

@JamieLogical thanks. Very good points. I’ve only cruised in the YC but the more I read I think we will try a regular balcony room. BTW on the Seashore in May we brought our drinks into the show. We too found the staff wonderful and very willing to share their personal life with us.

 

The "no drinks in the theater" enforcement seems to vary by ship and maybe even sailing. On the Meraviglia, they were enforcing it heavily and there was a big pile of glasses on a little ledge right outside the theater. On the Divina, I was able to bring my drink in with me to the one show I attended. In either case, there are no cup holders/trays/tables to store your drink in/on when in the theater, so even if they do let you bring it in, you will need to hold it the whole time. Fortunately, the shows are short!