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

[Best Cat Mom]

10 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

So no cruises to Greec on your mind? 

Definitely on our mind. But not until Putin is deceased. 

[billc23]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Next spring we will be back in Japan and eventually cruise around Japan and over to Alaska.

Silver Nova by chance?

[Hlitner]

Just now, billc23 said:

Silver Nova by chance?

Nope, although we will be on Silversea in December,  For Japan is on the Seabourn Quest.

 

Hank

[Bubsmoljo]

On 6/24/2024 at 4:00 PM, bucfan2 said:

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. 

 Are the ANY advantages of Aurea?  OR is that just a window view "steerage" not "middle seat" steerage LOL?

[JamieLogical]

13 minutes ago, Bubsmoljo said:

 Are the ANY advantages of Aurea?  OR is that just a window view "steerage" not "middle seat" steerage LOL?

 

Spa access, anytime dining in a separate dining room or a separate section of an MDR (depending on the ship), robes and slippers in your cabin (you get these if you are Diamond as well), priority embarkation (meaning you can skip the gen pop check-in line at the terminal), some kind of oil scent diffuser thing in your room....

[pamelanj]

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Spa access, anytime dining in a separate dining room or a separate section of an MDR (depending on the ship), robes and slippers in your cabin (you get these if you are Diamond as well), priority embarkation (meaning you can skip the gen pop check-in line at the terminal), some kind of oil scent diffuser thing in your room....

We did our first MSC Meraviglia in February and enjoyed Aurea for the reasons mentioned above plus the exclusive sun deck with a hot tub. We never had to worry about reserving a lounger.

 

We have a NYE cruise booked on MSC and chose to do Aurea again.

 

We would like to try YC next time. We just did NCL Haven last month. It would be fun to compare.

 

i have learned to take complaints with a grain of salt because I have read reviews on NCL and MSC where I was on the same ship and had a totally different experience. 
 

😊

[Stockjock]

1 hour ago, Bubsmoljo said:

 Are the ANY advantages of Aurea?  OR is that just a window view "steerage" not "middle seat" steerage LOL?

I've done Aurea twice.  The first time, I was "upgraded" to Aurea, but I didn't really see much difference vs. a standard veranda.

This past NYE, we got an Aurea suite, and it was really nice.  Large, and at a much better price versus Yacht Club (yes, I know YC offers many other perks.)  We also enjoyed the anytime dining at the dedicated Aurea restaurant, which was really well done.  There is also a dedicated sun deck which is less crowded and more private.

 

So I guess my answer would be, "It depends." It depends on what you're booking and the price differential.

Here's a video I did on our Aurea suite on World Europa this past NYE.

 

Edited July 18 by Stockjock

[cellfree]

OP was referencing the disparity of reviews on MSC. And it is so true. So often it is the “haters” who are the most vocal. 
We are currently on Magnifica (have been on 12+ MSC cruises, one being Yacht Club) and having a wonderful time. Prior to sailing read some nasty reviews. Not from us. Everyone has

gone above and beyond. 

[luckyinpa]

1 hour ago, pamelanj said:

We did our first MSC Meraviglia in February and enjoyed Aurea for the reasons mentioned above plus the exclusive sun deck with a hot tub. We never had to worry about reserving a lounger.

 

We have a NYE cruise booked on MSC and chose to do Aurea again.

 

We would like to try YC next time. We just did NCL Haven last month. It would be fun to compare.

 

i have learned to take complaints with a grain of salt because I have read reviews on NCL and MSC where I was on the same ship and had a totally different experience. 
 

😊

 

objective things about my haven trips. (courtyard penthouse on bliss, 2br on getaway, spa haven on breakaway.)  vs my YC deluxe on Mera

 

while in YC you never show a card to get any drink. I'd imagine there are upcharges for some expensive things but i never ran into that. you dont think it's a big deal til you dont have to show the card. it's so freeing!

 

changing menu in YC. haven needs to improve this and also add back filet for bfast given the much higher pricing they now charge

 

suite pool deck breakfast and lunch buffet. it was so good we had most every lunch there and a few breakfasts. haven has some outside seating on some ships but not the YC buffet and it's very good.

 

the pool is bigger and deeper than the kiddie pools haven has

 

YC brings you ice cream around 2 every day on the pool deck.

 

YC has fewer hot tubs than the haven ships ive had

 

the haven courtyard suite was about equal to the YC deluxe suite and YC was MUCH cheaper pricing. same tiny balconies in both cabins. why pay more for haven. heck my 2BR in haven had a tiny balcony. disgraceful for the price. the bigger rooms in haven are more elegant for sure.  I do greatly dislike the closet and bathroom placement in the YC cabin though.

 

the butler service seemed to extend to all YC as a whole, other butlers will help you. never happened in haven.

 

a literal schedule of snacks in YC lounge from 6 am to 2am

 

both restaurants are elegant and seating is amply spaced even for my desire ( i hate the seating in CK on oasis as you are up on other people)

 

in 2022 in haven on getaway you never got a fridge full of what drinks you wanted, you did not get free wifi (had some crazy 100 minute plan which you ate up quick) but i did have 2 specialty restaurants. YC has no specialties included. but having unlimited drinks in your fridge was just fantastic. you dont get that in haven (maybe the top suites?)

 

wherever YC smoking was, i never saw it. or smelled it. haven typically has it all the way forward on the ships and you sometimes smell it.

 

i think YC concierge is 24/7 but i never needed that late service so not a biggie.

 

wristbands which allegedly get you better service outside YC. i never wore mine. no clue if true.

 

if you make a spreadsheet, YC deluxe balcony  is definitely the best value on paper. i currently am paying 2700 for a week in bermuda and i could pay 500 more PP and get a 2 story suite 2 bathrooms or 2100 PP for the biggest suite. I think both have hot tubs on the balcoy.  if you can deal with an inside. a week is just 3500 ALL In for 2 people for YC. ( i could never do that) where im sure the cheapest Haven room is 3500 PP at least.

 

sailing out of NYC, i have very limited destinations for a week and now just sail for the ships. i gotta say , at the pricing of Mera YC, it would take me much longer to get tired of the same old routes. where as in oasis, im tired of it already. (been on crown loft and 1 BR aqua). 

 

it's good you are trying YC because i think you will see the value.

[mac_tlc]

On 7/10/2024 at 9:56 PM, billc23 said:

Silver Nova by chance?

Boy, I am eyeing that SS cruise as our first foray into Silversea. Struggling with the long expensive flight to Tokyo, though. 
 

maybe…..

 

mac_tlc

[Haljo1935]

On 6/24/2024 at 3:00 PM, squigglydownunder said:

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.

Thinking of trying MSC; cruised many times on HAL, Carnival & Princess.

Would you mind sharing what some of those "little annoyances that added up" were?

[squigglydownunder]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

Thinking of trying MSC; cruised many times on HAL, Carnival & Princess.

Would you mind sharing what some of those "little annoyances that added up" were?

Sure. I had posted a list further into the thread:

 

 

[squigglydownunder]

Oh, and one more annoyance to add to the list. I never got my Voyager Club points for the cruise.

 

I emailed them about it last Wednesday. They finally got back to me yesterday but with a very generic "Your points will be reviewed and updated. Any changes made to your account will be reflected within 48 hours." response. 

[chrisgp999]

37 minutes ago, squigglydownunder said:

Oh, and one more annoyance to add to the list. I never got my Voyager Club points for the cruise.

 

I emailed them about it last Wednesday. They finally got back to me yesterday but with a very generic "Your points will be reviewed and updated. Any changes made to your account will be reflected within 48 hours." response. 

I emailed MSC regarding missed double points bonus on my last cruise.  Next day I got the auto-reply email that they received my request.  Two weeks later, got an email saying the missing points were added.  Not sure why you had a problem.

[squigglydownunder]

16 hours ago, chrisgp999 said:

Not sure why you had a problem.

 

That seems to be the root of a lot of the little annoyances.

 

Their backend/reservation system seems to have a lot of interconnected pieces held together with duct tape and requiring human intervention to fix which both takes time, effort, and will always lead to inconsistent results.

 

Checked this morning to see if I have my points yet but the website is giving me one of it's common popup errors because some process on the back end isn't talking to another process so it's not possible to do anything with my account. I guess I'll try tomorrow.

[Stockjock]

34 minutes ago, squigglydownunder said:

 

That seems to be the root of a lot of the little annoyances.

 

Their backend/reservation system seems to have a lot of interconnected pieces held together with duct tape and requiring human intervention to fix which both takes time, effort, and will always lead to inconsistent results.

 

Checked this morning to see if I have my points yet but the website is giving me one of it's common popup errors because some process on the back end isn't talking to another process so it's not possible to do anything with my account. I guess I'll try tomorrow.

I receive a lot of random errors.  Sometimes, clearing cache and cookies fixes it and other times not.

I booked a cruise for 2025 and for months I was getting an "Error null is not an object (evaluating 'o.ports')" message. They then took my sailing off of the schedule, but they kept the sailing, that left Kiel the day before, on the schedule, which didn't make sense.  They locked the reservation, and took away all add-on options (drinks, dining, spa, excursions, etc.)  Some said I'd get a cancellation letter soon, others had no idea what was up.  Then, after months, the error went away, although the sailing is still not back on the schedule.  Some of the add ons returned, some did not.  Some are there one day and gone the next.

Unfortunately, these types of errors are not uncommon at MSC.  And when they do occur, no one seems to be able to fix them, or understand what is going on.

Edited July 24 by Stockjock

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, squigglydownunder said:

Checked this morning to see if I have my points yet but the website is giving me one of it's common popup errors because some process on the back end isn't talking to another process so it's not possible to do anything with my account. I guess I'll try tomorrow.

 

 If I do not log out of my account and just leave my browser connected to the MSC site, I will get that screen when I come back and refresh. A simple fix has been to close that browser tab, open a new one, and go to the MSC website.  

 

[Até]

2 hours ago, squigglydownunder said:

Checked this morning to see if I have my points yet but the website....

I haven't been able to see my Voyagers Club area of the MSC website for years, it always errors.   One thing that does work is if you have an active booking you can see your points total in the personal section of the MSC for Me app.  Unfortunately it doesn't show individual cruises/points.