MSC cruises

[Omega1]

We are experienced cruisers having been on 45+ cruises on five different cruise lines. We have seen a great value cruise next November on MSC, from Genoa to Rio de Janeiro and we thought we would tag on a trip to the Iguazu Falls. We will have a few days in Rio but we have been before. We have two questions: What is MSC like? We have read some horror stories but it’s hard to tell whether people went on board with incredibly high expectations or not. Any Dibbers with direct experience?
Secondly, anyone been to Iguazu and can offer tips/suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[florida addict]

Been on Preziosa the new ships are amazing. Cabins very comfortable. We loved it but was our 1st cruise. Went P&O this year which was better for the kids but I think standards pretty much the same

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by florida addict

Been on Preziosa the new ships are amazing. Cabins very comfortable. We loved it but was our 1st cruise. Went P&O this year which was better for the kids but I think standards pretty much the same

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Thanks, that’s good to hear.

[Cloverlady]

Hi Omega,
We've been on MSC Divina, it was our first cruise and it got us hooked. We sailed from Miami around the Caribbean and we loved everything about it, obviously nothing to compare it to at the time...

MSC's ships are just stunning. Glamorous, oozing Italian style and so so impeccably clean.

We've since sailed with RCI, Carnival and Marella and MSC are still our favourite by a long long way. No ship has been cleaner or generally nicer than MSC.

We are sailing on MSC Meraviglia next month around the Med, and whilst I've heard conflicting reviews of MSC when sailing around Europe (and problems seem to revolve around pushy clientele rather than the ship, and maybe that being an Italian cruiseline that the food is more Mediterranean in style), when we sailed around the Caribbean we could not fault it at all.

The thing that I'm slightly disappointed about is that there are few if any quizzes due to the different languages spoken on board but their entertainment is fine (Cirque du Soleil on our ship next month ) but based around music and song.

I guess I will find out next month if it's still our favourite cruise line as of yet...

A nice touch is that MSC always play 'Time To Say Goodbye' (Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman) up on deck on Sailaways. I liked that, and am looking forward to hearing it again soon with a cocktail in hand

[Omega1]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

Hi Omega,
We've been on MSC Divina, it was our first cruise and it got us hooked. We sailed from Miami around the Caribbean and we loved everything about it, obviously nothing to compare it to at the time...

MSC's ships are just stunning. Glamorous, oozing Italian style and so so impeccably clean.

We've since sailed with RCI, Carnival and Marella and MSC are still our favourite by a long long way. No ship has been cleaner or generally nicer than MSC.

We are sailing on MSC Meraviglia next month around the Med, and whilst I've heard conflicting reviews of MSC when sailing around Europe (and problems seem to revolve around pushy clientele rather than the ship, and maybe that being an Italian cruiseline that the food is more Mediterranean in style), when we sailed around the Caribbean we could not fault it at all.

The thing that I'm slightly disappointed about is that there are few if any quizzes due to the different languages spoken on board but their entertainment is fine (Cirque du Soleil on our ship next month ) but based around music and song.

I guess I will find out next month if it's still our favourite cruise line as of yet...

A nice touch is that MSC always play 'Time To Say Goodbye' (Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman) up on deck on Sailaways. I liked that, and am looking forward to hearing it again soon with a cocktail in hand

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Thanks for your comprehensive reply and favourable comments. Years ago we sailed Costa and they also played Time to Say Goodbye as we left Venice - brought a tear to my eye! The other thing we like is that MSC will match our Princess top loyalty tier - so get a 5% discount and free specialty restaurant reservation.

[SquishTheWhale]

We have sailed NCL, MSC, RCI and Princess. I'm sorry but for us MSC is a massive 'never again'.

We sailed the Meraviglia and she is an absolutley stunning ship, but the service, food and entertainment were a huge let down. The food was honestly just bad- nothing to do with my tastes, it was frequently inedible in the MDR. We gave up after a few nights and ate all meals in the buffet which was better. One word springs to mind when describing the entertainment which is 'Eurovision'. Cirque is fun but comes at an extra cost. There is little other entertainment that you may be used to on cruises like quizzes or game shows (at least on European cruises where they try not to make entertainment language based).

We found the whole thing an incredibly frustrating experience. While part of this was negatively influenced by fellow passengers, the main part was down to MSC themselves. The term 'couldn't organise a pee up in a brewery' springs to mind.
We are not fussy cruisers- we sail in the cheapest cabins on mass market lines, so I'm not expecting a butler or anything! But MSC were about a thousand notches below the other lines we've sailed in all aspects other than the ship.

However, while I've heard many similar experiences to my own on MSC Med cruises, I understand that their cruises from the US have really stepped up in terms of service etc. So I'm not going to tell you "MSC are terrible don't sail on them' as one experience does not define a cruise line. You may have a fantastic time and be a lot luckier than we were!

[Omega1]

Thanks for taking the trouble to respond. Your comments mirror our experience on a Med cruise on Costa. Our cruise on Costa in the Middle East was slightly better. The question is, can we put up with the negatives given the cruise is only £55pppn in a balcony cabin with an interesting itinerary.

[Floridag1rl]

We have been on two MSC cruises never again. We went on the Armonia in November 2017 from Venice then to Malta and then Barcelona. We booked this cruise to go to Malta but we never got there ended up in Sardinia in a real ≈≈≈≈≈≈ hole of a place. Food isn't that good and the service is awful. In October 2018 we went on the Meravaglia (a new ship, we thought we would give MSC another chance as this was a good deal), the ship was beautiful, we had a balcony stateroom, food was okay but the service wasn't good again. The first language is Italian then Spanish, very few English people on the ships. MSC cancelled 3 out of four of our excursions we had prebooked for no real reason. One excuse was there were not enough English speaking passengers booked on the trip. They arrived late in port and some places like Palma we had four hours there and couldn't do anything, we also again didn't get to other ports. We hovered around in circles in one port for 7 hours until the ship could dock then 2 hours later we left. MSC don't care what they cancel the staff don't all understand English and the meal service was appalling on both cruises, my recommendation to you is book with another cruise line. We will never book with them again. We have been with many different cruise lines so we do have a lot to compare to.

[KeithOP]

Im really tempted by MSC I must admit. They seem to do Internet at good prices, the new ships look amazing, hopefully less kids than DCL...

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by Floridag1rl

We have been on two MSC cruises never again. We went on the Armonia in November 2017 from Venice then to Malta and then Barcelona. We booked this cruise to go to Malta but we never got there ended up in Sardinia in a real ≈≈≈≈≈≈ hole of a place. Food isn't that good and the service is awful. In October 2018 we went on the Meravaglia (a new ship, we thought we would give MSC another chance as this was a good deal), the ship was beautiful, we had a balcony stateroom, food was okay but the service wasn't good again. The first language is Italian then Spanish, very few English people on the ships. MSC cancelled 3 out of four of our excursions we had prebooked for no real reason. One excuse was there were not enough English speaking passengers booked on the trip. They arrived late in port and some places like Palma we had four hours there and couldn't do anything, we also again didn't get to other ports. We hovered around in circles in one port for 7 hours until the ship could dock then 2 hours later we left. MSC don't care what they cancel the staff don't all understand English and the meal service was appalling on both cruises, my recommendation to you is book with another cruise line. We will never book with them again. We have been with many different cruise lines so we do have a lot to compare to.

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Sounds like the kind of special MSC level of organisation we experienced! Just things like why do I have to queue up for 30 minutes to get on and off at ports, when every other cruise we've done it takes a couple of minutes or less to waltz on and off! And disembarkation could only be described as a cluster****

I'm sure any complaints you made were answered by the trademark MSC shoulder shrug!