MSC Cruise

[Jan]

There is a new cruise line called Ambassador Cruise Line for the over fifties which very recently sailed its inaugural cruise. This isn’t intended to cause embarrassment so please forgive me if I have overstepped the mark. I have posted the website address if you are interested. Because of the age demographic, there are no things like wave machines or climbing walls etc. You will see from my countdown, that we are sailing with them in a couple of months.


ambassadorcruiseline/

[TinkerBabe]

We have cruised many times with several lines, our favourite is Royal Caribbean however we sailed on the MSC Virtuosa last summer and thought it was stunning. Best drinks package, good food, beautiful ship with beautiful bars, our only criticism and thing that would prevent us from going again is that there was no entertainment after 9am. We enjoyed live music, and it was all over very early. The shows were not to our taste at all. A real shame as they offe excellent value on fantastic ships, so if entertainment/music/dancing is not your thing, they are actually a great cruise line.

[Sew109]

OK thanks for everyone who has helped us we have booked MSC Preziosa for a 8 nights to and from Southampton for October half term. We have booked through our Travel Councillor and paid just under £1300 for three we elected in the end for inside as it was just so cheap. For a host of reasons we were not expecting a proper holiday until next year where we have a trans atlantic with Royal Caribbean booked (our favourite) and then a NE road trip on the end. This cruise is cheaper than a week in a caravan in August in Devon so we dont expect too much just a good break.

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by Sew109

OK thanks for everyone who has helped us we have booked MSC Preziosa for a 8 nights to and from Southampton for October half term. We have booked through our Travel Councillor and paid just under £1300 for three we elected in the end for inside as it was just so cheap. For a host of reasons we were not expecting a proper holiday until next year where we have a trans atlantic with Royal Caribbean booked (our favourite) and then a NE road trip on the end. This cruise is cheaper than a week in a caravan in August in Devon so we dont expect too much just a good break.

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I'm sure you'll have a great time! Emma Cruises has a good video on YouTube about the differences to expect with MSC vs Royal Caribbean

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

I'm sure you'll have a great time! Emma Cruises has a good video on YouTube about the differences to expect with MSC vs Royal Caribbean

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Thanks to be honest it will be our first real holiday since Oct 2019 (few overnights here and there and a week in Devon) and as I work for myself if I can be somewhere my phone does not work for a week I cant ask for much more

[arielrocks]

The ships are some of the most beautiful I have been on.

The atmosphere the worst. It was like a ferry not a cruise. Lots of hustle and bustle. People constant doing muster drills after each port, waiting to hear announcements in English which is about the 5th language they get to, food poor and staff sub par.

However, if you know this before hand then you can settle yourself with it and the prices and quality of ship make it a good deal.

[Rachaelwoolly]

So...I have liked bits about all the cruises I have been on, so I wouldn't say one line gets it right for me all the time.My OH & me sailed on one of the MSC Staycation cruises last year on Virtuosa and my initial response is..we would be unlikely to choose to travel with MSC again...I appreciate our experience may be a different experience under more usual circumstances.

Now I am not a fancy gal -but I would prefer a better experience in the food,atmoshere, service and organisation over some sparkly Swarovski steps reputed to cost Euro 10000 each on Virtuosa.

I've cruised once each on Royal Caribbean and NCL & 2 P & O cruise.Of those so far I prefer Royal Caribbean.For the colour the food, activities,entertainment & atmosphere.

On MSC Virtuosa -Lovely balcony cabin.There were some bits about the cruise that I particularly enjoyed ...a special evening theatre show 'Adrejez " - a Cirque de soleil "light"show which we paid an extra £9 each & enjoyed this, however the other free shows we saw were very dated cabaret type which made me cringe...

The pool areas were lovely, but I guess being staycation with only one port day they filled up very quickly.I liked the style and theming of the pools .

The food was just generally OK..some of it like ok school dinners but little that was memorable for the right reasons.I really liked the breakfasts in the MDR tho ..that raisin cinnamon french toast ...

The buffet was again, overall just OK. .Pizza very good.Salads ok.OH reported chewy meat with a high proportion of bones in curry/meat dishes.I Liked the different breads.

The 4D cinema was great, and the air hockey if you could get on it and had the resolve to queue...

..I too was reading of peoples "moans" on MSC facebook groups for weeks before we boarded and I too thought some people will moan about anything...

The main issues as me & OH experienced it ...Mediocre food,lack of communication, poor signage & organisation & poor customer service.

Muster drill was carnage, with us receiving letters each morning stating we had not done it and to report to guest services...if only you could stomach the queues, then to find another berating letter

A free premium drinks package was included.I think this would put me off any cruise ... as it may well impact service? It was nearly impossible to get a seat in many of the bars which appeared to have insufficient seating -they would not serve us unless we had a seat so it was impossible to get a drink..( apart from one evening and we were lucky enough to share a table with a couple ...I am honestly not exaggerating... Luckily we are not big drinkers and the package was free but people who like a few would have been very unhappy, particularly if they had paid to upgrade the package.

Disembarking was carnage- no organisation.

I liked that it felt quite a casual experience, but that you could dress up if you wanted.

I was talking to OH about it as I see the 7 night Fjords cruise are going for £399 PP- It is a tempting price & I guess by adjusting expectations ... & thinking of the cruise as transport, as vehicular-type experience with an intensive port itinerary & the focus is-sightseeing/excursions- makes it feel different somehow ?
I'm sure it will be ok and you will have a good time

[Just_Pete]

I have yet to sail MSC, but have a seven night cruise on hold for end of June that I am probably going to pull the trigger on today...

I haven't cruised MSC yet, I actually had a couple of failed attempts due to Lockdowns etc that never materialised.

I have a DCL Eastern Caribbean booked for November with friends, but decided I needed break before the summer kicks in, so have booked this at a pretty damn cheap rate solo for a balcony cabin.

A few mixed feelings about sailing solo, but ultimately the need for a break overpowers that. I'm more than aware of the very mixed reviews for this line, but I'm going for a fairly chill experience, probably mainly eating in the buffet and just chilling by some pools and reading etc.

I figure if I don't continually compare it to the other lines I have cruised, it should be a well needed good value (non-Luxury) break. Will deffo share back my thoughts here when its done!

[rylisal]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

So I've done 7 cruises on 5 different lines including one on MSC and here's my 2 cents.

A lot of what is said above- very European/Italian- don't expect it to be geared towards the British like P&O or with American standards like RCI or NCL. This means you should expect, shall we call it, laid back service. Or just plain bad.

MSC couldn't plan a pee up in a brewery. We found aspects of the cruise totally chaotic, such as disembarkation. Staff on board rarely seemed to know what was going on. We pre bought a photo package and spent many hours at the photo desk trying to get the photos and being plain lied to by the staff who told us to come back at a certain time and then the desk was shut at that time etc etc. My advice would be don't pre purchase anything.

Food in the MDR was very poor. We liked the food in the buffet but it wasn't a patch on the other lines. If you were disappointed with P&O food then you'll be even more so with MSC. Pizza good. Entertainment hilariously bad. Yes announcements annoying but didn't hugely bother me. Lots of Italian teens on board who thought nothing of physically pushing you out of the way to get to things they wanted.

Annoying rules on board such as if you wanted to use the high ropes course you could only do so at certain times, but you had to get a waiver wrist band from a desk that was only open certain times, which obviously did not coincide in any way. You couldn't take said wristband off so were expected to walk around on formal night wearing a paper wristband if you wanted to return the next day to use the ropes. As people boarded at every port, things would be shut for hours for muster which is very annoying when you are mid cruise.

I've heard horror stories of people trying to get some kind of pre or post cruise service from MSC and so would recommend booking through a travel agent who can fight your corner if anything needs doing.

HOWEVER- the ship, the Meraviglia, was absolutely stunning in every way. Our cabin was really big for an inside and clean. The drinks were delicious. The cruise was dirt cheap. We visited some great ports. The extra charge Cirque style shows were great.

So while I've just reeled off a list of horrors, I actually have another cruise booked on the Virtuosa as a girls break this year! My husband thinks I am mad after the experience we had the first time around, but I'm willing to give MSC another shot and see if sailing out of the UK makes a big difference vs Italy. Or maybe I am just a sucker for the prices and am going to get burned once again.

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Whilst our 1st MSC cruise 4 years ago was not so bad as you've described, it wasn't amazing! We sailed to Northern Europe from Southampton.
For what we paid though it was most definitely worth it. 7 days of not having to cook or make my bed is fine!
Magnifica was a nice enough ship but we found the entertainment poor.
So we made our own entertainment & really enjoyed the all inclusive bars 😉😁

Last September we sailed on The MSC Virtuosa. Just 3 nights. It was AMAZING!
Everything about it was just wonderful & I'd sail on her again in a heartbeat 💓
We only went from Southampton to Portland. We didn't get off the ship.
We really had a fabulous time 😍

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by rylisal

Whilst our 1st MSC cruise 4 years ago was not so bad as you've described, it wasn't amazing! We sailed to Northern Europe from Southampton.
For what we paid though it was most definitely worth it. 7 days of not having to cook or make my bed is fine!
Magnifica was a nice enough ship but we found the entertainment poor.
So we made our own entertainment & really enjoyed the all inclusive bars 😉😁

Last September we sailed on The MSC Virtuosa. Just 3 nights. It was AMAZING!
Everything about it was just wonderful & I'd sail on her again in a heartbeat 💓
We only went from Southampton to Portland. We didn't get off the ship.
We really had a fabulous time 😍

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I'm really glad to hear that! I was the one who suggested to my girlfriends that we book a 3 nighter on Virtuosa so if it was bad I would feel responsible 😂