MSC winter blue light offer

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by sully301

what are they complaining at?

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The ones I have seen have been mainly about general poor service, lengthy boarding times, other cruisers not adhering to covid rules, poor food unless you pay for upgraded restaurants. Most of these probably apply to all cruise lines and not just MSC and maybe passengers just wanting things back how they were pre covid. I wasn’t that impressed with the included food on P & O Iona but we have to understand the constraints of Covid. DH thought the food was fantastic. I try not to take too much notice and make my own mind up.

Scottishnellies MSC trip report was really good and gave a balanced view.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

The ones I have seen have been mainly about general poor service, lengthy boarding times, other cruisers not adhering to covid rules, poor food unless you pay for upgraded restaurants. Most of these probably apply to all cruise lines and not just MSC and maybe passengers just wanting things back how they were pre covid. I wasn’t that impressed with the included food on P & O Iona but we have to understand the constraints of Covid. DH thought the food was fantastic. I try not to take too much notice and make my own mind up.

Scottishnellies MSC trip report was really good and gave a balanced view.

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I have to say that having had a staycation on Iona we found the included food to be good enough - not spectacular but good enough. Places like The Quays and the Keel and cow did fabulous food with no extra charge.
But The Beach House was horrendous

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by katiec68

I have to say that having had a staycation on Iona we found the included food to be good enough - not spectacular but good enough. Places like The Quays and the Keel and cow did fabulous food with no extra charge.
But The Beach House was horrendous

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I would say the same. The food like you say was good enough and not amazing, maybe my expectations were a bit high. Husband loved the food though. We liked the Quays especially the fish and chips. The included items at Olive Grove were good but it was just too difficult to get a table there. Was the Keel and Cow not all extra? We had meals at Epicurean and Sindhu which were lovely but I’m glad they were half price. We cancelled our booking at Beach House because someone said it was awful.

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by Smilesonfaces

I would say the same. The food like you say was good enough and not amazing, maybe my expectations were a bit high. Husband loved the food though. We liked the Quays especially the fish and chips. The included items at Olive Grove were good but it was just too difficult to get a table there. Was the Keel and Cow not all extra? We had meals at Epicurean and Sindhu which were lovely but I’m glad they were half price. We cancelled our booking at Beach House because someone said it was awful.

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DH loved the fish and chips and I loved the asian fusion - and the Quays was FABULOUS for breakfast!

We had the first 2 nights at the Epicurian - like you say both half price - we would usually only do once but although expensive we feel you get more than you pay for.

We have only tried Sindu once on Britannia and some of my food was uncooked so we are reluctant to go back

I thought some of the Keel and Cow was free but I may be wrong - but we had a fabulous steak there on formal night and had a great time watching everyone in their finery!

We could not understand why the Olive grove was always empty but you couldn't get a seat We had an issue with the noise in our room and customer services got us booked in on the last night. We did enjoy it but im not sure I would rush back - 7/10 maybe.

You are spot on about the Beach house - we absolutely loved it on Britannia but omg it was dreadful. I had the Caribbean medley - sound fabulous - nope - a bowl of upturned dry rice and 6 pieces of deep fried fish that looked like they had been there since the maiden voyage - absolutely disgusting.
We didnt complain - although we probably should have done - as we hadn't paid for it but I did put it in my feedback form. It was literally the worst food I have ever seen served on a plate!

We are back on Iona again in 5 weeks so it will be interesting to see if there are any changes/more staff etc.

[Smilesonfaces]

Hope you enjoy your next trip on Iona. It will be very different being able to get off at the ports. It will be interesting to see what it will be like with more passengers and hopefully more staff.

We went in to Olive Grove twice for lunch. Couldn’t get in for the evening. It was really nice but the waitress mixed up both times. I ordered a salad for my main and the sharer for a starter for both of us but they were served together and I had finished when husbands main meal came. It seemed strange that they did it twice !

[sully301]

See I didn't consider P&O because a vlog I watched said it was good for British taste. That's not what I really want on a cruise - I like the more American feel. Cunard food was nice though and not particularly American

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by sully301

See I didn't consider P&O because a vlog I watched said it was good for British taste. That's not what I really want on a cruise - I like the more American feel. Cunard food was nice though and not particularly American

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We have been on European P&O cruises with lots of Americans!

P&O maybe aren't as glitzy as maybe RCI but we have cruised with Celebrity and Princess and picked the cruises due to the itineraries rather than the ship or its make up.

That said we have just booked a fjords cruise next may with both sets of parents with Celebrity - P&O were only doing Iona to the Fjords at that time. We didntl like the look of the Princess ship doing that route but the Celebrity ship looked fabulous
Both sets of parents prefer Cunard so fingers crossed they like it!

[sully301]

Originally Posted by katiec68

We have been on European P&O cruises with lots of Americans!

P&O maybe aren't as glitzy as maybe RCI but we have cruised with Celebrity and Princess and picked the cruises due to the itineraries rather than the ship or its make up.

That said we have just booked a fjords cruise next may with both sets of parents with Celebrity - P&O were only doing Iona to the Fjords at that time. We didntl like the look of the Princess ship doing that route but the Celebrity ship looked fabulous
Both sets of parents prefer Cunard so fingers crossed they like it!

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sorry was meaning food choices more than actual nationalities - does that make sense. Regarding whether they would like it or not i would imagine that they would prefer Celebrity to other cruise lines. Celebrity is certainly on my list to try but as you say it's itineraries. I'm currently researching for 2023 and looking at Azamara too

[katiec68]

Originally Posted by sully301

sorry was meaning food choices more than actual nationalities - does that make sense. Regarding whether they would like it or not i would imagine that they would prefer Celebrity to other cruise lines. Celebrity is certainly on my list to try but as you say it's itineraries. I'm currently researching for 2023 and looking at Azamara too

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oh ok - we thought the food choices were limited this time on P&O, not that what was on offer wasn't any good - just not lots of choice.

I dont think its British oriented - I would say 50/50 mix.

We have previously sailed when they have a full buffet selection which has been much better, although I think Celebrity have the edge.
But certainly lots of food choices on P&O for all tastes.

[Rachaelwoolly]

So...i went on one of the 3 night ( one port day)MSC Staycation cruises on the 11th September last month Virtuosa and my initial response is..I would be very reluctant to travel with MSC again......so if I can provide some info to substantiate that -
I am 49 and OH is 47 Ive done a 5 cruise in the last 12 year on P& O, Royal Caribbean and NCL Most of them mini. My choice would be Royal Caribbean.OH has not cruised before.Although we were thinking about Celebrity as Virtuosa was docked next to celebrity Silhouette on the morning of embarkation.We kind of wished we had gone on her after we got of of Virtuosa...

We were originally booked for a 7 nighter on Magnifica to the Fjords in September but this was cancelled due to COVID.Again we booked due to NHS discount.
We paid £300 each in a balcony cabin with the drinks package included, which is what attracted us to it and we are pretty easy going, I don't like anything too formal. We got an NHS discount I think around 30%when I booked. We paid £21 on top of this for WIFI and a fun pass which was £72 ( value was stated as £150 use on board) which entitled you to use the 4D cinema, Formula 1 ride, VR experience, bowling and some of the arcade.

Virtuosa the ship was lovely and shiny and new,( that Atrium was a bit too Glitsy for me! but thats juster personal preference)
We felt no movement,lovely cabin.We stayed at the IBIS in Southampton which was directly opposite the Horizon terminal and when we opened the curtains on the morning of sailing ..WOW ! There was our ship..So exciting! A plus here was that we were able to walk from the hotel on the morning.

There were bits about the cruise it that were great ...a special evening theatre show 'Adrejez " ( Cirque de soleil light")shows which we paid an extra £9 each one of the shows we paid for did not run so we saw the same twice ( no problem with that) Loved thisThe other shows we saw were a bit dated cabaret type which made me cringe if I am honest...

The pools were lovely.We were there after breakfast 2 of the mornings as blessed with sun but if filled up very quickly, there were lots of beds, not socially distanced.I really liked the style and theming of the pools .It took us around 3 hours to board and we were out by the top pool in the sun with my first ever Miami vice by 1230 and then in the pool..not many people had boarded at this point...

The food was just generally OK..some of it like school dinners in the MDR.Really liked the breakfasts in the MDR ..that raisin cinnamon french toast ... The buffet was again, OK.About 5 options for the MDR evening meal.Some of the desserts were good - Ive found with some cruises the desserts look good but just taste of sweet nothingness.Pizza excellent.salads good.Loved the 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 issue as I experienced it ...clearly there were more passengers than the crew could support as a lot of them, particularly bar/restaurant as well as the staff working in the arcade " fun pass area"were extremely stressed.Im not sure why this was, perhaps staff were isolating...

One of the major problems was lack of communication, signage ,organisation -the "2 fun pass guys" in the arcade area who had to answer the same questions about what could be used with fun pass and what could not as well as booking these things, cleaning them off between guests. As a result we did not spend near of the £72 paid as we queued for at least 1.5 hours each time we tried to use 4D cinema- you could not book in advance so one queue for everything and one man dealing with it all at any one time.
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 letter.
Qeueing at the MDR restaurant for breakfast for 45 minutes...first in the queue ( I like my food)doors not opening...the directed to another restaurant . Again..signage or a member of staff to direct- the queue was enormous and visible from the main reception area atrium.. A person in the queue had to join the queue at reception to find out what was happening...
A free premium drinks package was included. We probably had about 2 cocktails a day and I had a glass of red wine at my meal,OH a beer 2 of the days with our meal in the MDR. Otherwise managed to get drinks after queuing...for up to an hour. I heard this before I went " the italians do waiter service you don't queue at a bar like the Brits do.." Well it was impossible to get a seat in many of the bars and 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... We are not big drinkers but people who like a few would have been very unhappy.

Disembarking was carnage- no organisation in the carry off you own luggage queue - not one member of staff apart from the guy at the gangway door.

I liked the ship, I liked that it felt quite a casual experience, but that you could dress up if you wanted.Of all ships I have been on I remember some of the staff, but I can't remember any of them on this cruise. I felt sorry for them.The quality of the food generally was not there.I love my food !

I am not sure if the situation was largely down to unfortunate COVID ,the newness of the staycation cruises but I do think , the free drinks package may not have helped but often there was one member of staff at each bar...MSC could have put in place some simple measures that would have helped the passengers and staff such as signage, announcements but there was a definite staffing issue.
I would advise anyone thats going to brave it to check it out, check out all the added extras that cost.
I have liked bits about all the cruises I have been on, so I wouldn't say one line gets in right for me,

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask..