Hi all,

In my daily search for interesting cruises that I can't afford to go on, I came across an ad for MSC cruises, which I have never heard of before. The ad mentioned that kids were free. How do this cruise line compare to NCL or Carnival?

MamaofEnS

MSC is an Italian cruise line. You will find a lot of Europeans sailing on their ships. Announcements will be made in many different languages. (But I'm seeing that more on RCI and CCL too.) The entertainment and menus are geared to the European market. However; when MSC sails in the Caribbean you will see adjustments made to cater to the Americans. For instance, when sailing in Europe MSC charges for room service. When in the Caribbean they make the change and don't charge because Americans "expect" room service to be part of the cruise.

I was aware that the Italian lines made announcements in several languages but never stopped to consider how the language differences affected the entertainment, particularly the shows.

How do people feel about the food differences?

I went on Costa last year on a Eastern Mediterranean cruise. It is also an Italian line and family orientated, with some cruises offering "free for kids". Announcements are made in several languages but you get used to it. The shows and entertainment was easy to follow. The food was very very good and gala nights very festive with the waiters performing as well as serving.

I've been on 3 Costa cruises where the language problem was similar and 1 MSC. I'm also going on another MSC in a few weeks time. I'd choose these companies for price and destination. Food is fine if you like Italian.

Overview

I have just completed a seven-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the MSC Musica. The cruise commenced on June 15, 2008 from Venice and returned to Venice on June 22, 2008.
This is my first MSC cruise and will be my last. I have been on three other cruises, one Mediterranean and two Carribean, the most recent a Celebrity Carribean Cruise, February 2008, aboard the Galaxy. These other cruises were far superior to this MSC cruise. What follows are the reasons why I am disappointed in the MSC cruise.

Lack of Adequate Services in English

The vast majority of staff especially those at the information/reception, shore excursion, and accounting desks did not speak or understand English at a level that could be called functional.
Written English communication, such as in their Daily Program, appeared to be a word-by-word translation from Italian, resulting in communication that was sometimes confusing, incomplete, or downright comical. For example, one day in the Daily Program, it stated, “The MSC Musica will stop in the road.” Overall, there was no acceptable level of service in the English language.

Lack of Availability of Food and Beverages

For periods of up to 7 hours during the main part of the day, no food or beverages were available at all or only for purchase. For example, on the first day of the cruise, the lunch buffet closed at 2:15 pm and people at the second dinner sitting had to wait until 9:30 pm to eat again. On the other three cruises I have taken, complimentary food was available 24 hours a day, including complimentary room service on Celebrity, something for which MSC charges.
Complimentary coffee and tea were available only during breakfast and dinner. Complimentary juice (which tasted as though it was made from powder) was available only during breakfast. In addition, unlike the other three cruises, outside of the times described above, no non-alcoholic beverages such as coffee, juice, lemonade were available except for purchase.
The food and beverage scheduling seemed to purposefully engender situations to cause passenger to pay for food and beverages that would be free on the other three cruises that I have enjoyed.

Mediocre Quality of Food

Unlike on my three other cruises, the food served on the Musica at the breakfast and lunch buffets and the sit-down dinners tasted as one other passenger described it “like hospital cafeteria food.” The menus demonstrated little imagination and, with the exception of desserts, the food ranged from bland to tasteless.

Indifferent Food and Beverage Service Staff

In general, the staff who served at dinner or who assisted at the buffets were unfriendly. At times, they could be rude. One example that comes to mind occurred at the breakfast buffet. Six of us had been unable to get juice with our breakfast. I finally saw a waiter with a tray of juices. He was about 3 metres from our table. I asked him if he could bring us juice. He simply replied, “No, someone else will do it.” He then walked away without any other explanation. We had to wait another 10 minutes before some other waiter could be flagged down to give us juice.

Noisy Cabins

On my three other cruises, the cabins seemed very quiet. However, on the Musica, sounds could be heard of people flushing toilets, opening and closing closet and entry doors, and muffled conversations from within other cabins. In addition, hallway sounds of any nature could be heard in the cabin. The noises did not taper off until 2 or 3 am when most passengers would have retired. Since I normally went to sleep between 11 pm and midnight, my sleep was often disturbed by the sounds of other passengers.

Obviously I would not recommend MSC Cruises.

Hi briangdg and welcome to Cruise Chat.

It does sound like you had a disappointing Musica experience. Were there a lot of children on your cruise? How was the entertainment? Did you take their shore excursions?

Sandy

One note: When MSC sails in the Caribbean there will be changes made to accomodate the Americans. IE: When sailing in the Caribbean they won't be charging for room service.

I read your review with great interest, having considered and MSC based on price. I think I will stick to Princess and Celebrity. Thanks.

Hello Sandy and Fanatic,

I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland. How is the weather down there?

I have been on another Mediterranean Cruise with a Greek Cruise line that has been since bought out. That cruise had excellent service, complimentary food all day etc. It was run similarly to my two Carribean cruises.

On the Musica, my partner and I met a lot of friendly English-speaking passengers, many of whom shared our disappointment in the cruise. We had a couple of opportunities to speak to or hear Italian passengers (I can speak some Italian). They also commented about the mediocre food and the lack of complimentary coffee on the Musica.

The entertainment on the ship was, in general, good to excellent. There were a lot of kids, but they were mostly European Italian and were incredibly well behaved.

We went on one ship sponsored excursion in Athens. The excursion was okay.

Also, the cost of this cruise was a bit more than our other cruises. However, it was comparable to the cost of our Carribean cruises, taking into consideration the increased airfare costs.

By the way, I discovered this website accidentally and I am impressed.

Brian

Do others agree with this poor rating of MSC's food? Is the lack of availability for several hours normal?

I love eating dinner in the dining room, but we really enjoy Princess's 24 hour buffet. So nice to just grab a plate anytime you feel like it and enjoy a snack on your balcony.

Brian, Just wanted to welcome you to cruise-chat! Glad you happened upon the site. Thanks for your review of your MSC cruise. They are quite different from traditional lines that cater to North American passengers. For some that's a good thing and for others, not so good. Seems every line has it's loyal following and those who will experience a line once and never again. That's what's nice about the cruise industry, there is truely something for everyone. Sometimes it just takes a little experimenting yo find the one right for you.

Sounds like for you, Celebrity is a great fit. They're more of an upscale experience and no doubt have an advantage in the food and service area over many lines.

Hope you hang around and post some more. Good to have you here.

Cheers, Neil

quote:

Originally posted by jmcs:
Do others agree with this poor rating of MSC's food? Is the lack of availability for several hours normal?

I love eating dinner in the dining room, but we really enjoy Princess's 24 hour buffet. So nice to just grab a plate anytime you feel like it and enjoy a snack on your balcony.

Food is very subjective, I loved the food on the MSC Lirica (10 day PC & S Carib). The previous poster is correct no 24hr food. It was not a problem for me, it just took a little time to get used too. I would sail with them in a heartbeat. BTW I thought that the entertainment was the best, many European acts that you don't see on the mainstream lines.

quote:

Food is very subjective, I loved the food on the MSC Lirica (10 day PC & S Carib). The previous poster is correct no 24hr food. It was not a problem for me, it just took a little time to get used too. BTW I thought that the entertainment was the best, many European acts that you don't see on the mainstream lines.

I have often wondered if I would enjoy the food even more on a European based ship. A change from typically American. I do like variety in my life.

Perhaps one day I will take a shorter Caribbean cruise to find out for myself. I like the idea of having more ship-mates from outside North America.

quote:

Perhaps one day I will take a shorter Caribbean cruise to find out for myself. I like the idea of having more ship-mates from outside North America.

We've been on two Costa cruises, both in Europe, where we were part of the 5% English speaking passengers onboard. I found it interesting, albeit time consuming, to hear announcement and lifeboat drill done in multiple languages. The entertainment was not language based and was very enjoyable on Costa. However, I did hear several Americans complain about the food. We didn't have a problem with it, but we're not gourmands by any stretch of the imagination. On this board, too, I've read complaints about food on cruise lines that I've found the food to be great. I guess that's why they make chocolate and Super Fudge Chunk!

Sandy

quote:

I am originally from Baltimore, Maryland. How is the weather down there?

Baltimore area is hot, humid with late afternoon thunderstorms. Typical summer pattern! Where are you located now?

Sandy

Hello Sandy,

I am now living in Toronto, Ontario where the weather today is hot and humid with the occasional thunder shower...hehe.

I guess I just cannot escape Baltimore weather.

Wow, I am really nervous about using this cruise line. We went on the Lirica in December and did not have any of these problems. I have to regroup for this group. I always sail RCCL in Europe.
Oh my, this may cause me to lose part of the group.

quote:

Originally posted:
Do others agree with this poor rating of MSC's food? Is the lack of availability for several hours normal?

Remembering my two 12-days MSC cruises I think to a lot of things, but absolutely not to a lack of food.
So do my family and friends.
Yes, Musica and Orchestra don't supply a 24/24 free food & beverage service: but frankly we hadn't any problem.
Probably it's the cruise line policy: in the theater, e.g., there aren't tables and you're NOT ALLOWED to drink or eat anything.

Anyway I can understand people are different, and so their impressions.
In February-March 2008 were aboard Orchestra many American cruisers. The ones I talked to (35-70 y.o from Texas, Nevada, Arizona) showed their appreciation and said they'd book again.

However, I'm looking forward to check out the "American Cruising Taste" I've read about in so many posts ... Fort Lauderdale here I come !


P.S. I posted my MSC reviews in April 2007 (Musica) and March 2008 (Orchestra), but none of them is available. There aren't MSC reviews available at all ...

I did a 10 day Carribean on MSC Lirica Jan 2008, I have only cruised Princess prior to that. In short my wife and I were both happy when the cruise completed. I would consider the MSC cruise line just ok. You get what you pay for. I will stick to the American Cruise lines for now on.