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MSC not american...what does that mean


sprint180
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I have considered MSC for our next cruise. But, I keep reading that MSC is not American and that you shouldn't expect it to be like one of the American lines. What does that mean? What is so different from say Princess or NCL?

Also, is smoking allowed in a lot of places on MSC. Just back from a NCL cruise and was pleasantly surprised I did not smell any on my balcony.

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Guess it depends on whether you are co spidering the Divina or another ship. Divina has been adjusted for the US market, so I suspect the only big difference you will notice will be the large percentage of other nationalities onboard and languages spoken.

 

Have you visited EBurope, particularly the Mediterranean area before? If so compare that to where you live and that will pretty much sum up the differences for you. If you haven't then the way the ship feels will be different and so will the way things are done. US passengers are an extremely small minority on sailings in other regions, so basically don't expect things to be done the way Americans are used to things being done. So examples of "whets":-

- Dining times later, many courses and a slow rather than rapid experience. Food is Italian and don't expect typical US meals.

- multiple languages, usually 5 but sometimes 6 officially spoken onboard. Announcements are few but will be in all languages. Shows have to be musical and/or visual to cater for this. Nothing that relies on spoken word. bingo, quizzes etc are conducted in multiple languages.

- free iced tap water is not served as standard.

- service style. You won't find bar staff rushing up to you, introducing themselves and pushing drinks. It is far less intrusive. They will chat if you chat to them but won't automatically do that. At pool areas, you have to indicate you want a drink by attracting their attention if you are on sun beds as they won't disturb you to ask if you want something.

These are the types of things people comment on but having observed people uncomfortable with a non US sailing, it seems that being surrounded by people behaving in a different way from the way people behave at home is what the real problem is.

 

Personally I love it as I travel to experience different cultures and nationalities. Others prefer to travel just to see the sights and like their accommodation (be it ship or hotel) to cater for their nationality.

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Interesting question. We've sailed all of the main-line "American" cruise lines, and did the Divina out of Miami last December. We're sailing on the MSC Orchestra out of Germany later this month, so I'm sure the experience will be different than what we experienced on the "Americanized" Divina.

 

All that said, below are some comments I included in my Divina review, specifically referring to the "Americanization" of the ship and product:

 

"Our fellow passengers: Okay, here is where the debate may begin. Yes, MSC is an Italian cruise line and, yes, they are known to Europeans. I’ve read how people are afraid that MSC will “Americanize” too much and “lose its Italian flair.” To these observations I offer up the suggestion that it is the clientele which make the ship, more so than the cruise line. In other words, MSC will not “lose its flair” so long as there are so many Europeans on board. Conversely, it will “Americanize” only so far as the number of American cruisers increases. As noted, this was a Christmas cruise and there were a HUGE number of large families traveling. A member of the Cruise Director staff told me how the sailing before had been dominated by folks aged 65 and older, whereas the average age for this sailing was closer to 30, factoring in the children. That demographic shift will surely mean that my experience over Christmas is different than someone sailing the week prior. For our sailing, Americans were in the minority, if you lump all of the Europeans together. We heard countless languages, but the main ones were Italian, German, Spanish, French (to include French Canadians), Chinese, Hebrew, English (American, Canadian, Brits, etc.) and Russian. It was a true smorgasbord of nationalities. I, personally, am fine with this, though it was an admitted huge departure from all of our other cruises. That said, there are – shall we say – cultural differences that turned off many of our fellow passengers. Mainland Europeans are far less “anal” than Americans about waiting in line and, for example, allowing others off of an elevator before boarding or joining the end of a line at the buffet. My mother-in-law walks with a cane often and on only one occasion did someone stand aside and let her exit an elevator before people piled on. Having lived in Europe several times, I’m used to it, but it was obvious that many, many Americans on my cruise were taken aback and were all too willing to share their thoughts. “How rude?!” “There’s a line here!” “Did you see me standing here?” You can get the idea. Again, this is not MSC-centric, but passenger-centric. That said, Americans were far from model passengers, with teenage children among the worst “offenders.” I hesitate to write this, as it may give the impression that I did not enjoy our cruise. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was one of our most enjoyable cruises ever, and the ship is simply stunning. All that said, fellow passengers can make or break a cruise, and if you are looking for a homogenous “Carnival-like” ship-full of people, you’ll likely be disappointed."

 

As for smoking, the Divina had the best smoking policy I've yet seen at sea. Here are my comments from the review:

 

"Smoking policy – MSC, I LOVE YOU. As noted by others, MSC has amended their smoking policy for the North American market, making it the most restrictive among the big cruise lines, and I could not be happier. Aside from a smoking lounge up front, one small section of deck 16, and a one-side section of deck 14, there is no smoking anywhere else in the ship, including on balconies. In seven days, I smelled smoke only once, and that was in a designated smoking area. For a ship absolutely chock-full of Europeans, this was amazing. I recall a sailing on the EPIC, also with a healthy contingent of Europeans, and my suitcase reeked of smoke upon my return home. No such problems here. Bravo to MSC for this policy."

 

I hope this helps.

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I wish I knew how to post a link to a similar post that I did. I was considering a Mediterranean cruise with MSC (specifically the MSC Armonia for next year). I started a post & I am sure many of your questions will be answered.

If somebody can let me know how to do this then I can help you out a bit.

 

FYI: After researching I decided to give MSC in Europe a try & booked the cruise with the Armonia. In addition, I did a 2 night cruise to the Bahamas on the Divina & loved it.

I have considered MSC for our next cruise. But, I keep reading that MSC is not American and that you shouldn't expect it to be like one of the American lines. What does that mean? What is so different from say Princess or NCL?

Also, is smoking allowed in a lot of places on MSC. Just back from a NCL cruise and was pleasantly surprised I did not smell any on my balcony.

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Sprint180 I figured out how to post my thread.:) I hope this helps a little in your decision. It helped me quite a bit & like I stated before I decided to give MSC a try next year with a Mediterranan cruise. This will be the first time I use MSC in Europe. I have sailed previously with

RCCL.

 

My thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2074568

 

I have considered MSC for our next cruise. But, I keep reading that MSC is not American and that you shouldn't expect it to be like one of the American lines. What does that mean? What is so different from say Princess or NCL?

Also, is smoking allowed in a lot of places on MSC. Just back from a NCL cruise and was pleasantly surprised I did not smell any on my balcony.

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Thank you for your reply. No, I have never been to Europe so I had no idea what that meant.

Is there a lot more smoking on the ships?

 

We sailed on the Splendida this summer in the Mediterranean, and were the only American family we found on the sold out ship of 4000 passengers. It was a new experience to be such a minority, but not a bad thing! Most customer service type employees had good english, although the room stewards and housekeepers, not so much. We easily got what we wanted and needed though.

 

As for smoking, there were limited areas, but the casino was seriously smokey! I'm a former smoker, and it gave me a headache, which doesn't always happen when I'm in places that allow smoking.

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Europeans don't see a need for orderly lines. I think it's because they are dehydrated as they clearly find water to be unimportant [emoji14][emoji14][emoji12][emoji12]

 

There are obviously lots of differences in culture around the world. I rather liked experiencing the europeans on our Armonia cruise. However, I now appreciate my American lines and ice water much more!

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We will be sailing in Europe on the Divina next summer. We were on her Caribbean sailing in March and loved it. Am I to understand that the smoking policy is going to be different on the Europe sailing? Although I do love the casino my main concern is the YC pool area. This would be the ONLY "cultural difference" that would bother me. I don't need ice water. :)

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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It's my understanding that the Divina will take the Americanized experience to Europe. At least from Germany, it's not possible to book the European sailings on the Devina.

 

Looks like Americans will be able to stay among themselves and won't have to deal with those rude Europeans.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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It's my understanding that the Divina will take the Americanized experience to Europe. At least from Germany, it's not possible to book the European sailings on the Devina.

 

Looks like Americans will be able to stay among themselves and won't have to deal with those rude Europeans.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I've booked the Divina for next June sailing out of Naples and via MSC UK, so it won't just be Americans onboard.

 

I'm in 2 minds about the ship and the changes for the US market but for me it was the itinerary that sold it. Gives me the chance to combine a Med cruise with a stay in Sorrento and Positano that have both been on my bucket list for a while.

 

I can't believe with a few embarkation ports in Italy, there won't be lots of Italians onboard as per the usual med experience.

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We will be sailing in Europe on the Divina next summer. We were on her Caribbean sailing in March and loved it. Am I to understand that the smoking policy is going to be different on the Europe sailing? Although I do love the casino my main concern is the YC pool area. This would be the ONLY "cultural difference" that would bother me. I don't need ice water. :)

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

It is hard to know if they will change some Divina things back to the European norm or leave them as they are in the US.

 

I'm on the same sailing as you, except I board 2 days later than you in Napoli.

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It is hard to know if they will change some Divina things back to the European norm or leave them as they are in the US.

 

I'm on the same sailing as you, except I board 2 days later than you in Napoli.

 

Amo,,we just booked the October 2015 repo sailing from Genoa to Miami aboard Divina. Even though we are American, we are hoping to experience the European way of things. It will be refreshing to step out of our American comfort zone, and try something very new to us.

Edited by Mikesa1721
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Amo,,we just booked the October 2015 repo sailing from Genoa to Miami aboard Divina. Even though we are American, we are hoping to experience the European way of things. It will be refreshing to step out of our American comfort zone, and try something very new to us.

 

I love repos as you get a holiday on. 2 different continents and all those relaxing sea days in between.

 

Hope you mange to have some time in Italy before you board.

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How did they Americanize it? the food?

 

They installed 2 new restaurants which they won't rip out again I'm sure and made a few physical changes to the ship.

 

Changed currency, dining times and menus, smoking more retricted etc.also seemed to have changed some of the entertainment. All of that can easily go back to whT it was but I guess it depends if they want a ship in Europe catering to the American market or not.

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I love repos as you get a holiday on. 2 different continents and all those relaxing sea days in between.

 

Hope you mange to have some time in Italy before you board.

 

Amo,,5 consecutive days at sea!! Oh what will we do?? LOL.

We plan to spend at least 4 days in Genoa prior to the sailing. My girlfriend is half Italian and half Greek,,and she would kill me if she didn't get to experience Italy for a few days. I'm sure I'll be picking your brain for hotel recommendations, sites, and restaurants.:)

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Europeans don't see a need for orderly lines. I think it's because they are dehydrated as they clearly find water to be unimportant [emoji14][emoji14][emoji12][emoji12]

 

There are obviously lots of differences in culture around the world. I rather liked experiencing the europeans on our Armonia cruise. However, I now appreciate my American lines and ice water much more!

 

Sooooo very true!!!

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Amo,,5 consecutive days at sea!! Oh what will we do?? LOL.

We plan to spend at least 4 days in Genoa prior to the sailing. My girlfriend is half Italian and half Greek,,and she would kill me if she didn't get to experience Italy for a few days. I'm sure I'll be picking your brain for hotel recommendations, sites, and restaurants.:)

 

No worries, will be happy to help.

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They could rip out Eataly! We wanted to try something different than Le Muse and unfortunately chose Eataly. What a huge waste of money. Seems we were the only ones who didn't get the memo- there wasn't a soul in the restaurant during our entire dinner.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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At least from Germany, it's not possible to book the European sailings on the Devina.

 

Looks like Americans will be able to stay among themselves and won't have to deal with those rude Europeans.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

It has only recently been made available on the Ireland website so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it will be added in Germany.

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You can't book them with MSC spanish webpage, however you can book them through a TA, for instance logitravel dot com.

 

Next year MSC is making a huge change in its meds itineraries, deploying 3 of the Fantasia classes in the western med. Also, major lines like Carnival (via Costa Diadema) and Royal (via Allure of the Seas) are increasing the capacity a lot. I'd expect very good last minute deals during off-peak season.

 

The Divina itinerary looks quite good, very long stays in some ports, 18 hours in La Spezia, for instance, shorter stays in others.

 

 

MSC Fantasia

 

Barcelona

Marsella

Génova

Nápoles

Messina

La Goulette (Túnez)

Barcelona

 

 

MSC Preziosa

 

Valencia

Marsella

Génova

Civitavecchia

Palermo

La Goulette

Palma de Mallorca

Valencia

 

 

MSC Divina

 

Barcelona

Nápoles

Civitavecchia

La Spezia

Cannes

Palma de Mallorca

Barcelona

Edited by Elmartellama
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