X vs. MSC

Can someone please compare the 2 lines for me. Our last 2 cruises have been on Celebrity in Aqua class and we are spoiled. I was looking for a lower cost alternative this time and was wondering about MSC. The review I read on here was not favorable but they compared MSC to Carnival. They were not happy with the MSC cruise (because it was "boring") and I'm wondering if they would have thought the same about Celebrity.

We love Celebrity. It is a cut above the others. We love the food and the service and we love to party but we prefer that 35-65 crowd! And we don't stay up all night, maybe 'till 1:00 or so.

I have a feeling we should stay with "X" but just looking for some input please.

Thanks,

Shane and Janet

Hi - We cruised MSC but in Yacht Club last year and then did another week on Celebrity Reflection. The Yacht Club service and rooms were really nice as well as the private areas. The yacht Club areas really kept you away from the majority of the passengers which felt a little secluded to us. Depends on what you are looking for on your holiday. The MSC shows were really good. We really like the dueling pianos on MSC.

Both cruises are fairly laid back.

The food was better on Celebrity. Celebrity Reflection seemed to have more of a luxury vegas hotel feel with really nice common areas for all passengers to enjoy.

Hope that helps. If the price is right you could try MSC Yacht Club.

If your norm is x aqua, my advice would be to not try MSC....the food in buffet is very poor, although MDR is good but not as good as X. The shows are different, because the first language naturally is not English.

My gut feeling is you would be disappointed with MSC!

Can someone please compare the 2 lines for me. Our last 2 cruises have been on Celebrity in Aqua class and we are spoiled. I was looking for a lower cost alternative this time and was wondering about MSC. The review I read on here was not favorable but they compared MSC to Carnival. They were not happy with the MSC cruise (because it was "boring") and I'm wondering if they would have thought the same about Celebrity.

 

We love Celebrity. It is a cut above the others. We love the food and the service and we love to party but we prefer that 35-65 crowd! And we don't stay up all night, maybe 'till 1:00 or so.

 

I have a feeling we should stay with "X" but just looking for some input please.

 

Thanks,

Shane and Janet

We like X much better. I would stick with X.

I don't think you can favorably compare MSC to Celebrity. While their ships are attractive, and the entertainment is good, nothing else compares to Celebrity, especially food and service.

I've been on MSC. Once. end of story.

Unless you are Italian forget MSC ...they treat Italians ggggggreat others not so much

There is no food except at meal times ....no pm snacks before 5 pm

Did not care for the arrogance of the Italian staff ...screeching ...Italian style all day ...as some sort of superior cryise ...duh ..not exactly

If you like Celebrity yoi will not like MSC

Went once ...never again ..after 40++cruises ...that tells it all

MSC have nice ships and their fares are cheap. My only experience with them was in the Med and as a port-intensive cruise it was fine. The less time spent onboard the better in my opinion.

Dining in the MDR was like a zoo - even the buffet was a more pleasant experience. Activities were unappealing and the shows were average. I felt that we did get value for money but X is much, much, much better.

This is a perfect instance of you get what you pay for. I'd select a cheap carnival on breeze over Divina.

This is a perfect instance of you get what you pay for. I'd select a cheap carnival on breeze over Divina.

But according to your signature, you haven't sailed Divina. I have. I don't think you can compare the product they have developed for the American market to the European product. Granted, our cruise was only three nights, and being the first one of the season out of Miami, there were some kinks to iron out. but we had no complaints about the food, lost of choice in the buffet. For the price, we would sail her again. But we just built a house, so not sailing again for awhile. EM

Can someone please compare the 2 lines for me. Our last 2 cruises have been on Celebrity in Aqua class and we are spoiled. I was looking for a lower cost alternative this time and was wondering about MSC. The review I read on here was not favorable but they compared MSC to Carnival. They were not happy with the MSC cruise (because it was "boring") and I'm wondering if they would have thought the same about Celebrity.

 

We love Celebrity. It is a cut above the others. We love the food and the service and we love to party but we prefer that 35-65 crowd! And we don't stay up all night, maybe 'till 1:00 or so.

 

I have a feeling we should stay with "X" but just looking for some input please.

 

Thanks,

Shane and Janet

If you haven't already, perhaps you should take a look at the MSC forum - there are a number of reviews of recent sailings on Divina which are very honest and forthright.

There are also threads from people who've sailed both X and MSC so, a search on that forum may answer any question you may have.

As an MSC fan, the only other company that interests me is Celebrity as I imagine it's on a par. What keeps me coming back to MSC, however, is price. The Yacht Club experience cannot be beaten!!!

Whilst I've sailed X but not MSC a quick look at the reviews section shows 80% of people giving Celebrity 4 or 5 stars and only 55% for MSC. That's quite a difference and is based on hundreds of reviews.

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But according to your signature, you haven't sailed Divina. I have. I don't think you can compare the product they have developed for the American market to the European product. Granted, our cruise was only three nights, and being the first one of the season out of Miami, there were some kinks to iron out. but we had no complaints about the food, lost of choice in the buffet. For the price, we would sail her again. But we just built a house, so not sailing again for awhile. EM

I have indeed. Those listed are upcoming, not sailed. If you look at our preference MSC ranks dead last. Out of fifty something cruises, it was fifty something. Aside from the aesthetics of the ships and a nice drink menu, we were not impressed at all. :eek:

The food and service were just a complete train wreck on our sailing.

..for the spirited responses!

-Shane

We have sailed X, and it's probably our top choice. We have a 16 day cruise booked in Dec 2014. We have done 15+ cruises on X, Princess, HAL, Carnival, NCL and RCCL, and would sail any of them again (given satisfactory prices and itineraries) except RCCL.

We are doing 7 day Divina in about ten days, so I'll try to remember to pop back and post some comparisons. But in fairness, MSC is different, and even 'different' within itself.

For example, I don't think you can compare sailing on the North America oriented Divina to ANY other experience in the MSC fleet. And I don't think it's fair to compare sailing in MSC's Yacht Club to any other type of cabin on any MSC ship. Looking at the overall reviews of MSC is misleading, maybe even useless. You really need to look at the specific ship, and separate out the Yacht Club reviews, IMHO.

I can make a few comparisons already. MSC has some terrific deals on alcohol and wine packages without going all the way up to a full, all you can drink package. Those vouchers bring the price of branded drinks and wine by the glass (offerings very similar to Celebrity's Classic package) to $4.80/drink. The wine package is $12/bottle. If you preorder, no 15% service charge is assessed.

Also, we booked inside guarantee, as we ALWAYS do (except when we get OV to get Celebrity 123GO package). In 15+ cruises the best assignment we ever got was an obstruted OV. MSC assigned us to an extra wide balcony cabin, that is essentially a mini suite.

We will be on our 40th and 41st cruises this fall and although we certainly enjoy Celebrity and Princess the best, we have been on 9 different cruise lines over the years. We were on MSC Poesia in 2011 out of Ft. Lauderdale and really enjoyed the experience. First we notices that this ship was absolutely spotless...........the food was fine and not in the least bet "heavy" on sauces. We thought that the pizza was the best we every had on any line and really loved the Italian lessons every afternoon! Yes, the announcement are in English, Italian, French and German but fun listening to and learning something new. We had a balcony cabin and had plenty of storage and no complaints. Get out there and try something new and carry a good attitude with you when you board and you will have fun.

We have done 3 MSC cruises and although we enjoyed them very much Celebrity is much nicer.

Shows were very good on MSC but with no language involved. Buffet was chaotic on MSC, MDR was great for dinner but breakfast was disorganized.

Loved their deck chairs, lots of live music, enjoyed meeting others from all over the world, much more diversified client base.

Would cruise MSC again for a cheap rate (as we did the other times) but I think after Aquaclass you might be a bit disappointed.

If you haven't already, perhaps you should take a look at the MSC forum - there are a number of reviews of recent sailings on Divina which are very honest and forthright.

 

There are also threads from people who've sailed both X and MSC so, a search on that forum may answer any question you may have.

 

As an MSC fan, the only other company that interests me is Celebrity as I imagine it's on a par. What keeps me coming back to MSC, however, is price. The Yacht Club experience cannot be beaten!!!

We cruise on Celebrity every few months, with a few Royal Caribbean thrown in for good measure:D:D

Have to agree with Beamafar. If you can get the Yacht Club for a reasonable price, it is amazing!! I doubt if even 6* ships are as luxurious - and the service was second to none. Would never go on MSC in an ordinary cabin though!!

The only thing I can add to this is that we were on an airport shuttle in Venice with three nice ladies who had just gotten off an MSC cruise. When asked how it was, they all shook their heads and said 'never again.' That was enough for me.