Another RC diamond tries MSC

we were on the May 30 sailing of the Poesia from Naples. MSC matched our RC status, giving us a black card, and the price was really good. We were not in Yacht Club (I'm not even sure that the ship had it). Overall, we were generally pleased, but there are some caveats

first, the price. We saved about 60% on a comparable balcony cabin from Royal Caribbean (3 of us for less than $2000, as opposed to $5000). This is a critical point. You can't ignore that level of savings

the stateroom and balcony was comparable to RC in size and service. No problems there

the food, on the other hand, is a real problem. Others have referred to it as "bad," but that may not convey just how bad we thought that it was. Whether in the main dining room or the buffet, the taste and selection were disappointing. Fortunately, spaghetti with meat sauce is available every night, and our whole party ended up ordering it as a "back up" to whatever entrée we ordered. The spaghetti was quite good

as others have reported, they will not serve tap water in the main dining room (although you can get it in the bar). If you want water, be prepared to buy bottled water

But to us, the biggest shortcoming of MSC was the lack of any serious customer service commitment. The employees work hard, but they simply didn't do anything more than required. For example, I asked for vanilla ice cream one night at dinner. It wasn't on the menu, but there was a dessert that came with vanilla ice cream. My waiter said that my request was "not possible." (I had to order the dessert and eat only the ice cream). In fact, the words "not possible" became our term to describe the ship. Could we trade the bottle of wine that we got with our black card for a soda? not possible. Tap water with your meal? not possible. In fact, anything that deviated from the standard, no matter how trivial, was "not possible"

the black card didn't get us much. We did got a bottle of wine, but we don't drink. The chocolate ships were tasty. The specialty dinner had to be used in a single restaurant (sushi) and had to be ordered from a limited menu.

having said that, given the difference in price, I would do it again. But you do need to temper your expectations. This isn't RC, and people aren't always to eager to help you (again, they do what they have to, but nothing extraordinary). If you keep reminding yourself of how much you saved and don't expect a lot of catering to, it is a good experience

we were on the May 30 sailing of the Poesia from Naples. MSC matched our RC status, giving us a black card, and the price was really good. We were not in Yacht Club (I'm not even sure that the ship had it). Overall, we were generally pleased, but there are some caveats

 

first, the price. We saved about 60% on a comparable balcony cabin from Royal Caribbean (3 of us for less than $2000, as opposed to $5000). This is a critical point. You can't ignore that level of savings

 

the stateroom and balcony was comparable to RC in size and service. No problems there

 

the food, on the other hand, is a real problem. Others have referred to it as "bad," but that may not convey just how bad we thought that it was. Whether in the main dining room or the buffet, the taste and selection were disappointing. Fortunately, spaghetti with meat sauce is available every night, and our whole party ended up ordering it as a "back up" to whatever entrée we ordered. The spaghetti was quite good

 

as others have reported, they will not serve tap water in the main dining room (although you can get it in the bar). If you want water, be prepared to buy bottled water

 

But to us, the biggest shortcoming of MSC was the lack of any serious customer service commitment. The employees work hard, but they simply didn't do anything more than required. For example, I asked for vanilla ice cream one night at dinner. It wasn't on the menu, but there was a dessert that came with vanilla ice cream. My waiter said that my request was "not possible." (I had to order the dessert and eat only the ice cream). In fact, the words "not possible" became our term to describe the ship. Could we trade the bottle of wine that we got with our black card for a soda? not possible. Tap water with your meal? not possible. In fact, anything that deviated from the standard, no matter how trivial, was "not possible"

 

the black card didn't get us much. We did got a bottle of wine, but we don't drink. The chocolate ships were tasty. The specialty dinner had to be used in a single restaurant (sushi) and had to be ordered from a limited menu.

 

having said that, given the difference in price, I would do it again. But you do need to temper your expectations. This isn't RC, and people aren't always to eager to help you (again, they do what they have to, but nothing extraordinary). If you keep reminding yourself of how much you saved and don't expect a lot of catering to, it is a good experience

Thank you for the review and your perspective. I highlighted in red what I believe to be excellent advice for anyone considering MSC.

Very much appreciate the comparison, thanks.:)

Thanks for the info. We are elite plus on celebrity and trying MSC for the first time in September. We were also enticed by the very low price and the black status.

We never eat in the MDR anyway so hopefully there will be water in the buffet!!

Tell you a joke. MSC didn't even match our status. Why? It is a hilarious reason.

During our cruise, I managed to get myself and my wife signed up for the MSC loyalty programme and we were duly allocated membership numbers. Fine and well.

Then I wrote to MSC USA to match our status. They didn't reply. Then I wrote to MSC Germany to help (we had booked our MSC cruise through a Germany web agent). They responded and politely explained that because we are not German, they couldn't help us. They directed us to the local (Singapore) office.

The problem is that MSC doesn't have much of an office in Singapore. Their agent is some commercial shipping firm. Still, I managed to get the contact of the staff there.

Their first response was that they had no clue what I was talking about. After further explanation and sending them all the website information, they said they would contact MSC HQ to find out more.

And then, after a few weeks, they came back with the response from MSC HQ that the loyalty matching IS NOT AVAILABLE IN OUR MARKET! Then the same email had the suggestion that we could still achieve Black Card status simply by cruising more with MSC

Goodness gracious. I feel so discriminated!

Still, we do like the MSC YC product and oh yes, we are booked on another MSC Yacht Club cruise in 2017, despite all this. :):)

Just wanted to point out to others considering cruising on MSC, in their American market, cruising in the Caribbean out of Miami, tap water is available for free in the MDR. A concession to that market.

I am not surprised that the OP found the food lacking. I am surprised that an Italian ship can provide such a mediocre product.

We got off the Divina on June 11. I am still trying to resolve some rather major issues. I have been reluctant to do a review until there is some resolution, be it good or bad.

I agree with everything OP stated, reduced expectations are in order. We are also Diamond with RCI and are pretty laid back cruisers. Our savings were no where near what OP experienced. Ours was certainly not enough to make up for the inadequacies we found.

We were misdirected to an event, then twice sent back and forth from one end of the ship to another, at dinner seating time. One gentleman in our group interrupted a trivia game host to try and get an answer... the answer? Said very sarcastically,.."I am SO sorry you are going to be late for dinner sir, but you are on vacation and I am here working until 6 o'clock and you are interrupting me." :eek: If it had not been in such a sarcastic tone, I think it might have been okay... as it was, everyone was bug eyed. Guest services response, according to the gentleman who made the complaint .. "what would you like us to do?". That about sums up the attitude of some, by no means not all, of the staff. (No, this is not one of the major issues, this was minor but indicative of some of our experiences).

At this time, I would be very reluctant to repeat this experience.

OP here. In our trivia game, we learned that Miami is now the capital of Florida

OP here. In our trivia game, we learned that Miami is now the capital of Florida

Miami the capital of florida? "Not possible"... fits in perfectly...

Haha;)

OP here. In our trivia game, we learned that Miami is now the capital of Florida

Miami the capital of florida? "Not possible"... fits in perfectly...

Haha;)

OP here. In our trivia game, we learned that Miami is now the capital of Florida

LOL ~ This is exactly what I mean when I say MSC is a bit 'quirky'. There are some hits on Divina and sure fire misses. I bet they would get the capital of Italy correctly.

Thanks for your thoughts.

LOL ~ This is exactly what I mean when I say MSC is a bit 'quirky'. There are some hits on Divina and sure fire misses. I bet they would get the capital of Italy correctly.

That's insane. We had a similar situation on Celebrity where the guy doing the quiz had a "my answer is final" rule, but his answer was demonstrably wrong.

How hard is it to just Google this stuff when making the quiz? I wouldn't have quested the capital of Florida correctly, but if I was making a quiz I'd find out the correct answer.

We were on the June 4th sailing and had the following experience. One of the trivia questions was What is the largest airport in South America?? Most being U.S. passengers at the event were coming up with Rio's airport or some other large city in South America.

So now the moderator, with a heavy foreign accent, gives the answer Atlanta! We all go what?????? You said South America. They call the U.S. America and they were referring to the southern part of America what we call the Southeast.

End result, everyone was given a pt. for that one! (By the way, they use a trivia book for questions and answers. If the answer is wrong, blame the book not the moderator.)

Just one of the interesting parts of sailing on MSC.

We enjoyed the week and felt like we were in Europe and not the Caribbean. We got off of MSC and went on the RCCL Empress of the Seas. Probably 99% of Americans on board and an entirely different vibe.

We are D+ with RCCL but would definately sail with MSC in the Caribbean again.

I am not surprised that the OP found the food lacking. I am surprised that an Italian ship can provide such a mediocre product.

It's not a food lucking its difference from what Americans called good food and what Europeans call good food. And I really wish MSC stop matching status from other lines. Not only its not fare for MSC cruisers it's not appreciated any way .

It's not a food lucking its difference from what Americans called good food and what Europeans call good food. And I really wish MSC stop matching status from other lines. Not only its not fare for MSC cruisers it's not appreciated any way .

Have to agree with you GOLDEN!!!! We don't sail MSC for the Voyager Club perks,,we sail MSC because it's the cruise line that we have always enjoyed sailing. Like so many other MSC loyalists,,we weren't happy with the status match program and as a result some great posters have left this board and the MSC brand all together because of it. I would love to see how many status match pax actually book a 2nd sailing onboard an MSC ship after their first sailing,,,I'll have to say very low,,,most are one and done,,and now you have to ask yourself,,was the status match worth alienating your most loyal passengers?? :rolleyes:

Mike, I have to agree with you about the one and done.I happened to love my cruise on the Divina, and my status match was only silver. I don't care about that. I was in the YC, and am booked YC on the Seaside.Every line has it's pluses and minuses.Just look at their forums. Almost the same complaints.

We have booked our 2nd cruise on the Divina ,we did not use all the perks but used some and to really upset everyone we got black status through a hotel loyalty card! We had never been on a cruise before! But can truthfully say we love MSC!

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Mike, I have to agree with you about the one and done.I happened to love my cruise on the Divina, and my status match was only silver. I don't care about that. I was in the YC, and am booked YC on the Seaside.Every line has it's pluses and minuses.Just look at their forums. Almost the same complaints.

I do applaude MSC for trying something new to attract new pax,,but what price is it coming with??

We have booked our 2nd cruise on the Divina ,we did not use all the perks but used some and to really upset everyone we got black status through a hotel loyalty card! We had never been on a cruise before! But can truthfully say we love MSC!

 

 

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Bravo!!! We do as well!!:D:D

Have to agree with you GOLDEN!!!! We don't sail MSC for the Voyager Club perks,,we sail MSC because it's the cruise line that we have always enjoyed sailing. Like so many other MSC loyalists,,we weren't happy with the status match program and as a result some great posters have left this board and the MSC brand all together because of it. I would love to see how many status match pax actually book a 2nd sailing onboard an MSC ship after their first sailing,,,I'll have to say very low,,,most are one and done,,and now you have to ask yourself,,was the status match worth alienating your most loyal passengers?? :rolleyes:

If they are "one and done" then what difference would it make to you? It opens up MSC to a whole different set of potential $$ paying customers, many of which would not have considered sailing with them.

We were status matched and hope, after our Sept cruise, that we are repeat customers...we'll see.

If they are "one and done" then what difference would it make to you? It opens up MSC to a whole different set of potential $$ paying customers, many of which would not have considered sailing with them.

 

We were status matched and hope, after our Sept cruise, that we are repeat customers...we'll see.

It has no effect on my cruising preferences at all,,,however the new program has also had a negative effect on those loyal MSC pax who have spent thousands of dollars reaching their Black Level. Before status match,,MSC Black Level members received a 20% discount on every cruise,,,that was the most prized perk of all!!! Now,,it's only 5%,,,so you can see why some take issue with the new program. Like I said,,I applaud MSC for trying something new,,but I don't believe the new Black Level benefits are enough to maintain repeat MSC customers alone.

It has no effect on my cruising preferences at all,,,however the new program has also had a negative effect on those loyal MSC pax who have spent thousands of dollars reaching their Black Level. Before status match,,MSC Black Level members received a 20% discount on every cruise,,,that was the most prized perk of all!!! Now,,it's only 5%,,,so you can see why some take issue with the new program. Like I said,,I applaud MSC for trying something new,,but I don't believe the new Black Level benefits are enough to maintain repeat MSC customers alone.

Good point, and I'm sure that it would be seen as a giveaway from your side...I see it as an opportunity to try to get my business (Celebrity Elite Plus).

I'll bet the 20% was changing no matter if they offered new matching or not.

There has been a lot of changes in travel perk programs over last few years (mainly with the airlines), and I think that trend is going to continue...what have you done for me lately is becoming the montra of many travel businesses.

Good point, and I'm sure that it would be seen as a giveaway from your side...I see it as an opportunity to try to get my business (Celebrity Elite Plus).

 

I'll bet the 20% was changing no matter if they offered new matching or not.

 

There has been a lot of changes in travel perk programs over last few years (mainly with the airlines), and I think that trend is going to continue...what have you done for me lately is becoming the montra of many travel businesses.

Cruise Lines aren't interested in the loyal passengers any longer,,,they want the new pax who will spend money on pictures,,excursions,,specialty dining,,drink packages,,etc.,that's why there is such an emphasis on trying to attract the millennials.