perakcruiser

So useful, thanks so much.

I am planning this trip right now. Can somebody tell me what "canvas" means? The internet cannot :D

COMPLIMENTARY BOTTLED MINERAL WATER, AMERICAN COFFEE AND/OR TEA DURING LUNCH AND DINNER IN MAIN DINING ROOM. RESERVED ONLY FOR UK/IRL GUESTS. VALID FOR ALL NON-CARIBBEAN CANVAS.

No except Soleil, free and yes.

But if you love coffee better take the coffee package.

I am not an early diner at all. What are my options?

Call them and change for late.

We are from the UK and travelled as myself, wife and 3 children (mid to late teens). Our first ever cruise with MSC and also first Caribbean cruise, our 4 previous cruises have all been Mediterranean with TUI x 2, Costa and Royal Caribbean so I can only compare with these.

Thanks for the review, interesting to read that the Seaside could satisfy first time MSC cruisers who were travelling with TUI Cruises before. I am tired of reading comments from TUI fans how much better these boats are compared to MSC, Costa or RC. We also cruised with TUI two times already, sure they are good, but certainly they have to be with the prices they charge.

If you have Fantastica names can be changed free of charge and you can move the people around :D

Bella have to pay a fee, but in this case maybe it is negotiable.

In another thread I wrote a couple of months before "After booking never check the price again, just look forward and enjoy". Great advice! Yesterday I booked on Armonia, thinking about Bella or Fantastica. In Bella their was no choice of cabins, only one available. Finally I decided to take it.

So after booking I wanted to check if I really got the last Bella. And certainly I did not follow my own advice and started a test booking, because I wanted to know if this was really the last cabin.

Well, yes, it was the last Bella Inside indeed, but after my booking and all Bella cabins gone the Bella price became the Fantastica price ;p

Well, not a big thing, I just lost 300 Voyager Points and the free photo, but a little bit annoying it is defnitely. Let´s see if I learnt my lesson this time :halo:

My guess, MSC suggests no tipping so their staff do not get a sense of how much they are missing by working for a “European” line. A taste of tips might entice their staff to jump ship to a line that encourages such absurdities!

Wrong guess. At the end all the staff is hired by the same agencies in Phillippines and Indonesia. They know very well how much they earn on US (loads of tips plus DSC), Italy (DSC) and German (nothing) ships. Try to find somebody who left a German company like TUI Cruises to work for MSC or the Americans ;)

I don't know where you are getting your information but it is incorrect. MSC can simply implement a new policy of "No Frills" cabins...and there is nothing the German government can do about it. You can give the consumer a choice of paying the DSC or not paying it. If they choose not to pay they can be assigned a No Frills cabin. My point is this: no matter what the government does makes no difference to MSC...they will be one step ahead.

You are talking a different thing. Certainly MSC can set up this "no frills" category, but then they have to change their T&C completely, they cannot do this under their current version.

It is not a sin for a waiter or steward to accept a tip on MSC. They will not lose their job.

Of cause it is not a sin, but I was told they have to put tips in a pot for tips collection, so that all staff can participate and not just the ones with direct contact. Is it true or not? Well, I guess someone of us has to work on a MSC boat to find out. Volunteers step forward! :cool:

As I have stated, you have the choice to pay or not to pay. If you have no intention of paying the DSC then inform the service personnel beforehand.

I think you have not read what I wrote. I am always deciding during the cruise if and how much I pay depending on the performance of MSC.

Thanks for this wonderful review, jay888.

We are thinking to take this cruise this year. Been on the Armonia before the modification and would like to meet the grand old lady again.

Are the any differences when sailing in America? Do the Non-US-Pax also get free water in the MDR? Or any bad surprised?

I fully expect fall sailings on seaside will be offered for $399 balcony with perks- ksf is definitely a possibility. That puts all 4 of you onboard for less than a grand. I have no proof, just decades of monitoring.

I also have decades of monitoring MSC prices and I take the bet. 399 USD for balcony on Seaside is not even possible a few days before departure. Yes, sometimes there are crazy cheap prices available, but not for a Seaside balcony. I highly doubt that there are many balcony cabins available anyway. If you eye on a great last minute deal stay calm and wait for a interior on the Armonia in November. Here I would not bet against.

In my 10 MSC cruises I had Bella fourtimes and Fantastica fivetimes and a Suite onetime. The difference is very limited, actually the biggest advantage of Fantastica is that you get more Voyagers points. But if you want to have breakfast in the cabin of cause it is useful. Seems to be not the point as you wrote "love to eat outside while watching the sun rise". I don´t know if US pax still get drink vouchers, that of cause is also nice and much more value than the free photo the Rest of the World gets. Really no need to think to much about Bella or Fantastica. Most of the time Bella is sold out anyway and you have to take Fantastica. That is why we have 4 Bella/5 Fantastica.

Sure you should try it, the diversity of the cruise company makes life on the sea much more interesting. All the needs you wrote about will be fullfilled. Shows is a question of taste. Note that from the European perspective MSC are the fun ships, the US ships and the German ships are the serious ones :D

The German case might prove to be the solution. If a passenger refuses to pay the DSC when booking then his/her cabin can be placed in the new “No Tipping” section of the ship. This section of the ship shall be strictly self-service with dining in the buffet only. If German law allows the passenger to refuse the DSC when booking the cruise then MSC is not under any obligation to provide cabin service or dining room service.

This is not possible. MSC cannot withdraw anything because the DSC is not paid. As far as I understand it, MSC can solve this problem by letting sign the guest the permission to add the daily DSC during the boarding process. But I really hope they solve it in the way that they just add it in the cruise price like the others do. Of cause the cruises will become more expensive then, but it makes things simple for everyone.

I wonder how many of you who are planning on removing the DSC are prepared to be honest enough, at the beginning of the cruise, to inform your cabin steward and dining room waiters that you have no intention of tipping them? After all, that would the fair and honest way of dealing with it.:halo:

This is the old discussion. I am usually tipping (so far everytime) the cabin steward and the room waiter very discreet (I know the can lose their job if they keep this money) at the end of the cruise. I would never tip anybody else, for example bartenders. The DSC I pay full/half/none (all happened) depending on the overall performance of MSC compared to the price I paid.

But everybody certainly can handle it his own way, I don´t care. I just would prefer to make things simple, one price that is final, no tips, no DSC whatever.

Easy rule, if the trip is very close, usually the cruise + airfare from MSC is cheaper than buying the flight yourself (if it is not a "simple" connection you can do with Ryanair or Easyjet). If the trip is far away like in your case you should be able to find a much better price by yourself.

Exception: For cruises that start from places with very little airline competition like Havana, the MSC offer for cruise + airfare is very difficult to beat.

The end of the Daily Service Charge is very near, at least for European cruisers. This is relevant for all companies, but it is MSC who has lost some cases in the last weeks.

In Germany a court decided in favour of consumer advocates that it is not allowed to automatically add the DSC to the passengers account if the passenger has not in advance expressly allowed the cruise company to do so.

In Austria MSC avoided a court decision by allowing passengers to claim back the DSC also after returning home from the cruise.

That piece in the 6 o'clock position... it only has one full piece of pepperoni and two half pieces. It has two crust bubbles, one of which is burned. It has perhaps one teaspoon of sauce on it and one tablespoon of cheese. At a decent pizza place, they would have thrown that pie away and made a new one for the customer! :')

I guess the first and last time you have been to a decent pizza place was on that boat.

Actually I saw a (european) TV program about pizza a couple of days before. They found some excellent "real" pizza some might call "New York" or "Napoli" style. But they also liked a Chicago style "pizza" with loads of chesse. "Maybe you cannot call it pizza, but it really tasts great". But this pizza looked much better than what you are showing here. Looks artificial, is it real Mozzarella? What the hell is this yellow "cheese", looks even more artificial. Cannot see really the crust but I guess it is much to high.

I'm not Italian, I'm from California... and I've just got to say that this is not the way I like my pizza. Let me show you a pepperoni pizza from my home town. This is the way I prefer my pizza... with very generous amounts of sauce, cheese, and toppings, and a crust that is softer, not crunchy.

 

Which one of those two pizzas looks better to you?

This is not a pizza so it cannot be compared with the other picture. I think you Americans call this accident a "pie".





Of cause MSC would rather turn all their cruise ships into container ships before they serve this to their guests. At least I hope so :cool:

One interesting thing in this review, I never thought it would be possible to cancel booked land excursions without a very good reason. Amazing that you could do this because of "bad weather".

Sorry, I meant to ask before: when you say breakfast and lunch are open seating, does that mean you CAN have lunch in the MDR? My understanding is that the Seashore restaurant was open for breakfast and dinner only, and that the only choice for lunch was the buffet. Is that not the case?

Same on all MSC ships and nothing changed in the last ten years. You can have your lunch in the MDR from the menu, the difference is that you will not be at the same table every day like with dinners. Process is the same as for breakfast, the waiter will guide you to the next free table as they want to have the guests in one area and not all around the MDR. If you want to have a table for two you will usually get it, but depending on the mood of the waiter :cool:

We always have dinner in the MDR, for lunch we check the lunch menu of the MDR and make a decision daily.

As Americans probably aren't the majority on board I wouldn't expect every single public screen to be showing the Super Bowl. They have to please many nationalities.

Yes, but when the Super Bowl starts all European football matches are long time finished. So maybe only the Mexican and Brazil Leagues could be a problem. But I guess not many Mexicans are on the Seaside and if MSC shows Liga MX instead of Super Bowl your president has a big button to turn it off ;p

The only notable difference between an American experience and a European one - whether your on a cruise or hitting up the streets of Europe - is instant gratification and customer service. Americans expect prompt service and a quick fix to problems. That's not the European way, and maybe that stands out here.

So true, European vacation mode: "You don´t ask me any questions, not about how I feel or "do" today, if "everything is OK" and so on. Yes you can make up my cabin, but otherwise try to be invisible. If their is a small problem we both ignore it, if it is a big one, I will ask to fix it, but as you are Italian I suppose you will fail, anyway, will not ruin my vacation :cool: (sorry for the stereotypes).

Broad generalization:

Do you think Opera is entertaining?

If so, you may like the entertainment more than I did.

No. This is not the point. I don´t really like Opera, I would not go to the Opera at home. But on a MSC ship I expect entertainment with Opera (anyway it is a superlight version of Opera) and I am disappointed when there is a lot of Disney instead of Opera like on our last trip with the Meraviglia. Cirque du Soleil, that is not even from Europe!

I am not happy with the direction MSC is going. First they started to please the Germans, then the East Asians, then the British, the Americans, of cause I know, they want to become not just the fastest growing but also the biggest cruise company in the world, but where should this all end :(

I want a holiday in Italy on the sea (what they promised to me) and if someone want to make selfies with Mickey Mouse, he should go to Disney.

MSC says it is the mediterranean cruise company with the classical italian devotion for bambini.

Here's a pic from inside one of the booths. Some booths only hold two people...

I like that booths a lot! Would be interesting if you can choose the match on TV when sitting there. Unsurprisingly MSC usually prefers to show Serie A when many football matches from different leagues play at the same time.

The ridiculous charges I think we can forget. Sure, if really people pay this, they will also do at the next superbowls at the ships in America.

...thanks.... I think I'll catch a cab! Is there Uber in Hamburg?

No, everything is illegal in Germany, certainly also UBER.

And this Terminal Steinwerder is unbelievable far away from everything. If MSC offers a shuttle (definitely not complimentary), I think it is still the best choice.

I don't know about the shuttle, but I do remember it was a short walk. Do you have much luggage?

Hamburg now have three cruise terminals with only one being close to the center. I don´t know where MSC docks now, but I guess it is not the one you are referring to.

I never got any adverisements of specials either....anywhere!

By post I think I got one every two or three years :D

I believe that the OP's core question is there any place that a person is allowed to refill water bottles? I do not know about MSC, but this practice is frowned on (maybe prohibited) on some/most cruise lines, as I understand, due to health issues (contamination issues from the bottle to the fountain).

Actually MSC asks to use a cup to refill your water bottle. But this unfortunately is totally ignored by most of the guests and nobody stops people from doing so. A problem not just on MSC ships, I don´t know about the US or the caribbean but Europeans and Asians even more have this attitude.

NFL is pretty popular over here in Europe, so it wont be hard to find the Super Bowl

Which Europe are you talking about? Probably England ;p