Norwegian or MSC

Hi Guys, we are first time cruisers thinking of cruising in September this year, looking for advise on 2 cruise company's Norwegian and MSC, what's your opinions on either of these company`s, especially MSC as I know very little about them. thanks in advance

i asked this question on a facebook page and got this awesome answer:

I got a tour of the Yacht Club. I'll be in the Yacht Club on the MSC Seaside in March 2018. To me it was "old school" cruising. I started cruising in the early 90s. Formal nights were very formal. Suits/ties and many tuxedos. But they will not turn anyone away from the dining rooms on formal nights if they are wearing at least long pants. Lots of sequins. I thought food was good to above average. You won't go hungry in my opinion. Italian dishes were amazing, Pizza the best at sea. I thought the traditional dishes (meats, chicken, fish) were served with what I will say "light" seasoning as opposed to "heavy" seasoning. Buffet was excellent. Had to walk around the entire thing to see all the options. Items not always duplicated on Port then Starboard side. Entertainment is very good. You won't find comedians, magicians and the sort. There are many languages spoken on board, so Entertainment is very visual. Tons of lounges with many varieties of musical entertainment and lots of dance floor space. They have a sports lounge with complimentary food and bowling. Beautiful Pool areas (actually large enough to enjoy) not just people soup. Ship is probably the most beautiful I've been on. Oh and there are 4 Elevator Banks and then 2 other "secret" elevators (most people find these by the end of their cruise). If you only want bells and whistles (stuff on the mega ships) then wait for the Seaside to come out. If you want nice relaxing and entertaining cruise with amazing service, go now on the Divina. I also say you must be tolerant of other languages and other cultures. If not, then this is not the line for you

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I also say you must be tolerant of other languages and other cultures. If not, then this is not the line for you

I had heard that the language on board was basically Italian and English was a second language. I don't know if it is but that would be a concern if true.

MSC has become one of the cruise lines I'm thinking about. NCL has made many changes and my last cruise just didn't push my buttons.

Will be following this thread and see what others have to say.

I'll 2nd what BostonGal has said plus, I'd head over to their forum and ask a few questions regarding things of concern to you.

Here's a review that I did but there are many others as well.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=562230

We love NCL but couldn't beat the price of our aft balcony over New Years (it was less than half what we saw on the Dawn). MSC doesn't jack up the prices of the aft balconies like other cruise lines. The MSC Divina has some of the nicest crew and officers, they're very willing to please and want to make you, the passenger, happy. They really go out of their way to be helpful.

We were going to wait and cruise on the new Seaside in Feb. 2018 but decided that since we, as seniors, enjoyed our first MSC cruise so much, we booked another cruise on Divina. I do agree that if you're looking for the bells and whistles, I too, would wait for the newer ships since they're being designed specifically for the NA market for the Caribbean.

I had heard that the language on board was basically Italian and English was a second language. I don't know if it is but that would be a concern if true.

I've heard English might even be third choice language. Italian, Spanish and then English.

A ship full of Italians, not for me.

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We sailed on Poesia and Divina out Florida. Loved everything about these ships. Simply beautiful. Nightly shows are the best. Every night they have a production show as pax is very international. Tons of music in lounges.

Main language is English, but they do translate to 4-5-6 different languages.

Food is not MSCs strong case, but it is mostly good, except for steaks and evening buffet. But NCL is not known as a gourmet line either.

We're going on our fourth NCL cruise this summer, but have booked our next cruise on MSC on Seaside. I'm excited to try something different. The fact that they matched me to their highest status based on my starwood preferred guest status helps!

I've heard English might even be third choice language. Italian, Spanish and then English.

 

A ship full of Italians, not for me.

 

 

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English is main language.

As far as a pax mix, I'd say that while Italians were there most foreign pax was from German speaking countries or Northern Europe . Half of the ship was Americans and Canadians.

I have been on a couple of MSC cruises and when they cruise out of a north American port English is the first language spoken and fluently. The food is fantastic with Italian options for dinner every night and the other side of the menu changes. Never had any complaints about the buffet. Entertainment is great and no problems with the cabins. Have cruised with Carnival, Holland America and MSC (NCL next year for first time) and I would cruise MSC again no hesitation.

I had heard that the language on board was basically Italian and English was a second language. I don't know if it is but that would be a concern if true.

Not on Divina and my expectation is it will not be on Seaside. In the Med, yes, Italian first and then English. But all the employees are bilingual so it is not an issue at all.

If you like a bigger bang for your buck, MSC offers better deal than NCL. Better cruise fare, better drink package, lower DSC and a beautiful ship. What language do other passengers speak on the ship is of no concern to me.

I actually LOVED the fact that cruisers on MSC were multinational. Gives you an opportunity to communicate with people from different countries. Most speak English pretty well.

Staff (service people) actually know English much better that Italian.

Sailed on the MSC Divina twice, both times in the YC. It was amazing! The ship is beautiful and the staff was awesome. The YC made it just perfect, but a little on the pricey side. We had an aft balcony on the Getaway (and the drink package) which made it much more affordable than MSC.

We are booked with msc next spring but I think we are going to cancel since doing more research. Although there are some good reviews on msc, the majority of reviews are pretty bad, even horrible.

Going on and NCL Dawn in April and then moving over to MSC on the Seaside in April 2018 will be in the Yacht Club Balcony Suite, finding much better deals there sense NCL went overboard on the suite pricing.

This is what the MSC USA website says:

The company uses six main languages for its communications: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. The order in which these languages appear is determined exclusively by the number of guests in each language group as a proportion of our total guests. On Caribbean cruises on MSC Divina, the main language is English and all announcements (except safety related announcements) are only in English.

We are booked with msc next spring but I think we are going to cancel since doing more research. Although there are some good reviews on msc, the majority of reviews are pretty bad, even horrible.

Many reviews are from Europe, and it's quite different experience there. People come and go in every port. Large Italian families.

I wouldn't cancel.

I wonder if it comes down to... what do you want in a cruise? Do you enjoy different things, meeting different people from different cultures, eating different food and yes, in some cases, it's felt that the food is subpar but, not everyone feels the same.

We enjoy the diversity and were tired of the same old, same old and we love meeting people from different cultures. We had an amazing experience on MSC Divina. We met a wonderful couple from Germany who'd brought their DD with them and she was missing her OMA so guess who got to be a surrogate grandma for a few days? It was so much fun. The reason I mention it, is because if we hadn't been open to change, we would have ignored the little girl's attempts to speak with me.... so glad we tried to speak back to her and we ended up spending so much time together.

Different is not bad, it's just different and it's not for everyone... but shouldn't be condemned by anyone. JMHO :)

Ditto to the last post, I just got off the divina last week and we loved it and were happy we tried msc, very good value and a beautiful ship. A little taste of Europe on a Caribbean cruise.

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I agree. This is how I feel about MSC.

The only thing that upset us, on Poesia it was even more of European experience. We had Italian tenor singing in theater and different lounges, Sicilian guitar duo... etc.

MSC is trying to hard to Americanize their ships here.