MSC Poesia -Nov 1-11th Disappointment

We travelled the Poesia from Nov 1-11th. I have not cruised alot yet but this was a disappointment. The worst thing was the organization on the cruise ship. They put on great mini shows but tried to pack everyone into a small lounge. A fight almost broke out between an older gent asking someone not to stand in front of them so his wife could see the show. No staff would help him out either. The waitress just came back and said "he won't move".

The biggest dissappointment to me was the late night lunch gala. 5 or 6 different salads and fresh fruit and bread does not make a late night gala! Litteraly that was all there was. No shrmip - just as garnish on the salad. No fancy desserts, and the only scultptures were 2 made from butter. The little fruit and vegetable carvings were well done but placed on the shelf above the buffet lines. No creativity with displays.

Little things like no towel animals on the bed, the shows were the same chorography to different music.

I had to call to remind MSC that I had ordered and paid for Spumanti and strwberries in my cabin be departure. Totally ruined the surprise for my husband. Then thenext morning they took back my keep glasses and it took till the last day and 3 times before I actually got them back.

Debarakation was a disaster. We got a call to be a reception for customs at 7am so my husband went down to see what it was about. When he got down there he was told, oh sorry the customs will not be here till 7:30am - come back. So at 7:30 we were going down and we were told not to go but to start to debark and it will be dealt with on land. We got to the gate and it denied us shore access. So we got pulled out of line and told to wait then my husband was told to go back down to reception. He waited about 45 mintes and someone finally said on no you and your wife with your baggage must all be here. So up he went again to get me. We got back to reception and waited - over 1 hour. Finally another lady went to ask if she could go for a smoke and the girl behind the counter said" You are all still here!". They rounded us up and started the journey to customs. We got cut off from the group because of elevator space and she did not even look for us. We contatced someone and they took us to customs. We nearly missed our flight that MSC knew we had to get to. No apologies no offer to make sure we make it to the airport - nothing.

The customer service I observed at the receptions desk was the worst. An elderly couple apparently was having the same kind of morning we were went to ask at the desk where they were supposed to go. After being told quickly the gentlemen ask for some help to get there because they did not know where to go and were told -" well I cannot leave my desk and I have already told you where to go."

The worst professionalism I have ever seen cruising or not. There is alot more but these were the big ones! Happy cruising, but I do not recommend MSC - and I am a Travel Agent. Pattie

Pattie: I could have, and should have, written a review identical to you. I was on the previous sailing, 10-16 through 11-1, and had all the same issues you did. I am always hesitant to write a "bad" review, and rarely ever listen to the bad ones I read, but future MSC cruisers would be wise to listen to yours and to my attempt at a warning in my post. Lots of little things that made one big complaint. Senior staff, customer service at the front desk, lack of towel animals, small water glasses, lack of understanding, not knowing we had purchased a 17-bottle wine package months ago, that transferred into a 30 minute argument at our dinner table our first night, lack of entertainment throughout ship, with exception to shows, there was nothing but little bits and pieces of bad musicians and music all over the place. Even the shows, good as I thought the performances were.....ONCE, it was bad enough that show after show after show, night after night, it was all the same, music, acrobats, more music, more acrobats. I will never ever say never ever, BUT.....will probably stick to Celebrity, Carnival, Royal and the likes of which I have become accustomed to. I do not regret taking this voyage because the ports and the itinerary were phenomenal, certainly worth the trip. The ship is beautiful and clean and the service crew: dining and cabin were magnificant, but there's not a whole lot more I can say about MSC, per se.

i was on that cruise and my experience was totally different. Embarkation and disembarkation was easy as anything. They organize it better than on RCi where anyone can cut in line. The staff had areas roped off for this. You were told to wait in a certain area and they called our yellow 3 for groups at 8:45 and I was off the ship and through customs with our luggage at 9:15.

You must have missed all the rooms for the grand gala and I am sorry. It was delightful although we could not eat, we finished our dining at 10 pm. But we went to look. They had tons of food. And fresh breads, salads, fruit( papaya,kiwi, mango, pineapple, melons) and wonderful desserts. Did you go to the back section where it was? You had to leave the main buffet area cross over to the last section where the specialty restaurant was. They had beautiful ice sculptures there. They did a wonderful job on fruit carvings at each and every area for the food. They had beautiful butter carvings too.

We got our fruit basket many times during our cruise with no problems. It was an oversight which was unfortunate. I would think one call to the reception desk and it would be worked out.

The shows were fantastic. The level of talent is above any other of the cruise lines we have done, including 13 others on CCL, RCI,and Celebrity.

They did not recycle anything but the last night show which was the best of...which was a disappointment since it was the same. Mimmas voice is unlike anything you will ever hear on any other line. And the 2 other singers ( the man and the young woman) were great too. The other male singer was just so so. The body contortionists both male and female were entertaining. The woman on the bamboo stick was great. The shows were lavish feasts for the senses which we all enjoyed totally.

I had an issue with kids in diapers in the pool and went to tell reception who contacted the pool officer who spoke to me and told me to come get him anytime I see this. Then they sent me another fruit basket with a nice note from guest relations. I witnessed many passengers verbally abusing the guest relations people. I witnessed one on the verge of tears and had to go in the back room to cry. I waited to talk to her since she had helped us many times during our cruise. She got our cabin changed the second night since our neighbors were very loud, and it was an adjoining cabin and I could hear them. I had wonderful customer service...but I approach them as equals, not servants. I witnessed this mentality too many times that it bothered me seeing this.

I loved our third MSC cruise and will be more than happy to answer any other questions.

I also loved the animation team around the pool. I do have to agree with you that the lounges are too small for the 10 pm shows and that should be addressed. Being late seating we never got to see them without others standing in front of us.

Cam,

Please stop trying to counter every negative comment with superlatives about MSC. Lots of people simply do not share your opinion - there's no need to post a retort every time someone gives a negative opinion of their MSC experience. It is, after all, their experience.

Seems to me Cam has just as much right to post her positive comments as others do their negative. I didn't realize Cruise Critic was only a place to post bad experiences. Seems to me folks should be able to make their own decisions based on both good and bad comments. Sad you don't feel the same way. :(

In case in anyone is interested, my two cruises on the Poesia were positive as well. Or am I not allowed to say that?

Bret in Orlando

Cruiseguy - glad to hear your comments. I have a friend and his family leaving on Poesia on Sunday, and, I was a little worried about him after the first two posts.

Stella - are you a censor for CruiseCritic.com? If not, quit trying to stop people from writing their own opinions.

I am not countering the negative but letting others know there is another side. I feel compelled to write to tell others since this is a cruise line I am passionate about. On each of our MSC USA cruises it is an experience so much more than a cruise vacation. I understand it is a love it or hate it but I feel with each negative report others go with a feeling of prove to me I can like it. I feel if I tell the other side they may go onto the ship with another attitude and enjoy it as we do. There is so much to enjoy on the ship that we have experienced. I will continue to support MSC until they fall short for me. They have been superior in my opinion. I have cruised other cruise lines ( 13 other cruises on CCL, RCI we did 9 times, and Celebrity), and our MSC always is different. We like the difference. We like the people on the cruise. We like their ways of getting involved with the passengers. We like the old world charm it gives us. We like the interaction of the staff with the passengers that want to give the passengers the best time possible. We see this in how they have time to sit and talk, to dance with you and to smile to you. This is not found on any of the other cruise ships. We find the difference is this is more personal. When the animation team wait for you with smiles after the main shows and wave to you, call out your name, invite you to their lounge shows...this is way more than a cruise! It is an interpersonal connection with others that we enjoy. You are not just another cruise passenger on MSC, it is like being a long time friend.

That is a big difference for us, and I will always post this to allow others to board with less confusion and maybe more positive energy.

The shows were fantastic. They did not recycle anything but the last night show which was the best of...which was a disappointment since it was the same. Mimmas voice is unlike anything you will ever hear on any other line. And the 2 other singers ( the man and the young woman) were great too. The other male singer was just so so. The body contortionists both male and female were entertaining. The woman on the bamboo stick was great. The shows were lavish feasts for the senses which we all enjoyed totally.

I have no issues at all with Cam's opinions and defense of MSC, she's certainly entitled to her opinion and her perceptions like the rest of us. Having said that, however, I will tell you I was on for 16 nights and they did indeed recycle their shows. I am NOT saying they were identical, they just simply, changed the title, changed the music, but the concept was always the same for the two weeks plus we were on. A little music, and the acrobats, one night it was the guys, the other night it was the girls. More music, and the guy with the long hair, one with day with the ropes, another with another gadget, just more acrobats and circus-like stuff. No variety, just the same concept, over and over again. I agree that Mimma's voice was fantastic, but certainly not the best. On the other hand, the skinny bald guy that often sang with her is HORRIBLE. Totally off key and just an odd looking performer. The entertainment in the lounges were boring boring boring. How anyone can say they were entertaining and "FUN"??????? It was casino after dinner and that was it, I have never ever gone to bed so early every night on any cruise we've been on. We are not exactly youngens but like a little nightlife on the ships, we went to the disco one night and there was ONE person there.....THE BARTENDER!

I agree with you about the bald singer.... but he did have his moments... then there were the other moments.... AS far as recycling: The shows were different but they bring in the "side show" entertainment interwoven through each show. They do not have headliners at each port with a new show. You get opera night, you get dance, you get plenty of singing and other side shows. The side show stuff is WONDERFUL to see and how it is presented is very European style. The Atlantis show was beautiful to see and very different.

AS for the lounge shows, it is the animation team entertainment. First there is a dance lesson then dancing. Then at 10 pm they do funny shows. If you did not like the shows I am sorry. I liked them a lot and found them to be funny but at times a bit too much "craziness" and we left. True about the disco,we went to dance at about midnight and there was no one there but a small group of latin people who were dancing salsa which I do not do.

Did you enjoy the trivia music games in the Zebra lounge at 7:30 before late dining, or the dance lessons? Those were fun to do.

...we went to dance at about midnight and there was no one there but a small group of latin people who were dancing salsa which I do not do.

GEEZ! Now why couldn't they have salsa music while I was there, since that's my kind of music and dancing! UGH! All about timing, I guess. I was on a New England/Canada cruise, the minute you move into the caribbean, bingo, SALSA! Go figure!

OUr cruise was very OLD and was told by the crew that this was a younger cruise than the last one. I would guess you were on that last one with tons of even older passengers than we had. I saw tons of really old people on our cruise and not many younger people or even people in their 40's. There were a lot of walkers, wheelchairs and such. I would gather that is why the discos were very slow for our cruises. I have been on MSC USA cruises before and the disco was a great spot to go to after 11:30 and dance. The room is beautiful. Great sound system. They also use a fog on some nights for mood ... The floor which is acrylic also lights up. It is a great late night area, but it is about who is cruising with you to fill or not to fill it.

The disco also usually themes the nights but we had so few late nighters too that the disco was "dead" too.

We travelled the Poesia from Nov 1-11th. I have not cruised alot yet but this was a disappointment.

i was on that cruise and my experience was totally different.

It means: we have to read the reviews but these won't had to influence us too much...isn't it? ;)

... Please stop trying to counter every negative comment with superlatives about MSC ...

Stella, I have learned over the past few months that it simply isn't possible to post anything slightly negative here without a handful of members feeling compelled to counter. It is very, very annoying to continually see different people posting here only to have their opinions attacked and experiences diminished by the same few obsessive individuals.

I sailed on Poesia and experienced first-hand some of the commonly raised failings of MSC. I found it personally quite offensive to effectively be told that I was wrong, that I had imagined it, that I didn't understand the "culture" and that I was simply another "MSC basher".

I wouldn't have worried in the slightest if it had been just an isolated case of someone disagreeing with me. People are free to disagree and are free to express their own opinions ... but the fixation on countering everyone and everything negative has reached absurd proportions here.

I am utterly convinced that if I posted that MSC Poesia was a white ship, a handful of people here would immediately respond that I was wrong and that it was actually a very light shade of black.

Cruiseguy - glad to hear your comments. I have a friend and his family leaving on Poesia on Sunday, and, I was a little worried about him after the first two posts.

 

Stella - are you a censor for CruiseCritic.com? If not, quit trying to stop people from writing their own opinions.

LOL:D

Referee anyone?

Stella, I have learned over the past few months that it simply isn't possible to post anything slightly negative here without a handful of members feeling compelled to counter. It is very, very annoying to continually see different people posting here only to have their opinions attacked and experiences diminished by the same few obsessive individuals.

 

.

AndrewK..are you not doing the exact same thing?,....

You just cannot accept that MSC Loyalists truly enjoyed their experience, and express it LOUDLY..ARE WE ALL LYING, ARE WE ALL DUMB..ARE WE ALL BLIND?

If you don't share that opinion, read another post, You seem very eager to reply to many post stating that you are annoyed by these posts...why should you have that option but not others?

..And by the way when posters reply, they are not trying to convince you that white is black or that their experience superceds yours, they are simply expressing their point of view...Anyone can add their two cents, negative or positive...

It seems you take personal offence to this...I assure you I take no offence to others who post negative experiences, we are just surprised...

Now you can say, well you have only sailed with MSC, what do you know?...I know that I read alot of forums, posts, reviews and from cruisers with tens of cruises from different lines that have indeed enjoyed the differences that MSC offers...it may be for you, It may not, but don't try to negatively influence first timers because you had a bad cruise.

AndrewK..are you not doing the exact same thing?,.....

No, not at all. I came here after my cruise and posted a review and a comment. I was immediately jumped on (including by one very vocal poster who had not even sailed on an MSC ship at that stage) and told that I was wrong. That I didn't understand the "culture". That basically the issues I experienced were all my own fault. That because they had enjoyed MSC then I should have too.

When I objected to that treatment it simply invited more and more "counter" posts ... all from the same few people. Had it been a real conversation instead of a forum conversation it would have been a case of a few very loud people talking over the top of me and shouting me down. That is how I was made to feel.

You just cannot accept that MSC Loyalists truly enjoyed their experience

Not true at all. I have never once challenged anyone who has stated they enjoyed their MSC cruise. I have simply objected to the same few people continually challenging my experience and opinion. It seems I'm not alone in this either. Many members are getting quite fed up with having their opinions and experiences disputed and challenged by a small number of people who very obviously can not accept that anyone may have been less than satisfied with their MSC cruise.

No, not at all. I came here after my cruise and posted a review and a comment. I was immediately jumped on (including by one very vocal poster who had not even sailed on an MSC ship at that stage) and told that I was wrong.

 

Obviously one discounts ridiculous comments such as these

 

That I didn't understand the "culture". That basically the issues I experienced were all my own fault. That because they had enjoyed MSC then I should have too.

 

When I objected to that treatment it simply invited more and more "counter" posts ... all from the same few people. Had it been a real conversation instead of a forum conversation it would have been a case of a few very loud people talking over the top of me and shouting me down. That is how I was made to feel.

 

 

 

Not true at all. I have never once challenged anyone who has stated they enjoyed their MSC cruise. I have simply objected to the same few people continually challenging my experience and opinion. It seems I'm not alone in this either. Many members are getting quite fed up with having their opinions and experiences disputed and challenged by a small number of people who very obviously can not accept that anyone may have been less than satisfied with their MSC cruise.

Hope you keep posting your opinions, We all share and take away something in the end. Of course I don't appreciate posters who slam, or agitate either way.

... Obviously one discounts ridiculous comments such as these ...

Like I said ... jumped on.

And as much as I would like to provide some links to some of the posts attacking my opinions and diminishing my experiences, they were removed by forum administrators long ago.

"Beautiful ship - good food - excellent cabin steward - but that apart, no-one on the crew/staff seemed to be doing anything to ensure a pleasant time! The passengers seemed to be a 'nuisance' that the ship merely tolerated, so I won't be putting them to such an arduous task again. Disappointed!" -quotation from Member Cruise Reviews.

Another example that a lot of people simply do not have the excelent experience on MSC cruises as the 3 MSC loyalists who keep trying to convince us that there is no problem with the cruise line,and if we did not like something it must have been our own fault,that we don't understand "Italian" culture or that we were not enough polite to the crew members and actually deserved being treated rudely or indiferently.:rolleyes:

I am utterly convinced that if I posted that MSC Poesia was a white ship, a handful of people here would immediately respond that I was wrong and that it was actually a very light shade of black.

Remove black glasses, to see the colors (if you did not know blacks do not exist)

Stella, I have learned over the past few months that it simply isn't possible to post anything slightly negative here without a handful of members feeling compelled to counter. It is very, very annoying to continually see different people posting here only to have their opinions attacked and experiences diminished by the same few obsessive individuals.

 

I sailed on Poesia and experienced first-hand some of the commonly raised failings of MSC. I found it personally quite offensive to effectively be told that I was wrong, that I had imagined it, that I didn't understand the "culture" and that I was simply another "MSC basher".

 

I wouldn't have worried in the slightest if it had been just an isolated case of someone disagreeing with me. People are free to disagree and are free to express their own opinions ... but the fixation on countering everyone and everything negative has reached absurd proportions here.

 

I am utterly convinced that if I posted that MSC Poesia was a white ship, a handful of people here would immediately respond that I was wrong and that it was actually a very light shade of black.

Remove black glasses, to see the colors (if you did not know black color do not exist)

we will be on the ship this week 19th - 26th... and all i can say is 'wow' - i can't wait to get on her and just see for myself what this is all about ! haha it will be a big change from princess and carnival i'm sure - but i'm looking forward to that !

I just booked the Poesia for 1/9. SOme of my friends were like have you read the reviews they are bad. My response was there are just as many bad reviews for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I feel a cruise is what you make of it. Some people just complain about everything because it makes them feel better. If you only go on a cruise for towel animals buy yourself a how to book and make them yourself. Food, someone else is cooking, serving and cleaning up after you, if you were at home you would be doing it yourself, so what's to complain about. If you just rented a house somewhere or even a hotel room you wouldn't get the service you get on a cruise ship. I figure even slightly bad service is still better then me having to do it all. So in saying that I look forward to cruising with MSC in January and for those who don't like the line, please cruise with another cruise line. Thank you and Happy Cruising.:)

I just booked the Poesia for 1/9. SOme of my friends were like have you read the reviews they are bad. My response was there are just as many bad reviews for Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I feel a cruise is what you make of it. Some people just complain about everything because it makes them feel better. If you only go on a cruise for towel animals buy yourself a how to book and make them yourself. Food, someone else is cooking, serving and cleaning up after you, if you were at home you would be doing it yourself, so what's to complain about. If you just rented a house somewhere or even a hotel room you wouldn't get the service you get on a cruise ship. I figure even slightly bad service is still better then me having to do it all. So in saying that I look forward to cruising with MSC in January and for those who don't like the line, please cruise with another cruise line. Thank you and Happy Cruising.:)

I'm sure you will fit right in, they are catering to those that appreciate slightly bad service and food, have a great cruise!

;)

You will enjoy this cruise. We are booked on it too. We live in Florida and cruise a lot on ALL lines. We enjoy each line for what it has to offer. Believe us, you will get your money's worth on this cruise. Treat the staff with a smile and they will go overboard for you. Smooth sailing.