European vs North American Cruises

We completely new to cruising and have booked our first cruise for August 2019 (4 Days from Southampton to Bruges with P&O). The following year we are looking to do a cruise in the Caribbean as part of our family holiday to Disney World. I've looked at various cruise lines - Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC.

I've seen that MSC has got a bit of criticism from US cruise reviewers saying that their cruises are geared for European cruisers rather than North Americans. Can someone tell me what this actually means i.e. how do American Cruise passengers differ in how they cruise to Europeans? I want to make the best choice in regards to our 2020 cruise as possible so just trying to understand what it is about MSC puts North Americans off.

I can't tell which side of the Atlantic you live. :confused:

(it really would help with all sorts of questions if you - and others - would include their location in their headers)

Since you've booked a 4-night cruise from Southampton with P&O, I'll hazard a guess that you're in the UK?

If so, the simplest, cheapest and best Caribbean cruises are fly-cruises from the UK with P&O or Marella or Fred Olsen.

Marella & Fred offer itineraries with unusual ports-of-call, though if you've not cruised the Caribbean before the itinerary won't matter too much, and they have older ships with none of the glitz. And Fred is mainly for recently-retireds, so doesn't sound like a good choice for a Disney family.

So P&O is the most likely of the three.

These are fly-cruises using chartered aircraft, which gives Brits huge advantages over US or Italian ships when sailing the Caribbean (some of these advantages shared by Marella and Fred)...........

- Flights are direct to your Caribbean departure port & that's so very much cheaper & easier than flying via the USA or Puerto Rico.

- You fly from a choice of regional UK airports.

- Everyone on the aircraft is on the cruise, so it feel like your holiday has already started.

- You hand over your checked luggage at your UK airport & won't see it again until it appears at you cabin door.

- At your Caribbean airport you don't go through immigration or customs or the luggage carousel - in fact you don't even go thro the airport terminal, you walk about 30 paces from your aircraft to your transfer bus, which takes you direct to the ship where you register & board as soon as you arrive.Your luggage follows in a truck. That's very different to flying via somewhere like Miami & facing potential queues for American immigration & all the other airport grief.

- At the end of the cruise you have the freedom of the ship (except your cabin) until your transfer to the airport is called mid-late afternoon. And if your return flight is delayed your transfer will usually be delayed to suit - so you wait on the ship rather than in an airport terminal. On other cruises the cruise line wants everyone off by about 9am in order to prepare for incoming cruisers - and that's problematic for Brits because flights from the USA to the UK mainly depart mid-evening.

- Similar luggage arrangements for the return to the UK. You leave your checked bags outside your cabin, & next time you see them will be at your UK airport.

- No need for a USA ESTA.

- no sea-days sailing to the Caribbean from & back to mainland USA you're already there.

- I rate the eastern (or southern) Caribbean way more interesting & varied than the western Caribbean favoured by a lot of American cruises.

Re other lines ............

MSC, like Costa, is geared to Italian customers rather than European.

So for instance lots of small courses for dinner, lots of pasta.

MSC has the most modern and stylish ships in the business, and beautifully maintained.

A slightly more liberal smoking policy than other cruise lines, though not liberal enough to impact on others.

Negative reviews tend to be from Americans & Brits who didn't research so didn't realise that they're so Italian.

If you go with the flow it's a good cruise line, if you go expecting a Brit or American experience & you'll be disappointed.

Very good value for money, esp with kids.

And that last point is the big negative with Disney cruise line.

Very expensive compared to their US rivals.

But very Disnified of course, and with your avatar I guess you might want to pay the extra.

Of the others.....

RCI is geared to the young.

Celebrity comes from the RCI stable & is more up-market & more ...... eerrrrrr ......... refined.

Princess comes from the same stable as P&O. Similar standards though IMHO the food (esp buffet) is better on Princess and P&O decor is a little more bland.

Norwegian is more laid-back but altho cruise prices are in line with other mass-market lines it has a reputation for squeezing every penny that they can on-board.

All personal opinion of course

JB :)

Thanks for the very comprehensive and helpful response. I am in the UK. it was this comment I just need to understand more:

"If you go with the flow it's a good cruise line, if you go expecting a Brit or American experience & you'll be disappointed."

As I am new to cruising I don't really know what is meant by a British or American experience...could you let me know what the different experiences are.

Our plan would be to do Disney and then go on the cruise whilst we are already in the US (therefore the flights are already paid).

I agree with JB but will add that Europeans are accustomed to traveling with people who don't speak their own language. Americans who are not experienced in travel outside of the US might just expect everyone in the travel industry to speak English. There are those Americans who seem annoyed with the reality that some of their fellow passengers are not comfortable speaking English or don't at all. Experience gives you a better perspective and allows for a more satisfying travel experience.

Europeans on the other hand smoke a lot more than Americans (or so it seems to me.) A few groups tend to have difficulty with queuing and that annoys many Americans.

I much prefer to travel in Europe versus the Caribbean because I love the history and variance. The Caribbean seems to be the same sand, the same style buildings, palm trees, etc. That can be wonderful, but I'm not a sun worshiper. Of course, there is nothing like a Caribbean vacation in February when you are from the north!

We are booked on our first European MSC cruise and looking forward to the contrast! I understand MSC has been making great improvements recently.

 

"If you go with the flow it's a good cruise line, if you go expecting a Brit or American experience & you'll be disappointed."

Our plan would be to do Disney and then go on the cruise whilst we are already in the US (therefore the flights are already paid).

Some examples ............

Language can be a difficulty with some crew. There's usually a decent English-speaker handy, but for instance might be difficult talking to your cabin steward.

On P&O ships, and on US ships sailing the Caribbean, announcements etc tend to be in English only, whereas on US and Italian ships sailing the Med announcements tend to be in several languages - on MSC those announcements in Italian first & by the time they're in English they're often drowned out by excited Italians. But that's in Europe, and I don't know the passenger-mix in the Caribbean so it might not be a problem for you.

Evening meals tend to be a long drawn-out affair and not normally followed by coffee. No problem if you have interesting table-mates and you're not in a rush.

They seem incapable of understanding the dining needs of other nationalities - I recall MSC Magnifica sailing out of Southampton with a predominantly Brit clientele and at the breakfast buffet eggs were being fried two at a time and consequently a ridiculous & un-joinworthy line. This for a capacity of some 3000+ passengers :D, and not the first time MSC had sailed out of the UK.

Crew are comparatively reserved. On US ships the crew tend to be lively and in-you-face, on P&O they're comparatively reserved, on MSC and Costa they're more reserved - that's incorrectly seen by some as unfriendly.

Mark (or was it Donna?) posted " A few groups tend to have difficulty with queuing and that annoys many Americans"

Yep. I don't think there's an Italian word for "queue". :D

Italians tend to barge their way to the front - not just cruisers but in bus queues, bars, shops, everywhere. Not in an antagonistic or overly-unruly way, and they do it with a smile :) That's simply being Italian and there's no harm in you doing likewise in Italy. But again that's to do with Italian passengers not Italian ships, and I don't know the passenger mix in the Caribbean.

Entertainment on their European cruises tend toward visual (acrobats & such) and song to overcome language barriers.

With all these comments, bear in mind that altho some Italian ships winter in the Caribbean the rest of the year they're mainly in Europe.

So in theory (I don't know about "in practice") for Caribbean cruises late in the season (say Feb / March) they might be more acclimatised to Americans' needs than at the beginning of the season (Oct / Nov).

But bearing in mind my Magnifica experience I wouldn't bank on that. :D

Since you'll be in the States anyway the P&O advantages don't apply.

We've never sailed Disney - been put off by the prices.

JB :)

We completely new to cruising and have booked our first cruise for August 2019 (4 Days from Southampton to Bruges with P&O). The following year we are looking to do a cruise in the Caribbean as part of our family holiday to Disney World. I've looked at various cruise lines - Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC.

If you are spending time at WDW, the closest cruise port will be Port Canaveral. Disney, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean all sail from there, with cruises ranging from 3 days (I don't recommend any of these), to 7 days. All of these are kid friendly, with Carnival having a reputation (on its shorter cruises) for being rowdier, and Disney being (ridiculously) more expensive. RC sits comfortably in the middle as being family friendly and more affordable.

If you want MSC, you would have to travel down to Miami, a drive of over 4 hours, minimum. Have a look at all of the itineraries to see if going to Miami for your cruise would be worthwhile for you. You could always buy air tickets on a multicity (open jaw) ticket that would let you fly into Orlando and out of Miami.

We've traveled a number of times on MSC. . Taking MSC in Europe vs taking MSC out of Fla to the Caribbean is almost like taking a cruise on a different line.

We completely new to cruising and have booked our first cruise for August 2019 (4 Days from Southampton to Bruges with P&O). The following year we are looking to do a cruise in the Caribbean as part of our family holiday to Disney World. I've looked at various cruise lines - Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and MSC.

 

I've seen that MSC has got a bit of criticism from US cruise reviewers saying that their cruises are geared for European cruisers rather than North Americans. Can someone tell me what this actually means i.e. how do American Cruise passengers differ in how they cruise to Europeans? I want to make the best choice in regards to our 2020 cruise as possible so just trying to understand what it is about MSC puts North Americans off.

Check out the Independence transatlantic from Southampton. The 15 night cruise is almost, if not cheaper in a inside cabin, then the flights. 10 days to the Caribbean and then five island stops ending in FLL. You are then less then a 2 hour drive to Disney world. Using Royal Caribbeans Air2sea program will get you back to the UK for as little as $350.00 pp oneway. Last year we used their Air2sea and flew Virgin Atlantic economy plus Lax to Heathrow for under $650.00pp with economy seats priced under $300.00. Our trip on the Indy last Oct. was mostly Americans and Brits and I really saw no difference in the cruise experience. I did have a problem trying to understand what language was spoken by the Scotts we sat with in the MDR:). Cruising on the TA will be almost kid free, although there well may be a hundred or so. Can not commit on Msc as that is a cruise line we will stay away from. Plus the Indy just went through a 100 million dollar refurb.

The drive from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale is approx. 3-1/4 hours, more to Miami. That's on the interstates with no accidents/delays. Suggest you also look at cruises out of Tampa. But most lines do not have their summer and fall cruise schedule out yet for 2020. I would browse the web and wait a year before getting serious. EM