newspaper review of the new ship

see here for details.

I am a bit worried about her comments ref food as we have booked to go for 19 nights in November to S America on the Musica

see here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/1307250/MSC-Poesia.html

Just returned yesterday after a 17 night Transatlantic voyage on the Lirica. I had no problems with the food other than it was sometimes (not always) that hot. However as the journalist said in her article this is not unique to MSWC. I've cruised 7 times and have always enjoyed the experience. I've read the article and it sounds like the Poesia experience is much the same as the other MSC ships.

I have just returned with our party of 8 from the pre-inaugural cruise. Lovely ship, awful food unless you like UHT milk, reconstituted potatoes and fruit juices. On the bright side the burgers are pretty good when they remember to cook them properly. On one meal we had to send one of them back 3 times because it was still raw in the middle. Of course that wasn't the only problem, there were plenty more disasters.

The menu is over pretensious given the budget allowed. They would do far better sticking to a menu that is more honest and simple, and removing the range and number of courses from the menu too. The Telegraph comments about cold food are true.

Service is so slow that on one meal we were told that we could not have our coffee because the next sitting was due and they did not have time to serve it. I must mention that the second sitting commences 2 1/2 hours after the first. Generally it took 2 hours or so to get the meal finished. One evening we were told that we could not have coffee because they had run out of coffee cups! Teaspoons were very scarce and we often had to grab another piece of cutlery to stir with.

Trying to get seating for 8 at lunch was almost impossibe. One day after we had been waiting 20 minutes for a table, one of our group fainted and hit the floor. My advice is to get to the dining room as soon as it opens.

One evening we thought that we would treat ourselves to an "unforgettable dining experience"at one of the pay extra dining rooms. Well the advertising was spot on. We sent the kebabs back to the kitchen twice because they were cold, and the pizzas bases were caked in excess flour. To cap it all 3 chefs in work clothes sat at another table having a meal. The only thing that was nicely heated was my exchange with the waitor who ended up knocking the charge off the bill.

Despite our experiences, we did bump into one elderly lady in the lift who said she simply could not fault the food, but did admit that the tea and coffee was horrible. Out of 13 nights I could count on one hand the number of good dishes that had been served. They had not all been awful, but the number of unsatifactory meals certainly in the majority.

Water is kept as scarce as possible unless you want to pay premium prices for Pellegrino et al. A hot chocolote with squirt of cream cost 3.2 euros. A bottle of Talus Zinfandel costs 29 euros, and a 330ml bottle of Heineken about 5 euros.

My complaints about the ships air conditioning venting foul sewer air on to deck 7 starboard side remain unanswered. The smell was so bad that it made my deck 12 balcony unusable on several occassions depending on the wind direction. I hate to think what it must have been like on deck 8!

On deck 13 the swimming pools and hot-tubs were heated, but not all the time. The swimming pool was heated whilst in Dover, and was so warm that steam rose from the surface, but we think that was just to impress the press for the pre-cruise party. The next day the pool was emptied and was refilled with freezing salt water that was slowly heated up to just chilly. Each night the pool was emptied and refilled with freezing salt water. The hot-tubs were always hot.

That brings me to the subject of balconies on deck 12. Only when the Sun was low in the sky at sunrise or sunset did the sunshine actually reach the balcony due to the massive overhang of the deck above. Furthermore through the night deck cleaning machines ran above our ceiling waking uis in the early hours. Get a port side balcony if you do book, and dont go higher than deck 11.

Carpet vacuuming directly outside the cabin door at 10:30pm was fairly common too. The best disturbance must be though the helicopter that buzzed the ship from 6am until 7am, passing 50 feet from my balcony and waking everyone. Initially I thought we were under attack, but it seems that they were filming a promo. It would have been nice if we had been warned. If you look carefully at the film you will see me out on deck in my dressing gown- not a pretty sight!

The cabin was well fitted out with plenty of drawers and storage, and the bathroom adequate. The safe is big enough for most valuables, but not for a laptop. The shower is certainly not a power shower, but plenty of hot water was available. The curved shower tray is not overly large, and the curtain is one of those clingy ones that I hate.

Disembarkation was a very tedious affair. We were told to sit in the theatre for 2 1/2 hours and wait to be called. We were told that everybody would be off by 10:30, but we were still sat there at gone 11:00. When we did get off at Venice there was total chaos. There was one taxi and a massive line of people queuing with another line of people trying to board the ship at the same time. We thankfully ignored the taxi rank and found a minibus further away that cost us 80 euros to get to the airport.

We unanimously agreed, and much to our shame, had to admit that the best meal of the whole hoiliday was at McDonalds on the way home from the airport.

Would we go again? Not unless you people on the Forum start giving positive reviews. Also remember that on this cruise we only had 2600 passengers, and that in peak season 3300 are expected, so they were not under any sort of pressure.

Our previous cruise was on the NCL Jewel. Its benefit I'm sure was the freestyle dining that spread the load on the kitchens. I couldn't fault that cruise at all, and if pushed might say that the desserts could have been slightly more interesting. At the moment though we are so upset with this experience that we will not be cruising for quite some time to come with anyone.

Most cruisers seemed to console themselves that the cruise had not been expensive, but even a cheap cruise should have certain minimum standards.

I would refer you to the press release see link which says that msc are well known for their hospitality food etc (last but one paragraph)

if as you seem are highly disastisfied with them ....then why not take them to court on trading standards law

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/downloads/press/855.pdf

I would refer you to the press release see link which says that msc are well known for their hospitality food etc (last but one paragraph)

 

if as you seem are highly disastisfied with them ....then why not take them to court on trading standards law

 

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/downloads/press/855.pdf

I can't see what the point of that would be. Compensation would be monetary only, and that is because you can not bring back the moment again to correct it. I certainly do not want to cruise again with this company.

I am sorry to post this to people who have booked already. The report might though help countless more make their own decision on their next cruise. If our experiences were unlucky then I expect I will see countless good reviews to balance mine. Overhearing conversations on board, I heard a lot of disenchantment though.

The Telegraph reviewer was only on board 4 nights compared to our 13. Our group of 8 was larger then perhaps hers was. We therfore experienced a larger sample of what could go wrong. By and large I agree with the Telegraph reporter with her review. In particular one should heed her advice in the bullet points at the end of her article.

Since I posted, another fellow passenger has posted. I look forward to hearing how they got on, but initially they appear to have been treated rudely. I can not say we suffered in the same way.

Some of the problems might well have been due to language difficulties. There was one breakfast where the funniest conversation took place with a waiter who thought that we were asking for grapefruit when we were asking for grapes. It could easily have been a sketch off Fawlty Towers.

Clearly several of the crew did not understand English well enough to understand what was wanted, and although they gave the impression that they fully understood, they in fact did not. So for example, one evening we told the cabin steward that he had forgotten to turn down the 2 extra beds in the cabin and open the balcony doors between our adjacent cabins. He nodded his head and said OK, but nothing actually happened. We did it ourselves, no great problem. The balcony door got opened after another request, only for it to be locked again every day we got into port. This then needed us to ask again every time. Eventually we gave up asking and the door remained shut. Considering the smell on the balcony we lost our desire to sit out and be gassed.

There is however one other matter which I shall briefly mention. When my niece fainted and was lain on the marble floor in the Pompeina Restaurant at the lunchtime buffet, a nearby group of English passengers were asked if they would mind the girl being placed on the empty padded 2 seater chair. They refused the crews request saying that they needed them for the rest of their party. This uncharitable act was driven by the lack of seating and their selfishness. My niece remained on the floor until a Japanese couple offered their chairs and abandoned their lunch. To these nameless individuals we give our thanks, and also to the Italian lady doctor who came forward to lend assistance until the medical team arrived.

I am flattered that you think I am a professional complainer, and if I wished to gain compensation I would not be writing on here, but giving instructions to my lawyer. Nothing now can be done to make matters right. I had a bad experience and I accept it. Move on.

Please don't shoot the messenger.

I'm looking forward to cruising with MSC for the first time in the future. However, I'm more likely to believe a wide variety of reviews from CC Members, than any press release.

Have you ever seen the photos on Trip Advisor, where hotels show photos of their facilities, then the customer shows photos of their actual experience - big difference!

agree with what apial wrote, an awfull experience! and he/she even forgot

to mention some other "details":a casino that opens very late (seadays after 4o'clock pm,even with bad weather),casinostaff tired,even hostile,slotmachines to expensive,25 cents(euro) minimum,allmost no penny machines(6),pokertournements at 110 euro(170dollar).

3 "classical music" shows in 5 days.with the same players.rest of the shows good but very short,only one singer Not playback.daily international newspaper service (3 euro) didn't function half the time(no refund though). a lot of securitystaff around, who think they have to look angry and like maffiosi.who knows? I can go on like this but i wasted allready enough time on this company, so never again.

I wonder whether msc ever reads these reports on these forums?

it would be interesting to know if they do why they dont change their ways,

surely a business with so much invested would be very keen to have repeat clients

I was begining to think our experience was unique, so now that we have some more passengers back from their cruise, perhaps they might like to add to my hypothetical rules of cruising Italian style.:D

Rule number 1: Do not let the passenger near the drinks machine to get their own. This machine must be kept behind a security grille and must be manned at all times when uncovered. Any passengers who manage to get past you must be immediately dealt with firmly. The machines are to be kept locked at all times except during the hours of breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.

Rule number 2:

The tea cup must be filled with no hotter than warm water 1/2 way up. The remainder is to be topped up with lukewarm UHT milk. An extra small size teabag on string is then to be dipped into the milky liquid.

Rule number 3: Do not offer the passenger a teaspoon as they are very scarce. If a passenger returns looking for a spoon then offer them a knife instead.

Rule number 4: Do not let the passengers discover that they are entitled to iced water. If asked tell the passenger that the cabin tap supplies recycled shower water. Make sure that the Water Menu with grossly overpriced bottles of Evian etc are always displayed on the dining table.

Rule number 5: Under no circumstances leave the water jug at the table for passengers to pour their own water. That would be too sensible and allow unrestrained access.

Rule number 6: When asked for free water at a table where other passngers have water from the Menu you must ensure that the water is poured away from the table so as to not alert the passengers that free water exists.

Rule number 7: Under no circumstances allow passengers to refill water bottles from the water machine. The warning notice of this rule must always be displayed prominently.

Rule number 8: If the passenger asks for iced water then serve them with a bottle of paid for water such as Pellegrino. Once the cap is unscrewed by you the passenger will feel obliged to purchase it.

Rule number 9: Make sure that you get passengers to form an orderly queue for the coffee machine where they will be served by a maximum of 2 crew. This will ensure that some passengers will choose to purchase paid for coffee from the roaming waiters.

Rule number 10: Make sure that the free coffee tastes like burnt rubber. This again will ensure more passengers puchase the paid for coffee.

Rule number 11: Only let Telegraph reviewers have free sparkling water. No one else must know! Also do not let passengers know that Nescafe exists until the last day of the cruise, by which time only the decaff version will be left.

Rule number 12: Make sure you drag out the service so that it is too late to serve coffee before the next sitting arrives. To do this you must wait for the signal, full lighting resumption will encourage passengers to head for the coffee lounges where you can tell them that the coffee will be free when in fact it will not.

Rule number 13: If the above fails to work, then make sure coffee is not served by claiming that there are no cups left. This always works, but do remember to smile when shrugging your shoulders.

Rule number 14: Remember that the human body can go for days without food, but only hours without water.

Rule number 15: Make sure passengers can see saved x-ray photos of bottles of alcohol in scanned hand luggage when they leave the ship. This is to remind them that all alcohol purchased in port will be confiscated. X-ray Machine to be manned by "security" agents with dark sunglasses and security earpieces:cool: . This will ensure that all alcoholic beverages will be purchased from our wine list at 29+ euros a bottle.

Rule number 16: Make sure to keep the passenger as long as possible at the table. This will ensure that they drink more whilst waiting upto 1 hour between courses.

Feel free to add some more.

Thanks for the laugh out loud, Apial.

I hear your frustration!

I'm sure MSC is well aware of CC comments, as they move more into the American market. If I was in their Human Resources, I would use them as a training manual for improvement at little cost.

As we will be cruising from Mediterranean waters through Caribbean waters to the US, it will be interesting to see what customs MSC will follow - the one for their European market or the one for their American market. Maybe we'll be blessed with the best of both worlds. I certainly hope so!

I am going to get difficult when it comes to water. I like a lot of it and not bottles. Bottles are dreadful to the enviroment and a waste of money too. I will make sure and report back! So let me get this strait-you are at buffet breakfast and there are strolling guys with coffee, and they charge for it??? or is this in other parts of the ship?

Might be an idea to ask for a carafe of water to be left on the table, as well as order your coffee with your meal, rather than at the end.

I am going to get difficult when it comes to water. I like a lot of it and not bottles. Bottles are dreadful to the enviroment and a waste of money too. I will make sure and report back! So let me get this strait-you are at buffet breakfast and there are strolling guys with coffee, and they charge for it??? or is this in other parts of the ship?

It depends which breakfast place you are at. If you go to the dining room for a restaurant service there is no charge for "ships" coffee. If you go upstairs to the buffet breakfast then "ships" coffee is free if you stand in line at the machine. Once you get a cup then it will be refilled free by roaming waiters carrying 3 flasks of water, coffee, and milk respectively. But be careful. At the buffet breakfast you could inadvertently get charged for coffee if you asked a passing waiter for coffees. This is because they would get you a decent cup of coffee from behind the bar at a cost of 1.9 euros minimum depending on what type of coffee you want.

Coffee is charged for at all times other than the "ships" coffee served in the dining rooms and buffet only during breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening meal.