Greece MSC cruise

Hi. We have been all 6 cruises with RCL,NCL, Carnival and Celebrity before but all out of US or Canada. We want to do Greece next year and found a company called MSC. They have 2 ships from Italy-Musica and Poesia. With kids sailing free, it's only 3500 USD for 4 of us in a balcony room for 4 nights with unlimited drinks. That's about 900 USD per person which is insanely cheap. RCL for the similar itinerary is 2x the price. Anyone with experience that can share? Is the deal too good to be true? From reading different reviews, I'm seeing common themes

-bad food

-disorganized

-rude passengers

Is the RCL jewel of the sea 2x better?

We typically pick cruises based on price and itinerary. This is the first time we are seeing a huge price difference

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I have sailed twice on MSC and several times on RCL. The Jewel class on RCL is my all time favorite ship design. With that being said, I do not believe she is worth twice the money.

A European cruise is much different than a Caribbean cruise. Port days are long, hot, and exhausting (in a good way). The ship matters much less on this port intensive itinerary. BTW, are you sure these are 4 day cruises? That is odd for a Greek Isle itinerary.

Now, I would caution you to keep your expectations in line with the price paid. MSC is a great value, but it lacks many of the Jewel class bells and whistles. For me, MSC yep, food was much less appealing, but that is subjective and I never went hungry. For me, yes MSC was disorganized and don't even get me started on their web page. I don't necessarily agree with rude passengers, but there are cultural differences you should be ready to embrace (example queing). And, you may need to pay for a glass of water in the dining room (again cultural).

In your position, I'd choose MSC over RCI, but lower my expectations for the actual cruise experience and use that money toward personalized tours of the Greek Isles.

I personally really like MSC. Give them a shot. You’re going to have fun either way, so save some money and try something new. Vacation is what you make it. An Italian cruise on an Italian cruise line is the way to go.

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I have sailed twice on MSC and several times on RCL. The Jewel class on RCL is my all time favorite ship design. With that being said, I do not believe she is worth twice the money.

 

A European cruise is much different than a Caribbean cruise. Port days are long, hot, and exhausting (in a good way). The ship matters much less on this port intensive itinerary. BTW, are you sure these are 4 day cruises? That is odd for a Greek Isle itinerary.

 

Now, I would caution you to keep your expectations in line with the price paid. MSC is a great value, but it lacks many of the Jewel class bells and whistles. For me, MSC yep, food was much less appealing, but that is subjective and I never went hungry. For me, yes MSC was disorganized and don't even get me started on their web page. I don't necessarily agree with rude passengers, but there are cultural differences you should be ready to embrace (example queing). And, you may need to pay for a glass of water in the dining room (again cultural).

 

In your position, I'd choose MSC over RCI, but lower my expectations for the actual cruise experience and use that money toward personalized tours of the Greek Isles.

You are right. I had a typo. It should say 7 nights

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You could always use the money you save to indulge in some dining onshore if the food onboard is not to your liking. I would normally say go to the Speciality restaurants, too, but there is only one onboard Musica & Poesia and it's Kaito Sushi Bar, so not to eveyone's taste.

Are you in a loyalty scheme with any of the cruiselines you've sailed with? If so, have you status-matched with MSC's Voyagers Club? If you haven't, you should. You'll receive a 5% discount off the price of your cruise once you've registered. Details are on the website here:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Loyalty-Match-Program.aspx

You could always use the money you save to indulge in some dining onshore if the food onboard is not to your liking. I would normally say go to the Speciality restaurants, too, but there is only one onboard Musica & Poesia and it's Kaito Sushi Bar, so not to eveyone's taste.

 

 

 

Are you in a loyalty scheme with any of the cruiselines you've sailed with? If so, have you status-matched with MSC's Voyagers Club? If you haven't, you should. You'll receive a 5% discount off the price of your cruise once you've registered. Details are on the website here:

 

 

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Loyalty-Match-Program.aspx

I did the status match from my Marriot platinum elite. For msc black, which makes this SO attractive. It just seems so awesome. We typically are the lowest rank cruise loyalty with other lines so being the highest rank gives me even more reason. My wife is nervous for a few reasons:

-Food

-We only speak English and she think RCL will be a lot more America like. I get it, we are in Europe, but we have 2 kids and we want it easy with them

-my son is allergic to pistachio, and we saw on a picture of that as gelato topping at the Igauna bar. We know how to avoid eating it and talk to the restaurant before hand. But we are worry about ice cream around the deck with pistachio lying around. Does RCL jewel have food laced with pistachio lying around also?

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I did the status match from my Marriot platinum elite. For msc black, which makes this SO attractive. It just seems so awesome. We typically are the lowest rank cruise loyalty with other lines so being the highest rank gives me even more reason. My wife is nervous for a few reasons:

-Food

-We only speak English and she think RCL will be a lot more America like. I get it, we are in Europe, but we have 2 kids and we want it easy with them

-my son is allergic to pistachio, and we saw on a picture of that as gelato topping at the Igauna bar. We know how to avoid eating it and talk to the restaurant before hand. But we are worry about ice cream around the deck with pistachio lying around. Does RCL jewel have food laced with pistachio lying around also?

 

 

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We were on the Meravigilia this past June and had no issues. First time with MSc. We met guests from other parts of the world and they spoke english. I am not saying every guests on the ship will speak English, but there are some. We met quite a lot of Americans on our sailing. The crew and staff speak English. Anyway, only you can decide where to prioritize how important it is regarding the language when deciding on a cruise. For us, it is not on our list of requirements. We have traveled so much, as well as our little girl, and like meeting others outside of the US.

Also we had our 7 year old daughter and she had a blast. She made friends who do not speak English - we thought it was great!

We are booked on Seaside (Jan 2018) and Musica next May (Greece itinerary).

...lol...as my wife always tells me - "You don't travel to Europe to be in America" - Embrace the foreign language passengers and enjoy them...Many will speak a broken English but you will love them if you are patient and willing to give it a shot.

Hi. We have been all 6 cruises with RCL,NCL, Carnival and Celebrity before but all out of US or Canada. We want to do Greece next year and found a company called MSC. They have 2 ships from Italy-Musica and Poesia. With kids sailing free, it's only 3500 USD for 4 of us in a balcony room for 4 nights with unlimited drinks. That's about 900 USD per person which is insanely cheap. RCL for the similar itinerary is 2x the price. Anyone with experience that can share? Is the deal too good to be true? From reading different reviews, I'm seeing common themes

-bad food

-disorganized

-rude passengers

 

Is the RCL jewel of the sea 2x better?

 

We typically pick cruises based on price and itinerary. This is the first time we are seeing a huge price difference

 

 

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We are booked on Musica greek cruise next May. Our DD will be going.