MSC Mediterranean

Hi,

Has anyone out there sailed MSC? They have a good deal on that will fit in beautifully with our European travels followed by our booked river cruise.

The ship is Fantasia departs Genoa and ending in Rome.

We have sailed Cunard, Celebrity, RC, Carnival, Princess and P & O so you can see we aren't all that fussy, usually our cruises are dictated by itinerary and price.

I don't know anyone who has sailed MSC and thought if I posted on the Aussie/NZ board I would get feedback from like minded folk.

Happy New Year everyone - hope your year if full of wonderful travelling memories.

If you've been happy with that broad range of cruises, I'm sure you'll be happy with MSC.

My MSC cruise was one of my more memorable, especially because the ports were great. They've had some of the best aspects of a cruise I've had... but they're also weaker in some areas.

In general, I view them as the European equivalent of RCL, in many aspects. Emphasis on activities, family groups, large ships, variety of dining areas and so on.

Plus even for those who don't like them so much, those are port intensive itineraries, so you don't spend much time on a ship. They are much more like a floating hotel than ones here. I say go for it :-)

Everything you will ever need to know about MSC can be found on the MSC board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

Thank you for your replies. I particularly wanted an aussie perspective and you have both been very helpful.

We have a hold on 2 inside cabins, a double and a single, but thinking we might trade that for a balcony and share a cabin as the third is in a sofa bed rather than bunks. A bit squishy but better total price and we spend very little time in our rooms, just love the fresh air from a balcony cabin when we are in the room.

The European aspect I can cope with as hubby is Maltese. Thats why the itinerary is so attractive to us as it includes valletta where hubby's grandpa was the chief shipping pilot during his working life. It's on DH bucket list to sail into the valletta harbour on a cruise ship. We will be spending 3 weeks in Malta prior to flying to Milan to board the ship in Genoa. Not many ports we haven't been to previously but that's ok too. My bucket list has included the cinque terra which we can do prior to boarding the ship so we can both cross off something on our lists.

Thank you for your replies. I particularly wanted an aussie perspective and you have both been very helpful.

We have a hold on 2 inside cabins, a double and a single, but thinking we might trade that for a balcony and share a cabin as the third is in a sofa bed rather than bunks. A bit squishy but better total price and we spend very little time in our rooms, just love the fresh air from a balcony cabin when we are in the room.

The European aspect I can cope with as hubby is Maltese. Thats why the itinerary is so attractive to us as it includes valletta where hubby's grandpa was the chief shipping pilot during his working life. It's on DH bucket list to sail into the valletta harbour on a cruise ship. We will be spending 3 weeks in Malta prior to flying to Milan to board the ship in Genoa. Not many ports we haven't been to previously but that's ok too. My bucket list has included the cinque terra which we can do prior to boarding the ship so we can both cross off something on our lists.

I have sailed on two of their ships Preziosa and Orchestra, beautiful ships. As mentioned very port intensive but fabulous ports. Crew sometimes offhand, but maybe that's just European. My impressions, we sailed in what must have been school holidays, lots of nonnas with the littlest. Don't get in their way, they will run you over with the pram. Swimming pools kids dive bombing and everyone had a blow up ball or toy in the pool. Jam packed. Eastern Europeans seeing sun for first time since their winter, this was April. The men wear budgie smugglers but very loose ones, the ladies wear bikinis, quite old ladies, quite large ladies, they lie in the sun all day, I was still wearing a coat. Bingo in four or was it five languages, not to be missed. Buffet ran out of food one day when everyone came back from excursions at same time. The drama as only Italians can do it, forget the lack of food, this was entertainment.

At dinner in MDR you will be offered water, you will be charged for it, just be aware, some Australians at our table were upset by this.

It is quirky, different from main stream Princess and other lines. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Go with an open mind, beautiful ships, fantastic ports, chance to meet and chat, sign language with other people, most can speak a little English, I can't speak any other language unfortunately, food generally good.

Just enjoy

Hi Tara Jane,

I would recommend switching to the balcony cabin. The cabins are the largest balcony cabins we've been in - very spacious (that was on the Splendida though so maybe double check size on your ship) so I don't think you'd be too squished, and also we really enjoyed some quiet time on our balcony as the ship was pretty hectic at times. We had fun but it was a very busy ship and it was nice to have the balcony to have some quiet private space. The only thing we really did not like about the cruise was that getting off the ship was a nightmare every time! But ours was a repositioning so maybe on an itinerary that is being repeated regularly it would get a bit more organised. Other than that for the price we paid we really could not complain!

Penny

just be aware civittavechia is about an hour away by car and it will cost you about150 euro or35 euro each in a coach tgo get back to rome

and you get shuttled to the ship as wharf is inaccessable by foot

Thank you so much these are exactly what I wanted to hear.

I just read Gwendy's report out to hubby, we were both laughing. Think we will sit back and just watch it all.

PJOZ yes after reading Gwendy's report I think we will definately need some time out from the Italians.

Claudio - We will be staying on in Rome a day or two and are familiar with getting there from the port, always travel very light so will train it.

Any more comments greatly appreciated.

Prior to yesterday when I came across this cruise and started thinking about it I had thought MSC were similar to our P & O. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed, however after seeing the pics of the ship I am now quite keen to give it a go.

I am pretty sure it is MSC, but I think they do loyalty programme matching.

Hi Tara Jane

WE have a cruise booked on costa Magica starting on 19 May 2017 and have been wondering the same sorts of things about both Costa and MSC.

I started a roll call for our cruise but I don't think there have been any takers so far.

When I have looked at photos of cabins and the like on MSC, I have been impressed with the elegance of the decor.

In our case, we finally booked because Chris gets the Herbie jeebies about air travel and did not want to do a regional internal flight within Europe (our other plan for those days was to go to Sicily). Ours is extremely port intensive, so I don't think I really care too much about the ship. Biggest concern will be the availability of vegetarian food for Chris.

when and where are you contemplating?

btw, I found a forum similar to Cruise Critic in the Italian language, but even though I speak reasonable Italian, I didn't have the patience to translate the posts.

We will be in Genoa in mid May 2017 so will be able to give you some travellers tips if you are going after that time.

WE will be going to a concert called "Acoustic Night" which is organised by the acoustic guitarist Beppe Gambetta and will feature 3 other famous acoustic guitarists. We have very high expectations of this concert as Chris has studies under him.

if you happen to be in Genoa in mid May it would be an excellent concert. They will repeat the concert over 4 nights.

Hi Blue Elephant,

Lovely to hear from you again. Our trip isnt til September. We leave Aust around 5th planning of going emirates with a stopover in dubai overnight.

Flight Dubai to Malta. 3 weeks in Malta then will fly to Milan train to Genoa. Planning on 2 nights in Genoa to do the Cinque Terra, board the ship on 29 Sept. Ports very similar to what we did together but no Santorini and Mykonos, with added marseilles and barcelona and valletta included, ending in rome. a night or two in rome then fly to munich, train to Salzburg for 10 days, then train to brugges, 2 nights, then train to amsterdam to do the Gate 1 river cruise to budapest. 2 extra nights in Budapest then home via Dubai again.

Haven't been to europe with Emirates previously but this is a longer trip with less travel, ie we are getting old!!!so wanted our long haul flights to be as easy as possible. Who do you usually fly with? We have done singapore, qantas, malaysian - won't go with them now after their issues, korean - absolutely loved them but they have stopped flying out of Melbourne and we don't want to have to add a domestic flight.

I would love to hear all about genoa after your trip. Also keen on knowing which hotel you are staying at.

Hi to Chris from us, and wishing you a wonderful 2017 of health happiness and great travels.

Like Pjoz, I recommend the balcony cabin. We also had three in that, and it was the best balcony we've had - very spacious. And lovely to look outside in ports and get a different perspective. I'd recommend balconies in Europe just because of all the activity and sights. And they aren't much more expensive.

Yes, we were really impressed when we went onboard. It remains the most attractive mainstream ship I've been on. Lowlights in service and food though, but that wasn't the main game.

Genoa's a really nice city if you like European style. Surrounded by a basin its lovely to look at from the ship, coming and leaving. Has lots of shipworks and other ships around so interesting to see from the perspective. The Med is so much busier as well; makes a huge difference from what is seen elsewhere.

Emirates are nice to fly with - primarily because all flights out of Sydney anyway are on the A380, which is the best passenger plane whether economy or business. Other airlines have the 777 - blah - or a mix, so it's a bit more effort to plan and select.

I was on Fantasia and Opera about 5 years ago and the ocean view cabin on Fantasia was the biggest I have ever been in and very comfortable. I am also Maltese born and the sail into Malta was wonderful. I generally agree with all the comments about MSC but I prefer RCI, Celebrity and Princess.

It was a very port intensive cruise so yes, you have no time to get sick of the goings on. It was a very beautiful ship and the food was good. Would I go MSC again, no. I was thoroughly sick to death of everything in about 5 languages. The worst part was getting off the ship, the Italians are so disorganised and unco-operative. We did not get our passports back until we got into port and it was mayhem. We needed to get off early but they denied our request but due to the lateness receiving our passports, we were passing the queue getting off first and we joined it (there was no-one to stop us) and just as well because the train to Milan from Genoa was delayed. Unfortunately, no transfer to Milan were offered by MSC. However, if you are catching the train to Rome, they run quite often and it is only a 10 minute walk to the station. I have travelled with Emirates and it was fine.

Good luck with all your travelling it sounds wonderful. At this stage of my travelling life, I just want to get to the destination on the ship and stay there.

Our first cruise was on the MSC Preziosa. We had an absolutely wonderful time (link to trip report in my signature). They are beautiful ships and we loved the Italian style and mannerisms.

We will be staying at Starhotel President in Genoa as they are offering discount rates to people attending the Acoustic Night concerts. If your interest is in the Cinque Terre, you may wish to look at the Garden Hotel in Levanto - much closer to the Cinque Terre. We have stayed there twice and will stay there again this year. They don't open their bookings until about six months before the date. TRain will take you to Levanto just as easily as Genoa. The train service through the Cinque Terre is the only place in Italy that the trains don't run on time btw!

Our Costa Magica cruise takes us from Savona to Amsterdam, where we will spend three days, then board Vision of the Seas for a Baltic cruise. Then we train down through Germany, stopping at Cochem, Heidelberg, Munich and Bolzano in the Dolomites. Then on to Torbole on Lake Garda (windsurfing heaven) and fly out through Milan.

This time we will be flying with Etihad, although we have previously flown Virgin / Etihad. Etihad had a 50% off sale on business class seats back in September and we decided to go with that. We were intending to fly with Cathay Pacific in their premium economy class, but the deal from Etihad swayed us. Comfort and getting old and all that.

If you are interested in the safety record of the larger airlines, check out http://www.jacdec.de. A friend in the industry alerted us to this site and their methodology for ranking seems very sound.

I will be interested to hear about your river cruise with Gate1. I want to do the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise but the prices of the river cruise companies that advertise heavily in Australia are very high.

Blue, that's all very exciting. I did Alaska on vision in 2000.

Have booked hotels, got a bit carried away last night - staying 2 nights in Rapallo then one in Genoa. We plan to go down and around the villages by boat rather than the train and walk. Some of us are getting old and arthritic so when the boat was suggested to us we decided it was the way to go.

Am having a bit of trouble trying to sort out the Rome to Munich bit, can't decide whether to fly or train through Verona. It would take a full day but hubby hasn't been to that part of Italy so maybe seeing something from the train is better than nothing.

I did Amsterdam with a friend 9 years ago with APT - now the equivalent of travelmarvel. had a great time and we both always said we would do it again if a good deal came up. It came up and we booked. Gate 1 is an american company who have been in Aus a few years but not well known. We have paid $2999 for the 14 nighter. Doesn't include the flights but those are closer to 7 or 8k so we are very pleased. Couple of years ago I was on a cc organised tour in Noumea with brian and gail, and brian has posted on cc that he did the Gate 1 amst/bud a couple of months ago and were very pleased.

Will let you know. Still a long way off but thinking i should be booking the internal flights soon.

Make sure you explore all the alleyways in old town Genoa, as it is such an interesting port. Then make sure you go up the funiculars (?) from where you will be able to see your ship. Then do the lovely walk along the Mediterranean. I could have spent a week in Genoa. Enjoy!

Thanks MM will certainly do that. Am looking forward to our time in that area.

Blue, that's all very exciting. I did Alaska on vision in 2000.

Have booked hotels, got a bit carried away last night - staying 2 nights in Rapallo then one in Genoa. We plan to go down and around the villages by boat rather than the train and walk. Some of us are getting old and arthritic so when the boat was suggested to us we decided it was the way to go.

Am having a bit of trouble trying to sort out the Rome to Munich bit, can't decide whether to fly or train through Verona. It would take a full day but hubby hasn't been to that part of Italy so maybe seeing something from the train is better than nothing.

I did Amsterdam with a friend 9 years ago with APT - now the equivalent of travelmarvel. had a great time and we both always said we would do it again if a good deal came up. It came up and we booked. Gate 1 is an american company who have been in Aus a few years but not well known. We have paid $2999 for the 14 nighter. Doesn't include the flights but those are closer to 7 or 8k so we are very pleased. Couple of years ago I was on a cc organised tour in Noumea with brian and gail, and brian has posted on cc that he did the Gate 1 amst/bud a couple of months ago and were very pleased.

Will let you know. Still a long way off but thinking i should be booking the internal flights soon.

You need to be ware that sometimes the boats don't run to the Cinque Terre because the sea gets a bit rough. This happened to us in both 2012 and 2013. In 2015, we managed to get a ferry from La Spezia to Portovernere though. Rapallo is the town that started our Italian travel obsession. In September 2011, there was a travel article in the Canberra Times about Rapallo with charming photos. I stuck it the wall with Blutack and by January 2012, we were booking! I remember having the most unusual pesto in Rapallo. LEvanto also has a local dish called gattafin, so try that if you see it.

the train trip from Rome to Munich sounds very long, but we also do train trips so we at least see the countryside out the window. Think about breaking the journey with a night in Verona.

the middle village of the Cinque Terre (Corniglia) has over 300 steps from the station. There is also a road with a gentle sloping though.

I have sailed on two of their ships Preziosa and Orchestra, beautiful ships. As mentioned very port intensive but fabulous ports. Crew sometimes offhand, but maybe that's just European. My impressions, we sailed in what must have been school holidays, lots of nonnas with the littlest. Don't get in their way, they will run you over with the pram. Swimming pools kids dive bombing and everyone had a blow up ball or toy in the pool. Jam packed. Eastern Europeans seeing sun for first time since their winter, this was April. The men wear budgie smugglers but very loose ones, the ladies wear bikinis, quite old ladies, quite large ladies, they lie in the sun all day, I was still wearing a coat. Bingo in four or was it five languages, not to be missed. Buffet ran out of food one day when everyone came back from excursions at same time. The drama as only Italians can do it, forget the lack of food, this was entertainment.

At dinner in MDR you will be offered water, you will be charged for it, just be aware, some Australians at our table were upset by this.

It is quirky, different from main stream Princess and other lines. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely. Go with an open mind, beautiful ships, fantastic ports, chance to meet and chat, sign language with other people, most can speak a little English, I can't speak any other language unfortunately, food generally good.

Just enjoy

Have to agree with all of the above. Sailed on the Poescia (? spelling) around Med & Greek Islands. Beautiful ship great itinerary but the European staff and some of the Px where a bit off putting for an Aussie. Just enjoy the wonderful ports.

Thanks everyone for you wonderful advise. We have confirmed the balcony room for 3.

Blue elephant, pity about the weather causing problems for you. The boats seem to go Wednesday and Saturday according to the info I can find on the internet. We arrive in Milan Monday, plan to book tickets for the last supper and see the cathedral etc probably do the hop on hop off bus. We are booked at Rapallo Tues and Wed nights, so I guess if we cant get in by boat on the Wednesday we still have Thursday to fall back on and do the train. Thursday night is Genoa boarding the ship Friday.

If we train it will definately have a stop overnight in Verona which we haven't been to.

Anyone out there flown with eurowings internally? It't the airline with the best times for us Rome to Munich.

Thanks everyone for you wonderful advise. We have confirmed the balcony room for 3.

Blue elephant, pity about the weather causing problems for you. The boats seem to go Wednesday and Saturday according to the info I can find on the internet. We arrive in Milan Monday, plan to book tickets for the last supper and see the cathedral etc probably do the hop on hop off bus. We are booked at Rapallo Tues and Wed nights, so I guess if we cant get in by boat on the Wednesday we still have Thursday to fall back on and do the train. Thursday night is Genoa boarding the ship Friday.

If we train it will definately have a stop overnight in Verona which we haven't been to.

Anyone out there flown with eurowings internally? It't the airline with the best times for us Rome to Munich.

the Last Supper books out very quickly because they only allow a very small number in at any one time, for environment preservation. You will need to book your tickets 3 or 4 months in advance.

Personally I would only go on MSC if it was dirt cheap. Hubby wouldn't go if it was free.

We have cruised a lot (see below) and it's the only cruiseline I don't like. P&O isn't good but you get what you pay for.

MSC food was worse than pub food. Some was inedible. Service was very poor and rude if you asked for something.

I don't need that. It spoils the holiday.

We are not that fussy and it takes a lolt for me to complain. If the food and service is good I'm 90% satisfied. MSC did not deliver.

Having said that a lot of people like MSC. Maybe it was just a poor one and I was unlucky? Which is why I would give them another chance, but as I said, it would have to be cheap.

Be aware that they often have "kids cruise free" so be aware of holiday times as you will be overrun with kids. They don't have strict child behaviour policies like we have in Australia.

Example -an American couple were seated with 2 Russian couples. They asked could they move as the other couples didn't speak English. The waiter told them very abruptly "Speak to your wife".

At second sitting the fish was lukewarm (pretty common) and raw. I said that it was raw and could not eat it. The waiter said "yes everyone is complaining about that".

Personally I would only go on MSC if it was dirt cheap. Hubby wouldn't go if it was free.

We have cruised a lot (see below) and it's the only cruiseline I don't like. P&O isn't good but you get what you pay for.

 

MSC food was worse than pub food. Some was inedible. Service was very poor and rude if you asked for something.

I don't need that. It spoils the holiday.

We are not that fussy and it takes a lolt for me to complain. If the food and service is good I'm 90% satisfied. MSC did not deliver.

 

Having said that a lot of people like MSC. Maybe it was just a poor one and I was unlucky? Which is why I would give them another chance, but as I said, it would have to be cheap.

Be aware that they often have "kids cruise free" so be aware of holiday times as you will be overrun with kids. They don't have strict child behaviour policies like we have in Australia.

 

Example -an American couple were seated with 2 Russian couples. They asked could they move as the other couples didn't speak English. The waiter told them very abruptly "Speak to your wife".

At second sitting the fish was lukewarm (pretty common) and raw. I said that it was raw and could not eat it. The waiter said "yes everyone is complaining about that".

I hope you reported the rude comments up the line, as no-one should put up with rude behaviour from anyone.

From my experience wth MSC, I would recommend that first time passengers be prepared for experiences caused by different cultures of the line and fellow passengers. (Eg don't stand back at lifts, or you will have difficulty getting in.)

We ate well on MSC because we ate Italian, following the lead of an Italian lady we shared a table with.

Things I appreciated on MSC were the spotless ships and the high standard of the entertainment. We saw a circus show which was better than what we saw later in Toronto, Canada.

I much preferred the smaller ship, than the larger ship (Poesia) which turned me off large ships for life!