Mediterranean

[pkay414]

My sister's family and I are looking to do a Mediterranean cruise this fall -- with heavy focus on the Greek Isles. We're looking at MSC vs. Costa lines. Any thoughts pro or con for either cruise line?

[Chalky]

My wife and I have cruised on both MSC (twice) and Costa (3 times) and there is no much difference between them. MSC have a very aggressive pricing policy (have many and varied special offers during the year), which Costa don't compete with and as such i think are better value for money. However, Costa do provide the little extras, which I think gives them the edge on customer satisfaction. Because of MSC's value for money, we are always on the look out for their "specials" and have another 2 cruises booked with them during 2010. In my opinion I think they are both in the middle range of cruises that are available. Be aware that as they are Italian cruise lines, the majority of their passengers are Italian, who can be very loud and rude (don't do queuing and don't wait for you to get out of elevators), which doesn't bother us and tend to hold back when i display the British Bulldog attitude. Yes there are many criticisms of MSC ie no free Tea or coffee during the or after evening meal, no water on the table, but when one looks at the price paid, cannot really complain. If I can help in any other please ask and I'll try and assist.

[pkay414]

Thank you for your information. I knew it was Italian, but was not aware of the tea or water at meals -- good information to know :-)

[Capricruiser]

Both Costa and MSC are very similar. You may find that one does one thing better while the other does something else better. The Costa in-cabin free breakfast is more varied than that of MSC, but MSC has bathrobes in the cabins, for example. You need to look closely at the itineraries offered by both lines because neither is really Greek island intensive. The Aegean islands usually are just stops on a broader itinerary that encompasses Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, etc. One may stop at Santorini and Rhodes, while another stops at Mykonos and Crete for example. You may want to look at one of the Greek lines that do the islands exclusively.

As mentioned above, Costa and MSC are Italian lines so you have to watch out for us Italians trying to push our way around the sleepy Brits who seem to always be moving like snails as they study the walls. Cheers!

[Chalky]

Thank you for your information. I knew it was Italian, but was not aware of the tea or water at meals -- good information to know

:-)

 

There are many, reviews/info/forum info on this site for both cruise companies, which you may find interesting/helpful. I think you will find Costa is more popular then MSC, which I think is due to some very unfair criticism about MSC. As we Brits say, you don't get somthing for nothing, unless it fell of a back of a lorry. Unfortunately, there are some people who don't believe that and think do you get something for nothing. If you want all the bells and whistles and prepared to pay for it, then best look at other up market cruise lines like Celebrity, who in our opinion are much better the Costa and MSC.