Why MSC is defining the new cruise industry - opinion

[cruisetrail]

MSC is not conforming to the norms of the 'cruise industry'. MSC 'Divina' is conforming to the Canadian and American markets for the Caribbean cruises only. That is a big difference. I once cruised in Europe with Princess and I hated it because they did not conform to the European market. So now I only cruise with MSC in Europe. I was told that when MSC goes to Australia, they will conform to the Australian market.

 

My thought on that is that they might gain some popularity with the North American market in the Caribbean but they will lose an important market which is the German market. Germans travel a lot and MSC is one of their favorite cruise lines. When the Poesia was in the Caribbean, the ship had a lot of German passengers onboard because everything was done in 5 languages. Now they might go to the Caribbean with AIDA cruise line.

 

 

MSC does not define anything new in cruise industry - what one can see on the Divina - has already been seen on other cruise lines and ships - from ships design to concept of service.

They are still learning.

Do they copy the positives only?

Unfortunately not.

Their "lack of..", "lack of..", "pay for" are among the worst examples we all have seen before..

 

MSC/Costa product has been subpar to cruise industry standards - this is what MSC has been critisized for, not for "Italian flavour" or announcements made in many languages.

Most notable and annoying - everything dining: less options, less generosity, less quality.

The Divina is a crowded mass market mega ship - it fits the lower spectrum of the cruise market where you find Carnival, NCL and Costa.

What they need to fix urgently is everything dining.

They cannot improve the ship itself, but they have all the possiblities to improve the situation with the service (everything dining, stop chaos, maintain order).

[Skipper Tim]

As can be seen here, MSC does not get a popular rating from the dominant US group, as they haven't tailored their product to US tastes as much as others do.

 

I think the bigger issue is that US travellers on average adapt relatively poorly to foreign cultures, traditions and cuisines.

 

I applaud MSC for adapting to local markets. It is just that this aspect will make me avoid cruises departing from the US and UK. In another country to my own, I would rather sleep on the beach than stay in a five-star hotel that makes me feel I haven't gone anywhere.

[Skipper Tim]

I don't care about many of the "perks" being offered left and right by lines. Flowriders and water slides and bumper cars don't mean a thing to me. I want to get on a boat, stare at the water, enjoy some food and meet interesting people in cocktail lounges.

 

I am with you but you have to admit that if every cabin came with a bumper car for personal transportation around the ship, it would add a different dimension to the cruise.....

[Shippy]

MSC does not define anything new in cruise industry - what one can see on the Divina - has already been seen on other cruise lines and ships - from ships design to concept of service.

They are still learning.

Do they copy the positives only?

Unfortunately not.

Their "lack of..", "lack of..", "pay for" are among the worst examples we all have seen before..

 

MSC/Costa product has been subpar to cruise industry standards - this is what MSC has been critisized for, not for "Italian flavour" or announcements made in many languages.

Most notable and annoying - everything dining: less options, less generosity, less quality.

The Divina is a crowded mass market mega ship - it fits the lower spectrum of the cruise market where you find Carnival, NCL and Costa.

What they need to fix urgently is everything dining.

They cannot improve the ship itself, but they have all the possiblities to improve the situation with the service (everything dining, stop chaos, maintain order).

 

We are older & cruise several times a year. We have sailed on all the cruiselines, including MSC before. That was along time ago.

We now tend to just not only look for a good deal but something a bit different than we have done before. We are sailing on Royal Caribbean's Allure this October. If you checked out that ship, it is REALLY different !

Anyway, we are constantly checking the internet.

Last week we discovered the "yacht Club" on MSC. We were not at all familiar with it.

It sounds absoulutly fabulous & very different from anything we have done before.

I was amazed that they would let just 2 people book the YC2 (family) cabin.So, that is what we did. I am very excited about it. 2 full rooms, free alcohol & lots of other perks for the same price as the junior suite on Royal.

I DO consider that new & inovated & doubt any other cruiseline will copy it.

That only downside I can imagine....with so much dedicated space for the YC cabin people, I would assume that will cut down on the space for the rest of the passengers.

[Deckhandoug]

MSC is not conforming to the norms of the 'cruise industry'. MSC 'Divina' is conforming to the Canadian and American markets for the Caribbean cruises only. That is a big difference. I once cruised in Europe with Princess and I hated it because they did not conform to the European market. So now I only cruise with MSC in Europe. I was told that when MSC goes to Australia, they will conform to the Australian market.

 

My thought on that is that they might gain some popularity with the North American market in the Caribbean but they will lose an important market which is the German market. Germans travel a lot and MSC is one of their favorite cruise lines. When the Poesia was in the Caribbean, the ship had a lot of German passengers onboard because everything was done in 5 languages. Now they might go to the Caribbean with AIDA cruise line.

 

Here is an interesting article about the changes:

http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/ken-muskat-reveals-his-perspective-whats-ahead-msc-cruises-41067

 

Thanks for the link and reply.

 

I think the USA way is the norm, not serving water and coffee is the aberration.

 

I base this on the shear number of "USA" style lines and market share.

 

Very true about MSC USA cruises being filled with Europeans, I think it's familiarity with the line, I know I consider my favorite lines when cruising in Europe.

 

Either way, I wouldn't consider the coffee or water policy to be a deal breaker.

[Deckhandoug]

Absolutely! It is so obvious when on a repo cruise going 1/3 of the way around the World. We called at Casablanca on the Musica and sure enough we had some delicious Moroccan spicy dish - and Morocco was not then one of MSC's regular countries of call. The specialities every evening are from the cuisine of the next or current country visited. Superb! One actually feels a traveller rather than a tourist cocooned in an artificial home bubble.

 

Now THAT is a change.

 

I wonder if I will dine on Hawaiian specialties on the Pride of America?

 

I've heard Spam is very popular there:p

[Skipper Tim]

Now THAT is a change.

 

I wonder if I will dine on Hawaiian specialties on the Pride of America?

 

I've heard Spam is very popular there:p

 

The Vikings introduced spam into Britain and then the British Empire exported it to two thirds of the World.

 

The British only introduced spam and pork pies into Polynesia in 1901.

 

Introducing non-native species is very dangerous and we all know what happened in Hawaii. The US had to save Hawaii at the cost of the their sovereignty.

 

That is history. Hawaiian spam is now considered a delicacy by Lidl and Aldi shoppers around the World.

 

Hawaiians still depend entirely upon imports for pork pies which are subject to tax rates of over 1000% mainly due to religious reasons. The pork pie dispute of Polynesia is thought to be the main reason behind the delay of the World Trade (Third Round or should it be Square?) Doha agreement.

 

Various Democratic US senators have suggested pork pies for gas but the mushy pea-rich trading nations won't agree. Life :(

[Tatka]

Thanks for the link and reply.

 

I think the USA way is the norm, not serving water and coffee is the aberration.

 

I base this on the shear number of "USA" style lines and market share.

 

Very true about MSC USA cruises being filled with Europeans, I think it's familiarity with the line, I know I consider my favorite lines when cruising in Europe.

 

Either way, I wouldn't consider the coffee or water policy to be a deal breaker.

 

On our Poesia cruise Europeans were only half of the pax.

 

By the way I noticed that you are crusing with Carnival a lot. Do you like Carnival?

[tigger89]

Now THAT is a change.

 

I wonder if I will dine on Hawaiian specialties on the Pride of America?

 

I've heard Spam is very popular there:p

 

 

Hi We sailed on POA in July it was great I hope you enjoy yourself as much as we did. Never saw any spam though:):)

 

Judith

[cruisingcanadian]

Now THAT is a change.

 

I wonder if I will dine on Hawaiian specialties on the Pride of America?

 

I've heard Spam is very popular there:p

There were no Hawaiian specialties on my cruise on POA,and the cruise was on par with my Splendida cruise a few years later,means the two worst of all my cruises. Service on both :eek:...but both itineraries worth "surviving" it. And no,nothing EVER spoils my cruise-I am always happy just be on a ship at sea:D.

 

Hope you'll enjoy your cruise to Hawaii!:)

[cruisetrail]

Last week we discovered the "yacht Club" on MSC. We were not at all familiar with it.

I DO consider that new & inovated & doubt any other cruiseline will copy it.

 

It's not new. It's not innovative.

This has been copied from NCL .

 

YC "faux exclusivity" caters for 5% of the Divina passengers and therefore does not define anything about the ship as a whole.

 

That only downside I can imagine....with so much dedicated space for the YC cabin people, I would assume that will cut down on the space for the rest of the passengers

Yes it will.

Although it's very symptomatic for crowded cruise ships that deliver lower quality mass product (so that they arrange "luxury" enclaves), it's not too bad.

The worst thing about YC and similar enclaves is the way they are implemented - quite cynical and disrespectful to the rest of 95%.

And this fact says a lot.

 

Researching the Divina for my prospective cruise in comparison with HAL Signature class ships, I found that the Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam look like the whole ship is YC!

[cruisetrail]

Absolutely! It is so obvious when on a repo cruise going 1/3 of the way around the World. We called at Casablanca on the Musica and sure enough we had some delicious Moroccan spicy dish - and Morocco was not then one of MSC's regular countries of call. The specialities every evening are from the cuisine of the next or current country visited. Superb! One actually feels a traveller rather than a tourist cocooned in an artificial home bubble.

 

A confusion that comes from the lack of cruising experience with different cruise lines :D

"We had Spanish dinner onboard when MSC ship visited Spain!!!!"

What does this mean?

Of course, it means that other lines serve the same food every day and never have "theme specialties":)

[Deckhandoug]

On our Poesia cruise Europeans were only half of the pax.

 

By the way I noticed that you are crusing with Carnival a lot. Do you like Carnival?

 

I like the southern Caribbean R/T San Juan cruise very much, it was 7 ports in seven days but they added a sea day so now it's 6 ports in a week.

 

It's a GREAT cruise, I highly encourage everyone to take it, I believe several lines sail R/T San Juan

 

I can get great rates on R/T air to San Juan, so it's a very inexpensive vacation for me, so very different from the Bahamas or western Caribbean.

 

I've done the same cruise 3 times, so, to answer your question, the attraction is the price and the itinerary rather than the line itself, but we do appreciate carnivals relaxed style and simple, fresh, well prepared fare over some lines attempts to serve "upscale" offerings that are inferior quality or badly prepared.

 

As far as it being a party ship, I've found the longer cruises of any line are better, all 3-4 day cruises we've been on with CCL,,Rccl and NCL were all filled with the party crowd, and that's ok as long as you know what's coming.

 

The poesia cruise I was on was over run with children, the deck staff were almost driven mad trying to control them in the pool areas etc.

 

Same on CCL over thanksgiving, lots of kids

 

So, yes, CCL is ok when that's what we are looking for

[Deckhandoug]

Hi We sailed on POA in July it was great I hope you enjoy yourself as much as we did. Never saw any spam though:):)

 

Judith

 

Thanks Judith, I'm sure we will. The spam was a joke, I believe the military brought over tons of it during WW2 and for some reason the Hawaiians really took a liking to it and consume more per capita than anywhere I believe.

 

Armored pig, the soldiers called it, I can recall my father calling it that when I was a child, so the military served it in the 59's & 60's we he was active.

 

Of course, Monty python has an alternative version of history and they may be right:p

[Deckhandoug]

On our Poesia cruise Europeans were only half of the pax.

 

By the way I noticed that you are crusing with Carnival a lot. Do you like Carnival?

 

Yes, Europeans do follow the home team.

[Deckhandoug]

There were no Hawaiian specialties on my cruise on POA,and the cruise was on par with my Splendida cruise a few years later,means the two worst of all my cruises. Service on both :eek:...but both itineraries worth "surviving" it. And no,nothing EVER spoils my cruise-I am always happy just be on a ship at sea:D.

 

Hope you'll enjoy your cruise to Hawaii!:)

 

Thanks CC, we won't be onboard very much!

[The_Big_M]

I think the USA way is the norm, not serving water and coffee is the aberration.

 

I base this on the shear number of "USA" style lines and market share.

 

 

Ugh, so because US passengers are dominant, everything has to be done the US way.

 

That's just ugly thinking.

 

It's an Italian line, and Italians don't serve water with meals in Italian restaurants. So it is the norm there. (Doesn't mean I personally like it, but it doesn't change that it is the norm there.)

[All aboard??]

Does this extend to the galley? It's quite obvious that that most lines serve a corporate approved menu, It was very disappointing last year on RCCL that we didn't get any delicious local fare, it was the same generic items served stateside.

 

Yes it does; the Menus I have found after cruising in three seperate regions / continents have varied dramatically.

 

In South America the menu was very Brazilian - feijado, salted cod and the sorts -; in South Africa there are strong Italian influences as well as Indian - lots of stews etc - and then in the Mediteranean the menu is strongly Italian.

 

I have watched some Youtube videos of the food on Poesia in NA and read some of the menus - the menus on these sailings seem to reflect a commonality to that which I found on HAL - American food should we call it that.

[AmoMondo]

Yes it does; the Menus I have found after cruising in three seperate regions / continents have varied dramatically.

 

In South America the menu was very Brazilian - feijado, salted cod and the sorts -; in South Africa there are strong Italian influences as well as Indian - lots of stews etc - and then in the Mediteranean the menu is strongly Italian.

 

I have watched some Youtube videos of the food on Poesia in NA and read some of the menus - the menus on these sailings seem to reflect a commonality to that which I found on HAL - American food should we call it that.

 

That's my experience too having sailed out of the US, South America, the Baltics, Black Sea, Med and down to South Africa.

 

They also seem to mix up the menus a lot on repos.

[All aboard??]

That's my experience too having sailed out of the US, South America, the Baltics, Black Sea, Med and down to South Africa.

 

They also seem to mix up the menus a lot on repos.

 

And then there is also the dinning times which varies according to region / culture as well...

[Deckhandoug]

The thing is that for the lines being compared to, over half their customer base is out of the US. It's understandable that they're catering for the bulk of the customers (although pay lip service to localising in some cases).

 

As can be seen here, MSC does not get a popular rating from the dominant US group, as they haven't tailored their product to US tastes as much as others do.

 

Ugh, so because US passengers are dominant, everything has to be done the US way.

 

That's just ugly thinking.

 

It's an Italian line, and Italians don't serve water with meals in Italian restaurants. So it is the norm there. (Doesn't mean I personally like it, but it doesn't change that it is the norm there.)

 

I didn't say MSC had to conform to the USA way, I said it was the predominant market, which you confirmed.

 

Of course the major lines play to their customer base, would you expect otherwise?

 

You also confirmed that MSC is tailoring it's product to the US market.

 

Any smart business sells what the customer wants.

 

You also confirmed that MSC/Italians serve water with meals in MSC/Italian restaurants.

 

Ugh, so because US passengers are dominant, beverage service has to be done the US way.

 

That's smart thinking

[The_Big_M]

Ugh, so because US passengers are dominant, beverage service has to be done the US way.

 

That's smart thinking

 

Well, no. Just because McDonalds is probably dominant as an individual seller of food, doesn't mean that everyone wants that style of food wherever they eat.

 

Especially as MSC is an Italian line, and most of its passengers are not American, there are no grounds to expect it to cater for the norms of the US passenger market.

[Deckhandoug]

Yes it does; the Menus I have found after cruising in three seperate regions / continents have varied dramatically.

 

In South America the menu was very Brazilian - feijado, salted cod and the sorts -; in South Africa there are strong Italian influences as well as Indian - lots of stews etc - and then in the Mediteranean the menu is strongly Italian.

 

I have watched some Youtube videos of the food on Poesia in NA and read some of the menus - the menus on these sailings seem to reflect a commonality to that which I found on HAL - American food should we call it that.

 

Well, that would be very interesting indeed, I would like to experience that sometime, one of the main reasons we cruise is to experience different cultures and foods, so we dine ashore whenever possible.

 

I cringe when I hear theme meals being offered on the cheaper USA lines: "Mexican","Indian","Asian" or "BBQ", usually some poor soul has cobbled together some badly prepared stereotype that has no resemblance to reality.

 

And that's what I meant about Carnivals simpler food, prepared well:

 

Most lines offer some poor quality "generic" Hamburger or Taco/Burrito, Carnival offers a high quality, well prepared version, made to order. Those may be the main offering at noon, but they do them right.

 

Not being a huge fan of either, I don't eat too many but the point is that's its better to offer a good one rather than one that's inedible, like MSC or NCL.

 

 

Interesting about the Poesia comments, what I saw/experienced was nothing like real USA food, other than a few excellent items we thought it was a poor attempt at Italian food.

 

Perhaps that was what they considered "American" fare at the time?

 

I did consider the MSC black sea cruise for my next Med trip, but went with HAL instead. MSC had a good price but one additional sea day, and it's been since 2008 since we did the med so we stuck with the major ports.

[Deckhandoug]

Well, no. Just because McDonalds is probably dominant as an individual seller of food, doesn't mean that everyone wants that style of food wherever they eat.

 

Especially as MSC is an Italian line, and most of its passengers are not American, there are no grounds to expect it to cater for the norms of the US passenger market.

 

Ahh, but they DO cater to the US market, it's been established that they have changed their policies in the Caribbean and also in Europe for US passengers.

 

Using your McDonalds analogy, just because MSC/Italian is the dominant style doesn't mean every passenger wants that style.

 

MSC recognizes this, and is adapting.

 

I will add that the big lines seem to do a poor job when attempting to offer another cultures meals.

[Tatka]

I do not find Carnival's food well prepared and better than NCL & MSC.