Norwegian Jade or MCS Lirica?

[DanAndShell]

Hello,

 

We are trying to decide between two Mediterranean cruises and want some advice on which ship would be better to be on for a 7 night cruise. Norwegian's Norwegian Jade or MCS Cruises' MCS Lirica? We are leaning more towards the Norwegian Jade, but are looking for some feedback about both ships before we book.

 

Norwegian is: Rome - Montenegro - Slovenia - Croatia - Venice

MCS is: France - Tunisia - Malta - Italy - France

 

They are both early May.

 

Thanks!

Dan and Shell

[qtlikeme]

Hello,

 

We are trying to decide between two Mediterranean cruises and want some advice on which ship would be better to be on for a 7 night cruise. Norwegian's Norwegian Jade or MCS Cruises' MCS Lirica? We are leaning more towards the Norwegian Jade, but are looking for some feedback about both ships before we book.

 

Norwegian is: Rome - Montenegro - Slovenia - Croatia - Venice

MCS is: France - Tunisia - Malta - Italy - France

 

They are both early May.

 

Thanks!

Dan and Shell

 

I vote for the Norwegian Jade!! My DH just completed an 11 day dream cruise of the Mediterranean in January. Her crew and hotel staff are all wonderful and professional at what they do! The food, entertainment and accommodations were all perfect! JMHO!!:)

[joybaby]

Size would be a big factor for me if the trip was port intensive.

[Elmartellama]

Hello,

 

We are trying to decide between two Mediterranean cruises and want some advice on which ship would be better to be on for a 7 night cruise. Norwegian's Norwegian Jade or MCS Cruises' MCS Lirica? We are leaning more towards the Norwegian Jade, but are looking for some feedback about both ships before we book.

 

Norwegian is: Rome - Montenegro - Slovenia - Croatia - Venice

MCS is: France - Tunisia - Malta - Italy - France

 

They are both early May.

 

Thanks!

Dan and Shell

 

Both of them seem nice, maybe you'll see more variety in the MSC one.

 

Over the NCL Jade one, how about MSC Fantasia instead? It sails out of Venice, and you visit Dubrovnik (Croatia) as well, which is preferred by many people over Split.

 

If you have never been to Italy, and you have enough time, since your cruise would finish in Venice anyway you could also fly to Rome and then travel by train to Venice stopping at Florence. On the way back you could stop at Bologna.

 

I considered a cruise stopping at Dubrovnik and Kotor but in the end we opted not to go. The problem for us is that Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split or Koper they all seem to be very similar (all of them greatly influenced by the Venetian rule and power).

[sidari]

Never been on the Lirica so cannot help there, have been on the Jade twice on a 9 night cruise to the Canaries and a B2B from Venice around Greece.

 

Jade is a very nice ship and had decent food and entertainment.

[AmoMondo]

They are very different itineraries. For me I'd decide whether I wanted to the Eastern or Western med first.

 

Then for me it would come down to the type of onboard experience and the ships themselves. I believe NCL has my time dining whether MSC is traditional. Don't know anything about the Jade but do know the Lirica. She' the smallest class of ship and older (not that the fleet has any really old vessels any more) so doesn't have as many onboard facilities as the larger Musica class or even bigger Fantasia class. The advantage the Lirica class have is that with them being smaller they often go to smaller more unusual ports, so for me more interesting itineraries. I have however been to the med many times on land and sea, so want different ports. If you have never been to this region before ports like Venice! Rome, Barcelona will matter to you more.

[madcat444]

I'm a fan of the Jade to be honest but haven't tried MSC yet although that's about to change as I'm doing the repo on Preziosa in a couple of weeks.

 

Can't fault the Jade in any way and I do like the way NCL do things but it's all down to personal preference I guess.

 

Enjoy whatever you choose :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[DutchBunny]

Have been on the Jade and the Splendida, so I know a little about the Msc experience, although the Lirica is a much smaller ship than the Splendida.

What we liked on the Jade was the any time dining and the options for other (pay) restaurants. Food in MDR we did not like but food in the specialty restaurants was great but have additional costs. We also found the entertainment in the bars and lounges more to our liking. On the Splendida we loved our cabin. We had both on the Jade as on the Splendida an inside cabin and the one on the Splendida was much larger and nicer. Also our cabin stewart was very good and nice. And the major bonus on MSC is the drink package. This is so good and inexpensive, you do not get this on Norwegian. Also the food in the MDR and buffet area is much better with MSC.

 

But as allready mentioned before, I would chose itinerary wise and not ship wise. We will sail the Jade probably again next year because we still have a voucher worth 250 usd and she will go to Istanbul in January and that is where we want to go.

[Calitexar]

We did a 14-night Jade cruise a few years ago. One of our favorites for sure. It really comes down to two things:

 

Itinerary

Style of cruising

 

We're taking our first MSC cruise in a few weeks. MSC has a traditional cruise style, ie set dining times, formal nights etc. We love "freestyle" cruising that Norwegian has made so popular so, for us, traditional will be an experience we haven't had for over five years.

 

It's a matter of choice. There's a product for everyone and no product that will please everyone.

 

In any case --- have a great vacation!

[Plan B]

Hola. I've been on both ships. My observations -

 

The Jade is bigger and much more "americanised" but doesn't feel as though it has more space. The buffet on the Jade is far superior for choice but there are less tables which makes it much more chaotic and less enjoyable. On both ships the food in the MDR's are similar in quality although there are far more courses on the Lirica. We thought the NCL freestyle would suit us better but really enjoyed sitting at the same table, with the same waiter and busboy every evening on the Lirica. Both times with NCL we went with friends and family so arranged to eat together at the same time every night so didn't really take advantage of the freestyle dining.

 

There are more hot tubs on the Jade and a good slide into the kids pool. But, can't remember about a paddling pool - there are 2 on the Lirica. Do you have kids?

 

As someone else mentioned, the drinks packages are far superior with MSC. As are the bars, lounges etc. There are no "pay extra" dining options on the Lirica and the shopping area is small - these areas on the Jade are quite extensive - so all this space on the Lirica is given over to bars, lounges etc, nearly all with live music at regular intervals. The only one we didn't like was the Red Lion Pub where you are allowed to smoke - although plenty of others clearly enjoyed this!

 

We always have an inside cabin - not much to choose between the 2 ships here - just that the Jade has a full-size hairdryer and a large shower with sliding door as opposed to a useless hose attachment and a tiny (no exaggeration) shower with curtain. Also, duvets on the Jade - horrible blanket on the Lirica.

 

Nothing else is coming to mind at the mo, but please feel free to ask for further info.

 

Thanks