MSC for free or Anthem of the seas Can't decide !!

[gamblinmon]

Hi everyone, hoping for some input. I was awarded a free inside cabin on MSC , in the meanwhile we booked ANTHEM virtual balcony large interior K cabin

for 10 night (we live in NJ). We really liked Quantum last year but the "free " MSC 7 night , also inside cabin,has us re-thinking our plans. We are looking at the Divina out of Miami. For my fellow cruisers who have been on both , please weigh in. Btw: why we liked quantum, choices for dinner and DH really liked the esplanade . We were aware of reviews ahead of time , made our reservations & had no problems on the Quantum. Aplace advice appreciated.

[Biker19]

Is this a trick question?

[cruisinfanatic]

Is this a trick question?

Yes, really

[gamblinmon]

Nice, thanks

[Biker19]

Duh, take the freebie, but don't let that influence anything you do with any other cruise. If you liked Quantum go on Anthem. Easy.

[DonnaK]

Take the freebie and rebook Anthem for another time.

 

I am really intrigued by MSC Divina, and hope to try her soon!

[cruisinfanatic]

anyone ever get confirmed for crown and anchor status on MSC?

[AdvGirl]

Hi everyone, hoping for some input. I was awarded a free inside cabin on MSC , in the meanwhile we booked ANTHEM virtual balcony large interior K cabin

 

for 10 night (we live in NJ). We really liked Quantum last year but the "free " MSC 7 night , also inside cabin,has us re-thinking our plans. We are looking at the Divina out of Miami. For my fellow cruisers who have been on both , please weigh in. Btw: why we liked quantum, choices for dinner and DH really liked the esplanade . We were aware of reviews ahead of time , made our reservations & had no problems on the Quantum. Aplace advice appreciated.

 

 

Well I for one do not believe the question is so clear as others make it out to be. If money is considered you still have to weigh the cost of flying from New Jersey to Miami and maybe a hotel stay vs driving direct to cape Liberty.

 

Second, just because something is free does not mean it is what you will like. In this case the Quantum class is a known quantity and you liked it. The MSC is a bit of a mystery.

 

Third if you are a regular cruiser on RCL you earn points on your CA membership. Not so on MSC.

 

Fourth aside from length of cruise you need to look at the itinerary for both ships and decide which you like best. Also do you prefer a 10 day over a 7day - I know I would love 10days.

 

Fifth - MSC is a normal stateroom the Anthem is a Virtual Balcony.

 

One last issue - can you give the MSC cruise away and make someone else happy - just wondering.

[CanadaRob]

I'm thinking the MSC cruise is a must do, if you apply for

Loyalty match depending onyour RCI status maybe able to take that free trip and get some kind of upgrade.

The Anthem is not going anywhere, even with added costs to fly to FL would probably be able to rebook your anthem for 8-10 months out depending on on how long it would take you to resave the money spent on flights.

I am also intrigued by MSC and trying Divina next year.

[gamblinmon]

I cannot give the freebie away due to the rules of the give away. Yes we need to consider cost of flights and hotel. We've never sailed MSC that why I was asking.

[tinkertwo]

a very dear friend of mine has a saying…….'free is good'. ;)

[gerif]

a very dear friend of mine has a saying…….'free is good'. ;)

 

But there's always "you get what you pay for."

[RFerrington]

You also have to consider what "free" really means. I have taken a number of "free" cruises and as we all know, free really isn't free.

 

What are the actual costs going to be for the free cruise ? Taxes and ports fees only ? How do the itineraries compare ? How much is airfare going to cost you on top of whatever fees are going to be ?

[Russ Lomas]

Take the freebie while you have it and book the Anthem for another time. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth is what I believe the saying is.

[tinkertwo]

But there's always "you get what you pay for."

 

you don't pay for anything 'free', hence its good!

[Baron Barracuda]

Math time:

 

You don't say what month the Divina Cruise is, but even in July peak time the cheapest inside cabin (which is what you're probably getting) runs $659 for 7 nights x 2 people = $1318. Port charges add $231. Assuming they are included in your award brings it's value up to $1,549. But how much will you have to go out of pocket to claim your reward?

 

Flying from EWR to MIA is a pain, not many non-stop flights. FLL is better for flying but further from port of Miami, making pricier transfer to ship. Figure $600 round trip air for two people + $150 minimum for pre-cruise hotel (I've learned to never fly on day of cruise). Add another $200 for pre-cruise meals, transfers, etc. Brings the cost of you "free" cruise to around $950.

 

So the value of your freebie is $400 - $600 depending on who pays port charges. Finally, you have to factor in the value of your time. You'll lose 2 days of your life flying to and from Miami vs a couple of hours driving to Bayonne. More importantly (at least to my dw) you're subject to airline baggage restrictions. Is it worth it? :)

[Tapi]

We canceled our Royal Caribbean cruise in favor of an MSC cruise for May, not because we received a free cruise, but because the 2 for 1 balcony offer along with the kids sail free offer made it very hard to pass up.

 

While we won't sail on the Divina for another 4 months, we've been doing extensive research. Every review that we've read agrees that the ship is stunning, with one of the most beautiful atriums of any ship afloat. Divina doesn't have an open space equivalent to the Esplanade or Royal Promenades on Royal ships, but she has its share of open areas dedicated to retail, dining and entertainment.

 

As far as dining, you won't find as many selections as on Royal's newest ships, but you will still have some good choices. In addition to the 2 main dining rooms, and the 2 buffet restaurants, Divina has several alternative "for fee" options including the Eataly Steakhouse, the Galaxy Restaurant, Ristorante Italia, as well as pizza at La Cantina di Bacco (consistently reviewed as the best pizza at sea), and a gelato a shop. Since the cost of our cruise will be so cheap, we figured that we'll have plenty of extra money to indulge in alternative dining options should the free ones not be enough.

 

As mentioned above, we are doing a lot of research so that we sail on the Divina with realistic expectations. And one of those expectations is that MSC is an Italian cruise line offering a product quite different than what American cruise lines like Royal Caribbean offer.

 

With all of that said, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to sail on a beautiful and relatively new ship, in a Fantastica balcony stateroom for 7 nights to the Eastern Caribbean for about 1/4 the cost of a similar Royal cruise! I encourage you to take advantage of the free cruise that you've received. Anthem will be there when you return from the Divina, but your free cruise offer won't last forever.

Edited January 17, 2016 by Tapi

[earn]

MSC have a great product and beautiful ships. They are extremely clean and well maintained and the cabins are much nicer than RCI. I think you should try them and I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised. If you are Diamond you will be Black on your MSC cruise. No Diamond lounge but some other nice touches.

[Seaworthy01]

Here is my take, Even with the price of the airfare, tax, port fees and hotel stay the cost is minimal for a 7 night cruise (I'm assuming it's to the Caribbean). and if you fly into MIA or FLL early the day before it's like an extended vacation by one day but you can do a lot in that day if you stay local. The Bayside Marketplace is a nice experience. And I would see about being able to upgrade the free cabin and only paying the difference. Book the Anthem for another time.

[theboydbunch]

Hi everyone, hoping for some input. I was awarded a free inside cabin on MSC , in the meanwhile we booked ANTHEM virtual balcony large interior K cabin

for 10 night (we live in NJ). We really liked Quantum last year but the "free " MSC 7 night , also inside cabin,has us re-thinking our plans. We are looking at the Divina out of Miami. For my fellow cruisers who have been on both , please weigh in. Btw: why we liked quantum, choices for dinner and DH really liked the esplanade . We were aware of reviews ahead of time , made our reservations & had no problems on the Quantum. Aplace advice appreciated.

 

 

We just sailed the Divina on Dec. 26th holiday cruise. Loved it!! I say, do both!!

[lglancy]

We sailed on Divina in August 2014 at a very cheap price. We have been on 9 RC, 5 Carnival (never again), and 1 HAL. We are now 43 years old and brought our now 9 year old daughter. In our opinion, MSC did not even come close to equaling the level of service we are accustomed to on RC. We are easy to please, and aren't complainers. Our observations: service was not good. It was adequate, but staff did not greet or smile at us throughout the ship and seemed unsure of how to reply when we smiled and said hello to them, and dinner waitstaff did the minimum to get by and was not happy to be doing it. No one was rude, just seemed to not want to be there. No one ever called us by name, or remembered our dinner preferences. When I requested A-1 sauce at dinner, I was told they didn't have any (though it was on the buffet each day.) Each night if we would order two appetizers, only one would be brought. They "forgot" one every time. Food was average to below average. (We consider RC food to be very good to excellent.) Some entrees were honestly not good enough to finish. The pizza in the buffet was excellent, best we've had on a cruise, but there were only one or two staff making them, and it did not keep up with the demand. We actually saw fights break out by people just trying to get pizza, and we always dreaded having to get through the pizza mob to get to the actual buffet.. The buffet was constantly, and I mean constantly, out of cups. We drank out of coffee mugs most days. I enjoyed the drink program, in that I could by a book of 10 drink tickets for around $65, and could also use them for milkshakes for my daughter. Onboard entertainment was excellent, with the best shows we've ever seen on a ship. The ship itself is also the most beautiful we've been on, absolutely gorgeous, but there is also a large amount of space that cannot be accessed by those not a member of "the club" of some such. We found the fellow passengers to not be the friendly types we are accustomed to on RC. I'm sure it's just a difference in cultures, but our experiences would best be described as "rude." The cultures we experienced used pushing, shoving, and shouting as the norm. I read one review that said this is an Italian cruise line aimed at Italians, that happens to be cruising from the U.S. While I rolled my eyes when I read it, I must admit that I found it to be true. We also could never seem to catch the pools when they were open. Weird. My daughter enjoyed the kids program, but could not communicate with the staff. They are very limited in English. I did love that the program takes the kids to the show each night. Also be aware that a foreign transaction fee was on my credit card, as the onboard account charges were routed through Italy.

 

We have been shopping for a spring break cruise, and MSC is among the cheapest for this expensive time of year. That being said, my husband and I agreed that the negatives outweighed the positive, and even at the cheap price, we would not sail them again, especially considering they sail to the same old ports we've been going to for years. Of course you should give it a try, being a free cruise. You may love it, and it's hard to complain about a week in the beautiful Caribbean. Myself, I am willing to pay more for the excellence of RC, but free is the right price to give it a try! Be sure to see all the shows, they truly were the highlight.

[earn]

I think these are very good points. The service level is different and more in line with that of an excellent hotel in Europe. It is unobtrusive and less enthusiastic, which for most Europeans means better. My experience in the dining room was very poor on our Caribbean Poesia cruise but has been excellent on the othe two MSC cruises. RCI mostly beat them on that but my last Splendour cruise also had poor MDR service. I think it is a lot to do with the waiter. Although the ships are beautiful the dining rooms are not as nice as RCI and more cramped. I liked the fact that my cabin was always clean but I never saw my cabin steward. That to me is great service. I like going to the bar for my drinks when I want one and not being hassled to buy one by waiters touring around looking for business. As was said I think a lot of this is cultural. Americans speak our language and we have much in common (including queuing 😊), but mostly our culture is closer to our European cousins. This is also the case with food. The Mediterranean style food on offer on most MSC ships is superb, but it may be that they have tried to copy American style for Divina, but not hit the mark. Avoid meat and eat loads of fish, pasta, risotto cured meats and you will love it.

[Tapi]

MSC did not even come close to equaling the level of service we are accustomed to on RC. We are easy to please, and aren't complainers. Our observations: service was not good. It was adequate, but staff did not greet or smile at us throughout the ship and seemed unsure of how to reply when we smiled and said hello to them, and dinner waitstaff did the minimum to get by and was not happy to be doing it. No one was rude, just seemed to not want to be there. No one ever called us by name, or remembered our dinner preferences.

 

You may love it, and it's hard to complain about a week in the beautiful Caribbean. Myself, I am willing to pay more for the excellence of RC.

 

 

I believe that this is why it's important to do some research and to go with realistic expectations, not only when sailing on MSC but when sailing on Royal or any other cruise line. Just take a stroll down some of the other boards and read reviews about first timers on Royal and you'll read similar disappointments of "Royal didn't have this, or the didn't do things this way, or fellow passengers were like that" etc, etc.

 

The staff behavior that you describe is very much in tune with what should be expected. It's not an "on your face, cheery, happy, what can I do for you" attitude, but a more reserved and somewhat invisible "I'm here for you if you need me" type of attitude. Personally, I think that this type of approach to service will be more in tune with what we enjoy, but we'll truly find out in a few months.

 

Food is always subjective, although quality is not. It also seems that MSC is heavy on European cuisine, specifically Italian, which would be a welcome change for many as well. But I can see how some Americans used to the average fair normally found on Royal, NCL and Carnival may flinch at what MSC offers. Once again, it's all about doing some research and setting realistic expectations. [emoji3]

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Well if the additional cost for Divina would be minimal, just do both! :D

 

It's a tough decision, but I'd probably be tempted to take the free cruise, and maybe book an additional short cruise on Royal. I'd have a hard time giving up that Anthem cruise...but if you have no vacation plans in the next couple years just postpone the Anthem cruise. :)

[Seaworthy01]

Keep this in mind, Everyone will have a different opinions and views. I would not go by a first time cruisers reviews for the fact that first impressions are everything and can have a lasting effect. Some people have very bad experiences and refuse to give second chances (Cruising is not for everyone), the first timers may realize that it's not for them and there for have much differant views about the product/cruise. You should read reviews from seasoned travelers, but sometimes they can also get turned around by maybe one bad experience that may have occurred at a certain moment, like being in the wrong place at the wrong time or someone not getting there way would warrant a negative view. You may listen to all of the negative reviews and not realize that you are missing out on something fantastic or just the reverse. I believe first hand, personal experience is the best way and only way to go (My opinion).