How does MSC compare to P&O and Celebrity?

[Presto2]

Hi

 

Just happened to read a thread about someone who had been on MSC on the P&O board and are curious re MSC now and what it offers. We are pretty easy to please and will book knowing what we have booked and will go along with it all. (Hate it when people want the cruise line to change to what they want!) I.e. we fit our holiday to whatever cruise line we book.

 

We would have to sail in mid August and are interested in a cruise from Naples or similar.

 

Have read about the Yacht perks ---- seems good to us.

 

How does MSC compare to P&O and Celebrity?

 

Thanks everyone

[tjwa]

We have sailed with both P&O/Princess and booked our first cruise with MSC on Musica sailing from Venice to Rio de Janerio in November so if you can wait I will report back.:)

 

Also we did use the status match and got a black card with MSC due to being Elite on Princess.

[Presto2]

We have sailed with both P&O/Princess and booked our first cruise with MSC on Musica sailing from Venice to Rio de Janerio in November so if you can wait I will report back.:)

 

Also we did use the status match and got a black card with MSC due to being Elite on Princess.

 

 

Now we have been able to transfer our points to Princess from P&O. What does the status match mean?

[helen haywood]

Contact MSC and if you give them a photo of a Sea Pass card from Celebrity or other line showing what level you are MSC will award you comparable status with them. For example, we are Elite Plus with X and MSC gave us Black level with them.

 

I've only sailed Divina from Miami so your experience would be different but we thought the ship was beautiful, the food great and the entertainment much better than X.

 

If you decide to sail in The Yacht Club you will be blown away! A fantastic experience and much, much, cheaper than a suite on X!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[NYHartChapp]

Contact MSC and if you give them a photo of a Sea Pass card from Celebrity or other line showing what level you are MSC will award you comparable status with them. For example, we are Elite Plus with X and MSC gave us Black level with them.

 

I've only sailed Divina from Miami so your experience would be different but we thought the ship was beautiful, the food great and the entertainment much better than X.

 

If you decide to sail in The Yacht Club you will be blown away! A fantastic experience and much, much, cheaper than a suite on X!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Thanks, Helen. Was what we are expecting.

[Dolebludger]

If you can, book the YC. It is a whole different cruise. There will be no lines or crowds. You will have a separate restaurant with open seating and open times. You will have a separate open bar that is very uncrowded with very good service.

 

We have cruised lines like Regent and Silverseas, and find the MSC YC experience to be just a good at less than half the price except for one thing. The room service menu is rather limited. But given the price, we will cruise MSC YC again.

[Beamafar]

If the Yacht Club is within your budget GO FOR IT! It's nothing like as stuffy and snobby as the experience I had in a suite on Celebrity which came NOWHERE NEAR the wonderful times I've had in YC on MSC.

[Dolebludger]

Beamafar,

 

What was wrong with the suite situation on Celebrity? I ask only because we like to go on cruises where the "Moody Blues" perform, and the next such cruise is on Celebrity in Jan. 2018, and my wife booked us in a suite class room. Hope I don't encounter a bunch of "dress snobs" there, because I live in the mountains NE of Durango CO where new jeans and nice shirts and shoes (or boots) are considered "formal". I don't even own a tie! Now on cruises I will wear casual slacks, sports shirts, and maybe a sports jacket. but a tie? Never. And I associate with a number of multi-millionaires and billionaires (not me) who do the same. Will I have a problem on a Celebrity suite?

[scareyness]

Hi

 

Just happened to read a thread about someone who had been on MSC on the P&O board and are curious re MSC now and what it offers. We are pretty easy to please and will book knowing what we have booked and will go along with it all. (Hate it when people want the cruise line to change to what they want!) I.e. we fit our holiday to whatever cruise line we book.

 

We would have to sail in mid August and are interested in a cruise from Naples or similar.

 

Have read about the Yacht perks ---- seems good to us.

 

How does MSC compare to P&O and Celebrity?

 

Thanks everyone

 

 

Our 2nd cruise was with P&O on Arcadia and we loved it, last cruise was on Ventura, did not like it. So far Celebrity have been our favourite. Doing our 1st MSC cruise in just under 2 weeks so will let you know the difference on our return. We have a free upgrade to YC but unsure what we will get for that.

 

One thing we have always found, (and this is not to upset or offend anyone) but different nationalities like or prefer different things in our experience. As an example, we have found some guests from USA but obviously not all, not so keen to dress up in formal wear in the evenings and many have been upset if lobster is not on the menu. I love dressing up and have no interest in lobster, that's what we love about cruising, we are all so different.

 

We cruised with Celebrity in the med taking in Naples and it was just amazing. Will be interested to see how MSC fare in the med, but in any event I am very lucky to be able to cruise :)

[Beamafar]

Dolebludger............It had nothing to do with the dress code and everything to do with other cruisers and some of the staffs' attitude! We hated Luminae and the staff there and ended up eating in the MDR by the end of the cruise. As for Michael's Lounge - I found the atmosphere unpleasant. I've never felt this way in YC on MSC.

[Dolebludger]

Well, maybe we and the other Moody Blues fans will need to do a bit of educating on the Celebrity suite class! But, like you, we found the MSC YC very much to our liking. We wanted a cruise later this month but couldn't find a MSC YC cruise we could get to without a lot of flying (which we don't like) so we booked on our old faithful line -- Regent. But I'm sure we will re-visit MSC YC in the not too distant future.

 

Now, do you want to hear about something really bad? Last spring, there was a "Moody Blues" cruise on the NCL Pearl. We booked a suite in "the Haven" Great room, but no "open bar" lounge (though we did have liquor and beer in the fridge in our room). No separate restaurant (although we could have the butler bring us dinner, which we did). And at the end of the cruise, mandatory tips were added to our bill, and we were told they didn't include tips for our butler! For what we paid, all tips should have ben included, but I don't think NCL has quite got it. Never again -- regardless of what band is playing.

 

But back to topic, if the itinerary fits, MSC YC is perhaps the best deal on the seas.

[SuiteTraveler]

I have not been on P&O, but I've been on Celebrity quite a few times. The MSC Yacht club is a MAJOR step up from Celebrity in terms of service and amenities. Essentially, within the Yacht Club everything is completely inclusive: All beverages, food, even your mini bar is included and restocked twice a day. They will spoil you silly. The Yacht Club restaurant also includes some food from the specialty restaurants - which we never went to as the food in the Yacht Club restaurant was so good, we couldn't see any point in paying extra. The Yacht Club lounge includes a buffet that is changed every 3 hours. You can also have formal tea each afternoon - just let your butler know you want that and they set up tea service in the Yacht club for you. There is a private pool and hot tubs for the yacht club as well as a second pool side bar and buffet. Your Yacht Club butler will seek opportunities to serve you - it is as though they cannot do enough for you. They even escort you off the ship to shore excursions. The cabins are lovely and I found the furniture to be drastically more comfortable than that on Celebrity. The service in the Yacht Club restaurant is extremely personalized and your Maitre 'd will actually match you to your waiter. This is just a great overall experience and one that will make you very spoiled in the best possible way.

[Presto2]

I have not been on P&O, but I've been on Celebrity quite a few times. The MSC Yacht club is a MAJOR step up from Celebrity in terms of service and amenities. Essentially, within the Yacht Club everything is completely inclusive: All beverages, food, even your mini bar is included and restocked twice a day. They will spoil you silly. The Yacht Club restaurant also includes some food from the specialty restaurants - which we never went to as the food in the Yacht Club restaurant was so good, we couldn't see any point in paying extra. The Yacht Club lounge includes a buffet that is changed every 3 hours. You can also have formal tea each afternoon - just let your butler know you want that and they set up tea service in the Yacht club for you. There is a private pool and hot tubs for the yacht club as well as a second pool side bar and buffet. Your Yacht Club butler will seek opportunities to serve you - it is as though they cannot do enough for you. They even escort you off the ship to shore excursions. The cabins are lovely and I found the furniture to be drastically more comfortable than that on Celebrity. The service in the Yacht Club restaurant is extremely personalized and your Maitre 'd will actually match you to your waiter. This is just a great overall experience and one that will make you very spoiled in the best possible way.

 

We are thinking of something special for our 25th wedding anniversary. Not until 2019 but I like to do my research and make sure that we get what we want! We were in Sorrento for our honeymoon so are tempted to try MSC for a week from Naples followed by a week in Sorrento.

Or would we be better saving the cruise until last?

 

Just checking MSC re their smoking policy and where do they stand on tips and bringing alcohol onboard? Do they have formal nights?

 

Sorry, lots of questions as we have never even thought of doing MSC and can't find the information on their web site.

 

Thanks

[asctony]

We are Elite+ on Celebrity and Black Card on MSC. Just got off of the Reflection and Divina last month. The Divina is elegant in respect to the lounges, MDR, showroom, etc. We would choose MSC over X and we have done so for fall this year.

X is getting very over rated and costly.

The one thing we were sort of surprised at was the Galaxy and Italy Steak house on MSC. Not truly representative of the total elegant decor of the ship. X has changed like all the cruise lines, but our choice is now MSC over X.

Yes we do Princess, RCI and NCL, too, this year.

Try it and you should like it. JMHO!

[SuiteTraveler]

MSC Yacht club is definitely a big step up from X. More comfortable furniture, better service, better food, waaaaaay better entertainment - it's just a wonderful experience all around.

[Beamafar]

We are thinking of something special for our 25th wedding anniversary. Not until 2019 but I like to do my research and make sure that we get what we want! We were in Sorrento for our honeymoon so are tempted to try MSC for a week from Naples followed by a week in Sorrento.

Or would we be better saving the cruise until last?

 

Just checking MSC re their smoking policy and where do they stand on tips and bringing alcohol onboard? Do they have formal nights?

 

Sorry, lots of questions as we have never even thought of doing MSC and can't find the information on their web site.

 

Thanks

 

I would suggest that you cruise first - it can be quite a hectic week visiting ports on most days. You could then have a more leisurely week exploring Sorrento at your own pace for the second week. JMHO.

 

Most MSC ships have a cigar lounge onboard and there are also very restricted areas on a couple of open decks for smokers - usually on the port side. In Yacht Club, there is also a small area in the Top Sail Lounge where smoking is permitted.

 

Tips are added to your onboard account each day - you can have them removed at Guest Services.

 

MSC does not permit you to bring alcohol onboard.

 

There are 2 formal nights on a 7 night cruise - dress code is a suggested one and not enforced.

[Presto2]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

:)

[helenb]

We are Elite on both Princess and Celebrity, and have our first MSC YC cruise booked on Seaside in June 2018. We are really looking forward to it! Everything I read on these MSC boards only gets me more excited!

[lakelorain]

MSC is cleaner, has better food(especially if you like Italian food), has more comfortable bar furniture and more beautiful ships than Celebrity. Never been on P&O. However, I still sail Celebrity when the itinerary is what I'm looking for. If MSC had more varied itineraries, I would pick them first.