How does MSC compare to Celebrity and Royal Caribbean?

[Sweetmona]

Hi all, I hope I have placed this question in the correct spot...!

 

The vast majority of my cruises have been Celebrity Solstice class (5x) and RCCL Oasis class (4x). Also one RC Freedom and Norwegian Breakaway. As you can tell, my hubby and I tend to go for the newer, bigger ships. Also, I think we have become accustomed to the Celebrity/RCCL feel. We are mid-40s, no kids, active and really enjoy the dining aspect and public spaces while cruising. Does MSC have an appreciable difference in feel from the ships we’ve most often sailed i.e. service, communication, more or less formal, more of a party-ship, etc? I’d love to hear from people with similar sailing experience, or those of you who have sailed recently with MSC. Thank you!

[DWhit]

I have only been on one MSC cruise (the Divina out of Miami). But I have been on several X and RCI cruises. I'd say the newer MSC ships definitely compare with X and RCI. The biggest difference was that MSC had a bigger European/international feel, and less of a USA/ Canada focus. We really enjoyed that, but I could see it might not be as comfortable to others.

 

 

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[tallnthensome]

We sailed our first MSC cruise on the Seaside in April. I'm 42, wife 38 ....kids 10 and 8. We've sailed Carnival, Royal, NCL, Holland, and Princess as well. The Seaside was absolutely wonderful in every way especially the price. Food was excellent in the buffets and MDR. Shows are super impressive, best at sea. The ship is very elegant yet very fun. Service is way above Carnival, Royal, or NCL .... It is too classy to have a Carnival vibe that is for sure. It is more laid back comparatively. The passengers were only about 20% American when we sailed with most being from Europe and South America. You know what, it made no difference as everyone was friendly, well behaved, and there to have fun. I don't want to be that guy that says it was a better classier group of passengers then you'd find on Carnival, or NCL but they were. I have not sailed Celebrity but I can tell you that the MSC Seaside was much more fun and less stuffy then our Holland and Princess cruises. We were apprehensive about MSC but it turned out to be one of our best cruises ever. Give them a try at least once. It is a multicultural experience and just all around nice.

[Reds4life]

I just got off Adventure of the Seas last week and sailed Divina last year. I felt like the MDR and Buffets were very similar. Service was good on both. I did like the MSC pizza much better and liked that I could use the juice and water machine on MSC rather than deal with a guy pouring drinks. I felt like the guest relations on both ships were equally bad. I very much prefer the Royal Caribbean shows to MSC. Depends on your taste I guess. MSC shows are more music and dance geared towards a multi lingual audience. Royal was obviously more American. The clientele on MSC is more classy in my opinion. Royal had a lot of Americans of a lower social economic background than the MSC sailing we went on. Bottom line, MSC is comparable for a lot less money.

[soccer2010]

We just got off the MSC Seaside June 2. I did a small review/comparison to Royal and Carnival:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2642049

 

The shows on MSC are the best that we have seen at sea. The pizza for us was just Okay. We did not use the main pool deck and opted for the South Beach Bar and Pool ... excellent service. Food very good and value excellent.

 

The cruise was definitely more laid back and relaxing but that may be because we did not use the main pool deck. I think the crowd both Americans (probably 70+%) and Europeans are similar to Royal passengers.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI Sweetmona,

 

You will find that MSC is more of a contrast than a comparison to X and RCI. With X, NCL and RCI you get an American style cruise that is the result of the past 50 plus years of catering to American pax...passengers.

 

MSC is a European...Italian background...family owned company. They do not answer to a conglomerate of stockholders and that fact enables MSC to offer their personal vision of a mass market cruise ship company at reduced prices. They started building their fleet about 15 years ago and have managed to amaze those of us who are ocean liner specialists and historians. MSC is a work in progress as they continue to expand, refine and improve their product. Their new Meraviglia and Seaside Class ships are brilliant and a definite departure from what you are used to.

Structurally speaking, the suites on RCI are the best and biggest designs except for the Garden Suites on NCL. The X suites are also nice and the Suites on NCL have great bathrooms. The only problems with RCI, X and NCL suites are the price and the fact that you are mostly getting a bigger cabin with limited service improvements. IMO they have driven the prices up beyond imagination. Only the Haven Suites on NCL have the luxury amenities but come with a very high price. The base priced cabins on NCL, RCI, CX offer a good experience at a mostly reasonable but higher price. MSC has come up with better pricing and a much better level of service when you compare their fully enclosed Yacht Club to a regular suite on the Americanized mass market lines like the above. The Yacht Club is the brainchild of the MSC America Chairman Of The Board, Rick Sasso. Rick was President Of Celebrity Cruise Lines when it was owned by the Chandris family before it was sold to RCI. Rick had been involved with the expansion and new builds at Celebrity before RCI took it over and expanded it. Rick has been hugely instrumental in MSC new builds and restructuring the service end of MSC in America. The logistics of this move have been mind boggling. What MSC has created in the last 7 years is nothing short of a miracle.

 

So...in response to your question...yes...you will find a different vibe on MSC. They are providing a comfort zone for all levels of international travelers while cruising in the American market of the Caribbean. Their style in the main part of the ship is a bit chaotic but the pax seem to thrive. The secluded Yacht Club is, IMO, the greatest advance in mass market cruising in this century. The YC offers the best of both worlds where you get privacy, a greater level of luxury and the big ship experience when you want it.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

We sailed our first MSC cruise on the Seaside in April. I'm 42, wife 38 ....kids 10 and 8. We've sailed Carnival, Royal, NCL, Holland, and Princess as well. The Seaside was absolutely wonderful in every way especially the price. Food was excellent in the buffets and MDR. Shows are super impressive, best at sea. The ship is very elegant yet very fun. Service is way above Carnival, Royal, or NCL .... It is too classy to have a Carnival vibe that is for sure. It is more laid back comparatively. The passengers were only about 20% American when we sailed with most being from Europe and South America. You know what, it made no difference as everyone was friendly, well behaved, and there to have fun. I don't want to be that guy that says it was a better classier group of passengers then you'd find on Carnival, or NCL but they were. I have not sailed Celebrity but I can tell you that the MSC Seaside was much more fun and less stuffy then our Holland and Princess cruises. We were apprehensive about MSC but it turned out to be one of our best cruises ever. Give them a try at least once. It is a multicultural experience and just all around nice.

 

Nice to hear, your opinion about this. We will be sailing soon with our 11 and 9 yrs old kids. Did your kids like it as much as you did? We love Royal, but we are saving soooo much money on this one! If you have any tips I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Abaddon]

Hi all, I hope I have placed this question in the correct spot...!

 

The vast majority of my cruises have been Celebrity Solstice class (5x) and RCCL Oasis class (4x). Also one RC Freedom and Norwegian Breakaway. As you can tell, my hubby and I tend to go for the newer, bigger ships. Also, I think we have become accustomed to the Celebrity/RCCL feel. We are mid-40s, no kids, active and really enjoy the dining aspect and public spaces while cruising. Does MSC have an appreciable difference in feel from the ships we’ve most often sailed i.e. service, communication, more or less formal, more of a party-ship, etc? I’d love to hear from people with similar sailing experience, or those of you who have sailed recently with MSC. Thank you!

 

I just got off the Seaside on Saturday, and it's a beautiful ship but if you are looking for a fun ship this isn't it lol. It is very heavily European influenced and some of the shows are in other languages. I can remember sitting on deck 16 eating breakfast the morning we were in San Juan and a Carnival ship pulled in...and you could see everyone was having fun over there while everyone on the Seaside was just sitting watching them lol. Never saw anyone playing basketball on the Seaside because they were always playing soccer on the basketball court. At 7pm the pool area on deck 16 that has a bar and all is a ghost town, something I've never seen on a cruise before. I was actually able to get in the hot tub on this cruise which is a first also. You can't really tell that there are 5000 passengers on the ship which is a good thing but it makes it feel kind of boring. Every cruise I've been on has felt like a non stop party until this one, I didn't even know who the cruise director was until the 3rd day. They said most of the passengers were American but I couldn't tell, everyone was speaking different languages and let me tell you I've never encountered so many rude people in my life. Me and my family still had a great time though, just won't be cruising with MSC anymore, and like I said there's nothing wrong with the ship itself but the shows and entertainment won't be what you're used to on other cruise lines. 3 of the shows were great, Timeless, Peter Punk and Fly, everything else was meh, and those shows were towards the middle and end of the cruise so those first 2 sea days were so long and boring.

[Reds4life]

Nice to hear, your opinion about this. We will be sailing soon with our 11 and 9 yrs old kids. Did your kids like it as much as you did? We love Royal, but we are saving soooo much money on this one! If you have any tips I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks in advance!

My kids did not like the kids club that well but loved the ship except for the shows. The kids club was a little less organized and structured as Royal. Maybe it was the staff? They hated the shows

[MANDMTRAVEL]

My kids did not like the kids club that well but loved the ship except for the shows. The kids club was a little less organized and structured as Royal. Maybe it was the staff? They hated the shows

 

Good to know. Thanks!

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Hi Sweetmona,

 

MSC does not work for most pax who are expecting a Carnival or NCL style cruise. The MSC style is more relaxed, low key and refined. The dress code is not adhered to but you are liable to see some formal as well as dressy casual rather than gym shorts and ragged T-shirts with baseball caps. You will not see drunken teens and rowdy people making a lot of noise at late hours. You will enjoy going from lounge to lounge at night for the varied entertainment and enjoyable atmosphere throughout the ship.

[tallnthensome]

Nice to hear, your opinion about this. We will be sailing soon with our 11 and 9 yrs old kids. Did your kids like it as much as you did? We love Royal, but we are saving soooo much money on this one! If you have any tips I would really appreciate it.

 

Thanks in advance!

They loved it!! The love to swim and slide so the pools and slides, especially the jungle pool was a hit! They did the zipline, we bowled, played air hockey, we did the thrill theatre a few times. We watched movies on the deck at night and did some great shore excursions. We shot hoops. They danced around in the atrium during the shows and the white party. They had the kids drink package so they had tons of gelatos and shakes at Venchi. We loved Michael Jackson's "Timeless" show! What's not to love?! Tips are to use what is offered and do all the above as we did!

 

My kids did NOT attend the kids club because that is not their thing and enjoy staying busy with us. The kids club had a lot of different languages being spoken. It looked like fun but my kids don't use it nor have they ever on any ship so take that one with a grain of salt.

[Reds4life]

They loved it!! The love to swim and slide so the pools and slides, especially the jungle pool was a hit! They did the zipline, we bowled, played air hockey, we did the thrill theatre a few times. We watched movies on the deck at night and did some great shore excursions. We shot hoops. They danced around in the atrium during the shows and the white party. They had the kids drink package so they had tons of gelatos and shakes at Venchi. We loved Michael Jackson's "Timeless" show! What's not to love?! Tips are to use what is offered and do all the above as we did!

 

My kids did NOT attend the kids club because that is not their thing and enjoy staying busy with us. The kids club had a lot of different languages being spoken. It looked like fun but my kids don't use it nor have they ever on any ship so take that one with a grain of salt.

I forgot in my post to express all the things my kids loved about the ship, but tallnthensome described it perfectly. MSC has lots of cool ideas that aren't on all cruise lines such as the 4D theater. The milkshakes are awesome with gelato. My apologies for sounding negative. Your kids will enjoy their cruise!

[riclop]

Much better than X and = to RCCL.

[MMDown Under]

I just got off the Seaside on Saturday, and it's a beautiful ship but if you are looking for a fun ship this isn't it lol. It is very heavily European influenced and some of the shows are in other languages. I can remember sitting on deck 16 eating breakfast the morning we were in San Juan and a Carnival ship pulled in...and you could see everyone was having fun over there while everyone on the Seaside was just sitting watching them lol. Never saw anyone playing basketball on the Seaside because they were always playing soccer on the basketball court. At 7pm the pool area on deck 16 that has a bar and all is a ghost town, something I've never seen on a cruise before. I was actually able to get in the hot tub on this cruise which is a first also. You can't really tell that there are 5000 passengers on the ship which is a good thing but it makes it feel kind of boring. Every cruise I've been on has felt like a non stop party until this one, I didn't even know who the cruise director was until the 3rd day. They said most of the passengers were American but I couldn't tell, everyone was speaking different languages and let me tell you I've never encountered so many rude people in my life. Me and my family still had a great time though, just won't be cruising with MSC anymore, and like I said there's nothing wrong with the ship itself but the shows and entertainment won't be what you're used to on other cruise lines. 3 of the shows were great, Timeless, Peter Punk and Fly, everything else was meh, and those shows were towards the middle and end of the cruise so those first 2 sea days were so long and boring.

 

I was just looking at the MSC World Cruise 2020, when I wondered if I could cope that long on a cruise, with rude passengers. So I looked to see if that was still a problem, since I cruised on MSC.

 

I loved the MSC product, except for the rudeness of some passengers. I always hoped MSC would base one of their smaller ships in Australia, as I would be the first to book. I am sure they would be popular with Australia's large Italian immigrant population, which brought us excellent coffee and delicious food, after WW2.

 

I have cruised on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. In my opinion, MSC offers a better product and is better value.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

They loved it!! The love to swim and slide so the pools and slides, especially the jungle pool was a hit! They did the zipline, we bowled, played air hockey, we did the thrill theatre a few times. We watched movies on the deck at night and did some great shore excursions. We shot hoops. They danced around in the atrium during the shows and the white party. They had the kids drink package so they had tons of gelatos and shakes at Venchi. We loved Michael Jackson's "Timeless" show! What's not to love?! Tips are to use what is offered and do all the above as we did!

 

My kids did NOT attend the kids club because that is not their thing and enjoy staying busy with us. The kids club had a lot of different languages being spoken. It looked like fun but my kids don't use it nor have they ever on any ship so take that one with a grain of salt.

 

Thanks for the reply. Are shakes included on their drink package? We have the fantastica experience vouchers

[soccer2010]

I was just looking at the MSC World Cruise 2020, when I wondered if I could cope that long on a cruise, with rude passengers. So I looked to see if that was still a problem, since I cruised on MSC.

 

I loved the MSC product, except for the rudeness of some passengers. I always hoped MSC would base one of their smaller ships in Australia, as I would be the first to book. I am sure they would be popular with Australia's large Italian immigrant population, which brought us excellent coffee and delicious food, after WW2.

 

I have cruised on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. In my opinion, MSC offers a better product and is better value.

We were on the May 26 Seaside cruise. Very few rude people, certainly less than most cruises I've been on.

[tallnthensome]

Thanks for the reply. Are shakes included on their drink package? We have the fantastica experience vouchers

We didn't have any vouchers. All the shakes and Sundaes at Venchi were including in their drink package I purchased. It was not the soda package. It was the child's version of our adult deluxe package. Let me tell you, all the items at Venchi on the Seaside are out of this world! I mean superb! This goes from the shakes and sundaes, to the speciality coffees and hot chocolate. You must try the Grey Goose shaved chocolate martinis at Venchi. The best drinks in the history of our cruising career.

[Reds4life]

Thanks for the reply. Are shakes included on their drink package? We have the fantastica experience vouchers

Last year on Divina we used the Fantastica vouchers on milkshakes from Venchi

[MANDMTRAVEL]

We didn't have any vouchers. All the shakes and Sundaes at Venchi were including in their drink package I purchased. It was not the soda package. It was the child's version of our adult deluxe package. Let me tell you, all the items at Venchi on the Seaside are out of this world! I mean superb! This goes from the shakes and sundaes, to the speciality coffees and hot chocolate. You must try the Grey Goose shaved chocolate martinis at Venchi. The best drinks in the history of our cruising career.

 

OMG, I am sooo exited. I will try it for sure. I can't wait!!!! Thanks!!!!!

[MMDown Under]

We were on the May 26 Seaside cruise. Very few rude people, certainly less than most cruises I've been on.

 

Thank you for your response. When good manners are part of your culture, it is hard to ignore bad manners and even harder to ignore rudeness.

[drsel]

let me tell you I've never encountered so many rude people in my life. Me and my family still had a great time though, just won't be cruising with MSC anymore, and like I said there's nothing wrong with the ship itself but the shows and entertainment won't be what you're used to on other cruise lines. those first 2 sea days were so long and boring.

Thanks for your interesting review! Just wondering-

1) What rude behavior did you experience on MSC?

2) How are the shows and entertainment different?

3) You won't be cruising MSC ever again--is this because of the many rude co-passengers or boring 1st 2 days or different type of shows and entertainment ?

[drsel]

We were on the May 26 Seaside cruise. Very few rude people, certainly less than most cruises I've been on.

How would you define rude people on a cruise?

[mexico8]

We were on the MSC Poesia last year and there were mostly Italians and Spanish speaking people. All of the announcements were made in about 5 languages (including in the theatre every night). We did not care for the food at all in any of the venues (including the terrible pizza). We would not sail on that ship ever again. The cruise was good value and it was a lovely ship. We missed speaking English to any of the other passengers and they sometimes sat us at a table with 6 others who did not speak any English - it was not too comfortable for any of us and we did a lot of smiling and nodding!

 

We paid for the Aurea level and felt it was good value. I would sail MSC again but not on the Poesia unless they change the chefs.:(

[Abaddon]

Thanks for your interesting review! Just wondering-

1) What rude behavior did you experience on MSC?

2) How are the shows and entertainment different?

3) You won't be cruising MSC ever again--is this because of the many rude co-passengers or boring 1st 2 days or different type of shows and entertainment ?

 

1. They were a few instances but I'll give you this 1 example. A show starts at 8pm, so people usually start lining up around 7:25 when the first show is about to end. So you have a pretty nice line once its time to go in, then you have this group of people who show up right as we are about to go in who don't speak english, or rather conveniently don't speak english at that time who just try to bypass everyone who is in line and act like they don't understand how a line works. They don't say excuse me when they bump into you, step on your foot or the like. Obviously everyone will have different experiences.

 

2. The shows are more classy, like just sit down and clap at everything lol. People would clap at every little thing, where as on other cruise lines the shows are more upbeat and fun. I for one don't want to watch shows where they are singing and performing in every language but english. If you're going to make a ship and say it's for the american market then it should be for the american market.

 

3. This was my first MSC cruise and the thing that made me try them out was the price. I will have fun on any cruise no matter the people on it or the entertainment they provide but when I'm on vacation I want to have fun. I never like sea days on any ship but the 2 sea days right at the start were so long and boring lol. The 5D theater was fun but it was only 5 minutes, if they made that a little longer then it would be worth the money. I enjoyed using up my 12 fantastica vouchers though lol.

 

Like I said there is absolutely nothing wrong with the cruise, it just won't be for everybody. The staff all over the ship were always nice and polite, and the ship is definitely beautiful. Me and my wife enjoyed ourselves but will just stick to Norwegian, RC or Carnival from now on.