MSC vs. (yikes) CARNIVAL

[momrox1]

I first cruised msc in 2006 and loved it.  I will be embarking this weekend on my third msc since January with a back to back on Carnival.  So far, I have had the worst experience dealing with customer service on msc and the best dealing with carnival.  MSC took our rooms away and blames the travel agent who blames msc.  We are three women each with single rooms and our reservations are linked.  I'm still trying to straighten this out, even with an MSC concierge trying to help me out.  Comparatively, I called Carnival to inquire about a bottled water package and the woman asked me if I'd like to be upgraded for all three cabins free of charge 🙂

Of course I battled the dreaded Status Match on Msc, finally getting diamond after many many attempts but noticed that Carnival has quietly upgraded my status from red to gold.  I enjoy all of the cruises I have ever taken and have never had a bad experience.  I"m just tongue in cheek mentioning the differences as I was mulling them over while still awaiting  my cabin assignment to reinstate the room I reserved months ago from msc .  🙄

[BermudaBound2014]

6 hours ago, ChC said:

I have not had any major issue with MSC in fact (but smaller issues all the time). The overall impression and the way MSC operated makes me choose MSC purely based on price and unique itinerary. MSC as a brand does not attract me to go on their ships proactively. 

 

This ^. 

 

@ChC, you said this much better than I could have. It's not that I will never choose MSC again, but MSC does not attract me proactively.

 

With that said, some of the longer cruises on MSC are offering very attractive pricing. MSC may not be the highest quality, but often it is the best value (for me).

[tallnthensome]

VALUE ...... Just keep repeating that to yourself when booking MSC. Try not to make any changes to your booking and it might just turn out OK. That's what I do. 

[cheeseheads4ever]

You can repeat “VALUE” a 1000 times. MSC customer service stinks and is not worth the misery.

 

[NCTribeFan]

I have >30 sailings on Carnival but I'm trying to get away from them.  Just wanted a little variety.  My most recent cruises have been on MSC and HAL.  Really love HAL but the prices on MSC just can't be beat. 

 

My TA won't even book MSC (and she's cruised them herself).  I had an FCC out there and kept getting calls from a "concierge" reminding me I needed to rebook.  Well, I already had several cruises booked (well, rebookings of rebookings mostly) but didn't want to loose the FCC, so I called this person.  She wasn't in until the day after the "New Years Sale" was due to end, so I called the 800 number.  The guy I talked to had no idea.  Kept trying to tell me that only part of the FCC would apply to the cruise fare and the rest would be OBC.  No, that's not how it works!  In the end, the amt due was what I was seeing on the website in my mock booking, so I went ahead and booked.

 

I called the concierge a few days later when I realized I'd never received an email confirmation.  I had repeated my email to this guy 3 times (although he had my Voyager account pulled up which had my email in my profile!).  She immediately saw his error, fixed it, put in to refund my small FCC that I knew I wouldn't use (it was refunded the next day), and also informed me that the sailing I'd booked was eligible for the 5+15 Voyager discount.  She applied that and I had a updated confirmation while still on the phone with her.  Thankfully, my cabin hasn't reverted to a guarantee.  It's shown the cabin number from Day 1.  Hope I didn't just jinx it!

 

I hope she doesn't leave and if I ever decide to book MSC again (after I cruise on 4/16), that I can call her and have her do the booking.  It was a joy to talk to someone that knew what they were doing!

[BermudaBound2014]

On 3/29/2022 at 11:41 AM, cheeseheads4ever said:

You can repeat “VALUE” a 1000 times. MSC customer service stinks and is not worth the misery.

 

each person has a different tolerance level. If prices were close, i would absolutely pay a bit more to sail on a different cruise line. But when MSc is half the cost (and it is often half the cost) I’ll likely lower my expectations and sail again. It helps that I can take multiple vacations each year. I would not book msc for a milestone vacation. 

[titangas]

I cruised MSC for first time in December and loved it.

 

What I don’t understand is that I have cruised over a dozen times, and have not once ever had to call or deal with any customer service for any line after I booked. I can’t fathom that other than a small % of cruisers that actually ever do.

Bad reps and customer service (land based) is a non issue.

I book my cruise online and what I want at the time I book.

After that all that matters is the on board experience.

 

[shipgeeks]

7 hours ago, titangas said:

I cruised MSC for first time in December and loved it.

 

What I don’t understand is that I have cruised over a dozen times, and have not once ever had to call or deal with any customer service for any line after I booked. I can’t fathom that other than a small % of cruisers that actually ever do.

Bad reps and customer service (land based) is a non issue.

I book my cruise online and what I want at the time I book.

After that all that matters is the on board experience.

 

My feelings, and my experience, exactly, after 40+ cruises.  And then I should add that we loved the onboard experience; among our best cruises ever, at any price.

[deliver42]

I booked our MSC cruise on line without a problem. Then they took our room away, and dealing with them since has been a nightmare to say the least. While we love the product on board, their shenanigans from customer service means they've lost us as customers after our upcoming cruise in May.

[ready2cruzagain]

On 3/30/2022 at 9:10 PM, titangas said:

I cruised MSC for first time in December and loved it.

 

What I don’t understand is that I have cruised over a dozen times, and have not once ever had to call or deal with any customer service for any line after I booked. I can’t fathom that other than a small % of cruisers that actually ever do.

Bad reps and customer service (land based) is a non issue.

I book my cruise online and what I want at the time I book.

After that all that matters is the on board experience.

 

I have over 10 cruises with MSC and never had a problem until this last one. We had a handicapped cabin, they took it away and gave us a regular cabin.  It was like trying to pull teeth from a toothless baby trying to get that mess straightened out.  It is not always the customers fault, MSC causes the problems a lot of times.

[Solent Richard]

On 3/29/2022 at 3:34 PM, ChC said:

Thanks. It just further confirms Carnival is well ahead of MSC in land portion of service.

 

I am Platinum on Carnival, Diamond on MSC, Diamond Plus on RCL and top tier on Cunard and Princess. Also achieved top tier on P&O and Costa on certain years (their program changed to or was 3 years rule when I achieved top tier then I just do not bother with it after that as clearly they do not appreciate my loyalty).

 

MSC consistently is the worst among all lines I am top elites outside their ships and ports.

 

I have not had any major issue with MSC in fact (but smaller issues all the time). The overall impression and the way MSC operated makes me choose MSC purely based on price and unique itinerary. MSC as a brand does not attract me to go on their ships proactively. 

Well I certainly couldn't agree with you more, particularly when you highlight the 'price' and 'unique itinerary'. 

 

It was the second of those two that first brought me to MSC. Price was not an issue as we booked into the Yacht Club...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2020/03/25/msc-preziosa-yacht-club-experience/

 

 

While mainly cruising with Cunard, P&O and Oceania, we did give Carnival a go as we were ending up in New Orleans after a Mississippi American Queen cruise.

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2018/02/09/carnival-dream-a-very-pleasant-surprise/

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time. No Grills, No Frills, No Yacht Club, we just joined in with what was on offer and, should an opportunity /Itinerary pop up we'd have no problem booking.

[Nunagoras]

1 hour ago, Solent Richard said:

We had a wonderful time. No Grills, No Frills, No Yacht Club, we just joined in with what was on offer and, should an opportunity /Itinerary pop up we'd have no problem booking.

This, exactly Mr. Solent, many thanks!...

 

There is a thing many here seem to be hard to understand: Different market target cruise lines will deliver you different experiences! So to say: Both a Fiat 500 or a Ferrari Roma are current cars on the market, simply 2 different kinds of cars for different kinds of individuals and occasions!... Surely most of us will have the Ferrari as just a dream, but a Ferrari owner may also to have a Fiat 500 for when he/she wants to go anonymous for example!... Same for the cruise lines. A Happaq-Lloyd Europa 2 cruise might to be a dream for most of us, but may an Europa 2 regular cruiser wish to go anonymous of some sort and he may very well to pick a Carnival cruise elsewhere!... Simply one must adapt their expectations to the product they're purchasing. Both MSC and Carnival are solid 4* industry cruise lines by European hotel Industry standards. Hard and soft product details differentiate them!... Just IMHO, Carnival ship decor and general ambiance is out of my taste. It's not that that it is bad or something, but wondering from plenty of photos available it seems that if I was inside of such a ship I'd to be sort of "out of place", if I make myself understandable. But, if I need to go following a group whom desire to go with that product, I'd have no doubts on purchasing that travel plan!... Carnival is an as well established cruise brand as MSC is. I'd simply go with the flow, finding what opportunities that cruise could to give me!...

 

Many thanks and congrats to the wonderful words and have a nice day!...

[Solent Richard]

13 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

This, exactly Mr. Solent, many thanks!...

 

There is a thing many here seem to be hard to understand: Different market target cruise lines will deliver you different experiences! So to say: Both a Fiat 500 or a Ferrari Roma are current cars on the market, simply 2 different kinds of cars for different kinds of individuals and occasions!... Surely most of us will have the Ferrari as just a dream, but a Ferrari owner may also to have a Fiat 500 for when he/she wants to go anonymous for example!... Same for the cruise lines. A Happaq-Lloyd Europa 2 cruise might to be a dream for most of us, but may an Europa 2 regular cruiser wish to go anonymous of some sort and he may very well to pick a Carnival cruise elsewhere!... Simply one must adapt their expectations to the product they're purchasing. Both MSC and Carnival are solid 4* industry cruise lines by European hotel Industry standards. Hard and soft product details differentiate them!... Just IMHO, Carnival ship decor and general ambiance is out of my taste. It's not that that it is bad or something, but wondering from plenty of photos available it seems that if I was inside of such a ship I'd to be sort of "out of place", if I make myself understandable. But, if I need to go following a group whom desire to go with that product, I'd have no doubts on purchasing that travel plan!... Carnival is an as well established cruise brand as MSC is. I'd simply go with the flow, finding what opportunities that cruise could to give me!...

 

Many thanks and congrats to the wonderful words and have a nice day!...

My pleasure.

Of course what I additionally found was that there was less passenger 'moaning' on Carnival than on MSC plus it was clear Carnival passengers were really up for enjoying themselves come-what-may. 

 

Happy cruising.

[Nunagoras]

7 hours ago, Solent Richard said:

My pleasure.

Of course what I additionally found was that there was less passenger 'moaning' on Carnival than on MSC plus it was clear Carnival passengers were really up for enjoying themselves come-what-may. 

 

Happy cruising.

Yeah!... Maybe; because CCL is more well known among the general market and has a more specific market target. TBHH; MSC is relatively recent in the market. Join that to the many cultural barriers on such a multicultural and multilingual crowd and you'll make the figure of where that "moaning" on MSC come from!... Have a nice day and nice sailings!...

[Stockjock]

On 4/6/2022 at 12:35 AM, Solent Richard said:

My pleasure.

Of course what I additionally found was that there was less passenger 'moaning' on Carnival than on MSC plus it was clear Carnival passengers were really up for enjoying themselves come-what-may. 

 

Happy cruising.

Frankly, I think most people "moan" for good reason.  There still seem to be some who don't quite get that.

Yeah, there are a few here and there with unrealistic expectations, but in my experience, most "moan" for their very realistic expectations not being met.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Stockjock

[cruzeluver]

We sail on a variety of cruise lines and could  not tell you who has good phone support and who does not as I have never called any of them. Having a great TA takes all of that off of my plate.

 

Have thoroughly enjoyed the on board experiences across lines.

[shipgeeks]

Agreed.  Actually, I don't think our TA has ever had to call for support, either, as we book what we want and haven't ever had to change or question anything.