Here's another area where MSC blows away the competition...

[Stockjock]

If you look at the price of their in-cabin gifts, usually listed under beverages, they blow the competition away.  Do bear in mind I'm looking at options for an upcoming European sailing, so the USA prices and options may be different. 

Examples:

You can get a bottle of wine in your room for $30.

Options:

1. Antinori Peppoli Chianti Classico.  Vivino 3.8 rating.  Average off-ship price about $22 USD.

2. Bastianich Pilot Grigio.  Vivino 3.7 rating.  Average off-ship price about $25 USD.

You can also get a fruit arrangement for only $8.

Tell me what this would cost on Celebrity or RCI...

Bon Voyage Package $59

1. Bottle of Prosecco.

2. MSC engraved flutes.

3.  Canapes.

4. Bowl of fruit served *each day*.

How about some chocolate dipped strawberries for only $15? 

Or maybe a birthday cake for only $16?

If you want a bottle of Asti and engraved MSC flutes and chocolate-dipped strawberries, that's only $35.

Despite some of the off-ship customer service annoyances, one reason I book MSC often is the value.  I don't see many posts on this particular topic, but I was just looking at some of a competing cruise line's gift prices and MSC blows them away.

Edited November 22, 2022 by Stockjock

[vantec]

We are sailing for the first time on MSC next April and appreciate what you are saying about the price of the wine as an in-cabin gift. If we were to buy a bottle of wine from a bar on the ship, how much would we pay for that - anything close to the $30 price? I realize it would depend on the wine, we are not wine snobs, could you give me a range of prices starting on the lower scale?  Thank you!

[cellfree]

Agree, was checking wine prices for upcoming MSC cruise and was pleasantly surprised at the prices. For our January B2B I did not book the “all-in” as I have in the past so will purchase some bottles prior to boarding.

 

And something that MSC makes convenient is using the beverage plan such as Easy Plus on the ship. With your cruise card, and of course if you have a package, you can get a beverage and water or two beverages or even three choices. We cruise between MSC and Carnival and have only had “drinks” with Carnival on the rare occasion when it was an Offer but with Carnival I found you could only get one beverage at a time, couldn’t get two beverages even when presenting both of our cards, had to prove spouse was within sight, couldn’t get a beverage and a soda, etc., not sure about other cruise lines and their restrictions when ordering. But bottom line, what I am trying to express, is that MSC allows considerable freedom when using a beverage package on the ship. 

[vantec]

4 minutes ago, cellfree said:

Agree, was checking wine prices for upcoming MSC cruise and was pleasantly surprised at the prices. For our January B2B I did not book the “all-in” as I have in the past so will purchase some bottles prior to boarding.

 

And something that MSC makes convenient is using the beverage plan such as Easy Plus on the ship. With your cruise card, and of course if you have a package, you can get a beverage and water or two beverages or even three choices. We cruise between MSC and Carnival and have only had “drinks” with Carnival on the rare occasion when it was an Offer but with Carnival I found you could only get one beverage at a time, couldn’t get two beverages even when presenting both of our cards, had to prove spouse was within sight, couldn’t get a beverage and a soda, etc., not sure about other cruise lines and their restrictions when ordering. But bottom line, what I am trying to express, is that MSC allows considerable freedom when using a beverage package on the ship. 

This is our first experience with MSC, we are trying to figure things out.  We have $200 on board credit but do not know how far that will go if we buy bottles of wine.  We decided against the beverage package because we are trying to figure out how things work.  Usually we sail Princess, but also Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

[cellfree]

23 minutes ago, vantec said:

We are sailing for the first time on MSC next April and appreciate what you are saying about the price of the wine as an in-cabin gift. If we were to buy a bottle of wine from a bar on the ship, how much would we pay for that - anything close to the $30 price? I realize it would depend on the wine, we are not wine snobs, could you give me a range of prices starting on the lower scale?  Thank you!

If you go on-line, under your booking, you would be able to see the price of the sparkling or red wine you can order prior to boarding. We have been on several MSC cruises but I do have pictures of wine offerings, sorry. 

[cellfree]

11 minutes ago, vantec said:

This is our first experience with MSC, we are trying to figure things out.  We have $200 on board credit but do not know how far that will go if we buy bottles of wine.  We decided against the beverage package because we are trying to figure out how things work.  Usually we sail Princess, but also Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

I would suggest bottles of wine purchased on ship start at $30+.

$200 can also go towards your daily service charge which btw is one the lowest in the industry and you still get your cabin served twice a day.

Just looked up as I had forgotten, daily service charge is $14 per person per night

Edited November 23, 2022 by cellfree
added more info

[vantec]

9 minutes ago, cellfree said:

I would suggest bottles of wine purchased on ship start at $30+.

$200 can also go towards your daily service charge which btw is one the lowest in the industry and you still get your cabin served twice a day.

Just looked up as I had forgotten, daily service charge is $14 per person per night

Thank you for the information on the daily service charge - another thing we hadn't quite figured out.  I guess our $200 will not go very far.

[Stockjock]

3 hours ago, vantec said:

This is our first experience with MSC, we are trying to figure things out.  We have $200 on board credit but do not know how far that will go if we buy bottles of wine.  We decided against the beverage package because we are trying to figure out how things work.  Usually we sail Princess, but also Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL.

If you are a moderate drinker at a minimum, I do recommend that you do the Easy Plus drink package, which is often available at the time of booking.  This option usually includes basic wi-fi, which is not amazing, but good enough, on most ships.  I'd rather use the $200 towards gratititues. 

I think it's not to not have to worry about the cost of drinks.  Plus, if you have wine send to your room, I don't believe you are supposed to drink that outside of the room.

That said, their individual drink prices, including wine, are once again, better than the competition.

Edited November 23, 2022 by Stockjock

[mawvkysc]

4 hours ago, vantec said:

We are sailing for the first time on MSC next April and appreciate what you are saying about the price of the wine as an in-cabin gift. If we were to buy a bottle of wine from a bar on the ship, how much would we pay for that - anything close to the $30 price? I realize it would depend on the wine, we are not wine snobs, could you give me a range of prices starting on the lower scale?  Thank you!

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/617ac6f28abd337ac8fc5f75/t/62264424e0a64364affa6ab5/1646674982750/MSC+Divina+Main+Bar+Menu+2022.pdf
Scroll down to the wine menu. 

[Dashikda]

Their cabin packages have fantastic value!

We are sailing from UAE, where Antinori Peppoli Chianti cost 27 eur in Duty free.

MSC also offers Moet Chandon Brut with strawberries for 69 eur (Romantic sunset package). The Duty free price for it 50 eur and 80 eur in liquor shops across UAE.

And for 99 eur MSC would bring you Veuve Clicquot Brut + strawberries+ fruits+souvenir flutes (Deluxe package). 85 euro in duty free ,110 eur in liquor shops in the UAE

 

 

[8420PR]

I think one of the main reasons for the value is that it is priced for guests from Continental Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Germany etc).

 

e.g. Antinori Peppoli Chianti is a €12 bottle of wine online in Europe.    A bottle of Veuve Clicquot Brut is €50 from supermarkets.