Kicking the tires on MSC, better than NCL in the winter out of NYC?

[JIMESOPUS]

We normally sail out of NYC on NCL in January. We still “ love” them, we had our spats but we always enjoyed the “ Freestyle “ cruising. But change is in the air.

 

PreC, NCL would have two ships sailing, usually a Jewel class and an Away class ship. Most of the time the itinerary would be an eastern or longer southern Caribbean route, with an occasional special cruise such as a coast-to-coast itinerary.

 

PostC, NCL has started to trim down the NYC fleet and itineraries. Winter of 2024 has the Getaway and the Winter of 2025 has the Prima. All the itineraries have Bermuda as a stop. While I love Bermuda, a stop there in the winter doesn’t make much sense as the average daytime temperature is 68 degrees, warmer than NYC but give me something about 20 degrees warmer.

 

After two below-average cruises on the Getway, one being the Haven which was a nightmare because of the weather and open courtyard design we will never sail on her again. So we have decided to fly down to Tampa and sail on the Jade next January. Flying has become more of a challenge, maybe because I’m getting older. Parking is still cheaper at the pier than flying, barely and there is nothing like driving home after the cruise in under 90 minutes so we would love sailing out of NYC again.  

 

So after 24 cruises, all with NCL and ⅓ of them out of NYC in January is it time for a change?

 

First, this cruise isn’t in the winter, nothing special is planned. Just “ kicking the tires “ to see for ourselves how good or bad MSC is. 

 

Booking an MSC cruise is no walk in the park. With all the types of experiences and different names of decks I got lost, thankfully with the help of an experienced TA we found the best deal, we think.

 

Along with booking the cruise the deposit requirement caught me off guard, instead of the normal $250 refundable it was $398 nonrefundable.

MSC has this table based on the length of the cruise. 

$99 for less than 4 days, $199 for 5-14 days, and $300 for anything over 15 days.  

 

The cruise chosen was to Bermuda, a 6-day RT out of Brooklyn on the Meraviglia, on September 18. Balcony with the FANTASTICA experience.  No drink or meal packages, no internet, just something to get the feel of cruising with MSC. Besides Bermuda being a safe bet, we know a few places to get a meal and drinks just in case.

 

The cost per person,  $531.05 “ cabin fare “, $150 taxes and fees, and DSC for this cruise it’s $87 ( $14.5 per day)

They have another chart for different cruises and locations around the world for the DSC charge.

 

That’s about $128 per day per person.

 

I just checked the NCL site and found a 5 day on the Joy, sailing to Bermuda on September 20.

The cost for a sailway balcony is $2017.60 for the cabin, $512.58 for taxes and fees ( must cost more to sail out of Manhattan ), and $200 for the DSC.

 

The final cost would have been about $273 per day per person.

 

I went over the numbers several times and yes this MSC cruise is an additional day and night in Bermuda and it’s more than 50% cheaper, something is wrong here. 

 

Did someone say upgrade? Both NCL and MSC must use the same vendor, they look identical. 

We placed a minimal bid for the Yacht Club interior cabin, $350 per person. Was thinking about increasing the bid because so many have posted great reviews but we are steerage people. Eating with the masses in the MDR, at selected dining times sounds fun.

 

Guess what, we got the upgrade but here is the kicker it wasn’t for an interior cabin but a YC1 balcony cabin.

 

So now the cost per person has increased to $186 per person per day, about $87 less than the Joy, and now we have a drink package, meals in the Yacht Club, and internet.

 

I think my toe just broke. 

 

To be continued, 

 

 

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

Oh, I'm loving this! Definitely following along to see how your experience is. While I could never call any cruise a nightmare, I understand why you say that as I remember reading your live. I agree with you about flying and I'm a Millennial. I'd rather just drive to/from the port (even if I am flying to Barcelona for my next cruise). 

 

If you choose to share your views of the cruise, I'm going to enjoy hearing all about your experience. I hope it's a wonderful time and you have great experiences onboard MSC! Those five day sailings to Bermuda from Manhattan on NCL are absolutely outrageously priced! I don't know why people keep paying those prices. There's got to be an end to it, but so far I haven't seen it. 

[Uff da]

Did you apply for status match on MSC? They will match your highest cruise loyalty with the closest to their own. I don't know what that gets you, but I'd find out. The catch is you lose it if you do not sail with them again in a certain time period. I don't remember what that is. 

[DCGuy64]

We've sailed on the Meraviglia before, in a YC1 cabin. It was our 2nd cruise with MSC and our first time in the YC. We got hooked on the Yacht Club after that. MSC is cheaper, so I'm not surprised that you got a better deal on MSC than NCL. There is NO COMPARISON between a sailaway balcony on NCL and the Yacht Club on MSC. None. Closest would be Haven, but you'd pay dearly for that. You got a great deal, enjoy! And go ice that broken toe while you're at it. 😉

Edited September 7, 2023 by DCGuy64

[cruiseny4life]

5 minutes ago, Uff da said:

Did you apply for status match on MSC? They will match your highest cruise loyalty with the closest to their own. I don't know what that gets you, but I'd find out. The catch is you lose it if you do not sail with them again in a certain time period. I don't remember what that is. 

Three years

[JIMESOPUS]

6 minutes ago, Uff da said:

Did you apply for status match on MSC? They will match your highest cruise loyalty with the closest to their own. I don't know what that gets you, but I'd find out. The catch is you lose it if you do not sail with them again in a certain time period. I don't remember what that is. 

yes we did the match, 3 years to maintain status

[JIMESOPUS]

9 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We've sailed on the Meraviglia before, in a YC1 cabin. It was our 2nd cruise with MSC and our first time in the YC. We got hooked on the Yacht Club after that. MSC is cheaper, so I'm not surprised that you got a better deal on MSC than NCL. There is NO COMPARISON between a sailaway balcony on NCL and the Yacht Club on MSC. None. Closest would be Haven, but you'd pay dearly for that. You got a great deal, enjoy! And go ice that broken toe while you're at it. 😉

The upgrade was bittersweet for us, super happy about the YC but I was prepared ( I think ) for the other side. This past week was playing all types of videos and reviews on the YC.

Thanks

[JIMESOPUS]

26 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Oh, I'm loving this! Definitely following along to see how your experience is. While I could never call any cruise a nightmare, I understand why you say that as I remember reading your live. I agree with you about flying and I'm a Millennial. I'd rather just drive to/from the port (even if I am flying to Barcelona for my next cruise). 

 

If you choose to share your views of the cruise, I'm going to enjoy hearing all about your experience. I hope it's a wonderful time and you have great experiences onboard MSC! Those five day sailings to Bermuda from Manhattan on NCL are absolutely outrageously priced! I don't know why people keep paying those prices. There's got to be an end to it, but so far I haven't seen it. 

Will definitely post as we go, including the Brooklyn cruise terminal. Now with Hurricane Lee turning slightly north towards Bermuda, we may end up sailing south, hopefully to Ocean Cay.

[bluesea777]

Right now MSC Meravoglia is docked at Heritage Wharf, with a bit of black soot coming out …. 
 

 

BTW, we do have nice and sunny days during the winter, however, the days are shorter so that’s why ships need to depart by 3:30 pm in order to get out of the channel and Bermuda and have the pilot returned to the pilot boat before dark. 
 

 

[bluesea777]

8 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Will definitely post as we go, including the Brooklyn cruise terminal. Now with Hurricane Lee turning slightly north towards Bermuda, we may end up sailing south, hopefully to Ocean Cay.

 

Maybe not Lee .... you're departing on MSC Mera on the 18th Sept, right? That's a good 11 days away, Lee may be gone then.

 

But there may be others, ugh, we are in the hurricane alley!

 

 

[laudergayle]

2 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Guess what, we got the upgrade but here is the kicker it wasn’t for an interior cabin but a YC1 balcony cabin

I have read on a couple different social sites where this is quite common.  Congrats on scoring TC1.  

[Two Wheels Only]

I enjoyed Meraviglia more than I thought that I would. I still prefer the Sea**** ships over Meraviglia but I still enjoyed it.

 

The Meraviglia Plus ships solve one of the issues with the Meraviglia class ships but I haven't sailed one of those, yet.

 

The Seaside EVO class ships improve on the Seaside class ships.

The Meraviglia Plus class ships improve on the Meraviglia class ships.

The Breakaway Plus class ships improve on the Breakaway class ships.

 

I guess I like newer ships. If going MSC, I wouldn't do anything older than Meraviglia (like Divina).

 

We'll see how the Prima Plus and Prima Plus Plus ships improve on Prima/Viva.

[schmoopie17]

4 hours ago, Uff da said:

Did you apply for status match on MSC? They will match your highest cruise loyalty with the closest to their own. I don't know what that gets you, but I'd find out. 

I'm also interested in what the status match gets you. A chocolate covered strawberry? Wines around the Corner? Behind the 8-Ball ship's tour? Not sure if it's worth the hassle of applying.

[laudergayle]

18 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

I'm also interested in what the status match gets you. A chocolate covered strawberry? Wines around the Corner? Behind the 8-Ball ship's tour? Not sure if it's worth the hassle of applying.

NCL Platinum matches to gold. If you status match then book you will get a 5-10% discount on the cabin…% discount based on how far out the cruise is.  You will also get a fruit basket in your cabin which was actually quite nice.  

[JIMESOPUS]

5 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Maybe not Lee .... you're departing on MSC Mera on the 18th Sept, right? That's a good 11 days away, Lee may be gone then.

 

But there may be others, ugh, we are in the hurricane alley!

 

 

See you aboard the Viva in November. In the meantime hope that Lee somehow misses you guys completely.

Jim

[JIMESOPUS]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

I'm also interested in what the status match gets you. A chocolate covered strawberry? Wines around the Corner? Behind the 8-Ball ship's tour? Not sure if it's worth the hassle of applying.

There are no free dinners or laundry at the gold level, which is really the only plus with NCL Latitudes.

We did the match for the initial discount, which was almost nothing because of the cost of the cruise and the " welcome back party "

From the Points Guy..

" Bottom line

MSC Cruises offers some decent perks in its four-tier loyalty program, including discounts and onboard credits when you book additional cruises. It also allows cruisers to status-match their way to the top tiers of the program.

However, the MSC Voyagers Club program is not nearly as robust a frequent cruiser program as those offered by such rivals as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. "

 

[laudergayle]

26 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

However, the MSC Voyagers Club program is not nearly as robust a frequent cruiser program as those offered by such rivals as Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. "

We will see. 2024 is right around the corner, and recently we were asked to complete a survey about what we valued most/least as a NCL Platinum member.  NCL leadership has said that the cost-cutting/revenue-generating changes are not over (which in the corporate world they never are…duh).  
 

On the flip side, MSC is also cost-cutting…but I believe they are really trying hard to create loyalty, especially in the North American market.  Perhaps they will be eyeing their competitors’ programs.

 

I made the mistake of booking two cruises in 1Q 2023 with final payment due before 1/1/23.  As a result, there were a lot of what I consider significant changes (cost cuts/price increases) that I was locked into.  For that reason, we are not booking any 2024 cruises until we see what the new changes, or negative enhancements for our convenience will be.

 

I know…a little off topic, but the beginning of my post was on topic…lol.

 

can’t wait to hear about your new cruise discovery.  We did a little 4-night a few weeks ago, and we would def sail MSC again if we liked price and itinerary.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by laudergayle

[timf2001]

I just got back from a cruise on MSC to Norway since I could do Yacht Club for less than a normal balcony cabin on Prima.  The dining room, entertainment and ship decor is definitely sub-par to NCL, and the ship felt very crowded outside the YC areas.  However, the service within YC felt as good or better than what you get in The Haven and the stateroom was comfortable.  I would consider another MSC cruise if the price were right, but probably only from a domestic port.

Edited September 8, 2023 by timf2001

[JIMESOPUS]

T minus 5 days .. still no safety emails or safety videos to watch. But we got this email from our Butler today, very nice touch. Never got anything like this from our NCL Haven cruise.

[AstoriaPreppy]

We're also booked on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn this January. We've done the Gem a bunch of times as a winter cruise out of Manhattan, but post-pandemic NCL seems to have scaled back the 9/10/11 day itineraries that used to be common. Last year, we ended up doing the Anthem out of NJ down to the Caribbean, and this year we're trying MSC and the Yacht Club for the first time on one of their longer sailings down to Cozumel.

 

I know people have mentioned entertainment as being sub-par on MSC, but over the past month or two NCL seems to have made dramatic cuts, especially in the main theater. On our recent 13 night sailing, the Gem only had two production shows (the broadway musical Swing was removed because of what I assume are licensing costs).

 

Even worse, there were *three* fly on performers for the entire cruise, all musical acts, and they all had to do two nights of different shows. Since that was still only eight nights of entertainment in the theater, the theater was either dark, showing a second run movie (Coco?), or offering a "show" from  the pool reggae band (which was really poor).

 

I'm willing to take cheesy production shows on MSC, at least knowing they're going to be offering main theater entertainment each night.

 

 

[laudergayle]

19 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

I'm willing to take cheesy production shows on MSC, at least knowing they're going to be offering main theater entertainment each night.

We did a 4-night on Seaside a few weeks ago…to kick the tires.  We loved the cheesy entertainment in the main theater.  It was just as entertaining as what we’ve seen on NCL.

[lgdesign]

Yesterday, we booked our third(& fourth) MSC cruise(s) for Thanksgiving 2024 (two 7-day b2bs).  Every few years, we do a Caribbean getaway around T-Day and MSC fits the bill price-wise compared to NCL. We've been in the Yacht Club each time because the pricing was good and NCL was just so expensive for their Haven cabins on the same itineraries in the Caribbean.  MSC is quite different from NCL but we've enjoyed it very much each time... keeping in mind that we're not big on needing entertainment and what MSC had to offer was more than adequate for us. 

 

Checking in at the Yacht Club tent makes boarding so very easy and stressless... our experience here has been better than the Haven check ins so far.

 

Also, having breakfast and lunch options available up on the YC pool deck is a major asset... not sure if they have that on the Meraviglia YC pool deck, but we've had that on the Seaside, Seashore and it will also be there on our upcoming Seascape cruises.

 

We did the status match about 6 years ago (when MSC was more generous) and got matched to their Diamond tier right off the bat (we're NCL Platinum).  They've since chintzed out on that aspect as they realized the error of their ways but it's not really a big deal because you don't really get all that much all things considered as other have mentioned.

 

I hope you love your upgrade... It's a great chance to experience the YC life and nothing is stopping you from experiencing the rest of the ship as much or as little as you like.

 

Congrats and ENJOY!!!

 

PS  And may the good weather Gods be with you! 🤞

 

PPS  Will be very interested in hearing your impressions on your return!

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by lgdesign

[realtorgranny]

We are loyal NCL cruisers (Sapphire) and did the status match with MSC. We got Gold. We usually do Haven Penthouse rooms when cruising with NCL. I wanted to “see” the difference between Haven and YC so we booked MSC Seascape last month. Wow! While the rooms on NCL are larger the service on MSC blew us away. From when you get out of your taxi and a butler meets you at the Port entrance till he walks you to the gangway when disembarking the MSC service was outstanding. I won’t even mention a different menu everyday unlike NCL. We are not giving up on NCL but will definitely be back to MSC.

[MsTabbyKats]

I tried YC once ....and I'm hooked.  I have 2 upcoming yacht club cruises booked.

My husband's favorite port was freshly grilled fish for lunch poolside.  Mine was customized pizza and coke delivered poolside by the butler!

As far as entertainment....I love MSC's entertainment.  So much better than "The Love Show" and the comedian on NCL Escape last week.

At this point I don't see us sailing on NCL again.  Although last week's cruise was fine (regular balcony)....it doesn't compare to a week in the YC.

[JIMESOPUS]

2 days to go !! Weather has been the topic lately, with Lee going between the US and Bermuda and now TD #15, which has yet to be named Nigel. 

Looking at Windy it appears that we may be able to get into the harbor on Wednesday but the ride back will be " bumpy ".

Yesterday we received a very nice email from Captain Maurizio Ruggiero. Can't remember how many times I searched for any information about senior leadership on the next cruise, but now at least I know the captain's name.