Never cruised MSC before. Need advice.

[valandemmy]

We are going to Italy next summer and are planning on doing a 7 to 10 day cruise while we are there to see other parts of the Mediterranean. 

We have cruised a decent amount with Carnival, NCL (Haven) and most recently Virgin Voyages.  

 

I keep reading mixed reviews and it seems that people either love or hate MSC but I can not really figure out what the issue is/was.  

 

If we did the MSC cruise it would be with one of the ships that offer the Yacht Club..I really liked the look of the duplex rooms.  

 

We will be me (48m) Wife (42) and son 16.  We enjoy lounge shows and live music, games and I enjoy the casino. Since most of the Med cruises seem very port intensive...would the YC be worth it?

 

would you recommend MSC for this type of cruise?

 

Thanks,

Charles

[Essiesmom]

Those that hate it do so because it is a European line that has not totally bought into the US mass market way of doing things.  Meals are different, often smaller portions.  Not a lot of satellite fast food options…it’s either MDR, buffet, or specialty restaurant.  YC has its own restaurant.  Caveat: I have sailed MSC six times with a seventh booked soon, all from the US, none in YC.  I would love to sail her in Europe but I’m rapidly becoming a very old lady and dread the flights.

   The experience in Europe will not be watered down.  The majority of the guests will not have English as their first language.  The ship probably will board and debark guests at several of your ports.  I could go on, but would just be repeating second or third hand what I have read here.  EM

[Beamafar]

If YC is within your budget, then go for it!   You will have butler escort off the ship at the ports (which is a real plus as you skip the long queues of other pax exiting);  that’s just one of the many benefits of YC.  

 

Bear in mind that there will be safety drills at each embarkation port on the itinerary; another good reason to book YC, so you can enjoy the enclave (private pool deck/private lounge - known as the Top Sail Lounge) while the rest of the ship shuts down to facilitate the muster drills.

[valandemmy]

38 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Those that hate it do so because it is a European line that has not totally bought into the US mass market way of doing things.  Meals are different, often smaller portions.  Not a lot of satellite fast food options…it’s either MDR, buffet, or specialty restaurant.  YC has its own restaurant.  Caveat: I have sailed MSC six times with a seventh booked soon, all from the US, none in YC.  I would love to sail her in Europe but I’m rapidly becoming a very old lady and dread the flights.

   The experience in Europe will not be watered down.  The majority of the guests will not have English as their first language.  The ship probably will board and debark guests at several of your ports.  I could go on, but would just be repeating second or third hand what I have read here.  EM

 

 

We pretty much stick to ourselves when we vacation anyway so language barriers are not that big of an issue, as long as the announcements on board are in English I will be ok. haha

Edited May 5 by valandemmy

[valandemmy]

26 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

If YC is within your budget, then go for it!   You will have butler escort off the ship at the ports (which is a real plus as you skip the long queues of other pax exiting);  that’s just one of the many benefits of YC.  

 

Bear in mind that there will be safety drills at each embarkation port on the itinerary; another good reason to book YC, so you can enjoy the enclave (private pool deck/private lounge - known as the Top Sail Lounge) while the rest of the ship shuts down to facilitate the muster drills.

 

So you would recommend YC even with all of the ports?

[Beamafar]

Just now, valandemmy said:

 

So you would recommend YC even with all of the ports?

Absolutely!   We’ve done several YC sailings - many in Europe.  It’s a whole other level.

 

Having said that, we’ve done many non-YC cruises and have some fantastic memories of those, also, but YC gets us the luxury experience that we sometimes opt for, depending on budget and other bookings we may have in the pipeline. 

[Steff79]

have a look at the Seaview cruises, i love that ship class and the yachtclub.

shows are great, many live music with people dancing and good parties.

 

yachtclub starts at 7:30

 

Edited May 5 by Steff79

[phred119s]

We have sailed on MSC 5 times - sometimes in YC, sometimes not. The last one was in Europe and not in YC. @Essiesmom is spot on. Sometimes people go into the cruise with different expectations than reality. Even the US based cruises are way more diverse in passengers than American cruise lines. We have had hiccups on occasion, but overall have been very pleased with our experience with MSC. Announcements have always been made in English and a few more languages. 
 

We are similar to your ages (child is a little younger). Our next trip is in YC, and I would absolutely recommend it. 

[alserrod]

Hello:

There are some things you should know about cruises in the Mediterranean.

The ship will remain the same but the people who hire it do so paying close attention to the ports in which it stops. They always look for some very relevant ports and others that are not so important (be careful, it does not mean that they have nothing, but that after visiting Rome or Barcelona, perhaps a smaller town does not attract as much attention).
People plan excursions a lot (you can do them with the boat, with other companies or on your own) and the boat is possibly emptier during ports than in other places in the world. The animation will come when the ship leaves the port and everyone is on board.
Of course, some of the ports where you will stop are destinations for a week's vacation for some people. That is, places with a lot of heritage, culture and history.
Obviously, if someone doesn't want to get off the boat, they don't have to.

Keep in mind that there is a multicultural variety on cruises in the Mediterranean. It always ships in various ports. You make a loop and two days after starting your cruise there will be those who leave and those who enter again at that port as well. For your planning it is indifferent. You will have Day1, Day2, Day3, etc... and they will start on Day3 until Day2. The shows, parties, dinners, surprises, etc... are designed for seven days and, in one order or another, all travelers can enjoy them.
There will be many fewer messages over the public address system but the ones they say will be multilingual (some people find it annoying but let's remember that the European Union is 27 countries with 24 official languages and if English is official it is because... it is the second official language from Ireland). You will hear the public address system multilingual, the signs and information, as the case may be, you will read them only in English (the MDR menu can be personalized for each one, the notes in the cabin too, and they will put it in your language) or in several languages in a row, a sample of multiculturalism.

Differences in food and restaurant... those who have tried say that the portions at MDR are smaller but, on the other hand, you can repeat for free in Europe (in the United States they charge you $5 per repeat).
There are those who say that if it has less salt..... and I remember a comment from someone who said that desserts in the Mediterranean have less sugar.
Everything is relative. Istanbul is in the eastern Mediterranean. You go there, order some pastries, and everything you try afterwards will be low in sugar.

[Huntingdon1701]

Yacht Club is almost always worth it. On a port intensive cruise, the butler escort off the ship each time and the escort back on your return is hugely valuable and makes it a much more relaxing experience. 

 

There is a Haven comparison thread in the forum that you might want to have read through. Yacht Club is the closest equivalent to Haven (and much better value, in my opinion).

[NancyinRuralPA]

We started cruising MSC in Europe and love the more authentic experience.  I don't want to be on a ship full of Americans when I'm in Europe - I'd rather be with Europeans - hear their languages, see their style, enjoy it as part of the adventure.  The priority tender and/or re-entry after the ship is very nice (look for a butler with the Yacht Club "lollipop" at the front of the line).  The Yacht Club restaurant is excellent (I have food sensitivities that require a lot of attention, and they are fantastic about it), the concierge service is very helpful, and the lounge provides a place to hang out before or after your day on shore.  I am a definite "Yes" on Yacht Club - no matter the location or itinerary!

[deliver42]

If you're going Yacht Club, I don't think you'll have any problems. It's really better, in my opinion than the Haven and almost half price. Much more standard benefits.

[perakcruiser]

13 hours ago, valandemmy said:

would you recommend MSC for this type of cruise?

MSC is the obvious choice in the Med as they suit all people. Which maybe can be said about Costa also, have a look at them too. And if you speak other languages there are much more options, especially for food focused people. From your self description I guess MSC is the best product for you three.

 

About the route,I highly recommended to consider the Eastern Med cruises from MSC. 

[rrraydon]

13 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Those that hate it do so because it is a European line that has not totally bought into the US mass market way of doing things.  EM

You are so right. This right here is exactly why I enjoyed my first MSC sailing last month. I LOVED how different MSC is in this aspect. I enjoyed meeting and socializing with so many internationals. Yes, we had language barriers but we figured out what each other was saying.

 

I leave on Magnifica today and can't wait!! Back on her again in July, too! 😁

[mscdivina2016]

19 hours ago, valandemmy said:

We are going to Italy next summer and are planning on doing a 7 to 10 day cruise while we are there to see other parts of the Mediterranean. 

We have cruised a decent amount with Carnival, NCL (Haven) and most recently Virgin Voyages.  

 

I keep reading mixed reviews and it seems that people either love or hate MSC but I can not really figure out what the issue is/was.  

 

If we did the MSC cruise it would be with one of the ships that offer the Yacht Club..I really liked the look of the duplex rooms.  

 

We will be me (48m) Wife (42) and son 16.  We enjoy lounge shows and live music, games and I enjoy the casino. Since most of the Med cruises seem very port intensive...would the YC be worth it?

 

would you recommend MSC for this type of cruise?

 

Thanks,

Charles

Yes I recommend it but only in the Yacht club.

But......make sure you use a travel agent!!!!!!

 If something goes wrong let a TA handle it. MSC has the worst customer service in the industry it seems.

 Great product but I have had so many things go wrong.

[valandemmy]

8 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

 

 Great product but I have had so many things go wrong.

 

What kind of things have went wrong?  We have never traveled overseas and plan on staying on land for an additional week, but I would hate to try a new cruise line and have it mess up a trip of a lifetime. 

[mscdivina2016]

15 hours ago, valandemmy said:

 

What kind of things have went wrong?  We have never traveled overseas and plan on staying on land for an additional week, but I would hate to try a new cruise line and have it mess up a trip of a lifetime. 

They changed the embarkation port to another country.

 They changed the date of the cruise 

 The added extra days to a cruise after I had airfare.

 Then they added 2 more days.

 The downgraded my cabin from the Yacht club to a regular cabin with no reduction in fare or access to yacht club.

 The always seem to change your room that you pick.

 New charges appear even after you paid in full.

 It seems if you call them your booking gets repriced.

 

 Just us a TA and you will be fine. A TA costs you nothing and they can deal with the issues if they occur.

[valandemmy]

1 minute ago, mscdivina2016 said:

They changed the embarkation port to another country.

 They changed the date of the cruise 

 The added extra days to a cruise after I had airfare.

 Then they added 2 more days.

 The downgraded my cabin from the Yacht club to a regular cabin with no reduction in fare or access to yacht club.

 The always seem to change your room that you pick.

 New charges appear even after you paid in full.

 It seems if you call them your booking gets repriced.

 

 Just us a TA and you will be fine. A TA costs you nothing and they can deal with the issues if they occur.

 

Holy Hell!  Normally I would love 2 extra days!  

Was this a big screw up on a single cruise or were all these over several cruises?

[mscdivina2016]

Just now, valandemmy said:

 

Holy Hell!  Normally I would love 2 extra days!  

Was this a big screw up on a single cruise or were all these over several cruises?

Some of these happened on a few cruises.

 The extra days were all one cruise done twice.

 The Splendida in the middle east sailing April 2023

 

Was originally a 13 night then they added 3 extra nights. I had to pay for an airfare change. A month later they added two more days costing me more money. But I was in yacht club and my cruise fare stayed the same.

 Cabin changes happened often.

 Besides have the embarkation country change, I also had the disembarkation county change as well.  This was  14 night sailing in the deep southern Caribbean during covid. Luckily I had refundable air. I was thankful for a TA as they ended up getting me a deluxe YC cabins instead of the YC inside I originally had.