Any thoughts about Transatlantic on MSC?

[TGfromTX]

Has anyone taken a transatlantic cruise on MSC?  I'd like to get some info - can you provide which month you took the cruise?

Was the cruise full of kids like the 7 day cruises seem to be on this line?  

What were your thoughts about food - since this seems to be a category the line gets complaints about?  I was wondering if it might be even lowerer quality due to being at sea for so many days without ability to refresh stock.

Was entertainment onboard limited? Or were all amenities about the same as a standard cruise?

[sidari]

We have been on two TA's, Poesia to FLL from Barcelona and Divina's first TA to Miami from Venice, both sailings were in November so not many kids onboard and a totally different demographic to the usual one or two week cruises. All the facilities were available and the food was much better than on our last sailing out of Miami at Xmas 2019 on Meraviglia. Both sailings were around twenty days so there was no rush to do anything onboard and staff had more time to interact with guests. Tenerife is the usual last port stop prior to the five day crossing and take on supplies there.

We have also sailed from Venice to Dubai on Orchestra which also had few kids onboard and was much like the other two sailings. These cruises are more relaxing.

[notley-cruise]

10 hours ago, sidari said:

We have also sailed from Venice to Dubai on Orchestra which also had few kids onboard and was much like the other two sailings. These cruises are more relaxing.

Really wanted to do a Suez transit this Autumn, but seems like that's off the table for a while for all cruise lines.

[Eaglestrike]

Hi friend,

 

My wife and I had an amazing Transatlantic on the MSC Seaside November/December 2022 for 17 days from Marseille France to the Caribbean. Once in the Caribbean we then sailed to 5 different Islands.

 

There were no kids due to the time of the year. We were in the Yacht Club and every day was a really great day. 

Between the Canary Islands and Barbados we were at Sea for 5 days. The weather was great!. I was having such a great time at Sea that I was very sad to sea land again LOL. 

 

Once you do a Grand Voyage/Transatlantic you will be hooked. We booked our 2nd TA for this year 21 days on the MSC Grandiosa from Genoa Italy to Brazil in the Yacht Club and we are really looking forward to it.  

 

Another big difference is that all passengers board at maybe 2 or 3 locations and then are together for the majority of the cruise.

The food and entertainment were amazing!!. They had a different menu each day for the first 11 days and by the time they repeated I never remembered when it was served so it seemed like new LOL. 

 

We also had the alltime best everrr Yacht Club Director Ms. Melania Mauro. 9 YC cruises and no one comes close to her. She was great-hoping for a similar experience this November on the Grandiosa. 

 

Have fun on your TA and Happy Sailing!

[CruisingFox27]

We've done two transatlantic cruises, October and November plus several other grand voyage repositioning cruises. The demographic and atmosphere on board is different. There are hardly any children or young families due to the length of the cruises. It's a far more relaxed feeling. No one is in a rush to do everything straight away.  We've just done a 7 night cruise and I'd completely forgotten how busy you are. I like having the sea days to unwind between ports. 

I've never noticed an issue with food, they stock up with all that's needed for the duration. Even on our last trip, we weren't permitted to stop in Egypt or Jordan so had an extra 3 sea days, there were no issues with quality or quantity. Likewise, our Asia 2020 repositioning when we were denied entry to India and Sri Lanka and had an extra 4 sea days. 

 

I'd highly recommend a longer voyage. I'm in theory looking forward to our next but expecting it to be cancelled as, I can't see shipping returning to the Suez by next April. 

 

A transatlantic or repositioning is a superior and experience, in my opinion. 

[luckyinpa]

ive never been on a TA. but one certainty is if i did, it would be in a suite that was on the line i was traveling. 

 

i recently did a balcony in YC on Mera and though i dont normally book such small suites, the service was above and beyond any other cruise ive been on.  and id even do a TA in such a small cabin knowing the YC features/services would make up for it.

[TGfromTX]

4 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

I've never been on a TA. but one certainty is if i did, it would be in a suite that was on the line i was traveling. 

I do check out the suite prices for possible discounts but I think they are in high demand on TAs.  Sadly, my finances won't support that level of cruising and allow me to vacation a couple of times a year.  I see options for signing up for last minute deals on some lines, but I'm so far from ports the flight prices will be too high last minute.