Celebrity vs MSC?

[hoenichj]

This may seem to be a ridiculous question: We have been on 5 Celebrity cruises, which we have really enjoyed. I have ssen some unbelievable bargains on the MSC Opera. Any thoughts on this boat or on a comparison with Celebrity. Reviews for MSC are spotty and mixed I know Rick Sasso is now VP of North America for MSC. Thanks

[ocngypz]

First, Rick is President of MSC USA.

 

These are two completely different styles of cruiselines... with MSC.. despite their USA presence, still heavily frequented by Europeans.

You'd probably be better served by doing a google search for recent reviews of the MSC fleet.

[hoenichj]

Thanks, I've been doing that. But hard to find someone who has been on both lines.

[tuggers]

What have you found out so far? I'm really interested in this line myself.

[hoenichj]

Not much so far. I had a post on another Board, Ask a cruise Question, from keltic,

"Not bad, but no comparision between both companies. MSC ship service is quite decent lacking some aspects, ships are new and as discrete as a good airport hotel. I´ll go for Celebrity again."

Reply With Quote

[masterbaker]

I've sailed both Celebrity and MSC and can give some comparisons for you.

MSC: greated us at the gangplank with a white gloved attendant taking our carryons and escorting us to our cabin.

Your dining room table is yours for all meals during the cruise, no open seating breakfast and lunch. (I kind of felt sorry for the waiters, they get so little time off).

There are lots of pasta choices on the menus. ;)

Chocolate dessert choices are not plentiful. :(

Homemade icecream (gelato) poolside daily.

Snacks served in the bars (pretzels, chips, nuts, ect) Nice touch while enjoying a coctail.

Entertainment is usually things that can be enjoyed by an audience that speaks many languages. ( music, juggling, dance, magic)

Passenger mix has more foreign countries represented than on the usual X cruise, and announcments are made in about 5 core languages so verbal communication with passengers is kept to a minimum.

Bingo takes forever to finish. (see above) :D

Service was what really surprised me about MSC. It's what most people would consider budget cruising, and the service we recieved was above and beyond what we ever expected. Very similar to what we have experienced on X.

Buffets are not as good (IMHO), Itineraries are usually very interesting, Debarkation was a little slow.

 

I'd sail either X or MSC again.

[hoenichj]

Thanks, masterbaker, that helps.

[joeb]

Masterbaker hope you don't mind answering a couple of other questions? How recently did you take your MSC cruise, what ship/itinerary did you sail and in what kind of cabin?

 

How did your cabin compare to Celebrity in terms of size/layout/amenities?

Did they offer room service at breakfast and other times? If they did was there a good choice or very limited?

 

Assume from your smiley that you thought the pasta entrees were good on MSC. This is one of my disappointments with Celebrity - with one or two exceptions, their pastas are underwhelming imo.

 

Finally how was the regular coffee? And was there anyplace to get espresso/cappuccino?

 

Thanks for your feedback- there's not a whole lot out there on MSC yet. I'm hoping with ex-X management joining them that MSC will prove to be a viable option in the future. I don't expect that they'll compete necessarily with the "premium" Celebrity, but I'd be happy if they offered something midway between the old Chandris product...which I thought was quite good for a budget cruise in terms of food and service- and the current Celebrity.

[masterbaker]

joeb, and hoenichj glad I could help.

 

We cruised the MSC Melody, February of 2002 on an 11 night southern caribbean itinerary. Our decision to book this cruise was from watching it at auction and bidding was low (post 9/11). I had never heard of MSC before and did some searches on the net and back then info was even harder to find than it is now. MSC only sails from US ports in the spring and they market mostly to europeans. The Melody cannot fairly be compared with the Opera. The Melody was built in 1982 and is 32,000 tons and the Opera is a newbuild in 2004 and 58,000 tons. The Melody was in great shape, looking much like it did when I sailed it in another life it had as the Premiere BRB Atlantic back in the 90's although the hull is now painted white. Anyway, after learning a little about MSC we bid and won the auction in the sky. ;) It was for a bowels of the ship gty, but for what we paid, I would have slept on deck. Not expecting much we went to the port and were assigned an outside cabin with sitting area, large bathroom with tub and the service was over the top great! Down pillows were provided at my request as well as robes and wine bucket as well as ice bucket were kept chilled with beverages we chose to bring along. (We brought a suitcase of wine and sodas) Cabin service was quick and friendly. Room service was available but is limited to continental breakfast items, sandwiches, and beverages.

 

Menus in both the dining room and at the buffet are similar to a good Italian restaurant. There are always Italian dishes available as well as grilled meats and fish. Honestly, our waiter was horrible the first two nights. The maitre D' enquired about our service after dinner the first evening and our whole table agreed that it was not good. He said he would take care of it, second night no improvement, he came back and enquired again and by the next morning our entire table (3 couples traveling separately) were relocated to another table (and waiter) and had wonderful service for the rest of the cruise. By the end of the cruise that original waiter was down to serving one table and I don't think his future was too bright with MSC. :rolleyes:

 

I'm not a coffee drinker so I can't comment about coffee quality, but there sure seemed to be alot of different coffee creations as well as the traditional cup of joe being consumed in quantity onboard.

 

Be aware if you book the Opera that the inside and outside staterooms are small (about 140 sf) Balcony and Suite rooms are larger (about 236sf)

 

Sail on...........

[joeb]

Masterbaker thanks very much for the info. Seems like you got good value from MSC for what you paid.