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There are so many rumours, beliefs, stories, and misconceptions about MSC Cruises with many drawn by their great fares but worried about the reports about the ships, food, service and entertainment. I cruised with them to uncover the latest
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0:00
I'm so curious to try them as the prices
0:02
are great but I'm turned off by the
0:04
stories of lousy food poor service and
0:07
bizarre entertainment what's it really
0:09
like should I try them this is what I
0:11
hear most often about this very divisive
0:15
line so I decided to revisit them to
0:17
find out the latest I booked myself on
0:20
Embassy virtuosa for a week-long
0:22
Norwegian fjords cruise and this is what
0:26
I discovered first let's talk about some
0:29
upsides before tackling some of the
0:31
shall we say thornia issues probably the
0:34
best thing about MSC cruises are their
0:36
low fares even their premium cabins in
0:39
their ship within a ship the yacht club
0:41
are up to half of those similar Suites
0:45
would cost on other lines for families
0:47
it's even better as under 18s staying in
0:51
the same cabin as their parents travel
0:53
for free with just a few poor to another
0:56
taxes to pay so for example let me give
0:59
you some numbers on my particular Cruise
1:01
cabins started from just 100 that's
1:03
about 80 pounds per person per night so
1:06
that's one thousand four hundred dollars
1:07
one thousand one hundred pounds for a
1:09
couple for a week if they brought two
1:11
kids with them the cost would go up just
1:13
a hundred and forty dollars for the
1:15
whole week that's ten dollars per child
1:18
per day amazing now because of great
1:21
pricing like that I saw many
1:22
multi-generational families and groups
1:25
of friends hen parties birthday
1:27
celebration groups and also many solos
1:30
because of the pricing which I also was
1:33
by the way on this trip however
1:35
as I will come to later although it's
1:37
very affordable for all those groups
1:39
there are some key downsides and some
1:41
big issues for each of those Cruiser
1:44
types next because MSC is launching
1:47
ships at a really ferocious Pace most of
1:50
their Fleet is new and very modern
1:53
though there are probably a bit too
1:55
glitzy and certainly too big for my
1:57
taste most people agree they're
1:59
beautiful and they are definitely very
2:01
well maintained even if they're not
2:04
really particularly distinctive barring
2:06
many many of their features I think from
2:08
other Mega Resort ship lines so for
2:10
example the big Galleria virtuosa on the
2:14
class I was on is clearly heavily
2:17
inspired by Royal Caribbean design their
2:20
signature Swarovski Crystal staircases
2:23
are probably their only truly unique and
2:26
different feature MSC by the way have
2:29
glitzy European inspired Decor versus
2:32
the more kind of American feel of their
2:35
us-based competitors so that's Carnival
2:37
Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise
2:39
line now saying all of that I felt MSC
2:42
Works absolutely best for Cruisers
2:45
looking for a bustling
2:46
family-friendly high energy resort
2:49
vacation with parties at night for the
2:51
parents and things for kids to do during
2:53
the day for adults there was for example
2:56
a boisterous party atmosphere at night
2:59
with a focus on really busy bars and a
3:01
nightly 10 30 p.m massive themed party
3:05
the Disco and the casino also ran into
3:08
the early hours now they matched it with
3:10
some family friendly options to keep
3:12
kids busy and frankly out of their
3:14
parents hair with large kids clubs for
3:17
all ages and also opened very late into
3:20
the night an amusement arcade racing
3:23
simulators bowling rink Sports courts
3:27
rope court for daytime there was that
3:30
water park the Rope course lifeguards at
3:33
all of the swimming pools however
3:35
these facilities are relatively modest
3:38
and in my view don't match the scale or
3:41
the sophistication of other Resort lines
3:43
like Royal Caribbean and Norwegian who
3:45
have go-kart courses flow Riders ice
3:48
rinks laser tag and so on one thing MSC
3:51
is doing better since my past trips is
3:54
localizing one thing putting many
3:56
English-speaking cruises off MSC is that
3:59
they do announcements menu signage and
4:01
so on in six languages English Italian
4:04
German French Spanish and Portuguese
4:07
kind of reflecting and embracing their
4:09
very diverse onboard mix and their
4:11
European Roots but I found for my ex-uk
4:14
sailing it was almost entirely English
4:18
language with kin Nelson it's only two
4:20
other languages based on I guess those
4:22
people who are actually on board at the
4:23
time the Senior Crew including the
4:26
captain and the cruise director were
4:28
from the UK for the UK sailing all the
4:31
guest entertainers were UK based as was
4:34
the trivia now they skew things more U.S
4:37
for those settings that are there but
4:39
selling in the Mediterranean remains a
4:42
very multilingual experience one great
4:45
thing that they do is status match and I
4:48
think I think they're the only line that
4:49
does it so as I have the top tier which
4:52
is Diamond status on Cunard they matched
4:55
that status and I became their highest
4:58
loyalty level and so I got all the perks
5:01
that went with that like priority
5:02
boarding uh special onboard events a
5:06
complimentary especially dining a whole
5:08
bunch of discounts and so on another
5:10
thing that they also have is the yacht
5:12
club this is a card controlled ship
5:14
within a ship area where you can escape
5:16
the busy and frankly hectic experience
5:20
all around the ship my cabin in here
5:22
gave me access to the yacht club Lounge
5:24
Bar restaurant guest service and
5:27
concierge desk and a deck with plunge
5:30
pool hot tubs bar and a grill it also
5:33
does mean that there is very very much a
5:36
two-tiered experience with Yacht Club
5:38
guests having a quieter more attentive
5:41
and frankly less frenetic experience
5:44
with various perks also to get around
5:46
crowds and all the lines on board that
5:49
actually cover in more detail in a video
5:51
that I've done about your clubs you can
5:53
watch that for more though as I also
5:55
cover in that video it doesn't quite
5:58
deliver on all those promises and that
6:00
brings me to the other issues I have
6:03
with MSC because delivery misses like
6:06
these are actually quite numerous
6:08
everyone I spoke to on my cruise had
6:11
some sort of complaint but they always
6:13
agreed or added the caveat that the
6:15
price they paid was phenomenal so that
6:19
got me wondering if the confusion about
6:21
MSC is more about unrealistic
6:23
expectations or in fact under
6:25
performance by the line as many people
6:27
would argue I felt one of the biggest
6:29
impacts of their Affairs is they need to
6:32
cram a lot of people onto the ship
6:34
making space per passenger feel pretty
6:37
small the ship felt ever so crowded in
6:40
my view I was on MSC virtuosa a double
6:43
occupancy it was built to hold just over
6:46
4 800 passengers but it usually sells
6:49
with 6 300 so that's 1 500 more
6:53
passengers who are sharing cabins and
6:55
usually all of those are kids I found
6:57
the ship got really crowded with
6:59
frequent lines and lots of noise the
7:02
only place to escape it was retreating
7:04
into the yacht club
7:06
as there were so many families on board
7:09
finding kid-free zones was near
7:11
impossible to do as well there was only
7:13
one adult only space which was the Sky
7:16
Lounge which also did actually get quite
7:18
Rowdy in the evenings you know there was
7:20
no adult-only pool although the small
7:22
kind of plunge pool rear one did tend to
7:25
be a little bit more adult now although
7:27
clearly some guests had expected it to
7:28
be the yacht club is also not a kid-free
7:32
Zone either the large numbers of
7:33
passengers all around the ship created
7:35
several other challenges first of all
7:39
dining there were three set dining times
7:42
of 5 30 PM 7 30 pm and 9 30 pm and there
7:45
seemed to be very few chances to
7:47
influence which one you were allocated
7:48
to there were four dining rooms and
7:51
tables were packed in tight and there
7:53
were always lines every evening to kind
7:54
of getting because there's so many
7:55
people still being churned through they
7:57
were limited very limited anytime dining
8:00
options which seemed to require guests
8:03
to book a kind of a premium package
8:05
which included that plus a more private
8:07
Sun deck as well the buffet was packed
8:10
for every single meal it was really
8:11
hectic in there there was also a space
8:13
allocator for families to sit but that
8:15
wasn't really followed at all there were
8:17
not that many specially dining options
8:19
considering the size of the ship uh
8:21
Sushi Teppanyaki Steakhouse Vietnamese
8:24
and Mexican all by the way they were
8:27
pretty good and they sold out really
8:29
fast now annoyingly even though I had
8:32
pre-booked a package for three of those
8:34
I could only book them once I was on
8:37
board not before and so getting the days
8:39
and times I want it was challenging
8:40
again because there's just so many
8:42
people chasing those by the way I
8:44
thought the food across all of the
8:45
venues was perfectly fine especially for
8:49
the fair and the volume of people that
8:51
they need to feed at any one time the
8:54
menus offered I thought a decent choice
8:55
that was probably a little bit light for
8:57
vegetarians the best I've found and
9:00
would have mostly was pasta and pizza
9:02
because there's Italian it's what the
9:05
heritage of the line is personally I
9:07
will not remember the cruise for the
9:09
food neither good nor bad it was
9:12
perfectly fine food I think people are
9:14
being a little bit harsh on it now more
9:16
about the impacts of the ship being so
9:19
packed it was hard to find somewhere to
9:22
sit in the bars after dinner especially
9:24
if there was a group of us for example
9:26
also the fitness center seemed rather
9:29
small for the numbers and the kind of
9:31
age profile of the cruises I found it a
9:35
similar side to those I found on much
9:37
smaller mid-sized ships that have kind
9:39
of an older active Cruiser profile that
9:41
really did surprise me excursions also
9:44
got sold out really quickly but due to
9:46
the numbers getting off in Port was
9:48
hectic and places were really busy for
9:50
example on my cruise in Olden the queue
9:53
for the Hop On Hop off bus was hundreds
9:55
of people all day long as it was for the
9:58
shuttle buses to the low end Skylift
10:00
that I bought tickets for so there was
10:02
just kind of that busyness all the time
10:04
back on the ship I do think the numbers
10:07
was affecting service two which could be
10:10
a little bit erratic and certainly slow
10:11
in the bars and the restaurants and
10:13
guest services were kind of much more
10:15
offhand because they needed to churn
10:17
through the Fairly longest lines they
10:19
were often waiting there I also felt
10:21
that the focus was on a more
10:22
transactional rather than kind of a
10:25
relationship building approach and kind
10:27
of culture so getting things done as
10:29
fast as possible now being a European
10:31
line it didn't aim I felt to be as
10:33
chatty as friendly as smiling and
10:35
outgoing culture of service that I've
10:37
certainly seen experience a more
10:38
us-based lines and I think that's
10:41
perhaps why many North Americans find
10:44
the service actually a bit off I
10:46
actually didn't find it that different
10:47
to say the UK lines like piano Cruz it's
10:50
it's a different kind of philosophy of
10:52
service I felt I was experienced a few
10:54
areas where the attractive fares meant
10:57
money was not going into some key
10:59
aspects of the cruise first of those was
11:03
entertainment the shows themselves are
11:06
in my view poor versus the other mega
11:09
ship Resort style competition of
11:11
Carnival Royal Caribbean and Norwegian
11:13
Cruise line now while those have more
11:15
big Production shows or full-on Broadway
11:17
shows MSC shows are much less impressive
11:21
their smaller scale kind of song and
11:24
dance review shows that you're going to
11:26
find on more older fashioned classic
11:28
blinds they launched for example an ABBA
11:31
show I was on board and it was pretty
11:33
basic it was much more akin to kind of
11:35
an ABBA deck party that I come across on
11:38
so many lines but it did have kind of
11:39
costumes and more dancers
11:41
they did have an opera and ballet show
11:44
that went down pretty well and that was
11:45
a little bit more unusual even the added
11:48
charge shows in the Carousel Lounge by
11:50
their Cirque du Soleil style troop was
11:53
entertaining but it did feel a kind of a
11:55
paler-less kind of costly imitation the
11:58
other thing that struck me especially
12:01
versus those kind of direct competitors
12:03
is the daily program was also
12:06
surprisingly old-fashioned and very
12:09
classic for a contemporary and more
12:12
family focused line it featured basic
12:15
trivia dance classes karaoke bingo
12:18
crafts table tennis other game
12:21
competitions a bit of live music during
12:23
the bars and those big nightly parties
12:25
there were there were no kind of
12:27
enrichment talks or anything diving into
12:30
the region in the program at all I felt
12:33
things were not done with scale and
12:35
ambition so it was basic trivia versus
12:38
kind of big brand of game shows you get
12:40
on other Lines no big ice skating water
12:42
shows like on those other lines and even
12:45
the very hyped crew parade unlike other
12:47
lines it was just a small 30 or so
12:50
people mostly an entertainment team so
12:51
doing a little March through the
12:53
Galleria now the other thing that I had
12:56
expected and did see was the push to get
12:58
us to spend a lot of money on the ship
13:00
there was a lot of promotion to get us
13:02
all to buy packages for drinks
13:05
especially dining Wi-Fi now
13:09
I thought the packages had many more
13:11
restrictions than on their competition
13:13
for example the specially dining package
13:16
I mentioned meant I only had a limited
13:18
Choice menu in each of the venues and
13:21
the Wi-Fi package was strictly for one
13:24
device unlike other lines where you can
13:26
log out and log in on another device I
13:29
had to buy a separate package per device
13:32
there was of course a big focus on
13:34
shopping with shopping displays and
13:36
Deals out in the Galleria whenever they
13:38
had a chance to lots of space was taken
13:40
up by a big chocolate shop a gelato shop
13:43
a crepe shop all of course which were
13:46
extra costs I was also taken by how
13:49
pushy they were at getting us to pose
13:52
and buy photos the photographers were
13:55
set up kind of everywhere you turned and
13:58
would constantly pitch you when you
14:00
walked by to get you to come and pose
14:01
for photographs then of course there
14:04
were some of the activities like that
14:05
Amusement arcade I mentioned they all
14:07
had charges too saying all that I don't
14:09
feel that MSC pushed any harder than
14:11
their close competition in carnival
14:12
Norwegian Royal Caribbean on what people
14:15
call nickel and diming the other thing I
14:17
think that is less good for me anyway is
14:20
as MSC has these big ships and while
14:22
they're expanding into more regions they
14:25
are very limited where they can go
14:27
because of the size and they therefore
14:30
have to stick to fairly well trodden
14:32
itineraries with ports that can cope
14:33
with the numbers so even going to the
14:35
Norwegian fjords we had to go to places
14:38
which could cope with almost 6 000
14:41
people getting off and so it was much
14:43
more limited versus when I've been there
14:44
on smaller ship lines I prefer a more
14:47
adult on a cruise but I knew going in
14:49
that MSC would be more packed with
14:51
families but I did see people dismayed
14:54
with families and kids taking over the
14:56
pools you know talking and crying doing
14:58
the shows being in the bars and even the
15:00
Disco at night but it was something that
15:02
I expected
15:04
during school vacation
15:06
there will be on MSC virtuosa and many
15:09
of their other ships about 1 500 kids
15:12
way less out of the holidays so this is
15:15
not in my view a line to use if you
15:18
don't want loads of kids and loads of
15:20
families around taking a lot of the
15:22
activities and the focus I must admit it
15:25
was that along with the size of the ship
15:27
the crowds the bus and the noise the
15:29
event I was actually quite relieved when
15:31
the week came to an end it's not for me
15:33
but if you're looking for a great value
15:36
family cruise Resort style vacation or
15:39
you're an adult looking for a good party
15:40
atmosphere that won't break the bank
15:42
with food service and entertainment
15:44
reflecting that kind of value price then
15:48
I think MSC is worth considering but I
15:50
do feel also that people who are the
15:53
harsh about MSC seem to be comparing it
15:55
to the wrong lines when I was on board
15:57
and since many people have asked me if
15:59
it's an alternative celebrity princess
16:01
an even more premium Lines no it is is
16:04
absolutely not but nor is it trying to
16:06
be but what about Yacht Club is that
16:09
comparable to those more premium lines
16:11
to find out watch this video where I
16:13
start dismantling the biggest
16:15
conceptions about the yacht club see you
16:17
over there
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