MSC....should I be afraid?

Outstanding!!! hope it goes as planned...helps to know what you're doing eh?

Looking forward to your review,

Lovely

Lynn is beautiful

xx

My son has booked the entire family on a cruise in 2024, on MSC. We are all experienced cruisers, our TA--bless her- has sailed on MSC.

There seems to be a different vibe on board and with procedures. We will be anticipating no issues as we have booked I believe 6 cabins, all upper level and all balconies. The TA got us a great deal, so we are looking forward to the trip.

We will keep everyone posted.

Not a problem and we are all delighted to help with our ideas and opinions.

Lynn is beautiful

xx

MSC status matched us to Diamond (then called Black) from our Norwegian Platinum Plus (now Sapphire.) The process worked well, but it did take some time. It was all online. I had to send copies of our existing cards (which was a screen print since we don't have cards.)

HOWEVER, if you do not sail often enough, you lose your status and start over. We actually booked a Christmas cruise and then found out our status would expire about a month before, so we booked a quick Memorial Day cruise just to maintain our status. (This was all pre-COVID.)

Our "maintain status" cruise was on MSC Seaside and it was a very nice cruise. Beautiful ship, decent crew. Our Christmas cruise was in Yacht Club on MSC Divina and was not good - our butler sucked. We were in the Yacht Club bar for lunch, saw a pizza box and asked if we could have a pizza delivered and were told "No." In the Yacht Club. We have never been told "no" on anything in Norwegian's Haven. That one word turned my wife off MSC pretty much forever.

It is an Italian cruise line based in Switzerland. It attracts a lot of Europeans who do not have the same concepts of personal space and etiquette as Americans (be ready to have people cut in line, crowd next to you, etc). It caters to their tastes, so it is not like Carnival or Norwegian. By the end of the week, I really just wanted a cheeseburger.

I would go again, but it would be because it was really cheap.

I thank ALL OF YOU for your inputs. I have been thinking about taking a MSC cruise AFTER matching my current tier on another cruise line. Seems like nothing is easy using this MSC program. I will try in the future, but just not this month, nor next.

Best wishes to all those intelligent cruisers whom contribute to this forum. You have a WEALTH of knowledge. Thank you for sharing your cruising insight.

That cabin looks so tiny and i would not be able to use the "Bed" hanging off the wall. Can you imagine 3 people staying in such a confined space such as that ?

Were you not aware of UAE visa requirements for your companion, prior to the cruise ?

Lynn is fantastic

Yes. You should be WORRIED! I/We just took cruise with MSC Opera on last Christmas from Dubai. I booked a Deluxe Balcony Aurea, which was described to have seating area with Sofa, Bathroom with Bathtub, etc. We got cabin no. 10143. There were 3 of us in the room. There was no sofa, bathtub, nor spacious closet or cabin. There's barely any room to walk. There was a queen/king-sized bed and a bunk bed. The bathroom was very tiny with a tiny shower room. The room has a table with a mirror. There was no such full-size (floor-to-ceiling) mirror that they show on their magazines or website. I also booked an inside stateroom, which was located across us. Inside Cabin no. 10145 was a lot bigger and a lot cheaper than what I paid for a Deluxe Balcony Aurea. When our excursions were cancelled, they gave us Euros instead of issuing credit or reversing the charges made on my credit card. This was my first time to board an MSC ship, and my last. Because of issues with my companion's UAE visas, we disembarked after 2 nights on board. A huge relief!

Yes, and believe it or not it was the easiest part of the entire process. The impression I got was that they could have cared less if we booked or not and when we cancelled....oh well. I will never book with them again but if you do, I would strongly suggest a travel agent.