Worst cruise experience ever. Will never again travel MSC
by Cramermc813
MSC Review
This has been one of the worst cruises I’ve ever experienced. I planned this vacation with MSC as a “cruise of a lifetime”, considering this was my wife’s first cruise experience. My expectation was clearly not met, not to mention the ship is old and the decor is grossly outdated! What my wife and I experienced with MSC Orchestra has greatly reduced our interest in cruising. MSC failed on multiple levels and on several occasions in customer service to provide passenger satisfaction. Problems started when first boarding the ship with a pre-paid internet package we purchased. After boarding, even crew members said the package is useless and shouldn’t be offered/purchased. Rarely was any internet service available, especially in our cabin. Then, after 20+ hours of travel to South Africa from the United States, luggage was not delivered to our cabin until very late in the evening leaving us unable to shower and change clothes the first day on the ship. We boarded at 10 in then morning! Entertainment was practically non-existent, rotating between the same acts the entire cruise while spending 10 days at sea! If weather conditions were undesirable or you wanted to relax in your
your cabin, the television had only ONE station with 5 movies being rotated everyday (ALL day) over and over and over with the remaining 10 stations playing advertisements for the cruise line! Your other option was to frequent the (smoke filled) casino if that’s your thing. We also pre-paid for the strange use of MSC Orchestra “drink ticket” packages. They didn’t offer typical all inclusive beverage packages. EVERY beverage required tickets…from water to soft drinks to a limited selection of alcoholic beverages at an additional cost. Water and coffee were made available during formal lunch and dinner. As not all beverages requiring tickets are equal in cost, alcohol cost more than soft drinks however, you don’t get a refund or credit for using a higher cost ticket for a soft drink. The process/line to retrieve ‘drink tickets’ was madness and extremely unorganized. Depending where you ordered drinks, the bar tender may or may not be able to make the beverage you ordered because it wasn’t on the drink ‘menu’.
The schedule of excursions cannot be trusted. After 3 days at sea the scheduled Mozambique port stop was cancelled, this occurred the morning of departure after we paid the required $150 for visas.
Another issue we had was when my wife and I were eating in the buffet dining area and were approached by an employee to purchase bottle service. So we inquired about the types of alcohol we wanted, 1 of the 3 bottles we requested was not listed on the price sheet. The employee was not sure if any the of alcohol types we wanted but not listed were in stock, so he went to the ‘stock room’ and reappeared with all 3 bottles, we asked what the cost would be and agreed on the cost of the 1 bottle not listed on the price sheet, he charged our cabin card, we signed the receipt…the transaction was complete. My wife and I stayed seated in the buffet area for a while enjoying the view when the employee returned stating we need to pay $80 more US dollars for the bottle not listed on the price sheet. We questioned why, he said he misquoted the price but could not show us a manifest to support this outrageous increase. He then proceeded to pick up & take all 3 bottles that we just paid for! We proceeded to ask for a manager, after being told by 3 different Food and Beverage (F&B) managers, over a 2 day period, there was nothing they could do. We called the service desk and met with the head of customer relations and the F&B Director. They both understood the inconsistency as well as the importance of customer service and provided the 1 bottle (not listed on the bottle menu) complimentary. So by now, it’s beginning to seem as though this system is an attempt to nickel and dime you to death in an attempt to have you accumulate an extensive bill at the end of your cruise.
During our dining experience we often found the formal dining menus unappetizing and horribly prepared. After ordering steak on the first evening, the entire table realized all temperatures of steak from rare to medium are all prepared “WELL DONE”! All beef items during the entire cruises were over cooked, tough with little seasoning or flavor. We often didn’t receive items listed with the entree’, having to inquire about listed items with the dining staff…dessert ice cream came to the table completely melted.
This was a 14-night cruise which many nights unfortunately ending with a failed formal dinner attempt resulting in hotdogs from the buffet. Since the majority of the buffet selections were below average or were immediately consumed if the items were reasonably appealing.
The service staff in general left an incredibly incompetent impression on us and with many guests we conversed with. On several occasions a request would be made with staff replying, “we can not do that” rather than providing options to resolve our many issues. We found ourselves asking for a supervisor or manager because the staff would refuse to look into our inquiry or attempt to provide a solution to assist with our issue/request. Small things like asking to replenish an ice bucket for the bottles of beverages or champagne we purchased. Things as simple as honoring the “cabin occupied” light and not barging in for room servicing. We also purchased the ‘all inclusive’ digital photo package for $200, however upon review of our printed photos in the galley, we discovered 60+ photos were not uploaded to the kiosk. We brought it to managements attention and was told if they could not upload the missing photos digitally, we would have to purchase the hard copies, of the missing photos, at an additional $200…*SMH* That about did it for us!! There are numerous other occurrences and inconsistencies that could be mentioned. As a couple that travels extensively, we expect top class customer service when paying a premium price for a vacation. It’s obvious MSC Orchestra does not value recurring patronage to their cruiseline or better training, customer accommodation, and overall cruise experience would be a priority and the service emphasis completely revamped! If zero stars could be given it would definitely be applied for this cruise!
