After eight cruises with Royal Caribbean (six of which being on Oasis Class ships), I recently decided to give MSC Cruises a try while in Europe.
MSC is an Italian based cruise line that is quite controversial in the cruise industry. While it is pretty established in Europe, it has begun to gain popularity in North America, where you can oftentimes find a 7-night cruise to the Caribbean for less than $400 per person onboard one of their newest ships.
The cruise line, however, has been subject to negativity, with the most common complaints being about the quality of the food, service, and onboard programming.
Despite all the things I had heard, I decided to take a 7-night cruise to Italy, Spain, and France onboard MSC Seashore, and I had a great experience! I would easily consider another cruise with MSC in the future.
At 169,400 gross registered tons, MSC Seashore is considerably smaller than Oasis Class ships, which all come in over 225,000 gross registered tons. That being said, she can still accommodate over 5,800 passengers at maximum capacity.
Before boarding this cruise, I knew this cruise would be unlike any that I had previously been on. Of course, "different" does not equate to bad. In the end, there were things that I enjoyed more about my cruise with MSC than Royal Caribbean!
Lower priced cruise add-ons
Normally, I do not splurge too much on cruise add-ons, such as specialty dining experiences, due to the cost on Royal Caribbean ships.
While onboard MSC Seashore, however, I was surprised to discover that the extras were far less. I was able to dine at Kaito Teppanyaki and HOLA! Tacos & Cantina for around €50. In comparison, teppanyaki at Izumi can cost upwards of $50 per person alone for dinner. Plus, the prix fixe menu at Kaito included sushi and sashimi!
Likewise, I found the alcoholic beverages to be cheaper, too. They had an extensive list of cocktails for only €9 each, meaning that I felt like I could splurge a little bit more than normal.
I will admit that if I do end up cruising with MSC again in the future, I would consider a drink package. One thing I disliked about the cruise line was the lack of complimentary water. The Easy Package, which included beverages up to €9, was only €47 per day!
With Royal Caribbean, I always find myself debating if the Deluxe Beverage Package is worth the cost. While it does include more than MSC's Easy Package, it is also much more expensive. Even when it on sale, I find that it is normally around $75 per day, before the additional gratuities.
The elevator system
On Royal Caribbean ships, the elevators are a free-for-all, meaning that as many people as often pack into available cars. For that reason, I find myself taking the stairs quite a bit, as it is usually a faster and more comfortable option than waiting for a full elevator.
I loved MSC's elevator system. Rather than just selecting if you want to travel up or down, you have to select the specific deck. Afterwards, you are assigned an elevator car to board. The screen would even tell you how long of a wait you were going to have before the elevator arrived. Most of the time, it was under two minutes!
There were a few days that we were told the ship was sailing close to maximum capacity, which meant that nearly 5,880 people were onboard. At double occupancy, MSC Seashore has a capacity of 4,540 passengers.
Despite the large number of passengers, there were only a few times during the entire cruise that the elevators were crowded. During the majority of my sailing, there were no more than five or six people on the same car as me.
Related: How to beat the crowds on your cruise ship
MSC's embarkation and disembarkation
Since my cruise was an interport sailing, guests were embarking and disembarking in each port. This meant that instead of 4,000 some passengers all trying to get on the ship in a single day, it was spread out throughout the cruise.
I knew when I was embarking, there would be a mix of people disembarking and getting off to explore Genoa as a scheduled port of call. When I arrived at the terminal in Genoa, I found it to be less crowded than when I have boarded Royal Caribbean ships.
Related: 30 Do's and Don'ts for the first day of your cruise
Due to my hotel's check out time, I got the the terminal an hour before my scheduled embarkation time. This was not an issue, though. I was checked in, through security, and onboard in about thirty minutes! I appreciated that they had refreshments available, too, including sparkling water, still water, orange juice, and pineapple juice.
And since thousands of guests were not boarding at the same time, I found the buffet to be relatively pleasant during lunch. On Royal Caribbean ships, I will do whatever I can to avoid the Windjammer on embarkation day!
When it came to disembarkation, my group was called at 9:15am. In less than thirty minutes, I was at the Genoa train station. The only line I had to wait in was the one to scan my cruise card a final time.
Diversity of passengers
I was expecting a more international crowd of passengers, and I was right!
When I was waiting in line to check in at the terminal, I heard tons of different languages being spoken. In fact, other than the port employees, I did not hear anyone else speaking English.
Moreover, all onboard announcements were made in multiple different languages to accommodate the diverse crowd. This did, however, mean that the announcements took longer. The only time it was a bit of an annoyance was prior to the theatre shows, when I felt like the cruise director was speaking for fifteen minutes!
Overall, though, I loved being surrounded by so many people from different backgrounds. It made the trip feel more special and immersive, especially since it was a European itinerary!
Status match
I am currently an Emerald Crown & Anchor member, which means that I was able to roll my status over to MSC Cruises' Voyagers Club and enjoy some neat perks on my very first cruise with the line.
While not the highest tier, I achieved Gold status, and I was able to start utilizing the benefits during the booking process with a 5% discount off of my cruise fare.
My three favorite perks, however, were all onboard: the free one hour in the thermal spa, welcome back cocktail reception, and complimentary MSC Voyagers Club drawstring bag.
The only status matching that Royal Caribbean will honor is through Celebrity Cruises and vice versa, meaning that you cannot try and get them to honor your status on any other cruise line, such as Carnival or Norwegian.
If you have yet to step foot on any cruise ship at all, MSC will even match your hotel status with well-known brands like Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt.
Overall thoughts
Though I did not board MSC Seashore anticipating all of the negative complaints to be true, I was surprised at how much I genuinely loved my cruise on this beautiful ship!
I found the quality of the food, both complimentary and specialty, and service to be quite high. Food, however, is subjective; my favorite dish might be someone else's least favorite.
When it came to the entertainment offerings, I was disappointed with the productions in the theatre. Entertainment is something that Royal Caribbean is known for, and I do not believe that MSC lives up to them in this way!
Overall, I would consider another MSC cruise in the future, as the value for what I got was exceptional!
