This was one of the best MSC videos I have seen. You gave so many tips that I jotted a few down so I wouldn't forget. Thanks for the positive energy and thanks for sharing such great tips!!
After cruising 20 times on Royal, 1 Norwegian, 1 Carnival, we decided to try MSC. We now have cruised 7 times with MSC. Here is our take. The ships and the decor are stunning. Toned down colors. Toned down decor. I always felt on Royal it was the same marketing as McDonald’s. The MSC ships are just classier. The cabins. Same. Just a level up compared to the other cruise lines. The Yacht Club suites. They are just beautiful. The yacht club is a exclusive area. 2 or 3 decks. Separated by your key card or wrist band. Your own pool. Your own restaurants. Butler. Drinks included. WiFi included. Basically you’re own area of the ship just for yacht club guests. The food. Ok. First off NO cruise line has ever wowed me on this. I think it has to do with they cook NOTHING with a flame on the ship. Electric everything. Even the grill for your Filet. MSC food is not horrible. But yes, a little plain. EXCEPT the pizza. That was excellent. The private island Ocean Cay. For those of you that miss CoCo Cay before they turned half of it to a water park, well Ocean Cay is your ticket. Equally stunning but much more natural. Nope no pool. Only the ocean. I found the food on the island much better than the ship. Island massages. Snorkeling, all of it available. Service has been very good. I feel the language barrier is tougher on MSC but that could be me. Overall MSC will be the least expensive. Probably the biggest bang for the buck. I believe the yacht club is the way to go with all the things that are included. You’re really not paying that much more.
I agree. I used to sail RCI, but I can't afford them now (I live in Europe.) I can do Yacht Club inside for the price of a balcony on RCI. MSC have won me.
@@mariapimental4408 Hi! We LOVED it. We really enjoyed the Cruise but we liked Bermuda so much we want to go back and stay at a hotel or something for longer. You're very lucky, Bermuda is amazing!
We took the Meraviglia cruise out of canaveral about 3 weeks ago. The ship is really beautiful. We usually do RC so it was a change. And there are some differences but we enjoyed it. The overnight stay at their island was cool Beach party at night. Usually you have to be back on the ship. Bars are to small so they put some 'pop up' bars around the ship. They have a big screen by the pool but isn't used much. I'm used to some videos or movies. They had one movie over the 4 days I think. The ceiling LED display in the promenade was really cool. We would go again
Thank you thank you. We watched your video last night. You mentioned the loyalty rewards match program. We are platinum on Carnival. My wife completed the online information on MSC and this morning we received notification that they moved us to Gold on MSC. Wow. Wow. Wow. Thanks so very much. We are following you now and we look forward to our first MSC cruise in a couple of weeks. You are awesome
Most people fail to realize that even though gratuities are automatically placed on your sign and sail receipt, they are NOT mandatory. You can opt out and pay what ever you deem necessary to each worker during your stay instead of letting the cruise line force you to pay a predetermined amount. Tipping culture has conditioned people to tip or be shamed. The cruise lines use this as leverage to charge "automatic" gratuity fees. This not only serves as a means to pad their profit margin by not paying their workers a livable wage but also to shame their customers into mitigating their unfair compensation policies. Being an accountant for 2 major cruise lines, I know that only 20 - 25% of the pool of gratuity payments actually go to the workers. The rest is kept by the cruise line as miscellaneous profit to be paid for expense accounts and bonuses. Also, note that cruise lines charge a gratuity fee for EVERYTHING you purchase outside of your inclusive package . One executive at Royal Caribbean, told me that the gratuity system is set up to pay for executive bonuses. An executive at Carnival told me that it was a "fools" tax for the customer. Cruise spokespeople like to mention the hard work of the crew and if you don't agree to pay the gratuity that you are cheating the workers out of a living. DON'T BELIEVE THIS NONESENSE. The bulk of the gratuity is going to the executives; not the workers. So, the next time you book a cruise and see the option to "pre-pay" for gratuities or see it on your final bill, you will know that only a small portion of it is actually going to the worker and that you are indeed paying a "fools" tax. If you choose to tip your worker, do it DIRECTLY and according to the level and quality of service given.
100% I did this on my last MSC cruise, couldnt agree more with your explanation. You can go to guest services and tell them you either have been paying them directly in cash or plan to leave the tip in cash to the worker. They will remove it from your final bill.
Well said ! I called them on a 125 dollar « service charge « and was made to feel i was being a jerk . Not sure how people think an unuthorized charge is okay lols we tipped as we wnted to
Just returned from The Seascape and what amazing service! What i enjoyed is the drink Package works on the island and was able to get a drink for me and my wife without her being present with her cruise card. And was able to get multiple drinks to take back to seat or beach chair instead of having to get up and down.
Agree with u. Service was excellent and I also enjoyed my drink package specially cause I could also have my cappuccinos and other specialty coffee every day.
In 2020, I was supposed to sail with MSC Cruises which was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. After getting the runaround from MSC Cruises, I ended up getting my money back by disputing the charges on my credit card. The people I talked to on Facebook, the people who paid with their debit card had a harder time disputing the charges and some couldn't dispute the charges at all. My advice is no matter what cruise line you sail with, always pay with a credit card, never with a debit card, since it is easier to dispute charges on your credit cards.
I'm going on a 3 day cruise and used my credit card even though I didn't need credit to pay for it.I managed to get my money back when STA Travel went bankrupt at the start of the pandemic.
@@mayakhan5093 I have never seen them weigh luggage's like they do at airport check-in counter. You usually drop them off at a designated area according to where your cabin is located (or luggage tag).
Question please did you have to surrender your passport until the cruise ended. I left out of Martinique and they lost my passport last week! If you were American, Canadian, anyone other nationality outside of the French this was normal policy and procedure on this route is what we were all told. Now I’m trying to get reimbursed and the managers have not called me back yet
We did MSC Divina (from Miami), Opera from Barcelona, on May this year we will be on SeaScape from Miami and on November we booked into Poesía departing from Civitavicchia , Rome ❤
We linked our card when we booked our cruise with the Meraviglia. It worked perfectly. I don’t understand reviewers not knowing this. We have cruised with MSC twice and love it! We will be cruising on the Seascape next year.
We are booked on the Seaside for May, our first MSC cruise. Once I paid in full there was a place in the Online Check-in to set up a payment method. I entered my card info, my CC text alerts confirmed a "test" $1.00 transaction BUT the MSC website gave me an "Error, unable to process. Please try again later" message. Yet when I closed and reopened my account on the web I could see that my credit card info was there?? Really Strange.
How do the gratuities actually work? We are booked and prepaid them also have the easy plus drink package... Then we are told we will have to pay $15 dollars a day? So how does this work?
@@sarahloden5595I just read a informative comment in this thread. The person shared how the majority of prepaid gratuities are used for bonuses for corporate positions - the Cruise industry calls it a "fools tax." They recommend to absolutely opt out of the option, and pay tip individuals what you want directly, so it isn't going towards some big bonus for a non cruise worker.
I think its important to note when buying the specialty dining packages you can only choose from a limited menu which might not have what you wanted as an option (for ex. the butchers cut-you can only order filet mignon, sirloin and lamb chops, so if you wanted a tbone or ribeye you are out of luck and have to pay an additional fee on top of what you paid for the package). I've heard this from numerous previous cruisers.
Was on Seaside in March and purchased the specialty dining package. If there was something on the designated menu we didn’t like we could get anything else from the broader menu, but were offered so at a 50% discount. We did that 4 out of 4 times we dined in specialty on a 7 day cruise. That adds up! Personally, I believe you’re better off skipping paying for the package and just paying a La cart. You come out cheaper.
Thank you for this very informative video. We are booking our first cruise with MSC, we saw that the restaurant menus are on the MSC App, but do they also provide paper menus in the restaurants upon request? We're not big fans of smartphones and don't like the idea of having to bring our phones to a restaurant to read the menu. Thank you
You are adorable!! LOL I enjoy your informative videos. My wife and I love MSC , been on 5 of them and are going aboard Seascape in September so I appreciate the info as it pertains to this ship.
I'm going to be getting a free MSC Caribbean cruise next year. I'm not enthused about the Caribbean, but if I like the ship and amenities I may well try another cruise in Europe.
Great video, you explained a lot. I had the Seashore booked June 2020, we know how that worked out. I'm thinking of booking summer 2025. As far as peoples comments about the food quality, I've definitely seen a drop since the restart as opposed to before. No matter which cruise line, weather from personal experience or friends.
AZ, this was very helpful! I have my first MSC Cruise coming up in May departing from Barcelona on the World Europa. I JUST completed the tier matching request! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING US AWARE OF THAT!! ANDDD! You have a new subscriber! Thanks for sharing!
@@CruisetheWorldAtoZThank you so much for brining it to our attention. I matched with MGM Resorts MLife rewards Gold level. I just received a response back and the tier match was MSC Voyager Silver. I thought it would be gold..LOL! MSC has some pretty nice Gold tier perks!
At 2:00 you said that you take the loyal status from the other cruise line then ask MSC to match, but you did not tell/show clearly (how, step by step), “check with MSC”, how ? where ? when ? I search the MSC cruise wed site and I could not find where they specify the “Matching loyalty status”. Can I do it at the port while do the embarkation ? How many day before my trip I have to do it ? How the MSC verify the other cruise loyalty status ?
I wanted to leave my cruise. ME. It was Carnival Sunrise and it was terrible and we booked with MSC as soon as we got home... Thanks for all the tips!!
My family and I are going on Seascape in June. I was under the impression on MSC website that the theater stuff is free, but after I paid for the trip I’m finding out it is extra. Is there any shows that are free? Is there any welcome aboard informational stuff in the theater? My wife and I went on 2 cruises, but that was 25years ago. Seems like now every cruise line nickles and dimes you.
This is a great video. The family and I will be on boarding MSC Seascape in November for the first time and we have so many questions. Thank you for the video.
Well I’m an American and this will be our first cruise on msc! We’re leaving in march and I’m hoping to have a great time. I also want to say I don’t know what American you’ve been talking to that acts entitled, but that’s not people in family or any of my friends. You must be referring to those who flaunt their PRIVILEGE!
Great video ! We are doing five MSC cruises between April and January of 2024, and really looking forward to all of them. In fact, we will be doing two weeks on the new World Europa in June in the Mediterranean!! My wife and I are more of the laid back types, but will join in on the fun when we get the urge - white parties, theme nights…. Question : when you and your husband cruise, what type of cabin do you prefer ? Do you base your choice on the area you are cruising in, like the Caribbean or Mediterranean? We generally book interior cabins, but for the June cruises, we purposely choice infinite ocean view cabins. With these, we can open the windows halfway down, and it resembles a balcony cabin, without the attendant cost. Keep up the good work ! BTW, you both have a gorgeous daughter, reminds us of our eldest when she was young ❤
I figured out why the staterooms are so inexpensive…they up charge for almost everything you might want to do on the ship..I am a Senior and will travel in the inside suite in the yacht club since we want peace and quiet, the shows and good food and we not interested in most of the activities..my son plays golf and will take a three day stop in Bermuda cruise where he can play golf and the rest of us will go to the beach or ride in the golf cart and just enjoy the scenery
I went on MSC in 2016. UnFortunately i got sick and I could not go on a cruise until now. I spoke with MSC but they did not honour the loyalty card and said that it expires in five years. Just for your information.
MSC has “White night party on the deck” people wear WHITE and party on the deck. “Red, white , green night in the restaurant” wear the Italy flag color night to dine.
MSC’s website is the worst to navigate. However, we just disembarked 2 weeks ago and we had an amazing time but we stayed in the Yacht Club so I know our experience was different from others that I’ve heard.
I would only recommend this cruise line to senior citizens cuz anybody under 65 will definitely be disappointed. I could not understand how and why the pool and hots tubs were shut down at 8pm. Watered down drinks and the staff was rude and confused most of the times
Agree. Just sailed the Seaside 3/23 and it was a ghost town at 8 pm. No late night comedy shows, dueling pianos, deck parties, etc. I was extremely disappointed. I sailed this ship during its maiden year and it was much better. Wondering if the pandemic has anything to do with it, or maybe it’s just a convenient excuse to hire less employees. One cruise employee even told me they were extremely short-staffed after many employees “jumped ship” to other cruise lines that offered better pay and incentives.
This will be our first MSC cruise but it really bothers me all the way Xtra charges everything seems to be. We did Virgin Voyagers cruise line and everything was included. No extra charges to do on the ship. So this will be interesting.
What kind of extra charges were there? Debating whether to book this or RC Harmony of the seas. The prices seem so much more affordable in MSC but I'm worried about surprise charges.
@@taviaroman3509 well we added a military discount and got a $200 on board credit but WiFi is extra, drinks are extra. Since we booked there has been a package with free wifi and a drink package available when booking but we can't switch. So that's the extras.
@cat lover - keep in mind their pricing models are different. You may be paying $2k (for a 4 nights) for Virgin Voyages (for 2) which is about $250 per person per night (all inclusive) or pay $650 (for a 4 nights) for MSC (for 2) which is about $78 per person per night (not incl $14 daily gratuity) which will take you to $98 a day pp. Add the drink package $60 pppd. Which will take you to $158. It still leaves you $92 per day for Specialty Dining.
Hey Alanna!! So excited you got to try out their new ship... Dad and I where on the Seashore before Divina in August! We are taking Divina again in April and Divina again next April as a Transatlantic to Rome! The newer ships are on par with the RC or NCL or Carnival ships we are used to. Where the elevators goofy on Seascap? The thing where you tell it what floor you want and it tells you what elevator to take... lol everyone hated that
Omg hi!! Wow, these trips sound fab!! Haha, yes, the elevators are "smart". Have you ever done a transatlantic before? I'm thinking about one but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
@AlannaZingano never done a Transatlantic always wanted to. It's MSC Divina on 4/24/24... an inside room only cost me (alone 😥🤣) about $1000 16days; 8 port 8 sea! I love sea days!!
My solution is simple - take the stairs and get a good work-out that compensates for the fact a lot of MSC ships don't have an outside walking/running track.
Great video. First ever cruise booked for September on Seaside. What’s your recommendation on tipping on board, removing the prepaid gratuities, etc? I’ve read mixed reviews and opinions. Also, we aren’t planning any extras like specialty dining. But we’d like a drink or 2 daily. Is the drink package worth it? I’ve read that unless you drink 6 drinks/day, it’s a waste, but that was for other cruise lines. Lastly, do we ever get free WiFi like at the ports of call? How much is the WiFi package?
There’s another commenter above that works in accounting for cruise lines that addresses this. He says it’s a scam because the majority of the gratuity goes to pad exec bonuses instead of crew. Says you’re better off declining the automatic gratuity and just tipping out directly where you get it should go.
Very specific question, TimeVallée owned by the Richemont group on MSC cruise ships that sells luxury watches. Do they have discounts that are only offered on the cruise? Or should I be expecting MSRP tax free only?
Thank you in advance for your reply could you send me the link I think if I understood correctly you have a video that will show the daily planner on the MSC cruise from morning to night so you're able to see all the activities that they offer all day long is that correct? I patiently wait you reply and Link if you have it thank you
If I only have my iPhone on a MSC internet plan can I still use ExpressVPN on the ship? If I change the VPN location or just get a different IP address from the VPN will they cut off my internet access on that device? I will definitely use the VPN while in port so my IP will change then. I did not have any such problems on a recent NCL cruise.
I am new to MSC and just booked a cruise for next year. Cant seem to find where I can get status points from Carnival to MSC. Where do I go to have my status upgraded?
Thank you for the video I was told if you wanted to do cash fir your sail and sign card it had to be done at customer service so we can add cash at the kiosk? And do you know the standard amout to put on your card for a 7 day sailing
Great info! Question: when can you begin to reserve your shows on the app? I will be on the Seascape end of April and have not seen anything about reserving shows on the app yet. Is it too early?
How was disembarkation for everyone? I had to wait for over 2 hours. I also think the ship was super crowded with no chairs at pool at 7:30am. I loved the ship staff was great and food was better than i expected. I didn’t like the small amount of restaurants available as well especially when on a long cruise :)
Went on MSC in December 2022 first 7 days were good empty ship, drinks were good cruise price was cheap, bowling buffet was good pastries are very good, problems came after we bought 2 excursions, first one was good but for second they never warn us to rewind the clock and we missed it;o(, i bought 2 bottles of rum on ship and when i came to airport customs said they not packaged correctly and took them away. Last, person jumped from her room at 5am on last day and killed herself as result lots of people missed their planes home!
Hi Alanna. If you purchase, let's say the duo dining package, is that for 1 dinner in each restaurant for the whole cruise?? Or can you go multiple times throughout the cruise??
If you are sampling a lot of different cruise lines you should buy 100 shares of CCL, NCLH and RCL. This will get you free onboard spending. $125 to $300 depending on the length of the cruise. Each of these large companies owns other cruise lines. You get the shareholder perk on the other lines they own. You should buy the shares soon. Earning season is coming and I expect the shares of NCLH and RCL to go up when they report for the 3rd quarter. CCL was up, they report first. Yes, MSC is great, but privately owned with no perks. Serious cruisers need to own some of the company. Don't get excited about their cruiser loyalty programs, that is small stuff, just marketing. Actually own shares to see the real perks. Make money by owning their casinos, less risky and smarter than gambling.
By owning shares of NCLH, RCL or CCL gives you a stake of their casinos in theory. When you go on a cruise as a shareholder you like to see the casinos busy. Friday RCL up 3.07%, CCL up 2.85% NCLH up 0.85%. There is still a lot of room for them to run. RCL may reach pre-covid highs in a month or two. RCL seems to have done the best, but they have all done well if you got in a year ago.
I was in the Divina a couple of months ago with 3 devices and only bought one package. As long as I signed out of the 2 other devices, it worked just fine.
Couple thoughts on this. I sailed Divina as my 1st MSC cruise and for the life of me I cannot remember experiencing the internet issues I described. Then on my following cruises Seascape, Meravglia, Grandiosa it was as described- bought internet for the number of devices you wish to log in to and once you attach a device there would be no signing out of that device. The work around is to buy as one person with 3, 4 or however many devices you need. Works great for families, just using the same login and password. So, makes we wonder since your Divina cruise was a couple months ago and mine was last year- i think its fair to say its not a new thing. I suspecting because it's not a "smart-ship" compared to the newer MSC ships. Perhaps this could be the reason, although I'm speculating.
I'll be carrying film cameras in my carry on bag. When you check in at the port do they offer to hand check carry ons instead of x-ray? The x-ray machines have the potential to damage film so I'm a little concerned.
Will never sail MSC until all the youtuber cruise sites I trust tell me the the food isn't bland and mediocre any longer. If I'm spending a week in a ship, food better be decent.
Exactly! In my group of 21 people, we all were disappointed in how bland the food was and overall poor quality of it all. And by no means am I picky so believe me when I say I tried to give their food a chance at every meal. Our group often found ourselves trying to go to the dine-in restaurants to eat which wasn’t that much better I hate to say.
I will say that the evening dining food left a bit to be desired, but their buffets are above average when compared to similar cruise lines in that price range.
We learned the hard way that the juices, beer, mini bottles and water in the cabin mini refrigerator will NOT honor your Easy Plus Drink Package. Same water, same juice, same beer, same items $9 or less ect. You must go outside your cabin.
Here is the regular ones, www.alannazingano.com/videos/msc-seascape-daily-program-caribbean-december-11-2022?rq=seascape and here is the kid specific ones, www.alannazingano.com/videos/msc-seascape-dorimiland-caribbean-december-11-2022?rq=seascape Sorry for the clunky navigation, trying to work on the overhaul of the website and it so time consuming! Thanks for asking nicely!
This will be my first time on MSC the drink package does everybody have to buy a drink package? I only drink soda no alcohol so told me that everyone has to purchase a drink package and also. attending the drill read somewhere you have to go to your room and watch a video get a certain number then go to your monster station use the wheelchair so they shut the elevator off. How do I get downstairs to my monster station the first day is always crazy. Specially, with the elevators.
Well as far as I know there are extra charges on food on top of the price of the specialty dining packages. It would be nice if you talked about them in detail since those sneaky charges are keeping from booking with MSC.
Can you say more about that? Because my understanding with the most inclusive dining package is that you can have lunch and/or dinner every day except for last day and you can only book butcher’s Cut once. What other charges existed beyond that?
Typically there is a gratuity added depending, but you can request it removed before signing. Also you can turn off auto tipping by chatting with guest services, Typically about15 per person per day unless you turn it off. Charges are upfront and clear but you need to turn things off.
Good information! A few questions: (1) I am confused with your comment about carrying all your past cruising cards with you on-board the MSC or any other cruise line. Why does MSC need a record of all my sailings? (2) Is the waist band reusable from one MSC sailing onto another? If yes, what is the process of reactivating the waist band when getting on your next MSC sailing? (3) What is the process of adjusting or removing the gratuities that are automatically added per day in case of bad service? Thanks.
Sorry for the confusion. You don't need to keep your cruise cards. That's only for yourself if you are sentimental and like little mementos. MSC would only ask for the status you have from other cruise lines or a hotel if you want to use their status matching program. I do not believe the writst bands are able to be reactivated from ship to ship. This would make them to be great eco-friendly,but I'm not 100% if they can be or not.
In that case of gratuities, they will allow you to remove, but they will explain how that tip gets divided into a lot of different crew across different departments and some "behind the house" crew as well.
Does Preziosa have the wristbands? Also, I'm Platinum with Carnival and will be Diamond for my return trip from Europe. How do I get this info to MSC? Haven't had to pay for drinks on board for ages. TIA for your help!!!❤
I don't believe that is a smart ship so I don't think they have wrist bands. Wait until you reach the higher status with carnival and then you can apply through MSCs website or have a travel agent help you when you are ready to book.
If you have already paid for your cruise, is the internet package available to get for another person? I have the internet for 1 deuce. That was completely different from what the travel agent said….grrr Also I tried to make a reservation for the shows and there isn’t any way to make a one via the app
I’m thinking they want you to review your bill before you go even though you attached a credit card because they probably can’t charge it until everything is said and done and by then you may have maxed out your card booking a trip to Fiji with an over the water bungalow or something. So they need to make sure they have a valid payment method. Again, not different from a hotel but their technology or rules based on port of originó for the ship May vary. I do like that you can associate a card and just charge as needed unt the last day.
