Cruises - MSC cruise line

Anyone sail this cruise line in Europe? We are thinking of sailing on the Splendida leaving from Barcelona this summer. Any advice? Thanks:)

I haven't done a lot of research into them, as they don't have a large North American presence. They have a lot of nice new ships for a line that isn't owned by one of the big cruise line companies like Carnival or Royal Caribbean, but rather is a division of a large cargo line. I did look at their one Caribbean itinerary when I was planning our winter getaway, and noticed that we wouldn't have had to pay for the kids, and the adult fare was comparable to what we found on the other cruise lines we usually look at.

I just had a quick look at the Splendida, and it looks like a very nice ship only a couple years old. Quite large (17% larger by tonnage than the Costa Concordia as a reference point) with not a lot more passenger capacity, so it should be a nice spacious ship. Cabins look to be of a comfortable size as well.

Thanks for your response

Something to think about. Although the chances of an emergency at sea are extremely minimal, the one lesson I've learned in the past couple of weeks is that I only want to be on a ship where I understand the primary language of the ship's announcements. Too many stories of the Costa ship's first announcements being in Italian, and then it's waaaaaay too noisy (in response to words like "emergency" or "evacuate") to understand the followup announcement in English.

That being said, I agree with the previous poster -- they have the best looking ships in Europe for a line that does not market in North America.

Hi all, My Wife and I took a cruise on the Splendida, yes it is a very fine ship and the crew are also fantastic...Butttt do not get your hopes up the Food is not fantastic it is repetitious ( you will see the same every day ) it is always COLD no mater what it is....when you get home don`t rite to them about anything they do not reply. We left on the Cruise from Baccelona and had no lifeboat drill untill 6 days later on the way to home port on last but one port to Barcelona. We also found that the Q when we boarded it ship was like a free for all.the cost for the Cruise was half the cost for my trip in May next with The Royal Carb. and you know what I am so glad I am with the Royal Carb. Line not MCS.....

Yes, I have to agree.While we sailed from FLL , it was not a favorable experience.And we too, received no response to our long list of issues.It was the worst of our 7 previous cruises.Food was laughable.Hygiene among serving staff/hand-washing stations extremely poorly executed.At dinner,even when 7 out of eight table mates ordered the exact item ....every plate looked different! NO smiles from staff.Staff converging in groups in common areas chatting amongst themselves totally ignoring guests.It was totally unbelievable.

No personal experience with MSC, but I find the reviews at Cruise Critic (www.cruisecritic.com) to be helpful.

For example, go to www.cruisecritic.com/reviews and under "Cruise Line Profiles" select the cruise line name. You can read individual reviews in the right hand column, and note this: The overall rating there for MSC is "50% Loved It!"

For the major cruise lines patronized mainly by North Americans, that score is higher, e.g., Princess rates a "78% Loved it," Carnival 76%, Royal Caribbean 81%, Celebrity 81%, etc. And these ratings are based on thousands of reviews.

There is loads of helpful info to be had over at CC.

MSC (like Costa) is incredibly cheap and you get what you pay for.

Yes, I have to agree.While we sailed from FLL , it was not a favorable experience.And we too, received no response to our long list of issues.It was the worst of our 7 previous cruises.Food was laughable.Hygiene among serving staff/hand-washing stations extremely poorly executed.At dinner,even when 7 out of eight table mates ordered the exact item ....every plate looked different! NO smiles from staff.Staff converging in groups in common areas chatting amongst themselves totally ignoring guests.It was totally unbelievable.:confused: Well, you say that you agree with powervid, yet (s)he says that the crew was fantastic while you say that it was awful. You complain about the food being "different", (s)he says that it was always the same! I won't doubt your and her/his experiences and opinions, but agreement means that they are the same...

They are fantastic!!! My husband and I did the Istanbul out of Bari and it was awesome. the food was fantastic and we purchased the wine package which all were very nice. Very professional

I have sailed with MSC once - they were OK. Nothing spectacular, but then again, not the worst I have sailed either. In Europe they do have many kids sail free promos that may be a deciding factor in choosing them either way. ;)