MSC Myths and the truths

I was lucky to have been invited by MSC to have spent 4 days cruising on the MSC Preziosa sailing from Venice to Barcelona, and despite booking many MSC cruises I have to confess I was a bit apprehensive as to what I had heard and read in reviews so already had some preconceptions before I boarded, but have to say all my fears were completely unjust and so here is a few of some of the common myths about MSC and the actual truths to what I had experienced.

The ship will be full of Italian’s:  On our sailing as this was going to Brazil – 82% of the passengers were actually Portuguese speaking (ie Brazilians) and there was a mix of Italian, English, Spanish, German, Russian and French. MSC are sold worldwide so you would expect to have a mixture of nationalities on board. Whilst we were in Venice there was also the Splendor of the Seas and also the Ocean Princess in port so these ships would also have a range of nationalities on board but nobody assumes that these would be filled with Italians as they are American ships.

All the announcements will be made in multiple languages:  Whilst the safety drill is made in 5 languages, the welcome to the evenings show and so was the Captains welcome in the Theatre, I didn’t actually hear any other announcements being made throughout the ship. All the signage in the cabin and around the ship was in English and all the staff spoke English.

I will only eat Pizza and Pasta all cruise:  There was a wide variety of Mediterranean food available on the ship throughout the day – yes there was a pizzeria and the buffet restaurant did serve pizza and pasta however there was a wide choice within the buffet restaurant which included Mediterranean, ethnic, a salad bar, kids corner. A couple of the specialty restaurants were Italian – Eataly and Italia but again you didn’t have to order the pizza and pasta options as there was a seafood experience, fillet of beef etc.

Will my cabin number get changed?:  the answer to this is possibly yes – if you book on the Bella experience (the basic fare – similar to the P&O/Cunard Saver fare) then this is on a guarantee basis and so could be changed, also if you are in a cabin which will sleep 4 people and only 2 of you in the cabin then MSC might change your cabin to be of the same grade or a complimentary upgrade.

Are tips/gratuities compulsory: – depending on the length of the cruise depends on the price of the gratuities – we paid 8.5 Euros a day which is in comparison to the cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. If you are unhappy with the service then you can speak to the guest relations manager who will remove them on a day by day basis but obviously they want the opportunity to put things right and for an enjoyable cruise. I always find removing them and then doing my own results in paying out more anyway. If you have received the service then in my opinion you should pay – but that’s a whole different subject.

Overall I was really wowed by MSC, the MSC Preziosa was a very glitzy/glamorous ship which was  absolutely spotless. There are areas they could improve on but some of this is from personal opinion and where you get used to sailing with one cruise line such as P&O and then try to make comparisons, so sometimes what you are used to then becomes difficult to accept that other cruise lines don’t offer the same, so you automatically think of it as being a negative thing.

Have you sailed on MSC and what myths do you think were untrue when you got to experience the Mediterranean way of life?