As an avid cruiser, sailing most often with Royal Caribbean, I wondered if there was a compelling reason to book an MSC Cruise. I know I’m not alone. Many of you have also achieved a significant loyalty status with your chosen cruise line and wonder if branching out may be worth it. As a cruise blogger dedicated to bringing you the scoop, here are 7 reasons why you may want to book an MSC cruise.
Status Match Program
It’s true. Once you are familiar with a particular brand and have reached a loyalty status on another line, it’s hard to essentially “start over” with a new brand. This happens throughout our world, from our preferred airline to our favorite grocery stores. Brands count on your loyalty. They know that loyalty programs help keep you aligned with their brand, which means money stays in their pockets.
When MSC kicked off cruising in America, they came in with quite a marketing splash. Loyalty status match. If you have a high-level loyalty status with another cruise line or even a hotel/airline, they will match you up to a corresponding level in their loyalty program.
You just need to submit the request before your cruise, and you can select only one program to match. Make sure you choose the highest-value loyalty program to match. You should be aware that the match level is at the discretion and criteria of MSC, and valuations are not posted.
You can find the form and more information directly on the MSC website here.
MSC Has Gorgeous Ships
If you’ve heard anything about MSC, it may very well be talk of the glamorous staircases. The staircases located in their atriums are made of beautiful Swarovski crystals! It’s a photo opportunity for sure!
Photographers are readily available in the evening to snap your professional photos on these beautiful stairs.
There is also, on several of their ships, the Bridge of Sighs. This extended walkway gives you breathtaking views of the sea below.
The artwork on the ship is spectacular as well and it’s not just in the gallery. The ships are decked out from bow to stern with murals and framed art. MSC takes glam to a whole new level with an abundance of chrome, velvet, and large mirrors throughout the ship.
Coffee, Gelato, Pizza, Anyone?
Do you love coffee and gelato? If so, this cruise line certainly caters to you! The Italian culture shines through in the availability of handcrafted specialty coffees and delicious desserts…and oooh the pizza!
In fact, most of the bars onboard feature a commercial espresso machine. While I have to admit that I didn’t have my best coffee experience on board (I’m picky!), I did have the most amazing pizza! I’m pretty sure we ate pizza every day of our cruise. It was fresh and delicious!
For the Love of our Planet
Cruising, like most other forms of travel, gets a bad environmental rap. We’ve all heard about court cases involving illegal dumping and seen visuals of the black smoke from old cruise ships. However, the industry is changing and evolving. I personally think we are all behind the times when it comes to environmental protection, but better late than never, right? Whether you agree with the paper straw debate or not, hopefully, we can all agree that we should do our part to protect our beautiful home.
According to the MSC website, MSC is the first global cruise line with carbon-neutral marine operations. As a company, they are working with the industry to advance technology and reduce carbon emissions, and to develop more sustainable practices. In the meantime, they are purchasing carbon offsets so that, as a company, they are carbon neutral as of January 2020.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve
Cruiseline private islands have hit the industry by storm, and MSC is right in the mix with their new private destination, MSC Ocean Cay Marine Reserve, located in the Bahamas. This new destination just opened at the end of 2019. This little gem may make you want to book an MSC cruise!
While our day was cut short due to an impending storm, we were able to explore this little paradise and were quite impressed. There are several beach areas to choose from, fun food trucks, plentiful excursion options, and tropical views at every turn.
From an environmental perspective, we noticed a bottle-refilling station, which was extremely handy, and that no single-use plastic water bottles were served at the bars!
Onboard, MSC was still serving plastic water bottles, but hopefully, they will transition away from plastic there soon.
I believe Norwegian Cruiseline recently switched to a biodegradable water bottle option onboard. Changes are starting to happen, but whether the single-use is cardboard, aluminum, or plastic, it’s still a waste. There are times when convenience is necessary, but there are always opportunities for improvement. Personally, I still prefer to refill my own reusable bottle with ice/water. In fact, you can check out some of my favorite cruise items here!
Multicultural Experience
I was really looking forward to a broader cultural experience with MSC, and I got it! It felt like we were getting a little dose of a European experience on board with the staff, food, and entertainment. It was interesting and fun to have this new experience.
Sometimes I tend to get lax with cruising. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been on several cruises, but this one really changed things up. Keep in mind that every ship announcement is made in approximately 7 different languages. It’s very exciting… but it takes a while to go through all of them!
Imagine the evening performance: the ship’s location updates, the recap of the day, the photography announcements, and the introduction to the show. Now imagine that lengthy announcement given 7 times. If long announcements start to bother you, be advised that you’ll need to learn to tune them out or stick with your regular cruise line.
Additional Tips and End of Cruise Survey
A key difference we noticed throughout our cruise was the option to tip an additional amount. When you purchase a drink, there is no need to sign, and there isn’t a line item available to add a tip. We were simply given a receipt.
For this sailing, we had the Easy Drink Package, so I can’t speak to those who purchased each item, but based on observation, additional tipping was not common.
On the last evening of our cruise, we are accustomed to hearing from multiple staff members regarding the importance of the post-cruise survey.
On this MSC Divina sailing, there was NO mention of a post-cruise survey. I found this to be very refreshing. We always complete the post-cruise survey and mention crew members by name. We enjoy highlighting the great service we receive onboard!
However, in my opinion, it does get a little old hearing about it from every crew member we encounter on our sad last night of cruising. Not being pressured about the survey was relaxing for me. My husband, on the other hand, felt that the lack of survey importance and extra tips led to less urgent service. To each their own! 😉
How do you feel about additional tipping and the big last night survey push?
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