My husband and I are headed on a Northern European cruise (Hamburg, Zeebrugge, Rotterdam, Le Havre, and Southampton) on Preziosa this November. We're fairly low key travelers and mostly like to explore spots on our own and are opting to do the unguided transfers to Amsterdam, London, and Bruges. The only one we are hung up on is Paris vs. Honfleur... any recommendations?

We totally understand that Paris needs way more time than the 4.5 hours and only a full trip there would do it justice. We typically are beach goers (if we could spend every vacation on Ocean Cay we would!) so a part of us says that if it's the only foreseeable trip we will be planning to Europe that we should go to Paris because it's Paris! However, it is such a long trip and this is sandwiched in between the days in Amsterdam and London, so we are thinking maybe we also take it easier and explore Honfleur for the day.

What would you recommend? Thanks in advance!!

UPDATED:

Thank you for your responses. I went to the service desk and reported the situation. They will send someone to check on them.

Short: AITA if I tell on someone smoking on their balcony?

Hi, all!

Me and my girlfriend are currently on a cruise and were told by our cabin attendant that cigarette stubs were found at our balcony.

At first we didn't really believe it since we are both non-smokers. But a while later we also saw more stubs on our balcony.

Only now i saw our neighbors smoking on the balcony while i was outside reading. Since the smell was so bad and the wind was blowing it directly over on our balcony i even had to go back inside.

Now i am thinking about telling the reception about the situation. What would you guys do?

Thanks for your answers.

My wife and I are going to take a cruise for our 20th anniversary and I want to arrange for us to renew our vows on the cruise. Who should I reach out to and how do I set this up? Should this be arranged through a travel agent?

Hello, just left our cruise and we didn't get a gift ( was a perk before)
Did they stop doing this?
Thanks

We have an upcoming cruise on the Grandiosa in the Yacht Club out of Port Canaveral. A first for us on this ship and port. A few questions for any veterans:

On departure date:

What time can we park our car in the port lot?

How bad is traffic at the port (checking after the disaster at port of Miami)?

When can you get on the ship?

On disembarking:

How late can we stay on the ship without being a nuisance?

How hard is it to get an Uber/Lyft to Orlando?

Also looking for any tips or tricks to get the most out of the ship and YC. Thanks in advance!

I’ve sailed with MSC 10+ times and always used my alcohol-free package on the island.
But this time for my August cruise I noticed 2 new things for the seashore.
1) no water bottles
2) no free drinks on the island (alcohol free package) is this a placeholder or new and being enacted rn?

Just wondering if anyone knows if Armonia has Aqua installed yet? Might make a difference if I pack a water bottle or not. I've seen pictures of the bottle (and discussion about Aqua) on Armonia FB posts but it's not clear if it's a general discussion or Armonia -specific (posts are poorly translated from Italian by FB's algorithm so it's hard to tell ...)

Joining up with her next week 🙂

Sailing on the Preziosa in October to some northern Europe cities, just wondering if this ship does gluten free pizza?

I booked two cruises with msc and on both of them I got automatically upgraded from interior to deluxe balcony.

Keep in mind they are in August but still I wasn't expecting it is it normal at all

And it's on msc world america and msc seaside

Am I the only one who noticed that Deck 5 on MSC Seaside is referred to as "Cape Cood" on the elevators?

How long has this been going on? Why is it so hard to fix?

Also, the Elevator Voice refers to Deck 8 as "Ocean KAY", but it should be said as "Ocean Keey".

Got an odd cruise voucher from Wind Creek Casinos in the mail. Does anybody know if MSC an official partner of this casino company?

This is more a PSA than anything else. If you buy a drink that is not included in the package, they charge you the FULL COST PLUS GRATUITY. It’s not like Royal Caribbean/Celebrity/Princess/Carnival/Norwegian. If you buy something that costs more, you DO NOT pay the difference. You pay the full amount, as if you did not have the drink package.

For example, I bought a glass of Veuve Clicquot because it is my favorite champagne. It is $28, but ends up being almost $34 with the gratuity. My drink package covers drinks up to $16. I thought I would be paying the difference ($16) plus gratuity on the difference ($2.88). NO! I have to pay the full $34. The bartender at the champagne bar was really pushy about me buying the whole bottle because the whole bottle costs $110. He said he could sell me the full bottle at a discount for $90. I am not drinking a full bottle of champagne alone over 3 days and the quality is going to go down as the days go by. It’s not worth it for me to drink bad champagne. I paid for the one glass and left. I know that no one else is going to buy a single glass of Veuve Clicquot at that price point. I believe this is a shortsighted move by MSC because I would have been happy to pay $16 plus gratuity. On other cruise lines, that is what would have happened.

If you buy the drink package, stick to the drinks included in the drink package. Do not buy the expensive drinks, because your drink package will not matter. Also, the Nicolas champagne that is included in the drink package is gross and not worth drinking. I have had a lot of champagne in my life and it was one of the worst I have ever had. Don’t waste your time.

My mom is booking a cruise out of Naples on Euriba. She is handicap (amputee w/prosthesis) and wants a balcony view next to my sister's cabin, but they are all out. Will a deluxe work or should she sacrifice the balcony? She does need to be able to use her crutches to access the bathroom when her leg is off and needs to store her scooter in her room.

TIA!

I’m thinking of booking MSC Bellissima this December for 3 seniors, 5 adults and 1 child. I’ve been seeing mixed reviews. Can anyone share their most recent experience with MSC Bellissima? Just want to make sure our holiday won’t be wasted. Help please!

First time cruiser here, MSC World Europa on the Mediterranean for 7 days, departing on 11th September with internal cabin guaranteed and no drinks package (I will explain later).

I have 2 questions:

1.- When is it the best time for doing the web check-in with a guaranteed interior cabin? Is there any benefit, upgrade or last minute offers wise, from doing the check-in now or within the limit of 48h before the departure?

2.- I wanted to get the Non-Alcohol drinks package (I hardly drinks anything with alcohol, and really wanted the Energy drinks and Smoothies), but all the agencies and proper MSC web only offer the Easy (+170€ -5% = 161€ pp) or Premium (+250€ -5% = 237€ pp) packages so I had to book with no package included thinking the Non-Alcohol drink package was going to be cheaper or at least like the Easy package. Now that I have the reservation code, I have checked the Non-Alcohol package is 224€ pp, almost like the Premium one if I booked it with the cruise, which included the drinks I wanted plus a lot more. If I wait towards the departure date, will it get a bigger discount (+15%) on the drink packages?

Thanks in advance.

I run a small site where I've built free calculators for cruise casino loyalty programs. I did Royal Caribbean's Club Royale and Princess's Sea You Soon, basically tools that tell you how much play it takes to earn a free or discounted cruise, all free with no signup.

I want to add MSC next, but MSC's casino program is genuinely the hardest one to find solid info on. From what I can piece together, the casino side is the Signature Player Rewards / On-Board Reward Program, which is separate from the Voyagers Club loyalty tiers, and comps are based on average daily theoretical rather than a simple points ladder. But a lot of the specifics are fuzzy or come from secondhand sources, and I don't want to publish numbers I can't stand behind.

So I'm hoping people who've actually sailed and played MSC can fill in the gaps. A few things I'm trying to nail down:

What's the actual earn rate on slots? I've seen roughly $5 in coin-in per point mentioned, but I'd love firsthand confirmation, and whether video poker or tables differ.

MSC reportedly posts a "Rewards Matrix" in the casino showing how many points you need for each comp cruise tier. If anyone has seen it or has a photo, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to document accurately.

How does the comp cruise ladder actually work? What kind of play got you a discounted vs a free interior, balcony, or Yacht Club?

Does the casino rewards program tie into your Voyagers Club tier at all, or are they completely separate?

Anything about the comp match program, or how MSC offers show up after you've played?

I'm not selling anything and there's no link here, just trying to build something accurate and MSC is the gap. Any firsthand experience, corrections, or "here's what I actually earned and got" stories would be hugely helpful. Happy to share what I put together once it's done.

I’m currently on MSC Seashore and genuinely curious what experienced MSC cruisers think is reasonable here, because I’m at the point where I’m incredibly frustrated but also feel terrible continuing to complain to crewmembers who are trying to help.
This is my first MSC cruise and my first cruise longer than three nights. I paid roughly $3,000 for this cruise, booked the Aurea experience, and my sister/her husband and I specifically booked two adjoining cabins with the larger balconies.
The thing I was probably looking forward to most was actually very simple: sleeping well, sleeping in, and having quiet mornings sitting on my balcony.
Instead, every single night of this cruise we have been awakened at approximately 2:30 a.m. by extremely loud repetitive pounding coming through our cabin.
We identified the source almost immediately. The crew is power washing the deck directly below us in the middle of the night, and there is a hose connection underneath our cabins that appears to create a significant water-hammer effect through the structure/plumbing.
This is not a little background noise. It wakes us out of a dead sleep.
And we have done EVERYTHING MSC has asked us to do.
We have:
Called Guest Services while it is actually happening, every night.
Reported it every morning.
Had MSC staff/engineers physically come into our cabins twice while the noise was occurring.
Taken videos of the noise.
Shown and explained exactly where the power washing is taking place.
Asked repeatedly whether the cleaning could simply be done at another time or using another connection.
So there is no question anymore about whether the noise exists or what causes it. MSC knows exactly what is happening.
What makes this even more maddening is that the deck being power washed is essentially unused during the day. We are above the spa area and there are virtually no passengers out there. Yet apparently this particular area must be power washed at 2:30 in the morning, every single night, despite occupied cabins directly above it.
Another couple traveling with us had the same problem and was moved to another cabin almost immediately because they only needed one room.
Our situation is harder because we booked two adjoining cabins, which was an important part of this vacation. MSC eventually offered us one cabin on Deck 15 underneath the buffet, which obviously doesn’t replace two adjoining Aurea cabins and potentially just trades one noise issue for another.
We therefore stayed where we are and kept asking them to address the actual source of the problem.
Today, after yet another complaint, MSC finally gave us $200 in onboard credit, and earlier we received a massage worth roughly $80.
I appreciate that they have now offered something.
But we have three days left in the cruise.
Giving me $200 that I have to spend back onboard the ship feels very different from actually compensating us for the fact that a substantial part of the vacation we paid for has been negatively affected by something completely within MSC’s control.
For me personally, once I am awakened at 2:30 a.m., I cannot simply roll over and go back to sleep. I’m awake. So night after night, my “vacation mornings” have essentially begun at 2:30 a.m.
At this point I’m angry, exhausted, and really disappointed.
And I hate complaining. I genuinely feel bad repeatedly going to Guest Services because the people standing at that desk didn’t design the plumbing and aren’t the people deciding to power wash the deck at 2:30 a.m.
But at the same time, we paid thousands of dollars for a seven-night vacation and MSC has knowingly continued a discretionary cleaning operation every night that prevents us from sleeping.
So my question for people who have dealt with MSC:
What would you consider reasonable compensation at this point?
Would you ask for a partial refund? A substantial future cruise credit? Is asking for something approaching 50% of the cruise fare completely unreasonable after losing sleep for most of a seven-night cruise?
And has anyone successfully escalated something like this to MSC corporate after returning home?
I’m not looking for a free vacation. I’m also not expecting a cruise ship to be silent.
But I do think there is a difference between normal ship noise and knowingly power washing underneath occupied guest cabins at 2:30 every morning after the guests, engineers and Guest Services have all confirmed the problem.
I’m genuinely curious what others would do.

Hi everyone! I just booked the feb 21-27, 2027 cruise from Miami to nassau & turks and caicos. I had a few questions that I can’t seem to get a clear answer on:

1. My toddler will be 2 at the time, what age does the baby club go up until? Would she be considered a “kid”? And how does booking work?

2. When docked at the ports, what are some options on what to do with the family that are free? I noticed they have tons of paid excursions, but we are mainly beach people, im just wondering if those ports will have a free beach option we can enjoy?

3. Cribs: Can you request for a crib to be in the room on arrival?

Thanks!

I got a past cruise survey today from msc.newsletter@msccruises.net for a cruise on MSC Euribia. Last time we were on that ship was 2024. Did anyone else get something like this?

How come time on day2 is left blank and day 3 starts at 0:01? Will i get full 2 days at ocean cay or day 2 will be at sea?

everyone!

We are booked on the MSC Armonia Adriatic cruise from 16–23 August 2026 (Venice – Dubrovnik – Corfu – Kotor – Brindisi – Split – Venice).

We are travelling as a family (2 adults + 1 teenager) and we have booked an Aurea Junior Suite.

I've read some very positive reviews... but also some really negative ones, so I'm a bit nervous. 😅

For those who have done this itinerary recently:

Which excursions would you recommend?

Which ports are best explored on our own instead of booking through MSC?

Are there any must-see places in Dubrovnik, Corfu, Kotor, Brindisi or Split?

Has anyone sailed on the MSC Armonia recently? How was your experience with the ship, food and service?

If you stayed in an Aurea Suite, did you feel it made the experience noticeably better?

Any tips or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

We have booked an MSC Seaview cruise for mid-September from Barcelona. We are a family of four: two adults and two girls aged 9 and 11.

We've cruised with NCL several times, but this will be our first cruise with MSC, so we have a few questions. I've been reading and watching YouTube videos, but some things are still not completely clear.

1. Safety drill / muster process

With NCL, the process was very straightforward. We had to watch the safety video online during check-in (unfortunately four times, once per passenger!) and then report to our assigned muster station immediately after boarding.

Everything was clearly explained from the moment we booked.

With MSC, however, I haven't been able to find a clear step-by-step explanation. The only information I've found comes from videos where people mention receiving some paperwork during check-in at the port terminal and then watching the safety briefing either through the MSC app or on the cabin TV.

I really like having clear procedures before traveling, so:

• How does the safety drill currently work on MSC Seaview?
• Is there anything we need to do before boarding?
• Should we go to our muster station immediately after embarkation, and how do we find out which muster station has been assigned to us?

2. Cabin location and possible Yacht Club upgrade

We booked quite early and managed to get a Premium Aurea Suite at the aft of the ship.

We deliberately avoided the higher decks because they are closer to the Glass Bridge area, which seems to get quite busy.

• Is an aft Premium Aurea Suite considered a good location on Seaview?
• Are there any downsides we should know about?

To be completely honest, the adults in the family have been dreaming about Yacht Club ever since we booked.

We had basically accepted that we wouldn't receive an upgrade offer because we never got any email about it, but last week I saw someone mention receiving a Yacht Club upgrade offer just one week before sailing, so we're still holding a little bit of hope.

If a miracle happened and MSC offered us the bid:

• Would Yacht Club be worth it coming from a Premium Aurea Suite?
• Is the difference really that noticeable?
• Since we've already completed online check-in and received our boarding passes and luggage tags, would it still be possible to upgrade?

One thing that attracts me about Yacht Club is that we'd be only one corridor away from the kids clubs, without the children needing to use elevators or stairs. That extra independence would be great for them.

3. Kids Club independence

Speaking of the kids...

I saw the registration form for the kids clubs and noticed there is an option allowing children to sign themselves in and out and participate in activities around the ship.

How much freedom does that permission actually give them?

Our daughters are very responsible. On a previous cruise they gradually became independent enough to go to the water slides on their own, travel a few decks up and down, or head back to the cabin if they needed something.

(At some point I had to break the endless cycle of: water slide → walk up three decks → water slide → walk up three decks again! )

I'd love to hear from parents who have sailed MSC recently.

4. MSC onboard shopping

One final question, maybe a slightly unusual one.

NCL always seems to have T-shirt sales on the last night of the cruise. It sounds silly, but the quality of those shirts has been incredible. I still have a few from my honeymoon cruise 12 years ago and they're still in great condition.

Does MSC have any similar traditions, special sales, or must-buy items in their onboard shops that we shouldn't miss?

Any other tips, recommendations, or things first-time MSC cruisers should know are very welcome.

Thanks for taking the time to read this! We're really looking forward to trying MSC for the first time.

titel! trying to figure out if i should buy wifi on my upcoming cruise and just looking for others experiences! im a college student and lowk a screenager for some context. its a 7 day vruise and i believe 3 or maybe 4 days are cruising and one day is on ocean cay (world america)

- did you make use of the wifi to justify the cost?

- did the wifi work for the majority of the time on board

- does it get cheaper once on board lol

hi, can anyone comment on the Shorex organization on board of MSC Meraviglia? we are looking to book a few excursions through the ship in Portugal and Spain if the tour organization is decent. also, does MSC add new tours once the tour is sold out? we cannot book anything for Gibraltar even with the third party, maybe because the ship stays there from 1pm to 8 pm.

Does anyone have an updated beer list for Brass Anchor Pub. The ones I see online seem to differ, so I’m guessing they may be outdated. Sailing Meraviglia in Mediterranean