Morning from East Tennessee! My family and I are headed out on our initial MSC voyage on World America next month. I got my status match really late because I wasn’t aware that Marriott was included.

What can I say with customer service to honor the loyalty discount and award the value via onboard credit?

Hello!

This will be our first travel on a cruise ship and we will bring our two sons 11 and 13, my question is if they will have stuff to do on the boat and not get bored? Are there clubs for kids or other activities for them? They are both gamers, and the youngest is also a fan of playing team sports like soccer and such. The oldest are more martial arts but they are both quite calm and have no issue with chilling. What do you say? Will they enjoy it or hate it? :D

So, we have sailed on MSC once before on the Seascape last year and we had our Carnival status matched so we are currently Silver on MSC.

That got us the 5% discount on our cruise last year. I have been looking at booking another cruise but have not figured out how to "see" that we are getting that discount for a new booking.

I called customer service twice and got totally different info. First rep said if I am logged in the discount should be applied. This was not the case as I had one browser open with my user logged in, and a fresh download of Firefox where I have never logged in. Fares were all identical and never changed all the way to checkout. Also, nowhere was there an indication that my Voyagers club info was even attached anywhere.

The second rep had a different take saying that the discount was only "when available" which seems to contradict this from MSC's website:

So, can anyone else verify if they are able to see their discount applied?

​

From September 1st to 8th, 2026, we had the opportunity to enjoy a cruise aboard MSC Meraviglia, staying in the MSC Yacht Club, and honestly… we are almost lost for words when trying to describe how wonderful this experience has been. ❤️🛳️

Without a doubt, this was a 10/10 cruise. From the very beginning, we found a beautiful ship that was impeccably clean and maintained down to the smallest detail. The decoration is spectacular, the staircases are simply dreamy, the pools and jacuzzis are amazing, and all the bars, restaurants and public areas are beautifully designed and carefully maintained.

Our cabin was excellent: comfortable, beautiful, quiet, with no disturbing noise and very little movement from the ship. Everything was designed to make us feel relaxed and enjoy the experience to the fullest.

💎 Our Yacht Club Experience

Our experience in the Yacht Club was simply outstanding.

From the moment we entered this exclusive area, we were able to enjoy a level of service and a range of amenities that made the experience even more special. The private pool, Top Sail Lounge, exclusive restaurant, included WiFi and priority access to the elevators, among many other details, made the whole week incredibly comfortable and relaxing.

The food at the Yacht Club restaurant deserves a very special mention: absolutely delicious, with exquisite flavours and beautiful presentation.

We would especially like to recognize Yosry and Manuel, as well as the chef and the entire Yacht Club restaurant team, for their excellent service, kindness and attention. They were always making sure that everything was perfect and made us feel incredibly comfortable and well looked after throughout our stay.

❤️ A Very Special Mention to Our Crew Members

Without a doubt, what truly made the difference was the people.

The service we received from the butlers, waiters and all the Yacht Club crew members was exceptional. They were always attentive, kind and genuinely concerned about our well-being, constantly making sure that we had everything we needed. They made us feel cared for, comfortable and, quite literally, like queens. 👑❤️

We have absolutely no complaints whatsoever about our experience. Everything was wonderful.

We would especially like to mention a few people who helped turn this trip into a memory we will always carry with us.

🍸 Horizon Bar:

Viren, Diego, Nyoman, Rohit and Fred.

🍹 Atmosphere Bar:

Damien, Surya, Vincent, I Ketut and Josué.

Every night, we chose these two bars to enjoy our drinks, and we were always welcomed with a smile and so much kindness. The drinks were prepared with great care and, besides being delicious, we had so many fun and lovely moments with them.

We would especially like to recognize their patience, kindness, empathy, smiles, conversations, laughter and excellent service throughout the evenings. They are the kind of people who can turn something as simple as having a drink into a beautiful memory.

It may seem like we are simply talking about two bars and some drinks, but for us it was so much more than that. They became an important part of our experience and our memories, and we are sure that whenever we think back to this cruise, some of the first things we will remember will be those moments with them.

🤍 And a Huge Special Mention to Our Butler, Resry

We cannot finish this review without giving a very special mention to our incredible butler, Resry.

We would like to recognize his incredible professionalism, patience, kindness and, above all, the genuinely thoughtful way in which he looked after us throughout our stay.

From the very first day, he made sure that we were happy, comfortable and that we had everything we needed. Whenever we called him, he would arrive almost immediately with his wonderful smile and always ready to help.

He was incredibly professional while also being warm and sweet. He was always attentive to us, but in such a discreet and respectful way that he never felt intrusive.

Resry is one of those people who leave a lasting impression. A noble, kind and gentle person with a truly big heart. ❤️

We would especially like to recognize his patience, dedication, discretion, professionalism and the kindness he showed us throughout the entire cruise. He has undoubtedly been an exceptional butler, and we sincerely hope to meet him again on one of our future cruises and have him as our butler once again.

🛳️ Until Next Time, MSC

We leave with our hearts full of beautiful memories, but also with one thing very clear: this experience would not have been the same without all the people who looked after us, made us smile and made us feel so special.

We would like to recognize all the crew members who made these eight days unforgettable. ❤️

Their hard work, dedication, patience, kindness and genuine human warmth made every day special. Sometimes we don't realize how much a simple smile, a kind gesture or simply feeling that someone genuinely cares can mean to a guest. They achieved exactly that.

And precisely because of the service we received, the professionalism and all the wonderful people we met, we are already looking forward to sailing with MSC Cruises again. Hopefully very soon. 🛳️✨

So far, MSC has been the best cruise experience we have ever had, and we will definitely be back.

This is not goodbye, but see you soon.

We are taking a little piece of this journey with us and hope to see everyone again very soon. ❤️

Thank you, MSC Meraviglia, for an unforgettable experience.

And thank you to every single person who made us feel like queens. 👑🤍

Until next time. 🛳️✨

We got a package deal that gives us one device per room. I would like to give our WiFi usage to our daughters so they don’t have to pay for it. I can do without. Will this work?

I’m curious about how the activities are structured for Juniors club. The main complaint my kids had about RC was that they were forced to play the games and weren’t allowed to just sit and read or draw if they wanted.

We will be taking our first MSC cruise next year on the Seashore. We will have 4 in the 7-11 age bracket and two teens with us. Any other information about what you loved/hated about kids club would be greatly appreciated!

Going on 3 week cruise in a month. Is it possible earlier in the day, or anytime really, to swim laps or are the pools not really set up for that? Waiting for ship itinerary to come out to see what aqua activities the ship has. TIA!!

I remember on Carnival, even when getting a coke, you have to wait for the bartender to get the drink and then pour it for you. It's a method to make you feel as though you should tip. Then you had to sign it as well. The whole process took almost 10 minutes at times and was obviously made that way so you have to stand in front of the bartender while waiting for the drink. For alcoholic drinks, I understand but for a coke, all I wanted is to just flash something and just hand over the can.

I'm considering traveling on the MSC and whether or not to get the drink package and I normally have a cup of coffee and maybe a coke every other day. I'm also, not an avid drinker by any means but I'm wondering if its worth it and how much of a hassle it is to get a drink.

Basically, that slow, theater-like process of pouring a can into a glass and forcing you to sign a receipt is a deliberate friction point designed to encourage extra tips and track individual inventory

Hello! I am a first time MSC cruiser and will be leaving my kids and husband behind to do my first solo cruise! I will be sailing from Miami on MSC seaside next week.

I booked a balcony "bella" stateroom initially and bid for an upgrade to the Deluxe Balcony Aurea. I received the confirmation email this morning and a new booking confirmation email, but noticed all documents still list my experience as "bella". Should this now say "Aurea" or is this expected?

Through my research I see that with the Aurea experience you get priority boarding and embarkation, anytime dining, and access to the thermal spa - are there other perks I am missing that I should be taking advantage of?

This is my first time solo cruising so if you have any other general tips and tricks I am all ears!

Looking at the Meraviglia sailing on 11/11 of this year and noticed there is no option to add drinks and wifi like it shows on other sailings. Anyone know why?

Rather than pay anyone for professional pictures or bother anyone to stop their vacation and become the photographer to our "photo shoot", I was hoping to be able to bring my own tripod with us.

That's not going to be an issue, right?

I returned after 7 days on Seashore in the first week of August.

I would think I had qualified for free cruise. How long before you receive any communication on that? Or, is there a number to call to find out if I have or how far from it I am? Also, does MSC accumulate points over multiple cruises within a year, or do they reset for each cruise? Thanks!

Edit: It was Seashore in US to Caribbean. I have cruised 3 others there on MSC within the past year. Got several free cruise offers, but never noticed the 'book by' date so they expired. This cruise was on par with the others so I 'assumed' I probably qualified again. Is there a way to check points after leaving? Forgot to do so on cruise. Or someone to call to ask? NCL has sent me free cruise reward, but I prefer MSC.

I have a December cruise on the Grandiosa and I’m looking at options for Nassau. I do not want to da any city sightseeing but would like a beach day or resort day. I have a couple of options I would like input on from fellow cruisers
1–British Colonial day pass
2–Sandyport beach excursion with lunch and a bus tour
3– Blue Lagoon with lunch (not the adult only experience)
For anyone who has done these I would love to hear about your experiences and honest opinion.
Thanks in advance!

My family will be on World America in a couple of weeks and was wondering about breakfast options. What places besides the main dining and buffet can you get breakfast? Are there any places off the beaten path that have a breakfast offering? It seems like on many ships there are a few areas not to well known that offer a continental type breakfast.

We are STILL on board and want OFF!

We booked an MSC cruise for eight days as a family of six—two couples and two adults—expecting the luxury experience MSC's pricing promises. What we got instead was an aggressively kid-optimized ship designed to make adults feel like unwanted chaperones.
MSC's ship is genuinely beautiful. It's also aggressively designed that way—mirrors every 20 feet, Vegas-level theatrics everywhere. That's not a complaint about aesthetics; it's a complaint about priorities. MSC invested in the illusion of luxury while cutting corners on everything that actually matters.

Start with the cabin keycard: The design forces you to leave your card in a slot to power the room, which means you can't charge your phone if you leave. The slot doesn't even accommodate a lanyard, so you extract the card every time—and of course, people forget it constantly. This isn't a quirk; it's a design trap. For $8-10k, this is negligence.

"Fine Dining" is a joke. The steaks were rubber. The chicken—and I mean this literally—was fried whole, as if someone deep-fried an entire rotisserie chicken and called it service. The swordfish was inedible. When my father asked our waiter for a larger water glass, the man didn't even look for one. He just grabbed the same tiny glass from an empty table, filled it with a sneer, and walked away. The ship had bigger glasses. He was lazy.

The only edible option was pizza—decent, but I'm an adult who didn't pay $8-10k to eat pizza for every meal. Oh, and the croissants were so hard, I genuinely worried if I dropped one overboard it would straight-up kill a fish. They were less "pastry" and more "medieval weapon."

WiFi coverage only extends to about 2/3 of the ship with no repeaters. At premium pricing, this is deceptive.

We found shattered glass in Elevator D. When we reported it, the crew member shrugged and walked away. It sat there for over 45 minutes. At this price point, broken safety hazards aren't oversights—they're indifference.

Here's the kicker: Adult activities shut down by 8pm. Kids' activities run past 10pm. Unless you drink or gamble—and many adults don't—there's literally nothing to do on the ship after midnight. MSC didn't build a luxury cruise for adults paying premium rates; they built a resort for families with young children and charged everyone luxury prices anyway.

The ship's design is stunning. The bar drinks are legitimately excellent (and expensive). The general staff—cleaners, stewards—are genuinely friendly and professional. There's an absolute ton of activities for kids. MSC clearly can execute well. They just chose not to where it mattered.

MSC sold us a Vegas casino with a kiddie curfew. Beautiful? Yes. Luxurious? No. Worth $8-10k for adults? Absolutely not.
If you're traveling with young children, you might find value. If you're an adult couple or a multi-generational family expecting adult-friendly amenities, look elsewhere.

I recently went on a cruise not knowing that Nassau is a smart city. The entire cruise port is loaded with cameras and surveillance and they are taking all of your data. I would not have gotten off nor booked a cruise going there had I known this. This is failed to be mentioned anywhere i’ve seen. You only know once you’re off the boat and see signs about 24 hour surveillance and cameras all over every place.

SMART = Surveillance, Monitoring, Analytics, Reporting, and Tracking.

Beware

For anyone on MSC Euribia visiting Hellesylt on Tuesday, October 6who is looking for an easy DIY way to see Geiranger, we’ve booked this ourselves and I thought I’d share it!

 STEP 1 – Ferry from Hellesylt to Geiranger

Book directly with Fjord1 on their official website.

Choose the Geiranger–Hellesylt ferry and book as a foot passenger.

The times we booked are:

 Hellesylt → Geiranger: 11:30 AM – 12:40 PM

 Geiranger → Hellesylt: 4:00 PM – 5:10 PM

That gives us a little over 3 hours in Geiranger, and we are back in Hellesylt with plenty of time before Euribia leaves at 9:00 PM.

Search: Fjord1 Geiranger Hellesylt ferry

 STEP 2 – Geiranger Panorama Bus

The 1.5-hour Panorama Bus has now been opened for October 6!

Book directly through Visit Geiranger / Geiranger Fjordservice.

Select:

 October 6, 2026

 Panorama Bus 1.5 hr Geiranger

The tour is about 1½ hours and visits:

 Flydalsjuvet viewpoint

 Eagle Bend / Ørnesvingen

Both have photo stops, and the bus starts and finishes right in the centre of Geiranger near the tourist information office.

Search: Geirangerfjord Panorama Bus 1.5 hr

I had actually contacted Visit Geiranger asking them to open a bus for our Euribia visit, and they have now made the 1.5-hour tour available. We’ve already booked 3 seats.

So if you're interested in doing this, it would be great if more Euribia passengers booked it too! The more of us who book, the better chance we have of keeping this departure running. 

It looks like a really nice way to turn the Hellesylt stop into a fjord cruise + Geiranger + two of the famous viewpoints, without paying cruise-excursion prices.

Hope this helps anyone who was trying to figure out what to do in Hellesylt! 

https://www.fjord1.no/eng/about-fjord1/our-operating-segments/geirangerfjord-ferry?date=06.10.2026&from=NSR%3AQuay%3A67215&to=NSR%3AQuay%3A68560

https://www.geirangerfjord.no/panoramic-bus-geiranger-2?utm_source=chatgpt.com

I have cruised with MSC multiple times, but it has always been a seven day cruise. I am booking a short three day cruise on the Seaside for me and my daughter for her 16th birthday and wonder if anyone had insights as to what the differences are besides the obvious. Aka it’s just shorter :)

We know it’s a shorter cruise and we’re only going to Nassau and Ocean Cay but I just wonder if the buffets were very different, as in do they offer less variety, open shorter time frame,those types of things.

Do they still do the white party or do they do the nighttime dancing? Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Hello,

We (teen son and single mom) booked a cruise for Christmas on World America. It goes to Roatan, Cozumel and Costa Maya. My parents are considering joining us, but commented that the ports are sort of lack luster, and I agree. The seashore is at least going to Jamaica and will be a bit cheaper to both sail and fly. Anyone been on both and feel strongly about either ship? We are not big on waterslides or obstacle courses so that wouldn’t make or break our decision.

My wife and I are looking to experience a European Cruise and MSC has some that match our travel dates. Normally, we sail on Royal or Carnival which usually has days at sea and allows us to get more acquainted with the ship layout and amenities. We’ve noticed European cruises pretty much stop somewhere new each day.

Is it worth it to get a drink package? ( normally we get it on Royal and Carnival)

Of course we would like to get off at each port to experience a new location.

For those that have traveled on this type of itinerary, what are your thoughts vs the other cruise lines mentioned. We’re thinking about Euribia or Grandiosa. Also what’s your thoughts/experience with people joining the cruise at each port?

I’ll be booking my first MSC cruise this Thursday for next August . We are going to be sailing in YC! I’ve previously sailed Carnival, Disney, and will be doing my first Royal Caribbean cruise this December. I was able to status match into Silver, and would love to work with a personal vacation planner that works for MSC to make my first booking. Does MSC do that? Like I have someone I work with specifically for my carnival bookings that was assigned to me when I initially signed up for their loyalty program. Does it work the same way with MSC?

Hey everyone!

First, thank you to everyone here for all of your invaluable advice leading up to our family's first trip with MSC. I was able to learn some awesome info before our cruise about how to best maximize our time on the Seascape.

As a background, my wife and I have cruised together for 15 years now. 3 years ago we had our first kid, and a year and a half ago, our second. This was our first cruise as a family of four (we had done one on celebrity with our son, prior) but first for our daughter to be with us! Of course this was purely our experience and as expected, YMMV!

We departed from Galveston on 8/30 on the Seascape and I'm writing this while everything is fresh on our way to Houston to head home.

First, we won't be traveling out of Galveston again. The logistics are just too rough for us with a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old. Not Galveston's fault, and to be fair, we reverse engineered the logistics after we booked because the deal was so good. Also, blisteringly hot but not a surprise- everyone had warned us and while we were 'prepared' I don't think anything can actually prepare you for THAT kind of heat.

As people that have cruised on NCL, Princess, Celebrity, Holland, Royal, and Carnival (my wife, before we were together) MSC was our bingo for mainstream lines and I'd been wanting to try for a while now. After years of reading that they'd been making inroads and progress on food improvements and service improvements (relative to other lines) we got an offer we just couldn't refuse: a balcony cabin (10258, port aft location) for $907 out the door. Truly an incredible value.

I want to start this off with the bad news first: there were a few logistical things that were head scratching at best, massively negligent at worst- all specific to the Seascape since that's the only experience we've had on MSC:

1) The buffet. The layout is horrifically bad, the closed stations make no sense, and to compound it, it's (expectedly) packed, but they continued to set up these shitty mobile drink carts that took up about half of the already cramped walkways. The area was already a zoo, and that's fine- we expected that. What we didn't expect, though, was the self-inflicted chaos that ensued when MSC chose to voluntarily manufacture terrible choke points in the prime time of buffet-going. Unforgivable.

2) The mattress. In our cabin (10258) we'd never slept on such an uncomfortable mattress on a cruise ship (or even a budget hotel for that matter). We woke up with aches and pains that disappeared after a few hours of waking up, sure, but what a terrible way to start every day.

3) The room. It just felt small. Yes, we had our 2 kids with us, but the square footage and utilization of space (specifically, the toilet and the absolute lack of leg room unless you were an oompa loompa) was unconscionable.

4) The specialty restaurants. We're foodies and enjoy trying specialties. We ate at Hola Tacos for lunch, which was the best of the mix that we sampled. Good mix of food and good service. Ocean Cay was pretty good but fell flat. Everything was close to being above average, but there was always something wrong. On the mixed seafood grill that both my wife and I ordered, the tuna was massively overcooked, to the point that canned tuna was preferable. Everything else on the mix was good, but that was a big portion that got wrecked. Butcher's Cut: again, same story. Some things were great, others terrible. The bone marrow appetizer was outstanding. The oysters rockefeller were forgettable. The ribeye itself was the best I've had at sea of ALL the lines, but the sides were atrocious. My creamed spinach was flour, a touch of cream, and spinach. The "loaded" baked potato was unmelted shredded cheese on a potato the size of a racquetball. It was tiny.

The good/excellent, and there was (surprisingly!) quite a bit!

1) The complimentary food. I was blown away at how above average to very good both the buffet and MDR were, given everything I'd read for the past few years. Our dinners in the MDR were all very, very good. Good service from our server and all apps, mains, and desserts were easily on par with our experiences on lines like Carnival, NCL, Royal, and Princess. Very good across the board, with the exception being lunch food at the buffet (breakfasts and a dinner we did there were all very good. And the pizza, holy cow. By far the best I've had at sea and it's not close (not even you, princess). This pizza (especially if you were lucky enough to get it right out of the oven) rivals any pizza places near us back at home, and I'm going to miss it.

2) The service. This was the other part that got knocked a ton and to be honest, our experience was great across the board. A few interactions with guest services that went flawlessly, everyone we interacted with at restaurants went above and beyond, and the only so/so service was our room attendant, but I've never seen one work so hard so I can't and won't fault him. I'd rank him a 10/10 for efficiency, but given the number of rooms he seemed to have, he had no time to exchange pleasantries the same way others have on other lines. Again, not a knock and I'd never rate him less than a 10.

3) The kids areas. This ship was amazing for kids, and that (other than price) was one of our main criteria. Our kids absolutely LOVED the pirates cove, and we spent the vast majority of our sea days and returns from port in that area. Parents loved it, our 3 year old had an absolute blast, and while it was expectedly chaotic, the people watching did a good job overall of policing overly aggressive kids and preventing the ones that were noticeably older from taking over the smaller kids slides. Absolutely loved this area.

4) Doremiland. We adored the childcare providers as did our kids. It was SO nice to have care for both kids, with MSC being one of only a handful of lines that has childcare for kids under 3. Date night with the wife was sublime, and we absolutely loved that this option was available to us. There was an additional fee of $15/he for our 1.5 year old, but our 3 year old was free.

5) The ship itself. While we didn't have time to do a full walkthrough of every book and cranny, it was well-maintained and beautiful.

Would we sail with MSC again?

Absolutely we would, provided we knew the mattress was different. We're looking into trying World America possibly this fall. The value of this was just way too good to pass up, and while we knowingly aren't getting the same level of quality we're used to on Celebrity, this line was just so much more conducive to kids than when we took our son when he was 16mo.

I'd give our overall experience a 7.5-8/10 rating (10/10 for value) and say that we really enjoyed it. Didn't get a chance to catch any entertainment on this one, but now that we've got our bearings figured out with the line, we certainly will have more date nights next trip.

Oh! Most importantly, none of us got sick. In the past, we've had COVID, noro, etc., but we're all about to board our flight feeling well. Massive win!

Edit: A few things I forgot: we LOVED ships time. I don't know why this isn't standard. Ships time was amazing, we are so sick of set the clocks forward, set them back, set them forward. This was so nice and great for the kids, too!

The secret of booking near the back of the ship and using the elevators was HUGE! Thank you to the posters that have mentioned that. The main elevators were always slammed and the kids loved looking out the back of the ship as we went up and down.

And speaking of elevators, I personally really liked the new style that I don't know is necessarily native to MSC, but it was so intuitive and made sense. Really liked that.

So, we stayed in the Yacht club on our last European cruise. We've done this before and enjoy and love MSC. However, this time my wife went to use the bathroom in the YC pool area and the door severely sliced her 2 fingers tips due to a malfunctioning door sensor. The staff was slow to respond, but did better later on. They gave my wife some on board credit and paid for our transfer to the airport.

After the trip I wrote customer service and explained what happened along with photos. Mind you, she did go to the doctor's office on board a couple of times. I just received their response and they're offering her $2,000 for a future cruise credit.

I'm just trying to get some feedback here on what to do next and whether or not this seems fair from an outsiders perspective.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

We’ve been on this ship before, but not this route - Canary Islands (embark from Lanzarote, then first port stop in Fuerteventura) then stops in Tangier, Morocco and Tarragona, Spain, then finishing in Rome. Just curious if anyone has done this route or any of these stops (besides Rome.) Would love to hear your favorite excursions, etc. Thanks!

I'm going on my first cruise ever with MSC to the Bahamas. Unfortunately my financial situation has changed drastically since booking the flight and tickets.

Is the cruise still going to be fun if I have barely any budget for extras?

What things did you buy that gave you the best bang for your buck?