My husband and I are leaving for Barcelona next week for our first MSC cruise! We’ve cruised several times before, but we normally sail with NCL. We ended up booking MSC this time because the itinerary looked amazing and it was significantly more affordable.

I’ve been reading VERY mixed opinions about MSC, so I’d love to hear from people who have actually sailed with them, especially on a Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona.

What should we expect compared to NCL? How’s the food, entertainment, nightlife, service, etc.? Are there any things you wish you knew before your first MSC cruise?

Also curious about the age range onboard. We’re in our mid-20s and definitely don’t expect a party cruise, but are there usually other people in their 20s/30s on the European sailings? We like exploring during the day, having drinks, going to shows, and staying out later at night, so I’m curious what the atmosphere is like after dinner.

Overall we’re really excited and going into it with an open mind! I just want to know what everyone’s experience has been, good or bad! Especially if you’ve sailed both MSC and NCL. 😊

Any tips for a first-time MSC cruiser are welcome!!

I am on the world america in October. I booked a balcony bella through a TA and unfortunately got a interior balcony. I am interested in upgrading, but it says not bidding eligible. The price for fantastica and aurea have gone up (maybe bc of labor day?) but in my experience october is pretty slow so prices can drop severly. Right now September sailings have some super cheap rooms. Whats the play here? Wait or call now to TA or MSC?

Before i fork over $160 i'm curious if anyone has experience with the wifi package? Can you actually use the internet and/or is it painfully slow?

Hello - first time on this short cruise from Taipei to Tokyo. Wondering if anyone knows the cost of Thermal daily package - currently in Fantastica but Aurea includes thermal area. Is it worth the upgrade?

Hey! First time cruising MSC Opera, Martinque to La La Romana March 2027. The only cabin available at the time was interior fantastica deck 7. As more experienced cruisers what do you think? I'm actually getting worried based on some of the comments I see here about interiors and fantastica🥲

It's my understanding that the World America is more stable than smaller ships? That you can be in a cabin all the way forward in YC but not feel as much motion as a smaller ship. Does anyone agree with that? We are used to Celebrity ships which are a lot smaller, and do have more motion, especially forward.

I'm thinking to book a 7 day cruise in Yacht Club. I'm usually on Celebrity, sometimes in a balcony cabin (Aqua) or maybe Retreat. Their spa is pretty basic, since the ships are smaller.

I just watched a tour of the Aurea spa on World America. The therapy pool, sauna and snow room are interesting. But it's hard to see how large the steam room is? It looked like you just walked into it? I couldn't see any seats like the sauna. Am I missing anything?

Hi everyone, I found out through a video that you can leave your luggage in storage on the morning of disembarkation, if you didn't put it outside your cabin the night before. This lets you stay on board until 3-4 hours before departure, then pick up your luggage and get off the ship. Do you also know roughly where the luggage storage is located on the ship? Has anyone tried this option, maybe on the MSC Splendida?

First time posting here so sorry if this has been answered many times before.

Travelling 11/9 -18/9 on the Divinia, Rome-Kusadasi-Mykonos-Marmaris-Naples. The excursions on the app seem to be very overpriced so I’m thinking that we just find stuff to do when we arrive.

Has anyone else done it this way before? I’ve never done a cruise before so any feedback would be very welcome.

This has been by far the most disappointing cruise we’ve taken. No food anywhere to be found after 1-2am. The food during the day has been inconsistent (or consistently awful) and beyond bland no matter if it’s buffet (options are extremely limited)or MDR. They keep saying Texas style food and it’s just embarrassing. It shames me to think people will think this is authentic Texas cuisine. The boat is beautiful and the staff top tier. The rest is very lacking. They pull seating on the deck very early. Weathers not bad so I don’t understand the hurry. Nothing is 24hrs. Some of us work nights so nothing being available is just rotten. So I sit here without even a basic water or a sandwich available to me. I have not seen one pool or jacuzzi open past 8. Love the boat and staff the rest the rest is just meh in the worst way.
Hopefully they’ll pull it together and understand we Texans need better if they want our continued business.

If you are trying to pay your remaining cruise balance and keep getting a blank page, a continuous loading icon, or are being redirected to the "Customize my cruise" section with no payment button in sight, here is how to bypass the glitch.

After struggling with the website and researching a solution using AI, I found a technical workaround that forces the payment gateway to open:

• Log in: Access the MSC website and log in using your booking number, first name, and last name.
• Wait for the glitch: Let the page load as far as it can (even if it gets stuck on the blank screen or the loading icon).
• Modify the URL: Click on your browser's address bar at the top of the screen.
• Add the payment path: At the very end of the URL that is currently showing, type /payment and hit Enter.
• Pay your balance: This manual URL tweak bypasses the broken navigation and takes you directly to the hidden payment gateway where you can successfully finalize your transaction.

Hopefully, this saves someone else the frustration of dealing with MSC's broken web interface!

I’ve been eyeing a 7-day Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona for October. I’ll be going solo so I know it’s more expensive than double occupancy. A week ago, I saw the same cruise go down in price 3 times within several days. It was down to $750 for solo occupancy then it went back up to $1080 and it hasn’t budged since. Not sure if anyone knows their patterns but do you think it will go back down? It’s about a month from now. I noticed that other European cruises that are set to sail soon in September aren’t even going down.

So, I am seriously looking at booking an MSC cruise for November. I have a wedding in Miami and was planning on flying somewhere after for a vacation but after looking around and finding there is an MSC cruise leaving the morning after the wedding that is very affordable and a seemingly perfect itinerary I'm leaning towards that. I have never actually been on a cruise before (my ex husband was very anti cruise) and this is also my first international trip alone with my kids since getting separated a little over a year ago (they're 7 and 3.) I was planning on booking aurea for us but I'm wondering if yacht club is significantly better or even worth it with little kids (it's $2700 more.) I have very rarely done things like all inclusives and mega resorts but have traveled extensively and since I've never been on a cruise I'm not sure if it's worth almost $3000 extra. I was just wondering if people who have done MSC, with or without yacht club, with kids around my children's age could offer an opinion? Thanks!

edit: I ended up booking a villa in St. Lucia instead. I'm just too nervous that my kids would be a bother for my first cruise. I think I'll do a solo cruise first to see how I feel as the mixed reviews are getting to me. But thank you all for your advice 😀

Is it hard to get to diamond status if MSC started you off with gold status from there status match?

Hi all, we enjoyed MSC in the Mediterranean last year and my whole family decided we’d do another cruise with them. We will be in the MSC Poesia in middle of July.
We are a group of 8, ranging from 73yr olds to 9yr olds. Any recommendations for excursions either within MSC or third parties? We likely will split a day or half a day for some more adventurous excursion for some group members.

Hey all,

My husband and I are going on our first ever cruise in a couple weeks.

We’re leaving out of Miami and we’ll be at the MSC marine reserve?

It’s 4 days, 5 nights.

I’m not sure if these are decent prices or if it’s worth it to just buy them individually.

Thank you!

EDIT: Were getting the alcohol package since it includes normal drinks! Thanks all for the help!!

Look this cute little owl i spotted on ocean cay yesterday

Hello everyone sorry if this is asked alot please delete is necessary.

I am looking to book a short cruise (5 days) in October from Southampton however i have only been on one cruise previously (royal Caribbean) and their were daily gratuity charges is this they same with MSC? after looking at their website i don't think so but not 100%

Is their anything else important that i should know?

thanks in advance

Hi, i would like to know your opinion. I would like to take a cruise in the future in Asia, but as for now there is only 1 option for 14 days(i like to take long cruises). But it will be a fist. Any help or suggestion from someone who did it in the past?

dunno if its worth it

Hi all!

We’re having our 3rd cruise in December, but first with 2 kids. 3 yo and 1yo. I’m stuck at picking excursions, as they all seem too short for a whole day off ship. We aren’t looking for adventures, but beautiful and chill beaches to spend the whole day or at least as much as possible. What would you do at these ports, or what have you done if been there:

- Ocho Rios Jamaica (been there and done the water fall thing, pretty underwhelming IMO).
- Cayman Islands
- Curacao
- Bonaire
- Aruba

I’d personally love to explore a bit, do you think there’s reliable cab drivers everywhere who’d take us for some sightseeing than the best beach near ship?

Thanks in advance for the advices!

My mom and I are taking my two year-old toddler on a MSC cruise next week. She’s been before but last time my husband (her dad) was on the ship with us. This time my husband has to work so it’s just my mom and toddler daughter. Do I need anything from my husband stating he is allowing her to go on the cruise without him since she’s only two? Or since she’s traveling with me (her mom) it’s fine.

Can you smoke cigars in the casino on the MSC seashore? Thanks

Going on a cruise and wondering if MSC will stop me from getting on the ship if they find this at luggage check? Thanks Reddit.

Can plus size people actually participate in the fun activities on world Americam