8-Day Caribbean Cruise aboard MSC SEASCAPE

MSC is a step above Royal Caribbean. We are staying in the yacht club area with only 240 guests. Cabin is nice but not as big as NCL Haven rooms. The butler service is very good. Seems to be a big language barrier with most of the staff on board. Nightly entertainment is very good. Food is good, not great but they only serve breakfast til 9:00 am? When you are at port they have all the other restaurants on the ship closed except the buffet. Most of the bars are also shut down and don’t open til 5:00. When getting off the ship at the different ports they had one person scanning all the peoples cards getting on and off the boat. There are over 6000 people on this boat. They need to have more people to do this. Also on NCL they have a private entrance for the Haven people we finally found it on this ship but they were allowing anyone to use this exit and entrance? Why pay the extra money for special treatment if you don’t get it? We got some misinformation from the Conceirge desk. The pool area for the Yacht club is amazing and very large. However you can only eat buffet outside by the pool. No ordering offa menu. NCL includes 2 specialty restaurants for dinner with a 7 day cruise. MSC charges you for any speciality restaurant. Observation deck for the yacht club is very nice.. NCL has a private elevator for the Haven, Yacht club does not. Enjoyable cruise and easy to get to from where we live to leave out of Galveston. If I had to fly to take this cruise from another port I would not cruise with them again. It was a good cruise for the money. They just have some things to work on.

This was our first cruise. We had great fun experiences during 7 days on this ship. Foods, entertainment, activities are great. They have dance classes, karaoke nights, dj….They even have clubs for kids. One thing they need to add is more ping pong tables..or a limit time on table tennis. Since our trip was on fall break, there are so many kids. Once they played 1 table tennis, we had to wait more than 30’ for our turn.. or don’t even get a turn because they kept playing.

Our entertainment was run by a funny MC. Mr RyanRose was awesome . He brought us so much laughter. We couldn’t believe foods at dinner or buffet was so so good. We didn’t skip any dinner at Cala Jondal. Our waiter Jimmy and Ayu were nice and professional.

Our room was nice and clean. I would recommend my friends if they want to go with MSC on their future trip.

My experience with MSC Cruises was absolutely horrible, and I want other travelers to know what I went through before spending their hard-earned money and precious vacation time on a cruise that, in my opinion, was simply not worth it.

The ship smelled of cigarette smoke and harsh chemicals throughout much of the ship. An alarm even went off. I repeatedly encountered smoke while walking around, and it seemed impossible to escape it. The only places where I could get away from it were the spa and the buffet dining area. MSC may have smoking policies, but from what I experienced, they were not being enforced. It honestly felt like they just didn’t care.

The smoke seriously affected my breathing. I was coughing constantly, sometimes to the point of vomiting, and my throat and chest felt raw and irritated. I complained repeatedly while onboard, but I did not feel that my concerns about the air quality or my health were taken seriously. (Other guest were coughing by day 3) I spent most of my time stuck in my room instead of enjoying the vacation I had paid thousands of dollars for. Imagine spending that kind of money and barely being able to enjoy your cruise.

I will have a video up within 2 months ( I am still sick from the cruise)

What makes this even more frustrating is how MSC handled my complaint afterward. They told me they would not do anything because I had not gone to the ship’s medical team. The medical charges are extremely expensive, and I did not want to pay for a medical consultation. My symptoms started after the smoke incident that was serious enough for the captain to pull an alarm. I did the best I could to take care of myself because I always travel prepared. I had already complained repeatedly about the smoke, and I expected those complaints to count for something.

Separately, there was another incident that I found absolutely ridiculous. One night, close to midnight, three officers came to my cabin door and WOKE ME UP. They acted as though they were afraid for my life. I was polite and cooperated, even though I had been asleep. The whole situation was bizarre and upsetting, and it is another part of this cruise experience that I will not forget.

MSC also claims it offered me another room. What they leave out is that this offer came less than two days before I was due to leave. After everything I had already been through, why would I want to pack all my belongings and go through the hassle of moving rooms with so little time left? A last-minute offer does not undo the days of discomfort I had already experienced, and I do not think it should be presented as though it solved the problem.

Then there is MSC’s claim that I received a complimentary wash and blowout. That is simply not true. I did not receive this service. I am extremely upset that MSC has included something I never received in its account of my experience.

On top of everything else, the constant pressure to spend more money was ridiculous. While we were dining, staff approached passengers to encourage them to upgrade their meals. While walking around the ship, we were repeatedly approached by people trying to sell products, services, and extras. There always seemed to be another sales pitch. I paid for a vacation, not to be constantly pressured to spend even more money.

The whole experience left me feeling that making more money was more important than the comfort and well-being of the passengers. I cannot speak to what MSC cares about internally, but that is certainly how it felt as a customer.

And the problems did not end when I left the ship. Dealing with MSC customer service has been another horrible experience. The staff at the customer service desk were rude, and I have called multiple times trying to get my concerns addressed. Sometimes representatives would hang up on me, other times the phone would ring without anyone answering, or I would be left on hold for what felt like forever. After everything I experienced on the cruise, having to fight just to get someone to listen to me has made the entire situation even worse.

MSC has made me feel as though my complaints are an inconvenience rather than something the company should take seriously. I expected better treatment from a company I paid thousands of dollars to for a vacation.

I wish I had known but most people don’t spend the time that it takes to actually share helpful information. That’s why I am doing it.

I understand that problems can happen on any vacation, but when passengers are struggling with smoke, coughing, and repeatedly raising concerns, I believe the company should take those complaints seriously instead of finding reasons to dismiss them.

I am still trying to recover from this experience. I lost precious vacation time, spent thousands of dollars, and came away feeling that my health and concerns were not taken seriously. That is not what I paid for, and it is not what I expected from a cruise company.

And these are just the basics of what happened. There is so much more I could say about the way I was treated, both onboard and afterward, but I cannot include every single incident in one review. What I have shared should give people an idea of how disappointing this experience was from beginning to end.

This cruise was not worth the money, the time, or what I went through. I paid for a vacation where I could relax and enjoy myself. Instead, I spent much of it in my room, dealing with smoke and breathing problems, and then had to fight to get MSC to take my complaints seriously.

I am sharing my experience because I do not want other travelers to spend their hard-earned money without understanding what they might encounter. If you are sensitive to cigarette smoke or strong chemical odors, please research MSC’s and read passenger reviews carefully before booking.

I wish I had known more before I went. My vacation should have been a chance to relax and enjoy myself. Instead, it became an experience I am still trying to recover from… and will never forget the horror vacation.

and I got a … they are doing nothing…. And this ….

We sincerely regret that your birthday vacation did not meet your expectations and appreciate the opportunity to review your feedback.

Kind Regards,

Kayla J

MSC Cruises North America