However, I would love to hear from anyone familiar with them.
Can someone else also comment on their experience with the line? I don't care about the cultural differences or languages. I have lived in 4 different countries and have traveled (outside of cruising) in Europe, Caribbean and Asia so I am not bothered by cultural differences.
Can someone give me the quick run down on MSC and also tell me specifically about the food too! I always lose 10 lbs before going so I can gain my 10 lbs of cruise weight l
I haven't sailed MSC, but I've heard it's similar to Costa in terms of the many different languages and less structured than the American and British lines.
I have some friends who sailed MSC in the Med. after sailing RCCL elsewhere, and they were very disappointed. In general they're not quite the same class of service as RCCL and Princess, and my friends were rather disappointed by the food and shipboard experience. Definitely check out the ship rating and reviews on CruiseCritic.
Personally, I'd skip MSC if there was another option in my price range sailing to the ports I wanted. We ended up on Costa simply because they were the only non-luxury line sailing the Indian Ocean to Seychelles and Madagascar. I've considered MSC in the past because they've had some interesting Black Sea itineraries. For more common destinations, I'd rather sail with the English-language lines, because it feels more organized.
I sailed with MSC almost a decade ago so things may have changed. What I liked about MSC: they had great itineraries that other lines didn't have. We chose them because they specifically went to Odessa and no other lines were going there. I also liked that it was more affordable than other lines so we were able to upgrade and get a fabulous suite. What I didn't like: older ship, interior was clearly worn and they lacked the amenities of other lines. I also disliked the composition of the people on the ship. I don't need to be friends with everyone, but cruising with nearly 700 Germans who feel that cutting in line is a completely appropriate thing to do got old REALLY fast. I kind of missed having a more diverse group of cruisers.