MSC Cruises Reviews

Thursday 9th Feb 2012

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Msc Cruises

Msc Splendida

Abandoned By MSC Splendida

Abandoned by MSC Splendida

Reviewed By: Tyrrell, Shailer Park, Queensland Australia on 28th Jan 2010
Cruise Line: MSC Cruises	Times cruised before: 0
Cruise Ship: MSC Splendida	Sailed: January, 2010
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Balcony	Occasion: Birthday

My wife and I travelled from Australia, to go on our first cruise, the exotic Meditarranean, on the "magnificent" MSC Splendida. The ship looked huhe, fantastic, cabins were clean and spacious, though we nearly froze to death in the Italian winter. We were told 3400 passengers boarded, 60% German, 30% Italian ,then a mix including 200 UK and 20 Ozzies !. We were there for the travel, history and port visits and we booked shore excursions at all 9 ports of call. The highs became the shore excursions, some a bit too controlled by the guides, but who cares when you get to see places like Pompai and the Pyramids.Coming back every night, we had a meal at a set table in our "designated" Restaurant, food mostly mediocre, but we came to know and love our 4 UK and 2 Irish companions, and we were by far the loudest table in the Restaurant. We has fun at the quirky nightly shows, drank a heap of very expensive cocktails and german beer, and ran the gauntlet at the breakfast spread on the top deck, though I couldn't stomach the powdered scrambled eggs. The indonesian staff worked like ants and never stopped, we felt sorry for them as we got to know them. In summary everthing was fine until disembarkation, and then we were advised that our passports (handed in for shore excurions) could not be found. This is a moment when a service company shines or fails, MSC did worse. The initial response was that "we" must have lost out passports then to "we never handed our passports in ".Over a 3 hour period , we had to turn out our bags in front of other disembarking passengers to show we did not have our passports hidden (why would we ?), and be escorted to the cabin for a cabin search. The Immigration Purser refused to accept any responsibility, and then we were handed to the Operations Manager assistant, who drove us to the port Police, and filled out forms saying 'we" had lost our passports. At this stage we had missed our booked train to Milan. The saga ended when we were driven back to the port to collect our bags. The assistant operations Manager had contacted the Australian embassy in Milan and told us to report there and get another passport issued. Then he turned to us, grabbed my hand , shook it, and said "good luck" and walked away. At this stage, angry, frustrated and stressed, we had to walk the 2 Kilometres to the railway station dragging our bags uphill, as all the taxis had gone an hour ago. Making alternative train bookings , we made it to Milan, and the marvelous people in the Australian Embassy had emergency passports ready in 2 hours, so we could return home the next day. So what do we think of MSC?, when the seas are flat its smooth sailing, but given any storm, its every man for himself. MSC ABANDONED us when we needed them, its that simple.
Quality of Food
The food was bland, but it was plentiful and one would not die of malnutrition
Entertainment
Quirkjy dance shows, the acrobats were the highlight
Shore Excursions
Pyramids and Pompei the best, though Alexandria is very poverty stricken and upsetting. Malta was the least satisfying as we had to watch a 1 and a half hour audio presentation. Show me the sights not the prints !
Staff
Esmay, the English contact, the only one who really gave us all good advice, including ordering tea in our cabins for free.
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities
We were in ports and on shore excursions for 9 of the 11 nights. Bingo was funny. The casino stunk of smoke and cigarettes
Cabins
Balcony cabin on the 8th level, though we had a rigging covering 60 percent of the view. My tip would be the 9th level or above for un interupted views
Overall Rating

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Opinion: Disagree Comment by andrea, genoa (04 Feb 10 14:39) about this REVIEW

I'm the "oper mgr ass.nt" named in the review. I assisted them as port agent,driving them qickly to the nearest police office. I don't know who and where passport were lost. The disembarked with a problem,I worked to solve it helping them to return safely back to home. this is my work. said this,I "walked away" because they must collect luggages. If asked,I have no problem to drive them to the train station,but the did'nt ask. and they did'nt appear so upset with the situation I'm speaking about me and my agency,not the ship or the crew. what you said for indonesian (and malagay,indians,philipines.....some italian etc) it really true,they're the column of the company saluti andrea

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Opinion: Agree Comment by Tyrrell, Shailer Park (02 Feb 10 23:40) about this REVIEW

Hi everyone. I have recently sent a complaint letter to MSC Cruises, via the Australian booking agency, who have promised to investigate my complaints regarding MSC losing 2 passports and putting 2 people through hell. I will keep you posted on the After Sales service and outcome, if indeed, it exists at all. regards Steve Tyrrell

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Opinion: Agree Comment by sood, Westcliff on Sea (29 Jan 10 23:31) about this REVIEW

I am sorry to hear of your horrific experience on the day of diembarkation. I do agree that the Indonesian and the Indian staff work hard. However, as I have commented before, MSC needs to spend time & money to train their staff. The passengers expect customer service, efficiency, politeness and a certain level of good service from the management team on the ship including the customer service and accounting officers. We do pay their full service charges.

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Comment by jones, thatcham (29 Jan 10 07:44) about this REVIEW

I do wonder why MSC get any bookings from people at all? The number of negative reviews is possibly the highest on this site. I did see someone comment that the parent company is called Mediterranean Shipping Company, a company that is in the container shipping biz, and what can you expect? They are also the first to market with offers at low low prices, someone there should get a grip and make customer service a priority.

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Comment by jones, thatcham (29 Jan 10 07:43) about this REVIEW

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Comment by oneil, st.helens (28 Jan 10 22:13) about this REVIEW

Hi Tyrell, So sad to hear that your first cruise experience seemed to be a bad experience. The only "positive" seems to be the Irish and the English that you dined with. Well you can't win 'em all!! Don't be put off by your obvious dissapointment, but please read the reviews that come on this great site, (my apologies if you did). I understand the difficulties, and cost, of travelling from Australia to Europe but believe me, there are far better groups out there that you would be blown away by. Nearer home to you, Azamara , (look at the reviews), do a superb Far Eastern cruise, so that may be an option. The attention to detail is top notch. The ships are smaller, more intimate and the food is to die for. I hope that this little bit of detail is of use to you, as I would hate you to be put off before a "real experience"was tried. Happy cruising, Dave.

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Comment by kelly, falkirk (30 Jan 10 05:54) about a COMMENT by oneil (28 Jan 10 22:13)

you recommend azamara which in your experience is fine if no probs arise. msc was fine for Tyrell until a problem arose. i wasted a lot of my time at azamara journeys pursers desk trying to sort out a problem and found the service very poor. and certainly wouldnt describe the food "to die for"

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