11 Differences Between MSC, Norwegian And Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

This review is based on my experience of nine MSC cruises, ten Norwegian cruises and five with Royal Caribbean. I will compare my cruising experiences below.

The differences are related to the following:

• Languages
• Itineraries
• Entertainment
• Cruise Cards
• Drinks
• Service
• Soda
• Hygiene
• Food
• Theatre
• Affordability

#1 Languages Spoken Onboard

Norwegian / Royal Caribbean

If you cruise with NCL/Royal Caribbean, you will rarely hear announcements in any language other than English.

All the signs are in English, and English is the language spoken in the bars, restaurants and theatre shows.

Even if you are cruising from a country where English is not the first language, the majority of passengers onboard their ships will speak English.

MSC

Onboard MSC, everything is done in a multitude of languages. When I was onboard the MSC Meravigilia, I counted most announcements being made in seven languages!

This was usually all done by one person, may I add, which made me incredibly impressed as I only speak one language.

It can make things a bit confusing as you are constantly listening out for the ‘English part’ in the announcements and looking for the English version of the menus and written instructions.

Which Did I Prefer?

I actually enjoy hearing things in other languages. It reminds me that I am abroad and not at home!

It does get a bit confusing at times, though, so I’d choose Norwegian or Royal Caribbean.

Find out how I got on when I sailed on Spectrum of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Ship built for the Asian market. English was still the main language spoken

#2 Itineraries and Embarkation

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

Cruises typically have a start and end point.

There may be some variation on this, for example, taking a longer or shorter cruise or a repositioning cruise, – but nevertheless, there is always an obvious embarkation and disembarkation day.

As a result, the lifeboat drill happens once, and everybody attends.

MSC

Passengers can get on and off at almost any port.

There is no set embarkation and disembarkation day, and people come and go almost every day.

This means that everybody is at a different stage in their cruise. It is strange seeing some people’s suitcases outside their doors, ready to leave when you are just starting your cruise.

During the cruise, there will be lots of mini-lifeboat drills for the guests who have just joined. It was a little bit weird to ignore the other lifeboat drills as they were announced around the ship.

It is also worth noting that all the services around the ship stop when lifeboat drills take place, even if you personally don’t have to go to that lifeboat drill.

Which Did I Prefer?

I like the flexibility of MSC, which allows you to pick the cruise dates that suit you.

If you are on a very strict time schedule, it is perfect. Sometimes, If the cruise leaves a day earlier or later, you might not be able to cruise at all. So it’s MSC for me on this one.

#3 – Entertainment

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

I love the entertainment onboard Norwegian ships. When I sailed “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” was onboard the Norwegian Epic, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen.

I actually booked to see it on land after I came back from my cruise, and to be honest, it was better on the ship!

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian usually have a combination of musicals, musicians, bands, comedians, jugglers etc.

Recently, I saw the Queen Musical “We Will Rock You ” on Anthem of the Seas, which was very good.

They also have a lot of other entertainment going on around the ship during the day and into the evening.

MSC

MSC’s entertainment tries to appeal to a large audience that speaks a variety of languages.

Because of the language barrier, they are unable to have Broadway-style shows/musicals, preferring instead to stick to dancing and singing (mostly in English though, may I add!)

Onboard the MSC Meraviglia, we saw shows featuring dancers dressed as emojis and dogs! It was definitely entertaining, but not the best entertainment I’ve seen at sea!

Having more recently sailed on MSC Euribia and World Europa, it has to be said that MSC’s entertainment is much improved on these newer, bigger ships.

Which Did I Prefer?

Norwegian or Royal Caribbean, without a doubt.

I did know what to expect when I cruised with MSC, but honestly, even I was a little confused by the dancing dogs, barking at things and pretending to lick their private parts!

#4 – Activating your cruise card

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

When cruising with NCL/Royal Caribbean, you set up your credit/debit card at check-in or via the App prior to your sailing. All onboard spends are then charged to this.

MSC

You need to set up your credit/debit card when onboard the ship. Dotted around the ship are machines you use to link your cruise card to your credit card.

You have to touch your card against the machine (contactless) and then insert your credit/debit card. At this point, you can select if you would like to attach the same card to any other passengers/cabins (if you are sailing with family for instance.)

Which did I Prefer?

Norwegian / Royal Caribbean. It’s a bit of a faff trying to find a machine and remember to set up your card. That’s probably just me being lazy, though – it certainly isn’t hard to do.

#5 – Buying drinks

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

If you have a beverage package onboard Norwegian or Royal Caribbean you just have to show the waiter your card and your drinks will appear. They may take your card to swipe, but half the time, they don’t even bother with that.

MSC

Onboard MSC, you often have to sign for every single drink that you have.

I had the unlimited beverage package, and if I ordered a drink, I would have to sign a little electronic tablet that told me how much was included in my package and how much would be charged to my card. It makes sense!

Which Did I Prefer?

I think I prefer the NCL/Royal Caribbean way of ordering drinks. MSC’s tablet does make sense but I am just far too lazy for that.

I also worry about how many germs are on the touch screen of the tablet.

#6 – The onboard service

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

Service on the two cruise lines is very American in its approach.

What I mean by that is that waiters are very friendly, and they will keep coming back to your table to ask you how your meal is.

I can’t help but think of Johnny Rockets burger restaurant, where the waiters literally danced for you during your meal!

On Norwegian and Royal Caribbean the idea seems to be that the guest is always right, and the staff will go out of their way to make you happy.

MSC

I had read many bad reviews about the service on MSC before cruising with them.

We didn’t encounter any bad service at all, it was quite different to the service onboard NCL and Royal Caribbean though.

Onboard MSC the waiters will bring you your food but then don’t continually come back to ask you how it is, they will, of course, be happy to help if you have a problem.

The service onboard MSC was good, everything that we needed to have done for us was done- but it didn’t feel as forced or overly friendly as you may find on American cruise lines

Which did I prefer?

I have no preference with this one. As long as my meal/drinks are served politely and promptly I am happy! I am not hard to please…

Find out what I thought of my last Norwegian cruise on Norwegian Encore here. She is a beautiful ship, and the crew were fantastic:

#7 – Soda

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

If you order a soda it’ll probably come from a fountain and it’ll be full to the brim with ice (unless you ask for no ice).

MSC

If you order a soda onboard MSC, it is more likely to come in a can, and they won’t give you ice unless you specifically say that you want some. Woohoo!

Which did I prefer?

MSC without a shadow of a doubt. I hate having ice in my drinks, especially when it isn’t hot outside.

It’s also nice to get proper Pepsi from a can rather than the diluted fountain stuff.

#8 – Hygiene (Washy Washy!)

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

When cruising with Norwegian /Royal Caribbean you can expect to be greeted with hand sanitiser everywhere that you go.

Hand sanitiser is based at the entrance to every restaurant and you have to sanitise your hands before getting on the ship.

At the buffet, you may even have a person with a bottle of hand sanitiser making sure that every person who enters the buffet sanitises. They’ll sometimes sing songs at the same time.

Some ships have sinks at the buffet entrance, and you are directed to them to wash your hands before you can go in. I love that approach!

Norwegian reminds you to sanitise regularly and states that ‘washy washy = happy happy’.

When I sailed on Anthem of the Seas, the Washy Washy man was doing little dances at the entrance to the buffet – and directing everyone to the onboard sinks – whether they liked it or not. This was great to see!

MSC

MSC has really “upped its game” when it comes to hand sanitiser. I just returned from a sailing on MSC Euribia, and hand sanitiser was everywhere.

Which Did I Prefer?

MSC are now equally as good as Norwegian and Royal Caribbean in this respect, so I have no preference.

#9 – Food

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

I love the food on NCL/Royal Caribbean ships. In my past experiences, the food has always been good and the portions are a fair size.

The buffet has variety of foods from around the world but always has American options like burgers and hot dogs. Norwegian also have O’Sheehans or The Local which I visit often, sometimes between meals…

O’Sheehans / The Local is a bar and grill and is a great place to get some mozzarella sticks, a burger or some buffalo wings.

For examples of food on Norwegian, read this article next:

Everything I Ate on Norwegian Prima (Menus, Speciality and Included Dining) #ad

MSC

The food in the main dining room was much more ‘Mediterranean’ than I am used to eating at home (lots of pasta and vegetables).

The buffet was mostly pizza/pasta/bread but they did have an ‘ethnic’ corner and a grill which had burgers and hot dogs.

 I am aware of a number of complaints online about the food on MSC – but I really don’t understand the complaints and I haven’t had the same bad experiences.

The food was of high quality, hot and although the portions were smaller than I am used to at home, it probably did all of our waistlines some good!

To find out the sort of food available on MSC cruises, read the article below:

Everything I Ate on my MSC Cruise (Photos and Menus) – Food Review

Which did I prefer?

I think NCL/Royal Caribbean still win on this one for me, just because I like American food and one of my favourite things about cruising is overeating (hard to do that on vegetables!)

It was fun to try new foods onboard MSC though and I would definitely urge people to ignore negative reviews about MSC’s food!

I also like how long the buffet was open for on MSC cruises, considerably longer and later than on my last Royal Caribbean cruise. It is sad to visit the buffet and find it shut!

#10 – Theatre

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

On both these cruise lines it is almost expected that you will have a drink when you watch a show in the Theatre.

Many cruise ships will have a bar within the theatre and waiters will often wander around the crowds asking passengers if they would like a drink.

MSC

There are no bar in the theatres onboard the MSC ships I have sailed on.

MSC don’t seem to allow drinks in the theatre at all, even if ordered at another bar.

Which did I prefer?

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean of course. I love having a drink when watching a theatre show although it really made very little difference to me when I was unable to.

#11 – Affordability

Norwegian/Royal Caribbean

I think that Royal Caribbean and Norwegian offer a great cruise experience, but you need to bear in mind that the advertised price is not the price you will end up paying.

You need to allow for extras, such as daily service charges, and drinks or drinks packages that will be charged to your onboard account.

MSC

MSC offer really good value for money, particularly if you are booking from the UK as all service charges are included within the fares.

You can get some really cheap MSC fares, and if you join their loyalty scheme you can get lots of added extras – like speciality meals.

MSC are one cruiseline who allow you to transfer your loyalty status from other cruiselines, and it is well worth doing.

Find out more about that here:

MSC Status Match – What Is it And is it Worth Doing? A Step-by-Step Guide

Which did I prefer?

MSC, hands down! You can’t beat those MSC prices, and having the service charges included is a huge bonus for me.

When I decided to take my friends on their first cruise, I chose MSC. We were on a budget, and MSC ticked all the boxes for us. Find out more about that here:

Conclusions!

I love cruising with MSC – but I love cruising with Norwegian and Royal Caribbean.

Each cruise line is very different in a number of areas but I don’t think that one line is necessarily better than the others.

I am sure I will cruise with MSC again,and would like to encourage everybody loyal to Norwegian or Royal Caribbean to give MSC a try. You might be pleasantly surprised…

That said, it is important to remember that it is an italian line which does things differently to the American/British lines.

Watch the video below to see how I got on on one of MSC’s largest, newest ships, World Europa. She is very similar to Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas – but the fares are much cheaper.

Before You Go

Check out my article on money saving cruise tips when you cruise with MSC here:

19 Essential MSC Cruise Tips That I Use Everytime (Freebies, Money Saving & More)

Find out about additional costs that catch out unsuspecting cruisers here:

5 Food and Drink Costs That Catch Out Unsuspecting Cruisers