MSC cruises have an intimate, Eurocentric approach to leisure sailing

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photo by Seth Kubersky

A selfie, Live Active Cruising-style

During the depths of the pandemic, Florida's cruise industry was arguably impacted more severely than any other aspect of our tourism-focused economy. The European family-owned shipping container company Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. used that crisis as an opportunity, leveraging market share for its fast-growing leisure line within our lucrative market.

Back in late 2021, when COVID tests and face masks were still a thing in Central Florida, MSC Cruises invited me for a short sailing aboard the MSC Divina. I returned safely from that first trip impressed by their product's potential as a value-priced alternative to Disney and Royal Caribbean, if only they could iron out some irritations.

Over the two-plus years since then, I've paid out of pocket for an additional pair of trips on the newer MSC Meraviglia, with mixed-to-marvelous results. In the meantime, MSC Cruises's competitors have bounced back with a vengeance, introducing massive new mega-ships that are essentially floating theme parks; travel agents will tell you that staterooms on Disney's upcoming Treasure are hotter tickets than any Walt Disney World hotel right now. So when I was invited to experience a four-night Valentine's Day voyage aboard the MSC Seashore out of nearby Port Canaveral, I was curious to see how one of their latest vessels compares in this increasing crowded ocean.

The strict health precautions that formed first impressions on my first MSC Cruises sailing are obviously all long gone. However, MSC's opulent yet not overbearing design aesthetic has been largely consistent across all three ships I've visited, with Divina's old-Hollywood elegance and Meraviglia's EPCOT influence leading up to MSC Seashore's Manhattan-via-Las Vegas vibe. Although it's longer and has a larger passenger capacity, this Seashore EVO-class design is somewhat of a lateral shift from its Vista Project predecessor. For example, the MSC Seashore multistory atrium — with massive video walls framed by Swarovski-studded staircases and panoramic elevators — is a sight to behold, but I didn't feel it made as effective an activity hub or navigational thoroughfare as Meraviglia's LED-domed promenade.

Speaking of floating theme parks, MSC Seashore sports a Lego-branded kids club, a video arcade with a VR rafting simulator, and a pirate-themed splash pad with a few water slides and rope bridges. But it has nothing to match Meraviglia's invigorating climbing trail, or its sister ship Seascape's Robotron thrill ride, much less rival the roller coasters and full-scale water parks found aboard other lines.

Likewise, in lieu of Broadway-quality mainstage shows, or even the classical opera I enjoyed on my earlier MSC sailings, MSC Seashore's plotless song-and-dance revues feature talented performers gamely executing eyebrow-raising material; doubling down on Divina's Caucasian Tina Turner impersonator, there's an entire Black divas tribute mostly starring white women. Excellent live musicians enliven every lounge, and I enjoyed the Cabaret Rouge rotating variety acts, but I missed Meraviglia's Cirque-style Carousel productions.

On the other hand, for adults who crave what MSC Cruises does best — dining, drinking and decompression — the Seashore can frequently shine, especially if you are staying in Yacht Club, MSC's elevated "ship within a ship" section. An oasis of exceptional service, it includes access to an exclusive restaurant and pool deck, along with butler service and bottomless beverages. While food in the main dining room and buffet is unmemorable (stick with the fresh pizza and pastas), it's good enough in Yacht Club that you don't need to visit the specialty restaurants. Even so, it's worth springing for Kaito teppanyaki, whose egg-tossing chefs outdo Kobe's in showmanship.

More importantly, Yacht Club's friendly, attentive staff cheerfully counterbalances the ship's frequent inefficiencies, solving snafus and serving as human Lightning Lanes around any lines. We pissed off queuing passengers we passed by, but it's well worth the upcharge for ease of embarkation and exit alone. The only thing Yacht Club couldn't cure was the "smart" elevators, which were seemingly controlled by an evil AI intent on never arriving at my destination.

MSC Cruises's Yacht Club is so cozy I was tempted to never leave its confines, with a couple of exceptions. Ocean Cay, the private island that I raved about last time, remains just as pristine, and the opportunity to stay there overnight on select sailings is still the best reason to sail MSC in any class. I also disembarked in Nassau, where friends from the Bahamas ministry of tourism introduced me to some eye-opening cultural treasures that lie only a short walk from the newly redeveloped cruise port and popular shopping district.

Roberta Garzaroli showed me her family's Graycliff Hotel (graycliff.com), a former pirate's mansion turned 5-star restaurant with onsite chocolate and cigar factories, and a labyrinthine 250,000-bottle wine cellar bested in the Western Hemisphere only by Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa. And Arlene Nash Ferguson welcomed us into her former childhood home, which is now the interactive Educulture Junkanoo Museum, celebrating the Afro-Caribbean festival of elaborate handmade paper costumes. Although Nassau has received bad press recently, I sailed away impressed by a port I'd previously only associated with straw markets and tourist bars.

This time next year, MSC Cruises will launch their massive World America from Florida, going head-to-head with supersized ships like Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas. Until then, they need to continue adapting to the American market by improving English-language communications and adding a broader variety of daily activities. But as they do so, I'm hoping they don't discard the intimacy and Eurocentric eccentricities that made MSC so appealing in the first place.