We’re avid cruisers and love traveling by sea. We recently sailed onboard the MSC Magnifica and felt compelled to share some of our MSC cruise travel secrets with you! MSC Cruises is completely different from the other cruise lines we’ve sailed – Royal Caribbean, Disney, Carnival, NCL and Virgin Voyages. It’s a European cruise line and, as an American, that takes some getting used to. But that’s all part of the experience!
MSC stands for Mediterranean Shipping Company and, just as the name implies, they were originally a container shipping company. In 1988, the Aponte family got into the cruising business making MSC the largest privately owned cruise company in the world. Today, MSC Cruises is the leading cruise company in the Mediterranean, South Africa and Brazil.
MSC Cruise Travel Secrets: Tips & Tricks for Sailing with MSC
Don’t over pay – The tips start even before you sail! MSC is always offering some type of deal, so you should never pay full price for a cruise. During our recent sailing, they were offering kids sail free and two for one. We’ve found MSC to be competitively priced and a good value for the money. MSC has also been offering special rates with drinks and wifi included.
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Kids sail free – Look for kids sail free offers. Kids 11 and under sail free and special rates are given to kids aged 12 – 17. You’ll only pay taxes and port charges! This helped make sailing with MSC extremely affordable for families. I couldn’t feed the kids for 11 nights at home for the amount we spent for their tickets. This is not offered on all sailings, so keep a look at current offers.
Choose your experience – MSC has several experiences you can purchase to enhance your cruise. Each experience provides different benefits and also dictates which staterooms are available for booking.
- The “Bella” Experience is perfect for budget savvy travelers.
- The “Fantastica” Experience offers more ideally located staterooms, free room service, and a discounted drink package.
- The “Aurea” Experience offers access to the thermal area, access to the solarium, free room service and more. Read our review of the Aurea experience HERE.
- The MSC Yacht Club offers all-inclusive amenities and is the top tier experience for cruisers.