MSC Cruises vs Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL): Which Is Best?
I have been fortunate enough to sail with both MSC Cruises and the Norwegian Cruise Line and in the main, I enjoyed both lines.
As with everything, there were somethings that I enjoyed about both lines, there were somethings that I didn’t like and there were plenty of things that were in the middle.
On the face of it, I would say that the experience is relatively similar as both have a base fare that gets you so much but there are lots of things on their ships that cost more money to be able to enjoy.
For the transparency of this post, I have sailed onboard the Norwegian Bliss, the Norwegian Spirit and the Norwegian Prima for NCL and only on the Virtuosa for the MSC cruise line, so all my thoughts are based on the experiences of the lines and those ships.
So, based mostly on my experience of cruising with the lines, as well as my interactions with the lines in terms of researching them both before cruising with them and continually since, just which is the best line and why?
That is just what I look at in this post, where I break down both lines to the most important aspects of cruising including the pre-cruise experience, the check-in process, the entertainment offered, the onboard experience, their food and drink offerings, their itineraries, the value of the line and of course we will finish with my overall thoughts and rating for the line.
So now to answer the question, MSC vs NCL: which is best?
MSC Cruises vs Norwegian Cruise Line
This is a tricky one to judge on as I have had a variety of experiences with Norwegian although I have to say that my overall pre-cruise experience with them has been poor.
For one booking, I injured myself just before cruising and asked to move my cabin to be nearer to the lifts (but staying in the same price category) and was told that I would have to pay a huge fee to do so- although once onboard, they did offer to do it for free but having already unpacked, it just wasn’t worth the effort.
For another cruise, we had issues booking online as the NCL website wasn’t working so had to phone to book then the same gremlins cropped up when trying to book excursions.
When ringing for this, it was a struggle to book what we wanted as the agent was only interested in trying to get us to upgrade things.
I should also say that our first booking with them went smoothly but that was also my first cruise, so maybe it was just because we didn’t quite know how things should have worked?
For MSC, our biggest issue with them in the pre-cruise period is down the lack of what you can do before you board as for our cruse with them, you had to do lots of things once onboard, such as booking into shows, and that just leads to lots of queues and confusion when onboard.
Winner: That is the really is a minor things and just the way the line works, so everyone is in the same boat, so to speak, and for this one we can only give the point to MSC as you at least know where you stand with them whilst with NCL you just don’t know what you are going to get.
For this both lines are quite similar as you now do it all on the app and to be honest it has always been just straightforward with NCL as it was with MSC.
The only differences have come at the terminals itself where the final bits have to be completed but that is often down to the port you sail from instead of the line.
Thankfully, I have sailed with both lines, out of the same terminal at the same port- city terminal at Southampton.
Whilst my Norwegian cruises have run smoothly, with people arriving at their scheduled times and having hardly any queuing, things were much more chaotic, and it seemed to be because many people didn’t know when they were supposed to be checking in.
Winner:That of course could have just been specific to that one sailing but in my research for the cruise, lots of people were saying it was an ongoing issue for MSC, so for this one, I can only give the win to NCL, although it is so close to be something you should worry about for either line.
For this one, I am taking into regard all aspects of the entertainment onboard from the production shows to the guest performers and from the performers around the bars and lounges to pay extra shows and anything else on offer.
When it comes to NCL we have enjoyed some great shows but also some poor shows and we have enjoyed some great nights watching guest entertainers in the theatre but have also had some of the worst ‘performers’.
The singers and musicians performing around the ships have always been strong with NCL and were on the Virtuoso whilst the paid options onboard MSC was also good, so this one too is incredibly close.
Winner: With our experiences onboard MSC been good, although limited, we can only give this one to them as whilst we have enjoyed lots of NCL have had to offer, we have endured some poor shows and it should also be said that only our last sailing with them, the main entertainment in the theatre was poor and incredibly repetitive.
Norwegian has two distinct onboard experiences, with their larger and newer ships needing plenty to be pre-booked, fewer places to sit and relax and more and more activities coming at an extra cost.
There older, smaller ships have a simpler way of cruising where you are much freer to do what you want, when you want, including just turning up to shows in the theatre.
On MSC, there are a few more rules when it comes to dress codes and dining times and there is much more of an expectation to dress up on an evening.
They two make you book in for shows and plenty of other things, or at least on their big ships they do from my experience, whilst pretty much ever activity is pay extra with them.
One thing that we do really prefer about NCL is that they tend to have more places to just sit and relax, including both inside and outside areas, with the boardwalk areas on their Prima-class ships been a great place.
They also tend to have more musicians playing in more places and a more relaxed atmosphere onboard which does line up with my style of cruising.
Winner: So, whilst this is again a close one, we are going to give the win for the onboard experience to Norwegian.
Food and drinks are a big part of any cruise, as I am sure you are all well aware, and for me and my wife it is a big part of choosing a line and ship.
Our preferred lines offer themed food and drink offerings based on where you are cruising, including offering local dishes in the buffet, local snacks in grab and go spots and even local drinks in bars and cafes.
Sadly, that is something that we have never had with Norwegian and didn’t have with our sailing on MSC, but NCL do at least offer themed nights onboard with offerings such as Mexican nights and British lunches.
MSC’s food offering tends to be solely based on Mediterranean dishes, with a few worldwide food options and local dishes for where the ship is based.
The quality across the board on MSC was much more consistent for us as with Norwegian we have had everything from high quality dishes to inedible dishes.
It should be said that the quality of the food in the dining room and buffet has really dropped off on Norwegian since we started sailing with them, but me and my wife are huge fans of their new Indulge Food Hall.
Winner: So for this one, we are going to give it to Norwegian as they do have a bit more variety and the MDR is slightly better but in the end it just comes down to their Indulge Food Hall concept that tips the scales, so if you are not on a Prima-class of ship, it really is a toss up.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, this one is also close between the two lines as they both have huge fleets of ships sailing all over the world, with MSC even offering World Cruises.
Both do have a heavy focus on the North American and Mediterranean markets, but they do have ships homeporting in many different regions and they both do offer a good range of warm weather and cold weather cruising.
I love to explore the remote ports in polar regions, and they are sadly areas overlooked by MSC, whilst Norwegian, through there Extraordinary Journeys itineraries over lots of opportunities to explore mostly the Arctic region, but also sometimes destinations such as Patagonia.
There are regions where MSC offer a much better range of itineraries over Norwegian, such as the Middle East, so when you look at it as an overall thing, I must stay that in terms of itineraries and ranking them for this list, they are both equal.
Winner: Having said that, one line needs to get the point, and I am going to give it to Norwegian as they offer a wider range of places where you can start or end your holidays, including some ports that no other lines use to turnaround ships, and with me and my wife loving to explore places before and after our cruises, that just tips things for us.
We have had some great value getaways with Norwegian and depending on which ship you sail on, you do get plenty for your money when you cruise with them, but there prices have steadily gone up and up and up since we first sailed with them and whilst that is the case for the industry as a whole, you also tend to get less included in the cruise price- a bad combination.
MSC also have a business model where they charge you for just about everything onboard, with only the basics of food, drink and theatre shows included in the base fare but they offer a low cost base fare in the main, so the added costs make more sense and make it more like you are just paying to customise your adventure in the way you like to cruise.
NCL often charge the same, or even more, than lines with a more inclusive offering and with their standards across the board also less, you just get less for more with them and with their costs going up much faster than their standards, the gap is widening.
Winner: For this one, there can only be one winner, and it is the only category where it isn’t particularly close, and if you haven’t guessed yet, the point goes to MSC Cruises for value.
So going into this one I expected it to be close, and it proved to be just that as Norwegian won 4 of the categories whilst MSC won 3.
As mentioned throughout, just about every category was incredibly close so it comes down to finding the best itinerary for you, at the best price.
Winner: So overall, the winner is the Norwegian Cruise Line.
