MSC has made some mistakes in trying to challenge Royal Caribbean and Carnival as major players in the family cruise space.
On the positive side, the Italian cruise line has invested heavily in the market and has brought some of its best ships to Florida. One of those ships, MSC Seashore, shows the best and worst of the cruise line.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line makes controversial change to onboard rules
It is a larger ship that offers many of the amenities of the newer Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships. She has countless bars, several pools, and some top-notch dining options for an additional fee.
But it also has a very confusing layout where each pool is on a separate floor, making it difficult to know if you should leave the one you're in for a less crowded option. Not that the pools aren't nice, but they are too far apart and the adults-only area lacks a hot tub, while the family hot tubs are filled with kids.
MSC has also struggled to offer a decent main dining room and buffet food. Their pasta was slightly better on Seashore than on the older ships Meriviglia and Divina, but an Italian cruise line should be able to master pasta and other Italian specialties.
That's not to say the cruise line does everything wrong. MSC offers an all-inclusive Wi-Fi and beverage package option making it attractive to customers who would otherwise sail on Royal Caribbean or Carnival. You can generally book MSC with drinks and internet for lower trips than its rivals without those things.
Now, the Italian cruise line wants to attract Royal Caribbean and Carnival by making a major change to a popular area of its ships.
Image source: Gerard Bottino/SOUP Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
MSC appears to ban smoking in casinos
At Seashore in February, it was noted that smoking was not allowed in the main casino. There didn't seem to be any obvious signs indicating a ban, so I actually assumed it was just luck of the draw on a cruise ship where the casino wasn't crowded at all.
However, it turns out that MSC has at least been experimenting with banning smoking in its casinos on some ships.
“According to onboard social media reports, the MSC Signature Casino onboard MSC Euribia and the Red Gem Casino onboard MSC Virtuosa became smoke-free areas on February 18, 2024.” Cruise industry news reported.
That seemed to be the case at Seashore during my sailing from February 25-29, although there was a small casino extension on the floor above the casino that allowed people to smoke.
“A separate smoking casino has reportedly been added to some of the ships, including MSC Seascape and MSC Seashore, which received a new gaming area near their Sports Bars,” the website reported.
Smoking in cruise ship casinos remains a hot topic
Smokers want cruise lines to allow smoking on cruise ships, citing it as the last place on land where it is commonly allowed. Non-smokers point out the tight spaces and share that in a ship's casino, having a non-smoking section does little to prevent exposure to smoke.
Royal Caribbean has approached this in two different ways. The company's Celebrity brand does not allow smoking in its casinos. Its namesake brand has added smoke-free casinos at former “Jazz On 4” locations that are somewhat adjacent to the main casino on Oasis-class ships.
That's not an ideal solution since the secondary casino is only offered on Oasis-class ships, but the company has been very clear about why it allows smoking.
“I would say every two years we try this and take one, two or three ships and ban smoking in the casino. And the result is that fewer people come into the casino and that is the reality.” Bayley explained in December 2023 on Ovation of the Seas during the president's cruise, the Royal Caribe Blog reported.
