MSC Cruises is known for having some of the lowest cruise fares amongst giants like Carnival and Royal Caribbean, making them an appealing option for people looking for cheap cruises.
The European cruise line has become increasingly popular in North America. Not only do they have some of the best budget-friendly cruise prices, but they also often include add-ons like basic Wi-Fi and drink packages. This beats other lines that often charge $80+ per day for their alcoholic drink packages!
For example, you can book a balcony cabin onboard the brand-new MSC World America in March 2026 for around $1,485 per person including Wi-Fi and a drink package. Compartively, a cruise on Royal Caribbean's new Star of the Seas starts around $1,900 per person just for an interior stateroom!
There has to be a catch, right? There are several ways that MSC Cruises fine-tunes its ship operations and business to offer competitive rates.
How cheap are MSC Cruises?
MSC Cruises has been growing in popularity, with cruises leaving from several U.S. ports such as Miami, New York, Port Canaveral, and Galveston starting in 2025. A major impetus for this growth has been price, and glancing at their fares, we can see why so many cruisers are giving the cruise line a try.
Looking at current MSC Cruise deals, there are some pretty low cruise fares. If you are dreaming of a cruise to the sunny Bahamas, MSC has a 7-night sailing for $429 per person leaving from New York on MSC Meraviglia, including a stop at their popular private island: Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve. This specific sailing departs on November 15, 2026.
In terms of the age of the ship, MSC Meraviglia launched in 2016. Though it isn't the newest cruise ship in the world, it's newer than ships in Freedom of the Seas and Carnival Magic.
These deals extend internationally as well, too. MSC Splendida offers weeklong Mediterranean cruises for around $690 per person in June 2025.
How is MSC Cruises able to offer low fares? They have some financial strategies to help manage profitability while embarking on these aggressive marketing strategies to grow market share.
Cost control: MSC stretches its passenger-to-crew to crew ratio to keep costs down
One of the biggest expense categories for cruise ships is payroll costs. Carnival, one of MSC Cruises' main competitors and the largest cruise line in the world, notes on its financial statements that labor costs are their single largest expense, at 18% of total revenues. That’s a little over $2 billion in payroll costs per year.
Being able to effectively manage these costs can translate to significant savings on the bottom line. Cruise lines like MSC need to watch these costs closely if they want to lead the market on price.
One of the ways MSC Cruises can manage these costs is by stretching the passenger to crew. In simple terms, this is the number of passengers divided by the total number of crew. The higher the ratio, the more people a crew member needs to attend to, which can impact service levels.
To get a sense of these ratios, I looked at some newer ships among the mass-market cruise lines. The best ratio was Norwegian Prima, at 1.99, followed by Wonder of the Seas at 2.4, MSC Seascape at 2.75, and Carnival Celebration at 3.04.
Read more: How to save money on an MSC cruise
MSC Cruises boosts revenue by maximizing passenger capacity
While management of crew costs is one part of the financial equation, maximizing revenue is another. How do cruise lines do this? They get as many passengers as they can onboard. This is especially important as cruise lines charge per person, not by cabin.
Similar to the passenger/crew ratio, a space ratio helps us to compare cruise lines and how efficiently they use their space to maximize earnings. A common measurement used in cruise lines is gross tonnage, which is a measure of the inside volume of the ship. Gross tonnage divided by passenger numbers gives a comparable space ratio when evaluating different cruise lines.
I looked at the same cruise ships as before, and not surprisingly, they ranked in the same order as their service ratios. Norwegian Prima ratio is 46.3, Wonder of the Seas is 41.1, MSC Seascape is 37.3, and Carnival Celebration is 31.1.
One of the ways that MSC can offer cheap cruises is by maximizing the number of guests it welcomes on board. Even though their individual cruise fare may be lower, they make up for it by adding more people to the cruise.
Reducing cabin size is another way to save money
Every passenger needs a place to lay their head somewhere at night. Cruise lines like MSC, who want to achieve optimal passenger count, have adjusted some of their cabin sizes to allow for more people on board.
Although MSC Cruises has numerous categories of staterooms, I had a look at their entry-level interior cabins, which tend to be the cheapest option for cruises, looking for the best deal.
On MSC Cruises, the average inside cabin size varies, but on MSC Seascape, it starts at 151 square feet, which is close to Carnival Celebration's interior staterooms at 158 square feet. Both of these are smaller than Wonder of the Seas, whose interior rooms measure 172 square feet, and Norwegian Prima's 160 square feet inside cabins.
Low prices are part of a marketing strategy to achieve rapid growth and gain in market share
MSC Cruises is part of the larger MSC Group, a shipping conglomerate with sizeable assets. The company is privately held, so the public is not privy to its financial statements, but some analysts estimate the shipping empire to be worth $100 billion, thanks to its diversified holdings in shipping, cruises, cargo, ferries, and more.
Large companies with deep pockets like MSC have the ability to implement short-term strategies to gain market with lower prices. This appears to be a similar business philosophy as Carnival Corporation's, which is the largest cruise company in the world, with $25 billion in total revenues in 2024.
Also, because the company is privately held, they don't need to focus as much on short-term earnings but rather on long-term profitability, with no dividends for shareholders to worry about. While it is not known what their debt and equity structure is like, a private company can reinvest funds and self-finance expansion along with private funding options.
MSC Cruises upsells numerous onboard services and add-ons
Another way MSC Cruises maintains such low cruise fares is by upselling add-on packages. Everything from drink packages to Wi-Fi, excursions, specialty dining, spas, and even entertainment like bowling and race car simulators.
These extras really add up. For Carnival Cruises, onboard spending makes up 43% of total revenues, almost as much as the cruise fare itself. On MSC ships, activities like racing are $12 per person, and movies are $11, which can quickly add up.
Most of their add-on packages are cheaper if booked pre-cruise, enticing customers to lock in savings, and the cruise line provides lots of options. Guests can choose from five different drink packages, 8 different Wi-Fi packages, and several specialty dining combinations, providing something for every budget and preference.
MSC experiences provide additional revenue for the cruise line
Something unique when booking an MSC cruise is that guests can select from five distinct MSC Experiences in addition to their cabin options. The lowest tier, Bella, has the best value prices but also comes with barebone perks compared to upgraded experiences like Fantastica and Aurea.
For example, Bella cabins include the basics such as food, entertainment, cabin attendant service, etc. However, if cruisers upgrade to Fantastica, they get one free cruise change, free breakfast delivery in their cabin, the ability to choose their room location, 20% off specialty dining packages, and the ability to request their preferred dining time.
As guests move up to Aurea, the benefits become even more, and so too are the prices. MSC allows its guests to customize its cruise experience, but the super cheap cruise prices really offer the basic cruise experience.
Many of MSC's best deals are on older ships
While MSC Cruises has been on a building spree, there are still a number of older ships in the fleet. In fact, 12 of their ships are at least ten years old, with the oldest being MSC Armonia, which was launched in 2000.
MSC Cruises has an incredibly strong presence in the European cruise market, offering tons of cruises at bargain prices with ships like MSC Fantasia, MSC Lirica, and MSC Poesia. While the ships offer the classic cruise experience, they may not have all the bells and whistles of the new ships, like waterparks, slides, and other fun activities.
I can personally attest, having scored an ultra-cheap $184 per person 4-day cruise on one of MSC's older ships. Not only was the fare cheap, but it also included basic Wi-Fi and a drink package. While the ship was well-maintained and clean, it did feel older. The orange carpet in my stateroom felt particularly dated. Having said that, it had all the amenities I needed and was certainly adequate for a shorter cruise.
Read more: MSC Cruises ships by age—from newest to oldest
What do cheap cruise fares mean for the MSC cruise experience?
MSC Cruises fares are cheap, even when compared to other mass-market cruise lines. What does this mean for cruisers? You still get the basics, like food, entertainment, and cabin options, but these low prices come with limited perks. Also, there are many upgrades and packages you can purchase, which can quickly add up.
I have enjoyed my MSC Cruise experiences, but it is important to have the right expectations and know what and what’s not included. In particular, their newer ships are beautifully designed and have lots of light and space. I found the MSC Seascape to be as nice as Celebrity Edge and Wonder of the Seas. However, the food options and service could be enhanced.
The bottom line is that MSC cruises are cheap, but they don’t come with a lot of extra perks that cruisers enjoy. The cruise line uses several strategies to be able to offer these low prices, including less staff and less space in certain cabins. For cruisers booking these ultra-low fares, it is important to be clear about what you are getting for the price and budget for the add-ons accordingly.
Read more: How to save hundreds of dollars on your MSC cruise with this one simple trick
Chantal McPhee
Chantal McPhee has a great passion for travel since first venturing to the Bahamas as a child with her grandparents. Today, she loves cruising with her husband and two daughters to new places and aspires one day to do a world cruise. Living on the east coast of Canada, she shares cruising tips and information with fellow Canucks seeking a reprieve from the great white north. She also teaches business studies at a university, with a focus on strategy
