MSC Fun Pass - what is it, how does it work, and is it worth it?
So, you’re looking at cruising with MSC Cruises, and you’re trying to understand how to budget for your time onboard. As part of your budgeting, you want to account for either yourself, or perhaps your children, having fun! Well, you’re in luck - MSC have some fantastic facilities to keep the whole family entertained on their ships, but it’s worth remembering that lots of these facilities will come at an additional cost.
Don’t worry - you’re not going to paying extra for everything onboard an MSC cruise ship. Lots of the entertainment (in terms of the evening shows) is totally included in your cruise fare, and you’ll never need to pay to use a pool onboard. These are just two examples of free activities onboard an MSC cruise ship - don’t worry - there’s lots to do without shelling out a fortune!
Although there are plenty of facilities to remain occupied on the ship without paying extra, there’s also plenty available on the ship that’s chargeable. In other words, activities and facilities that come at an extra cost to your cruise fare.
In this article, I’m going to tell you about these things, and offer you an overview of MSC’s ‘Fun Pass’, which they often claim will save you money throughout your cruise. Is that claim really true, or is it a Marketing ploy? Well, you can make your own mind up at the end of this article!
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Anyway, plug over - let’s talk about MSC’s ‘Fun Pass’…
Up first, we need to cover which facilities are covered by the ‘Fun Pass’, and on which ships. It’s worth noting here that not every ship features every facility listed below, so that could be why your ship isn’t showing as having something ‘included’ in the ‘Fun Pass’…
Video Games
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Bellissima, MSC Divina, MSC Euribia, MSC Fantasia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Magnifica, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, MSC Virtuosa & MSC World Europa
XD Dark Ride Cinema
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Bellissima, MSC Euribia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, MSC Virtuosa & MSC World Europa
4D Cinema
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Divina, MSC Fantasia & MSC Magnifica
Formula Racer
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Bellissima, MSC Divina, MSC Euribia, MSC Fantasia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, & MSC Virtuosa
Bowling
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Bellissima, MSC Euribia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview & MSC Virtuosa
Mini Bowling
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Divina & MSC Magnifica
VR Games
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Bellissima, MSC Euribia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Virtuosa & MSC World Europa
Billiard
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Magnifica, MSC Seascape, MSC Seashore, MSC Seaside & MSC Seaview
Zip Line
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Seaside & MSC Seaview
Flight Simulator
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Meraviglia
Robotron
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC Seascape
Bumper Cars
Included in ‘Fun Pass’ on: MSC World Europa
Now that we’ve covered which facilities are included and on which ships, let’s now look at what a ‘Fun Pass’ actually is. Well, this is something that you’re able to pre-purchase before your MSC cruise, or you can book once you’re onboard. Note: you’ll save about 20% if you purchase before your cruise - you can do this from your MSC login that you’ll be sent after booking. The pass essentially offers you a way to save some money on entertainment, if you’re planning to be using the facilities that are included with the pass.
That’s a really important point to note, because you’re still able to use all of the facilities onboard the ship that are included if you don’t purchase a pass, but on a ‘pay as you go’ bases - more on this shortly!
So, how much should you expect to pay for a ‘Fun Pass’ on your MSC Cruise? Well, here’s the price list that was available onboard my recent cruise on MSC World Europa, to give you an idea…
In short, the more money that you load onto your account via the ‘Fun Pass’, the more additional credit that MSC will give you - worth thinking about if you’re interested in applying this to your account!
Remember - these were the advertised prices once I was onboard World Europa. You’d receive an additional bonus amount if you booked the package prior to boarding the ship!
As you can see here, the ‘Fun Pass’ doesn’t allow you an ‘unlimited’ experience, as I’d say the name suggests by calling it a Pass. Instead, it’s more like a gift card / onboard credit for entertainment, I guess. For every activity that you take part in, or play on, you’re going to be deducting money from your onboard ‘Fun Pass’ account - hopefully that makes sense!
So how much does it cost to take part in the activities onboard?
Well, video games in the arcade are priced pretty similarly to a gaming arcade on land, so don’t worry about that area being too expensive compared to what you’re used to. On MSC World Europa, the following pricing applied to some of the other facilities:
Bumper Cars: €5 per ride
Formula Racer: €11 per person
Interactive XD Cinema: €10 for an Adult, €8 for children )under 13 years old)
VR Games: €6 per person
At the point of my cruises on MSC, it was possible to share your ‘Fun Pass’. In other words, if you have multiple people travelling in your party/family, you’re going to be able to share one pass between everyone - you won’t need to add individual passes to each passenger’s account (unless you want to, of course!).
In this post, we’ve covered prices of both the Pass, and also the activities onboard. It’s important to remember that these prices were accurate at the point of my sailing, but all are subject to change. Special offers may also be introduced from time to time, so keep watch for these in your MSC account before you cruise!
Is an MSC ‘Fun Pass’ worth the money, or is it worth avoiding?
To be honest, my answer to this will depend massively on how much you’re planning to use the facilities that are included with the pass. If you’re planning to be trying all of the facilities offered by the pass, or you know you’ll be spending lots of time in a couple of the areas, then it could be a bit of a ‘no brainer’ for you. However, I’ve met lots of people on various MSC cruises who don’t manage to spend their ‘Fun Pass’ budget during their cruise, so they end up burning it on the last day or two of the cruise.
Personally, I find MSC ships to be hugely impressive with lots of facilities onboard. I’m likely to give some of the entertainment options a try, but I’m unlikely to be spending a huge amount of time on these, so probably wouldn’t apply a Pass to my onboard account. However, everyone’s different, and I’m sure some really do get their money’s worth from this option!
Thanks so much for checking out this post today! Next, why not check out another article below, or head to the drop down menus at the top of your screen? Happy cruising!