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Nunagoras

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About Me

  • Location
    Lisbon, Portugal
  • Interests
    Cruising, reading, travelling other than cruising.
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    MSC, RCI
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Europe

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  1. Count me in another one slightly surprised with an O7. On one hand; in the immediate, an I4 would make far more commercial sense than exactly an O7, but as said above, they'd to receive an O7 far earlier than an I4 right now. I've no doubt an I4 will be contracted ASAP, maybe by the end of the year, but for now what we have is exactly an O7. And TBHH; I can absolutely to see why they'll have the O7 now. O is the most successful ship class ever built in the market and the unique one with really no price degradation across the ships ageing... Surely there are a relatively limited number of ports that can receive those ships and that won't drastically change on the foreseeable future, but a new problem arises: By the time O7 enters the fleet, original O will be near 20 years old! My best bet is that they will to use O7-12 as replacement successors for O1-6 as the ships age, and use O1-6 for short-haul cruises, training academies for new crew members, or to create an alternative floating hotel accommodation industry for example in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, Australia or Japan. That way they'd to retain their current 6 redeployed O ships as usual and even to create an opportunity to create a secondary low risk market for the ageing ones!...
  2. That depends on what kind of group you're referring to: Is it a few different cabins purchased from different TA's and linked just for MDR purposes, or are you talking about a small charter group, no matter if open or closed in their individuals constituency? If you're talking about the first kind of group, then no they shouldn't be granted same time and location, and they should be dealt with at a first come first served depending on availability. Now the small charters are historically dealt by MSC on a separate way, with some priority. All my MSC cruises were as part of a small charter group with a tour leader, very common here in Europe, and we, the group's participants, have no say on what our dinning time will actually to be, being that almost solved by the tour company that organizes our trip. There will be so a "roped off" area on the MDR with our tables assigned for the whole group and that is managed directly between the w companies. Regarding the OP, I believe this as being once more, one of those never ending MSC's IT problems.
  3. Yeah!... Atlas seems to be doing such a great job! And as EJ, they're not such a simple newcomer. They've come from the owners of "Douro Azul" such a small Portuguese Douro river operator with some 50 years if not more. They're now on the very small exploration or adventure cruise niche. I believe they're doing very well! If it wasn't for the pandemic, I'd bet Atlas would to become one of the biggies in such a relatively small amount of time. They're extremely successful among the German market where they own a tour operator and cruise line (they share the ships among the trademarks)... But the pandemic seems to have changed their mind at least to an en extent. Now; I believe they want to solidly consolidate the Exploration and river cruising departments till they eventually try to go on to the luxe or mid luxe market, and they forgot the idea to grow till they become one of the biggies for the foreseeable future... Thanks and congrats to the preference!...
  4. Ah, yes! That I can see. Really "simple" coffee is not their thing, on that I'm with you and they sometimes go more for marketing than efficiency, on that I can see. Problem is... On the "fancy drinks" department here they, basically speaking, have no competition from where I live!... As regarding EJ: I was "dating" an itinerary that was cancelled. I still consider them on the "crazy" list, but I believe they'll not only to get there, than they'll also to become the normative one in the segment. Time will tell... Thanks and have a wonderful year!
  5. Hi! Starbucks, pretentious?... I know, off topic, but, well, maybe that would be from where you live, not from here in Portugal where I live. Let us to face it like it is: Here we rarely have places provided with very knowledgeable coffee baristas like generally Starbucks places. In most places they'll just to make you the basic coffee drinks... But for such a coffee lover whom wants those "fancy" coffee drinks like me, there are here very few places where you can to splurge on those "fancy" coffee drinks. Of course, most of those few places that provide beat Starbucks by KO on the first second of the first round with no possible appeal instance... But, then: How many Starbucks against those places? In Lisbon, Portugal's capital we have some 5-10 premium location Starbucks places against 2-4 on similar locations of the other adequate places, other than Hotel bars. Starbucks is also the cheapest of those coffee lover adequate places. Choice here is then quite clear. So now: Is Starbucks a luxury coffee house like EJ is a luxury cruise line? Surely not by any means. But they're not pretentious by any means. Surely there are far better bean trademarks here... But on the "fancy" drinks department they have basically little to no competition here. No surprise I'm anxious that mid month comes till I go again from my small village to the capital City and, time permitting, I'll to splurge on one of those Frapuccinos out there, or maybe a strong hot mocaccino once we're on a heavy cold winter here!... And while for me EJ may be somewhat "crazy" from time to time, from what I'm reading here and elsewhere, they're for a far higher standards than anything Starbucks has to offer...
  6. Agree. Bigger changes for EJ3 onward only. I believe the most notable of them will be more top suites and less baseline ones to make those ships to become more akin to the ~750 guests more common on the other true luxe lines. For EJ2, there will be only "cosmetic" changes. I believe there will be more tables to Med YC, some minor tweaks to the lobby bar, and some tweaks to the main pool, other than other minor bug fixes. Otherwise, only a slightly different color scheme, and the likes.
  7. Don't know for EJ specifically, but mainstream MSC uses a French bank for their accounting and your cabin charge will be in Euros. You'll pay your banks exchange fee, plus a possible international transaction fee, depending on from where you are.
  8. No bells & whistles, but structurally all those older MSC ships are good ships. Personally I wouldn't go on a Lirica class one, once very few balcony cabins compared the newer ships, but that is personal.
  9. Those new luxury lines are competing with a same, declining, talent base against the established luxury lines, plus the new extremely luxurious hotel base in Saudi Arabia. They'll need time to adjust. I hope one day they can have their own established talent base, trained as such on western schools, but while this doesn't happen, those lines will live with what they have for the foreseeable future. EJ does adds to the cart that longer learning curve due to it being a southern Mediterranean business.
  10. It is for the 2025-26 winter season with tons of Russians still with access to the UAE. They'll perhaps to do great with that client base. If things would be set to degrade at the region they'll likely to redeploy again.
  11. Sadly YES, increased discounts are a bad thing, and everyone knows why... Included Moet? Gone with the discounts. Included wines? One red, one white, one rose... Whatever minimally adequate on the Azamara/Viking level they can find. Sakura and Marble? It will be a pay for. SPA? It will be included for residences and a pay for everyone else. Internet? A pay for. And so on... Sadly, like I would to expect MSC has, and will have, no say on the RSS/SB/SS/HL/NC level, because that is a very close, small niche market that is very well served out of a very well established number of competitors. If both RCI, CCL and NCL groups manage to remain as stable as they were before the pandemic, recovering their businesses, and chances are that yes, then MSC will need to scale down EJ to the level they have ever been on. There are no miracles. And at least here in CC, they were advised far in advance!... Regarding the over changing itineraries: Does the Israeli war have any say on that this time? If yes, that is not their fault to say the least. Otherwise, they're returning to my crazy cruise lines list in a minute...
  12. As stated above, they still have those simple "always available" menus and a very minimal kids menu. Note though that, at least before the pandemic, those "always available" items weren't available on gala nights, at least on the European sailings. They might have changed that though.
  13. Those monsters of the seas are profitable and sort of beautiful, but of course they have their own negatives as well, and the largest one appointed on the article itself is that with a relatively small number of them, there will be limitations on where one can go with them. Of course there are all the usual suspects in the Caribbean, plus China and the Middle East... And some half a dozen ports in the EU and the UK, but that is it. As times go along, some of those ports will impose environmental and ecological limitations on ship numbers and full capacities. For now all those RCI Oasis, RCI Icon and MSC World class ships are the unique ones filling a category that may very well be reaching its end point sooner rather than later. There is no place for a third operator at the size segment, and there might not be that much more place for the 2 current segment operators to operate a larger number of ships in the segment. The very recently announced MSC World 5 ship may be the last "A380" of the seas we will ever have. Those ships are profitable for the times being.... But I believe they'll also to be a nightmare for the current operators in a not so long future... My best advice? Enjoy till there is. Icon? Not for me, but nice to know!
  14. Let me to be as simple as it may be: If Holland America is really your sort of thing, on the MSC world, the nearest possible outfit for you would to be the Yacht Club, perhaps at an even lower fare with more inclusions than whatever else HAL has on offer for you. And with YC you'll have the best of 2 worlds: A small ship experience inside a big ship. That said; big ships are... Big ships! Expect crowds at embarkation day or whenever a show finishes. And if you're travelling on school break times, chances are you'll find tons of kids aboard.
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