skipsaur

I emailed MSC to ask and got this response 2.5 months later: Good Morning, We will need you to fill out a special needs form Thank you for choosing to sail with MSC Cruises. We are excited to have you on board and want to ensure that your cruise experience is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. In order to better accommodate your needs, we kindly request that you fill out a separate Special Needs form for each reservation. To access the Special Needs form, please follow these steps: Go to www.MSCCruisesUSA.com Scroll down to the very bottom of the page Click on "Special Needs" In the section labeled "Informing us on any mobility, medical, and dietary requirements," click on the "plus" sign. A window will open, displaying the words "online" in orange writing. Click on it to proceed with the form. Complete the necessary information in the form as accurately as possible. At the end of the online application, please remember to click the green "submit" button located at the bottom of the e-form. This step is crucial to ensure that we receive your form. Please be aware that we do not accept form submissions via copy/screenshot. To successfully register your special needs with us, you must click the "submit" button as indicated above. Should you have any questions or require assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to our customer support team at the contact center 1 (877) 665-4655 We genuinely value your well-being and strive to provide the best possible service for all our guests. Your completion of the Special Needs form for each reservation will help us better prepare for your cruise and ensure a fantastic experience onboard. Once again, thank you for choosing MSC Cruises. We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon! Kind Regards, Dana Hamrick MSC Cruises (USA) Inc. 6750 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 100 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 1-877-665-4655

You're good to go, cruises booked through MSC USA get free bottled water in MDR for Japan-departing cruises. 👍

I too was initially taken aback at all the extra costs and felt a bit nickel and dimed. But I think it's better to think of it as MSC offering an a la carte style: lower base price and you have the option to pay for the"extras" you want, instead of bundling all the costs together at a higher base price that already includes the cost of ice skating whether you do it or not.

Ugh I'm sorry this happened to you and your daughter, especially when she was going through a tough patch. Glad she has an attentive mom keeping an eye on her needs preemptively! That's such distasteful behavior from elderly Yacht Club guests who should know better. Puts you in an awkward position as a parent when you're trying to teach your child proper behavior and there's adults who must have forgotten all their manners. Glad that it didn't spoil her day though! Looking forward to hearing your final thoughts on the trip.

Cringe

Just caught up on your review, thanks for doing it! I've read a couple of your other ones and love your writing and parenting style. I love how you include plenty of detailed information without making it dry. Your storytelling narrative really makes each post light, fast and fun!

That's interesting, I didn't know that about intra-EU flights. Most of my flights are long haul so the difference is not inches, but more lay flat seats, compartments. Usually the first and business class seats are full, except during COVID. But if any are free upgrades, I'm happy for that passenger to have escaped a long haul flight in economy!

Sorry, you misunderstood me. You're arguing with the ghost of what you think I said, not what I actually said. I'm not saying "what is the harm of someone else using the "perks" they are not entitled to?" Put down your pitchfork, I'm not advocating chaos and anarchy. 😉 1. In the example I read it was MSC crew who directed other passengers to those empty seats. People did not take it upon themselves. 2. YC passengers paid for their seats and have the right to them. The empty seats are the property of MSC and it's entirely up to MSC to choose to give them to other passengers or keep them empty. 3. MSC representatives gave out the seats. Those lucky passengers received a "free upgrade" for the length of a show. MSC is the only one who can legitimately give out entitlement to those seats. YC guests are entitled to the 1 seat they paid for, not what happens to the empty seats. This is the same logic that dictates YC guests may not invite non-YC guests to YC areas. Which of these 3 points is untrue? You might argue that MSC shouldn't give the seats away, but that's a separate issue and I have no interest debating that. As far as "diluting" the brand appeal, brands have always given away luxury items for free. Some people in the middle pay full price but people on both ends of the bell curve get it for free or negligible cost. There will always be people who pay much more or much less than me for the same goods or services. I can't change that. I can change whether to look for the positives or negatives. You can't choose what MSC does with the empty seats, you can only choose how you react. At my age I've learned that in this case, if I choose to be magnanimous and happy for the good fortune of my fellow passengers on their free upgrade, I and everyone else feels better than if I stew in stingy discontent at the unfairness of life. One path is how I aspire to be, the other is where I sometimes end up.

Something piqued my curiosity about this quote so I looked up the author. I don't know what I was expecting but it was not a social media influencer/make up artist/actor! His Instagram is pretty hilarious, thanks for sharing!

Wow thanks for sharing this, had no idea NCL had done this. That's a huge negative in my book.

Cabin

In my opinion, if I pay for business class, that gives me a seat, singular. It doesn't give me the right to the empty seat next to me. The airline is free to assign that seat to someone else, even as a free upgrade, regardless of the fact that I paid for my seat. Sure, I might like a row to myself, but I don't need more than 1 seat. I can't imagine complaining to a flight attendant if they choose to give the seat to someone. 😂

Also daily service charge

This is an excellent point and made me really think.

I think you get brushed off because the minimum wage customer service representative probably gets as much say in what is stocked as you do. It's like complaining to cashiers when grocery store prices go up... it's way above their paygrade, it's not like corporate asks their opinions. I sympathize. It's frustrating when your choice of beverage isn't available AND the cruise line doesn't allow you to bring it on board yourself. How I deal with it is just reminding myself I can live without my favorite beverage for a week. Maybe I'll find an appreciation for something new, which is part of the fun of travel. You can drive yourself to frustration with thinking how things should be, but if it won't change anything, then the choices are to find a way to accept it or don't.

We did a multigenerational cruise where my husband (then boyfriend) and I were the adult "kids". We didn't do breakfast together because we were always up early and first off the ship at ports with booked excursions, etc while some of the family preferred to party late and sleep in. We did family dinner every night and while the seating time wasn't our preference, it was always a great time and we could visit the buffet before/after. We had all the rooms next to each other but I wouldn't say that was strictly necessary, it didn't add much to the experience. In ports, we did our own things as the other generations weren't interested in ziplines or packing in 30k steps in a day like us and we weren't interested in going to Senor Frogs. It was overall a great time! What I would do differently: At the time we were young early 20-somethings and liked having so much freedom and time to do what we wanted at our pace. But looking back, I wish we spent more time with family especially my husband's grandpa who is no longer with us. It was so special to all be there together and at the time I took for granted how rare a chance that was, because when you're young there's always a "tomorrow" or "next time". As a young person, there's always another cruise or another vacation, but there might not be another vacation with a grandparent. I wish I prioritized that family time instead.

The lockers sound perfect for your needs then, they're very convenient! No worries about a bomb squad, Japan is very safe and can be a bit of a culture shock to Americans. You won't see large bike locks and it's common to see parked bikes with the key left in the lock. Full size bottles are fine to bring on domestic flights, backpacks are allowed in stadiums, and people will leave their phones or wallets on their table in food courts or cafes when they go to the bathroom. Occasionally you'll even see kids left in bike seats outside a store if a parent needs to pop inside.

Yellow fever is in Africa and South America, not Asia so no need. (The name comes from the associated liver damage and jaundice, not the racist term.) Hep B is recommended for everyone but it's a series of 3 shots so it takes half a year at least to complete, not sure how far off your cruise is. It's not a bad idea to get vaccinated because there is no cure for Hep B. Many people are vaccinated for it already, for example most health care workers. You can get Hep A from eating contaminated food so I felt safer getting it because I'm an adventurous eater and I like trying street food. But you're traveling to very clean, urban places. I probably wouldn't go out of my way. Like you say, sometimes travel clinics seem to try to sell you on more than you need, especially if you're not hiking through remote forests and jungles or anything like that. ☺️

I would definitely believe the hotel over the booking site! I emailed the hotel at reservations@j8hotel.com and got this reply a few hours later. Hope that helps! Dear Sir / Madam Our hotel reception is operating 24 hours. Thank You Warm Regards F.O j8Hotel

Not the OP but this was such a thorough and thoughtful answer. Definitely taking a look at those aft balconies now!

I think in both these situations, the establishment should take care of things. On a flight, if someone took my seat, I would alert a crew member and let them care of it. That's their job and I'm not getting paid to do their job. I don't think it's pushback. No one thinks anyone should be taken advantage of or that YC should be a free for all. I think the parts that caused some difference of opinion aren't with true confirmed interlopers but the risk of profiling people who seem "out of place" or "look like" they don't or shouldn't belong in YC, and I think we can all agree how that's a bad slippery slope to go down. (Unless you're a silver-haired and fit George Clooney-lookalike, then you obviously belong in YC! 😂)

As @Zach1213 said you'll be fine if you book a hotel for that night. Our flight was similar and Singapore at 2 AM felt like any other big city's 10 PM to us, as in lots of people out and about still, enjoying restaurants etc.

(Also, I have no idea if swaying your 15 year old is possible, but there's some interesting ramen venues in Tokyo as well. Would any of these fit your itinerary better and interest him?) Tokyo Station has a Ramen Street area in the station with some very famous shops. Lots of souvenir shops with character goods and snacks from all over Japan in one place at Tokyo station too. Odaiba, Tokyo also has a ramen "museum" area in the Aqua City mall. Lots to see in the Odaiba malls, I think teenagers might be interested in the giant Gundam statue, Gundam Base store, big arcades, etc and there are often events happening nearby. https://www.aquacity.jp/trk_mai/index.html

Are you just looking for a place to store your luggage for a few hours while you visit the museum? All major train stations have banks and banks of luggage lockers. Clean, nice and simple to use. They vary in size from small ones that'll fit a backpack to large ones that fit a big suitcase, with the smaller ones being cheaper. Usually the big suitcase lockers are around 800yen for a day. If you commute to the museum by train, you'll definitely be able to find a place for your luggage. Sometimes tourist information centers also operate luggage storage services. I wouldn't try the bike lock idea. Bike parking is often paid or validated and bikes often have individual spots, so just leaving your luggage at one won't work. Even if you offered to pay for it as if it were a bike, you'd probably be met with confusion or told that's not possible since it's not a bike.

When I called I was told we can do web check-in anytime between final payment up until 48 hours before the cruise but the e-tickets are only issued from 20 days before the cruise. Date seem to almost match what @morpheusoftheseawas told, but not quite, so as with all phone customer service, I'll believe it when I see the written or email confirmation. Not really sure what the point of web check-in is, so I'm just waiting until we can get eTickets. The website is a challenge, it's definitely not just you! It's not an intuitive design and I wish it could do more, such as making reservations preboarding.