ksmcdonald

Do you put in airplane mode even if you are getting the Wi-Fi package?

Usually elegant night in the main dining room is 2nd sea day and then again next to the last sea day. It was this way on our last 11 day Venezia cruise. Not sure if this is always the case. To be safe, we just book specialty dining for port days, that way we were for sure not going to miss elegant. 

Also, there is a lunch for Terrazzo guest in the Steakhouse. One fancy lunch during the cruise. 

Also, there is a lunch for Terrazzo guest in the Steakhouse. One fancy lunch during the cruise. 

Also, there is a lunch for Terrazzo guest in the Steakhouse. One fancy lunch during the cruise. 

On 11/18/2022 at 12:02 PM, Eli_6 said:

Yeah, but I don't think there is a pool or hot tub...

im on Venezia now. They have two hot tubs but no pool. 

We are on an 11 day now on Venezia. Elegant night was 2nd full sea day and next to last sea day. 

It’s just so easy to make!  Brown sausage, Melt butter, add flour, add milk.  Pretty hard to mess up.  Even if the cooks home country doesn’t make sausage gravy, then do a quick google on how to make it correctly. I’m sure they see that nobody can/will eat what they set out.  

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

 The industry had to do this to stay afloat. At one point in time Carnival had almost 3 billion on deposits on the books they uses to keep from going under.

 

I guess I read this wrong. I thought you said Carnival had to do this to keep afloat. 

19 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Do not know who the “us” you are referring to is.

“Us” is the people not as fortunate as you, that needed their money back in a timely manner to get through a tough time. To sit on your high horse saying Carnival needed to keep those deposits for a prolong period  to stay afloat is very condescending to “us” who needed our money returned. I’m not even saying I wanted it back in 5-7 days. How about two months? How about three months?  Four months is BS and you know it. 

14 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

When you expended that money, did you think it was going into a savings account?  Thousands of hard working people in the industry lost their jobs.  Thousands were stuck on ships for almost a year waiting to be repatriated to their country.  It was fun for no one.  I am simply explaining the process they had to go thru, you can accept it or not.  I talked with them every single day.

no, but when I spent that money, I still had a job and money coming in to pay the bills. Lost my job during Covid. That money should have been returned way before 4 months. 

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

So in your past history, were there 10’s of thousands of people all trying to do the same thing at the same time?  The covid and post covid was of course unprecedented and a series of events that no one saw coming and could not plan for.  Virtually thousands of calls all trying to get thru at the same time.   4 hour wait on hold, then you have to work thru the accounts, different credit cards used for different deposits, monies moved from ne cruise that gets canceled to another, tracking additional OBC to entice keeping money on the books, then repeat, then repeat then repeat.  The process went on and on.  The industry had to do this to stay afloat. At one point in time Carnival had almost 3 billion on deposits on the books they uses to keep from going under.

 

No other industry ever had to go thru this, no system would EVER have been built to handle this, to compare them to such is simply unfair.  

FYI that was unprecedented time for us as well. When no money was coming in from layoffs at work due to Covid, that $8,000 was critical to me to feed my family and pay my bills. Four months was as patient as I was willing to be. Do you know what kind of interest Carnival made with, as you say “Carnival had almost 3 billion on deposit”. 3 billion of other people’s money would make a pretty good penny for a company no longer paying their crews or fueling their ships. So it’s fine for Carnival to keep our money to keep them afloat, what about giving our money back in a timely fashion to keep me afloat?  

Fortunately, I save all vacation information, receipts etc.  I submitted my receipt along with the picture Carnival takes at boarding.  The cruise was 1988.  I was credited for my 7 days. 

1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said:

Having worked virtually hundreds of these during and after the pandemic, t can tell you there is plenty of reasons why.  Not sure whre you get your timeframes from, but it is …..not even close to accurate or feasible.  

Anytime I’ve ever got a refund from a purchase, they tell you to look for the refund in 5-7 business days.  Carnival had $8,000 of my money for over 4 months, no excuse for that.   All three of my cruises were paid in full and all three cancelled. 

Back in March 2020 I had three separate cruises booked  - 7 day in March, (14) B2B in June.  Over $8,000 paid in full as I was close to all three sailing dates. Waited 4 months and still no refund. With COVID shutdown and out of work, that money was sorely needed to live on.  No reason for Carnival to take that long to refund completely cancelled cruises. 

On 6/23/2023 at 8:08 AM, aborgman said:

 

If you're getting close to the 90 day mark - I wouldn't call it impatience.

 

Past 90 days, if they decide to keep that refund and never give it back to you - you're just out the money absent a lawsuit.

 

.One will note that the ticket contract provides lots of deadlines on the customer for requesting refunds - but none on Carnival. They could take YEARS to process your refund if they desired.

I always wondered why Carnival can put a charge on your credit card and it shows up immediately, but it takes longer than 90 days to refund?  It is just a key stroke on their end. During the pandemic, just think of the interest Carnival was making holding on to many, many people’s fully paid cruise for months.  If they can charge your card immediately, then 5-7 business days should be sufficient to reimburse.  
 

14 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Plus you would be getting an appetizer and dessert. So definitely cheaper than doing a la carte and having to pay for both of those as well.

true, I didn’t think about the apps and desert, although those are limited to their choices instead of the “real” menu. 
 

Hope you enjoyed your cruise. I loved following along with your review. We leave a week from today from Brooklyn.

4 hours ago, Mark_T said:

It was clearly set out in the offer of the 'Duo' package that we purchased recently...

 

 

... and as already pointed out, your math is off, as you are saving much more than $10 by the time you add in the cost of the appetizer, desert and a side that you get with the package.

 

Compared to prices on some other cruise lines, these deals are very good... I really don't see how anyone could have a reasonable expectation that they were purchasing unlimited menu choices at less than $25 for a 3 course meal...

this is what the 3 dinner package said:

Choose three deliciously different flavour profiles between our Speciality Restaurants: 

• Butcher’s Cut Steakhouse
• Hola! Tacos Bar & Cantina
• Kaito Sushi Bar
• Ocean Cay Seafood Restaurant
• Kaito Teppanyaki

This flexible package is valid in every one of our Speciality Restaurants (lunch and/or dinner). A €10 surcharge per meal is applied to the Teppanyaki experience only (paid on board). The package includes food only and is valid for a maximum of 1 time in the Butcher's Cut.

Complete the experience by purchasing a Carousel Productions at Sea show and cocktail for only €5 once on board!

You are right, I was very surprised by the $71 for three specialty dining meals.  I thought “what a deal”!   I should have known that price was too good to be true.  I just feel the sirloin is going to be close to what I can get in the MDR. No shellfish choices for the seafood restaurant, salmon, squid or pasta?  Oh well, we will make the best of it.  I just think they could have been a little more upfront with their advertising.  

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I guess do the math and see if it would save you money to have the package. At least with that you get 50% off a substitution if you want to the ribeye or t-bone. Full price for those is pretty steep.

I guess $71 divided by three specialty dinners is $23.66 per restaurant. A ribeye that cost $68, with me getting 50% off would be $34 (plus the $23.66 I already paid for the package) so it would cost me $57-$58 for ribeye. I guess I would be saving $10. 
 

18 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

You can order one of the regular items on the menu in place of one of the included items for 50% of the item price...

 

The price of the packages is low enough that this seems like a fair compromise to me...

But my complaint is they should disclose all those details when buying the package.  Never once was anything mentioned about 50% off menu prices or a limited menu. 
 

I had the same question and called MSC. The website is very clumsy. There was a button to email e-ticket or download boarding pass. I clicked on the download boarding pass button and it did not work. I was confused if the e-ticket was the same as the boarding pass, and they said, “yes, same thing”. Not sure why they even show a button to download boarding pass!  

5 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Worth noting, if you are unaware, if you use the dining package in Teppenyaki, it's a $10 upcharge. If you use it in the a la carte restaurants like Butchers Cut and Ocean Cay, there is a set tastings menu that you have to choose your dishes off of. You can substitute dishes from the regular a la carte menu at a 50% with your package.

I feel like the set menus to order off is terrible. Nowhere does it say on the website that there are limitations on what you order. They should have an * disclaimer somewhere with before purchasing a package. The seafood restaurant doesn’t even have a shell fish on the limited menu you can order without paying extra!  Very deceiving of MSC.  Then to say you can only visit the Steakhouse once (they do tell you that before purchasing) then the one visit you can’t order a ribeye or a t-bone is not right.  We sail next week but might just ask for a refund of the 3 specialty dining package. 

8 minutes ago, AtSeaWithChris said:

Here is the dining experience menu. 

thank you so much!

If you happen to eat at Ocean Cay Seafood restaurant, could you post the limited menu for the dining experience?  I can’t seem to find that anywhere. Loving your review, we will board that ship in 9 days!

I just booked our first cruise with MSC, leaving in 10 days. I have filled out the loyalty program match form and both myself and husband match Carnival Platinum to MSC Gold. If I’ve already paid in full, can I still get the 5% discount for the cruise fare,  either by credit refund or OBC?  Is the $50 on board credit perk for Gold?  Looks like it says Silver thru Diamond would get OBC. 
 

what else can I expect from Gold status for this cruise?  Or do I have to wait until 2nd cruise to get any perks.