PaulInPGH

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences!

We'll be joining you on the Nov. 2 sailing. We just booked this cruise last Friday (extreme last-minute). We were originally headed to Spain for 10 nights but changed plans after all the current issues in Barcelona. This will be our first cruise on an Oasis class ship and I'm really looking forward to it.

Cheers.

On ‎2‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 4:24 PM, ggooglyboogly said:

You've inspired me to bid (also fairly aggressively) on the Haven for my sailing in 12 days, here goes nothing! 

I hope you win your bid! If you do, please drop back in and let us know how it went and what you thought. Have a great cruise!

Cheers.

Greetings. After five straight NCL cruises, we're looking at doing something different. We're planning on heading back to the Med, hopefully this coming October, and I'm currently weighing options. While there are certainly options on lines like NCL or Royal, we're considering doing something a bit different, which has led us to look at both MSC and Costa.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's experienced both lines and could give us an idea of the pros and cons of each. Where are the two lines similar, and where are they different? If you had the option, which would you cruise and why?

Really, anything you'd like to share would be appreciated. I'm posting this in both the Costa and MSC boards to get info from both perspectives. Your feedback is much appreciated!

Greetings. After five straight NCL cruises, we're looking at doing something different. We're planning on heading back to the Med, hopefully this coming October, and I'm currently weighing options. While there are certainly options on lines like NCL or Royal, we're considering doing something a bit different, which has led us to look at both MSC and Costa.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's experienced both lines and could give us an idea of the pros and cons of each. Where are the two lines similar, and where are they different? If you had the option, which would you cruise and why?

Really, anything you'd like to share would be appreciated. I'm posting this in both the Costa and MSC boards to get info from both perspectives. Your feedback is much appreciated!

13 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

In my younger days my family always sailed with RCC. Now that I'm adulting myself (just hit 40 this year) we opted to go with NCL last May, and have 3 more trips booked with them coming up. The thing which swayed us and has kept us with NCL is the overall vibe and targeted clientele of the lines. 

 

We've always been told that Carnival is the Walmart of cruising. Sure, there are exceptions, and not every Carnival sailing is wrought with issues and bar brawls, but if I was a betting woman and had to pick which cruise line would show up next in the news with unruly passengers, you know where my money is going. Not to sound snobbish, but if the price of the trip is low enough, it will be affordable to more categories of passengers. Some of which lack basic etiquette and manners. 

 

On the flip side, I've heard that Celebrity/Princess is the geriatric cruise line. Bingo games, 50's lounge music everywhere, more quiet and subdued. Also not my cup of tea.

 

Royal tends to be more family focused - rock climbing walls, surfing pools, zip lines.... and like Jamie, I have no kids and can tolerate them in small mild doses, but a ship that caters to families with children is also not ideal for us. 

 

When we get our hearts set on a destination I always check several other cruise lines, but I've not yet found one that matches the itinerary we want, the time period we want, and when you do a true comparison with similar sized rooms and perks (UBP is a must for us), NCL has always come out on top. I'd love to try MSC one day as I've heard good things about them (we would enjoy the more European flair that it seems to have with regards to food and entertainment, although others prefer the more American-ized ships like NCL), but they're always a solid 1-2K more than NCL for a similar sailing. 

 

I do find it interesting though that Jamie prefers ships that leave out of NY, whereas me, being only 20 miles from the NY dock, I have zero interest in cruises leaving out of here. Unless you're sailing in the summer (with kids and higher prices), you can't even go outside and enjoy the ship and views for the first 2 days of your trip. We prefer using the ship as a means to get to some awesome places, and don't care much for sea days. So I would much rather fly somewhere and get to my destinations, than take 3 days sailing there.

We're also looking at trying something new after five straight NCL cruises. I'm not sure if you've looked at some of the MSC itineraries in Europe, but when I looked at some pricing for cruises this coming October, I was blown away by how good their pricing is compared to similar NCL cruises. Pricing for a balcony cabin was about half the cost of an NCL balcony. The Yacht Club was also priced $3,000 less than a Haven cabin on NCL. I've not looked at anything other than cruises from Italy, so no clue how they compare throughout the rest of the world, but I would strongly consider MSC, at least at the current pricing, should you be venturing to Europe.

Cheers.

My wife and I just spent a week in Paris back in November. If I was going just for a few hours, I would suggest really trying to limit yourself to one or possibly two places, rather than try to scramble around to just see the outside of a bunch of different sites. The metro is convenient, for sure, but you'll still have to spend the time locating the stations, reviewing maps, and generally figuring out how to navigate an unfamiliar city. Also, don't hesitate to use Uber to move between locations. We used it several times during our stay when we were too tired to metro back to our hotel, and it was always fast, convenient, and affordable.

If you decide to spend your time near the Notre-Dame Cathedral (which is spectacular), you could also explore the nearby Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral, which is home to some of the most beautiful stained glass in Europe. A short walk can also take you to the Ile Saint-Louis (look for Berthillon ice cream, some of the best in the world), across the river to the Latin Quarter where there are plenty of lunch spots, or, only two subway stops away, the Saint-Germain-des-Pres area, which is home to a number of the most historic cafes in Paris. My point is, you don't need to zoom around and see all the major sites to have a memorable Paris experience. Pick one or two things that sound attractive and do that, and save the rest for the next visit.

Cheers.

On ‎1‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 2:59 PM, Kalum said:

How much did you tip the Butler and concierge? Seems like you used them quiet a bit...trying to find out what is appropriate and what not...

Thanks

Tipping is so subjective and entirely dependent on your individual experience. I don't think there's anything that's "appropriate" or not. For us, we felt that we didn't use the butler much at all, with the exception of the two mornings we ate breakfast in the room. Even that, I felt, was a little lacking, as I'd read that butler's typically set up your breakfast for you (with a table cloth, place settings, etc.), and Joseph simply dropped off the food.

All that being said, we stayed at about the $50 range for tipping. Some probably do more, some probably do less. Just leave what you're comfortable with.

Cheers.

56 minutes ago, northernrose said:

Did you ever have to wait to be seated at the Haven Restaurant?

 

Did you ever have to wait to be seated at any of the restaurants on the Getaway?

 

In the Haven suite was there a beer opener?

We definitely never had to wait at the Haven restaurant. However, we were only a party of two, so that may be a factor. We saw a couple parties of four or five have to wait, but it didn't look like they had to wait long. It was definitely nice to have that venue available essentially whenever you wanted it.

We never had a wait at any other restaurants. Margaritaville seemingly gets pretty busy, so you may have a little wait there, but since we went on a day when the ship was in port, it was basically empty. We never did the dining room, but we've never had to wait at the dining room on any of our other NCL cruises. Again, being a party of two probably makes that easier.

I don't recall seeing a beer opener in our suite; we never had need of one.

Cheers.

Well, this brings me to the end of another review. I'm certainly happy to answer any questions (though I don't have copies of the dailies, so I probably won't be able to answer specific days/times questions). Otherwise, see you after the next cruise!

Cheers,

Paul

Post-Cruise: Wherein we are sad.

Haven disembarkation is so nice, it might be worth booking a Haven cabin just for that final morning. We slept until 8:00, and we then made our way up to the Haven restaurant, which was fully operational. Because we were staying in Florida for a few more days and had nowhere to be, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while everyone else made their way off the ship.

Escorted off the ship at around 9:15, we made it out quickly. But we then hit a long line leading into the luggage pick-up area, something to which we were not accustomed on this vacation. We eventually made it to the luggage pick-up area, but we had a hard time figuring out where the Haven priority luggage was located. It turned out that it was in a separate room a ways away from the main luggage area. This was very confusing, and could definitely have used some signage to point the way.

We eventually made it outside. We’d intended to take Uber again, but the area was so chaotic, we opted for a taxi instead.

We spent a delightful few additional days in Florida, where we spent time with my family, and ate some truly epic seafood. We flew home on Wednesday, and the universe had mercy on me, because the flight was uneventful.

Since we’ve been home, we’ve been giving a lot of thought to our next vacation. There are a lot of places we want to go, and knowing us, a cruise will likely be part of whatever we choose to do.

We spent the rest of the evening at Howl at the Moon. It was a lot of fun, even though they did not attempt our Rush request, despite our $5 tip.

We finished the night on our balcony, lamenting the fact that we’d be off the ship in only a few short hours.

Up next, Post-Cruise – Goodbye, beautiful Haven.

Surf and Turf at Ocean Blue.

We’d originally booked Cagney’s for our final night meal. But since we enjoyed Ocean Blue so much, and since we’ve eaten at Cagney’s a number of times, we decided to go back to Ocean Blue. I of course ordered the gratin again, and there was definitely cheese in that dish! We got a bit of a chuckle when we heard a woman complaining that she doesn’t eat seafood or steak, which begged the question, why on earth did you choose to dine at a restaurant that features nothing but seafood and steak?

The meal was amazing. Here’s a taste of what we had: champagne, calamari, crab cakes, red wine, surf and turf, spinach, gratin, and Mac and cheese. Also, not to be forgotten, the delicious sorbet dessert. It was a lovely finale to a lovely trip.

4 hours ago, maulers2000 said:

Great review, I don't want it to end!

Thank you. That's exactly how I felt about leaving our Haven cabin and the most comfortable bed I've ever had the pleasure to sleep on. I still miss it:(

6 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

So sad when it ends! Thank you so very much--this just upped my excitement even more. And I love the way you write. No more relaxaustion for you guys until the next one!

Thanks very much. It is a bit of a struggle sometimes to come up with ways to make "we swam, relaxed, and ate a lot" sound interesting, hahaha.

Not sure how much relaxing we'll get in on the next cruise, as we're looking at some Med cruises for our next trip. The last time we did one of those we were on the go from dawn til dusk. Very fun, but definitely not relaxing.

6 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

 

6 hours ago, northernrose said:

Thanks for taking us along on your vacation. We will be on NCL Getaway and we will have a Haven suite.

You will love it, I'm sure. The Haven is fantastic and has ruined me for all future cruises.

Remember when I mentioned that we were promised the recipe for the gratin at Ocean Blue? Well, several times throughout the week, we’d run in to that waiter. He’d asked whether we’d received the recipe, and we told him it had yet to appear. Well, on the final afternoon, it finally showed up in our cabin! Except—and I still can’t quite believe this—the recipe did not say anything about cheese! The only thing I truly wanted to know (the type of cheese used) was the only part of the recipe that was missing. It was simultaneously frustrating and funny.

We spent some time packing (yuck) and generally trying to get in the frame of mind to accept that the cruise was coming to an end. Luckily, we still had one final meal to enjoy.

We spent the morning reprising our favorite activities—relaxing in the spa, relaxing in the Haven, and so forth. We paused the relaxation to enjoy a final lunch at O’Sheehan’s, which continued to be a delight.

On this, our seventh cruise, we finally tried our hand at shuffleboard. Turns out, we’re terrible at it. Maybe we’ll practice more on our next cruise, when it’s not quite as sunny out, and when we don’t have a family waiting for us to finish, circling us like sharks waiting to attack.

After miserably failing at shuffleboard, we went back to the things we’re good at, i.e., doing nothing. We bid a sad farewell to the spa, and another farewell to the fantastic Haven courtyard. Believe me, it’s going to be hard when we one day have to cruise without that wonderful Haven retreat.

Day 7: Wherein the ship is no longer our personal resort.

Getting up at 7:15 the previous morning was a real imposition, so we decided to sleep in on Saturday. We did make it out of bed in time to get to the Haven restaurant for more omelets.

The previous afternoon, Joseph left us a note that said the concierge would be giving a talk about disembarkation at 10:30. I really didn’t think disembarkation needed an entire presentation, and I was right. It’s not that different in the Haven, except you can stay in your cabin until 9:00 and you do not have to be off the ship until 9:45. And, as in port, the concierge will escort you off the ship when you are ready. It’s a nice perk, but in no way does it require a how-to chat.

Speaking of chocolate, Joseph left us some seriously delicious chocolates for our afternoon treat. We then spent some more time reading and lounging in the Haven courtyard. We sampled a hotdog, which was surprisingly good, and generally just enjoyed the final hours of a cruise that was rapidly coming to a close.

Because we hadn’t had enough steak yet this trip, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision and made a reservation for Moderno for later that evening. This was no problem, with the help of the Haven concierge, and it seems like if you book the Haven, you have no need to worry about making advance reservations, as they handled every reservation for us with zero problems.

That night we went to the only show we’d booked for this cruise, Million Dollar Quartet. The show was very good. The musicians were fantastic, even if their acting needed a little help. Except for the guy who played Jerry Lee Lewis, who was insane and hilarious. It was probably the best show we’ve seen at sea, and I’d highly recommend it.

Moderno turned out to be a disappointment. This restaurant, more than any other, really seems to vary from ship to ship. We had it on our first Getaway cruise and thought it was average. We visited again on our Escape cruise in September and thought it was great. This cruise, the food was pretty bad. The chicken and sausage were both fantastic, as was the salad bar, but the steak (you know, the main event at a steak restaurant) was almost inedible. On the whole, definitely not worth the $70.

We toyed with getting a post-dinner drink, but we instead just headed back to our cabin because…old.

Up next, Day 7 – The final day. Booooooooooo!!!!!!

We spent a few hours at Nachi. We enjoyed some drinks in the hot tub (the pool was freezing cold). We swam in the ocean just a little bit, as it was rather seaweedy that day and that tends to irritate my skin.

We ate lunch, which was just okay. Again, the food on previous trips was fantastic, but everything we ordered this time was cold. My wife still enjoyed the ceviche, however.

Around noon we eventually decided that we’d have more fun back onboard a quiet ship, so we packed up and grabbed a taxi back. We made a couple stops in the port area to buy some hot sauce and chocolate, and we then made our way back onboard.

This would be our third time at Nachi, and, sadly, will likely be our last. We first visited back in 2014 and had an absolutely unbelievable time. I’d put that first day at Nachi up toward the top of the list of best vacation experiences.

Things have gone downhill, however. They used to let only 100 people in per day, but that number has since gone up. I’m not sure what it is now, but it feels much more crowded. What’s more, the service there used to be impeccable—with each couple or group receiving personalized service from one attentive waiter. Our first visit, our waiter checked with us regularly, bringing us many drinks and much food. This time, one person came by to ask us to place our food order. I think, since they built their new beach bar, the expectation is for people to order their drinks there rather than have them brought by a waiter.

Now, believe me, I realize how this sounds. I’m certainly not complaining that we have to get our own drinks—I’m not a monster. I just feel like it’s such a remarkably different experience than what it once was, it’s worth noting for folks who may be used to the old version and have that expectation for future visits.

Another, more substantial change, is we were told we could no longer order whatever we want from the food menu, but were limited to one appetizer and one entree per person. This was VERY different from our previous visits, when we spent the day sampling all sorts of items with no restriction. Again, not a big deal, but something to know before you go.

Day 6: Wherein we wage a fierce debate whether to get off the ship.

For some reason, we wanted to get a very early start to our day in Cozumel, so we set an alarm for 7:15 (that’s A.M., blah). We very seriously considered just staying on the ship, as it had been so nice and relaxing throughout the week. My wife put it best when she said we really struggled to go from our all-inclusive ship to our all-inclusive resort.

We somehow made it out of bed, and following another in-room mini breakfast, we were some of the first off the ship. Escort off the ship when in port is a lesser-known, but very nice, Haven perk. We navigated the confusing Cozumel port area (escalators, stairs, corridors that supposedly lead to elevators but actually lead nowhere, etc.), and we eventually found a taxi to take us to Nachi Cocom.

3 hours ago, mjcatlvr said:

Great job with your review!

Much appreciated!

Hi all. My wife and I are strongly considering MSC for our next Med cruise, which we are hoping to book for this coming fall or possibly the fall of 2020. Until now, we've sailed primarily NCL, with a couple cruises on RCI. I'd like to hear some of your experiences on MSC, especially sailing in Europe. The good, the bad, ships to avoid (if any), etc.

I'm particularly attracted to their itineraries out of Venice as we love Venice. It looks like a lot of the ships that currently sail from Venice are on the older side, so would be interested in hearing about your experiences on those ships.

We don't need a lot of bells and wistles when we cruise, but we do appreciate good food. I've seen some very mixed reviews on the food, specifically, on MSC ships, so would also be particularly interested to hear your thoughts on that.

Any and all thoughts would be much appreciated!

Cheers.