Beamafar

Apparent wind??? Hope they’re a little more specific on the bridge! Someone also needs to tell them that 999% doesn’t exist lol Or - is that an emergency secret distress signal???!!! 😱 (The number for emergency services in Ireland is 999. 😁).

Mr B said his pizza wasn’t anything to write home about.

Sorry to say that my burger was every bit as bad as the one cooked on a bbq at home by men who suddenly get delusions that they’re chefs the minute the sun shines.

Having “dinner” in bed tonight. Mr B went to Pizza & Burger on deck 6 and got the former for him and the latter for me. 🥴😁

I spoke with 2 couples, who are in Aurea, last night. Neither have yet received the new benefit of a welcome bottle of Prosecco. Now, it’s been my experience before that you receive any new additions regardless of when you booked (we received the benefit of drinks included outside of YC when it was first introduced, despite booking before the introduction. Some of you will remember that it was almost impossible to know exactly what was covered as MSC, typically, wouldn’t specify a package at the time). After all, sometimes you come onboard only to find that reductions in what you thought you would get have been introduced.

Haven’t tried yet. Thought I would last night but wasn’t up to it. I have been assured, however, that that is the case. I will definitely check this out and, hopefully, confirm that it is the case.

Left the window open all night in the hope of having a Captain Jack Sparrow type come visit. Not a bloomin’ hope. 😔🥴🤪😂

@hamrag I’ve just had a look at the drinks menu and see that the Signature cocktail list items are €14 - so, indeed, clearly (and cleverly) outside of Premium. PremiumPlus really spoilt us; we never had to pay any heed to inclusions before. Everything (by the glass) was included. 🙄 Last year was the first year since 2011 that we didn’t sail MSC, so this is our first sailing sans PremPlus. 😭

Yesterday, I ordered a white wine, in the buffet, which is covered by Premium. The waiter brought me a different wine as they didn’t have the one I ordered. Only that I looked at the ticket he gets with an order, I wouldn’t have known what I’d been given. It was Canti - one of the Easy package whites!! I will be watching more closely to what they are substituting my orders with from here on. I overheard snippets of a conversation in an elevator the other evening regarding the shower in some people’s cabins. It appears that it’s almost impossible to bend over to retrieve something if you drop it, the shower is so small. Ours is terrific; widthways it’s the span of my arms, with a seat and a high shelf above. I’m getting a reputation with some of the guests for being very cheeky - I know what I’m entitled to and have no problem ensuring that I get it. Getting a lot of slagging as a result. 🤣

It seems that you’ll need to bring all info re your entitlements onboard to have as back-up. On another thread, someone in an Aurea whirlpool suite (paying big money for the privilege!) was refused access to the thermal suite. We met a couple who are in Aurea and didn’t know about the Top 20. They have no idea of their benefits. MSC first timers.

Hadn’t looked at the cocktails list yet. Not really a cocktail drinker so hadn’t noticed this (cognac with port and Baileys are my 2 regular tipples onboard - Oh, and champagne, of course, which is immediately provided when we arrive to dinner each evening. 😁). Planning to visit the Mixology lounge to see what’s on offer - and what’s covered. Mr B and myself have been very poorly for the last few days; the air con has made us quite ill, so we’ve spent most of the time in bed. Going to BC tonight and, hopefully, I’ll get to check out either Mixology or Fizz - the Champagne bar.

Similar security arrangements have just been announced by the captain. We have armed security onboard.

Exterminate …. Exterminate

Sunset over the Gulf of Aden this evening

So, we’ve had chicken different ways since your post - mainly curry type, and, today, the delicious crispy battered “Island” chicken. No bones in any.

Yep - sailed this route before and received the same notification in the cabin. This is on today’s planner

I just found out last night that our MDR, Bubbles, has an area for Aurea guests, rather than being a dedicated Aurea restaurant. Non-Aurea diners have the set time dining in the rest of the restaurant. Les Dunes is for Aurea Suite guests. I was invited to dine in Les Dunes but haven’t felt the need to. We have a wonderful table in Bubbles and our waiters are terrific.

I can’t see how it won’t.

OK - so the situation is that we’re still on the old system whereby Premium covers drinks up to €13 and the packages sold onboard were at the old prices. When the ship gets to Genoa, the new prices for drinks and packages will come into effect and the limit will increase to €14 on the Premium package. It’ll be interesting to compare the new bar menu prices with the one posted on here to see the actual price increases for drinks.

We have Gala night tonight and another on Monday. White Night was last night (seemed a bit early in the cruise to hold it then).

The bedside lights have touch buttons which will switch them on, off or dim. There are American power points with 2 USBs and 2 European power points at the desk near the window There is a USB port in each of the bedside wall lights (not easy to see in the photo, but just beneath the 2 light switches There are 2 European power points at the desk next to the wardrobe

Let’s take a look at the touch screen control panel. There is a dial to adjust the air con but no indication as to the temperature being set. If you select the bed icon, the lights come on over the headboard and side lights. When you click on the crescent moon, it switches off all the lights, save for the bedside ones. When the window is locked it’ll be indicated on the panel

It’s a beautiful venue. Reminds me of Raffles in Singapore. But I don’t think the concept works on the ship. It’s always empty.

I’m not sure that Aurea is a good value product, now that they’ve watered down the benefits. Apparently you get a discount on the drinks packages rather than Easy being included. I asked someone today about the discount but he hadn’t a clue what I was talking about. He said the packages were already discounted if you prebook. This is the one thing that’s most irritating about MSC - it’s almost impossible to get answers to the questions you ask. Apparently there are 4050 people onboard and not many children (thankfully 😁). I don’t get a sense of it being crowded - there are so many venues that I think it disperses the crowds well. We’ve just been down to the promenade and it wasn’t very busy. Lots of seating at the back on deck 8 to enjoy the wake and bar service is provided by the nearby cigar lounge. We haven’t been to the Champagne bar - Fizz - yet. Had a look in today and thought we wouldn’t fancy hanging out there too long. It seems dull and nothing like the lovely bright champagne bars on Mera/Seaside class. A little disappointing.

I went to the internet info point (which is actually the photo gallery desk) earlier today and the guy there went through some routine that I haven’t a clue about, which is how I’m now on - though it’s still a bit hit and miss. We’ll see. So, we have Butchers Cut booked for tomorrow night. Hopefully it’ll be up to its usual standards. Overall, we’re very happy with the food onboard. Even in the buffet, today, the food was hot - and really tasty. I had a Parisian-style fish, Island chicken (crispy, slightly spicy batter - delicious) fabulous baby roast potatoes and a medley of veg - sautéed peppers and onions, sprouts (too hard!) and broccoli. Just to give an idea of the desserts on offer, I loaded some onto a plate (then ended up eating them all, they were so good).