vino123

Yes, isn't it? Just had another e mail about it from another agent saying Rotterdam as the port, same price though.

Looks like they have added another pre inaugural cruise for the Ovation, just had a text from a well known UK travel agent offering 3 nts on the 14th April from Southampton from £249 in a balcony. Its not even on Royals website yet!

NEVER SEEN BEFORE

New Ovation Inaugural Sailing

Ovation of the Seas - 14 Apr 16

3 Nights

Balcony from £249pp

Southampton, Amsterdam, Southampton

Hi all

My booking is now back to how it should be thanks to my travel agent getting it corrected.

Will certainly be keeping tabs on the reservation from now on though!:)

I have just been checking our booking on the MSC UK website and to my amusement I have also noticed I have been replaced by a younger Italian model!!

I am sure my hubby will be thrilled at the prospect of sharing a cabin with her.

I have taken a screenshot and sent it to my travel agent who hopefully can deal with it tomorrow when she gets in the office.

Boy, I thought Royal Caribbeans website was bad but MSC's takes it to a whole new level. First they had me down as being French ( I am not!) now this.

Its a good job I am constantly checking our online booking, hopefully all these glitches will get sorted before our cruise in December.

Thing is, now that I have disappeared from the reservation I wonder whose cabin I am in!!:D

Thanks from me also!

We will have our first Yacht Club experience on the MSC Fantasia at Christmas and I am beyond excited.

We are very loyal Celebrity/ Royal Caribbean cruisers but have been tempted away by the Yacht Club concept and the Loyalty match scheme.

The price was so reasonable compared to a Sky suite on Celebrity.

I think we will have a very Merry Christmas this year!!:)

On the silhouette right now and can no longer get cash in casino...only casino credit

Is that for refundable or non refundable OBC?

Hopefully they will still refund your credit card for refundable OBC?

Thanks for taking the time to share your review.

We will be doing a Middle east cruise on Fantasia at Christmas. Very excited to visit this part of the world for the first time.

Looking forward to reading the rest of your review!

We also have the same sky suite in April.

Love to hear any more details about it too. Especially any noise issues but we love the aft views. Hoping that any noise from above will only be heard if we are outside on the veranda and not inside the suite?

We are booked for the summer but I cannot see any reduction in the fares?

Try looking on the US website.

Lol no I wouldn't expect anyone to do that nor would I feel comfortable with it either! However I would feel very comfortable having wine by the glass delivered to the cabin!

Oh wow!

Thanks for taking the time to upload photos. I am particularly interested in Luminae. We cannot wait to try it for ourselves on the Silhouette in April. Glad to see the Bulgari toiletries are now in the Sky suites.Looking forward to the rest of your posts!

Enjoy:)

Okay - here's a question...We have Elite status on Celebrity. We're about to book a cruise on MSC. They are apparently offering a 5% discount if we join their loyalty program and will match our Elite status. The questions are do we need to book first or apply for the loyalty program first in order to obtain the discount? Also, what level will we get on MSC to match Elite on Celebrity? Thanks!!!!

We hadn't booked anything when we applied, have subsequently booked a Yacht Club suite on Fanatasia for next Christmas from Dubai! Got the 5% discount and Black card for Elite. I took screenshots of our Capt Club page as proof as we don't have updated cards.

Thank you so much for your detailed review. We have just booked a similar itinerary on Fantasia for Xmas this year. We join the ship in Dubai. It will be our first time in the Middle east and also our first experience of MSC. We have cruised countless times with Celebrity and their sister lines but the Yacht club concept on MSC has really tempted us!

I have arranged our own flights as we can fly from our small regional airport here in the UK via Amsterdam on klm to Dubai. Only problem is it arrives in Dubai at 6am!! Wondering what to do in Dubai at that time although it's reassuring to read that you were able to board your ship early. Hope we can do the same.

Any more tips for Dubai would be appreciated!

Thank you:)

Thank you for such a detailed review. I am loving it so far and following with great interest as we too are loyal Royal/Celebrity cruisers but the Msc yacht club concept really appeals to me!

I am seriously trying to convince my husband to book a Christmas cruise on Msc. The Splendida med itinerary is very reasonably priced for a YC1 cabin but my only concern is the weather won't be so nice to get the full benefit of the lovely outdoor areas on the ship.

How did you find cruising in theMed in December?

The other itineray I am considering is the middle east on Fantasia. The weather will be better for sure but flights from the UK will be more money and also it's nit an area I have ever really fancied although Dubai does look amazing.

Decisions decisions!!!

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Yes I must say the Yacht club is calling my name. Never thought I could be tempted away from Celebrity but I just love the whole idea of the exclusivity for such a reasonable price.

How was the Christmas offerings in the YC?

Did it on Monday, received our card numbers today, so pretty quick.

We are UK based if that makes any difference!

I'm booking a YC1 for a christmas sailing in the Med. on Splendida.

 

Does the YC have full access to the thermal suite for the whole cruise?

 

From the website:

 

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Is there any YC areas that are adult only?

 

Any other info would be great.

 

 

Thanks

 

Lois

Hi Lois,

I'm looking at this cruise too. We are usually very loyal to RCI/Celebrity but with the current status match and the reasonable prices for the Yacht Club, I must say I am pretty tempted! My husband is not so sure though.

Was wondering if there will be lots of unruly kids onboard so I would also like to know if there are adult only areas in the Yacht Club.

Any other info about MSC at Christmas and/or New Years would be appreciated by me also!

We are Elite (status not self importance!) with Celebrity. Scanner wasn't working so copied form, filled it out and posted it off to the London address. Two days later had an email with our black card number. So far, so impressed!

I sent an e mail on Monday with a screenshot of our Celebrity Elite Plus status along with the scanned forms and received an e mail today with our black card numbers.

The perks are not as good as Celebrity /Royal but the Yacht Club experience is looking pretty tempting. Just need to persuade my other half now!

The Celebrity offering is not as good as it was but the decline in quality is nowhere near as marked as it is on P&O. Just my opinion.

 

I find the food resembles school dinners, the crew often a bit miserable and the entertainment akin to a holiday camp.

 

This is hardly surprising as the UK market is often offered amazing deals where you wonder how they can possibly be making much profit.

 

I don't anticipate returning to P&O any time soon but would happily sail Celebrity if the itinerary and price were right.

 

Sorry to be rather damning. As I said this is just my view.

Totally agree Spursgirl.

School dinners is exactly how I would describe the food I experienced 2 years ago on the Aurora. Marrowfat peas have no place on a dining room menu in my opinion! Don't even get me started on the service! Plus I much prefer to sail with different nationalities than mainly British ( I am from the UK) but we love talking to people from other parts of the world. Makes life more interesting!

Personally I wouldn't drink white zinfandel even if it was free!

I am saddened to hear that Celebrity has succumbed to the ever growing casualization of people's dress style in America. It is sad to see people that think denim is dress clothes. It is sad to see where jeans replace dockers as smart or business casual. It is sad to see people out in public at nice restaurants looking like they just finished cutting the grass and forgot the shower. It is sad to think that if I decide to wear a tux on a Mediterranean or Baltic cruise, I will be the only one. What ever happened to people that care what they look like, and take the time and effort to make themselves look good. Mrs. Cleaver always wore pearls and a dress! Ward always wore a tie under his jacket... always. I am not saying that we should wear suits to dinner in our homes each evening, but what is wrong with trying to raise the bar (or try to keep the bar from dropping any further) when we go out in the evening. Really?

 

I suggest a pair of slacks instead of jeans. A button down collar instead of a golf shirt or t-shirt. A sport's jacket instead of a windbreaker. Then on an evening chic evening on the cruise, bring an extra pair of pants and another jacket... maybe even ones that match... or even a tux... (same matching jacket and pants) yes one will need a white shirt, but you had to bring one or 2 anyway... might as well have a silly pointed collar. And throw in a bow tie.. they are really small...

 

IT'S NOT THAT HARD ! and it is sad to know that people are getting so lazy and cruise companies are caving into the pressure.

 

It was nice to have a couple of cruise lines that were holding the line to be classy, allowing those that wanted to dress for dinner and experience an evening at the theater, the option to be with other like-minded folks. There were always other less casual options - not to name any - for casual and family oriented sailings.

 

Even the name Celebrity brought that feeling that their cruisers were something special - apparently, not any more...

 

Sad to hear about the new policy.... sad...sad...sad.

Well said!

They sometimes offer a suite as a prize in the Bingo. They did that on our cruise on the Explorer recently.

We booked way back when they were offering the double upgrade. We got a veranda for the price of an inside. I applied for the LCV upgrade and was very pleasantly surprised to get an upgrade to a suite for our cruise next month.

Just had this official e mail from Celebrity UK

(Apologies if someone else has posted it before);

Evening Chic

Dear ******

Beginning on all sailings departing December 4 and beyond, we wanted to advise you that evenings onboard Celebrity Cruises will now feature two types of attire: Evening Chic and Smart Casual.

Evening Chic is your night to shine and will be featured once on cruises 6 nights or fewer and twice on cruises 7 nights or longer.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• A cocktail dress

• Skirt, trousers or smart jeans with an elegant top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Trousers or smart jeans with a shirt or sweater

• Optional jacket or blazer

Smart Casual attire can be enjoyed every other night of your cruise.

Women should feel comfortable wearing:

• Skirt, trousers or jeans with a casual top

Men should feel comfortable wearing:

• Trousers or jeans with a sleeved top

We are introducing Evening Chic so that you can be glamorous and be sophisticated in your own way, however if you would like to still wear a tuxedo or formal gown on Evening Chic nights, you absolutely should. Evening Chic is about giving all our guests the opportunity to enjoy the evenings in a way that they feel comfortable and relaxed.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.

Celebrity Cruises UK & Ireland

Personally I am glad to see they are still encouraging you to wear tuxes and evening gowns but I suspect I will be in the minority. But I have quite a collection of evening dresses and a cruise is the only chance i get to wear them these days!