Beardface

1 minute ago, sidari said:

Niko ... A friend just called MSC UK and was told this ... Unbelievable !

At this time there is no new cancellation policy for MSC UK customers

Imagine that, customer service isn't made immediately aware of an announcement right after it happens at the corporate level.  That almost never happens with other companies.

(in case you couldn't tell, this former customer service agent from another industry is saying this dripping with sarcasm.  It usually takes days for how these policies will be enforced to trickle down to the ones actually dealing with customers... especially in times of constant flux)

1 minute ago, sidari said:

MSC Opera it seems has had the next cruise cancelled, it arrived in Civitavecchia today, One guest who posted on the MSC Opera fans page guests was told last night that his cruise from Genoa tomorrow was cancelled. No reason so far has been given.

MSC is denying boarding to anyone who has an Italian passport or who has traveled through any areas of quarantine in the past 14 days, including most, if not all of Italy.

Do you really need an official statement for why a cruise out of Rome would be canceled given the new policies in place?

I will try to keep this relatively brief, but I know I'll be long winded.

First off, my wife and I were in the Yacht Club on this one.  I've never sailed on MSC before, let alone the Yacht Club, so we really had no idea what to expect.  To say that i was absolutely blown away would be an understatement.

Room: Had a Deluxe Suite in the YC.  These rooms are about 50% wider than your standard balcony, and the size is apparent from the second you enter the room.  Its genuinely spacious, and felt a bit like home while being on a ship.  Having a butler was nice, but ours tended to stay out of our way, which is great.  Had an opportunity to speak up on deck a few times, and they generally try to be as attentive as a guest expects over the duration of the cruise.  If you need more, they'll be at your beck and call, and if you kind of want them to be hands-off, they'll do their thing behind the scenes.  This was fine for us, as we are not needy at all.

Yacht Club Experience: The Top Sail Lounge is seriously top notch.  On a busy ship, it was nice to have a quiet little oasis to come back to every day and every night.  Being able to leave the (at times) chaos of the main area for a quiet night cap was wonderful.  The YC pool deck was wonderful as well.  There were enough chairs for everyone, and the pool wasn't ever crowded, even when the weather was absolutely perfect.

Food: The YC Restaurant was very nice in that you could come up and grab dinner whenever you wanted at night.  No needing to worry about making a specific time, just walked up and you were seated.  Being a European line, it was most full after 8pm, which was just fine for us when we wanted to eat around 7.  The food itself?  Extremely flavorful, the meat options were always great and some of the food was downright delectable (like the truffle Risotto).  The portions were small, but filling, and you never felt hungry or overly full.  Breakfast in the YC was a lot better than the buffets, but the hours are a bit short, and if you sleep in at all, you'll absolutely miss it.  Only drawback, and this is a big one, is that I think they had some tainted food on one night.  There were whispers that numerous people had some gastrointestinal issues one night early in the sailing after dinner, and its suspected that one of the meals might have been a bit spoiled when served.  Didn't last, but worth noting.  Also, while the food was excellent when it was good, there were also some times where it just completely missed the mark when it wasn't.  The lasagnette on the last night was completely forgettable, and I would recommend anyone get the rack of lamb instead.  When the food was good, it was excellent, but when it wasn't, it was pretty bad.

Entertainment: The shows were hit and miss.  Timeless, Fly, The Wizard, and Peter Punk were all pretty good, though there wasn't really a plot to any of them.  Timeless is clearly the best they have to offer, but Fly was a surprising treat.  Very much appreciated the humor that was added not only during that show but also some little skits that the crew would do before every show.  Some of them were downright hilarious.  Special recognition here goes to Carlos Ponzetto, who I guess we were fortunate enough to have with us for this sailing.  He is an excellent showman and someone that MSC is lucky to have.  The Atrium shows throughout the week were entertaining, but the jewel of this sailing was the White Night party up on the pool deck.  That was phenomenal.  High energy international party that turned into an EDM rave at midnight.  That kind of event is going to attract a lot of the younger crowd once more people get to experience it and word spreads.

Ports: Ocho Rios was a complete wash.  Given the other thread I started, nothing more needs to be said there.  After we got cleared, we stayed an extra 4 hours so that no cruise fare would need to be refunded (as happened on the Meraviglia). but all in all, that port can and should be skipped going forward.  The local taxi and weed pushers jumped at everyone coming off the ship like sharks during feeding season.  It was over the top, at times didn't really feel that safe, and given everything else that happened that day, made my wife and I say that if we ever go back, we either get an excursion or don't step foot off the ship.  Grand Cayman and Cozumel were wonderful, on the other hand.  No issues with disembarkation, and the excursions went off without a hitch.  Weather was beautiful.  But the jewel of this trip was Ocean Cay.  MSC has created a wonderful island here, and their hard work has completely paid off.  I am not going to mince words here, Bimini Beach, located next to the Yacht Club area on the backside of the island is arguably the prettiest beach I have ever stepped foot upon.  And that's not taking anything away from the rest of the island.  Only thing I'll say is, there is a lot of coral being washed up on the beaches, so I highly recommend water shoes if you plan to swim.

All in all, an excellent trip, and an eye opener on what you can get if you are willing to step away from the Royal, Norwegian, and Carnival rotation here in the US.  Bang for your buck, there is no better value in vacationing for a US citizen than there is booking a Yacht Club room on a US sailing.  Our total bill for this, even after gratuities and on board spending were factored, was at worst even in the Yacht Club to what we paid on the Oasis of the Seas 5 years ago, or what we would have paid on the Norwegian Encore in May, both on a standard balcony.

We will sail MSC again, and we will sail the YC again, but we might try out either the Meraviglia, or either whatever World Class or possibly even the YC-only ships they are planning, assuming the price point stays around what we had on the Seaside.  But we'll likely have to try out Disney, first, as we have young kids, and that line is basically designed for them.

30 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

They didn't ban cruising, but strongly recommend those over 60 to reconsider.

Honestly, this should probably be the case for this age range during any given flu season if we are really taking pandemics seriously.  And anyone with a weakened autoimmune system should reconsider ever stepping foot on a cruise ship again (or go to a theme park, attend large conferences, take long flights, live in a secluded community, attend any large gatherings, etc). But something tells me that the lessons learned here will be quickly forgotten once the Coronavirus paranoia settles down.

TBD for this week.

Meraviglia was not cleared 2 weeks ago, Seaside was delayed 6 hours on Monday, and Divina outright skipped it.  With Carnival already making it a policy to skip, I would not be shocked if Ocho Rios is no longer a port for MSC the remainder of this season.

Just now, alanchar said:

hey jimmy great report since you just got off the ship.  can you anwser  are the guys ok to wear shorts in the dinning rooms at night and thur out the ship.   nice shorts and collard shirt i mean.  i get different reports when i ask  thanks so much

There were people in the YC restaurant with shorts last night.

Plus, the ship has been relatively empty recently.  Heard there were around 3,500 to 3,800 passengers this past week.  And now they're blocking even more people from boarding than they did last week

I was YC as well.  But yeah work with guest services as soon as you board to make sure you get it worked out.  They'll either get you on the earliest group or just tell you to walk off.

But mind you, our flight is at 10:30.  We didn't have to wait in the line on the ship (much to the chagrin of an annoyed woman who barked at us for "cutting the line" and threatening to speak with security as our Butler made room for us.... Idiot), but from the minute we stepped on the gangway, we were in a taxi within about 20 minutes.  Not terrible, but it could be a lot worse later.

No

People really need to stop believing ridiculous stories

Plus, you'll get to see Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady sail out later.  Watching her come in this morning was an unexpected treat.

19 minutes ago, puglady12 said:

I’m in Miami with hubby and two kids. About to board the Seaside. At one point I said let’s not get on this ship and rent a car and go to Universal or something.  
We decided we’re going to get on the ship but I’m so worried about getting quarantined on it for weeks.  
I really need words of encouragement to get on this ship today!!!!

I'm at the airport after getting off about an hour ago.  It was truly a wonderful week and you'll notice how thorough the staff is with keeping her clean.  But the seas were a bit rough on the way in this morning. 9ft seas with the ship moving at a crawl made it difficult to sleep.

Oh, and Ocean Cay is a seriously gorgeous island.  The day there alone is worth hopping on the ship.

And if you are worried about quarantine, a theme park with people coming and going daily is far, far riskier than a cruise ship.

After the games Ocho Rios officials played with the Seaside on Monday, I would not be shocked if this change is fairly permanent.

Everything appears to be back to normal with this sailing.  No delays today in Grand Cayman even with 4 ships in port.  Makes yesterday's delays with only us in Ocho Rios even more questionable.

No issues today.

Weather has been great.  Rhapsody of the Seas, Carnival Paradise, and a Disney ship joined us in Port.  No delays in disembarking.

42 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

I certainly agree with waiting to see what happens but final payment will be approaching and I'm not sure how the insurance would react if you made final payment on a trip with a no-fly in place. They could argue you increased their liability unreasonably.

 

I honestly don't know how the insurance company would view this, it's just my thoughts.

Put it this way.

The guests who were turned away from the Seaside the past couple weeks had their tickets refunded in full and MSC footed the bill to get them on a flight back home.

I'd pay and play by ear.  MSC seems to be doing their customers right during this whole ordeal.

All aboard pushed from 3:30 to 6:30.  Taxis apparently has word of our clearance before we did because they were lined up for blocks as the first people got off.

It reeks of retribution for last week.

Update:

Cleared customs about 45 minutes after all excursions were cancelled.  Apologies for the delay, the mobile signal here on the island has been awful for the last few hours.

At this point, we might have to leave before we could get clearance.  Already have most excursions canceled due to time constraints

11:30, another announcement, and we still don't have clearance

Doesn't sound like there is much urgency by Jamaica to get us cleared.

And the people I feel worst for are the tour operators who have been sitting in Port waiting all day for us to get cleared.  I hope their employers pay them even if we can't take their tours

Just heard from the YC Concierge that they turned away a few hundred people last week as well.  You can tell they are taking this hold up personally.  They thought they were doing far more than enough

4 minutes ago, ebonybee said:

At the CruiseCritic reception a ship officer did disclose that 300 personnel from targeted areas such as Italy, Iran, China were denied boarding. MSC stayed that they covered their airline fare and refunded cruise fare. 

Heard the same on Saturday night before we sailed away.  The crew was of the opinion they went above and beyond to meet all demands, so I can only imagine the conversation happening between bridge staff, corporate staff, and local authorities right now

Just now, BermudaBound2014 said:

I thought the letter MSC wrote last week regarding Meraviglia was quite 'real'. They threw Jamaica under the bus hard in the letter. I wonder if anyone from MSC spoke to Jamaica between the letter and your arrival.

 

As I said earlier, I would not be shocked if MSC sends a message to them by cancelling all calls here for the rest of this cruise season.

You can tell they aren't happy.  "Despite us being here on time, we are STILL awaiting their clearance"

The most recent announcement, the Cruise Director is not hiding her annoyance with local authorities at all.  Basically just threw them under the bus.  reading between the lines, Sounds like the senior staff is furious this is a thing.

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

We really need a dislike button on here :(. But... being optimistic, hopefully that is a good sign? Maybe they are going to take their temperatures and let you all off!

I'll be honest, there are worse places to get stuck than the YC