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Sorry, I can´t help you with your question. This was a pre inaugural with invited guests only (media, travel agents and others). We did have the new dress code. To be honest, most on those cruises dress as they like. But there was no dedicated formal night on this 3 nighter. steamboats

Sorry, I can't help you with the temperature. I haven't had the time to try out the thermal pool or The Cliff Whirlpool. Although I had my bathing suit with me... steamboats

Most suites have showers only. steamboats

I finished my first entry of my photo review with my not so good photos (sorry, all cell phone). Don´t worry about the German text - it´s a deck by deck description. Restaurants, bars, lounges get a separate entry (too many photos). You can also use any kind of automatic translation which usually works pretty well. There are a lot of more entries to come. Enjoy! steamboats

And here are the good photos (those from DH) 😉. Sorry, I´m way behind. I haven´t started to sort my photos yet but I´ve been busy in DOJ since we´ve returned. Hopefully I get my first entry online by tomorrow. steamboats

Just for you, Lois 😉! The Rainbow Mosaic, Avocado Toast and Pumpkin Pancake plus the breakfast menu. Forgot to mention that they do have bowls for lunch too. steamboats

There´s a totally unprotected area on the port side along the railing. The middle area has sort of a shade cover but rain may get through. On the starbord side there´s a covered area plus a couple of tables in the middle. The Marquee was extremely popular on the pre inaugural. They do have a more healty breakfast. For lunch it´s pizza and burgers. Hot stone and pizza for dinner... (and more of course). steamboats

Unfortunately there were only 3 cabins available for viewing and none of them was an aft one: Silver Suite 6020 Signature Suite 7095 Medallion Suite 7054 steamboats

My DH and I had the pleasure to be on the preinaugural on Aug 10th til 13th. I´m writing an extense photo review but that´ll take some time. So here´s my DH´s video as a teaser 😉 - don´t worry although it´s starting with some talking in German the rest is just video (except for the end) steamboats

It varies... the traditional starting date is Friday prior to the First of Advent. But many markets now open by mid November. steamboats

Nope, EU does not prohibit the cruise lines from prohibiting this. All bags are scanned and alcoholic liquids are taken in various EU ports. It´s just a matter of enforcement. steamboats

He and his wife were on the MSC Euribia christening cruise. I saw them in the Yacht Club and when they came into the theater for the christening ceremony. And of course he has a team of people contributing to his book. steamboats

@Host Jazzbeau I was more referring to the Europa/Europa 2 rankings ;-). Compare the MSC rankings to those and you come up with "MSC must be a pretty luxurious cruise company". I´m pretty sure that the rankings of Explora I won´t be bad either... steamboats

So did you ever read the rating of the MSC ships??? Looking on those Douglas Ward has never left they Yacht Club and was pampered there... steamboats

Although your ship might dock at 5 am you might not be able to disembark until 7 am. To be on the safe side I´d schedule the tour for 8 am. steamboats

Usually you can simply walk off like in a US port. If your last port has been a Schengen community country you don´t even have a passport control and no customs either. steamboats

Here´s my DH´s ship video (narration is in German but it´s not important and just a little bit): And here are the suites: steamboats

The train station is right next to the cruise terminal. Therefore there is no shuttle needed to the train station. Rostock-Lage is the closest airport but with only a few flights. The next major airport is either Hamburg or Berlin (both are a couple of hours from the port). Warnemünde is mainly an embarkation port for German guest. MSC might have charter flights to Rostock-Lage for Italians or Spaniards. But that´s it. steamboats

They want to be a European luxury cruise company and therefore there are no US wines on the wine list. steamboats

You don´t count in the opening hours which allow each table to have two turns. steamboats

I´ve never had a free shuttle provided by Celebrity. If it was free it was provided by the port/city. Actually I had to pay for a shuttle which was provided for free by the port but RCI charged us (o.k. on that trip there was sort of a passenger riot because of the shuttle rip off). steamboats

They don´t check your ESTA physically but many do ask at check-in. And I had a flight delay due to the fact that another person did have ESTA but had the same name as someone on the no fly list of the US authorities. It did take quite a while to sort this out and then the person was able to fly (and we too). Exactly, the airlines have to transfer the passenger data to the US and then get the o.k. by the US authorities prior to departure. steamboats

Here are more pictures from the pre-inaugural cruise. steamboats

From what I´ve read EES is more an automated passport control which is already used in various EU/Schengen countries. You scan your passport and the machine is comparing your face with the biometric data of your passport photo. There´s always a "back up" with a real officer who can check your passport. Actually I had problems in Spain as both ways the machine didn´t work with my (pretty new EU) passport. steamboats

I read she´s leaving Aug 8th. steamboats