Sundiego

Just now, Captain-John said:

 

Thanks Denise - looks like MSC are being relatively consistent in applying their own policy - would you believe it?!

 

 

John, I never put MSC and "consistent" in the same sentence lol. But agree with everyone, once you get the booking accomplished, the YC is awesome!

9 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

 

Hi Denise - wonder if you could clarify - did you have 2 B2B cruises booked or one 14 night cruise, or was it simply a week's cruise and you are both Black card therefore both got a meal?

 

My understanding (per booking) is 2 Black cards = 1 meal, unless there are two separate bookings etc. But knowing MSC I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't consistently applied!

We booked two separate 7-day cruises so we could receive twice the perks (travel agent obc, MSC obc, internet promo for both weeks). 

You are correct, 2 Black cards = 1 meal. So week #1 we received a card in the stateroom for one specialty dinner for 2. And then the following week we received a 2nd card in the stateroom for one specialty dinner for 2.

Also, breaking up the 14 days into two separate weeks, we received two bottles of champagne (one each week) for being in the YC. We also received two bottles of Prosecco (one each week) for being Black card. We received 4 chocolate ships! And we each received a Black card gift each week (they were lame... week one we each got an MSC notepad shaped like a large block, week two each got a ballpoint pen with a floating ship in it).

Hope that helps!

~Denise

Hi. We are recently off a B2B in the YC on the Seaside. I just wanted to give you some feedback on the YC restaurant.

When we boarded, we waited in the Topsail Lounge for our cabin to be ready. The YC director visited each of the groups waiting and gave us some general information. He mentioned that long pants were requested in the YC dining room at dinner, but he said it with a bit of a wink so it was apparent to us that as long as you dressed within reason, you would not be turned away. We saw a lot of people in shorts at dinner, especially on port days. On formal nights, we saw a few tuxes and suits, but mostly dress shirts and slacks, with or without ties.

About the specialty restaurants, we status matched to Black and had two free dinners. We went to Ocean Cay and Butcher's Cut. We found the food in the YC to be excellent and we missed our waitstaff and the personalized service we received! If we had it to do all over again, we would have skipped the specialty restaurants and enjoyed the laid back fun atmosphere of the YC. 

~Denise

Just off a B2B where we booked the 2 weeks separately so we could get 2x the perks. We had separate booking numbers but the same cabin for both weeks.

To confirm what others have said:

1. We did have to exit the ship at the end of week one because the ship has to be cleared with zero passengers. We took our passports and a note from MSC that we were b2b. After clearing immigration we got right back on the ship before  new passengers boarded.
2. We did not have to attend the safety briefing on week 2.
3. We had double the perks, but the free internet perk was not showing on week 2. We were in the YC and I asked the concierge for an assist and he was adamant that we were only entitled to it for week 1. Fortunately, I brought all my documentation with me that clearly showed the week 2 perk and the internet was then added to my cabin at no charge. We also had some missing OBC on week 2 (some from the TA and some from MSC). The concierge was able to get that corrected as well.
4. As a side note, our pricing for 2 weeks was exactly what 14 days would have cost but with twice the perks.

~Denise

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Am considering giving MCS Yacht Club a try as have seen on some NCL boards that it has a better all around product than their Haven.  Was wondering if you could outline the Yacht Club experience as it relates:

• embarkation/debarkation
• butler experience
• YC private areas
• any additional perks you enjoyed

Thank you so much! 

Georgia_Peaches, Yacht Club is by far the superior product! But one thing I did miss about NCL's butler service, when we ordered breakfast, they would "sneak in" at the requested time and set up a full table with our breakfast and then sneak back out while I was still under the covers, bed-head and all lol. We cruised with 3 other couples in the YC and everyone found the breakfast room service barely adequate. But it's just a small hiccup in an otherwise wonderful experience.

5 minutes ago, xcell said:

Any one know if the Zipline was included or do you have to purchase the fun package?

Zipline used to be free for YC but no longer. Sorry!

I posted about this problem in the "bugs & glitches" forum which apparently has disappeared. That was back in October. There was no resolution then and pleas for help were pretty much ignored.

Yes, I've cleared my cache and cookies over and over again. It is NOT the solution to this problem.

I gave up trying to access Cruise Critic via Chrome and use Internet Explorer instead. It's a hassle since I have no use for IE otherwise. This problem has chased a lot of posters to FB. It's a big headache.

Good luck!! And if you do stumble upon a solution, could you update this thread? Thank you!

~Denise

Thank you for the fast replies. I appreciate it!!

~Denise

Hello Royal Caribbean experts!

I am posting an inquiry on behalf of my young nephew who is a first time cruiser! He will be on the LOS out of Galveston in January. I am a seasoned cruiser, but have only cruised Royal Carib once and I'm not a soda drinker so appreciate your help!

The question...  I think he can carry on (not check) a 12-pack of sodas. Is that correct? Is that a 12-pack limit per person? So he could carry on a 12-pack and his "cabin mate" could carry on a 12-pack as well?

Thanks very much!

~Denise

p.s., I am having issues with the new website format and I get a lot of errors using search, so I appreciate the replies here!

4 hours ago, broberts said:

 

It seems to be happening to a few people. You might consider posting in https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/861-report-bugs-glitches/

 

There are already a few threads there on the subject
...

 

Thank you SO MUCH for this. I can't move around the forums very well due to the error and can't search. So I appreciate you doing it for me. 

~Denise

4 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

I have not run into that yet.  Do you have any extensions running in either browser?  Have you tried another computer?  Have you tried restarting the browser?  Have you tried restarting your computer?

Can you give me an example of an extension that would actually cause this? There's not another site I go to that returns the "bad request" error. 

To answer your other questions, yes, yes and yes.

I would like to know if this is a known error that is being worked on. 

~Denise

I embrace change so I am not complaining about the new format. I am able to log in, I am able to select a board. I able to open a thread. But then when I click on page 2 of a thread or try to follow a link within the site I get this:

Bad Request

Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Size of a request header field exceeds server limit.

I log out and log back in and can move around the forums a bit and then eventually get the above error message. It happens whether I use Chrome or Internet Explorer, although it seems to occur earlier in Chrome. Using search is impossible for me because I get the above error when I attempt to use the search function.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

~Denise

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

When it comes to pre-existing conditions with any policy, the devil is really in the details.  The policy usually specifies a "look back period" which in the case of the Chase card is 60 days!  What does this mean?   It is somewhat complicated but generally (with exceptions) it means that if nothing new had happened within the prior 60 days you would be covered.   If your DH has a total knee....then once he has recovered (which usually takes 3-4 months) that is no longer an issue for pre-existing conditions unless his medical condition changes within the 60 days prior to a trip.  

 

Hank

 

 

Thanks for the post Hank. He's had total knee before on the other knee and swore he'd never go through it again lol. But looks like he might be facing it eventually on the second knee. Timing is everything. I do understand "look back periods" and I appreciate you citing the 60 days. It is helpful.

~Denise

I can go read the fine print but to the experts here, can you tell me if the cancellation coverage includes pre-existing conditions? We have an annual GeoBlue travel policy for medical and I have been relying on the Chase Sapphire card for the $10,000 cancellation coverage for a few cruises we have booked. DH might be looking at total knee replacement and it would definitely fall under pre-existing.

EDIT TO ADD: never mind. I looked it up. Pre-existing conditions are not covered under the Chase trip cancellation coverage.

~Denise

Thanks for posting this reminder... when you sign up, show up!! Looks like an awesome party. It's a shame it was not better attended.

~Denise

Thanks for the excellent review! We are black match also (from NCL Haven) and looking forward to our b2b YC on Seaside in December!

~Denise

We stayed on deck 14 in the YC on the MSC Meraviglia and we loved it. Very quiet and just a few steps up to deck 16, 18 and 19. There is also a elevator if needed.

 

Here is my video from the cabin 14021

Thanks so much for the video Norwegian Cruiser!! 14021 is actually our current cabin assignment!

~Denise

Hi there. We are B2B beginning the 8th of december. U are on the CC roll call. Dd a B2B in February as well. YC is 100% the best value at sea

 

We board December 1st! We will be by ourselves the first week and have friends joining us Dec 8. I'm pretty sure someone mentioned a party in your cabin lol. I've been too busy to really follow everything between here and the "other group" which I can't name here. We are on Deck 18 on the Seaside. Really excited!! Have been in the Haven before but it's gotten ridiculously pricey so I'm sure we will be YC converts.

Our Meraviglia cabin is for the transatlantic, Copenhagen to NYC.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I think we will keep an eye on the cabins and try to get a little closer to the lounge :wine-glass::wine-glass::wine-glass::wine-glass::wine-glass:

~Denise

Congratulation on your YC reservation.

I started in February searching for YC suite on Seaview Western Med in September 2018. YC was booked solid and I made a reservation for Aurea Suite with whirlpool. Close to final payment date a YC suite opened up and I was lucky to change my reservation. I am flying to Italy next Saturday and embark Sunday :)

Congrats on snagging that YC! Have a great time :)

Actually we are already booked on Deck 14 (last cabin available when we booked). I am thinking closer to the lounge is better so on the lookout to better our deck if "higher is better". Other cabin options keep going in and out of inventory. Our Meraviglia cruise is not until later next year so we have time to watch. In the meantime, we have a b2b booked in the Seaside YC :)sailing Dec 1, 2018. Our first MSC experience and really excited!!

~Denise

We are looking at booking a YC1 on the Meraviglia. I see the Yacht Club cabins are on decks 14 - 18. Is there a preferred deck?

Thanks!

~Denise

There is a good price for YC Suite on the Seaside 9/15 sailing. $1,959.50 pp (T & F incl.) This is with the 5% Voyagers Club discount. There are still decent prices out there - just not in "prime time"!

And a military discount would be 10% off instead of the Voyager 5% discount, lowering the price further. Thanks for posting the sailing info gimletgal!

We did a 15-day Hawaii cruise in 2012 on the Carnival Spirit, round trip out of San Diego. We had a very active roll call and planned a lot of activities ahead of time (Chef's Table, luau in Lahaina, etc.) We had an awesome time and met many new friends! One of the couples we cruised with a 2nd time and have a 3rd cruise scheduled with them in December on MSC out of Miami.

We love sea days and never felt bored. Hawaii was very busy... port after port after port. So it was great having those relaxing sea days coming back home.

If you are the least bit social, the key to a long cruise is an active roll call. We had one cruiser who was a total planner and she planned all sorts of things for our group (scavenger hunt, meet-n-greets, etc.) Some of it was cheesy but that honestly made it more fun. I also have to admit that the drinks were flowing lol.

If I went back, I would have planned better for our Pearl Harbor day. We took a taxi over there with 2 other couples. The line for tickets was long so we were limited in what we did there.

Growing up in California, Hawaii isn't on my bucket list so we probably wouldn't do that cruise again. But I would definitely book a 15+ day cruise. Love 'em!!

~Denise

Denise, they don't. You don't obtain wheelchair assistance until you are physically inside the building. You have to be able to get yourself from the curb into the building. Fortunately, it is not a very long distance in NOLA. Do be careful, though, because they are enforcing check-in times. If she was to arrive outside of her check-in window, she will have to stand in line.

 

Also, you say she is not able to walk long distances. EVERYTHING on the ship requires a lot of walking. They may want to consider getting a wheelchair, rollator, or scooter for use on the ship.

Thanks for this info. We cruised with her on the Miracle out of Los Angeles in October and she was able to navigate the ship very well, although at her own pace. But being swept up in a crowd at the terminal is what can be overwhelming, and the gangway is often slightly uphill which could be challenging as well. I think she'll be fine on the ship, once she's on it :)

~Denise

Sailing on the Seaside in December and booked it months ago under a Voyager promo. I had the same question. Thanks for the post and the reply!

~Denise

My experience in NOLA was that we arrived just after our 11:30am check in appt and zipped right though all of the lines and onto the ship. I packed/used my own wheelchair but there were some on standby for those who temporarily needed assistance. Exiting the ship did result in significantly longer lines waiting for assistance to get though everyone.

Thanks for this info.

~Denise