korpo024

6 hours ago, deliver42 said:

If you have a drink package, and you want to upgrade, you have to call. In fact, for upgrades, I don't know any cruise line that has it on their website.

They had it on their website until a few days ago

Calling MSC? You're joking...they're never availableand its xmas....

I want some things pre-booked, Drink Package Upgrade (is gone on the list) and the rest doesn't work.....if I want tom pay, the browser keeps on pending with the boat in then window....WHY CANT MSC DO ANYTHING RIGHT????? Now I have to get all my upgrades onboard...with higher prices!

On 5/11/2022 at 4:36 AM, lovemycruisetoo said:

No we didn’t and I don’t remember anyone else mentioning that they did either.  
We also didn’t get our MSC logo gift - only the chocolate ships and strawberries. We got white MSC logo baseball type caps in October 2021 on the Meraviglia but not this time. We were in the YC so very surprised about that. We did enjoy Butchers Cut very much. 

Last two cruises, they forgot the Voyager Club gifts, so I went to the VC agent (only there for one hour a day) and they were very sorry and I got all extra's. At MSC you need to ask! This is an Italian cruise line. Italians never give you any service. This is normal in Italy. For people from the other side of the ocean this is all new ofcourse. But in Europe service is something you should never expect. Especially from Italians...lol

On Virtuosa the Easy Plus and Premiun Plus Package are NOT inluded in Hola Tapas Cantina anymore! 

It's a shame.. after 20 years Feyenoord a dutch football club is in the semi final for the Conference League tomorrow, but the game won't be on the many tv screens anywhere on the ship. 

I even contacted the broadcast manager (who was annoyed that a passenger got his number) but he wouldn't help me (and the many Dutch passengers on the ship.)

This is not the first time MSC has broadcast mistakes. It's a shame.

On 4/29/2022 at 12:05 AM, McHaggis69 said:

We only have the OP’s word the ‘company messed up’…

 

Its possibly more likely many passengers turned up ay before their allocated embarkation time that has caused the delay. We all know it happens - many people admit to it on these very forums. They get to the cruise terminal at 11.30am even although their boarding time might be 2pm.

 

Don’t know for sure what the actual reason is - I’m only surmising a possible scenario 🤷🏼

The night before EVERYONE got a different (later) embarkation time. But most of cruisers are already on their way or in a hotel...and the changed time was not mentioned (only in small print on the new e-tickets). So yes...MSC messed it up...now everyone came at the time that was originally on their tickets (for weeks).

And now people did have to wait for 5 hours. We were lucky....only four....

We are currently for two hours nos boarding....it's a disaster. Because of a mixed up in times too many people are now boarding at the same time. MSC didn't see this coming. There are hundreds of people standing in a huge row in the sun. This will take a few hours.

37 minutes ago, Cruiseforever11 said:

Hopefully this will help 😊

 

https://portugalcleanandsafe.pt/en/passenger-locator-maritime-card

Thank you very much! Just what I was looking for!

We want to go ashore in Lissabon when the MSC Grandiosa is there. Do we need to fill in the Passenger Locator Form? Because if I open it, it only requires information about flights and seats in the airplane etc...it's a little bit confusing.

On 3/15/2022 at 3:47 PM, svnet said:

I agree with Steamboats. Lisbon is a destination by itself, but Cruise Companies like to add Cascais, and sometimes Sintra, after Lisbon, because some tourists might find those cities more "known".  🤷‍♀️

Here is the link to Lisbon Cruise Port website, if it helps:

https://www.lisboncruiseport.pt/

 

thanks a lot or this information!

In our itinerary it is said 'Lissabon (Cascais)'. Does this mean we will stay in the port of Lissabon or outside in another port? It is always unsure what port they use. 

We are there 1st of May with the MSC Grandiosa (Barcelona-Kiel). You never know with MSC....

Since a few months the costumer service of MSC Netherlands is going down the drain. Before Covid-19 I could talk to a Dutch speaking costumer service and they really helped you. Since a few months the opening hours are very limited and you never get a Dutch speaking person on the phone. Only people from India and they do not help you at all. The only say you can email MSC but that's what I have been doing for months now! And I never get an email back.

I used to read all complaints on this forum about terrible costumer service, but until now the Netherlands was never a problem. The way things are going, we are going to look for other cruiselines for our vacation plans.

What's wrong with the airconditioning? We are on deck 12 and everyone (from Northern Europe) complain that the airconditioning is much too warm. Even set on the coolest setting it's not really cooling the room.
Everywhere on the ship in public spaces it's very cool...but unfortunately not in the rooms.

Never had the pleasure (and money) for YC. Only thing I would pay the extra money is for more personal space. 

Even now on Grandiosa with 50% capacity (hahaha not) it's much too crowded. Especially Italians and people from Spain do not care for your personal space. They scrub against you everyway they can...

And this itinerary is just Italy and Spain....so....it's crowded and it feels crowded. But still...there are spaces that are not overcrowded. There the north European people are found...

And I guess the loudness of the music is a bit less in YC. Everywhere on the ship the music is so loud...maybe because of all the people do seem to have hearing issues...because they shout all the time. But maybe this is cultural...

We eat in all specialty restaurants because the MDR is overcrowded and the food is soso...and even in the specialty restaurants people are listening to music on their phones...without headphones...that's another thing...don't Italians and people from Spain have headphones? They play their personal music loud so everyone must listen... really strange...but maybe it's cultural.

But nevertheless it's good to be on a cruise again. It's been too long.

If YC had the premium plus drink package and a few specialty restaurants included I would pay the extra money. But for now I have to learn to live with loud Italians and rude Spaniards.

If you can't take a joke...just don't read my comments.

Nobody will ask for it...not on the cruise and not on land. It's all a big administration joke.

We've been to Italy e few times this summer and are currently on Grandiosa... nobody cares.

There are a lot of reports of special capacity on cruise ships. But at times goes by... nobody seems to know how many people there are allowed per ship.

How many people are there currently on Grandiosa?

As I read the information on an excursion to Pisa, it is said that you have free time to roam the streets and shops in Pisa. Then we won't be in a bubble I guess. Does anybody have experience on these safe bubble excurions? We don't care if is not safe, we really want to go our own way if that's possible.

this is the text on the site:

Disembark for half a day and see the outside of one of the most famous buildings in the world, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, as well as other important monuments and the city itself. Take the bus to Pisa, where you will put yourself in the hands of your tour guide. The first stop is the Piazza dei Miracoli. This square is not only home to the famous leaning tower, cathedral and baptistery, but also the place where Galileo Galilei conducted his groundbreaking acceleration experiments. Here you have the opportunity to marvel at the leaning tower, visit the beautiful 13th-century cathedral from the inside and explore the no less spectacular marble Baptistery. The imposing building features a large Romanesque cathedral, from the top of which you get a breathtaking view over the city and which is certainly worth a photo or two. Next, your excursion will take you to the uncluttered city centre of Pisa, where you will find countless pretty piazzas, buildings, shops and restaurants to explore on your own. At the end, your coach will be waiting to take you back to La Spezia to your ship, with more gorgeous views of Tuscany and the Ligurian countryside during the journey.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

On 7/5/2021 at 7:28 PM, cruisingator2 said:

Since “you” quoted me please show me where “I” stated that I want a guarantee that there will never be a case. Do not put words in my mouth. By the way, not looking at it as an American view. This virus affects the entire world. 🙄

no it doesn't. In the Netherlands everybody's working for months, schools are open for months and the economy is booming. House prices are a record high...only young people get the virus (and those who refuse to take the vaccine which is their own responsibility). Those young people do not get sick....there are no new hospital and intensive care patients (only unvaccinated). So please stop with these hysterical comments...the cruise industry will go on and people will go on vacation. Now that almost everyone (whou could be reallly sick) is being vaccinated life must go back to normal....

51 minutes ago, MarkusToe said:

We tried to book MSC in the US using our TA there, the rep told me she is not allowed to book non US guest... Dont know may be EU is one market for them, may be not.... 

There are many online TA which to choose from. We did book via an online discountcruises website in the US and did have very good deals. But nowadays the dollar is not so cheap and the premium drink packages are very expensive for US bookings

We have a lot OBC during the cruise this summer. Can we use this to buy shore excursions?

Mostly the German MSC site is cheaper than the Dutch site. Sometimes the Dutch site is a little bit cheaper. The Italian site is cheap. For us in the Netherlands the UK site is expensive. Most people in Holland don't like to cruise. They prefer camping (is much, much cheaper!). So the cruise market is very small in our country.

4 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

For my first time on MSC which ship would you choose?

Fantasia. 

16 hours ago, Alsmez said:

I fully understand that 100% will be impossible given the presence of children under 12, etc. My question was really whether MSC has shown any inclination to follow the lead of the major US lines and begin requiring that all adults be vaccinated. As far as I have gleaned from internet reports, the answer is no at this point, although as a couple of early responders pointed out, they may change their tune (willingly or not) when they begin sailing from US ports. Time will tell, and of course the entire landscape may look different by the time December (or even final payment for December) rolls around. I just find it rather odd that any cruise line would find it worth the risk (whether real, perceived or media/reputational) to allow unvaccinated adults on board. 

nah..they won't. Especially in Italy there are a lot of non-vaccinated people...so no

1 minute ago, shipgeeks said:

But if the ship has to return to home port/skip ports, all of us are affected.

extra long holiday!