korpo024

First Med Cruise, and beyond excited! We're on Meraviglia, embarkation is Barcelona and will be stopping in France, Italy, and Malta.

 

I LOVE getting passport stamps.... anyone know if MSC will hold my passport, or if i can hang on to it to collect stamps? And if so, is where should i go to get the stamp in Marseille, Genova, (or Civitavecchia or Palermo), or Valletta.

 

Thanks! :hearteyes:

It is all Europe...so I don't know if you get stamps in your passport. Within Europe there is (almost) no border control...since 1992....

Purchased this online ahead of cruise for $99 with the promise of digital copies of all photos taken during the cruise. This was a great deal, but as with all things MSC Seaside not clear on how it worked.

 

The photographers on Seaside were great and all photos were added to a single room card. On the last day of the cruise we stopped by the photo desk to add some printed photos that weren't on the card and ask how we would get the digital copies. Their response was that we needed to purchase the digital copy for each picture individually. After a manager was brought over due to frustration on both our part and that of the crew member he looked in a drawer and found a pre-printed VIP Photo card with our cabin number on it - the crew member initially helping us had no idea that this package could be purchased in advance (and with the size of the stack of these cards there were others who had pre-paid as well and not known to go get this card). After a half hour of waiting for the single computer they had available to them to work on photos they were able to move the pictures from the room card to the VIP Photo card. The gave us the card in a nice thick cardboard presentation case. A note to the cabin to pick the card up and some instructions on ensuring all pictures were taken with that card would have been nice to have.

 

When checking that night we found that not all of the printed pictures had been added to the card and this required another visit to the photo desk. This was fixed after another 30 minute visit.

 

Tips for those who take advantage of this offer:

- Go by the photo desk ASAP and ensure that you have the photo card

- Any pictures put onto a room card will have to be moved by a photo staff member to the VIP photo card - on the Seaside there was only one computer that could be used to do this and a line of staff waiting to use this single computer

- Pictures on room cards are specific to that persons room card - they don't aggregate across cards for the same cabin

- Check the photo kiosks on a regular basis for pictures from your card to make sure they are all showing up on the card, just drop the card on the NFC spot and it will take you right to the pictures.

 

The pictures were available to access online 9 days after the cruise (not the 5 or 7 mentioned on board or the 3 on the website). The website allows you to add/remove border and to zoom in/out. We found that if you zoomed in then out you could adjust many pictures that looked like heads were cut off to include the whole head in the picture.

 

We found out after the cruise that all of the photos could have been accessed and downloaded onto a mobile device while onboard - we didn't know this or we would have done this.

 

The photos are ~1MB JPG files to download and are 2400x1800 size at 96 dpi. The system is powered by Kodak Alaris and doesn't seem to have the facial recognition technology to automatically assign photos to cabins that exists on other cruise lines.

 

A bit of instructions with the purchase would have made for a smoother experience, we would definitely purchase again.

Is this the package?

So is the boarding photo included in the package or not? Does the package (100 photo's) also include dinner photo's etc? I would like to have photo's around the ship...not posing...

do you guys have to have a licence to fly a drone ?

no!:)

If the Magnifica will dock at the Cruise Terminal, then it is only a 15 minute walk in town. But lately some cruiselines are docked at the industrial area...there you need a taxi...and they will rip you off (they all do in Amsterdam), and I know, because I am from The Netherlands.

I could bring my DJI Mavic pro drone without any problem onbard the MSC Magnifica back in April 2017. I could leave it in my cabin, as long as I did not use it around the ship! And that is logical. I do not want to use it where there are lots of people offcourse...

Does anybody know the age/height requirement on the Zip-Line or the Waterslides on MSC Divina and on MSC Seaside? I saw some conflicting messages on the web...

I hope you all did not pay the Service Charge, otherwise MSC will think they've done a great job. In Europe we only tip if the cruise was a succes.

Whats your definition of bad service?? Unless its consistently bad for the whole cruise...this shouldn't be an issue!! Also, don't forget....assuming you had a bad dining experience for the WHOLE cruise....but your room steward was fantastic... your taking $$ from him/her unless you make sure to pay them seperately.

What a strange view on tipping...but hey..I am European...and I only tip when I get good service...

I don't want to start a firestorm by asking this- but does anyone know if you can decline to pay the daily charges like you can on other cruise lines?

 

 

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YES you can, and it is totally normal on an European cruise, to do so, if you are not getting the service you think you deserve. I Always get frustrated by people who complain a lot about a cruise line, but do pay the tips....in europe you only tip, when you get good service.

So if the ship is messy, if the room is messy, or the staff do not try to give you service, than DO NOT TIP! If you do, the European cruiselines, will think they do a good job....so they never learn....

I am new to MSC cruises and am sailing on the new MSC Seaview on the 19th June. I am very excited and can't wait to see the ship. Any one wlse sailing on her?

We will be sailing from Genua, on July 22nd. Can't wait....well, first we go on the MSC Divina on April 27th...:halo:

:halo:MSC is a good cruiseline. It is European though...you will find many negative reviews on cruise critic, but most of the reviews are written by people who cruised with NCL, RCCL or Carnival. MSC is NOT like those cruiselines...!

We've been on Celebrity, HAL and MSC. Though HAL and Celebrity were more upperclass...so was the ridiculous prizing! And with MSC you pay a lot less, but the luxery isn't that much less...So you get more for less money!:halo::halo::halo:

I don't want to start a firestorm by asking this- but does anyone know if you can decline to pay the daily charges like you can on other cruise lines?

 

 

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YES you can! And I wonder why more people don't do that.....the whole cruise critic website is full of complaints against MSC, but the same people pay these tips....for us Europeans this is so stupid! If you get bad service, you do not tip!

Every discussion about this theme, people use all kinds of arguments only to let the world see how good they are in paying tips (although the service is bad..)...and nobody will ever know if they REALLY payed the service charge...the say they did on the web, but did they really? If you read the complaints from these people, you just cannot believe that they did....:confused::'):mad:;p

Thank you cruisin deb! [emoji3] That's one of the reasons why I started questioning the requirement. On other ships that we've sailed on that have slides that don't empty into a pool, similar to the Divina, the requirement is 42 inches, not 47 inches like I was informed. I am confident that my son can handle it, but I'll respect the rules when we sail. Hopefully he'll grow a few more inches between now and the summer.

Can you tell me how it went on the Divina? Did your son go on the water slide? My daughter is also never scared, and she loves water slides...but she is almost 6 (and almost 47 inches)

We paid all of the service charges. Although our room hostess could have been a little more helpful initially, it wasn't her fault that MSC booked 5 in the room.

Strange...you complain, but still give them extra money....Europeans will never do that

MSC wouldn't dare show their face on Cruise Critic right now ...... or ever.

MSC is an Italian cruise Line, they do not read English reviews....lol

Disembarkation: I posted the departure schedule for Miami earlier today (and attached the image again in this post). We were allocated 9:15am disembarkation time, but opted for the Express walk off instead as you had to vacate your cabin by 7am anyways. Also we had booked a rental car and planned to continue our trip to Fort Myers (where we came today) for a few more days so wanted to get off earlier. The process went smoothly, and although there were dozens and dozens of others in the Express walk off line, it went quickly. We left the breakfast room at 7:15am and were at the Budget by 8am.

 

Random thoughts:

• We had one incident in a full elevator with a YC guest, a ”graceful” lady with a need to state loudly her status and wave the wristband in the air. She used her wristband to go to deck 19 (we got on at deck 5 and were going to 11). All the other people’s selections were erased and we got up first. However, there was somekind of a glitch in the system and the elevator only went to 18, then back down to drop us off at 11 and others where they were going. The YC lady had a taste of her own medicine and got a free ride up and down again with us poor people. :') I laughed so hard after getting off (not at her), she seemed confused.
  
• I think this elevator ”cutting in line” allowed by MSC is not cool (erasing everyone else’s floor selections when a YC guest steps in). Luckily this only happened once.
  
• Other than the above, we didn’t really notice being the ”economy class”. I guess YC people stayed in their section of the ship.
  
• We didn’t have the best cabin steward. He took our used beach towels twice without replacing them. I had to go and find a crew member to get new ones, which luckily was easy. Once we run out of hand soap as he hadn’t refilled it. Had to leave a note to get it fixed. Otherwise he was very friendly.
  
• There were never long lines for bars, food or getting on or off the ship. All of this was handled very efficiently by the crew.
  
• We were very lucky with the weather (very warm all the time, no winds to rock the boat). All the water slides, zip lines etc. were open each day for the people to enjoy.
  
• We never noticed the sewage smell or poo odour (which someone had reported), other than when standing behind some pensioners in a breakfast line. ;p
  

Wrap-up: I appreciate people can have very different experience on the same cruise, depending on their expectations. We had realistic ones after reading the initial reviews and when comparing to our local cruise experience in Finland. Despite some of the poor initial reviews, we were happy to see that many of the initial issues had been fixed. Also we were lucky to not having to visit the Guest service desk once. At the beginning of our cruise, we decided to tune into a vacation mode, not let minor issues bother and have a great time. This is exactly what we did and had an amazing first Caribbean cruise.

Wow! What a great review! And a refreshing one after all the complaints.... And well written, with a bit of humour! I loved it! ;)

Some of you may remember the thread I started on problems booking an Aurea Grand Suite for a party of 5 that I posted over a year and a half ago (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2364683). After repeatedly being told that 13001 was the largest of the Grand Suites, we booked it for 5. We knew ahead of time that it was NOT the biggest and would be a one bedroom based on what we read on cruisecritic and confirming with MSC and our travel agent.

 

We just returned from our Seaside cruise and were met with a surprise when we checked in last Saturday morning. Apparently, 13001 does NOT sleep 5, but only 4 people! There is a bed in the bedroom (can be split into two beds). There is a single bed in the sofa and a pull down single bed from the ceiling.

 

MSC's solution to the problem (without notifying us) was to move two of my young children to a Fantastica balcony far away from us on deck 13 (cabin 13203). (Odd, since I didn't think children could be booked in a room alone!) When we did not accept their solution, they offered to move a bed into 13001. Once aboard the ship and after a long day of back and forth between Guest Services and the room hostess assigned to our cabin, a mattress arrived at 11:45pm and was placed on the floor. After more back and forth, a proper bed arrived the next evening.

 

My warning to others, if you have 5 people booked in 13001, I suggest you make arrangements with MSC before you sail.

So I guess you did not pay the Service Charge?

Actually, each step on the Swarovski staircase, is about $3000, otherwise, this ship would never make any money....The total amount of steps (around 100) would mean, $300.000, which is also a lot, for a staircase offcourse.... Swarovksi stones, are available approximately $1 per stone.

But for the rest I enjoyed your long read!

I never saw any envelopes and had spa treatments a couple of times.

 

 

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My question is of the gratuities are allready payed, when you book a spa treatment online before the cruise. I did nog ask how tot pau gratuities.

Do we have to pay gratuities on the pre-booked spa treatments? With the Classic Beverage Package, this is not the case, I think. So is this the same with Shore excursions, and spa treatments, that you can book online (via the MSC site) before you go on cruise?

Is there any age/height requirement for attending the waterslides?

My daughter is small, but fearless, and will be very dissapointed if she is not allowed on the slides.

Dinner, day one. 8:30 really is too late for us, but we made the best of it. This night, we all ate together, but on some other nights, the kids and/or teen would go to their respective aged clubs. We were never offered the "we'll pick them up after they eat first course with you" thing, so we simply dropped off and picked up ourselves as needed (only required with toddler, as the other two could check themselves in and out).

 

We also never asked for a kids menu, so I never got a copy to photograph. We don't really do kids menus.

 

 

 

Why is there a price on the menu after the rib eye?

If you pre-purchase your vouchers than,,yes,,the service charges are waived. However,,if you choose to purchase while on the ship,,a service fee will be added to the voucher booklet price.:)

Is the 15% service charge included in the Allegrisimo package?

We have the 123Go offer (300$ OBC, Classic Bev.Peckage, and prepaid gratuities). Now the prepaid gratuities, I have a question on. We're from Holland and we know nothing about gratuities. Normally you tip as you get good service, or you don't. But on cruises it seems they automatically get tips of off you.

Now we have prepaid gratuities, does this mean that we never have to pay tips? So when we use the Classic Bev.Package and drink a beer, we don't have to pay the 18% gratuities?

I think the whole system of gratuities is very strange but it seems to me that we don't have to care about that anymore with prepaid gratuities

Is there any way to watch my own videos from an usb-stick of mediaplayer (with hdmi conncetion) on the tv in the cabin?