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As a poster was just asking about the cost of a cab, I've been monitoring Uber as an option and it seems like it would be better for 3 of us taking an Ubrr XL than some private shuttle operators in terms of pricing. Has anyone else found that to be the case? We're fine paying a little extra to save some time riding direct in an Uber instead of taking the train or a bus.

I see that there are 2 hop on hop off buses in Barcelona-- the red bus and Turistic. Has anyone taken either or both of them and have a recommendation as to which way to go? They appear to have very similar routes and are the same price so probably can't go wrong either way, but curious if anyone had a preference.

Fortunately the "7 cruises" that were cancelled only cover about 2 extra weeks in extended dry dock. As of now, Seaview is supposed to resume sailing on May 5. We're really hoping it stays that way as we're scheduled to board her on May 27 in Barcelona!

2 hours ago, alyssamma said:

This. We do the EXACT same thing and $500 seems to be the going price. I was thinking we were getting good deals, but now see they give them out to everyone, lol 🙂

 

 

 

Has this worked for anyone on European routes?  We're sailing the western Med on Seaview in late May and would be interested at that price...

Since shorts seem to be at least disfavored for YC dining, how about jeans? Acceptable or should I stick with khakis and other dressy pants? We are doing a Med cruise if that makes a difference...

11 hours ago, Linsuesue said:

Nice review- Thanks! We will be on the Encore in April. I thought the hallways on the ship had fish on the carpets. The fish are always swimming forward towards the front of the ship to help everybody with direction. 

You're correct on that regarding cabin hallways as that was the case on Encore. But where I became directionally challenged was really on decks 6/7/8 which didn't have the carpeting but all the action.

Just got off the ship yesterday--- just my two cents and as always, YMMV.

 

-- We arrived a day early and stayed at the Hilton Blue Lagoon. Very unimpressive service so that won't get a return visit from us. 

-- Embarkation was speedy. No need to arrive super early.  We showed up around 11 and had our boarding pass #19 in hand within 15-20 minutes.  Once they started announcing boarding groups, it only took less than 20 minutes to get from group 1 to 19 so why sit there for 2-3 hours?  Muster drills are indeed in person again. Unremarkable. 

-- Overall service on Encore was at a very high level. The sad, disinterested staff I saw referenced in other comments must have moved to Earth 2.0 because I didn't see them. The service alone makes for a very high level experience on this ship.

-- Yes, you only get one cabin steward visit a day. Didn't impact us at all once I saw him day 2 and asked for him to leave 4 large towels each day as we shower after pool time and in the morning. Overall he did a great job cleaning the room. We had an OK sized hump balcony in 14758. Loved the easy access to stairwells. Didn't hear any noise and avoided what appeared to be a loooong walk to more forward cabins. 

-- My wife really was not a fan of the pillows. If you're like us and prefer a cold room at night, you may not sleep well. I'd guess it only gets down to about 70 degrees. 

-- We generally do not bother with the theater shows or the comedy club so can't comment on them although I did stop in and see the magician act... briefly. There's a reason his was the only act I saw that didn't offer reservations. 

-- As for the live music, the pianist Walisson de Melo was fantastic! And so was Latin Express! The reggae and country bands were pretty good. The ADDA band and Zoe were... present.

-- We had 4 specialty dining meals.  Had planned on Cagneys twice but after having the filet at Onda, we did that twice instead along with Ocean Blue and Cagneys once. Interestingly, the main dining room staff was just as high quality as the specialties and in a few cases even better. The main dining room dinner menus still rotate daily, which I appreciated. 

-- The general wifi was just OK. Enough to check email but would take awhile to download things on social media for those who care about such things. 

-- We liked the premium drink package to get the higher end wines/champagne and water included. They sure don't advertise it but each person can get a full bottle of wine at dinner if you get thirsty.  We certainly drank our share of the Veuve champagne.

-- Play the $5 bubble craps machine in the casino if you enjoy long stretches of extremely unlikely statistical occurrences in dice rolls. 

-- The ship skipped Great Stirrup Cay due to high winds making tender impossible.  With a forecast in the low 70s, we likely enjoyed the sea day better than if we'd stopped as we got to warmer weather sooner. 

-- We enjoyed the champagne snorkel tour in St. Thomas.  Got to see some turtles and a big variety of fish and the crew were fun. 

-- In Tortola we again hit high winds and couldn't snorkel to the Baths of Virgin Gorda so they took us to two other snorkel locations which we enjoyed. NCL graciously stepped up and warned us before we left that could happen and offered a full refund if anybody didn't want to go and a half refund if we couldn't do the Baths as planned.  Refund showed up on account that afternoon already. 

-- We originally planned on a massage while in port at Puerto Plata but changed our minds when we learned thermal spa access was not included and would cost $79/pp extra. Then they gave my wife a hard time about refunding because she prepaid before boarding and claimed they'd need to make some calls. They did refund the money but didn't notify us until after the credit showed up in account. 

-- Instead we went to the newly built pool area in Taino Bay which is free to use with first come seating. Drinks and food are resort prices but hey, look what you're saving on traveling anywhere. We had a good time with music playing all day and the pool was plenty cool temperature-wise. We'd recommend, especially when they finish building a lazy river that will double the size of the facility. 

-- The days at sea around the pool are indeed survival of the fittest for chairs. There aren't enough seats so either show up before 8 or after noon. Don't sleep in till 11 and then complain if no chairs are ready but people are constantly moving so you'll find a spot if you stay patient and persistent. The kiddie play area had water dumping constantly from overhead so if you just want to get refreshed, skip the pool and spend 10 seconds in there. 

-- The observation lounge bartenders deserve a shoutout, plus convenient to get drinks for the room there if you're in a location like ours. It's funny that the whiskey bar was always packed while Cellars directly across was always empty. The sommelier at Celllars was a little gruff to start but loosened up once you'd visit a few more times. 

-- For great views, hit the laser tag area in daytime when it's not running and admire the aft views from way high. Of course the aft view on the Waterfront was also very peaceful at night.

-- It usually takes me about 2 days to learn a ship in person and then I know exactly the fastest way to get there. This time I knew which floor rooms were on but had the hardest time figuring out forward or aft. Maybe I'm just getting old.

-- If you have the chance, book the 10:30am flight home. Ship was already docked by 5am. Had no issues doing self assist leaving the room at 7:15 and were waiting for an Uber pickup by 7:45. Thru airport security by 8:30. Yes, there's a miniscule chance you won't get there on time but I'll take those odds over a guaranteed 4-5 hour wait at the airport.

 

Thanks for tolerating my snark and I'm happy to answer any questions!  I'll post some pics if I'm able after this goes up. 

Could you please check if the main dining room still has the rotating daily dinner menus or if it's the new menu that doesn't rotate? We'll be on the Encore in 2 weeks and want to know what to expect. Have a great cruise!

We're going on Encore next month and considering getting a day pass to the spa on a port day.  What do those cost?

We will be on Infinity next month in Aqua class. I'm a bit of a picky eater and having reviewed a number of menus, I'm pretty sure there will be nights when I'd prefer to order off the MDR menu instead of the Blu menu. Will that be much of a problem since I understand the dining areas share the same galley on this ship? I don't want to be difficult but I also want to eat what I like on vacation!

Thanks, everyone. We decided to go with a Fantastica cabin that had an extended balcony and we'll just buy the premium package ahead of time. Maybe it will be cheaper than the advertised pricing once our sailing reservation loads on their website.

 

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I just booked a room for a couple traveling with us on the MSC seaside, came with free drink package. See: http://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/MSC-Cruises-Launches-Free-Drink-Package-Promotion

Thanks but they don't offer that in Europe, which is where we'd be going.

 

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We are looking at a European cruise for next summer after a generally fun experience on Seaside this spring. The difference between the included drink package with Aurea and the premium drink package is pretty steep at $26/day, which is making us consider the Fantastica experience, which is substantially less less than the Aurea cost right now. If we went that route, we'd just buy the premium package outright at $55/day. If we went Aurea, we'd probably pay to upgrade to premium for the extra $26/day.

 

To help us decide, I'm wondering if MSC ever offers promotions (like RCL, Celebrity, etc.) where they discount the cost of drink packages as a pre-cruise purchase. If so, that would definitely push us toward Fantastica as the extra cost for Aurea probably would not outweigh the extra other Aurea benefits for this particular cruise. Thanks!

We took the classic drink package as a perk for our March 2019 cruise and because I couldn't find the upgrade option through our cruise planner, I'm going to call Celebrity tonight to upgrade to premium thanks to your helpful tips.

 

Last cruise we loved getting the smoothies at the Aqua Spa Cafe with the premium package. I don't see anything in the current drink package comparison sheets to suggest that's still included with the premium-- anyone have any feedback on whether smoothies are still included with premium drink packages?

We had anytime dining with Aurea last month. Waited maybe 5 minutes in line the first night and never more than 2 after that. They do an excellent job of seating you quickly and easy to request the same waiter if you get a good one.

 

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We sailed on Seaside last month and enjoyed our experience well enough (see my largely glowing trip review) that we are now considering another MSC cruise, this time on Divina. A few questions for those who are familiar with Divina:

 

1. How deep are the pools? On Seaside they were all too deep for me/over my head, and we really missed chilling in the pool. Looking at Divina pics suggest the pools may be more comparable to other lines in the 4-5 foot range, but I can't really tell.

 

2. We did Aurea experience on Seaside and would do it again on Divina. Does the Aurea Top 18 deck have a dedicated bar like Seaside did for its Aurea section? I can't tell from deck plans.

 

3. We loved the thermal spa on Seaside and went there a bunch of days. I know Seaside's is probably nicer because it's a brand new ship, but how does it compare to Divina's thermal spa? Frankly this was my first experience ever (on 13 prior cruises) in a spa, so I have no idea if they're basically all the same or very different.

 

4. With anytime dining on Seaside, we were seated every night just the two of us for dinner. Would that be the norm on Divina as well? And which dining room/section would we be served?

 

5. The numerous Venchi options were awesome on Seaside, but I'm not seeing them anywhere in Divina deck plans. Where do we go to get our gelato fix?

 

For anyone who's already been on both Seaside/Divina, feel free to share any other comparisons that might help us decide on Divina. Thanks!

The buttons get touched too?

Well, of course. But you can just punch them instead of having to use an open hand. Same reason I've seen many officers will give people fist bumps instead of shake hands, much easier to transmit germs with a handshake than a fist bump.

 

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One other comment just occurred to me after reading some other posts. One thing I missed on Seaside was the handicapped button outside bathroom doors. Not because I'm handicapped but because I like having the option to just punch the button and have the doors open and close automatically without having to touch the door handles. It's a great way to avoid disease from people that didn't wash their hands or simply were carrying some bug when they touched the door.

 

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Good review, thanks. But VIP Blue Lagoon for $139 pp and cash bar? Yikes. For future reference (if you're interested in a beach day), consider Breezes. $95 pp includes indoor buffet, outdoor grill and all drinks. Some beach activities are extra. We took a bus from downtown Nassau to Breezes for about $2 pp each way. Great fun!

 

Thanks for the tip. Agree completely that Blue Lagoon was overpriced. The only reason we booked it was we had a bunch of OBC to spend and didn't really have much else to spend it on. We would definitely not have booked that excursion at that price but for the extra OBC.

As an unfortunate post-script to the trip, it turns out the GF ended up getting salmonella somewhere along the way. She started feeling some stomach issues Saturday morning (disembarkation morning) and they got pretty bad by the time we got home so she went to the doctor that Sunday. They didn't get back to her with test results until late last Thursday, saying she had tested positive for salmonella. She's still having some issues though not as bad as before, and doctors expect it will resolve spontaneously anytime now.

 

Obviously it's impossible to know where she got it... i.e., somewhere in port, somewhere on the ship, who knows. But if anyone hears about some kind of salmonella outbreak either in the Caribbean or the ship, please let me know as we'd be very curious to hear about what happened. We're just glad this didn't come on earlier on the trip or it would seriously have ruined our great time!

I had a very different experience from the other posters. When I was on Seaside the week of March 17, we had a difficult time with the internet as the Wi-Fi kept cutting out on us repeatedly. Every few minutes it seemed we had to log out and then log in again to connect. It was very annoying and kind of time consuming. Hope you have a better experience than we did!

SERVICE/STAFF--

 

It's clear that service is a point of emphasis from the captain on down. Captain Massa was very sociable and a visible presence throughout the ship. His officers were equally engaging when you'd see them around. I think that enthusiasm passed on to the rest of the crew as nearly every member of the crew would greet you cordially and seemed interested in helping you. As mentioned previously, the only potential obstacle can be a language barrier on occasion. However, gesturing or pointing to menus solves a lot of problems and won't be perceived as rude.

 

I've already discussed the dining room and buffets to an extent, and no complaints with service there. No problems getting the food we wanted, used plates were quickly cleared away, and service with a smile. The gelato servers at the South Beach deck 7 pool area were the fastest and friendliest.

 

Bar service was fairly good, with the exception being the usual when pool bars are swamped and everyone is lined up for a drink at the same time. If you weren't in a hurry, pool servers frequently came around to get you a drink. The champagne bar staff was amazing and gave us the best service of any bar. Another benefit to Aurea is access to the bar on deck 19, which was never as busy as the main pool bars.

 

The entertainment staff deserves a special shout-out. They were fun, full of energy, seemed to really enjoy their jobs, and put on some great parties like the White Party and Snow Party. I think the passengers fed off that because the activities I saw had solid participation. I usually don't pay much attention to the cruise directors but Stephen Cloete on his first week on the job was thoroughly underwhelming and the proverbial legend in his own mind. His number 2, Candice, was far more enthusiastic, entertaining, and would have made a better cruise director. Regardless, the entire entertainment staff really delivered a high quality product.

 

Now that I've laid out high praise for the many deserving areas from our cruise, it's time to address the one really dark spot from the week. Many of you may have noticed there's one area I have not discussed yet and that is... our cabin steward, Josue from Honduras. In plain terms, he was AWFUL. We are not high maintenance at all but he was just constantly screwing things up. For example:

 

-- Our room had a slot in the shower for shower gel and shampoo but it was missing, so we used mini-tube toiletries like you get in a hotel. That's fine if, you know, you get them. He did not independently provide any toiletries all week when cleaning the room. Not even once. Every time we'd run low, we'd have to hunt him down to get some more. Empty ones remained on the shower floor until we threw them out. It was probably a bad sign the first day when he told the GF that body wash, shampoo, and conditioner were all the same so we could just use any of them.

-- He took our beach towels several times and never replaced them. That's obviously a problem because we'd be charged if they disappeared (not to mention not being able to have them to use). Eventually we just started grabbing them off the cart as we knew he wouldn't replace them.

-- The room comes with two bath robes. The GF used one and hung it in the shower. It disappeared the next day and again, wasn't replaced until we hunted him down twice to ask for it.

-- The bed was made up the first day with no top sheet so we had to sleep directly under the comforter.

-- He would make up the room at very inconvenient times. One day it would be 6pm when we hadn't gotten back from port (and would obviously need to shower before dinner). Other days we'd get back from dinner at 10:15 and he'd still be working on it (including last day when we still needed to pack).

-- He was unaware we had the premium drink package and could freely use the minibar. Once brought to his attention, I'd notice drinks would randomly disappear, as I think he was just grabbing drinks from one room to fill another.

-- Last but certainly not least, one day about 10 minutes after we put the key in the door notch and hit the do not disturb button (both of which would trigger lights outside the room to notify the steward), he just barged into the room at a very delicate time when we most definitely did NOT want to be disturbed.

 

Although on a personal level Josue was friendly enough, he clearly was way in over his head and in need of more training. We thought of complaining to customer service but figured what would be the point and it would be awkward seeing him in the hallways so we just managed to do things ourselves. I might have expected a guy like that to be breaking in at the Bella level so it was surprising he'd be handling Aurea rooms. We made our opinions well-known in the post-cruise e-mail from MSC, and that was good enough for us. We mentioned our plight to a bartender and he said sometimes they'll send these guys down to the crew deck to clean rooms for re-training, and hopefully that's what happens here when they get our feedback.

 

As seasoned cruisers, we understand it's luck of the draw and once in awhile you'll get a bad apple, but I'd feel bad for someone who got this guy and thought that's the norm. Yes, he was easily the worst cabin steward either me or the GF had ever had in about 25 combined cruises, but it certainly wasn't a cruise-killer and wouldn't keep us from sailing on MSC again.

 

I'm working on uploading some more pics of the ship but I think I've largely covered everything that comes to mind in terms of substance from our cruise. Thanks again for all the kind words and I'm still happy to answer any more questions that come to mind!

Our day in Antigua...

 

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