KnoxRunner

1 hour ago, phissy said:

Bret is a TA , who books quite a bit with MSC. They receive updates before the general public.

Cruisers have reported that they received emails before embarkation stating that printed results now required .

Gotcha, thanks for clearing that up for me. My family and I leave in 2 weeks so we will make sure and have the test results printed out.

😁

15 minutes ago, cruiseguyinorl said:

Just in case you haven't seen this paragraph  (though you probably have):

Tests must be taken with an accredited test provider, such as a drugstore chain, diagnostic lab, or accredited at-home telehealth provider. Guests will be required to show their negative test results upon arriving at the pier. The results can be printed out or can be presented on your phone, such as the email result from your test provider. Test results will need to clearly show the type of test (Antigen, RT-PCR, or NAAT), testing location/provider’s name, a negative result, the guest’s name, and the date and time the test was taken.

 

I guess the question is are they accredited and can whatever test result they send you to print out contain all the required elements. I don't have a definite answer either.

 

Oh and part of the above recently changed. Results on the phone are no longer accepted. It must be printed out.

Bret

Hey Bret,

The part about not being able to provide the results from your phone is worrisome. What source do you have for this change to the policy?

Thanks,

Bill

46 minutes ago, bluetickcoonhound said:

We are on Seashore now.  I was told by 3 different staff that there is only approximately 2400 guests aboard this week.

We are on Seashore in 3 weeks. Fingers crossed that the capacity stays reduced...

2 hours ago, alohayall said:

If ever in doubt which terminal at a port, check your e-ticket. But the info is buried. This was on Page 11:  Not bold print, even.

 

Hey alohayall,

Thanks for that heads up. I will be so excited to get my e-tickets that I will miss it if you hadn't pointed that out.

 24 days out from cruising and sooooooooo excited to finally get back out there!

8 minutes ago, JAGR said:

It is still currently Terminal F.  The new Terminal AA has quite some time before it is going to be finished.

Thanks Jag, I appreciate the clarification!!

Hey everyone,

My family and I are on the Seashore departing June 25th and I wanted to confirm which Terminal is correct.

The last time we sailed MSC was back in 2018 on the Seaside but it looks like the new MSC Terminal is operational now??

Could someone confirm which Terminal is correct?

We will be taking an Uber/Lyft from the hotel and want to make sure and give them the right directions.

Thanks in advance for the help!!

Bill

Follow-up question about checking in...

If my daughter (F16), who is traveling with me, doesn't have a passport is it possible to check-in using the link above?

Or am I better off just checking in once I get to the terminal in Miami? 

We are in YC if that makes any difference since the process should be smoother at the terminal.

Thanks in advance for the help!

5 hours ago, frank808 said:

We will be boarding on Seashore on 6/18 for a B2B. Hope to meet up in the top sail lounge onboard. Our last MSC cruise was also Seaside YC in July 2019.

 

Are any drinks included at Venchi like cappuccino?

 

 

Would be great to meet up in the top sail lounge! This will be our first cruise since 2019 and we are very excited.

51 minutes ago, JAGR said:

To answer your questions:

1.  Currently, you get premium plus.  Essentially, drinks up to $15, so it covers everything but the ultra high end (JW Black, as an example, is not covered).

2.  Mini-fridge has initial stock of snacks, water, soft drinks, and some beers.  You can get one r700 to 750 ml bottle of liquor or wine for the length of the cruise (select from a list).  Additional snacks are supposed to incur a charge, but we did not get a bill for snacks. 

3.  None of those specialty places are covered, but you do get plenty of Venchi chocolates in your room or at Top Sail Lounge.

4.  Available in two places, just like on Seaside.  There is a charge (also a charge for gelato).  Crepes were on the YC dining room menu at least once on each of the weeks we were on.

Hey Jagr,

Thanks for the feedback. I noticed that most of my questions were on the website but with MSC's history of inconsistencies I figured it was better to ask people that have been on the ship.

You are always very helpful on this site and I appreciate your help!

Happy Cruising!!!

Good morning/evening everyone,

My family and I are going on the Seashore, leaving on 6/25, and I had some questions about changes to the Yacht Club experience and the ship in general. We sailed on the Seaside pre-Covid and know that some changes have been made to the Yacht Club.

1. Drink Package – I have read some places that the included package for the Yacht Club had changed and wanted to get confirmation from recent cruisers. Which package is currently included for Yacht Club? Easy Plus or Premium Extra?
2.  Mini-fridge – Is the mini-fridge in the room still stocked with complimentary drinks and snacks?
3. Jean-Philippe Maury, Venchi Gelati and Venchi Chocolate – Which if any of the three are included in the Yacht Club?
4. Crepes – Is there anywhere on the ship where crepes are available and are they free to Yacht Club guests?

We are super excited to try out the Seashore and we LOVED the Yacht Club.

Thanks in advance for any help and I hope everyone has a wonderful year cruising!!

William

Hey everyone,

We have a cruise booked on the Seashore in June and I had a couple of quick questions about Caribbean cruises for MSC.

Are they currently running at reduced capacity? If so what is the capacity level at right now.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Bill

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

LOL, I am not sure the agency I use to handle MSC would even appreciate a referral for a MSC booking and besides, we cannot post cruise/travel agency info here on CC.  We spoke to an excellent cruise agent, while on a HAL cruise, and ask her why her agency would not handle bookings for MSC.  She rolled her eyes and said the hassles and complaints were just not worth it.  The problem with MSC seems to be their US Customer Service which is awful for both consumers and travel professionals.   I suspect that MSC will improve their US customer service as they increase their US footprint...assuming that they do not get wiped out by this COVID-19 stuff.  Although we are always shopping around we generally deal with 3 different cruise agencies only one of which will handle MSC.  

 

If you simply do a google search for "cruise discounters" you will find quite a few high volume agencies that handle MSC bookings.  It is just a matter of shopping around among a few of these agencies to see who will give you the most generous OBCs.  With MSC I would be looking for at least 5% (7-10 might be possible) of the base cruise fare as a guideline.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank,

I understand the policy for not allowing referrals of travel agents... the boards would be nothing but digital billboards.

Just curious about the 5% you mention, would that be in addition to the 5% for the Voyagers Club?

Appreciate the help!

William

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Guess we shall see :).   The reality is that we get a very generous OBC because we book through a decent cruise agency.  Since we do not take excursions (we either stay on the ship or do our own thing ashore) there is no good way to spend our OBC...so if we have to pay for gelato it is not a hardship.  Last year (Divina) we found ourselves with hundreds of dollars of OBC on the final sea day of our cruise.  I asked the Concierge about getting the unused OBC refunded and she told us that MSC does not refund OBCs.  Her advice was to spend it.  But DW had seen nothing in the shops that got her interest so out of desperation I went to Casino and withdrew the OBC in chips.  Less then an hour later I had doubled that OBC (at the Blackjack table) so cashed out (take the money and run).  At the time I thought it was pretty funny as MSC would have saved money by simply refunding the OBC.  We will likely have the same issue on the Seaside.

 

Hank

Hank,

I am looking for a decent travel agent to use with MSC, the one I normally use doesn't like dealing with them and I can't say that I blame them. 

Would it be possible for you to get me the contact information for your travel agent?

Thanks,

William

Hey CC,

I had the same question as you did and from my understanding the gelato and crepes are NOT included on the Meraviglia.

My oldest daughter was super disappointed with that since she loved them so much on the Seaside but we will more than likely just give here a gelato/crepe "allowance" on the cruise.

Looking forward to our YC on the Meraviglia next May and hope yours goes well also....

KR

Thank you everyone for replying to this question.

I found the post mentioned earlier and wanted to share it here in case anyone wanted to see it also...

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if someone might have a picture of the menu for the restaurant that is in the Yacht Club area for Ocean Cay.

Thanks in advance if anyone does and I can't wait until the cruises are able to go out again!

William

46 minutes ago, Até said:

Nothing from the Meraviglia's Jean Philippe store was included with the Yacht Club experience.  In fact the chocolates on our bed each night were Venchi.  There was good ice cream available to all at the Atmosphere Ice Cream bar on deck 15.

Thanks for the reply!

Hey everyone,

I am hoping that someone could help shed some light on something for me.

My wife and I are going on the Meraviglia in June of 2021 with our 2 daughters. We are booked 2 inside rooms in the Yacht Club. It will be our second time in the YC, first was Seaside in 2018, and we are super excited. We actually canceled our Carnival cruise we had booked to get back in the YC we loved it so much, even lost our $500 deposit in the process.

I wanted to clear up one thing about the Meraviglia. Someone posted a review that the gelato wasn’t included because it was part of Jean-Phillippe’s but I seem to remember that the gelato was included on the Seaside even though it was in JP’s as well. I know the specialty chocolates weren’t included but I could swear I remember the gelato and even the “desert” drinks were included.

I hope that someone can clear this up for me, our eldest is REALLY looking forward to the gelato.

Thanks in advance for any help and I hope everyone can get back to cruising soon!!

William

Mitch,

Cruise was FANTASTIC and I am definitely spoiled by having done the YC. We did find crepes, all the way at that back of the ship near the South Beach pool at the Venchi Gelato & Creperie. They were included in our YC package as was most everything else. We never experienced anything that wasn't included but we didn't push our limits either.

Sounds like it will be the buffet due to a lack of options... Lol.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

Hey everyone,

Getting closer now to boarding the Seaside, this Saturday :)

Wanted to know one last bit of advice from anyone about embarkation. Where is the best place to grab a bite to eat right after boarding. I know when we boarded the Getaway a couple of years ago the best place was O'Sheehans and wondered if there was somewhere like that on the Seaside.

Thanks,

Will

Starting to wish I had booked a back-back... :)

Hey everyone,

Me and the family, DW and Daughters (12&14), are heading out on the Seaside on Saturday in the YC and wanted to see what drinks and food items were MUST for MSC. For example I love the chocolate melting cake on Carnival so I wanted to see what everyone loved about MSC.

I have heard the pasta and lasagna but curious what else. In particular are there drinks that might be a little unique to MSC.

We booked this over a year ago and are very excited!!

Thanks,

Will

Hey everyone,

My family is taking the MSC Seaside on June 16th and will stop in Ocho Rios. I know that we want to see Dunn's River Falls since this is our first time in Jamaica.

My question is whether it is recommended to book an excursion to Dunn's River Falls or just grab a taxi to the falls and pay the entry fee. What is everyone's experience/opinion on which one to choose?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Will

Hello everyone, my DW and our two daughters (12 &14) will be in Cozumel on the MSC Seaside next month and I would like to get some ideas about the best snorkeling place/company. I have read that El Cielo is a good place to go but I am not sure if there are others.

Please let me know any advice you have on places and companies. Thanks in advance for any help!!

Will