smile145

17 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

He can't mandate that nobody takes pictures.  And certainly nobody's privacy was infringed by the image posted.

 

I hope the passenger makes a speedy recovery.

All outside decks were blocked off, he asked all passengers with balcony staterooms to ensure the blinds were closed and that no photos be taken.  This is for safety so as to not distract the pilots, nothing to do with privacy.

I was on this cruise.  The Captain specifically asked for no photos to be taken. 

Does anyone know if Audrey (butler) and Ronald (jr butler) are still on Meraviglia?

I rented a Ocean View YC Cabana and loved it.  I had no desire to be on the YC beach for reasons others stated.  It was a very quick, 5 mins or less, walk from my Cabana to Bimini beach which was great for swimming and empty of people when I was there.  I did not attempt to go to the lagoon, wanted the open ocean.

The Cabana had a flag to put up to call the server for any drink service (all included as they are anywhere in YC).  The Cabana had electric outlets to charge phones, a ceiling fan, sofa and chairs, cooler which was stocked with water, bottle of champagne, glasses and various snacks (fruit plate, nuts).  We went to the YC restaurant for lunch and did not order food to the cabana.  It was very private, direct view to ocean without people in front, no chairs or any people close by.

I'm sure it depends on how full the cruise is and how many kids.  I was able to make reservations on day 1 for later in the cruise by visiting the desk at the gaming area (near the bowling and the simulators).  Reservations were allowed for 30 mins or 1 hour.  I had purchased a fun pass before the cruise and used it for the bowling cost and other games.

My room on Meraviglia in Yacht Club had a Samsung TV but it was mounted flat against the wall and there was absolutely no way to access the HDMI ports, you could not move it away from the wall at all.

Does anyone know if they keep any records of being offered a free cruise?  I had earned enough casino points onboard to get the free cruise but didn't pick up the paper onboard.

I can’t help with weight limits but can tell you that the flight simulator was never operational in the 8 day cruise I just got off of today on Meraviglia. The F1 simulator they had one of them operational.  I am 6 ft tall and had a hard time fitting inside it and getting out but did use it.  They had the bowling at $30 for 30 mins or $50 for an hour.  We had the fun pass and used it on bowling, F1 simulator and the 4D cinema.  The bowling you can wear your own sneakers, must be closed shoes no sandals and they have some shoes you can use but we wore our own sneakers.

I had an ocean view one last week and loved it.  I didn’t like the Yacht Club beach but the ocean view cabana was very close to Bimini beach which I walked over to when we wanted to go swimming.  The view was great from the cabana.  We were provided a cooler with bottles of water, bottle of champagne, snacks (pringles, nuts and chocolate covered nuts), floating mats, lounge chairs and there were towels on the lounge chairs and on the couch in the cabana.  There is a US outlet for charging phones and a ceiling fan.  There is a flag that you raise when you want drink service and we always got served right away.

Which route is better for driving from the North to Brooklyn cruise port, coming in through Brooklyn or through Manhattan. 

See google map route options below.

Thanks

S

22 minutes ago, L1211 said:

They sure did.  But we missed out on Hola tacos. Hard to know what you want to do for the entire cruise. No chance to wing it!  They are booked…

Oh thank you.  I am going in April for my first Yacht Club.  I do want to book Hola and didn’t know if the staff would do that quick enough for me on the first day before it books up or if I should go wait in line at Ocean Cay restaurant to book.

Do you know if yacht club staff can book spa appointments, paid shows and bowling times?  Just trying to plan.

Thank you for all your photos!

Did the Yacht club staff make your specialty dining reservations for you on the first day?

12 minutes ago, karmamule said:

The beach to the right of the YC restaurant is a bit rockier than most but we still felt it was perfectly fine and we've loved our days lounging there. On our last MSC trip we rented out one of the cabanas. The service for us was slightly more attentive than the general service out amongst the lounge chairs but not enough to really matter. What mattered was just having more comfy furniture, more consistent shade, and and a table to eat at. Not sure if we'd bother again but we didn't feel we wasted our money on it either. (The cabana did include mats and snorkel gear but we were too lazy to use them. If you would use them you'd also save the rental price for those by getting a cabana)

Were you able to order food from the restaurant to eat in the cabana?  Or just drinks?

30 minutes ago, TheOldBear said:

The Bike Expo web page itself https://gfny.com/nyc-bike-expo-2023-held-may-19-20/ states that it will be held in Fort Lee NJ

 

For the third year, the expo will be held in Fort Lee, NJ, where it will be located directly at the center of GFNY World Championship Headquarters during race week. Visitors benefit from a prime location with easy access from America’s most-traveled bike route on Hudson Terrace in Fort Lee, NJ. The expo will be more integrated with race HQ activities, including the close proximity to the start/finish point of the pre-race group rides.

Thank you!  That sounds like that portion won't impact cruisers.  So it will just be those trying to get to the port that day that will need to look at road closures.  

11 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

The 5BBBT typically uses the southbound lanes on the BQE - the northbound would most likely not be impacted.

There is nothing on the web page https://www.bike.nyc/events/td-five-boro-bike-tour/ indicating anything in or around Red Hook. 

I was a ride marshal on earlier versions of this ride - and back then there were no route diversions between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Verrazano Narrows bridge. [lower level closed to traffic]

Thank you for your response.  It's good to know that North may not be impacted but it will be hard for others to get to the port that are leaving on the cruise that day.  In terms of what I was referring to at the cruise port itself, I saw this online "The event also includes festivities at Bike Expo held at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal."

I have seen there is a bike tour that closes many roads in NYC happening on 5/7/23.  I am specifically concerned with Brooklyn since there appears to be many roads closed in Brooklyn on that day.  I will be arriving back at the Brooklyn port that day on MSC Meraviglia. 

I know that many will also be trying to get to the port that day but I will have my car parked at the port.  Will I have trouble driving out of the port area with all the closed roads?  I will be trying to head north to New England.

Also, I noticed the advertisements say they will be holding part of the Bike Expo at the Brooklyn cruise terminal.  Just wondering how this will impact cruisers and what to expect from anyone who is local and familiar with this.

14 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

@smile145 Does it show the cabin number when you tap on the compass at the center bottom of the app? 

yes actually it shows Fantastica cabin 10234.  I plan to call this week but I know there will be a lot of people trying to get through for more urgent issues so I will probably wait a bit.

Help - Trying to get advice and see if this ever happened to anyone else.  I cruised once on MSC in 2019.  I have nothing currently booked.  They sent me an email about “my upcoming cruise” with a booking number.  
 

Sure enough, I log into the MSC for Me app with my credentials and they have this cruise there under my name which is not mine.  Am I going to have to call (wanted to avoid that since so many people need to get through)?  I have not been charged any deposit or anything like that.  It looks like they attached someone else’s cruise to my account.

I don’t think this is fair to OP.  I wouldn’t bash MSC but when you book from MSC USA out of Miami for a cruise that’s starts in the US and ends in the US, you would not expect them to process the charge out of Paris.  You would expect them to process the charge out of Miami.

http://www.crew-center.com/deadly-bus-accident-belize-kills-5-people-including-2-cruise-passengers

This is so incredibly scary and sad.

23 hours ago, Epos Man said:

 

are you sure all MSC ships i have been on so far have had american and european

 

Meraviglia only has US on the desk, not near the bed.  So in a regular cabin you can run an extension cord from the bed to the desk but in a suite you can’t since the bed is in a separate room so you need an adaptor.

19 minutes ago, Boschmann said:

Hi Kim, sorry we never met up on the 18th.  We're in 12010 for the 28th sailing and have been making good use of the hot tub for this warmer weather sailing.  Mark has been a fantastic cabin steward and told us he will be changing the water three or four times this sailing,  more often if we request.  

Glad you are getting use of the hot tub!  We had such high winds it didn't work out but we loved the suite.  Mark was fantastic!  We had the premium plus drink package that included the mini bar and he would offer to replace everything we used twice a day.  He was always right outside the room and easy to contact for any issue.  The only thing we didn't like in that room was the couch badly needs to be replaced.

17 hours ago, cruzingambler said:

We will be in an Aurea suite with the wrap around balcony on the front of the Meraviglia ship in March next year.  The Hot tub is an actual Jacuzzi.  I don't think we fill it???  Look on youtube for Meraviglia aurea suite with hottub for a video...it looks fantastic, I think we will be spending a lot of time on the balcony:)

Hi,

I just sailed Oct 18-28 in cabin 12010, which is an Aurea suite with wrap around balcony.  The hot tub was kept full and heated the whole time.  It was not something that was drained and filled.  The cabin attendant checked it daily.  Of course, on my sailing (to Canada) we couldn't use it much because of the cold/wind.  Most nights at sea, the wind was too fierce to even stand outside.  But in warmer climates/conditions I am sure it will be great.  We loved this suite.  Especially the walk in closet with so much storage space!

4 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

Later I hope we can get to see the Aurea area. Talking of which we went to the spa to book our appointments now this was disappointing! There were hardly an times available except for stupid o clock in the morning or evenings on most days as the people on the back to back had already booked the best times!

They hold back times from being available for the included massages which is unfortunate.  I ran into the same thing when I was on last week in Aurea with the included massage.  However someone next to me who was purchasing a massage on the ship and booking was offered many more times than I was for my “free” massage.  Then I pushed the issue and suddenly a good time was available.

On 10/25/2019 at 7:25 PM, Wor1dTrave11er said:

Thank you @smile145 and @CruisinMaterial for the detailed info and the tips.

 

Hope you are enjoying your cruise, the weather is nice and warm down here in Florida, so you will have some sunny times to enjoy soon! 🌞  How was the Boston stop?

Boston was very nice!  We are getting off in NY tomorrow but I wish we were going to FL to see some nice weather.