blordos

Usually the days on sea have the formal nights. It will also be announced on the Daily paper on board the day before.

We said some words with the cc members but mostly we did just mingle with the staff. And it pays off. We had the Fantastica cabins and we asked for a tour in the YC area because me and my wife had once a YC cabin on Merviglia but the rest of our company didn't have a clue about the special YC treatment. So we went to the Customer Service for some information. The employee there wasn't very helpfull. He said the YC area was a special place and all tours were fully booked. As it happens a MSC senior officer Arnold, head of the food and beverage, walks by and heard our story. We met him at the cc meet & mingle party and he would personally invite us for a YC tour. He arranged with the YC headbutler a small tour in the YC. We were delighted and received some cocktails and sushi appetizers in the lounge. After the tour he even arranged a table in the YC restaurant. Our waiter Randy served us the whole evening with lobsters as it was the last elegant night on the ship. We appreciate this gesture very much !

That is more than $1000 for the visas alone. Princess thanks you for that !

Thanks for the reviews and the pictures. We did the September 8th and 15th cruise back to back cruise on the Seaside and we recognize many things in your photo's. You must have a wonderfull time in the rs stateroom.

Some really informative & good reviews of MSC on Yutbe! Liked Ben & Davids vlogs Honest Cruises especially-Meraviglia looked awesome & they loved the food & shows—so why the bad reviews on cc??

The bad reviews were mainly for the Seaside ship. The Meraviglia has overall better reviews. I have been on both ships. The layout, interiors and exteriors of the public areas are totally different. The cabins are mostly the same on both ships.

Our meeting was for 10:30am I believe. It was nice drinking cocktails in the morning.

I did the CC meet and mingle on the Seaside the week of Sept 15. It was held in the Haven bar, and it was packed. At least 100 people.

That's a large group. 100 people is a lot. How was the group photo taken ?

I have seen people in de MDR starts the dinner with dessert. Some even starts with ice cream.

I emailed the resort and they responded quickly. Cost is $51 per person and includes full use of pools, beach, non motorized sports and towels. No need to book ahead, just arrive early. Passes are from 9-5

 

 

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Last Friday we paid $47 per person and a drink voucher for the Starbuck is also included. We took the most expensive coffee latte and it wasn't a problem.

Usually on embarking day you can board the ship at 12:00 noon. You can try earlier but the ship has to be fully cleared before new passengers can go on board.

We were attending the CruiseCriticMeet and Mingle Party on the Seaside on the September 8th cruise. The MSC staff did a wonderfull job to make this happening. The meeting was held in the restaurant Ocean Cay on deck 16. Most of the senior officers were present. The cruise director, hotel director, chief housekeeping and more staff. Free drinks and cocktails are always welcome. There was a very large cake with Cruisecritic written on it. The cake tasts great. I should ask for a second portion because the cake was large enough for everybody. After the speech a group photo was taken and every cabin received a free copy.

One word about the presence of the CC members. Only 4 table with passengers was occupied. In total about 15 people.

I remember there was more than 50+ people on the signing list on this forum for this meeting. Why so less people shows up I don't know. MSC did everything to make this possible. The night before this meeting we received the written invitation in our cabin. Steve, the cruise directore said this meeting was the most exclusive on board of the ship. We wish to thank MSC for the party. (y)

The official MSC Cruisecritic Meet and Mingle photo.

Steve the cruise director did the speech. We spoke to some staff at our table.

The CruiseCritic cake. Note the trade mark ! It was delicious !! :hearteyes:

In April we visited Da Nang for one day. The ship was the MSC Splendida. Prior to this cruise we didn't purchased the visa's. The cruise company arranged a one day permit to stay in Vietnam. The price was 11.63 euro for EU passports, that's about $13. I don't know about the US citizens but I think the price was the same for all passengers. There were some Vietnamese border officers on board and they handle out the official permits.

I want to know this too, thanks !

It grants you access to the spa area. The massages are not included. I don't know if the staff really checks the one hour duration.

I can buy internet packages on my Belgian MSC site for my Seaside cruise. It is located in spa and fitness tab.

You said you will be boarding in few days. In my understanding you can buy till 4 days prior boarding the ship.

I believe the company will match the cabins in your booking close as possible. Of course it will only works if you book two separate cabins at the same time. Some of my bookings has free upgraded cabins. The first case I book two separate inner cabins on different deck. It was a last minute booking with not much free cabins left on the ship. MSC has "corrected" this by upgrading both cabins side-by-side on the same deck in the YC area. The second upgrade was in another booking. Also with two cabins. One Fantastica balcony and another cabin. We couldn't find a second cabin near our first balcony so chose a guaranteed Fantastica inner cabin. That was not a problem for the other couple that was joining us on the cruise. The second cabin could be anywhere on the ship but it turns out that MSC that upgraded the second cabin to a balcony just a few cabins away from us.

However it doesn't work all the time. Once we had a booking with 4 cabins and the cabins were scattered all over the ship, even on different deck. On embarking day we ask at the customer service if it was possible to arrange the cabins more closely but they said it was not possible because the ship was fully booked. This booking was done by a third party TA. The bookings with free cabin upgrade were made at MSC site directly.

The two missing men are found and sadly they are drowned. The costguard found their bodies near the sunken vessel.

I was in January on the Meraviglia and they have a sport court. There is a basketball net on the ground.

A side question: does the MSC loyalty match also include the points for attaining that status ? Like matching the Black Card you start at 10,000 points of just 0 point like a newcomer with a Black Card status ?

Do I understand you correctly that you have already sailed earlier this year on Meraviglia and were upgraded to YC and received all the YC perks? or is that sailing still to happen?

Yes, we have sailed the Meraviglia this year in January in the YC inner cabin. We are a group of four persons and booked two Fantastica inner cabins on this ship. It was pretty close to the embarking date so the choices in cabins wasn't large. We have booked in November I think. It was even neccessary to book the two cabins on different decks. After the payment MSC upgraded both cabins to YC. The cabins were now side by side. It was an upgrade with full YC perks. Butler service, accessing the YC lounge/restaurant, access to Top Sail deck, free Spa area, premium drink package with minibar usage, YC bath robe etc. All included. We had the best cruise week ever.

The pre-booked drinking vouchers weren't used on that cruise. We planned to use them on next coming cruise on the Seaside.

See also this thread, https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=55015505

We booked a guaranteed Fantastica inner cabin with the MSC Seaview and we received a Fantastica balcony cabin. We are happy with the location. September is our cruising date.

Begin this year we have booked a Fantastica inner cabin on the Meraviglia and we received the YC innercabin with all the YC perks. That was even better. :)

Maybe this will help you, https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Manage-Your-Booking/Internet-Packages.aspx

Do you remember which package you have booked ?

Our internet e-ticket says : ISTPOSN - Internet Steamer Cruise Plus - "Full Internet access including Audio and Video up

to 2500MBs + an esclusive 20% more data (total amount 3000 MBs) " The price was 109 euro.

When we board the MSC Splendida we received the highest internet package : 10GB with connection up to 4 devices.

Some MSC ships like Splendida the dailies are available in Chinese !

Thank you, and your videos are almost professional in quality. Yes, I see what you mean on the pooldeck, Are there any uncovered areas to lay out the sun loungers, and enjoy direct sunshine?

As YC member you are also allowed to the sun deck on the middle of the ship. This area is for the Aurea members only and not free for other passengers. It has it's own yacuzzi. Not as luxury as the YC Top Sail area but the area is uncovered. Great for sunlovers.

In September we cruise on the MSC Seaside. We are not staying in the YC so no new wristbands for us. Are the Meraviglia wristbands re-useable on MSC Seaside ?