ISLABONITA

Use google maps so you can see the distance from airport to hotel then to port. This is how I do my research, this will be my first time to Athens too and I have found a taxi service from hotel to port and from airport to hotel using CatTaxi  Congrats on your win over cancer, I had mine last year!

This guide answers all your questions.. https://www.davestravelpages.com/where-to-stay-in-athens-greece/

https://www.davestravelpages.com/2-days-in-athens-what-to-see-and-do-in-48-hours-in-athens

Just look at all his tips plus others https://www.athensguide.com/map/

10 hours ago, Ashley321 said:

We are going to be basing ourselves out of Florida for the next few months and go  on some last minute cruise deals.  If we get a positive test just before getting on the ship,... well.  we  will already be in Florida and will just wait until we recover and try again. So it will financially be worth it and there are great chances of getting upgrades right now too.  Plus , at this moment, there are less passengers so it will make for a more enjoyable cruise too. So personally, for us, it is a very good time to cruise 🙂

For me its not about a cruise deal but my health, actually enjoying the cruise, being tested frequently if traveling internationally and stopping at ports on the itinerary, ship entertainment and freedom to roam.

19 minutes ago, Mutzi S. said:

I have been trying for tow days to submit my Status Match.  Every time I submit it, I receive this message. 

• Something went wrong. Please try again later.
• Status Match Failed!

Anyone have any ideas?

Their website is useless...send an email to customer service  MSCVoyagersClub@msccruisesusa.com

I have yet to book any excursions,  I have been busy trying to cancel my Jan 30th and rebook similar one on MSC>  

I have been told some ports you don't need any guided tour.. 

I need to revisit my notes . 

Anyone booked semi private excursions?  I know of some walking tours. 

39 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

After having physically just gotten back from a cruise, I am SO glad I went. The constant mask wearing was for the birds. Still, we had an absolutely fantastic time.

Which ship and cruise?

31 minutes ago, therealblackknight said:

Sorry if this was asked before, but in regards to the status match, do you have to do this for every cruise you do with MSC or just a one time thing?

Only once and you need to book at least once every 3 years or you will lose it.

Where is this Jan 16th cruise going?

41 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

With the response from the agent this morning, I got the impression that our waiting until Friday is an exercise in futility. 

My TA got the same message yesterday but was able to put a hold on the cruise and cabin I want for Oct. 2022, I have 16 days left before my cruise and needs to be canceled!!!

On 1/11/2022 at 2:48 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

It's unclear to me because it states 1 free change.

Also they just changed the whole thing I was told today so I googled it and it has changed.

Google msc piece of mind 48 hours.

PEACE OF MIND

If you test positive for
COVID-19 within 14 days
prior to or during your cruise,
you and your traveling party
will receive a full or prorated
refund and assistance if
required, with onboard
medical care and land-based
quarantine. We'll make it easy
for you to meet testing
obligations on board prior to
returning home.

On 9/14/2021 at 10:41 PM, maureencruiser said:

 

I took your advice and moved to deck 11 for the angled balcony.  If anyone can book Deck 10 Aft, they are awesome, I've been in 10262 twice, smack dab in the middle of the wake.  

I was able to get 10260 looking forward to lots of space for our snorkeling gear!

thanks for the photo and tip.

On 8/24/2021 at 4:47 PM, maureencruiser said:

 

I'm in 10080 on September 19, I'll let you know.

So how was your cabin?

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Further update---he will be moved out of the hospital and into rehab once the paper work is done, hopefully tomorrow.👍😊

Good to hear, continued prayers for a great outcome.

22 minutes ago, girli565 said:

Hey, you're welcome! I posted a bit of a summary above. We just disembarked this morning, I"m already home, we live in Miami so it was a quick drive. If you have any specific questions I'll be happy to answer. 

 the itinerary was it changed? thanks

I believe that certain cruise lines are handling the Covid testing and isolation or quarantine differently. I have booked on MSC Divina for Jan 30th a W. Caribbean cruise and people who just returned described a very different scenario than just being quarantined if tested positive, they were quarantined as a result of contact tracing from being in the pool area and were not allowed to be tested after 5 days, were also removed from their balcony cabin and taken to an inside one.

I have been looking forward to this cruise for the 4 ports to snorkel and the awesome aft balcony cabin we booked but this is not the way I want to spend my vacation money. Cruise ships have become petri dishes unfortunately and I do not see any pleasure in a restrictive cruise.                                                           I will wait to see what MSC will say in the next two weeks so I do not lose money on it as they are still cruising but giving passengers the option to cancel  get a refund  or rebook as it has offered for the Jan 6th cruise. At least for this cruise it's merely a 2 hour drive but  I have 2 more cruises to Europe booked this year with NCL who I hope handles the testing differently and the decision to cancel due to widespread Covid or variants.

On 12/11/2021 at 9:01 AM, revrick3 said:

We are on the Divina for Jan. 9 2022 sailing and guess what. Just got our cruise docs. YES ITS REAL. They came in email last night. Printed them out and wife and I just looked at them and grinned at each other. I guess this is really going to happen after all. The docs still show George Town. Guess we find out when we get there if we will get to the port. Only negative I had was our embarkation time is 3:00 PM. I called to see about an earlier time but they said it was computer generated and could not be changed. I really dont believe that but what ever.  We are in premium balcony with fantasia so we are supposed to have priority boarding with this room so those perks might not be as good as they advertise. Anyone have any luck with getting embarkation time changed. We are flying in the day before so we will have alot of time to kill.

That's good, I just went to check my information and the site keeps telling me I have not filled it all out ( doesn't say what part) and also that my booking is not confirmed...HUH?!! Guess I need to call them tomorrow, every step of the way in booking this cruise has been a pain you know where.!

12 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

Hello Everyone!

As I’ve stated in past postings recently just are at a loss for what to do about our status match we have not received yet after almost a month of waiting and contacting MSC Customer service. We sent a email to MSC Corporate office for existing bookings.

Explained our dilemma. Just waiting to see if they can straighten it out. When I type our Voyager Number is it comes back error. Or type booking number in and try to connect to Voyager number it come back error.

All we want is our status match to Gold as customer service said we would get. Matching to Celebrity Select. We would then get the 5+15 percent off cruise price and $50 PP OBC plus double points.

I don’t know how to resolve this or maybe we should just cancel. We paid final payment on the November 18. I think you can cancel upto 2 days before cruising but MSC is all new to us.

Asking again any ideas on what to do?

Exactly what I went through. I contacted corporate via mail and no reply, contacted via twitter and facebook and finally got my match after about 2.5 months yet my husband had his within 4 weeks.  No need to cancel, I used mscvoyagersclub@msccruisesusa.com to contact Jeffrey Lee.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1557392-Reviews-International_Friends-London_England.html

2 hours ago, Lanz said:

Does anyone have any experience with this Tour Company.  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186338-d1557392-Reviews-International_Friends-London_England.html

 

In November of 2019 I took a leap of faith and booked a cruise of the Canary Islands and Madeira with Pullmantur and had the best time ever with an incredible price for a suite and all the perks that came with the Black Wave members program.                                                                                                       Next year I am on MSC for the first time to W Caribbean and with an aft balcony for a ridiculous price on the Divina. The itinerary was one reason it drew me to it and all the great comments about this particular ship and cruiseline.

1 hour ago, scag said:

Can't quite figure out if Tampa and KW are both in FL......why can we be "on shore" in Tampa, but not KW.??  They are connected by land (bridges).....

Size of ship is one reason.

37 minutes ago, Indykitten said:

Oh at least they added the overnight in Curacao but disappointing to miss Key West and Grand Cayman. I wonder when Grand Cayman will reopen. All I've heard so far is "early next year".

https://www.cruisehive.com/the-cayman-islands-plans-to-reopen-for-cruises-in-late-january-2022/53157

I would rather have another Greek island visit as they had over the summer.

Husband and I stayed at the Marriott and they had an excellent location , very easy for public transportation, Tivoli gardens across the way and their customer service was amazing. We had arrived early and they took our luggage and led us to a lounge for relaxation and cold drinks and cookies. Loved that hotel and I had used my free annual night from my credit card. Very easy to get from the airport also.

On 10/1/2021 at 10:18 PM, capriccio said:

Has that changed since pre-Covid?  In 2019 we got our status match first before booking a January 2020 cruise.

https://www.mscbook.com/images/pdf/FAQ-VoyagersClub-Corporate.pdf

How can I register for the MSC Voyagers Club? Membership of the MSC Voyagers Club is open to everyone who has cruised at least once with MSC or has booked and confirmed a cruise with MSC. 

8 minutes ago, wgeddings said:

I am beginning to think status match is now a scam.  I applied in July when I booked my cruise.  Sent follow up e-mails which never got a response.  Called Customer Service and waited on hold several times to be told that the customer service rep cannot accept anything dealing with MSC Voyager Club and there is no phone number.  Cruise was last week (Sept 30-Oct 3) and last rep I talked with suggested I try to talk to a rep on board the ship since I could not get any results elsewhere.  Waited onboard and talked to the "cruise consultant" who said that she would send an e-mail about it.  I tried to get her to understand that since I was ON the cruise that waiting on an e-mail response would serve no purpose since by the time they responded, I would be OFF the cruise and no longer receive any of the perks I ought to get.  She had zero sympathy or concern.  Last night of the cruise I had a note from her saying that they had no record of my submission (submitted it several times), e-mails, etc.  

 

If you wonder where people who cannot cut it as cable customer reps go, I think it is to MSC "customer service"

I posted a few times about my frustrations with MSC status match, even sent hard copies of my documents to Florida headquarters, received a few emails telling me that their website was not properly receiving the submission. Several other posters had different email addresses so I used all of them and sent one every 10 days or so.  My first submission was June 7th for both husband and I and they didn't accept it even though it had everything they wanted, URL showing LOGO , Status level etc ( NCL) only after I submitted 2 different pages of my status did they approve me last month and my husband only a few weeks after submitting.  

Very inconsistent and unprofessional in my opinion. Europeans get theirs within days.