jcathers1

Thanks. Dumb question from someone who's never ridden the NYC ferry before: do we have assigned seats or do people just mill around out on the deck? Or is there just general seating for folks who want to sit?

Appreciate the copious review. You may have (likely have 🙂 ) covered these topics throughout the review, but a few questions from me: 1. This will be our first cruise from a cold weather port. At what point did the weather warm? 2. Does Hola Tacos have any "all you can eat" pricing? It did last summer on Seashore. 3. Were there plenty of college football and NFL games on in the sports bar? Or where would you recommend us trying to watch these on Saturday night and Sunday? We leave on Sunday, so trying to get some last minute details squared away. Thanks in advance!

We plan on taking the ferry from Wall Street/Pier 11. My wife and I will each have a large checked bag. I don't see anything on the ferry website about bringing bags on the ferry, although I do see language about bringing folding bikes. Any help on whether bringing large bags/suitcases is an issue?

Bumping this in case anyone can share their experiences. Also, generally looking for guidance on how to manage disembarkation day. We have an early evening flight 5:00ish. So there would be time for us to do something in the city if we wanted. Just not sure what makes most sense. I've seen recommendations to either get a car/driver for several hours or just to go to the airport early and buy a day pass to a VIP lounge. If we did that, is Uber the best way to get to the airport? I know how busy/congested POM can be on disembarkation day, so I can't imagine what it's like in Brooklyn. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

We are sailing on the Meraviglia this November and are considering one of the NY site seeing excursions on our disembarkation day. We don't need to be at the airport until around 5:00pm, so we are looking for something to occupy our time. Anyone have experience with these excursions (there is another called "NY Highlight Drive"). We are also open to other ways of occupying our time before we head to the airport, but these seemed like a good idea because we will have a place to stow our luggage. Thoughts or recommendations?

We were just off the Seascape, so can't comment on the Mera. But on Seascape, they were 50+ pounds. They were listed in kgs, so I really didn't know. 🙂

Very interesting. As I said, that wasn't our experience, but we are on Meraviglia in November, so we will see what they say then. Thanks.

Apologies, I misread your original post.

I'm not sure where you got that information about 1 hour/day on MSC, but that's not been our experience, and we just got off a cruise a few weeks ago. The thermal suite has always been unlimited and no need for reservations.

I'm not suggesting karaoke. But on MSC, the Yacht Club lounge has a pianist/violinist/etc. every night. It is appropriate for the setting and adds greatly to the ambiance (in my opinion). I'm surprised there isn't something offered like this.

How do I purchase additional specialty dining meals? My wife and I have 2 meals each through FAS, but are considering adding 1 or 2 meals for our kids. It isn't clear online how I do this. I can see how to add more meals for us (1st and 2nd passengers), but nothing for 3rd and 4th. Is there even a cost benefit to buying these in advance?

This has not been our experience. In fact, just this week we booked with NCL and then moved it to a TA several days later. I believe you have XX number of days to do this after booking.

Seems very strange that there would be no nightly live entertainment in the Haven OL. Is there canned music playing, or is the entire place quiet?

We have not sailed in the Haven since 2017, but have another cruise booked next year. I've watched several YouTube videos on the ship (Bliss) and the Haven experience, but I've found some conflicting info. Can someone answer the following questions? Is the stateroom mini-fridge included? Is the thermal suite included (for non "spa" rooms)? Do Haven guests get the highest level beverage package? Does the Haven restaurant menu change every night? I'm leaning toward "no" for each of these questions, which I am finding shocking. We've sailed in the MSC Yacht Club consistently since our last NCL experience. YC guests get access to virtually everything on the ship, have the highest beverage package, etc. It just seems strange that the most expensive class of staterooms on the ship don't receive all the benefits. Admittedly, it's been quite some time since we've sailed in the Haven, so I don't recall how it was when we first sailed. Thanks in advance for the help.

We are veteran cruises going on our first Alaskan cruise next year (Bliss). Any strong opinions/experiences on which side of the ship might be preferable, based on the itinerary? We are going Seattle > Sitka > Juneau > Endicott Arm/Dawes Glacier > Icy Straight Point > Ketchikan > Victoria, BC > Seattle. I appreciate that we can move to either side of the ship as necessary, so really just looking for experiences with things you missed/enjoyed from your stateroom balcony. We are booked in a Haven rear-facing balcony, if that affects the answers (since that will be a bit different from a traditional port/starboard side balcony). Thanks in advance.

I'm confused as to the details of the "Carousel productions at sea - signature cocktail and show Rock Circus" (or Houdini). It looks like tickets are $12, but they show under the Specialty Restaurant section. Is the show free is you don't want the "signature cocktail"? We have the beverage package, so I'm not sure if we are paying for the show or the drink. We are in the YC, if that matters. Thanks in advance.

Is this upgrade offer offered at the time of booking? I don't recall seeing anything like it when I booked. If it helps, it is a Haven room on an Alaska cruise...

As has been said, it depends on the ship. Just off Seascape and they had two IPAs in the sports bar.

We were in a deluxe grand suite with a walk-in closet. 19028.

The Seascape's pros and cons have been pretty well documented by now, but I'll add a few highlights from our trip: This was our fifth YC experience, and we loved it. My wife and I sailed with our daughters (13 and 16) and they love the freedom that the YC provides. We thought they would venture more into other parts of the ship, and with the exception of a few targeted trips, they were content to enjoy the YC. The elevator situation can be tragic. The YC override is nice, when it works. But when you use the override, it assigns a car and then has to wait until all the passengers are out at all the preselected floors. We saw folks get extremely antsy and select the same floor, but without the YC override. This action assigns a second, separate car for the same riders, further bogging down the system. It is really poorly designed. I kept an eye out for any of the infamous "interlopers", but didn't identify any. I did, however, find some paper shoved into the locking mechanism in the YC door on deck 19, preventing it from locking. Yes, I removed it. 🙂 The staff did seem more overworked than on previous cruises, but not so much that it detracted from our experience. That said, we did not receive the complimentary bottle of liquor on the last day, nor did we receive a final bill, which I thought was odd. We were on the sailing that was delayed disembarking in PortMiami, so perhaps that chaos led to these issues. Not a big deal either way. I never felt like the YC was crowded, even on sea days. There were dozens and dozens of loungers available throughout the entirely of the day. We went up early on the two sea days and secured a cabana to give the kids a spot to sit out of the sun. Those went pretty early, but not before ~7:30am. So I sat there in peace, drank my coffee and read the paper until everyone else came up for breakfast. No chairhogging. 🙂 We thought the food in the YC was delicious. We also got late night pizza, which we thought was very good. We were on deck 19 and didn't have any issues with early morning noise from the pool deck. As I mentioned in another thread, the response to the disembarkation delay could have been handled better (specifically by letting us remain in our staterooms throughout the delay), but the way the butlers worked to get us off the ship once we finally docked was masterful. As others have noted, the clientele on this ship seemed "rougher" than we had experienced before with MSC (or NCL or Disney, for that matter). Read that however you choose. Unfortunately, this extended to the YC. If there was any sort of dress code expectation before, it has long since passed. Some of the sartorial splendor we enjoyed at dinner included camo shorts, swim trunks, doo rags, a tee shirt with a wolf on a cliff howling at the moon, flip flops, and (my personal favorite) a newly purchased Bob Marley hat, replete with fake dreads and marijuana leaves. God bless Jamaica. We did see the restaurant manager ask a person to go change out of their wife beater, which was apparently one bridge too far. Either a dress code is no longer the expectation, or the staff feels disempowered (or is disinclined) to address it. Either way, it is disappointing. <Cue the "let them live their lives" and "how does it affect you?" people.> This was short and sweet, but this was the stuff that stuck out to me. Happy to answer any questions anyone has. Thanks, Jonathan

My perspective is a bit different than the OP. We we also in the YC. The Captain's announcements first began at 06:00 and repeated every 15 minutes for several hours. But they were the exact same announcement--it was clear that he didn't have any information other than "PortMiami is closed and we don't know when it will reopen". Personally, I preferred when these announcements stopped, as we were scrolling through Twitter to get updates from local authorities. I agree that it was a mistake not to let passengers stay in their cabins. I would guess that if they had it to do over again, they would let folks stay. The public YC bathrooms on 16 were a disaster from overuse, and when one of the ladies toilets broke, the situation got even worse. All that said, we had our normal breakfast, and a nice lunch at the YC restaurant. We were served drinks all day/afternoon. Folks in the YC seemed very well behaved, even though we were all smashed together in the lounge and restaurant (or above deck). What I will say is that there is absolutely nothing to complain about regarding how the butlers escorted us off. It was a team effort to get us down to deck 7, through the casino, and then down a stair case in groups of 15. It was well thought-out and well executed. We got off the ship at the earliest possible time we could have expected to, based on the circumstances. Certainly not flawless execution overall by MSC, but another instance where being in the YC completely changed the experience.

We were on board for this delay, so it's interesting to read the perspective of those who were wanting to get ON, when we were just wanting to get OFF. 🙂

We will be on the Seascape next Sunday, so reading your review intently. Excited to see how the YC compares to Seaside and Seashore!

I have some questions about getting a fun pass (on Seascape, if it matters). We are in the YC with our two teenagers (16 and 13). I planned on getting them a pass to share. Any issues if I put it on the oldest's card and they share. Any idea on how much the different attritions cost? It looks like pass costs $80 for $140 worth of play. Can anyone confirm that? Thanks in advance.

To be precise, they are asking if the can circumvent the rules to bring this on board. They are well aware it isn't allowed.