optimusprime82

We called MSC today to make a payment and inquired about the Chef's Table for the Meraviglia in Oct/Nov 2021. The rep didn't have any current information about if the Chef's Table would be returning and to continue to checking the website. I know this doesn't exactly align with what was told to jules815 but consistency from MSC Phone Reps isn't exactly legendarily... positive.

The Rep did say that most specialty restaurants did have a Chef's Table option as well. We hadn't heard before but we will keep our eyes open for more information about. 

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Getting my popcorn 🍿 ready for @KennyFla's response...

I'm not really expecting to change his mind, it's pretty clear what is and isn't important to him.

Just a quick side story from earlier this week that feels appropriate to share here...

On Tuesday, my wife and I went to a "Celebration of Life" (aka a belated funeral) for the wife of her closest cousin who passed away last August from cancer, she was in her mid 40s and worked in the healthcare industry as pediatric RN. The event was held in a suburb of Columbus, OH and was relatively well attended by family and friends despite her passing nine months ago and her and her family having lived in Texas for more than a decade prior to her passing. 

Anyways, the event was held at a church. Of the one hundred or so people there I was the only person wearing a mask (I'm vaccinated and so is my wife and her parents). My wife did have her mask with her but chose not to wear it since she is vaccinated and many there were her family. I stepped away for a few minutes to visit the men's bathroom. While at the urinal I heard a man in one of the stalls having a very loud "bathroom experience" which I can only assume was a #2 based on the grunts, wheezes, and mutterings on top of the other noises you usually associate with taking a big poop. When I finished my activities I sidestepped over to the nearest sink and began washing my hands, at that point a large man exited the stall and proceeded to walk directly past the sinks and left the bathroom. Outside in the gathering area I saw him shake hands and hug numerous children, teens, adults and senior citizens.

What does this story have to do with Covid procedures and cruises resuming you might be wondering? Well, during the hopeful tail end of a worldwide pandemic I attended a "funeral" where I was the only person still willing to wear a mask to not only protect myself and but others. I then "firsthand" witnessed a large maskless man take a labored poop and proceed to not to take even one minute to wash his hands before potentially spreading fecal matter to his family and friends.

Yep, I can't wait to get back to the buffet, touch the elevator buttons, use those Swarovski crystal handrails, and to get some chocolate soft serve ice cream from the machine. I bet we're ready... no... I know we're ready,

6 minutes ago, KennyFla said:

This was filed as part of the suit Florida has against the CDC for the CDC to prove Florida is not being hurt financially by the cruise industry being shut down.

It's incredibly frustrating that this is how you choose to interpret Covid's impact on the cruise industry. Do you honestly believe, please take a moment for honest self reflection, that the CDC doesn't believe that the "no sail" order hasn't financially hurt the Florida cruise industry? The CDC exists to control the spread of disease, hence their name. Financial issues, vacation plans, foggy glasses, etc. are not their main concern... stopping the spread of a disease that has killed 595,000 US citizens is their concern. Nearly 37,000 Floridians have died from Covid. that's like the Divina and Meraviglia sailing seven night voyages for more than a month filled with nothing but dead bodies.

Of course there's been financial impacts; that's been felt everywhere from small communities all the way to global economies. The CDC, governments both federal and local, and the cruise corporations need to work together to make sure cruising is safe. No one wants to be on a plague ship because procedures in the USA were rushed or not well thought out.

The CDC is not some cartoon villain twisting their mustache menacingly while anxious cruisers wait to get back onboard. Please try to keep in mind that human life is slightly more important than pleasure cruising on a big floating city filled with thousands of people, some of which had questionable sanitary practices before the pandemic.

23 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Aurea is nice, but it all depends what you're willing to pay for it. We chose Aurea for our first MSC cruise due to the following:

1. Included drinks package, including minibar

2. Use of the Aurea spa + 2 included massages

3. Dedicated area of the main dining room

4. Use of the exclusive Aurea solarium with its own bar

 

Those things were worth the extra money for us. Your needs and wants may be different.

Sounds similar to what we had for our Aurea balcony on the Divina back in 2017. I don't recall having the minibar being included and the massages were one per adult (which may have been what you meant). Back then the Aurea package also included gelato and all coffee. Sadly by 2019 on the Meraviglia the package wasn't quite as good. For us the Aurea package is still good value for money but it's no longer great value for money. 

21 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I like your reasoning, it's very sound. For me and for my wife, we thought we got to spend plenty of time in the YC, even on days we were in port, that it justified the higher cost. We purchased an inside cabin in the YC and then bid on an upgrade to a Deluxe Suite, so it ended up being a pretty good deal. I'm sort of like you, I like to hit the gym every day, and I absolutely love the thermal spa! The best part about the YC restaurant was that they would make you anything you wanted, even if it wasn't on the menu. However, having said that, I didn't ask for anything "off menu" when we were in Aurea. They might have been able to accommodate it.

There's a lot of different cruisers out there with a lot of different levels of experience. We don't live near a port city so we obviously need to travel to get a cruise so our costs are higher right off the bat versus someone that lives near a port. If we lived near a port and cruised more we'd probably consider an inside cabin but since cruising is a once, maybe twice a year "luxury" for us we always go for a balcony. Kind of like what you hear with people with an expensive drink package drinking more they'd normally want to; we don't want to feel like we have to get monies worth from YC at the expense of what we normally like to do onboard.  

22 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

We've had just two MSC cruises: one in Aurea and one in YC. Yacht Club is a great deal, in my opinion, but price always matters to us. If an Aurea balcony costs $1,500 and a YC inside costs $1,700, we'd do it, but not if the YC is over $2,000. There's only so much more we're willing to pay. If you're rich enough that money is no object, then YC wins every time.

My wife and I have travelled with MSC twice, both times in an Aurea balcony, and we're booked in an Aurea suite this fall. We've considered YC but we haven't done it yet because we don't think there'd be enough time spent on the ship for us to justify the increase in price.

If we were on a cruise with 50% (approximately) of the days at sea we'd probably consider YC more seriously. If we're docked everyday and we're off the ship neither of us want to spend that much more (for a balcony not an inside cabin) for amenities that we're not going to get to use that much. That's just for my wife and I though; we love using the Aurea thermal spa daily, I try to hit the gym at least once daily, she likes to lay out and sunbath daily, and we really enjoy the MDR which we'd probably skip in favor of the YC dining room. On a normal 7 night or 14 night voyage with only a few days at sea we just don't think we'd get our monies worth in YC.

With all that said, we'd love to find the right itinerary where YC would make sense for us. 

1 hour ago, Nunagoras said:

Size wise, if one removes the Aqua Theater from the RCI Oasis class, then the MSC world class will be nearly the same size. By and large most those 20k GT difference between both is there, so all of it will depend on how MSC employs crowd management measures. If they go the Oasis route by spreading the crowds between the various neighborhoods the right way, the difference wouldn't to be that noticeable for most of the other ships, otherwise it might to be such a nightmare. A larger ship doesn't necessarily mean a more crowded one. Musica class ships are such a 1/3 smaller both in size and passenger load than the smallest Fantasia class, but while a Fantasia class rarely felt crowded for me, a Musica class vessel felt crowded almost every time!...

 

I've been on the RCI Oasis class for one time and there is a reason for me to know it as the Airbus A380 of the seas!... TBHH, surprisingly or not, that ship never felt crowded, apart the usual times where it is supposed to be!... Is MSC ready for an A380 on its fleet? Only time will tell. I'd to be happy enough if they could to manage properly a nice A350 instead!... Oh, well, those are the Meras and Seasides!... ☺️

 

Regarding the prices... Await till the initial excitement is over... By September 2023 they might to be running that ship basically at the remaining fleet usual fares... Oh, well, with so many cabins to fill on a market still struggling for recovery that is quite certain right now, unless they move her to the US...

 

Hope to have helped a bit!...

Agreed on the size versus crowd issue maybe not being an issue. A bigger ship just means more walking (which isn't always a bad thing) but sometimes it's nice not feeling like everything is a "mile" away. There's also the issue of that many passengers getting on and off at every port, plus other ships being in port as well, causes the port areas to feel crowded. 

I'm definitely interested in sailing on her. I'm just not willing to be an early booker especially at these prices. Really looking forward to seeing the YT videos about her once she launches. 

Our community gym opened on 04/06/21 for three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and finally opened seven days a week on 05/26/21. So far I haven't missed a day the gym has been open; I've made 27 visits to the gym in 56 days, not including today since I haven't made it in there yet.

Not seeing a lot of weigh loss yet, 5-7 pounds depending on the day, but I am seeing a difference in muscle mass and my clothes are fitting better around my midsection. Started at 235 pounds, currently fluctuating between 227-229. Hoping to make it down to 200 by our sail date of 10/23/21 which is 145 days away. Might be a pipe dream but I'm at least happy that I've been putting in the work. I went from not visiting the gym at all to spending 90 minutes daily and I've actually starting looking forward to it instead of having to talk myself into going.

Looks like a nice ship but the size and amount of passengers turn me off a bit. Prices for the Mediterranean in 2023 seem a bit high for what we typically look at (Balcony, Aurea Package with a tub in the bathroom if possible). I imagine that we'll be on the Seaview or Seashore before we sail on the World Europa.

4 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Reviews are misleading sometimes. Experience for yourself and make your own choices.

Pretty much this.

I've not sailed with Costa yet but I'm quite ready to give them a try just for the experience. There's a couple of things that give me pause, mostly the worry of being nickel and dimed, but if the cruise appears to be good value for money and the itinerary is right then I think you should give Costa a try.

54 minutes ago, marielco said:

This may seem a stupid question but I’m wondering why MSC would need to do “test cruises” when they have been cruising continuously since last August? 

Probably to satisfy the US officials and organizations which likely have different standards than the European nations. 

56 minutes ago, Até said:

The current MSC US itineraries were developed pre-vaccine and it shows. I suppose Meraviglia is passable but I really don't like the ship for the Caribbean. I'm holding out for some late additions by lines that are going the vaccination route, but it's probably going to be a last minute booking.  NCL Gem is probably going to be announced soon.

Curious, what don't you like about the Meraviglia for the Caribbean? We were on her in 2019 for a NYC - Miami repositioning cruise through the Caribbean and she was fantastic. We're booked on her again this fall in the Caribbean and are very much looking forward to being aboard her. 

Emailed Monday night, got a reply on Wednesday saying that my email was being forwarded to the right department and got another email today with a booking pdf but no other text. Logged into the MSC website and my booking is back to normal. Not sure who they forwarded my email to since I know I already sent it to the right place the first time. No additional discount was applied so I don't know why we had to go through this in the first place. No harm, no foul, just a waste of several emails. 

17 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

It looks to be a "dry" slide similar to RCCL Abyss...

Interesting. Thanks.

5 hours ago, oceantriumph said:

first indoor rendering!

Okay, I'll bite the bullet and ask... is it a slide? If so, is it a water slide or conventional slide to get you from a higher deck to the "lobby?" As an immature man I'm sort of down for both honestly.

1 hour ago, Stockjock said:

I guess I'll add this to the comedy of errors thread.

Currently, I have 4 bookings on MSC, 2 of which appear to have been cancelled.  To my knowledge, these cancellations are not covid-related.

Today, I got a message stating that my Future Cruise Credit is now available for 1 of the 2 sailings.  I had previously been told that they were trying to "rework" one or both of my sailings.  So rather than having to book a new cruise, they would offer to move me into a similar cruise at the old price I paid.  Currently, something very similar to what I had before (similar ship, same number of days, same departure point, almost the same day, worse itinerary), is about $600 USD more expensive, plus I had a balcony on the other, this would be an Oceanview Guarantee.  So it would definitely be preferable to be moved into a similar sailing at the old price, if possible.

Called MSC today, as instructed in the e-mail.  Despite receiving the FCC certificate, which still does not mention that the cruise has been cancelled, I'm told I'm still in a locked status with my reservations in a "placeholder" status, and that something different may or may not be offered.  There may be more information forthcoming, but they don't know when or what.  Might be at the end of the month, or maybe by the middle of next month.  I was told that the FCC notice may have been sent out "prematurely".

Hard to reschedule lives when you can't get good information so that you can rearrange flights, hotels, work schedules and such.

Yeah, that entire situation appears to suck.

Early last year when we booked out upcoming sailing it was on the Divina from NYC to Miami. We never got an email telling us our sailing had changed, I just logged in after I heard that MSC had cancelled all future NYC sailings and found out that we were rebooked on a B2B Miami to Miami trip. We were sort of irritated about not being notified but I'm also aware that 2020 was absolute chaos for the entire industry. We were also happy to see that our travel dates didn't change and our balcony room on the Meravigilia had a hot tub (which the Divina's did not). The itinerary isn't very good in my opinion but after twenty-four months of between cruises I'll be happy to sail just about anywhere at this point. 

My wife called to make a small cruise payment today. The phone rep mentioned that we were missing our Voyager's Club discount, 5% I think, and wanted to make sure we were getting the correct discounted price.

The CSR's best intentions have caused a lot more problems lol. As far as I can tell no new discount has been applied. Honestly I think MSC had already applied the VC discount when we booked this cruise last year. Not only is there no new discount on our cruise, the $780 FCC that was previously applied was removed today and could not be reapplied by the CSR. The CSR was apologetic to my wife and said we'd have to email the Existing Reservation Department to have our FCC reapplied. 

Tonight I emailed MSC's Existing Reservation Department about the VC discount and our FCC to see if they can correctly apply them both and provide us with an up-to-date balance due.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions lol.

Found under the "On Board" tab after you click "Dining & Drinks," then click on "Drink Packages." Prices based on the ship and length of voyage.

On 5/20/2021 at 3:47 AM, sfaaa said:

I like MSC especially the price and beautiful ships. But I don't want to keep going back to the same old Caribbean ports time and again. MSC used to offer good New England cruises out of New York but this is now discontinued.

I imagine the Canadian cruises will be back as the Covid restrictions continue to lift. I’d also like MSC to go back to sailing further south in the Caribbean. Too many of their current sailings revolve around Ocean Cay. 

7 hours ago, sealynx said:

I loved that smell. I asked if they sold bottles of the body wash seperately, but unfortunately the answer was no.

I honestly thought about bringing a few small empty bottles with us on our next voyage to take a little bit back with us. Not a lot, just enough to "relive" the trip occasionally. 

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

I remember dispensers in the shower as well as small individual bottles of a variety of toiletries that had the MSC "scent".  Can't recall its name; but, it was very good.

“MED by MSC” perhaps?

The MDR hostesses will also work hard to make sure you're seated with people that you're wanting to dine with.

9 hours ago, rattla said:

Menus on the below thread show the dinning experience at EUR 26  per person, i know that’s EUR/USD, but if that the case, I’m sure it’d be cheaper to buy Hola separately?  Appreciate you would have service charge to add on though, but still seems like it would be cheaper?

Agreed, I imagine we can easily dine at Hola! for less than $120. That would mean it would make more sense to go with the Tryptic Dining Package and just pay for Hola! separately. I almost feel like the price MSC is quoting for the Finest Four package is a mistake because I can't figure out what's causing that large of a price difference between the two packages. 

We didn't dine at Hola! on the Meraviglia back in 2019; we ran out of time despite it being a fourteen night voyage. We did see them offering lunch specials at Hola! but between the MDR, the buffet and eating off the ship when docked we didn't make it in at lunch either. We're booked again on the Meraviglia in October for fourteen nights again and we're trying to decide between purchasing the Tryptic or The Finest Four Dining Packages. 

During our 2019 Meraviglia trip we purchased the Tryptic and dined at Butcher's Cut, Ocean Cay and took in one of the Cirque du Soleil dinner shows. The Tryptic doesn't seem to offer that exact lineup anymore and now only offers Butcher's Cut, Ocean Cay and Kaito Sushi Bar for $77 (£54) per person. The other package currently offered is the The Finest Four which includes Hola! Tapas Bar in addition to the other three but for $138 (£97.50) per person, an increase of $61 (£43) per person.

Is Hola! Tapas Bar worth an additional $122 (£86) per couple for The Finest Four or would it be better to simply buy the Tryptic and visit Hola! Tapas Bar separately at lunch or dinner? 

21 hours ago, CaroleC said:

I have been loyal to RCI for several years now and when I told my TA that I was considering booking with MSC she sort of groaned and said their customer service dept was the worst! Didn’t stop me from booking two of their UK coastal cruises though as the price was so much better than RCI.

13 hours ago, crazyank said:

Our TA said exactly the same thing.

My parents use a TA for most of their cruises and has essentially scared my parents off from booking with MSC despite my wife and I having two very nice cruises on the Divina (2017) and Meraviglia (2019). I don't thin their TA has actually travelled with MSC, I think word of mouth has put her off from recommending MSC to her clients.

11 hours ago, Seanocelt said:

No matter how good my MSC cruise turns out to be, if i ever get on it, i will never be using them again. They do not respect the client, at all.

Why even bother going at this point? Maybe I'm reading too much into your statement but it sounds like you're going just to confirm your already negative thoughts about MSC.