nealjr

It looks like Mykonos is a pretty easy port to navigate on your own, particularly if we want to take the ferry to Delos- or at least I have searched this board and that seems to be the consensus. Using one of the recommended port guides, it appears that our stop in Mykonos next summer will be with six other cruise ships- which just seems overwhelming! Anyone have any advice to navigate Delos or recommend a private tour (looks like most still take the ferry?) with those crowds? Our goal really is Delos because my sons are very interested in the Ancient Greek ruins, but feel free to convince me otherwise, too! Thank you.

 

 

 

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What site did you use to find the number of ships? We will be there on May 22 next year and would like to find that information as well

Thanks

In June, we went on Sinfonia which stopped in Greece in Santorini and Mykonos. However, we stopped in both of those on the same day - Santorini in the morning, then Mykonos in the evening. You do not get a full day in either one on this cruise.

Next May we are on the Opera which stops in Mykonos from 9AM till 2AM the next day and in Santorin from 8AM till 2PM, that one needs to be longer considering the obstacles you can encounter there.

They won't be counting as you come ashore. They will be limiting the number of ships that anchor in the Caldera, to a number totaling around 8K pax. Each cruise line requesting a visit will give their capacity. After 8k is reached, no more ships will be allowed to visit that day. Cruise lines book their visits more than 2 years in advance. Easy to draw a line.

True the schedule is set but those days that the number exceeds 8k which ship is denied access to dock? and how soon will they be notified that they can't dock? Since 2019 itineraries are already set those affected will have to rearrange and hopefully they can juggle days so that the passengers can still be able to see Santorini. If not those passengers need to be notified asap.

It will be interesting to see what happens next year for ships scheduled to dock. We are scheduled to visit there next May via MSC so who will be policing the total visitors at 8,000 and who will be the odd man out if that number would be exceeded?

For ships that offer both the Y/C and Aurea there is no comparison, Y/C is the way to go if pricing doesn't hold you back on selection. However MSC has plenty of ships that the Y/C experience isn't available so the next best thing is Aurea. We will be on the Opera come May and we had no choice except the Aurea.

We are booked on Opera next May doing the eastern Med. We do have a balcony room, but my thoughts are, having only 1 sea day on the cruise, we will be off the ship most days, therefore it is only evenings on board that we will need entertaining. The reviews haven't been that great, but the ports of call are what we prioritised when booking. We go straight on to Bellissima for a western Med cruise afterwards, so it will be interesting to compare. :)

We are also booked for May 2019 on the Opera, week of 05/19. What week are you booked? I agree the so few reviews haven't been great for the Opera but like you stated we are going for the ports. We have booked a balcony on deck 12 because we do enjoy sitting out either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Besides some of the ports we are visiting we don't arrive until 1 or 2pm which gives us more time for the balcony.

Hello, I'm a frequent Royal Caribbean cruiser looking at MSC for a summer 2020 northern Europe cruise. How far out are the schedules released?

I heard that September in normally the release month for the rest of 2020.

Do you know where to find the details? I recall someone posted a link to a website that had the details but i can't find it now.

We're in SPB later this month and have booked an independent tour, being delayed getting of the ship is a concern.

here are a number of websites that list ships in port. I use the following:

Cruise Timetables: https://www.cruisetimetables.com/

Cruise TT: http://ports.cruisett.com/

One thing to remember that will back up customs if there are other ships that are disembarking at roughly the same time as your ship. When we went through customs we were the only ship at that time which made it easier. Also customs had open 6-7 stations that were checking people through which helped getting through. Check to see if you have other ships that are due to dock the same day and time.

Thanks for the replies. I wasn't as much talking about customs so much as just getting off the ship to go through customs. I've read the stories about ships on some lines making private tour people wait until people with ship tours get off first. So I was really asking:

 

1) is this an issue on MSC as it is on other lines, and

 

2) if the answer to 1 is yes, does being in YC circumvent the issue?

 

I was thinking that if you were one of the first people off the ship you might get through customs quicker, but in any case save on-ship waiting time.

 

I probably could have expressed that better in my OP.

We left the ship allowing enough time to get through customs which took about 15 minutes for the three of us. The ship tours met at different places on the ship and each group left together. There wasn't a mass group of people leaving the ship at one time which lead me to believe there was different times for each group which made it easier getting through customs.

We weren't the first group off because our tour didn't meet until 1 hour after we docked so I can't tell you how many people left prior to us. All that I can tell you is that we didn't have any problems getting off the ship nor getting through customs.

Just a heads up. Make sure when booking your own tour in St Petersburg you are covered by a visa. Last time there we were told if doing a ships tour we were covered but must purchase our own if not. Maybe things have changed by now.

We were there in May and had booked with a private tour company and they sent us tickets a head of time and so when we went through customs we showed them our passports and tour tickets, no visas.

Thanks TooFar for asking this question. We are in the same situation as your are, in St-P on 30 August, also with Alla. Our tour is set to go at 7:30, and the ship docks at 7:00. I've read that customs can take a good 1 1/2 hours.

But remember that being YC means that the butler will escort us from YC through an exit reserved for YC guests, that bypasses the other. So getting off the ship is really quite easy.

The rest is a mystery to me as well.

We were in the YC and getting off at St. Petersburg we weren't escorted off by our butler. We also had a private tour with Alla and we went through customs just like everyone else.Once we cleared customs we met the tour guild outside of the building. They are aware that clearing customs can take a little longer then normal and they will adjust the tour to make up the time lost. The only time we were escorted off the ship was at disembarkation.

We were in 15028 and didn't hear a thing all 7 days.:)

Where are you seeing NCL's for all of 2020? The only one I can find is the POA after April of 2020. NCL usually will not release 2020 until Nov. or Dec. of this year.

They show all cruises through April 2020 and the remainder of the year they are showing only one cruise from May-Dec 2020.

There's nothing showing beyond March 2020 on either the UK or Ireland websites.

I wonder why MSC is behind their competitors (NCL,RCL) who is showing 2020 for the entire year??

Dare I say it.....

A family owned Italian company not trying to smash every penny/dime/cent or Euro out of us

I appreciate them not doing it but if you want to book Y/C experience the sooner the better plus prices tend to go up as you get closer to cruise date. I know that for a fact because we already booked for May 2019 several months ago and the pricing has gone up $600 for the three of us since my booking.:eek:

Here it is almost end of July and still nothing showing beyond March 2020. NCL and RCl are already showing available bookings for the entire 2020 year., what's up MSC??

Hi All,

 

Despite all the bad reviews here regarding to MSC Opera, we decided to go against all the odds and booked a 14 nights Caribbean holiday because the Cuba stay.

 

We are a family of 4, 2 children will just turn 3 and 6 by the time of cruising. I am concerned regarding to the 3rd and 4th bed that come down from the wall, I am not sure if it's safe for young children to sleep on? I can't find any photos of MSC Opera inside room with the additional 2 beds down.

 

If any of you have used the 3rd and 4th bed on MSC Opera, can you please confirm if these beds has a side rail? I am thinking of bring my clip on bed rails to the ship, will there be enough space for me to clip them onto the bed? Last, if you have a photo of the room with 2 beds, can you please share? Thanks a lot.

We are you getting the "bad reviews"? We are booked for next May going to Greece.

Thanks

Hello. I'm new to NCL. Where do you go to bid for upgrades? We are booked on Breakaway in Feb 2019

80 Days from sail date you should receive from NCL an opportunity to bid for upgrades. However it's my understand that some people don't receive an opportunity because some TA's don't participate in the upgrade program.

Hi, we will be on May 11 Breakaway Baltic and I just placed my bid today. I did a mock booking and its showing a lot of sold out havens. How would I know the number of Haven cabins left?

Do a mock booking and it should show you the available cabins.

i sail in june and already got my e-tickets also! i clicked on request e-tickets under the web check in page and it worked!

I tried as well but no orange box for e-tickets, we sail in May. I guess we will have to wait until 20 days out.:rolleyes:

This is not necessarily correct. I received my e-ticket at 90 days.

I can only comment on what I see when I log into my account. Why some people can access their tickets before the 20 day period must be at MSC discretion.

Hobby 3333

How you request the e tickets?

Log into your account on the MSC website and should pull up your booking. On the left side of the screen you will see "My Bookings" and the 4th item down should say "e-tickets", click on that and it will pull up another screen showing if you have all the necessary items filled out including payment and you will see: Your cruise does not depart within 20 days so you can't receive your e-tickets at this point.:cool:

The website stated the tickets weren't ready until 20 days before, but I just hit the button anyway. And there they were. I did the online checkin a while ago, don't know if that matters or not.

 

 

Our cruise is over 90 days away.

Our cruise is May 20th and I tried "hitting" the button for e-tickets and it didn't work. So that doesn't hold true for everyone, you were just lucky I guess.

I know that the outcome of bids can be as determined as little as 48 hours before sailing...But what was the earliest that someone got notified of a bid acceptance?

We received confirmation 30 day from sailing.:)