TheSoccerCoach

13 hours ago, RaNKoR said:

Currently sailing with MSC and they decided to notify us 2 days into the cruise that our cabana we booked months ago for their private island was somehow accidentally sold to us even though we are not in a YC suite (we are in an auria suite). So we had to give it up. Apparently this happened to a bunch of people.

 

 

 

Not my f'ing fault the website let me book it 3 months ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Not happy!!!!! Might even be our main reason to switch back to RC.

I'm sorry, but this is funny. As a former crew member, this just tickles. 

#1 - you are on a cruise ship right now...so, why on earth are you wasting time posting on cruise critic?! You are wasting valuable dancing, drinking, and tanning time!

#2 - If the loss of a cabana makes you switch cruise lines...then, you wanted to return to RC in the first place and have been looking for an excuse. 

#3 - see #1 and get back to enjoying your cruise!!! 

Oy vey. Currently working at my desk - would happily trade you - even if you are in an Aurea suite... 🙂

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

I'm actually surprised at this question.  I always wear just underwear and didn't realize there was an option for the buff.  Although I am female, are boxer briefs an option for you?  And also, to those pearl clutchers, you have the option to scroll.  People get massages and have questions.  

Thank you for the mature, respectful comment. Much appreciated! 

The pearl clutchers would probably be aghast that we used to have crew only nude sunbathing spots on the cruise ships I worked on in the 90s, as well. Bless. 

But, anyway, MSC has obvious rules for under 17s in the spa and treatments. For example, under 17s must keep their swimsuits on for a massage. 

But, I am finding it is a bit grey for 18 and up. Some in this thread wear nothing during their massages, which is, in my experience, the norm on land, at spas, etc. 

I have worn boxer briefs, but then the therapist has to push them up, move them around, etc. which they would not have to do if they were not in the way. 

And they are respectful professionals and can drape us as needed, so, hence, my question. 

I've emailed the Directof of Spas for all of MSC for what the suggested dress is for on board massages and will share her response when received. 

Cheers!

On 5/8/2023 at 1:38 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

One thing to add:

It's true...no sunlight in the interior cabin.  But, I called this "the Yacht Club Shuttle"...a small elevator within the YC that only serviced the YC.  The wait was never more than 15 seconds, and the ride was never more than 5 seconds.  So, literally, I could leave my cabin and be in the fresh air within a minute.

 

My only complaint is the YC beach at Ocean Cay.  There's another "rockless beach" right across the road.  They might think about relocating the lifeguard and chairs to that beach, because the YC Beach was almost useless.

Agree that YC beach is a wee bit rocky, but if you snorkel, the rocks furthest from Ocean House Restaurant have a plethora of fish! We saw stingrays as well!

We were in YC and ate at Tepanyaki in April on Seaside and our drinks were all covered. 

On 5/8/2023 at 11:52 AM, kelleherdl said:

The masseuses know how to effectively manage the sheets and are discreet when you are asked to adjust your position on the table. There is no need to wear anything, other than arrive for your appointment in your robe and slippers. To be honest, even wearing very skimpy underwear could hinder the masseuse. I’ve never been asked to wear underwear for a massage on a cruise.

So glad you get to experience this! I have tried a few times to have a massage with nothing on and have always been asked to put underwear on. It does take away from the full sensory experience of the massage and all of the moving around of the garment is distracting and makes little sense. I will be asking the manager about this on our next cruise. Thanks for the info. 

3 hours ago, titangas said:

On both of my MSC cruises, December 2021 on Seashore and April 2023 on Meraviglia - I did not wear anything for massages.

I normally do as well on land. But, MSC policy for men and women is genitals must be covered. Surprised they allowed this. Did you tip up front? 

On shore, we are used to full body massages wearing nothing. 

On MSC, she had me put on the paper underwear, which were not relaxing at all. 

When I wear normal underwear, they move them all around anyway. 

Since we can't go without them, what are other guys doing/wearing for their massages?

Thanks.

We have received this email and the info did make it to our butler. But, we have not received the email every time. 

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

There was a group of 3 (4?) guys ~25ish in age we came upon on the island. One guy was climbing a palm tree to knock down coconuts. Well, a short while later, while going through security to get back onto the ship, guess who was slowing down the line because he had TWO LARGE COCONUTS in his backpack.... yep...

 

Tom

 

Exactly! And, Ocean Cay is an island with 150 workers who live and work there. Not out of the realm of possibilities that they would slip contraband or something else to a guest they know to smuggle back on board. Hence the appropriate security measures. Our friend had a flashlight in his backpack and his cigar case. Both dinged the cameras and the staff member took a second look at them. And, then they had a fab discussion about the cigars available on board. Any situation can be turned into a fun, positive one, even going through security.

Angry elves, most assuredly. And, then the questionable dress...I am not asking for much, but maybe not a thong bathing suit in the evening at the bar in the casino...maybe not that?!

Too much to ask? 

Sigh...

49 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

We, no doubt, crossed paths once or twice!

 

I only went up to the YC top deck 2-3 times (once to explore, twice to grab a bite). I never saw the cabanas being used. Did you have one which came with your cabin, or one of the others? 

 

It looks like on the Seashore next year we'll have one - but I'm not sure how much use it will get, as our RS balcony appears to have more reasons to hang out there than our last balcony.

 

Tom

Nice! My wife loves the YC pool deck, so we spent a fair amount of time there. But, we reserved the cabana through the concierge at no charge. The "cabanas" on Seashore are even more open than the ones on Seaside and are first come/first service unless with your suite. We prefer the YC in Seashore to the one on Seaside. And, the service is even better on Seashore in my opinion. But, as a general rule, we don't spend much time in our cabins or on our balconies, we prefer to be out and about in the YC meeting people and enjoying the vibe. When we have to go out into the rest of the ship, especially without the Butler, it is getting harder and harder to do so. We saw some sights this past weekend that we would have preferred not to. 

We were on this sailing in the Yacht Club and the only dark cloud to the entire experience was the EXPEDIA group - they were horrid. 

This was our third sailing on MSC Seaside, 10th with the line. And, with the exception of Expedia, it was a lovely weekend sail in the YC! 

We were able to book Tepanyaki for dinner, although would have preferred Butchers Cut. Could have done Butchers Cut for lunch but decided to stay on the pool deck in our cabanas instead. 

Our Butler and Junior Butler were lovely! Our cabin was lovely. The shows were fab! So glad Starwalker was on board - always a great show!

The food was wonderful and never had an issue with service, especially in the Yacht Club. Outside of the YC, I had other bar staff going out of their way to help me. 

But, the Expedia people were everywhere...loud, cutting in line at Venchi, coming late to YC dining (15 minutes before close ) demending service. Some members of their group were so obnoxious. Maybe they weren't sold on MSC, but we, most assuredly, were not sold on them. 

And, funny, but we were on Divina in 2016 with the MSC Company Meeting and we loved it! Met lovely people! 

We are headed out again in the YC on Seashore this December. Looking forward to it! 

White Party - dress all in white. 

Flower Glory Party - 70s night

Glow Party - bring your glow clothes

November 12, 2022 ... 

1. Everyone around the World has had more than ample chance to respond to the "health concern" that has been the focus of the world the past few years in whatever manner they have decided. 

2. Other major cruise lines like Carnival, Royal, NCL, etc. have unmasked their crew. 

3. There is already a power differential between passengers and crew that to keep crew masked while the guests are unmasked is uncomfortable and sends a demeaning, unintended message. 

Not sure what MSC's time table is on ending this practice. But, hoping we can share with them that we miss seeing the crew's lovely faces and it is time to un mask them. 

12 hours ago, aeraen said:

This will be our first MSC cruise, and we're taking our adult children along with us, so three cabins. 

 

Because he has comperable status with a hotel brand,  my husband was granted Diamond status with MSC.  Yeah!  We will certainly take advantage of the express boarding.   However,  I am wondering if our children in separate, but linked, cabins can ride our coattails to the early boarding.   It appears a bit churlish to say "Ta ta!" while they wait in the long "steerage" line and we skip ahead! 

 

Have any Diamond members traveled with others on linked reservations and been able to parlay that status to include others traveling with them, but in separate cabins?

What port are you embarking out of? 

We were on this sailing. 9th for me with MSC, 10th for my wife. And, we had a wonderful time; sad that it appears so many did not. There, clearly, were challenges with being the first "return to US" cruise for the ship, and, there were certainly a large group of pax who were new to the line and did not know how to navigate the experience. 

But, at embarkation, as Diamond guests, we were through the terminal in under an hour and on board quickly. We know to use the kiosks to register credit cards once on board. We saw some bar staff we know and made friends with others, so we rarely had to wait for drinks. 

We had another lovely Butcher's Cut dinner, but witnessed horrible behavior from fellow guests - calling the manager names, getting angry, having to have security called on them. I am sorry, but if you are eating at a steak restaurant on board a luxury liner, and you act so poorly that you need security called on you - whomever those folks were need serious help. (counseling, therapy, etc.)

We did not get our Diamond perks right away the first day in the cabin, so we simply reminded the cabin attendant, and he had all the perks to us by the second afternoon. No worries. We even gave some positive feedback to guest services and they sent some treats to us as well. 

We love this line! We are always bummed out when people do not have a good experience. But, there is also so very much that would be mitigated for people if they would do more research about the experience. It is truly a cruise like no other, and for that we are grateful. 

We were on Divina in April 2022 with a large group of greeks from UF and they were lovely! They dressed up every night. They had fun, but were not out of control. MSC is family focused and attracts a high level clientele. 

Thanks for your help! Am in meetings and can't call MSC yet. But, am curious if two couples, one with two kids 3 and under could book together, say in a duplex suite in the Yacht Club?

Thank you!

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

That is correct, it does not.

And, now only a 40percent discount on massages...why is Aurea being downgraded? Now, only YC is truly all inclusive. Seems a step in the wrong direction. 

Also, if I am reading the website correctly, Aurea no longer automatically includes the Easy Package? No drink package auto in Aurea booking? 

So far all four of our MSC cruises we have had the fridge emptied with nary an issue. We also hand the attendant $20 when we arrive which helps. 

4 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

Seriously???  News flash:  most Americans only get 2 weeks of vacation.  To call them "silly" for not selecting to cruise "yearly, if not more" is nonsense.  

 

(I'm NOT defending or complaining about MSC's expiration program.  Your comments and assumptions are what ticked me off a bit.)

Well, your choice to let me "tick you off..." 

Life is too short to get angry over what strangers say on the internet. 

And, as someone from the US, I think our two week vacation, over work mentality is idiotic. Life was meant for so much more than being hamsters on this wheel...

Which is why we cruise in the first place...

16 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

Legal tender doesn't cut it at currency exchange.

 

Try it yourself.  Take some of the $2 bills and try to get them changed into local currency.  

 

Look, I understand you were trying to do something nice in a distinctive way and didn't realize that the distinctiveness was detracting from the niceness.  Now you know.  What you choose to do with that information is up to you.

ok

54 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

The crew are never going to act anything other than pleased when given something by a pax. But your 'cute' $2 bills are actually a royal pain for them as they are much more difficult to exchange and they get a worse exchange rate.  They take them because something is better than nothing, but you aren't doing them any favors by doing this, compared to just giving them 2 singles.

$2 is still legal tender and still worth $2. Many consider them lucky as well. 

40 minutes ago, jkgourmet said:

 

Thumbs Up 10X.  Same goes for those who insist on giving them little gifts, candy, a souvenir from your hometown, etc.  They don't want it.  They haven't room for trinkets in their cabin or luggage when they finally get to go home. They have PLENTY to eat.  They don't care about YOUR hometown.  All that may make YOU feel good, but its crap to them (no matter how grateful YOU think they are.)

 

They care about taking care of their families.  Be kind and thoughtful - give cash.   

I was a crew. For four years. We DID enjoy gifts, chocolates, etc. We give cash AND gifts.