Morgsmom

No, they do not have "sales" like on Royal.  Better to pre purchase.

Best bet would be to bring a thermal mug with you.  You can either 1) got to "regular" buffet on 15 and get drip coffee, 2) order a pot of room service coffee, or 3) make nespresso in your room.   Topsail lounge opens at 6am which is likely too late for you.    

On 12/19/2023 at 10:40 AM, George C said:

Gold gets 10 percent discount diamond 15 percent 

Only if you book onboard

I will tell you that the folks at MSC who answer the phones (I won't even call them reps) know LESS than a fairly educated MSC consumer does... If you want to go direct then I'd just book online.  There's too much that they can mess up. 

My opinion only, but I was online on Saturday with a rep asking about a solo cabin.  They couldn't answer if the cabin was for "ONE" guest or "SOLO" occupancy of a "regular" cabin.  Two vastly different things as there are some solo cabins that have a single "sofa" that opens into a twin bed vs a solo occupancy in an inside cabin with a normal "double" bed (two twin) configuration.  

13 hours ago, Loucat said:

What-do-solo-cruisers-pay-on-MSC?

Single-or-double-rates?

Depends on the sailing.  It can be as low as 20% up to 100% supplement.

12 hours ago, WannaCtheWorld said:

Thanks so much Essiesmom 🙂  

Has anyone done a 3 or 4 day on the SeaSHORE by any chance?

Yes, did the 4 night on Seashore.  NO gala night.

Never ever ever on MSC. And certainly not in Yacht Club. 

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Definitely NOT! We were on NCL in November and they never stopped telling people to wash their hands, especially in the Garden Café. Very much encouraged.

Yes, they sing Washy Washy songs with a tambourine on NCL

2 hours ago, JV2222 said:

Did they contact you before the cruise for your mini bar and alcohol selection?

The mini bar is not customizable beforehand.  And even if you do get the "email" chances are almost 100% that your choices will not make it to the ship.

It's working and it's very very cold... no thanks...

On 12/20/2023 at 12:00 PM, Ottawa_Cruiser said:

Despite having to make numerous requests for items that should be basic knowledge for a cabin steward, he still had no issue leaving his card and an envelope for an additional gratuity at the end of the cruise.

Have NEVER encountered this before....

It's getting very difficult indeed to book as a solo on MSC.  I did it but was limited to my choice of sailings.

The covered Jungle Pool area on the Meraviglia has limited seating, though there is some.  Other than that no other "enclosed" pool areas (except the Spa)

WOW. That would be a big change!  

On 12/8/2023 at 6:39 PM, dshroyer said:

We were on the same cruise in Yacht Club.  Poor experience.  First day asked for an Old Fashion with Woodford Reserve.  After 10 min. "we do not have that".  Then asked for Makers Mark.  10 min. later same response.  "Well what do you have?"  Crown Royal, sir.  (That is in the way lower package)  Then at dinner.  No wine menu.  They asked my wife what she wanted, she said Pinot Grigio, she got the $10 bottle stuff.  "That is all we have". 

 

 

We did not see our "Butler" until the night of day 2.  (50% into our cruise) But we did finally get our newspaper on the last day. :>)  SAME HERE

 

Oh, and I did talk to the "Yacht Club Director" the first night.  Useless.  He said "it should get better tomorrow".  SAME, TOO!  I showed photos and he never followed up.

 

Why isn't it good today?  I paid for today!  He had no response.  Then avoided me the rest of the cruise.  I guess asking for a Wine Menu at dinner is too much to ask.  Apparently so

 

We were very disappointed.  We have over 20 cruises, with 3 on MSC and this was one of our worst cruises.  I would agree, though any cruise is better than no cruise, but I paid single supplement of 100% to be in YC and I would expect that they could make the drinks listed on their fancy menu. 

 

I don't think that they (are smart enough to) look at spa capacity in relation to passes sold (plus YC members plus Aurea plus Diamond members sailing...)  It's likely just a price increase as it gets really crowded in the thermal areas at times.

On the dining package you SHOULD be able to use as the wording stated when you booked.  Make sure that you have a copy of the language otherwise the default will be the new program.  (In either case I think you can only go to Butcher's Cut once.)

Interesting conversation.  I recently got off a 4 night in YC on Seashore and agree that the service level was quite diminished vs prior YC sailings.  However, I attributed it to the YC Director more so than staffing.

As far as #'s go, there are a lot of positions for which  you only need 1 (or a fixed number) regardless of size of vessel. One Captain, One Hotel Director, etc.  Theoretically you can increase the number of dinner slots and have the exact same # of servers onboard so it is not linear.  80 servers can handle one seating, or 3 seatings and 3x as many guests.  

To me the math doesn't work.

(following up) I just did a mock booking and several websites are showing the sailing as being full.

In that case I'd revert back to sharing the YC cabin w/ the kids (unless it's an inside cabin which won't accommodate)

Oh wow, here's the issue " A few days later I got an email inviting me to apply for the plusgrade upgrade thing and I figured we were being offered the experience without the room change, or that the rooms would be comparable and certainly connecting.".... the plusgrade very clearly states that if your bid is accepted they can move you to any cabin in that new category and you cannot change once assigned.  

Here's an additional issue, the other members of the party outside of Yacht Club will NOT be able to join you in yacht club. The only way you can dine together will be in the Main Dining Room but might not be possible if the ship is full.

Here's some suggestions:

1)  Keep both Yacht Club Rooms and have your kids (which must have been booked with one adult and one child) and have your kids sleep in the same room at night. (Sorry, no "adult" time)  Use the other room for storage, changing, quiet time, etc. 

2)  Keep both Yacht Club Rooms and don't use the 2nd room (crazy, but option) since your kids are little.  

3)  look on a very well known social media site (I don't think that we can mention Mark Zuckerberg's little site) or on the Roll Calls for the sailing.  There will CERTAINLY be a "group" for this sailing.  Chat amongst the group there.  However you'd have to find someone who had connecting cabins (iffy) who is willing to take this gamble, because I'm not sure even your travel agent could get this to work smoothly and I, as a traveler, would be very skeptical about such an offer at it could easily backfire with MSC.

let us know how you make out!

On 12/6/2023 at 4:35 PM, Todd320 said:

If you are parking at terminal 10 could you please give us an update on construction relating to delays, etc .

It was REALLY backed up last Sunday (12/3).  I might actually recommend offsite parking.  People were in line for > hour trying to park.

2 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

A supplier issue ?!?

Adding this to my packing list.

Not a supplier issue, but the bathrooms were not designed with one of those "behind the door" slots where the small boxes of tissues normally go. There is no built in for them on this ship, thus they are not regularly supplying tissues.  

Please enjoy actual photo of the requested box of Kleenex/ tissue. 😂

57 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Haha, I hope they can get the Negroni Sbagliato correct. (the word "sbagliato" means "wrong, messed up" in Italian).

Well then if it’s supposed to be messed yp

then I’m pretty sure that it will perfectly messed up 😝

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 When I booked our February cruise I had a choice of a 10 day (7 + 3) or an 11 day.  Having read about how the shorter cruises tend to be "booze cruises" with more of a party atmosphere I went with the 11-day.  When I read stories like this it just re-affirms that I made the right decision.  

 

 

It’s not a party atmosphere in YC by any means (but there was a LOT of “herb” on Ocean Cay yesterday).  There’s just a distinct “you are only here for 4 days as don’t give a …..” vibe. 

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you for pointing this out, it's helpful to know your background and expectations. Hoping things get better for you as things progress!

Actually it’s diminishing. lol.  Please enjoy photo of iceberg lettuce and drinks listed for which they do not have the listed ingredients.