Selion

That's probably cheaper than a ferry, and food is included on MSC!

Procedurally, that's correct. However, some airlines don't allow upgrades on contracted tickets. I had a United flight for our now-cancelled river cruise, and United did not allow upgrades. My current return flight on Delta, I was able to upgrade with Delta miles (although it was only from econ to Comfort+). It all comes down to the fare rules for your tickets.

SSBP is great. We just like to try different cheap wines (let's be honest here, wines included in SSBP aren't that expensive) until we find one that we like more than the others. 🙃

Thanks! I'll keep this in mind when I'm onboard in 10 days. Hoping for some onboard booking bonuses and Black Friday promos to STACK! 😁

NCL entered Chat NCL: I started it all with my never-ending FREE at Sea campaign!

Our first cruise with MSC was in 2018, and our last MSC cruise where we used their laundry package was in 2019. Both cruises were in YC. On our first cruise, our butler specifically told us "no dry cleaning" when we asked about the laundry package. Hence we didn't send anything out that requires any special attention. Our t-shirts, polos, socks and unmentionables all came back clean and nicely folded inside brown paper bags. I found nothing wrong with that. That said, on both cruises we were able to send a few items at a time. But even back then, there were talks on CC that different ships run the laundry differently where the entire laundry order can only be sent once. That's just part of the MSC experience. LOL!

November has been slow... I wonder if Viking is getting ready for a Black Friday promo. Anyhow, this came in the email yesterday: Viking Ocean Transatlantic/reposition cruises Free International Air Complimentary Upgrade (V2-DV1 at same fare) Promo Code ATL22 Offer Ends Nov 14, 2022 https://www.viking.com/promotions/us/ocean/ATL22/20221106 Offer valid on bookings made from Nov 3 to Nov 14, 2022. Free roundtrip airfare and complimentary upgrades from category V2 to DV1 valid on January 12, 2023 departure of Iberian Explorer; December 8, 2022 departure of Atlantic Crossing; March 21, 2023 departure of Atlantic Ocean Passage; March 15, 2023 departure of West Indies to Spain. Call for details. Prices are in US dollars and for US residents only. Air does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All fares reflect cruise taxes, port taxes and fees. Additional restrictions may apply. Airfares vary on other itineraries, gateways and departures. Air offers not valid on Alaska, Hawaii, San Juan and Mexico City; call for details. Book by Nov 14, 2022; pay in full by Dec 15, 2022 or at time of booking if within 90 days of departure. Offer expires Nov 14, 2022.

Since it's a US port, I'd say 11am at the earliest for embarkation. The latest you could stay on the ship probably would be 9:30am to 10am (if you are not using Viking transfers), due to the zero count requirement.

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/experiences-staterooms

Where are you embarking and disembarking at? The reason is that US Coast Guard requires all cruise ships to have a "zero count" at turnaround before passengers for the next sailing can board. Just looked at my boarding pass for Barcelona, it doesn't state a time to board. I guess we could show up anytime!

If your messaging app uses data to send messages/texts (i.e. blue messages on iPhones), you can leave mobile roaming turned off. 3rd party messaging apps, like Line, WhatsApp, WeChat (if that's still around), all use data to send messages. If your messaging app is sending messages/texts as SMS (i.e. green messages on iPhones), you'll need cellular service and will need to turn on mobile roaming. The cellular service will not be included with onboard internet plans.

What's wrong with jeans? My jeans are more expensive than the khakis I have. 😝 Anyhow. Actually in office today. One great thing about the pandemic - nobody cares about what I wear at work anymore!

You are travelling from Schengen to non-Schengen area with a connecting stop within the Schengen area, so yes you'll need to clear passport control at the connecting airport. The Oslo-Amsterdam or Oslo-Paris flight is treated effectively as a domestic flight.

As in October 2023? Deposits in non-YC cabins are fully refundable, unless you booked a non-refundable promo. Final payment isn't due until 90 days out. If you want to put a deposit on a cabin for your friends, go ahead. You can cancel anytime before the final payment and get the money back. Refund may take a couple of weeks to appear on your card. If you are booking a YC cabin with non-refundable deposit, there was a loop hole to exploit Cruise with Confidence and get the deposit refunded. Not sure if MSC closed it now...

Hello & welcome to CC! My experience is that the port staff don't check the boarding time, at all. We had a 2PM boarding time on our boarding passes, and we were on the ship before 1PM. That was this September out of Port Canaveral.

I feel YC's value lies in the exclusive areas on a 4000+ PAX ship. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Medium-rare lamb chops & eggs in The Restaurant.

Guess it's harder to say "no" face-to-face. Back in March this year, on our first Viking cruise, I called the reservations number on the 3rd day into the cruise trying to get a reservation for Manfredi's (couldn't get a reservation in MVJ pre-cruise). I was told they were fully booked for the remainder of the cruise and they couldn't accommodate us. Chalked it up to missed opportunity on my part at the time. Now when I think about it, that cruise only had 500 passengers... Anyhow. Next month, the first thing I do when I board is to book a table, or two, at Manfredi's at the desk.

We haven't even started talking about OBCs offered by AMEX Platinum cards...

When I first signed up in 2021, it was $179 and $119 with UA discount. Adding DW took the annual fee back to $179. It renewed at that price point earlier this year, and of course AMEX posted statement credit right afterwards. They must've restructured the fees and added different types of membership. Just looked at mine, and it now reads "Plus Member" under my profile.

They are the same cabin, physically speaking. Only differs in locations and some service items.

Neither. Just add your FF account number with CLEAR to qualify for the discount. https://www.clearme.com/partners/united-airlines https://www.clearme.com/partners/delta-air-lines

We liked Viking's firm bed, but we asked for a topper to cover the gap between the mattresses. The topper didn't really affect the firmness. Perhaps they have a different type of topper available? Edit: Just tell your room steward that you would like to have a mattress topper, and they'll put it on the bed for you.

You should. Pre-Check is getting popular and there are (gasp!) lines at bigger airports. Got CLEAR for free through AMEX Plat, and breezed through MCO's security in under 2 minutes during Labor Day weekend. CLEAR also offers discounts if you have FF with certain airlines. I used my UA FF account and the membership dropped by $60, just enough to add DW to the CLEAR account to take full advantage of the AMEX credit.