twruger

3 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

 

Good to hear about the app.  What is "that Zoe thing"?

Voice control, similar to Amazon Alexa.  Thumbs down.  

Cruised on the Bellissima in the Med two months ago.  First time on MSC.  Loved it enough we have already booked a cruise on the Fantasia in June. 

The Bellissima itself was immaculate and amazing, but it was also only six months old and so their newest gem.  Had no real issues with service, but then I usually set my expectations low for all cruise lines.  Food was so-so, but again met my expectations.  The pizza however was AMAZING!  Being Italian and making their own mozzarella on board, they definitely know how to make some awesome pizzas.  The shows were fairly low-end and bland, but they tried to play to and speak to 4-5 languages at once, as in the Med they have a very multicultural crowd.  But then, I don't expect much from most cruise line shows either.  They have two Cirque shows, we only booked one, and it ended up being cancelled as it was on a rough sea day.

Having sailed the NCL Breakaway just a year before, I would say that they experiences were very similar, though NCL service a little worse.  NCL definitely tried to nickel-and-dime you a lot more than MSC.  The MSC excursions were far less overpriced ripoffs than what we saw with NCL, so we actually took a couple of them, and we usually go DIY or third party excursions.

Everyone's experience can be different, even on the same cruise.  But based on our experience, we booked a larger group on MSC coming in June.  Unless they do something to change it, I will continue to prefer them to Norwegian.

On 12/17/2019 at 12:27 PM, Até said:

There is no mention of the MSC experience levels in the Plusgrade bidding system regarding Bella, Fantastica or Aurea because you are bidding on the cabin only. 

Unfortunately this is true.  Recently on MSC I almost pulled trigger on Fantastica to Mini-Suite Aurea upgrade, but after much research found that I would get the mini suite, but none of the Aurea package amenities.  Given that, it wasn't worth it at all and I stayed put.

Now that we sailed under Fantastica, we booked our next cruise on Bella experience.  The price difference for Fantastica didn't seem worth it in the end.  We never used room service, and the free morning breakfast was pitiful.  The coffee was bad and there were zero meat choices, just fruit, yogurt, and cereal.  We were already getting a daily fruit bowl.  So after the first couple of days we didn't even bother ordering the free breakfast.  We were better off just heading to the buffet for real food.  The best thing about Fantastica was better room locations, and that's it.

For the OP, since you booked a Bella OV though, getting to a Fantastica room is great just to get the better view.  I hate the sound of "OV", as the last thing I want to do is look at a bright orange lifeboat for a week!  But you won't get those Fantastica perks, but like I said above, you're really not missing anything either.

I too had many website/app issues with MSC before the cruise.  However, once onboard the Bellissima, I was shocked at how awesomely well the MSC app worked, and with all of the features and functionality.  It was very surprising and well done.

Now that Zoe thing is another matter... waste of time and space.

On 10/13/2019 at 8:20 AM, skings said:

Did you go to buffet?  Love the photos

We only did the buffet for breakfast and late night snacks.  Never tried it at lunch or dinner.  I thought that the breakfast was decent, no complaints.  Breakfast was crowded.... head straight to the back of the ship.  The stations repeat the same choices several times around, and everyone just starts up front and its a huge crowd.  Go straight to the very back, and no one is there and there is less hassle (probably true of any ship).  Also, I advise that after loading your plate and dealing with the nasty tongs, you then wash your hands before eating.  I saw too many sneezers that would just grab the tongs after sneezing into their hands. 

The late night snacks became a key part of my routine every day after DW went to bed, and midnight I would head down for a quick snack of pizza and whatever small dessert was available (usually smaller portions of whatever was offered on the dinner menu and left over).  They also usually had several sandwich choices available.  I was amazed at the pizza quality.  It was really great pizza!!  The mozzarella was made right on the ship.  I was especially fond of what they called charcoal pizza, black crust which I assume was made with charcoal.  Tastes great and <warning> great cleanser for the digestive system also.  :)

13 minutes ago, Karysa said:

Any update on bring extension cords on board? I always seem to sleep on the wrong side of the bed and have difficulties plugging in my small fan beside me. I plan on bringing one this time but if they are getting confiscated then I will leave it at home and ask for one when I see my room steward.

If the ship you'll be on has USB ports by the bed (some of the newer ones do), you could consider getting a USB-powered fan.

We sailed the Western Med on the Bellissima from 9/27 - 10/4.  Gorgeous ship!  Loved most of it, though dining room food was hit and miss, nothing special.

It is definitely NOT for kids.  The adult language is extremely and unnecessarily over-the-top.

However, I said it before and is worth repeating... the show is simply unbearably awful (having nothing to do with the language or age appropriateness).  I like the music, but was embarrassed for the cast as it was so bad.  As soon as it was over, everyone was commenting on how bad it was as we walked out.  I still regret having not walked out early, as it was by far the worst part of the 11 days I spent on the Breakaway.  It's as bad as bad gets, and then some more.  It was by far the worst play/musical/theatre I have ever encountered.  Jokes weren't funny.  Storyline contrived.  They could have improved the show immensely by just playing the songs and being done with it.  It wasn't so much the acting, as the same performers were great in other things I saw them do during the week.

Also, in case I forgot to mention, this show was exceptionally horrible.  I can't stress it enough.  I would have had a better time rummaging through garbage bins or just watching the webcam feed from the front of the ship for two hours.  It was a bad stain on an otherwise great cruise.

Don't avoid it for the language.  Avoid it because it is simply a terrible show.  Don't let kids go regardless.  If you do go, and 10-15 minutes in you aren't enjoying it, then don't stick it out like I did as it only gets worse.

35 minutes ago, aaalynn1 said:

I was just going to ask this same question.  Im wondering how to get to the kayak boats as well. There must be a bus or taxi at the port.

Did you book the tour yet?

I never got any feedback, but I did book it.  I didn't find easy or cost-effective transfers to Cassis, so this is my plan....

1)  There is apparently a free shuttle bus that will take you from port to Joliette Metro station. 

2)  From there it is a short walk to main train station, where I booked a rental car.  I used Alamo/Enterprise, but there are others to choose from.  I've read many reviews of Sixt and Hertz all over Europe that claim fake damages well after you return car, so I stayed away from them.

3)  We will drive to Cassis, which is about 25km. 

4)  I booked a kayaking excursion through Destination Calanques, which meets and departs from Calanque de Port Miou car park.

5)  Kayak to Calanque de Port Pin and Calanque de En Vau.

6)  Drive back, top off with gas, return the car, and back to the ship for shower and dinner!  😎

Car rental about 63 Euros.  Kayak trip 70 Euros for two.  Will be there in about 70 days!

If you were wanting to kayak out of Marseille, I believe I saw some rentals just south of there but before you get to the Calanques.  I didn't see any that went to the Calanques, as most stayed in the Marseille area.  We specifically wanted to go to Calanque de En Vau.

Has anyone had experience kayaking in the Calanques? 

Our ship docks in Marseille.  We are looking to get to Cassis, then rent kayaks to go to Calanque d'En-Vau.  Is this an easy DIY option?  What's the best way to get to/from Cassis?  Also, we will be there in late September, so is weather still warm enough for kayaking?

Thanks!

I am new to MSC, and just looking at booking on the Bellissima.  So an I1 Bella inside guarantee may result in a better room than I2 Fantastica where we can pick?  My wife tends to get seasick, so was thinking a guaranteed lower deck might be better, but if we can get assigned a balcony, we may take the gamble.

1 hour ago, Desdichado62 said:

 

I doubt they allow it on the plane home though.....?

Checked luggage only.  You definitely don't want to open it on the plane!  :)

59 minutes ago, oksteveou said:

I am a bit of a foodie.  Besides the licorice (which I love and will definitely load up on--and no one else in my family likes it--so it is all mine!!), any other US customs-friendly food items (e.g., jams, cured meats, candies, etc.) in the Baltic countries that are particularly good and are harder to find or more expensive in the US?  Thanks.

Surstrõmming! 

IMHO, Beluga and Mamont are both excellent. My personal favorite is Tsarskaya - reputed to be Peter the Great's favorite and later a favorite of the Romanov court in St. Petersburg. It is made in St. Petersburg & I find the bottle pretty cool (picture of Peter on bottle).

I bought that just for the bottle, but didn't really know the name. Searched when you posted about Tsarskaya, and it's the same. Not sure if I'm going to keep sealed as a souvenir or imbibe yet.

My best tip for the breakaway is going to margaritaville for breakfast on port days. It was never crowded and we could enjoy a view of the island. Options are limited, but all the traditional American breakfast items were available.

We got off Breakaway 10 days ago after a 9-day cruise. I passed thru Margaritaville several times, but never once saw it open.

So how much rubles do you recommend getting? We usually don't shop but may get a souvenir or two. I like drinking beer so how much does a beer cost typically? Most of the time in other ports I usually bring around $50 to $100 or so. Is that amount converted to rubles typically enough? Are things crazy expensive there?

I took about $500 US worth of Rubles to cover six people, and spent about $350 (including tour guide tips). Souvenirs seemed expensive, but food seemed amazingly cheap. Credit cards worked fine everywhere we used them also.

I am from India. From what I have researched the visa is not that difficult or expensive from here. My cruise is next June...just a little case of extra early planning...:). Also not really sure if the kids would like the tours as they are long. So was kind of thinking if I could do one day DIY and next day take a tour on my own and kids can stay on ship which they are really happy doing.

You should find out if you DIY if you can still get early entry into the main attractions. We saw at least 500+ in line for Catherine's Palace, yet we arrived and were then inside within 5 minutes. Same with all other sites, Hermitage, Church on Spilled Blood, etc. This may be an advantage of tour groups, and not sure if you can get same or not going solo.

Just got off Breakaway last week. Much of the service there is pretty bad, especially Guest Services. Rock of Ages was horribly BAD (worse than I can put into words), and probably the worst thing about the entire cruise. And as said before, the Atrium is too crowded for the game shows, and most people aren't in position to even see all of the screen since it towers across two decks, only visible by the few people able to get seats. The food on Breakaway is nothing special at all.

All that said, we still loved our cruise and the ship. If you go expecting the bad service and food, you won't be disappointed, and can enjoy the great aspects of the ship.

My fave too though I skip the salad (I'm Scottish [emoji3]) and focus on the meats .... and the pineapple.

 

^^^^ This guy knows what he's talking about. Keep that chip turned to the green side, and bring on the picanha! :p

We were there two weeks ago. I would think the crowds would be smaller in Sept, especially as far as cruise traffic goes. If SPB can't promise Catherine's Palace, find another operator. We used Best Guides (highly recommend), and we saw at least 500+ people in line. We waited about 5 minutes and were then inside.

how did you fare with St Petersburg disembarkation fiasco?

We were in Group C, 8:15. We filed into theater on time, which was already full. We sat in theater 45-60 minutes before being allowed to leave. (Seems like it would have just been better to give us a start time 45-60 minutes later, have us wait in cabin, and tell us to head to gangway when group called.) When we got to immigration, noticed there were four doors, and everyone was queuing up in the first two as they were the ones everyone arrived at first as you approached from the left. So we bypassed those and headed to the last door, where the lines definitely seemed shorter. We were in line 10-15 minutes, and we were in front of immigration officer for maybe one minute each. Observed other people stuck in the booth for 5-10 minutes, but unsure what caused their misfortune. We were of course still at our tour van late, and waited another 15-20 minutes for four people from another family. In general, we were expecting the fiasco from the research done here on CC prior to cruise, so our expectations were met and had no reason to be upset about it. I do think NCL makes it worse than it has to be. Our tour got everything done as planned. The only downside was late return meant that we couldn't get back on board ship for dinner before leaving again for evening cruise as we had planned. Our tour operator had to call in a second van to take back the people not doing evening cruise, while original van stuck around for the rest of us.

It was nice to read your review, and see how both similar and different our experiences were, having been on the same cruise. We were caught in the same brief rainstorm driving from Peterhof to Pushkin, startled by the same noon cannon on Day 2, and again caught in the brief shower in Stockholm (although we were boarding the ferry at Slussen as the rain fell), and I was one of those with the cameras on top as we passed under the bridge. I also spent much time at Syd Norman's (Soup of the Day: Beer!), and I'm sure I must have seen you all repeatedly. Had NCL not made the M&G a failure, we could have said hello's, and know who each other are now.

Coming out under the arch heard a loud bang and nearly jumped out of my skin .First thought was terrorist attack but no one running

Looking at my watch it’s 12 o clock and the ceremonial cannon fire-wish Lisa had warned us!

Ha! We were just walking out of the Hermitage when that happened. Everyone looked at each other quickly. Our guide then warned us as the echoes were fading...

Monday 23 July cruise day

 

We got the message cabins were ready so headed there to find 18 1 litre bottles of water on desk as part of our UK all inclusive deal-how can we get through that amount!

 

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I acted as co ordinator for meet and greet which had been agreed weeks earlier with ship. It was next day as sea day 11am at La Cucina and that was the info I had posted on the roll call. They had changed venue and time to Margaritaville 10,30amand as co Ordinator addressed only to me. This has happened to me before when they brought forward 24hours on a previous cruise! Raoul said he would be there the next day and took the cabin numbers I had and promised to leave voicemail messages about change of venue and to have signs out next day at original venue of la Cucina about change

 

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Off to guest services who admitted system error failed to recognise cards-so everyone embarking at Warnemunde got that?

Were not alarm bells triggered that an unusually high number of people failed to attend muster drill?

We had 48 bottles of water. I guess I did not realize they were 1L each when buying them and suffering through the price extortion. Given the heat wave, they came in handy. At end of cruise, we only had about 12 left and they helped nicely for next few days in Berlin.

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Raoul was not at La Cucina just before 11. If he had left a simple sign about the location change, it would have been beneficial, although we would still be 30+ minutes late.

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We received notice about missing muster (we were there), and then we received another notice, and next day a third. Annoying, but I just threw in trash.

Extension cords and power strips are not prohibited.

https://www.ncl.com/prohibited-items

I just returned from Breakaway, and I'm pretty sure in course of going thru my documents and FAQs that I read that Norwegian even recommended you bring a power strip.

Thank you ncrmd for the positive feedback. We are leaving in the coming weeks and were concerned,but your comments are very reassuring. Do you know if yours was the only cruise ship in port that first day? When we disembark on our first day there will be an additional three ships on their first days too.

There are at least 4 different immigration centers in the port. If there are four ships or less, you are each using a different center. We were there with four large ships on 7/26, and the traffic from each did not impact the other at all. They are completely segregated, hundreds of feet apart.