perakcruiser

All mainland France ports are embarkation/debarkation ports, it would be very inconvenient for the French to embark in Zeebrugge.

If you go one time to the spa, the day pass is cheaper, if you go two times the cruise pass is already cheaper.

Yes, MDR will be open as many others have boarded the days before at other ports. But technically you are not allowed to use the MDR for lunch on your embarkation day. Before they were very strict on this, checking all cruise card at the entrance and sending the "newcomers" to the buffet. I have a feeling that it is not so strict anymore. By the way, also in the Caribbean the MDR can be open, just depends if it is a cruise with many embarkation ports or a close loop from the USA.

You're welcome. While dinner now is much faster than it was ten years before (where two hours were the minimum time) depending on the dish you would order as a "snack" I would not be surprised if it takes one hour. Anyway, a slice of pizza or a pasta or salad from the buffet at 6 when you have the second seating is there perfect solution to your needs 🙂

I guess no one of the millions of MSC guests did this before, but with Aurea it could be possible. But it not makes any sense, just for a snack you need to sit down, wait for the staff to take your order, wait for the food, this can take some time. So probably you will be finished after the rest of your party arrived already😄 For a snack before dinner the buffet is the much better choice.

Go for the one with double points. Nothing is more annoying than the last cruise with a few hundred points missing for diamond ("oh, I could have had it all").

On Seascape it should be no problem.

That depends on the route, not on the boat.

From my cruises with all mainstream lines in Europe for some strange and unknown reasons the most delays were by far at UK ports. From Invergordon to Southampton, from 2011 to 2022, there was always a delay. But maybe we two are just unlucky here, I don´t know.

I often have seen very large groups sitting together in the MDR, they make the arrangement. I don´t know if you have to inform MSC already before the cruise (I guess your bookings are linked together) or if it is handled after boarding. Better call MSC. Concerning the buffet, if you are willing to walk to the farthest away tables then you will easily enough tables to sit together🙂

Spa access, top deck solarium, priority boarding, mychoice dining. But the thing is that the best cabins of the ships are only available with Aurea, so if you want to get one of these you have no choice. If it is worth it that only you can know.

Excursions of European lines are usually cheaper than on US lines. This true for MSC, but I would not call them cheap. That depends on the extra price. MSC sometimes has great balcony offers. For this cruise I only would take a balcony if the extra price is really not too high, we had a Inside and a Balcony on our Middle East cruise, Balcony was not worth it as the extra price was too high. The local e-hailing leader is CAREEM. Download the app and set everything before you leave. As far as I remember you can use it in all countries during the cruise. Works exactly as UBER and the others and is so much cheaper and more convenient compared to the old taxis. Dubai has so much great things to offer, prepare yourself what you want to see. To go up Burj Khalifa (highly recommended) you have to book a time slot in advance, days in advance actually. Abu Dhabi has not so much to offer, but as you only have one day you also need to have a plan. The Grand Mosque of cause, the Louvre (we enjoyed it very much), Presidential Palace, you cannot do all. Careem is the way to go, but certainly if the ship offers an excursion that combines two or three things, thats an option as well. SBY will be a beach day or you do one of the safaris MSC provides. Note that you CANNOT go out of the port area without an excursion, no matter how attractive the islands looks for a "private" hiking. You have to book all activities on the ship already.

Because it is not the simple "A Schengen passport holder embarked at a Schengen port and leaves in another Schengen port anymore". This is now indeed to complicated, you need to talk with MSC what to book. Basically it should be possible as MSC offers cruises from Kusadasi to Genoa on some dates.

I think it is much easier that your friend books the cruise from Kusadasi and then just disembarks early in Genoa. And the real important thing is if your friend has a Schengen passport. Or at least a Schengen residence permit. If not, then things will not go in the way you hope 😉

Norway is famous for behaving very ugly to the cruise companies. And now they have two national cruise companies, not just one as before. You can bet that there will never be a Norwegian cruise ship affected by this "port congestion".

Because the Divina is older than the app. The app started with the Meraviglia, I think it should be possible to make the older ships "fit" for the app, but MSC decided against it. The missing app is the only thing I dislike about the Fantasia-class. This problem is even older than the Divina. Will never be solved, you just have to accept it.

Same, one bottle of wine usually goes through (*). But corkscrew usually not, use wine with screw cap. (*) Some ports are known for being more strict.

Euro, Dollar or Singapore Dollar. SGD is maybe best, but all three but the difference between those three is minimal. Don´t try to tip any Japanese or Korean, but the "risk" to meet one is very small.

These cities earn a hell of money alone from the port fees. These locals should be very very quiet and thankful. Of cause things are different in Norway, where they are so ridiculous rich that they certainly kick out any boats or even fire cannonballs at them.

Bus from the main bus station in Jerusalem is your best choice. From Haifa bus station you need a local bus. I think it is number 1 and number 2.

Or does not start before 1 pm. Things in Miami may be different, but in many European ports this is the norm. While other European cruise lines do not start boarding before 3 or 3.30pm, MSC thankfully is more generous.

They don´t carry about one bottle or can, but certainly a case is not allowed. Wristbands should be available for a small fee.

To be fair, this only happens with MSC USA. They probably follow the ridiculous example of Celebrity, NCL and others. In Europe when a sail is over it is over.

Sure.

That was some time before. Now no discount anymore.