perakcruiser

16 hours ago, Ronaldo807 said:

Two adults (30's) are looking at both MSC Divina & Carnival Paradise for a last minute, short (3-4 night) sailing.

Perfect to try out MSC. After that mini cruise you will know what you prefer in the future. 

Divina is of cause a very nice ship. 

21 hours ago, ChC said:

To many of the passengers who could not get into the exclusive YC class, MSC is still a ... er...Ryanair class. 

As @ChC said, there are not many things so uncomparable as Ryanair und MSC (I love them both, but for different reasons. And I a little bit hate them both also 😄).

Even Irish and not British, Ryanair is the most British business I could imagine. They should have painted Margaret Thatcher on their planes. While MSC is totally Italian, including all the negative and positive things incl. the unlimited love for bambini, which is something good for some and something bad for others. 

By the way, there was a "Ryanair" style cruise company with EasyCruise about 15 years before. I remember the price was less than $25 per person per day 🤪

17 hours ago, uCruiser said:

Is it ok to not register any method of payment if you have prepaid your gratuities and a drink package and don't plan to spend anything onboard?

Before this was perfectly OK, i often had family members not registering their cards and also not been connected to my cruise and credit card. 

I would be surprised if this has changed. 

8 hours ago, RealNorwegianCruiser said:

MSC Cruises is good, but it is a mid level mainstream cruise line.

Maybe that is the reason I prefer MSC. I am a mid level mainstream guy and will always be, no matter if my bank account maybe shows that I am slightly above that 😄

8 hours ago, RealNorwegianCruiser said:

I got 2 MSC cruises under my belt, and got one more coming up now for easter. As a European family with a young child, MSC is a good product for us.

That is the other point, the kids friendlyness of the line has highest priority for me. Other lines even wanted to charge my younger kid at the age of one and charge quite hefty. 

On 3/25/2022 at 3:33 AM, fish_guru said:

Seafood extravaganza...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

5 stars.  Best thing I've eaten on the ship all week. The wife had the wine and garlic sauce. I had the peri peri sauce (like a spicy marinara). Both were excellent. Seafood was cooked perfectly. 

This really makes me want to book YC. More than ANYTHING else. 

On 3/14/2022 at 7:52 PM, BklynBorn47 said:

Given the difference in cost, I expect a different experience but how bad can it be?

MSC is not bad at all, that claim is baseless. MSC will not serve you Filet Mignon (even you can be lucky on a Gala evening sometimes) and expensive seafood if you not pay for it in a "speciality restaurant". Yes, some dishes are better than others, as a MSC first timer you have to try what suits you. Buffet is spotless, nothing to complain. If you are familiar with "normal" Italian restaurant level of food you will be fine. 

Having said that, I find MSC fast food like Hamburgers not attractive, but I don´t choose this anyway. My fast food is Pizza which is great on MSC.

15 hours ago, cheeseheads4ever said:

MSCdivina2016,

I feel so bad for you to continually have to go through this horrible customer service. To the cruiser who says they would take MSC over Celebrity? Good luck to you MSC isn’t even close to the quality customer service you get on Celebrity.

You guys need to accept that MSC is not a US company. And customer service (and tipping and many other things) in Europe (and especially in Italy) are a very different experience. Unfortunatly in the end all has to go through Naples where all happiness comes to an end. Still MSC delivers over all a very hard to beat product that is loved by so many. 

Maybe the US pax should first enjoy the Ryanair costumer service before any other European companies. Yes, Europes most loved and hated and biggest airline with the famous celebrity CEO, for training reasons read some of his best quotes here:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2013/nov/08/michael-o-leary-33-daftest-quotes

14 hours ago, 8420PR said:

For US cruises:  You can get free tap water in the restaurant and buffet.

 

For other parts of the world:  Bottled water costs €2.90 for 1litre and €1.70 for 500ml.   Free tap water is available in the buffet, but not typically offered in the restaurants.

It is more complicated than this, there is not just US and rest of the world. Even the Western European countries have different "water rules". 

As Romania is not a seperate market for MSC for the thread opener I guess what you write about "other parts". Free water at the buffet, no free water in the restaurant. There was a water package before but MSC discountinued it. 

2 hours ago, GOLDENBONNY said:

Its even funnier to read how people hate MSC but keep booking it again and again. Probably just to be able to complain again lol 

Oh, that is not too difficult. Sometimes I say "No, no, no, next time no MSC. Then I select a route to go and MSC is coming around with "I have offer for you that you will not be able to deny". And I say "Oh, yes, that I cannot deny". 

And the MSC CEO could quote the most famous airline manager in the world with "If I would get only 1 $ for everyone that shouts loud "I will never travel with MSC again" and then shorly afterwards travels with MSC again, he would be richer than Musk, Gates and Bezos together 😗

44 minutes ago, fish_guru said:

Also last night at the dining room it seemed like the food was taking forever to come out.  The previous night we completed dinner with dessert and had plenty of time to get to Cabaret Rouge for the show. Last night we arrived at the same time and rushed out before getting to dessert to make our preferred show time.

Obviously your pizza order caused totally chaos in the kitchen for the next hours 😄

Not easy to sell Baltic cruises without St. Petersburg. Let´s see what will happen in 2023.

You must click on the 5+15% link in the voyages selection and search cruise and date. If you find it, the 5+15 will reflect immediately. If it is no listed, no 5+15 available (unsurprising). 

For Mera 11 nights from Dec 4 the full 5+15 is available and will immediately deducted on step 1 of the booking already. But maybe not for every market that I don´t know. 

31 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

You could wait in the coffee line for a cup of milk. They kept it in urns that the crew dispensed from.

OK, could be worse then. Coffee with no milk or milk powder instead of milk would really ruin the cruise for me. As a shortage of Mozza, but thats another topic. Or not, as the Mera produces it´s own, no milk, no Mozza sounds logic. 

15 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

There were no milk cartons after day two (only whole and chocolate had been available on days 1 &2, no low fat or skim.)

How this was solved? I mean they cannot go for days without milk at least for coffee.

7 hours ago, thepla said:

Bottom line you don't need negative prior to trip but can't board until a negative from free one at airport.

Yes, but if you booked Fly and Cruise then MSC insists on having the test at the departure airport already. If you booked your flight individually then certainly MSC treats you like UAE residents, they have no details of your flight anyway. You could have arrived today or one month before ...

11 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

I've been in Naples and Italy numerous times. This isn't the same quality MSC made just two years ago.

On Virtuosa a few weeks before it was great as always. Not happy to hear about these changes on Seashore.  

On 3/16/2022 at 2:48 AM, cvg42 said:

11,800. No status match. 7x cruises MSC. IMHO status match is not fair...

Certainly it is not fair. But MSC as "outsider" had a difficult job to break into the US market where the big spenders have big loyalty to their brands thanks to the loyalty perks. So I can understand the manoever. Even I still miss a few points to Diamond/Black after 15 years and nine cruises 🙄

1 hour ago, mscdivina2016 said:

We have a decent room steward or assistant butler is the fancy term I guess. 

Well it is indeed about the term.

We never cruised YC so far, I would not feel well with a "butler" instead of a steward "serving" me. On Cunard, OK, that is maybe something that is British reminiscence and has started 1800 something. Fair enough. 

I don´t know why MSC had the strange idea to use this term, only can call it inappropriate.

2 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

We have different terms and conditions in Australia

They are totally different for all markets. Not surpising as they have to follow totally different laws. 

We considered a Baltic tour with MSC this autumn but without St. Petersburg our interest is close to zero. Hoping for peace and a fast return of St. Petersburg. Definitely a must visit for me. 

Thanks, very useful.

2 hours ago, portofrome said:

When you are logged in, go on MSC Voyager Club and you will see all your cruises (at least on the italian site).

Cruises before 2006 are not available in the history. There is no way to get access to these except your own documents.

16 hours ago, CarrieH321 said:

Also curious about this particular sailing. Do kids dress up for theme nights too? Or are they just adult parties? Will the theme nights be listed anywhere before the cruise begins so you can pack for them?

Kids (not all) basically only dress up for the elegant gala night in the MDR. Maybe white night also. They have their own program/parties in the kids/teens club.

No list from MSC before the cruise.

On 3/8/2022 at 7:04 AM, Greyhound Crazy said:

 

I have done several mock bookings, though, and there seem to be more than enough balcony staterooms available with my chosen package and selected experience. I even called the number on the website to ask if there were any available and she said there were still many to choose from. 

 

Just how difficult is it to fix this? Does anyone know? In my head it really shouldn't be this hard. If I can't get it done the right way, can I get it done on the ship? I don't need the guilt. 

It can not be done on the ship.

My guess is that you can not change because you booked under the old system before MSC changed the experiences. For these booking classes there are no more cabins available, so all the cabins you find with mock bookings are not available for you. They look like your package and selected experience, but they are not.

I really would not continue to try to mess around with your booking, the chance that you make things worse (new pricing with no way back) is higher than reaching something positive. 

56 minutes ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I think that since both Germany and Estonia are in the EU, there were no issues since there are no internal borders.

It is not about the EU, it is about Schengen.