perakcruiser

Really nice to read one's cruise again two weeks later. There we have been 2000 pax, I guess it is the same until the EXPO ends. 

In Abu Dhabi think about taking a Careem to the Louve, we liked it a lot.

6 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

Last night was Mediterranean night.

This was the free Fantastica photo night. You also can claim an extra photo if you have Gold or Black status. They don´t care which one you take, also can choose two times the same. 

7 hours ago, castaway04 said:

Is MSC turning away guests arriving before the check in times on their e-tickets?

Basically the answer is "It can happen". Full ship in the Med (Wetsern) raises the risk a lot. A half empty Mera out of the US makes the risk very small. 

On 11/6/2021 at 7:32 PM, deliver42 said:

The biggest difference between the other mainstream lines and MSC is their off ship customer service. There's nobody that can do anything major without going through Italy, while someone at the other lines can make a decision immediately. 

I think this is exactly the point. Also last time a couple of weeks before I had a friendly talk on the phone (yes, they do call back even to Malaysia), explaining my problem, the agent was friendly, totally understood the situation and tried to find a solution. At the end she said "I will send the request to Italy and then inform you". Next day she called again and said "Sorry, Italy did not accept because it is impossible". - "How can this be impossible?" - "Well, according to Italy the local (?) authorities (???) would not allow". Obviously BS, but no more questions from my side, must be depressing enough for their staff to deal with the HQ in Naples. 

After the cruise it is the usual resumee, it was a nice cruise for a great price. Far away from perfect, but on board not really something to complain. If their rivals refuse to improve I will continue to cruise with them. Better customer service it not enough, if you charge double price you must perform double also. 

14 hours ago, dexddd said:

The new show, isn't it around $10?

15.

1 hour ago, phissy said:

This space was designed by Cirque just for this ship. It is a unique venue. Perhaps it will be used as intended again .

The new company is using this venues exactly the same way as CdS before. Also same setup, two different shows, cocktail included and so on. 

Is the new company same/better/worse than CdS? I dont know, MSC is rolling it out on the other ships, it was available on the Virtuosa last week (and quite heavily promoted), I did not go, other passengers said they liked it. 

Cirque du Soleil long time substituted by another company. Their shows are available on some ships.

Enjoy it. Just left Dubai and the Virtuosa. The EXPO was phantastic and the cruise was also good. But certainly not the same "as before". 

2 hours ago, JT1962 said:

My $ 50 credit was posted to my onboard account on the 2nd day of my recent Meraviglia cruise 

Mine also, but if you don´t get the voucher for this with your cruise documents (not booking confirmation) better sort it out before you board. Then you can show them the voucher if it is missing on board otherwise the discussions will be endless. 

9 hours ago, Tokk said:

We booked Auera experience whixh includes priority boarding. Yet in our MSCforME app it says our Embarkation time is 1900. 

Does this mean we cant board the ship before 1900?

As you said, with Aurea you have priority boarding and can always board with the next "number". Only at the very beginning of boarding you have to let some groups pass, YC, Black card ...

You dont need to bother with Aurea, but note that everything you read now about nobody caring about boarding times is certainly true for half empty ships in Covid times. But not for a fully booked Mera in the Med during summer holidays. 

14 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Thanks!  This just means my medicine will be taken with some food and I’ll need real breakfast Afterwards 😅. AKA gluttony 🙊

My educated guess is that 99% of the pax who enjoy the cabin breakfast on their balcony afterwards move to the buffet restaurant for their real breakfast 🙂

No eggs available for breakfast in the cabin service. 

At least on the Virtuosa the Aurea restaurant had no better menu than the MDR, exactly the same. So only advantage is My Choice Dining. But because of Covid only Aurea had access to spa, no option to buy spa passes for Bella and Fantastica. 

On 1/23/2022 at 12:21 AM, Bobal said:

Thank you so much #perakcruiser. Such great info. Much appreciated 

Still here after the Virtuosa cruise, difficult to leave the EXPO 🙂

Thailand pavilion is also a must I have to admin. 

1 hour ago, Bobal said:

 

Sorry if a little bit off topic but we have our Expo tickets and looking forward to visiting but it's so HUGE we are overwhelmed by what to visit. Had also heard that Saudi is one of the best - any other recommendations?

 

Sure. But is really huge, you have to have a plan. We did three full days and still so much missing.

What we especially liked was the musical "why?". Just started, the next weeks every night on al wasl stage at 20:00 running for 45 minutes.

The "Vision" pavilion is so spectacular, I think the official budget was "unlimited" 😄

Some of my favorite pavilions apart from Saudi: Spain, Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, Russia, Palestine (which also has great food). 

USA much better than the last times, please also visit Malaysia, our guys put a lot of effort in it 🙂

Short but fun experiences are Switzerland and Netherlands. 

Enjoy!

On 1/20/2022 at 11:44 PM, 8420PR said:

If you have an expo ticket (which I think you mentioned before) there are quite a few test centres where you can get a free test.  

Yes, thanks, we did the test directly at the EXPO test center as non of the many eligable test centers arount town  where near our hotel. To get the free test you need to have a day ticket, not a season pass. And you must do the test before you enter the EXPO, not when coming out. 

So we are ready to sail tomorrow after a nice week in the UAE and three EXPO power days. As compensation for the canceled Saudi stop, the Saudi pavillion was maybe the best 🙂

We board this weekend, will share information here. We know already that there is a price cap by the government, 150 AED is the maximum possible price.

18 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

That is an easy one to answer. Since I shower in the morning, my towels are wet. I shower in the evening before dinner and my towels are wet. I do not reuse towels at home, I will not reuse them on the ship.  I like a clean face cloth each time I use it, twice a  day.  When we go to the pool our towels get wet, I want replacement towels for the next day.

OK, that is certainly a reason and explanation. Maybe not something from my world, but I am only the ordinary guy like Jurgen Klopp not the special Yacht Club guy like Jose Mourinho 😇

The first thing we tell our room steward on every cruise: "Only one room service in the morning, the program for the next day you just can put through under the door" 🙂

I wonder what the people are doing in their cabins that needs a second visit in the evening. 

1 hour ago, Fogfog said:

@perakcruiser Do you remove tips on all cruise lines?

When traveling in the US, do you tip/not tip in US restaurants/cabs/bellman etc? 

As I said before, I think there are no cruise lines left that have not included the tips in the cruise price. So no European or Asian can remove the tips anymore.  Also the US lines do so when they sell in Europe wherever you sail with them. Personal experience I only have with Celebrity Cruises where they anyway have no tips, gratuities or hotel service charge whatever. 

I only travelled one time in the US, that is long time ago, I was still a university student and did not tip. I would not tip a taxi company, but I do tip here at home the Grab rider (electronically, not with cash) and guess I would do also when I am in the US. Depending on the fare, I have no idea about the fares in your home country 🙂

1 hour ago, bcs said:

1. If we don't want to get off the ship in Dammam, could we take the cruise without getting the visa?

2. In case we want to buy a shore excursion with MSC Tours, the visa is included?

3. Does anyone know the cost of the on-arrival visa (visa obtained by MSC)?

Sorry, the answers are very boring 😉 

1. This is common practice, but as MSC has never reached Dammam so far (and will not reach before next winter) it is not 100% guaranteed.

2. This is common practice, but ...

3. MSC has to make a deal with Saudi immigration first which FAILED last November. So impossible to guess the future costs IF they make a deal. The dealmaking mood of Saudi immigration probably depends a lot on the Covid 19 situation next winter. 

3 hours ago, Fogfog said:

It makes me sad that people remove tips with all kinds of "reasons"...many beyond the control of the pax facing front line staff. 

Well, the people removed it mainly for one reason, they felt cheated. MSC lost all their legal battles in Europe on the grats until they finally changed their practice.

Malaysian system is quite similar to US (except that we don´t tip, but that changes now a little bit with the all ride hailing and food delivery), there are mysterious "Gov. fees, taxes & port charges" and mandatory tips added to the price of a local cruise like MSC is doing in the US. But in most European countries this is all illegal, the price advertised must be final. So no need to think bad of somebody who said at the reception "Nice try, MSC, now give me my money back, we both know your "Hotel Service Charge" is illegal". By the way in the end MSC was not even allowed to ask the guest why he is removing. 

On one hand I am happy that it is now mandatory and included (we book in Europe) and all this discussions have come to an end. On the other hand now it is not possible anymore to punish MSC for bad things. And we all know bad things will happen 😄 

About the real tipping, if we have a friendly Pinoy or Indo as room steward or MDR waiter, I am always happy to give a small tip. But as a Malaysian I cannot tip that guys directly, because I cannot put myself above them. But we usually talk about our family at home and I give some Singdollar or Euros for him buying a gift from us for his kids when he goes home again. In all cultures gifts for kids are OK, no matter if tipping is considered friendly or inappropriate 🙂 

6 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Are the gratuities for the butler and concierge included in the service charges?   The grats discussion depends on if you bought your ticket in EU vs US etc. As US pax our grats  are charged to the account at the end of the sailing.

After recent policy changes I am not sure if there are any markets besides the US left where one can cancel the gratuities. In EU markets like France, Germany or Spain even if you choose not to pay together with the cruise price but at the end of the sailing they are now stated already in the final cruise price on the website. 

For some months the Europeans got a discount on the grats (€49 instead of €70 per pax for one week) to get used to it, but thats now also gone.

On MSC US website the word "mandatory" is still missing, I guess the only reason is that US pax usually are not removing the grats 😄

US:
The Hotel Service charge serves to ensure we maintain the highest quality standards of service to our guests. The daily amounts below have been calculated with this in mind and cannot be modified. However, should you wish to remove any of the daily Hotel Service Charge in the unlikely event that you do not receive satisfactory service, you may do so by contacting the Guest Relations Manager onboard. If you wish, the daily Service Charge for your cruise can be added to the price of your cruise at the time of booking, rather than added to your onboard account during the cruise. Please let your booking agent know if you would like to add the Service Charge to your cruise price. TIPS: MSC does not recommend tipping individual members of staff.

UK: 

Service Charge / Gratuities are included in the cruise fare. MSC Cruises does not recommend tipping individual members of staff.

5 hours ago, FrostyJoe said:

Also, do you know with voyager club status they changed the free photo from Mediterranean/formal night to cocktail hour?  It seems like that's what the website says but I'm not sure if that's how it "really" is on the ships

There are two free photos. One is for Fantastica, that never had a fixed moment, we always had to ask at the photo area what night it is scheduled this time. The other one is for Voyager Club, that was always during Voyager "cocktail" for obivious reasons. 

While it sounds not nice of cause, I am hoping for a good effect. Bella always was sold out so early and only Fantastica available. Maybe this changes a little bit now as there are people out who really want to select the cabin. 

49 minutes ago, thepla said:

My daughter is getting nervous. If my son and I show up without her do they still charge gratuity for her? I've read in other cruise lines here they keep her cruise fare but refund her taxes, is that true with msc?

MSC will follow the laws of your country. Sorry, I cannot help here. The gratuity system is so totally different for all markets, as is the cruise price / tax thing. Try to convince your daughter because ...

30 minutes ago, thepla said:

I guess missing Saudi Arabia and do much time in Dubai is a tad of a letdown but still looking forward to a great time with kids. 

... the EXPO in Dubai is the experience of a lifetime. Who knows if she will have a second opportunity in her life and together with her mom and brother? The next EXPO is 2025 in Osaka, if will be for sure not so spectacular than this one and oh so much more expensive. 

When you and your son come back and show her the photos she will regret not going forever. Yes, missing Saudi Arabia is sad, because that was also a chance that comes not too often, but for us the price is just too good to cancel and book a hotel in Dubai for a week instead.