perakcruiser

None of the Virtuosa cruises is sold out. Just some are now only bookable as Fly & Cruise. Yours on March 19 even have YC cabins available. 

At the time MSC is changing your schedule you cant call up your booking. Was last week with the January cruises, now they maybe update the march cruises and give up Dammam completely for the whole season. 

Boarding in Abi Dhabi also has been kicked out for the whole sesaon, all most board either Dubai or Doha. 

September 22 is so far away, it is really very optimistic to think the schedules will be as planned.

Especially a repo cruise that brings the ship from the East Med to the West Med, who knows where the Fantasia will be in summer and where in autumn? 

Triest to Genoa is a really long train or bus ride, if you want to go cruising in September in the Med I would suggest to choose either the West or East. There should be always happening something, but it looks like only the Fantasia sails the East. But the routes are nice. If things get better with the pandemic, MSC will send another ship too.

1 hour ago, styles27 said:

Do they offer boarding for new passengers on Sunday too? 
If so you may be able to. If not, I highly doubt they would allow it. 
I’ll be interested to hear what they tell you. 

All the Abu Dhabi passengers now need to board in Dubai on Sunday as MSC changed the route. MSC seems to be very unwilling to give any information on the Virtuosa after the third time changing the route.

I dont think there is any other option than the buffet. Before MSC checked very tight if you embarked today and if so you are not entitled to use the MDR for lunch and they will send you to the buffet. Some said it is not so strict on some routes, you can try. All speciality restaurants will be closed. 

From my experience, cheese and olive oil ist no problem at all, so balsamico should also be ok. Actually we usually ask the room steward to empty the minibar for our shopping when cruising in the Med. 

On 9/14/2021 at 12:59 AM, CelebrationFamily said:

. called MSC USA to cancel our Sept 27 Seashore sailing out of Naples. 

So sad, a cruise out of Naples, end of September, on the Seashore, best thing around. We did it beginning of October, on the Mera, unforgettable!

But great to hear the good end of your refund story. Hopefully you will get another chance to book it dine day later. Make sure you book from Naples again 🙂

22 hours ago, zekekelso said:

Just got off the Grandiosa. One thing I really liked was that when you ordered a drink and were on a drink package they didn’t bring you a bill for $0 and make you fill in a tip amount (or $0) and sign. 

As the Grandiosa sails in Europe with probably almost zero US pax they know anyway that close to nobody will write in something else than zero 😄

Maybe this procedure only exists with US cruises from MSC as I never have been ask to fill in a tip amount in one of our nine MSC cruises. As they automatically add the hilarious 15% already and drink packages also include the exta charge already. 

3 hours ago, vtgumby said:

Why aren’t they selling to Canadians?! In any case, it was required for everyone and it just made it easy for us to purchase through MSC.

I think MSC has a deal with a different insurance company in every market, not one for all. Canada (and Malaysia) are too small for them to nego such a deal I guess. 

On 12/11/2021 at 10:01 PM, revrick3 said:

We are in premium balcony with fantasia so we are supposed to have priority boarding with this room so those perks might not be as good as they advertise.

Is this new? Fantastica before never had any boarding privileges. 

23 hours ago, Postcards said:

Yesterday received email- as of Dec 15th all Canadians must now have proof of Travel insurance.

OK, I thought all must have proof of Corona Travel Insurance now. At least on the Virtuosa there are no exceptions. 

50 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

NY strip used to be on the Always Available (Classic Favourites) area of the menu on US cruises, P.  On European cruises, it used to be beef paillard, which was only suitable for soling shoes!   

Ah, OK, thanks, I never cruised from the US, only time in the Carib from Havana where it was totally the "European" program with (for obvious reasons) zero US guests and zero US influence (whatever this means). 

While I remember the shoe soles very well for years with MSC (in Italy also very popular on land, not just on MSC :D), I have to say that on my last two cruises with MSC the Gala night steak was a real and rather thick steak. 

Have to say that I never looked more forward to a cruise report than here, please bring us on the trip with all the details 🙂

12 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

There used to be, but now there’s is an up charge for a steak alternative (I think it is New York strip). However, on a recent formal night they were not charging for it.

Used to be when? I only know from MSC the good old "one week, one steak (on gala night)" rule. Sometimes two gala nights, two steaks. 

Yes, many nights there is the surcharge option for steak in the MDR, I have the feeling that this is available more often than before.

MSC pricing is different and much more moving. If the ship fills the prices go up extremely. If the cruise sells bad the prices will go really low. Great for people that live close to the ports and free to hop on the bat next sunday. And usually they have extreme strict cancellation policy, but this is different in the US market. 

Yes, i worked nice on the App in 2017 on the Mera, but maybe too good, so MSC canceled it 😄

2 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

The island doesn't have any other amenities or special areas in the immediate area as you arrive, or it certainly didn't. 

There are some more hotels or better said resorts now on SBY. Not even the cruise stop area is MSC exclusive, other lines stop there too. 

The cruise beach has - like everything else in the Emirates - a VIP section, that should be the YC area.

21 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Glad I never plan on going to Malaysia then

Slightly off topic but I wonder how other countries handle the pandemic without QR codes for vaccination proof, entry to restaurants, shops, airport ... 

Malaysia is definitely not the only one.

On 12/1/2021 at 8:25 AM, skyking said:

Hi There, 

 

   Did they offer the extended hours in the kids club for a charge?  We did this on the Divine and it worked out great.   Thanks 🙂 

Yes, "kids around the clock" is available on the Mera.

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

But, if I need to do so, I will be able to do so.  My concern was what I perceive is a gradual move--for whatever reason--to QR codes.

You cannot enter Malaysia without a cellphone that can read QR codes. 

38 minutes ago, RG306 said:

I understand that the experiences will be different but is the quality of food and service on MSC actually lower?

Difficult to answer. As a MSC newbie you probably will have the experience that the quality of food seems to be lower, because you order the "wrong" dishes. The first time on MSC is always cruise and learn. It is like your first trip to Italy or France or Spain. Is the quality of food there lower? No one will agree on this, but it is very easy to get disappointed. Good thing, pizza (the best) and pasta on MSC never disappoints. Same as Italy. And in Italy I am usually not happy with the common meat dishes, on MSC they are OK. Don´t expect a bistecca alla fiorentina if you are not paying extra for it.

"Service" is also a difficult field. I hate to handle things with the main reception or the photo shop staff. Room service and restaurant and bars usually is great. 

Conclusion: Many Americans want pure "american" cruising. MSC is world cruising and will not offer this to you. That you will not get what you are used to from RCCL does not mean, that MSC is "lower". If there are problems, always think first it is your fault, not the fault of the company 😉 Just enjoy the experience, the prices are great, if you don´t like it, go back to RCCL.

On 11/29/2021 at 9:39 AM, wesnliz said:

Younger family (30s and a 1 and 4 year old)? 

 

Greetings from a family with 2 and 5 year old. 

No need to sell you anything, no matter about good or bad things with MSC, in this constellation you have no other option if you are not very, very rich. MSC is brilliant with kids, unmatched, and they go free. 

14 hours ago, little britain said:

How will they handle alcohol sales on the Saudi cruises? 

Very easy.

In Saudi waters - Alcohol no
In international waters - Alcohol yes

1 hour ago, buckeye25osu said:

In the Caribbean too (Meraviglia)?

Not sure when it starts on Meraviglia (and Bellissima). All delayed because of Covid obviously. 

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Do not know how "professional" the lady and gentleman were, but they had such voices when they performed in an abbreviated version of La Boheme on Meraviglia, January 2020.

That sounds great and gives me hope. Exactly what I want.

56 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

The nearest MSC has to that is their Meraviglia class, but without the gone Cirque du Soleil at Sea, that runs at a very distant position, to let alone the rest of the fleet.

Well, I have not seen it, but people are quite euphoric about the "Carousel Productions at Sea" that have replaced Cirque du Soleil. 

58 minutes ago, Nunagoras said:

MSC used to be very low key on entertainment and activities. And as most have previously said very visual considering the audience.

I could not disagree more. MSC used to be the benchmark for music entertainment and their opera performances were close to what you get in a (not so famous) Italian opera on land! I have seen shows that were and will be not matched by any other cruise line. Having said that, it´s a thing of the past. High key entertainment is gone. Three years before on the Armonia they only had a one mezzo and one tenor left, they were great, but I would not be surprised if after covid NOTHING is left. It is now this low key visual broadway musical stuff like the other cruise lines do, can be entertaining too, but totally other level.

On 11/19/2021 at 2:06 AM, Nunagoras said:

MSC's entertainment has always been sort of low key all the time since I started with them some nearly 20 years ago!...

Depends. I found 5 or 10 years before they had the by far best singers (classical music, opera) on board. People nowadays maybe cannot imagine, but they had real Opera professionals from outside coming on board in Genoa, performing one night and leaving again in Civita. 

Nowadays unfortunately not much left, after Covid maybe nothing.