perakcruiser

3 hours ago, LeCommandant said:

Hi all,

 

I found very few reviews about the MSC Bellissima Red Sea cruise, that is why I wanted to share some informations.

Looking forward to read, probably this is the first review ever about this new cruise.

11 hours ago, buckeye25osu said:

Oh no!  Cirque du Soleil is gone?  Was looking forward to that.  Saw that one on pretty recent Youtube reviews.  Do you think its just temporary due to low passenger numbers?

No, another company has taken this business on MSC from Cirque du Soleil. Heard they are quite good and the prices went down also. 10 € incl. a Cocktail. They are bookable for our January cruise on Virtuosa, the names of the shows are AJEDREZ and ARKYMEA. 

12 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Some MSC ships are very crowded during inclement weather. They also offer free saiing for kids and therefore they sometimes have MANY children aboard.

 

You typically won't find the typical friendly sort who want to speak English. The passengers come in with their own families and groups. 

Yes, this is important for people who are not familiar with MSC. MSC is family cruising, especially in the Med. So one maybe want to avoid Italian, French and German school holidays. 

I love to see these big Italian families in the MDR aged 1 to 95, all dressed up for Gala and the 5 year old boy dressed best, better than me on my wedding or university graduation ceremony 😄

But don´t worry, you will be not added to such a table, in the MDR the guests are grouped by their language and families with kids usually have their own tables. 

1 hour ago, joern said:

Drinks package:

My wife barely doesn't drink alcohol, but I like wine for dinner and 3-5 drinks at night. Is it worth it to buy a drinks package or should I just buy whatever I want?

No drinks package. Better pay wine by the glass for dinner. The cheaper drinks packages limit you totally on the wine. 

1 hour ago, 40yearcruiser said:

Now I'm confused. If you have a drink package is the service charge included for the drinks covered in the package or do you still pay the 15% service charge for all drinks? 

You don´t have to pay the service charge. MSC cannot do in another way, because it would be illegal in most European countries (prices have to be final without any mandatory charges or taxes added later). 

12 hours ago, JAGR said:

They as that you call or visit to register the day/time you want, but in the past (pre-COVID), they weren't too strict if you didn't prearrange your time.  I suspect they are more critical

Actually they were already very critical about the reservation at my last two cruises before the pandemic. But maybe because I wanted to use a sea day. 

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Could I let her use my thermal hour credit?

Officially not, but I would ask. 

1 hour ago, deliver42 said:

The big difference with MSC is that on other lines that have a price limit, you only pay the difference plus service charge for a higher catagory drink. On MSC, you hgave to pay for the whole drink, which, in my opinion, is nothing more than a money grab.

What "other lines". According to what I know not even one European cruise line is charging you only the difference. 

On 10/15/2021 at 6:57 AM, Nunagoras said:

So apparently MSC will to admit kids on Explora... That's pretty much a no go on other mid to full luxury cruise lines...

Luxury or not, a Italian cruise line cannot forbid bambini. This is absolute NO GO. People in Europe will forgive MSC many bad things but if they become bambini unfriendly their representatives will be spitted in the face when they leave the office 😄

11 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

But remember, this is a cruise line that will remove the daily service charge to compensate you and will do it for future cruises by putting it in their notes. This shows that they not only don't care about the customers but the hard working crew as well. I know this first hand.

You need to get rid of this idea as the remuneration on MSC and other European cruise lines is not working in this way. If MSC offers you 50% discount on the Hotel Service Charge if you pay at the time of booking or even 100% discount because of whatever, that has no influence on the salary of the staff. Just because it maybe is true at Carnival or Royal Caribbean that does not mean it the rest of the world has to follow this practice. 

Feel free to believe that US cruise companies treat their staff better than the Europeans, certainly you don´t need to believe me, that this is not true. But it is not true 🙂

Bali for sure can be recommended, but how to visit Bali on a one day cruise stop? 

About the topic, I totally agree with @Stockjock. Taking a cruise now is troublesome, it will not work out as expected. But on the other hand there are ridiculous cheap offers around that will not repeat after the pandemic. Which is true for hotels also. So my attitude to our Middle East cruise in January is that I expect nothing apart from being on the boat and getting something to eat. Actually for the price I paid I could not even ask for three meals a day 😁 Going a complex route "from Europe to Brazil on a higher-end cruise line" in these days and expecting the experience of a lifetime just because you spent a hell of money is just plain stupid ignorance.

5 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

Cirque du soleil went bust - no longer in operation so no longer on MSC ships

 

Another company is producing these shows for MSC now: 
https://www.msccruises.co.za/news/msc-virtuosa-carousel-production

On the Virtuosa the shows can be booked, 10 € with a cocktail sounds attractive. 

5 hours ago, workink said:

Do we need to have cruise insurance for this trip?  I'm sailing on the 18th of December and still have not purchased anything.  If you have recommendations, please post them.

Yes it is needed. We were too lazy to search for alternatives and just took the one MSC sold. 

On 10/27/2021 at 9:05 AM, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

EXPO 2020 just opened this month so it did not exist when we were there last year. Not sure why you'd want to go to it from Abu Dhabi when you can go to it from Dubai. There is a Dubai Metro stop just for the Expo. (I realize you may embark and disembark your cruise in Abu Dhabi and thus wish to visit the Expo from that emirate.)

Yes, we start the cruise from Abu Dhabi. 

On 11/14/2021 at 12:15 AM, kj_connections said:

Meraviglia goes to Costa Maya (I have never been) and has the galleria

 

Costa Maya is in my opinion on of the worst cruise stops in the world and the worst in the Carib. Of cause you can ignore this if you just hop on the bus for the excursion to the Maya ruins/pyramids. 

On 11/14/2021 at 12:15 AM, kj_connections said:

 

I am having a hard time deciding which ship to go on.  I will be traveling with two kids age 6 and 9. 

Both kids clubs are equally excellent. When it comes to the ships I would prefer the Mera. But who wants to go with MSC and not try out both ship classes anyway? 🙂

10 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

A very informative and interesting post; thanks for making it.  Lingonberry Sauce is very much appropriate for Swedish Crepes (pancakes), but. for turkey or duck?  I'd try it.  But, I like Cranberry Sauce.  

You are most welcome. But I have to correct myself - after my wife corrected me of cause 🙃 - the sauce for the duck (or turkey) is not made from Lingonberry. There is only a spoon of Lingonberry jam served on a slice of orange also on the plate. You can mix the jam with the sauce or dip the meat into it. 

And next correction, the traditional meat on Christmas Day (at least in some parts Europe) is of cause goose and not duck. 

18 hours ago, Morgsmom said:

Remember that you are on an ITALIAN cruise line.  There's no equivalent to egg nog in Italy and they are not into Gingerbread.

Interesting discussion 🙂

Egg nog is from the Netherlands, but meanwhile quite everywhere, but many countries - like Italy or Malaysia 😉 - use the Dutch brand name "Advocaat". I am quite sure I saw it many times in the MDR on MSC. 

Gingerbread is also everywhere in Europe, also Italy, where of cause the Panettone is the king of Christmas. 

The berry from which the sauce fort Turkey (and duck) is made in Europe, is called "Lingonberry", certainly blueberries are a really strange choice. 

Playing around at the website a little bit I see a strategy here 🙂

Make Fantastica even more useless than before but remove all Bella cabins as fully booked.

On 11/11/2021 at 1:10 AM, Southern latitudes said:

The Avignon and Aix-En-Provence looks intriguing in Marseille, but I welcome any and all recommendations for these and the other ports. 

This is one of the best excursions in the Med. Marseille itself is not too interesting.

If the Cinque Terre are available from Genoa, go for it. 

The free photo is from a special night in the MDR. Which night, that changes and depends on the ship, but not elegant /gala. As you will dine in the YC restaurant, this is not relevant for you anymore. 

11 hours ago, Grenadinka said:

Yeah, I was also thinking about rescheduling, but we are so ready for the vacation, we’ll try to enjoy it as much as possible in these circumstances 🙂

there is not lots of information about the excursions on MSC website, will it be much more expensive to book the excursions on board?

There is no price difference as far as I know. But the most interesting excursions will all be fully booked when you try to book on board. Especially in times like these, before it was not a big thing to book late.  

And all the informations about the available excursions are to be found in a PDF that you can download when you log into your booking. Only refer to this, not to the "public" information on the MSC website.

20 minutes ago, Couple-Somerset said:

IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR THE MASSIVE COVID PRECAUTIONS AT THE MOMENT - DO NOT CRUISE

AND DO NOT FLY! 
 

My last flights under Pandemic conditions / rules were so horrible, no MSC travesty could come even close to this. And yes, I booked a flight to the EXPO and a MSC cruise for January, a decision that makes me think if I should get my brain checked. 

Anyway, if I can visit the EXPO and board the Virtuosa I will be happy, if I cannot leave the ship for one week that is far away from a punishment. Often enough on Med cruises I was to lazy to leave my beloved cruise ship at places I had been before 🙂

I am quite sensitive to airplane air, so I usually get a running nose on the way to the cruise 😷

I don´t think this is a real problem even in Covid times. 

7 minutes ago, Kat747 said:

but when you are spending thousands of pounds I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some basic customer service.

Sure, if you have booked YC it is serious money you have paid and that changes your expectations. Fully understand this. 

30 minutes ago, Kat747 said:

Only because of posts on here we rechecked our booking to find the itinerary had completely changed with two at sea days and 2 days at their island. On top of this they’ve removed our reserved cabin in YC deluxe cabin category and replaced it with guarantee cabin.

Good you canceled, I think you are too picky for MSC style cruising.

Itinerary changes were also common before the pandemic, how many times MSC dropped Tunis from the Med cruises ... 😄

Any yes, they are not keen to tell you. Well as long as they not change your boarding date and harbour ...

Change too guarantee is annoying for sure but usually one will not get something worse and I would see it as a good chance for free upgrade.

Actually is is even shorter than it looks at the map. Only walking of cause, driving is not possible the direct way.

It can be done in 6 to 7 minutes if you are in hurry to catch a train. But for this you need to research before which entrance you need to take to the railway station. For this you really need to check the underground maze of the railway station. 

If not in a rush take the easy stroll above the ground to the side entrance on Via Andrea Doria.