ChrisCJR

It's definitely not a roller coaster, I looked at it in pretty good detail. I think Carnival regrets putting one on their ships due to the maintenance. Personally, I'd much rather MSC do a carousel like Royal anyway. They definitely need more for families with smaller children to do.

I can confirm the WOW Sale isn't really a sale, unless I'm missing something. A price I logged yesterday showed a Central Park Interior at $2,577.42 and today it's $2,727.42 with two $75 onboard credits. I didn't see one rate that was actually lower overall from yesterday. I think you're still better off booking as soon as you can, as I think prices will go up, not down. Your discount is not paying tomorrow's prices..

If you don't mind me asking, how are bar waits? I just read a review here that complained about 30-40 minute waits for a drink. Hope it's much better than that now. Enjoy your vacation! 🙂

Interesting, I didn't realize Icon was that much more. That's absolutely the reason then. RCI has made it pretty clear that they are looking at costs and that'd no doubt include the ships themselves.

I'm curious why they elected to build another Oasis-class ship after rolling out Icon? I love the Oasis-class personally, but it was an interesting decision, I think. Wasn't Utopia promoted as the last ship in the class? Nothing wrong with it, it just seems a bit odd after marketing Icon as bigger and better. On the plus side, Boardwalk fans should be happy.

If this were a cruise ship casino, I would place my bet on Port Canaveral. Look at the cruise prices and that shows you where the money is. Miami and Port Canaveral make bank, and then make even more due to the private islands and ports. Coupled with the need to capitalize on Celebration Key, it makes sense, if not getting a deal out of Fort Lauderdale, which would be a huge unexpected announcement, although I think it'd be more likely that a ship would move there than it receive a new build. Galveston is just getting started with Jubilee, I don't see another coming in 2027, not above the older Mardi Gras and Celebration. Normally, I'd guess California. California is certainly a big market for Carnival, but I don't see it this time. Others have already made a few points that I agree with, on top of that though, it's selling less heavily than the Florida ports and there's less incentive for them to care about the ports of call, where with Celebration Key, they make more direct money from (as well as the other Caribbean ports and islands that they own or lease, like HMC and Grand Turk). That's not to say something new won't come to SoCal, it's due, but with Mardi Gras turning seven at that point and will be an older ship compared to what the other lines offer at that same port, I don't see them rushing on a new ship to California. It would certainly make California stand out, but at the expense of the more profitable Port Canaveral and Miami. Assuming nothing changes in 2027 at Port Canaveral, Mardi Gras is a nice ship, but paired with (unless they move them) Vista, Glory, Freedom, and Venezia, it will not look very competitive against the offerings of the other cruise lines. No way does Carnival want its newest ship sailing from a major port (Canaveral) to be the oldest of all the other lines sailing out of it (Royal: Star, Utopia, probably another, Disney: Treasure and possibly another, plus Wish is still new, Norwegian: Aqua, MSC: Likely a World Class ship). IF somehow they pass on PC for this, I'll say that one of the 2028 ships is a guarantee to be homeported in PC. It'll be needed in 2027/2028.

I think it's very likely to be a simple website issue on MSC's end. I actually cannot get any of the experience details to load on MSC's main website. When I look at the Aurea benefits on the travel agent website (I'm an agent), it says: "Access to thermal area (for adults only, upon reservation)". I believe that's the same wording that it had before, so hopefully that will put you at ease. If they removed it from our end, I would be more concerned, but I do agree that it wouldn't make much sense to remove the benefit from the experience.

For anyone who has stayed in a Whirlpool Suite on the Seashore, are the tubs heated at all or do you need to pour water in them to keep them warm? We're sailing during the winter months and just wanted to prepare ourselves since the temperature can drop quickly if they're not heated. I couldn't find much information on them.

Your mileage will vary, but the cost should be the same as booking direct. If you're a Voyager's Club member, make sure to provide your information to get your discount, it should be your name, number, and DOB (don't post this on here). There could be other reasons rates may be different, such as service charges or group rates. Travel agent work is a service job. It's like how your room steward cleans your room, a travel agent helps organize your trip and answers the call when things go wrong. There is nothing wrong with wanting an OBC, but I will say, it's like taking a tip from a restaurant server beforehand. You will still hopefully get service, but expect them to prioritize the customers who value them the most. "You get what you pay for" is definitely true in this case and while a good agent should help you anyway, they are most likely to help those who earn them the most, like any other service job. So, a good agent is better than a good OBC if you're wanting an agent's service. That goes to answer your question, what is the benefit? You get the agent. They can build a relationship with you over time and help you again and again with different trips, possibly more than just cruises. This can be a huge benefit over time, just like how a server at a restaurant may look after their regulars. If you find a good agent, my advice is to build that relationship. While booking direct with MSC will have its customer service, it's something to be said if you get to work with the same person each time, and then they follow you if you do a different cruise line later. It's more than just a cruise, but cruises and vacations, over time. A person that knows you will likely give you better help than someone who is working with you for the first time. It's just the way of the world. Over time, the relationship is a huge value.

We stopped tipping extra with the last increase. Now, we prepay them and consider them a part of the cruise price. One perk to keeping them separate though, is that if you cancel after non-refundable period, and don't have insurance, you get them refunded. If they were included in the fare, you'd be tough out of luck. Of course, we personally get insurance, but still, something to think about. I like the idea of just doing more cash tipping, but I hardly ever use cash for anything these days, so it's easier for us to prepay and call it a day. The rates have gone up so high that I stopped caring, tbh. After our next Royal cruise, we'll be trying MSC.

Funny question, did they just offer one option for Mamma Mia? I'd love to see it, but it's so long and we have a baby with us. It's too bad they wouldn't do it as a matinee on the Nassau day. lol I know why they won't, but that'd have been the best. Glad to see so many options for the Aqua show, they need it for a short sailing.

Assuming MSC is enforcing this, they probably aren't, you can always take your birth certificate. MSC does allow people to travel with a birth certificate on closed loop sailings out of the US, so you're probably not screwed since you probably had one already in order to get a passport. Also, you can probably still use your passport at the terminal following disembarkation, when you get off the ship, since that choice is made by US Customs. As long as the passport is valid, you'd still be good to go on that front.

I would say there's a 100% chance of some design changes. It will most likely be more in tune to their existing choices on MAS Paradise, since it's the Margaritaville brand after all. It won't be completely the same though, because this ship has balconies and lots of them. A huge upgrade for the brand. It will be interesting to see if they keep some of the features, like the thermal areas in the spa. Could be a game changer for the cruise line. Can't wait to see what they do, if they can plus it up well with tropical colors, it should be a huge hit.

Awesome, thank you for confirming!

One member of our party (a minor) is not likely to have their passport in time for our upcoming cruise. The rest of us have passports. I know this might seem like a silly question, but if we go with them through the birth certificate line, since we won't send them through alone, can we still show our passports? I just want to make sure our whole party does not need to bring our birth certificates too. I mean we have them, because you need them to get a passport, but it seems like we wouldn't need them since we'll have the better of the two documents. We're still hoping that we'll receive their passport before the cruise, of course, but that's out of our hands at this point. The processing times aren't great right now, apparently, and it is expedited. Thank you for any help with this question! 🙂