prmssk

We’ve done two fourteen day cruises on MSC Seaside and our experience in the dining room was just the opposite. We found the food to be equal to, or in some cases better than Celebrity. The waiters were very attentive and made the time very enjoyable. We changed tables about every night, which meant we had several different waiters and they were all excellent. Just in reading reviews (which I do take with a grain of salt), I wonder if the MSC of a couple years ago is not quite the same MSC as today. They seem to be aggressively trying to take over a larger share of the market, especially in the US, and in the process may be improving their product. I would not have even considered MSC before the pandemic based on the overwhelming bad reviews I read but based on reviews in the past year or so, we are now booked to try out MSC Yacht Club next year. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they compare to the Retreat.

We will be on the Eclipse Honolulu to Vancouver cruise this May. The cruise starts on May 9 but doesn't actually leave Honolulu until late on May 10. In planning our time in Honolulu, it would helpful if anyone had any insight on what our boarding day normally looks like in Honolulu. I'm used to check-in times for other cruises usually starting around 11. Will they be similar for this cruise? Or later since we don't leave until late the next day? Are you able to come and go after you have checked in at the port?

We really enjoy the embarkation day lunch. We find it so nice to have a quiet place to sit and enjoy a sit down meal as we begin our vacation.

Going back to the original post on that other site, it isn't super clear. I'll post, if I get more clarification.

Or the waiter who said it was going fleet wide didn't have the full story. Crew often aren't kept in the loop very well about policy changes. One report from one waiter and some incomplete observations from a select few ships does not mean we have the full story. Someone on another site is reporting no change in the buffet on the Summit which they are currently on.

The difference between the packages has also gone up. It used to be about a US $15 + gratuity difference although some who called in seemed to snag the old, old rate of about $10 +gratuity per day (all these rates are before any loyalty discounts).

A little bigger room on M class ships, often a better location, a few small amenities, higher rate of earning loyalty points. We find value in these things when the price difference isn’t huge. And Celebrity makes a bit more money off the room. If people are willing to continue to book them, then I’m sure Celebrity will see the value in keeping them.

I realize I'm not the one you were replying to but traditional dining definitely is important to me (although I sometimes end up with anytime). Princess is still struggling to replicate the experience for those who want traditional dining after switching to all anytime dining since at least the beginning of the restart (I can't recall if it was in place pre-pandemic). Sure a good Maitre'D in a dining room on specific ships has made it work fairly well but average and poor Maitre'Ds have just made dining a mess. I'm not convinced a cruise line can consistently replicate traditional dining on any large scale once they switch to an all anytime dining model.

That is true. I believe I read that this was on Chic night and the commenter said the cruise is only about 75% full based on double occupancy both of which could affect OV offerings.

With Frank del Rio recently appointing his son to lead Oceania that may change.

Post 23 mentions the grill area being closed (which I understand was always previously a part of the dinner buffet) so there is at least a reduction in offerings on this particular sailing. I do agree though that most of these threads are based on very little information with the limited observations often coming from people who don’t normally eat at the dinner buffet.

Go back the first page (posts 3, 5, 7, 8, etc.). A reduced dinner buffet has been confirmed. The room service charge is not being charged or showing in the app for this sailing, at least as of the time of those posts.

That’s coming from the assumption that Celebrity changed ALL policies on January 1 which they clearly didn’t. There are no reports since January 1 that you can’t order from the MDR when dining in Blu. I’ve actually heard at least one report of some who has been able to do this in the last day or two. I have no idea where this claim came from. This thread (and others like it) has become a game of trying to figure out fact from fiction as people keep adding to it with rumors about additional cuts without any real reports. This is not to say there aren’t frustrating cuts happening but not everything you read on CC is true.

There have been reports this week of people in Blu not being able to order off the MDR menu?? I must have missed those posts. I have heard the opposite from people on ships right now.

Not unless you are in concierge class, the Retreat, are a back to back passenger, or Zenith.

Royal has not rolled out or finalized new menus yet so we don't actually know how much will be eliminated or what they will look like. I understand there will be changes from the ones they initially tested on the Symphony.

This question came up on a group I am in elsewhere and someone on the Eclipse right now is having no issues ordering off the MDR from Blu.

I don’t think Oceania is really a rival to Celebrity. There is definitely crossover from Retreat passengers but your average Celebrity cruiser is not comparing Celebrity to Oceania.

Yes, accurate menus are not yet loaded and are often based on the current cruise. There probably isn’t a day 13 on the itinerary that is currently sailing.

So I just went in to compare what it looks like for specialty dining and select dining. The check box and link to terms and conditions are identical. This is likely just one system being used for two different types of reservations. I expect it is fully intended for specialty dining although do agree the language could be a bit clearer. If you click on Terms & Conditions in the first screen shot, you see this. It also definitely is not new so I doubt this is some new way to hit us with more fees. I have yet to hear of anyone being charged for a no show to select dining.

I’m going to guess it was buried in the terms and conditions then. It was there when I booked select dining reservations on October 1, 2022 and I will admit, I didn’t notice it until someone else pointed it out around that time. You have to follow a link to find it even now (at least for the one I made today).

Yes, and it usually has much longer hours than the buffet. I think it was open noon until 1am on the Constellation in November.

Just check your account (on the app, tv, or at guest services) on the first day to make sure the OBC is showing. Then all purchases made on board including drinks will be charged to your on board account. It will deduct from OBC first and then charge whatever credit card you have on file if you spend more than that.

A land vacation will never replace a cruise for me. There is something about being out in the open sea, watching the water go by, and waking up in new places that feeds my soul. And we are not financially in a place to move up to the luxury on any consistent basis. So that leaves us with the mainstream lines. We are not loyal to any one line but even with the changes that may be happening, Celebrity still fits us best so we find ourselves putting it towards the top of the list when considering new cruises. What will it take to change that? I think it isn’t any one thing nor is it tied just to what Celebrity does but also what the other lines do. As an example, after some not very great experiences on two different Princess ships in 2022, they have put themselves on the bottom of our list while reminding us of what Celebrity is still getting right for us.

Really? Whenever I have ever looked at cruises, once New Year’s is over prices really go down which usually because of less demand. With how much people travel over the holidays, they aren’t usually ready to travel again the first week of January. And someone on the Edge right now in the Caribbean is reporting 75% of double occupancy. And cruising in general isn’t back up to full demand yet this year. There are still a lot of people who haven’t gotten back to this sort of travel. I suspect a lot of ships this week are NOT at double occupancy capacity.