Wor1dTrave11er

4 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I have 2 holiday cruises booked.  I can go on one but not on both.  But they both show as MEW status, so when I login, I see MEW MEW for the 2 cruises.

Anyone know what's up with that?

I got to admit that I got a chuckle out of these POS and MEW MEW's (after freaking out about my reservation, of course).

55 minutes ago, Bobbiegentry said:

Very interesting. 
The “alphabet soup” seems to translate correctly. 
I wonder why then, this other cruise we also have booked isn’t similarity designated?

Well, they are a European company, so probably started close to home?  Wonder if this one will be a EW CAR to go with POS.

10 hours ago, Lisichka said:

I think this has to do with Covid testing requirements.  All world and grand voyage cruise passengers are required to have a Covid test done up to 48 hours before sailing.  Some

GV cruises have had those requirement changed, while others still have that requirement in place.  To distinguish between what your requirements are, those GV that no

longer have the testing requirement are no

longer labeled as a grand voyage cruise.

Interesting idea and would make sense.  My GV to POS cruise still requires testing (Dubai to Genoa), but with the Med and Arabian Gulf cruises dropping the requirement, hoping they will update for our embarcation in April.

52 minutes ago, Kevin79 said:

Just logged in and my Northern Europe from Southampton 7 day later this month has changed to NOR and my New England and Canada out of New York is NOA. And the layout has altered a little.

My guess would be it's "NORthern Europe"  and "NOrth America".

3 hours ago, Brighton Line said:

I thought this was another thread about how bad MSC is.. 🤣

Yep I thought I'd give you guys an early Friday chuckle.

3 hours ago, TampaGambler said:

Piece of Ship…. Letting you know the ship is falling apart and you get to take a piece home after the sailing, if it doesn’t sink entirely.

Hopefully after we finish the sailing, not before or instead.  This could be a new thing since it's hard to take chocolate ships home now.

12 minutes ago, Fla Mike said:

Gotta admit, I was thinking what we were all thinking...

 

Perhaps "POS" refers to "rePOSitioning" cruise?

 

 

 

I sure hope that's what it is, although I've never seen POS as an MSC cruise type, these repositioning cruises have always been "Grand Voyages", and so had this one been until today.

Although I see that others are mentioning website issues, so fingers crossed that's the reason.

I have an upcoming repositioning cruise on MSC Opera from Dubai to Genoa departing April 16, 2023.  Really looking forward to it and sure hope it's not going to be what you thought from the title.  🤪

When I logged in today I noticed that the cruise region changed from "MSC Grand Voyages" to "POS" (see attached image).  I called MSC but the rep had no idea what it means and said that they don't see what I'm talking about on their end.

Does anyone happen to know what "POS" means?  I'm mainly concerned about this cruise being cancelled last minute like it had been last year and then again this year when Opera was used as a floating hotel.  Does anyone who either works with MSC or has seen this abbreviation before know what it means?

13 hours ago, Acrobatu2 said:

Unfortunately, it seems that the frozen drinks are not available altogether for Mediterranean cruises , despite having the easy plus packages, or even for the premier package.

 

Just got off Grandiosa and frozen drinks were included in the Easy Plus, at least the BBC, Miami Vice etc., up to 9 euro.

@RudiRatlos Thank you, your excellent memory is much appreciated!  I did a forum search before asking but somehow that was not in the results last week - or maybe I wasn't paying enough attention and missed it.

We will most likely go with MSC shuttle from the train station (provided we can find it then).  From reviews and videos, it doesn't appear to be worth it to get a taxi for a Kiel city tour as there is really not much to see.

@ejtpa Since you spent a night in Kiel, did you do any shopping?  I'm interested in grabbing a few cans of Kiel sprats while there for edible souvenirs for friends, if you noticed any nice food stores or even a supermarket nearby, I would appreciate the intel.

Thank you for your review, glad you enjoyed the trip!

You mentioned there is a bus to the ship in Kiel - I'm guessing you were docked in the furthest cargo port Ostuferhafen?

Was that an MSC transfer bus, and if so, where was it located if you recall? We will be arriving at the train station from Hamburg.

12 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

Sorry, we just got home and Cruise Critic quit working with my Kindle Silk Browser last week so I could not answer any questions on CC.  I will try to get them all answered.

I was hoping you were enjoying testing the bars and just forgot about the forums for a bit! 😉

Do you recall which pier you docked in San Juan - was it one of the Old Town ones or the far away Pan American one?  I can't seem to find a good port schedule for San Juan that lists the piers, like for example the USVI one.

I can totally empathize and was in exactly the same situation as you (albeit for a few hundred $$).

I was "surcharged" after the cruise was paid off and only noticed it after logging onto the site to check on my booking; I alerted MSC right after (about a year from the sailing date in December '21), and they assured me that it will be taken care of and corrected. I called and emailed them every couple weeks, getting the same assurance every time.

My cruise was out of Barcelona, and of course I couldn't print my boarding documents because now it showed that balance was still owed (yes, I also had the pdf with "paid in full" from when I paid it in full).  After multiple calls now from Europe and their assurances that it will be corrected "tomorrow at the latest" for a week every day, I gave up and paid the balance 2 days prior to boarding in Barcelona.  I suspect this was the goal all along, although they could have been simply ignoring the requests if any were sent anywhere at all.  I hope the miracle happens for you and they make the corrections in time in your case, but sharing my experience just as an FYI.

Funny thing is I had another cruise cancelled and moved to a different ship for a similar itinerary - which I was fine with, however the new price was now updated to $1,600 more.  They assured me that it will be corrected of course, but for my convenience I should just pay the difference and they will give me the balance in onboard credit or refund it or something will happen at some point.  Maybe they now marked me as a sucker on my Voyagers Club profile and will be adding a few hundred $$$ here and there if I keep sailing with them.

Oh yeah, I also had another booking where I inquired if I could add the All-In promotion and how much extra it would be asking that they not change anything - the rep gave me a price double what the cruise sells as a new booking on the site.  I said no thanks, leave as is - but she said she already made changes and can't do anything else about it, but it's still a good deal and I should keep the new more expensive booking.  I asked how is it that this is now much more expensive than if I made a new booking and she flat out told me that it is probably the company policy as they already have my money but want better deals for new customers.  🤑

Oh yeah, all of these are FCC's, and prior to COVID cancellations, I only had minor annoyances with MSC (by minor I mean they actually fixed their errors after 5-10 calls and emails on my part).  Not saying that I will never sail with them again, but looking forward to taking a break and going with other lines for a bit once these FCC's are used up.

Hope you are having a great time!  I admit I have been spying on the ship in anticipation of our cruise and noticed it said "Rendezvous with Medevac" yesterday, hope nothing serious happened.

I see you are on your way to Ocean Cay now - if you have a chance and pass by the equipment rental station tomorrow, would you mind asking about the kayak rental?  Is it for literally an hour only or for as long as you need it?  Wondering if it's an "excursion" of if one can just take it for a few hours...

On 3/3/2022 at 6:21 PM, pghflyer said:

Hmmm, hope these vary by ship/ sailing. I am interested in the Poesia but the itinerary already includes those 3 replacement ports they are considering for Grandiosa. Still surprised the price increase has held in spite of the geo-political situation and port loss.

I was looking at the fall Poesia itinerary as I was interested in 2 days in Lisbon, and I doubt this will be happening at all: for one, the spring sailing has been cancelled so Poesia is not going to Europe; and second, MSC is not really operating the smallest ships yet (unfortunately).

12 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 my job to visit the bars

I hear you!! My goal is to have a drink at each bar on the ship and on Ocean Cay, I bet there are like 20+ total?  How many did you drink at already, and what's your favorite?

3 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

All bars have the Aperol Spritz that I have seen.

Awesome, and thank you for being a great sport and visiting the bars for us! 🥂Cheers!

While we are on the topic of drink delights: does the champagne bar on Seashore (or really any bar, but seems like this is the most likely location) have champagne/prosecco drinks like Aperol Spritz, Bellini, Kir Royal and such?

5 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

That's it. For the ones interested on this little MSC secret: One of the corners of one deck on the atrium bar is usually used for those "coffee delights" you can obtain from the drinks package. Sometimes it is somewhat "hidden" because of the specialty vendors aboard. Sometimes it is near the breakfast MDR entrance. If that place named "Brooklyn Cafe" is on or near the atrium bar, so that maybe the place on Seashore. Covid related restrictions may apply depending on ship capacity or staffing.

That's it - "coffee delights" is exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

I asked about them when on Mera pre-Covid but was told there is no such thing by the Atrium bar staff (knowing MSC, not that it really means there was no such thing, of course).

Thank you for gathering the intel for us, much appreciated!  Please let us know what you like/dislike and any tips would be great, like fun "secret" spots etc.

Most importantly - have fun, you are on vacation!  Although would love to see any dailies/menus when you return.

14 hours ago, pghflyer said:

One of the few cruise lines to not formally cancel St. Pete even though it is unimaginable that they will be pulling in there 2-months from now.   Was shocked to see they actually raised prices on all their St. Pete itineraries this morning. 

They raised prices on all Fall 2022 Northern Europe routes by the looks of it.  They also dropped St. Petersburg for 2022 itineraries (info from TA friend).

1 hour ago, mlbdude said:

Here is the menu for specialty coffee from the merigvilia that is included in the easy plus package.  I am also hoping for a bar on seashore that offers similar.

Thank you!  Do you recall which bar it was on Mera, the main in front of the galleria?

I was hoping for this on Seashore as well - and also the "Irish Coffee" and "Baileys Coffee" type of drinks.  Although I suppose I could always get a shot and dump it in coffee myself. 😉  I have read somewhere that only one bar had these specialty "coffee delights" on Seaside, but pretty sure that was a European sailing.

18 hours ago, ready2cruzagain said:

On Seashore for 2 weeks right now. Loving it. In steerage, no YC here. Yesterday was stressful trying to get on the ship, just having to do all that is requred.   They still tested at the port. 

 

Last night they removed the social distancing signs from the chairs. You can sit at the bars, at all chairs in venues.  We were even seated at a table for 7 in MDR. Only 2 others showed up and they requested a table by themselves.

 

If you have any questions I will try to answer.

Enjoy your cruise!  I watched you leave on Port Miami webcam this Saturday.

We are on Seashore on April 30 in regular non-YC so would very much appreciate any MDR menus and dailies that you can share.  Also have a couple random questions:

• Food Q:  Are there free snacks in any of the bars/lounges?  Maybe in Champagne/Wine/Sky Bar?  We have the Easy Plus package if that makes any difference.  On both Divina and Meraviglia we found free snacks in the plaza and in the top sky bar (Divina was by far the best, including free sports bar food!).  Is there anything similar in any of the bars or lounges or is the only casual snack option the buffet?
• Coffee/Drinks Q:  I've seen several menus with some fancy chocolate and coffee drinks (Bailey's Coffee, After Eight Hot Chocolate, etc.), is any of that available and included with a drinks package?  We had a drinks package on Megaviglia but we told that there were no specialty coffees anywhere as it is only for European sailings, but apparently on Seaside there was a "secret" bar to get them?
• Ocean Cay Q:  We would like to book a kayak or two for a few hours to explore on our own.  I see that there is a "package" of kayak rental for 1 hour for $29.  What is included in this "package", and is this $29 per hour or however long you want to use it?  I am confused since it has both "package" and "hour" listed, and, well, it's MSC so you never know what you get lol.  Same for wave runner 1.5 hour rental:  can't figure out if it's on your own or if you have to follow someone in a line as an "excursion"?
• San Juan Q:  Does the ship dock at the Old San Juan docks (near old town) or the new ones a couple miles away?  I.e., can you walk into town or do you need a cab from the docks?

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, and have a wonderful vacation!!

54 minutes ago, Rhea98 said:

At least two tests just became available. Email ritchea9898@gmail.com. I could send out today.

Hi there!

I just sent you an email with my info - sorry your cruise plans fell through, but would definitely appreciate getting these tests for ours next months.  If it's not cancelled again of course.

That said, if it is cancelled, I'll post here and will send it along to whoever might use them if we can't.

On 10/7/2021 at 5:53 PM, notme2012 said:

Well after all the rigmarole to get the FCC, we had booked a cruise on the MSC Opera from Dubai. Today, MSC emailed me that our cruise is canceled. They have another ship in Dubai and didn't even offer us a cabin on that ship. MSC sucks at everything they do!

Did you have a repo cruise or one of the 7 day ones?  I have some friends who booked the 7 days in Europe and they were offered to transfer to Virtuosa.  Mine was the repo unfortunately, so nothing for me lol.

4 hours ago, Rhea98 said:

Your address to send them. ritchea9898@gmail.com. There's about a 1% chance we might try to rebook. I'm currently away from home. Will return Wed and should determine if we can actually get another cruise. These expire at 03JAN according to manufacturer. When would you need them?

Hmm, we have a cruise in December out of Barcelona, there are 2 of us, so we could definitely use a couple - I was just asking at Walgreens today if they sell these monitored ones.  That is, if racephoto doesn't need them.  I probably still have time to order online.