fluffybunny22

Thinking about booking a cruise and using the cruise line to buy airfare. We would be wanting to fly out of a different airport than our home airport but fly back into our home airport. Is this possible? Flying out of Orlando or Tampa and back into Charlotte.

Something I anticipate loving about MSC is the availability of good espresso based drinks throughout the ship. I love European coffee culture. I was checking out the menu and noticed a caffe shakerato so I googled it and it sounds amazing. Has anyone had one on the ship and in Italy and feel as though the experience is close to as on land? Do the bars stock flavored syrups?

I'm keeping an eye on flights for our Norway cruise and we'd like to fly home the day we get off the ship but the latest flight is a 9:45am. Hamburg suggests you get there 2 hours before your flight and you have the ability to schedule your security screening. If we took our own luggage off what would be the earliest we could disembark?

16 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You are never going to earn a "free" cruise on any line if you are only gambling enough to lose $50.

 

Side note: I had always told myself that if I ever got a "free" cruise offer through a cruise casino, I would know I was gambling too much. Well, out of the blue yesterday, I got a postcard from Celebrity's Blue Chip Club offering me a "free" inside room on one of the Oct-Dec sailings on the Eclipse out of LA. Guess I now have to cut back on my cruise gambling!

I was convinced my husband hadn't told me how much he gambled on our last Celebrity cruise after we got a free cruise offer but it turns out they counted our son's bingo winning towards my husband's gambling totals.

Does anyone know the email address I send a transfer to travel agent request to? My TA doesn't do a lot of MSC bookings. She's filling out the form for me but needs a fax number or email address. Thanks in advance.

21 minutes ago, 8420PR said:

The voyagers club OBC (for booking more than 9 months in advance) doesn't stack with every single promo.  For example the T&C for the discount fares using a 10% "corporate" discount explain that they are only stackable with the 5% discount, and not the 10% and $/€50 OBC discount.  

Can you maybe explain that in English? I previously had the 5% and then the 5% and the $50 obc. I cancelled that booking because of some shadiness with the travel agent. I rebooked on my own and got the 5% +5% and a $400 obc for the current sale. I'm trying to figure out if the $50 loyalty and the current sale obc are stackable. I'm in the process of transferring this to a TA. The rep this morning said the $50 loyalty is not stackable with the sale obc. Another rep said it would take a couple of days to work out and to call on Wednesday. It appears that none of their reps know the actual policy. If you can point to the T&C where it says it isn't stackable that would be great because I read the T&C and it doesn't say that in what I read.

5 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

The OBC requires you to book more than 9 months in advance.

 

The 5% further discount only requires 6 months in advance

I booked a cruise for next June. So do they stack or not? I read the T&Cs of the club membership and it doesn't mention them not being stackable. There's 3 of us in the cabin and we are all silver so the$150 OBC is more than what they are offering as a sale on some rooms. It just doesn't make sense.

I booked a cruise using the current sale and got an obc. I called because I didn't see the loyalty obc for booking 6-9 months in advance on my summary. The rep said they aren't stackable but I know the reps aren't the greatest so I wanted to double check. They originally didn't apply the loyalty discount and I had called about that and they didn't do it so I feel like I need to double check any information they give me.

2 hours ago, Até said:

It's unfortunate these CC forums are no longer searchable for older content.  As I remember there is not much difference between the deck 10 and 11 Forward Aurea Grand Suites, deck nine has a smaller balcony and slightly obstructed view from the bedroom.  Also, I'm not sure what is above the deck 11 cabins.  There are videos of all these on YouTube, just use MSC Divina in a search with cabin numbers.  There's some good information in the below linked threads, unfortunately the link to the most informative one by Skier52 doesn't seem to work now as the link is in an older CC format..

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1833215-divina-aurea-suite-balcony-question/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2145874-images-of-the-various-balconies-on-divina/

 

Image showing which area of the balcony is accessible (deck 9 only the side facing section is acessible):

 

 

Thank you. I actually figured out the difference and it's a walk in closet.

I had a grand suite auera booked for next June on Preziosa and when I priced it today with the current sale it was cheaper and there was a $400 obc. In the process of trying to rebook I found out my TA had a 15% cancellation penalty and wanted almost 2k for a deposit for 3 people. I cancelled the cruise with them and they still have the room blocked and the only other available room blocked also. I had 11009 and they also have 11010 blocked. I was able to snag 10008 which is a premium suite. There's a $100 difference between the 2 classes. If they don't release the rooms before the sale ends is there a major difference between the 2 classes? 

I have a Norway cruise booked for next June. When I originally posted asking about MSC people said cruises randomly get cancelled. How often does that happen and is it generally specific itineraries? We are looking into purchasing airfare and it's a significant cost and I'm worried about the cruise getting cancelled and us stuck with air we don't want to use. I can't buy cancel for any reason insurance because it's been too long since I put the deposit down. If the cruise gets cancelled and I have regular travel insurance would that be a covered reason to make a claim for the airfare costs? Any guidance would be great.

I got the 5% and then another 5% because I had booked over a year in advance. Saved around 1k.

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I buy rags specially made to remove makeup and a makeup remover. 

I stay at a hotel that provides a black wash cloth for this. It's labelled makeup remover.

1 minute ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Then what do I use to dry my face and hands?  This is silly.  Just give us washrags.  

There's multiple hand towels in a cabin. Europeans don't use wash clothes. Use a hotel anywhere in Europe and you will find no wash clothes. Half the time they don't even provide toiletries. One hotel I got a single what American's would consider guest soap.

2 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

That doesn't work so well for removing make-up.

Use a hand towel.

Do you all not realize you can just wash with body wash? Whenever I travel to Europe there are no wash clothes so I just use my hands and a bunch of body wash.

2 hours ago, 4sallypat said:

MSC phone lines are awful - could not wait with the hold times...

 

Will ask on board...

If you call right when they open there's not really a long hold time.

My sailing qualifies for the Memorial Day sale and is eligible for an up to $400 OBC. The category I booked is sold out. Is there anyway to apply the new sale to my booking? I have an suite booked but it isn't yacht club so how much of an OBC is usually given for those categories?

I applied for status match after I booked and I had to call MSC to add my voyager club number to my booking and then they applied the discount.

I've been trying for weeks to get my booking transferred to a TA. I finally got an email confirming it yesterday. Today I logged in and my price is showing it went up by almost 1k. I emailed my last confirmation to the TA so hopefully they can get this fixed. Is this normal? The category I booked is sold out so the price couldn't have increased because there are no rooms to sell. TIA.

I took screen shots of our captain's club membership and they accepted those.

I was on the website and saw a link for what I assume is a vow renewal but when I clicked on it it didn't go anywhere. Our 25th anniversary is next year and I'd like to set up a renewal. Does anyone have any information or prices? It's the Preziosa in Northern Europe. TIA.

30 minutes ago, Luvtoeat said:

If you have a TA let them handle it. My TA had it transferred within a week.

My TA said the customer has to do it. They can't. You need to sign the form so I understand why.

11 hours ago, Joiseymom said:

Way too long. It can take a month or they can lose it. MSC reps and policies are horrible 

Is there any way to check on the process? A certain department I should call? It's been a week. All I have is a confirmation they received my form.

13 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Yep. I just connected my kindle to my phone as a hotspot and I am able to browse the Kindle store.

Thank you for checking. Normally we wouldn't need to do this but with MSC's weird once you connect you can't swap rule it's either hotspot or pay a fortune for internet access.