Homosassa

As I advised in the MSC thread, the situation you are talking about is the result of a cruiser who, when advised far in advance of the cruise that that particular sailing had been chartered, refused to take the offers in the notice of a fare refund or moving the booking to a new date (OBC was also offered). Instead, he insisted that he still be allowed to retain his booking and after MSC then offered an alternate cabin on the chartered sailing, escalated his demands and threats to the point that the cruise line notified him in writing that he would be arrested at the pier if he attempted to board the ship. Somehow, all the facts of the story are never included when the poster shows up to routinely bad mouth MSC. More interesting is the fact that the poster continued to book numerous MSC Yacht Club and proceeds to harangue the on board crew about his grievance.

Glad you had your priorities straight. The child in your scenario fared better than the one who ran into me in the buffet while I was carrying two cups of coffee. The hot contents of both cups ended up being poured over the kid as I tried to catch myself (successfully) but sacrificed the contents of the coffee cups.

Don't be lead down the garden path by the often trotted out and extremely truncated version of all the facts behind the incident. It involved a full ship charter that occurred far out from the embarcation date and MSC's offer to rebook or cancel that was refused and fought to the bitter end.

The pasta is the prima course and the fish/ meat dish is the segunda. MSC is used to offering its pasta dishes as the smaller prima course for those who wish to eat traditionally. If the pasta is order as the prima, it shouldn't be considered a second entree (segunda).

The excursion time will either be changed to run within the port times or it will be cancelled.

Just be aware that cruising in Alaska may mean there will be times when there will be no cell phone coverage because of the surrounding mountains blocking signals. You will notice the same problem with satellite feeds, such as the TV programs in your cabin.

You do not say where you are cruising to. Some countries, Canada for example, requires this documentation for minors not traveling with both parents.

Look at the email you posted as giving instructions for check in and embarkation In bold print and underlined is the statement that check in and embarcation closed at 3 PM sharp. That means according to the US DHS requirements that the passenger manifest be submitted two hours before departure, departure must be at 5 PM or later.

No, your check in and embarkation closed at 3 PM. Your sailing time was at 5PM or later.

A wise move.

Why? Distance can be a good thing between traveling companions.

I agree. From growing up in the NYC metro area and living and working there as an adult, the only consistent thing you can say about traffic is that there will be some. Sometimes the traffic will be flowing and sometimes at a stand still. If the gods are smiling on you, it may take approximately a half hour to reach the cruise terminal from LaGuardia. If there is an accident, construction, or any other things that can be happen, settle in for a long period of time. There is a reason that if you ask someone that lives in the area the distance to a location, the answer will be in increments of time, not distance measurements.

Call your travel agent. It is the TA's job to find out the reason and resolve the problem if a change can be made.

Bella is strictly a guaranteed rate. You can not specify a cabin class, such as outside or balcony, when booking Bella.

You do not indicate in which country you are citizens. The MSC USA website contains the following clear language in the Terms and Conditions which one agrees to when booking. As the language is generic enough to cover any country, it is probably easily available to anyone who researches the cruise line's requirements before booking. "6. PASSPORT, VISAS AND MINORS Passengers must hold fully valid passports for the whole duration of the Cruise Package with a passport expiration date at least 6 months after the return date. Certain countries, including the USA and Russia, require machine-readable and digital photo passports. It is the sole responsibility of the Passenger to determine what visas, health certificates or other travel documents may be required for their specific itinerary, to obtain such required travel documents prior to commencing travel, and to present them upon embarkation onboard Carrier’s vessel. Passengers lacking required travel documents may be denied boarding and shall be entitled to no refund or compensation of any kind as a result of such denied boarding. Passenger agrees to indemnify and reimburse Carrier for any fine or other costs incurred by Carrier as a result of Passenger’s failure to have all required travel documentation or noncompliance with applicable regulations and Passenger authorizes Carrier to charge such amounts to Passenger’s stateroom account and/or credit card. Passengers are strongly advised to check all legal requirements for traveling abroad and at the various ports including the requirements relating to visas, immigration, customs and health. Passengers under the age of 21 (on voyages that include a port in the USA) or 18 (on voyages that do not include a port in the USA) must travel accompanied by their parents or a legal guardian. If one of the traveling minor’s parents is not cruising, then a signed authorization letter made in accordance with the laws of the country where the minor resides from the absent parent authorizing the minor to travel must be provided at the time of Booking. If the minor is traveling with Passengers that are not his/her parents or legal guardians, then a document signed by the parents or legal guardian authorizing the minor to travel with a chaperone or other designated individual must be provided at the time of Booking, in accordance with Company policies."

You can always ask, don't expect to receive....

OP, You stated in your post that you were going to Lucerne. Everyone responding has Lausanne has your destination. As Lucerne and Lausanne are two different cities over two hundred kilometers apart, I am curious which city is your destination.

OP, Go on the MSC website and read the Terms and Conditions. There is a name change fee. Also be warned that there have been posts on this forum by cruisers that have tried the cabin manipulation booking game and found that passengers could not be switched once on board or additional cabin cards issued.

Make sure you are traveling with a passport if traveling home from outside the US. The birth certificate and government issued ID is only good for reentering the US on a closed loop cruise from a US port.

I was not referring to square footage, but to the extra berths (larger capacity). If OP is traveling in a time period when those extra berths are in high demand, I can see where those cabins are flagged to go first to those needing the berths or to be switched to a lower capacity cabin when the booked number of passengers fall below three.

Yes. Book with the other site.

You may have problems....

It has been standard practice on cabins for years (at least thirty that I can recall),that one is at risk of being changed from a cabin that holds more passengers than in the traveling party if the larger cabin is needed by a booking group that needs that size cabin. In your case, you were still before final payment and the family cabins may still being held in the inventory for parties of three or more. Availability of those cabins is also influenced by life boat station capacity. If the life boat station that your cabin was located in still had space available for passengers in the larger staterooms and other stations are filled to the point that they can no no longer can accommodate multiple passengers the larger cabins, your cabin will be needed for the larger parties. Remember that a cruise ship holds a far larger number of berths than can be filled by the limit of lifeboat seats In the distribution, when a station is nearing capacity, the cruise line would rather have two cabins of two passengers each than one cabin of two adults and several children. When your need for the larger cabin was no longer there, it appears that the the agent (cruise line) needed to switch you to an appropriate cabin size to balance out the availability of cabin space among the life boat stations. Because there is always a chance that one's cabin may be changed without one's prior approval if one books a cabin that one does not need for the passenger capacity or other special features, i.e; mobility accessibility, consideration should be given to the desirability of that particular cabin in terms of itinerary and time of year.

On our Millennium cruise last summer to Alaska, a thirty something man came into the Solarium, put his lap top on the table and started to play music. It was pop music classics. Someone must have complained and a ship's officer came in. However, at that point, "Sweet Caroline" had been playing for about a minute and what always happens when "Sweet Caroline" plays was in full swing - everyone in the Solarium was singing along. The officer walked in and was greeted by the passengers all singing (including the enthusiastic "dum dum dum" and "so good so good!) . He looked very confused, then started smiling, and waited for "Sweet Caroline" to finish before asking the man to stop playing the music.

And for any one considering the vomit comet, whatever you do, don't use the tiny cubicle toilet at the aft of the ship. Even though the day we took the excursion had a calm crossing to Playa Del Carman and the main cabin barfers were few, the ride in that cubicle is enough to turn the best sailor a bit green.