mnpurple

Any tips for earning rewards? I have the slots, bingo and black jack on my phone and slots on FB. I was doing well on slots, but ran it down, so hoping for more bonus rewards. I can't get anywhere on bingo. One thing I AM learning, I don't think I would do well in Vegas, so good thing this is play money! When I do earn enough, I think I'll get the 30% discount because we would like to be in YC. I'm also hoping I can stack on my husbands 10% as a veteran. Just for clarification, when I get the certificate, I just need to call and make a reservation within "x" number of days. Can the cruise be further out? And, it is only cruises out of Orlando or Miami?

I didn't purchase through MSC, but from the travel agent when I booked. However, it is the same company that MSC uses (CSA something). We have filed a claim for our trip last month because we had a flight delayed, which in turn caused us to miss another flight. I can only tell you that they are very busy and said they wouldn't get to the claim for about 30 days. We had contact with the company prior to the trip and after we missed our flight and the reps on the phone were helpful. I'm hoping that we are able to have a good outcome to our claim as well.

@euro cruiser I found it quite the opposite changing tipping habits. I really wish the US would/could change away from tipping culture. I loved being in European countries and not worrying about tipping. During the peak of Covid, people here really started tipping service employees more, which was fine. The only problem is, I think it just made things worse. I've always felt you tip based on service, well now things can be pretty crappy and you're still expected to tip stupid amounts. Some restaurants are starting to add service charges, but those still don't work and can be over 20%. At any rate, I am quite happy to follow the cultural norms in Europe, especially when I don't have to stress about tipping. And guess what, the service was generally quite good, even without added tips!

This is very intriguing to me. I don't have myVegas, but will look into it. Does anyone know if you can use the discount with a military discount as well?

@LeCommandant We cruised from Naples last month and MSC did NOT do testing. We had to provide our own test. It was up to 48 hours prior. We purchased kits and then went on-line to have them proctored while we did the test and then they sent us an Email with the results to show MSC.

I think that's awesome! I wish I were more adventurous when my kids were little!

Make sure you get granita at Bam Bar, it is delicious!!! You can also get it with fresh made brioche.

Now that you mention that, there was someone from the spa in the Getaway Haven in March, so a definite possibility.

@latebloomer56 The pool is quite small, but was in both our Haven experiences, so hopefully that isn't a problem for the grandsons. I will say, we were on another line recently, with the ship within a ship experience and loved it!! I don't want to get in trouble on this thread by going too far off topic.

@latebloomer56 We were in a 2BR on the Pearl in 2019 and the balcony is not very large. It had two chairs and a table/foot stool. I doubt a lounger would fit very well-maybe one. Our room was right across from the pool area and it was easy just to pop over there and relax on a lounger, no view of course. The sun deck was rarely very busy, same with the pool area. We were on the Getaway in a 2 BR in March and I don't think that balcony was any larger. I know a lot of people don't care for the Haven in the Pearl because it doesn't have a dedicated bar and restaurant, but I think I enjoyed that ship more. We basically made the bar outside the Moderno Churrascaria our bar! We loved the bartender. The Concierge at the time with super helpful and always looking out for us. The Getaway was at full capacity and the bartenders just didn't connect as much and weren't quite as fun. Not what you were asking for, but my 2 cents!

You can pre-order a cake before your trip if you'd like. Also, I think depending on your status, they will do one for free. We were just in the YC and they brought one out for dinner on my sons birthday. It was kind of funny because there were 5 birthdays being celebrated that night. We heard Happy birthday a lot!!