HipHipOnAShip

7 hours ago, mvh said:

Do you have 3500 examples, since apparently every passenger had no manners?

@mvhMaking an example of someone WITH NO manners.  Well done.  Well done.

17 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I am so confused by the current sale... I am looking at TG 2023 on Seascape.

 

The price for the all inclusive package when booking an inside cabin for 2 is $82/pp.

The price for the all inclusive package when booking a balcony cabin for 2 - $162pp.

What's going on? It's twice as much.

This can happen.  Inside cabins are far less inviting, thus there might be more incentives to book them.   Never assume that there is going to be the same $ spread for a package for Inside vs OV vs Balcony.  

From past experience all benefits and privileges are based on the age as of embarkation.  So if someone turns 21 in the middle of a cruise they still would not be allowed to imbibe.  With MSC, however, you never know what might happen. 

19 hours ago, navychop said:

I booked an Inside Yacht Club sailing Dec 11 on MSC Meraviglia. The lowest bid option costs MORE than simply booking a balcony Deluxe suite in the first place. MSC will also NOT let me simply pay the existing deal price for changing to the Deluxe suite. Unbelievable. 18 available, they don't want my money. 

  Like being on eBay and lowest bid for an item is $100 but can buy now for $80. Not a smart algorithm. 

You can buy up to the YC Deluxe, but at the price that was prevailing when you booked.  

11 hours ago, hollyalyn said:

I was able to make the 1 cruise change in which I saved 1,232.00 MSC won't refund me until after the Cruise, the stranger things was they also wouldn't let me use it to purchase on board extras 

I hope I have no issues getting it refunded when the time comes 

This ^^^^^ 🙂  

19 hours ago, Jeep Driver said:

I'm skeptical about the half full claim. I did many fake bookings and checked many decks for open bookings in various cabins. It appears the ship will not be full, but nowhere near half full. My best guess is about 80% booked. Just my observations, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. 

The Dec 11th Mera sailing is going to be just about 2000 pax.  They have blocked cabins.

You might not hear if your bid was accepted until a day or two before.  HOwever, as you said they often show bids for cabin categories that are fully sold out. Basically the (outside) company that runs this program is looking to gather data as to how much folks are willing to pay.   

32 minutes ago, styles27 said:

That’s promising. Was that in the Yacht Club?

 

We had a bad experience on Norwegian Pearl in April with their laundry service.  The laundry was returned in the same brown bag that we gave it to them in and looked like a 2 yr old folded it. Fortunately it was only our little grandson’s t-shirts  and shorts. 

Yes it was, but that "shouldn't" (theoretically) make a difference

They do not care about printed boarding times.  For this Sunday's sailing there will be just over 2,000 on the ship, so well under 1/2 capacity. The goal is to get everyone onboard as quickly and safely as possible.  

We had very good laundry service on the Divina in September.  Everything was washed, pressed, and presented on hangars.  No issues whatsoever. We bought the 40 piece package and found it very worthwhile.  Your mileage might vary...

6 hours ago, thesnoopster2 said:

I agree with others.  I have been off/on the board for 2 years and that is what I have seen in multiple cases.  They upgraded your room, but not your 'experience.'  You can always try and get the free room service breakfast the first day and see what happens.

Just look at your room card; if it says Bella that's your experience.  You will not be allowed anytime dining or other Aurea benefits.

50 minutes ago, hawkeyetlse said:

Sounds like MSC is less accommodating than other cruise lines on this issue. But if OP is good enough friends with the other couple and plan to be spending most of their time together anyway, in the worst case two of them can switch keycards while on board.

You can't switch keycards- your imagine (photo) is on them.  You would literally have to arrange what time to meet the other folks at their door; otherwise you couldn't get a drink at a bar as your image wouldn't match.

On 11/27/2022 at 8:10 AM, doconner said:

I wasn't aware it was possible to get extra keys.  If that is possible, then I think it's the preferred route.  Trust with having access to the various cabins is a non-issue with this group of friends.

 

Having extra keys made instead of officially swapping cabins moots a few other questions that I was going to have about the diamond benefits.  Currently as booked, with both diamonds in different cabins all 4 of us are entitled to a meal at the speciality dining restaurant, I didn't know if that would still be the case after we swapped around passengers.   

 

How common is it that they issue extra keys, is that really straight forward and 'standard' for them to do?  Do we need to justify it somehow?   One is an inside and one is a balcony, could I just say, "We want to share our balcony access during the day with the other cabin?" without raising any concerns?

Thanks,

This sounds like a headache waiting to happen for the sake of 2 specialty meals and one bottle of prosecco.  You can't officially change passengers once onboard and they likely will not make extra "blank" keys since a key has to be associated with a guest.

I, personally, would not risk it and the MSC rep with whom  you spoke was speaking out of turn.

Correct, you get the Bella experience, but congrats on the Balcony upgrade.

13 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Were you happy with your cabin assignment and would you do guarantee again?  We have some friends who are considering a guarantee but I think I may have dissuaded them because I've heard that they generally assign the "undesirable" cabins.  As I've never done it, I'm kinda regretting giving them my opinion.

Actually the opposite CAN happen given the new MSC "levels" of cabins.  While many people might spring for the Fantastica level in order to pick a cabin, they might choose cabins in the "first" tier, rather than spending another $40/$60/$80 (or whatever) to go to what MSC decides is a more desirable cabin.  Those are often left open and are assigned to Bella guests.

Wait until you are onboard to find out??? BWHWHWHWHWWH... that's just crazy talk 😜

It can be assigned up to 2 days BEFORE the sailing....

The main language will likely be Italian, with Spanish, French, German and English announcements.  Menus will be available in all languages.

2 hours ago, momofmeg said:

All I want is to be able to buy a case of water and have it delivered to my room, so I am not having to go buy water every day. It seems this is not an option.

As others have said you will not have an issue bringing back some bottled water from ports of call (although you will have to lug it).  Not sure what your itinerary is, but there is a MEGA supermarket just across the street from the dock in Cozumel. You can buy all the water you want there (and snacks, etc) to bring back on. The crew do it all the time 😉

47 minutes ago, styles27 said:

I hate to jinx it but dare I say they’re finally training (some of) their CS reps properly?

😬

BWHAHAHAH, that would be a true Christmas Miracle!!!

Take the 30% off and run.  Book that and then try to get the Voyager's applied.  Alternately, have TA call back and get another rep.  🙂

Bumping this topic as I am sailing solo and was wondering the same thing. Is it a table for 8?  What if less than that book?  What if I am the only one to book?  

Would like to get more information.  Thanks!

5 hours ago, yellow-submarine said:

I know that they give time slots for boarding but that was introduced because of covid and I heard that they don't really enforce it anymore. I do count with flight delays and traffics and so on but if we add excessive safety margin on everything than have to fly in a day before (...and set a camp at the cruise terminal, just in case 😋)

If you are coming in from the UK for a Caribbean cruise I would STRONGLY recommend that fly in a day before.  That ship is leaving with or without you and there is a lot of uncertainly with air travel as of late.

1 hour ago, yellow-submarine said:

Thank you both. It is really helpful. Muster drill is a good point however I can imagine that taking 2 hours.

The muster drill is completed by watching a two/three minute video from your cabin.  You then go to your muster station and get checked in.  Whole process is done in minutes.  

Everything is supply and demand.  Airline pricing changes constantly, as do cruise fares.  

Not sure why you are saying that MSC doesn't offer drinks & wifi to UK guests; the offer is fully available on their UK website.