nikoo.s

You can mirror your phone screen, so have films or shows downloaded before you go 🙂

All sorted, seemed to be a temporary glitch and we were able to purchase the excursion today with no problems 😊

Hello! 

Our next cruise leaves in 9 days, our tickets were sent yesterday. We want to add an excursion and it still shows up on the site (not listed as sold out) but none of the excursions for the entire week have the orange button to add to cruise. Is that normal after tickets have been sent or a glitch with the site? We apparently have until October 4th to add extras to cruise. 

Really don't want to miss out on this excursion if possible! Is our only option now to book on board? What's the price difference likely to be if so?

Thanks!

11 minutes ago, ahahn078 said:

Thanks for

Thanks for clarifying!

No problem! Hope you have a fabulous cruise!

You will still need to book the spa, but can do this as many times as you want to throughout the cruise, depending on how busy it is they may have space if you just show up without booking but this is unusual especially on a busier ship. 

Regarding disembarkation you'll get an assigned time to be out of your room , but there is no separate queue for aurea guests to leave the ship.

26 minutes ago, angelofjoy23 said:

Someone posted about this elsewhere and they said if they logged out and logged back in it fixed it. Not sure if that will fix it for you but I thought I'd mention it!

Thank you! Did that and seems that its added Aurea now under the "included in your booking" list, still says Fantastica at the top though, so maybe it will update soon, as long as it says Aurea benefits somewhere im happy haha! 

Thank you! How does that work with the spa, aurea deck and the anytime dining if the card says fantastica? Last cruise they knew I had Aurea at the spa and aurea deck because of what it said on the card.

Hello!

I know this has probably been answered a million times so I apologise, and I have tried searching but can't find a clear answer!

Just had upgrade bid to aurea balcony accepted (and have been given an aurea suite - yay!) Just checked new cabin number and on thr site it still says fantastica benefits, but my understanding is with the upgrade we would get the aurea benefits too. This seems to be confirmed in the Ts and Cs as well but I just want to double check because it still says fantastica. To confirm this was a bid upgrade through the upgrade email received a month or so ago.

Many thanks!

I just posted this in another thread but here's my recommendation here too in case it's useful for anyone!

We did Flåm a few weeks ago on Virtuosa and would highly recommend the following: 

Book the railway one way separately from the cruise excursions, and take it all the way to Vatnehalsen (which is one stop before the end) , get off there and do the Flåm zipline if you're feeling brave! From the bottom of the zipline you can also take bikes which means you can take a beautiful cycle down the mountain back to the ship (takes about an hour with no stops). Make sure to tell them at the top of the zipline you want to take bikes as well as you pay for it all in one go. Honestly such a brilliant experience! Does require some bravery for the zipline but 100% worth it! 

8 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

 

Wow, that’s an amazing story.  It made me smile.   We just booked our first cruise on MSC on the EURIBIA.  Below is the itinerary.   A couple of people have recommended the Flam Railway as a must do.  Did you take the 2 1/2 hour excursion  (SCENIC FLAM RAILWAY)  or the 6 hour excursion (AMAZING NATURE VIEWS ON THE FAMOUS FLAM RAILWAY) 

 

We did Flåm a few weeks ago on Virtuosa and would highly recommend the following: 

Book the railway one way separately from the cruise excursions, and take it all the way to Vatnehalsen (which is one stop before the end) , get off there and do the Flåm zipline if you're feeling brave! From the bottom of the zipline you can also take bikes which means you can take a beautiful cycle down the mountain back to the ship (takes about an hour with no stops). Make sure to tell them at the top of the zipline you want to take bikes as well as you pay for it all in one go. Honestly such a brilliant experience! Does require some bravery for the zipline though but 100% worth it! 

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

About $30 used to be the price but current prices are about $60. There is sometimes a deal with buying a backpack or hat with the ship that saves some money vs. buying the items individually. 

 

If you really want to see high prices for these models, look at what people are asking on eBay.  

Do people actually buy them at the ebay prices? If so I'd almost be tempted to buy 10 on the ship and sell 9 to make a profit 🤣 except I'm 1. Not prepared to carry 10 in my case , and 2. Not really that kind of person anyway haha 😅 

Haha totally agree that its pricey! But hey - At least there's €10 euros off with voyagers club ( I think ? ) 

11 minutes ago, sealynx said:

Wow, those prices are steep. I remember buying an MSC Seaview model for € 30, and not buying and MSC Opera model, also for € 30.

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

There are two different models in the logo shop. Both do feature the hull art. One is the regular "silver" one (49.50 Euro) and the other one has the hull art in colors (64 Euro).

steamboats

Thank you! This is exactly the info I was looking for 🙂

We liked the Virtuosa sundeck 🤷‍♂️ waiter brought multiple drinks to us and it didn't take too long, hot tub was much quieter than the others on the ship, we had plenty of sunlight to sunbathe in contrary to a previous post about it being too shaded and the best thing of all - a nice place to get away from crowds! Sure it could have done with perhaps its own bar but we didn't feel like we missed out on drinks. 

Anyone know if the Euribia ship models sold in the logo shop on board will have the hull art on them? I'm going on the Euribia in November and plan to collect a ship model of every ship I go on, but I already have a Virtuosa model and without the hull art they will look exactly the same! Not a big deal just wondering out of interest 🤣

7 hours ago, bearette said:

You won't see a spring break lull, midMarch to mix April will be some state and school on break. Plan on kids and families on board. 

 

FYI-Your February dates co-inside with Presidents day, either a four day weekend or two three day weekends. Not as busy as March,  but In case you ever forthcoming at that time again. Some schools get a full week, so it makes that time busy.

I think for that kind of itinerary and around that time of year we can expect it to be busy either way 🙂 Will just go with a bit more patience and make the most of it and have a fab time either way!

9 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

 Here’s something that may help:

https://www.ststravel.com/college-spring-break-dates
 

You’ll notice that a vast majority of college spring breaks for surrounding Florida states occur at the very beginning of March. Grade school spring breaks for the same areas generally begin in April. Of course you’ll have some outliers but I think your March dates will see a spring break lull. Plus, the Aurea experience has a really nice sun deck that has great mix of sun and shade (better than YC imo) and a nice bar. It was never crowded when we visited the area on Seashore. I think you’ll be just fine with your March dates. 😊

Reading this has made my day! Thank you so much 💙 a busier cruise doesn't phase me too much and for us it's a dream itinerary! This is more to reassure my parents who aren't cruise addicts like me and who like to mix in some quieter time! 🤣 and I'm super excited about the aurea deck which I've seen has its own bar on the seashore (something the Virtuosa's Aurea deck did not have!) 

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

 

I have my eye on the 2024 MSC Preziosa 11-night cruise up to Honningsvag. Trouble is I like to sail on different ships and we will already have sailed on the MSC Preziosa this September. If we sail from Italy we are going to sail on two 7-night cruises, MSC Divina from Civitavecchia and MSC Opera from Bari.

 

But holding out for initial reviews of the MSC Euribia as well.

Do them all haha. All of these sound fab, especially the Preziosa itinierary! Great thing about going on a ship you've already been on is there's no settling in period and everything is instantly familiar! Our Virtuosa cruise to Norway was our 2nd time on that ship and now it almost feels like a 2nd home! And yes also excited to see how Euribia is looking, considering a Christmas Market cruise in November on there (and it's the same class as Virtousa so I'll already know my way round!) 

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

 I would enjoy a MSC cruise to Norway while my wife wants to spend time in Italy with a Med cruise.

We just came back from an MSC cruise to Norway a couple weeks ago on the Virtuosa and it was a dream! You must do it if you get the chance! 

Thanks all so much! We're going to stick with March and just pack a little extra patience for the last 4 days of the trip haha 🙂

7 minutes ago, Heartgrove said:

The March date would definitely see more crowds in the area however you have a B2B seven night cruise paired with a 3-night cruise. The short 3/4-day cruises normally see an influx of the party crowds. That said, I think that I would keep your original booking.

 

We make a point to not sail during Spring Break in the US which is March-April. Of course, when we were in Venice last year we never thought of Italian holydays. Surprise, surprise there was the crowds on  All Saints Day, November 1 in Venice!

Thanks for this,

Interesting that you said you would keep the original booking (March) but wouldn't sail normally during spring break, so just wondering what would make that decision for you if the crowds are smaller in Feb? Sorry for all the questions its just a lot of money once we factor in flights etc so want to get the best holiday we can! 🙂

Hi all!

From the UK and currently booked to sail on Seashore March 17th to 28th 2024. This itinerary does ocean cay, cozumel, costa maya, belize, nassau, port canaveral, and ocean cay again overnight (might not be in that order). We are excited but concerned about large crowds as we're not familiar with US school holidays, spring break etc.

We have found a similar itinerary Feb 4th to 15th which misses out belize and does a 2nd overnight at ocean cay instead. 

My question is would it be that much less crowded if we switched to February (assuming we can switch dates)? What would people say is generally the better option of the two? Does it matter much if we miss belize and get more time at OC? 

All opinions welcome! For added context we are 2 people in our 30s travelling with my parents in their 60s if that helps. We will all have aurea (so access to top deck and anytime dining) if that helps with crowds or not.

Thank you! 

11 hours ago, WindinmySails said:

 I just read that vapes, e-cigs are not even allowed on board.  Would love to know more about this.  We vape as well, and just booked a 20 day cruise.  Darn...

https://www.cruisebooking.com/articles/msc-cruise-tips/what-is-not-allowed-on-msc-cruises

Not sure where this info is from as you can definitely vape on board, provided its in the designated smoking areas 🙂

Based on Virtuosa at least, you should be absolutely fine

They also have "beertails" aka beer based cocktails! Perhaps these aren't to everyone's taste but I enjoyed them!