lgdesign

Thank you very much for all the clarifications.

Aaaah... then you must have been in a RS or an OS and just selected the pergola that you most preferred... sorry I missed that (feeling a little obtuse today). Hopefully, we'll score a nice upgrade like we did last time. I loved having that pergola available and we used it every day. I completely agree with you about the slackers with access... and the interlopers. So discouraging to see the dilution of an otherwise usually excellent experience for the full fare paying guests. PS Love that your DW is an interloper spotting pro. 😉

Thank you for your thorough and funny report about your experience... we haven't sailed MSC in a couple of years and will be on the Seascape in the YC doing a B2B in Nov and are trying to catch up on any changes. This will be our third time in the YC with the first being on the Seaside and the second being the Seashore. Is "reserving" a non-RS/OS pergola for the week as easy as asking your butler? Is there a fee to do so? We're currently booked in a Deluxe YC suite so any info would be very helpful. We got an upgrade to an OS on the Seashore the last time and having the reserved pergola was really nice... even though one day we arrived on the pool deck to find some other guests ensconced in it much to my perturbation! I quietly pointed it out to some staff and the sodden squatters were swiftly and effectively removed never to squat there again for the duration of our cruise.

Thank you so very much for sharing this great story (we were all so curious)... and being a graphic designer who is very into alphabets and typography, I really appreciate your "souvenir". Wonderful gift for your friend (and you) and very much worth the wait for the tale.

Thank you... very helpful to get me started!

Looking for any ideas and guidance for initial planning research. Thanks in advance.

Is the first column for one person and the second for two people? The math makes it look that way.

Thanks... I had read it was possible but it's nice to have it explained so thoroughly!

Can you elaborate or point me in the right direction regarding Consumer Cellular and International calling?

Thanks very much...

Does anyone know what the Haven Restaurant hours are for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Totally agree that they were a little out of their comfort zone... nothing wrong with trying something new and commenting on it. That said, I disagree that it takes "far more work than it should" to find out some basic information about the Haven. A little poking around CC shows that good information is readily available regarding things like the unchanging menu in the Haven and what is and isn't included with room service, etc. I would think that when you're spending the kind of money they did that they would take a little bit of time to find out what they were actually buying. It's just common sense when you're dropping that kind of cash on a trip. I appreciate their criticisms where they were legitimate... especially about the understaffing and the kids running a bit amok without being stopped. These and other things they mentioned should be fixed and addressed. But basic info about the Haven experience is reasonably easy to find out about ahead of time and they looked silly complaining about obvious stuff they should have known about before setting foot onboard. It undermines their credibility as reviewers when they don't know the basics.

I absolutely like to hear about good and bad too as they did have some legit gripes, but some of things they complained about were entirely avoidable had they done some basic research. And the fact that the one guy doing the planning clearly didn't research the basics about the Haven before sailing makes me wonder about other lapses of judgment on their part. They seem like fun guys but they made some obvious blunders that I would not have expected from experienced cruisers/reviewers. Maybe this trip was an anomaly for them...

Completely agree with you re: their video about Civitavecchia... a little advanced research would have made a lot of things very apparent. We've transferred from the port to Rome both by train (when we were younger and dragging our bags through the port and streets was more feasible) and now these days by private transfer due to mobility issues. Different strokes for different folks and tons of info available. And while it's fair to share their views of the Haven, I also feel like a number of their complaints came from an ignorance of how things work in the Haven in general, the differences between the Haven on other NCL ships vs. this new class of ships... and between the Haven and other cruise lines' version of the Haven. Basically, they needed to read themselves some "Sthrngary" They made some poor choices (grossly overpaid, sailed kid-heavy season and also sailed on one of the first sailings of a new ship – always fraught with issues) and were simply uninformed about what their Haven suite included creating some unhappy surprises... these were mostly avoidable. After some very easy googling, how does anyone not know ahead of time that the Haven Restaurant menu does not change? It has been that way across the fleet for many years. A number of their complaints are "on" them as there are plenty of Haven Prima reviews and information out there to help them know what to expect. I know one of them didn't know he was sailing in the Haven til he got there so it was up to the guy doing the surprising to educate himself to get the most out of his expensive plans. So while they did have some legit gripes and seem like pleasant enough, well intentioned guys, I very much doubt I'll be looking at any of their videos in future as I feel their judgment is not the best and they could have avoided a good deal of their disappointments and bad surprises.

We sailed the Seashore out of Miami in 2021 in the YC and experienced none of these issues. Has the post-COVID traveling public out of Miami lost its collective mind between the interlopers and elevator vandals?

BRAVO!

Thanks everyone!

Welcome to embracing MSC as a cruising option... We felt exactly the same way on both our YC cruises!

Has anyone done this tour on the Viva? I know she's only been sailing a short while, but wondered how it was on that ship.

Please let me know how what happens on your tour.... thank you! We're on the fence about the tour and all the input has been really helpful!

Thank for all the great information!

THANK YOU! That's everything I needed to know! Much appreciated... As usual, the great people on this web site come through!

Thanks very much! Was there a view of the engine room from the engine control room on the ship you were on?

Also, in the engine control room, is there a window of sorts overlooking the engine room at all. My husband is a nuts and bolts kind of guy so these things interests him greatly, Thanks in advance.

I reread the description and you are correct... it says "engine control room", so I assumed incorrectly. Has anyone else had experience like Laszlo's?