phish tales

we are flying to Fla. a day before our cruise and need a hotel for 1 ngt.

we would like. airport pick up, clean room, shuttle to pier and free breakfast (this is not a deal breaker). all insite is greatly appreciated..

thank you in advance.....

Here we go then

Cruises I’ve taken with RCCI = 5; Cruises with MSC = 10.

 

 

CABINS

On RCCI I’ve only had Junior suites and Grand Suites, on MSC I’ve had:- inside x 1; OV x 1; Balcony x 3; Balcony Suite x 4; YC suite x 1;

For the most part RCCI cabins have more sq. ft. and better storage than MSC, and some come with tea/coffee making facilities, MSC don’t do in-cabin Tea/coffee making) The RCI bath rooms are better, just a bit roomier which makes it so much easier.

The only real comparison I can make is an RCCI GS and the MSC YC; RCCI win hands down for the cabin, but are way behind when comparing YC services with The concierge lounge services; RCCI have complimentary drinks for 3 hrs a day, MSC is All inclusive. Both have priority boarding and exclusive areas on the sundecks.

For non-Suite guests the pool area is more crowded on MSC but they tend to have more “away from it all” areas

 

 

SHOWS

RCI’s ice shows are excellent as are the ariel shows on board some ships in the atriums.

The best shows I’ve seen were on MSC Divina, absolutely stunning. They do not, however, have a live band in the theatre which doesn’t bother me.

MSC shows are entirely visual and musical because of the multilingual nature of the clientele (it may be different on US sailings)

What MSC do have is a large number of live bands in the bars and lounges (3 or 4 on the Lirica class, 7 or 8 on the Fantasia class), with a very wide range of musical styles.

 

 

 

FOOD

RCCI have typically 3 course meals as against MSC 6 - 7 course meals .

MSC is really heavily Italian influenced which personally I like , and I’d give them 6 -7 out of 10. RCCI much more run of the mill dishes but I would score them as 7 – 8 out of 10. MSC do have the MDR open every breakfast and lunch time which is a big plus, RCCI only have lunch ln the MDR on sea days. On both lines I avoid the buffet If at all possible, I prefer waiter service. MSC don’t do midnight buffets.

MSC MDRS tend to be more cramped and have low ceilings as compared to RCCI

 

 

GUEST RELATIONS

MSC communication with guests pre cruise is a bit hit and miss you need a good TA to keep on top of documentation. On board I’ve always found them very helpful on both lines, but patience may be needed on MSC because of the multilingual issues. PA announcements are few and far between on MSC but I find them very intrusive on RCCI.

 

 

SHIPS

MSC are always spotless, and a cut above RCCI in that respect. The oldest MSC ship is 13 years old most are less tha 8 years old. The tonnage/passenger ratio is better on RCCI, ie more space per passenger

 

Pete

thank you again. i am doing my first MSC in Feb., 2015

We are die hard RCCL fans with well over 100 cruises with them. so I guess when we get of of Divina in Feb., we can come to our own judgement.

Thank you Skier52 for all your info.

The gratuities are added to your account on a daily basis at the rate of $12 pppn. See table below

 

There should be 2 formal (gala ) nights on a 7 day cruise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete

skier52, i see by your signature you were on RCCL's Explorer. how do you rate MSC with RCL as far as food, shows, cabins, ship, etc. etc. ????

1st time on MSC. how does the gratuties work and do they have formal nights ?? we will be doing a 7 night Divina cruise...

Even if RCI found out that something happened to her, I would be amazed if their IT department could figure out a way to demote her widower (assuming that her death is the "something" in question) and a little horrified that they would be that cruel.

 

I don't see why people should share any household member's status. Princess makes each passenger earn their status, so mixed marriages are quite common. I made Elite before DH did, as did at least one other couple we know. As far as I know, that's the norm. I imagine that there would be some relief from overcrowding if RCI made everybody earn their own status. They could, as the airlines do, allow some privileges to be shared (for example, as AA Platinum I can reserve an extra legroom seat for a non-Platinum for no additional cost) but still require full status for others, such as the lounges.

this is my opinion-----

every cruiser should only get the points him or her actually earned on their on. no piggy backing off of anyone. be it husband, wife, son, daughter, grandchild, grandparent, aunt, uncle, friend or foe. if you did not do the time on the water---you don,t get the points.

end of discussion.---remember, this is my Opinion

Latest and most reliable rumor is that all CL will be placed in lower level no window rooms

GREAT choice , it will be closer to the MDR for the evening meal.

You could say the same thing about 'what ship will replace majesty' or 'when will they start allowing shorts in the dining room'.

shorts in the MDR evening meal, HOPEFULLY NEVER !!!!

Some of you may have read my post from a few weeks ago (that turned into a lengthy thread) wherein I said I wrote RCI preemptively about our concerns over the many negative reviews on here about the Vision.

 

As many of you know, many of the negative comments were about the service, the attitudes of the staff, the feeling of understaffing, and the overcrowded feeling of the ship.

 

I am pleased to say we found NONE of those things applied to our experience on the Vision.

 

We did the 5 night cruise with stops at Key West and Grand Cayman. We stayed in a family suite on the 8th floor. Our party consisted of two adults, two 16 year old boys, and a 10 year old girl. All experienced cruisers with many RCI cruises in particular.

 

I will post random comments as they come to me, so bear with the way I am writing this please!

 

 

• The ship itself looks good. Older design, but very clean and pretty;
  
• Embarkation was pretty easy. Nothing out of the ordinary, went fast;
  
• We thought the staff was extremely friendly, welcoming, and generally couldn't be nicer. Our cabin steward was a doll. We got off to a little bit of a rocky start after finding a pair of tighty whities in a dresser drawer in the closet, but she couldn't have been sweeter, we saw her all the time and she was always good for telling us when she saw our kids around and was generally cheerful and upbeat;
  
• We stayed in 8520, a family suite, and it was OK...maybe a little smaller than what we had hoped for, but no complaints. But the only complaint is, as others have mentioned, noisy as hell at night in there. Not just a little noisy mind you, but chair dragging, banging, stomping, scraping, water splashing noisy. You deal with it and accept it, but I would be leaving out a big component of the overall experience if I failed to mention it;
  
• Main Dining Room...food was what you have come to expect. Not great, not horrible, but perfectly fine. Our 16 year old boys ate more at one sitting than small countries consume in a day, and they loved it all. The service was slow, our waiters were nice enough and meant well, but they weren't memorable in a positive way like we used to experience on cruises. They seemed stressed and spread thin, messed up way more than their share of orders, and dinner took 3 hours. LIke I said, they were nice enough and tried. Cocktail waitress was pretty hard to find after the first night;
  
• Chops was our best dining experience. We met the "WOW" stars of our cruise, Uri and Karoly there on night two and they were awesome guys. We had a truly enjoyable meal, and then the next morning we took advantage of a suite perk and had breakfast in the dedicated suite area on deck 5 and they were the servers. They were there all week and they provided that experience that makes people love cruising;
  
• We ate at Giovanni's the last night and it was excellent as well;
  
• Windjammer is the Windjammer. Same as other ships in my opinion...no better, no worse;
  
• Park Cafe is the basic go-to food spot for between meals. Salads and pre-made sandwiches, carving station, some little pizza slices. Nothing to write home about, but it serves its purpose;
  
• Concierge Club was fine, never overcrowded and a nice getaway for a happy hour drink or two;
  
• Pool deck, while small, had chairs available (as long as you got there at a reasonably early time) and didn't feel particularly overcrowded as some have suggested;
  
• Never had a problem getting a drink anywhere (except in the MDR);
  
• Ports/Excursions: Key West we did the Conch Train tour which was fine and the kids enjoyed it, and then walked Duval. It was very hot but overall a nice day. Grand Cayman...we booked the Moby Dick tour and those people were great and we had a very memorable day. Boat ride, snorkeling, and stingray city. I recommend Moby Dick Tours unconditionally. All good;
  
• And now the general commentary...the large ships spoil us. This ship, while nice for what it is, just doesn't offer much to do (in comparison). Particularly for kids (and there weren't an excessive amount of them, and I guess people knew this better than we did and that's why there weren't many kids). There are very few dining options, very few activities, small pool area, only a few shops. Limited options. We all made the best of it, and we had a nice time nonetheless, but that is just something to be aware of particularly if you are cruising with teens. They could have used a Johnny Rocket's or a pizza place;
  
• Disembarkation...the fastest we have ever experienced.
  

Overall a positive experience. And I want to be clear we were so very impressed with the staff and crew and those people working on that ship couldn't have been nicer.

 

 

 

We live in Ft. Lauderdale area, so these cruises are an easy getaway for us. But parents cruising with kids, particularly those who have been on larger ships, should be warned this is a relatively lean ship in that regard.

 

 

I'm sure I will think of more, and I am happy to answer any questions.

I posted this question on the Vision cruise board, but no reply.

What time does the MTD on the vision start their reservations??

I was told 6:30pm. on other ships it is 5:30Pm. can you confirm or add any comments ?? thank you..

Yeah you weren't being sarcastic... Nice attempt to back pedal though...

 

 

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have a nice day. and a wonderful cruise on your next ship. (or boat).

Really... Who cares. [ATTACH]319256[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

 

Continue to fill us all in on how awesome you are

 

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Wow----sarcasm. I thought sarcasm did not exist on cruise critic. ????????????:confused:

No need to pick on the OP. Nautical terms can be unclear

 

You are correct a "ship" is larger than a boat, but per the standard guide I use... (Chapman's Piloting): "What is a boat: The term has no precise definition. It is a waterborne vehicle smaller than a ship, which is usually thought of being used for ocean travel."

 

I hear everyone on my cruises calling the cruise ship a "boat". Close enough for me......but probably wouldn't cut it with the Captain.

you are correct. they both float. usually the newbees or those that cruised only a few times use the terminology----"boat"

Both Quantum and Anthem....I noticed...unless you have the time to do the 10-11 day cruises....Super Boring 7-8 day itineraries....bizarre in my opinion for a brand new boat

RCCL has ships----not boats. the captain once told us "you can put a boat on a ship, but you can,t put a ship on a boat."

If the sign at the entrance of the MDR says "no shorts during the evening meal". Why would you ask us if shorts are OK ???? read the sign...

WHY--WHY--WHY ???????????????

I'm confused by your statement since.....

 

The restaurant open only to Suite Guests is the Coastal Kitchen on the Quantum.

 

The Grande which is the formal attire restaurant is open to everyone - doesn't matter your C&A level or stateroom type.

you are correct. I mentioned the wrong restaurant. we did make resv. for the Coastal kitchen and they were approved. we have the Coastal Kitchen 1 or 2 nights for all our Quantum sailings. I printed our e-mail copy of the dining resv. from RCCL (which includes Coastal Kitchen) and plan to take it along with us.

We will see what happens on board. I believe when we show our gold colored sea pass card;that should get us in. Again I am sorry for the confusion..

Does anybody know if pinnacle members will be permitted to eat in the suite guest restaurant on the Quantum or the Anthem?

 

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as pinnacle members, my wife and i made resv. for the Grande (formal restaurant) and they were granted and reserved for all our upcoming Quantum cruises. so we hope so, other wise we will be eating in the windjammer those evenings. As we were told by Adam Goldstein, the pinnacle gold card gives us all the perks equal to grand suite and above... Soooo we shall see...

Now was that really necessary? How snarky.

yes it was necessary. children learn from their parents. start now, or they will be wearing shorts at all formal events and say "my parents always allowed this" :confused:

The vouchers are now on EOS and IOS they expect the total fleet roll out in to be done by 9/2014[/quote]

 

 

dfishner, where did you get the "complete roll out date--9/2014 ??"

is this total complete fact and can we hold you to it ???

 

WOW--i sure hope so. and thank you..:)

The cruise in question was in 2010. Pinnacle and Emerald levels of Crown and Anchor didn't exist until 2011.

did not see your time frame. you are correct and i am wrong. sorry...

True story:

 

When we took my girls on their first cruise in 2010 they were 4 and 2 at the time. There was a giant delay getting onto the ship in Miami (Liberty of the Seas) due to some customs issue with the previous cruise. We checked in at noon but were all herded into a big holding room until about 2 pm when they finally started letting people board.

 

They first let on all people who were part of wedding parties. Then they started letting people on by Crown and Anchor status. They called Diamond+ first, then Diamond. Next came Platinum, which we were at the time. My wife and I got up, took the hands of our 4 and 2 year old, and headed towards the ramp to the ship. We were also travelling with my mother who was Diamond+, and she had waited for us to be allowed to board.

 

There was a Royal Caribbean employee checking SeaPass cards to make sure you were allowed to board. We showed her the 5 SeaPass cards for the family. Mine and my wife's said Platinum on them, my mother's said Diamond Plus, but the cards for my 4 and 2 year old daughters didn't say anything because it was their first cruise. The Royal Caribbean employee actually said to me, my wife, and my mother, "you three can board now, but these two have to stay here until we call for all passengers to be allowed to board". I almost handed her the diaper bag for the 2 year old and told her to have fun with them.

you said they called dia+ first :confused: when were the pinnacles called? :confused: apparently they were not allowed to board until they called " all the rest of the passengers are allowed to board now" WOW

Yes they did - it's Oasis.

sorry, i went back and saw it. (oasis)

What is the cost for having Wi Fi in your cabin and what is the cost for using the computers in the internet room for 90 minutes or more? (on the Oasis)

you haven't mentioned a ship. not all ships have wifi. in the cabins...

It isn't only CoCo Cay it's all the tender ports are dependent upon sea conditions. I've only missed CoCo once in quite a few trips - at least a dozen.

We set foot on Coco Maybe only about 50% of the time we were suppose to. thus Coco Maybe---------maybe----maybe----maybe--:confused:

RCL is going to change all the itineraries to now read "Coco Maybe" instead of Coco Cay. that way you know what is coming.. or not...

Maybe it's the amount of higher level people that don't use it? They used to do it on the Freedom but I never saw anyone there.

what do you mean by "higher level" people ?????????:confused:

Still don't know if you are joking? or serious?

 

According to RCI D+ and Pinnacle also paid for the CL, and Diamonds were once welcomed in the CL.

 

To make it clear, I was joking.

I DON'T JOKE. dia+ and pinnacle earned the right to the CL. they did not pay for it. they paid for many many wonderful cruises and along with that came the CL as a perk they earned. suite cruisers pay $3000 to $7000

more per cruise than we do so they can enjoy the CL they paid for.....