Griff4AU

Wow, if that's flack, you must have pretty darn thin skin. Your "help" was short sighted. Go Fox news! There are 4 levels, from 1 (Normal Precautions) to 4 (Do not Travel). From your list, Peru is a 2 (increased caution) Colombia is a 3 (Reconsider travel). 'Not sure about Jamaica. Haiti - is a 4 (Do Not Travel) and deserves to be there. A foreign country would view the US as a 2 or possibly even a 3. Heck, even the UK, Spain and the always troublesome Sweden are 2's. The State Department will list an entire country on a list because of a city. You don't think the US is on some lists because of the mass shootings and the rampant crime in DC, Chicago, Detroit, Portland and others? By the State Department "guidance" (when taken at the surface), we should avoid Des Moines because of what happens in Detroit. Well, not really as the State Department actually defines their concerns for those who actually look - they actually do a nice job and make an effort. There are parts of nearly every city that has trouble - I wouldn't skip a city (or a country) because of some bad areas. Then again, some people are more comfortable in a bubble (and behind a keyboard). It's 21 May and I have been in 6 countries so far this year (that's not airport pass throughs nor cruise stops). The only city where I saw anything concerning was in Rio. Yes, that city is tanking and Brazil is going to continue to slip. I can see it elevating to a 3 over the next 24 months. Cruising probably isn't the best vacation for those who want to live in a uninformed bubble. Anyway, to the OP, Argentina is awesome, I don't know Uruguay, and the Brazil stops are meh (and I love Brazil). I still think the Sun stops are better (Santiago, Peru and Cartagena are worth actual vacations) for the "this may be my only time seeing these places" visitor, but again that's just one guy's opinion (unlike what I said above which was fact).

This. EXACTLY. Your TA absolutely can match and usually toss in something else (unless you use the big-box TA's). With the right TA, you will NEVER pay more and you OFTEN will pay less. I know these things.. probably for the same reason NY4Life does

I can't talk to the ships as it's been 8ish years since I've been on NCL. The only reason I'm lurking is I have doing some homework on a possible NCL in Europe. If this is a bucket-list check box, I'd take Panama Canal over Brasil and Argentina 10 times out of 10. I love Brazil. I've been no less than 15 times and my fiancé is Brazilian (living in Italy). So there is no anti-Brasil bias - if anything - just the opposite. I am just not a fan of the stops on the Star's itinerary and Sao Paulo - one of my favorite big cities anywhere - is nowhere close to Santos. The Sun's stops are better (in my opinion - which is worth exactly what you're paying for it). Seeing the Canal is on many a bucket list. I really like Peru and if you experience Cartagena well, you'll want to go back for it's own vacation. I just think it's a better itinerary. If you want to see Antarctica, do it right and go on a special sailing to Antarctica. As for the Sea saw comment, Yup, the State Department has just about every South American country on the Warning list. 'Don't act like a tourist, don't flash money, and don't walk down the street staring at your iPhone 28 Xtra Grande and you'll be fine. And put your mega watch (even if it's a fake) away. Sao Paulo and Rio (especially Rio) have crime problems - then again I feel safer there than I do in Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, (and on and on).. The State Department would put our own country on a watch list if it could.

Thanks folks. This is what I have been looking for. Admittedly folks tend to post the bad more than the good. Heck, I don't even like the name of this forum. But the last 12-18 months there seems to be more than the typical imbalance between bad and good - so I was really wondering if PCL has fallen off that much - or people are just more vocal with their griping. Tangible critiques I get (sounds like the Island had a "dumb" refub adding pax and taking away common (and used) spaces. But the subjective stuff it is difficult to see what's real and a gripe from the people who are impossible to please. Folks worry about how quickly the cruise lines were able to ramp up post pandemic? Try the hotel industry (maid service now not a daily thing) or frequent long-haul international air travel (when staffing $ucked). I just want to recognize the Princess I remember as staying in the Yacht Club / Haven / Retreat is cutting down on my cruise frequency and outside of the "ship within a ship", I always enjoyed Princess the most (and thought they were noticeably more fun than X).

I'm Platinum and relatively close to Elite... but I haven't been on one of the Princess ships since 2014. I'm looking at both the Sky and Island for Europe (I need to be in the area) and all I am seeing is how Princess is falling off the map in terms of service (which is why the old timers used to sail Princess). Admittedly nearly every CC poster for every cruise line says "service is dropping"... but am I going to be disappointed? Admittedly I have been spoiled by the Yacht Club on MSC, but I wouldn't sail MSC any other way (and 2 YC cabins are a bit pricey). I see the 14 day Island sailings are priced about the same as 7 day Sky sailings..... got it, newer ship.. but it also may add credence to the blisteringly ('not sure that's a real word) bad reviews I am seeing on the Island and the stupid refurb they did. So for those who don't only sail Princess has the line moved closer to NCL / Carnival levels? There's 4 of us, with 2 teenagers, so X and HAL probably aren't the best options.

I love Internet water cooler talk. Not. There were a lot of posts here on CC in Nov & Dec in this forum where me and another person were strongly encouraging folks to book their MSC cruise before year end. You didn’t have to sail before YE, just book it. We didn’t state why because TA talk is discouraged here. The simple fact is that most cruise lines offer TA’s the same commission rate - it usually doesn’t vary much. They are all within 2 percentage points of each other. MSC was offering 10 extra points of commission late last year. That was huge. And many / most TA’s (outside of the big box Internet ones) were offering some/much/most of that extra back to the traveler. An additional OBC is the way to get that back on / during the sailing as commissions are paid to the TA’s post sailing - although MSC pays they very quickly.

YC shouldn't be 4 hours. Not at all. You'll be the first to board if you arrive early. Rio is a much better port than Santos. Santos is a mess. Your cruise will be 90% Brazilians, which surprised me a little a few weeks ago. I thought there would be more Euros on board. Enjoy YC.

I did a pretty recent review of the Preziosa and YC - having been my first MSC cruise. You are correct, YC is special. I have been in the Haven and while I prefer NCL over MSC (well, my last NCL sailing was 6 years ago so that may be dated), I would take Yacht Club over Haven 100 times out of 100. The fact that I can get a YC Balcony / Suite often for less than a Princess or Royal traditional balcony / Mini Suite has me seriously considering my future cruise decisions. To Robert's OP, most US folks are going to prefer NCL over MSC because MSC is much more of an international line often with the announcements in multiple languages. Financially, MSC is growing and trending up. NCL is not. Probably doesn't matter for your cruise. However the Seascape is a new ship and should be beautiful.

I have a recent thread where I talk about my first MSC cruise and I go in to pretty great detail about Yacht Club. As a one sentence summary, I think YC is special and there isn't anything similar to it short of the super-elite cruise lines. I think it is leaps and bounds more special than Haven. (OK, that's 2 sentences).

Well, if y'all would learn to speak English, there wouldn't be an issue! 🤪😂 I appreciate your comment. I'm still thinking about the YC. When I wanted to party with the crazy Brazilians, I did. When I wanted a retreat, I went back to YC. Early in the sailing the Captain was walking by The One (YC pool) introducing himself. He asked what brought me down to Brazil since 90% of the pax were from Brazil. I replied that I love Brazil and my date / GF was from there. When still speaking to the Captain I pointed at the Brazilian flag that the ship was flying and said, "Being from the US I shouldn't care, but your pax might appreciate lowering the flag in honor of Pele's death". He thanked me, got on the radio for about 1 minute, then continued meeting the YC pax. Literally 10 minutes later: When I shared above that the senior officers of the Preziosa were exceptional, I was not exaggerating. There were several examples. After we rang in the New Year, I saw 3 of the senior officers (they probably all were, but I saw 3) walking the ship not wishing the Pax a happy new year... but shaking the hand of every crew member wishing them a Happy New Year.... Leadership....

Post 2 - Yacht Club focused I think Yacht Club deserves it’s own thread, but I’m not going there. Let’s just that I strongly suspect that many folks here who offer YC advice are folks who have never sailed in the Yacht Club. Or maybe they didn’t take advantage of what all YC offers. I thought Yacht Club was special. I’ve been in the NCL Haven and while I enjoyed it, I did not think it was worth the added costs. Again, just one guy’s perspective. To me, the Haven was nice and a little exclusive, but not special. I think this comparison of the 2 sums up my thoughts well. https://seanandstefirl.blog/2018/08/01/ncl-haven-vs-msc-yacht-club/ From our own area for embarkation, to one of the butlers walking you everywhere if you haven’t been somewhere or just ask, to the private diving room and pool and bar (all in the best areas), this was special. How many times have you gotten on an elevator on 7 (for example) and needed to go to Deck 16 just knowing you’re going to stop at nearly every floor? Swipe your card in (not all elevators had it) and you’re going to 16 without any more stops (unless someone was already in the elevator). Priority Elevators!!!!! Awesome... Long line for a Tender? Your butler walks you to the front of the line. Don’t feel guilty – you paid for it. When many of the bars were closed, the Top Sail (for YC) was open until 0230 with live music (piano player). Food – vastly superior to the rest of the ship. The 2 steaks I had in the YC restaurant were better than the one I had in Butcher’s Cut (specialty restaurant). After a week, I felt I knew every YC staffer and they knew me (and the other guests). YC staff were dedicated to YC guests. No comingling. I can list all of the benefits, but they have been listed ad nauseum here on CC. Again, Yacht Club felt significantly more exclusive to me than the Haven ever did. Leaps and bounds. Zero comparison. Nicer cabin with the Haven? Yup. I slept and showered in the cabin. For me (again, perspective), the Yacht Club was special. So, is it worth it? That’s up to you. It’s more money. But where’s your sweet-spot? Would I sail on MSC outside of Yacht Club? Probably not. It felt a little Carnival / NCL-ish to me and I am willing to pay for a little more polish. So that puts me back to my happy-lines: Princess, X and RCL. Before this week I had a small deposit on a Princess mini-suite for a Med cruise in June on the newer Enchanted Princess. That’s my happy spot in terms of cruise line and price-point. And then this week happened. Am I going to dump the deposit it for the newer MSC Seashore? Probably. For roughly the same money, I can have the Yacht Club experience for a mini-Suite price on Princess. Do I think Princess is a better cruise line (from what I remember)? Absolutely. But nothing short of the super-premier lines comes close to the Yacht Club – and the main stream lines are more fun (to me) than the super-premier lines. Again, just one guys perspective.

Just off the Preziosa today (Tuesday). Here’s my brain-dump. I am sure there’s more… but I am tired and about to fly to the US. So while it’s fresh…. First, the Author’s Perspective: · Pretty frequent cruiser – approaching 50 on every major line with the exception of HAL. Also have one “Elite line” cruise under by belt. · Although I am a TA, I only book for friends and family (not my day job) and so all those cruises I have been on are with my own dime (except 1). · Although I have been on every line, I would consider Princess my “sweet spot”. I enjoy the added level of service over a Carnival / NCL and am willing to pay for it. I am absolutely in the Seaborn demographic, but I think the super premier lines lose some fun factor as they don’t have all the amenities / alternatives that the bigger ships offer. Plus I’d rather go on 2 Princess sailings for roughly the same cost as a Seaborn (both as examples). · Lastly, I haven’t been on a cruise in 4 years – 2 because of the Pandemic and before that, 2 because I was dating someone who had zero desire to cruise. (she’s gone!) Sorry for the Blah blah blah, but here in CC I see many times folks do a comparison but you don’t know where they are coming from. Post 1 – this one – will be overall Post 2 – (coming up next) will be more Yacht Club specific. I so I was on the MSC Preziosa from 27 Dec to 3 January. I expected there to be more Euros on board as it’s their Winter too, but this was a 90%+ Brazil crowd. That’s OK, I REALLY like Brazil, but they cruise differently than US folks do. The itinerary was boring. This crowd was about the ship and NYE and having fun. More than once I was glad I had the seclusion of the Yacht Club. Dang... Euros and South Americans have more fun-factor when sailing then US folks do. But there's a point there... this is an Italian line. It's not going to be raucous like a shorter Carnival boat... but it's not going to be Celebrity / HAL either. Some fun folks on this ship. Random thoughts in no particular order: · I thought the Preziosa was a good looking ship. Built in 2013 and last docked in 2018 (I think), she has some of the dumb features / design of that era ship. For example, many times you had to walk right through one of the music venues to walk forward / aft. There were many Crooner-type music venues (Princess folks will get this reference) but they were near the open air casino so unless you were willing to smell smoke, the venues weren’t utilized. · The ship was maintained very well. · The specialty dining was OK – not great. Butcher’s Cut (meat) was decent. Galaxy (sushi) was also good, but pretty much attached to the virtual reality area… so the kids walking in and out had to cut through the restaurant bar area. Stupid.. I think someone said “well, we need to put Galaxy somewhere, and this is the last spot that isn’t spoken for”. However it was up high and the views were terrific. It’s better that I made it sound as we went there twice. · Zero experience with the MDR. · We did the buffet twice and thought it was actually pretty decent. I would call it “average or slightly above”, but since recent cruisers have said more than once that everything has deteriorated, I would call this slightly above (if all other lines have gone down). My opinion has the quality as good / average and the variety as above average. It was much better than I expected. · I thought the non YC crew was good. Not nearly a Princess or X level, but very solid. Please remember that these folks work harder every single day than many of us have ever worked… they hustle. And I thought the crew was good. · Décor? I’d call it a Euro NCL. Not loud like some of the Carnival boats. Not the traditional colors that US cruise folks are accustomed to, but I thought it was tasteful. · Embarkation was a bit of a disaster and delayed 3 hours because the ship’s system went down. Yes, that’s MSC’s fault. But they handled it as well as they could have. Getting off the boat? Typical cruise ship chaos – so average. I am glad I was in YC. · Entertainment – I can’t add much to what other threads have stated – entertainment is not a priority for MSC. It’s below average if not well below average (based on my perspective). · Ship’s Leadership – I will offer that I think the Captain and the senior officers of the MSC Preziosa were amongst the top, if not the top, of any sailing (on any line) I have been on. They were exceptional. · This sailing was the 2nd Brazil sailing after the Transatlantic. English is NOT the language you are going to hear first (or at all) with the announcements. US folks will have to accept that (unless it’s a sailing from the US). I found the language skills of the staff to be excellent. Most (more than ½ - that’s the definition of most) spoke multiple languages. English was everywhere. · Speaking of English – for my US folks who think the US is the center of the world and everything else is 2nd rate, MSC probably isn’t the line for you. End of first brain dump!

I am just off the Preziosa. Rudi is correct. 3 different tours are offered and they are listed in your daily.

So after you did the check in and received the email, page 4 (or there abouts) didn't have a form titled Embarkation Form? And luggage tags and a health questionnaire? Maybe you didn't finish the check-in? Did you get the screen I referenced above?

Thank you all. Unfortunately those were the answers I was expecting. 2.5 days later and I am suspecting my bag is a goner. From a direct flight. And no less than 60 others in line with me. AA at their finest. Heck, even the telephone number they give you for updates has been disconnected for many MONTHS.