the wandering two

Due to board Iona on Saturday, we're Mediterranean tier & been given 3.15 check in.

Doesn't seem to be any sort of pattern as we've had earlier times on previous sailings, regardless hope to be on for lunchtime, yes it's a seven night cruise but with these timings it's a 61/2 day cruise! 

6 hours ago, Djptcp said:

DH and I sailed on the Constellation in March, before the refurbishment. It needed a lot of it but none of that would change the unfriendly crew and officers nor the mediocre food. Bar waiters on Deck 10 were snarky and we constantly had to wave them down for service. We are 4* Mariners on Holland America and enjoy the HAL ships' friendly crew and officers, the wonderful food, and the beautiful ships. We are also Diamonds on Carnival and even those cruises, those without a lot of kids, have better food and friendly crew. This was our first and last Celebrity cruise.

Couldn't disagree more, we were on the transatlantic prior to dry dock, fantastic crew/bar staff/officers, always visible and available for a chat,

Captain very present and involved in many of the events.

Had no issues with food quality or condition of the ship, given its age, well above any comparable Royal Carribbean vessel.

Variety of entertainers outstanding. 

Our most recent Costa cruise was on Smeralda in Dec '22. Standard fizz at the regular bars was Sant'Orsola, didn't look at any for fee bottles. 

Smeralda did have  Campari & Ferrari bars in  which you get their, I would say, better class of sparkling. 

At the Ferrari bar only, you could get their prosecco brand Bisol 1542, there were Ferrari (traditional method) cocktails included but, for some odd reason,  not the straight fizz.

On 4/20/2024 at 2:45 PM, TeeRick said:

On RCCL the 4D or 5D+ drink coupons are really nice and can be used anywhere all day.  We did not need to buy an expensive beverage package.  A note about the Crown Lounge- on some ships (like our last cruise on Symphony) it was D+ and P-only during the happy hour times with the hors d'oeuvres.  It depends on the sailing and the number of D, D+ and P's on board.

We earned our diamond (therefore elite match)  on Royal, mostly great deals on transatlantics, but recently have had way better value on Celebrity.  

Our last Royal sailing (Jewel Aug 23) saw around 1100 C&A diamond upwards members onboard, the viking crown was given over to Pinacles (200 ish) which left the D lounge for everyone else, so 900 people in a lounge with circa 36 seats! 

Recently off Constellation transatlantic,  way more inclusive, lots of elite events, food better (dont get me started on Royal  MTD shambles) greater choice of music and entertainers in lounges & theatre compared to Jewel, a similar sized ship. Lots of folks saying Royal has better entertainment, but they need to compare ship size. 

Looking ahead, for us to return to Royal it would need to be a destination itinerary, at our price point the older ships are better value but they don't have the quality that Celebrity has. 

We're due there January 26th, itinerary 0800-1800, other dates may vary.. 

We won't find out until September's reposition from Hamburg, Favolosa was our first Costa sailing in 2019.

Hi, we get on the day before in Barcelona. No particular plans, hoping to be wowed by the ship. We just like to wander around, mix of old and new ports for us, maybe a bit weather dependent especially on our repeat ones, not sure if we fancy  trying to get to Rome on the train along with who knows how many other passengers given the capacity of the ship. 

Mark & Heather 

Wow, that fish portion is tiny. We're on the TA right after you, thanks for all your posts,  it's going to give us a great heads up for Saturday. 

Hi, we're on Iona Norway May 11th-18th this year. There's a couple from New Hampshire on the roll call, maybe post a question to them there? 

Going on our third Costa cruise this September, a return to Favolosa which was our first in 2019.

Smeralda in Nov '22 & loved it, will be interesting to see the differences going back to a more traditional ship. 

We've given up on trying to figure out Voyagers club points.

Gone through the whole gamut of having minimal status then matching in the good old days when they handed out black/diamond like confetti.

Missing points, complained, got some back, points not showing up on one of our accounts versus the other. 

Bottom line I've got 31300, other half 15000 for the same cruises.

As long as we don't loose diamond status (which will only happen if they finally price us out of their product) we don't care about how many points we have. 

On 1/29/2024 at 4:52 PM, 8420PR said:

Nothing has changed on the UK website since last November.  

 

It still says Fantastica gets "Chance to request preferred dinner sitting (subject to availability)" and allows dining time selection during booking for both Bella and Fantastica (and in the past I have also changed it by contacting MSC):  

 

There were some posts last year that MSC were piloting "anytime dining" on the 3 night cruises from Orlando on MSC Seaside - perhaps what you are seeing is related to that (and cruise specific). 

Have made two booking in the last week, one sailing  in Europe (bella) & one from Florida (fantastica) and were given the option to request dining time with both, as the above poster has stated. 

Booked World Europa for Jan 24th 2025 on 29th Jan, bella inside, assigned a cabin instantly, still an inside though.

Like another poster we were given a handicapped room, midship deck 9.

On 1/26/2024 at 8:09 PM, heatherb1958 said:

Fab report @Eddie99, may I ask what is the name of the restaurant with the tux guy 😆. 

We have an overnight in Lisbon on a cruise , we usually take the train to Cascais and have dinner out there , might be nice to stay local for a change but not at a price ! 😄😄

Hi Heather,

Google A Taberna do mar, Portuguese/Japanese seafood, their tasting menu is outstanding. According to recent TripAdvisor reviews the current price is around €35 for ten courses. 

Some are already on, booked Eclipse March 22nd Port Everglades to Southampton a couple of days ago, supper cheap plus $300 obc per cabin on black Friday offer. 

As you can see from the screenshot the Toscana sailing for next December has the service charge as zero, there are many others too. 

The daily service charge is fairly noticeable on the website, great deal regardless. I’ve looked at these sailings many times & quite often the initial enthusiasm is tempered by the lack of a decent price for a single flight home. 
I have noticed lately that many sailings next year have no mention of service charges, see my screenshot examples. 
Maybe a new law having to include such fees? 

We were on Smeralda last December, probably the same itinerary that you are looking at. We have Sailed many lines including MSC and only once previously on Costa (Favolosa). 

if cost is an issue you’ll get Smeralda with drinks & tips vs W Europa cruise only for much the same price. 
 

Great  atmosphere onboard, always something going on, lots of entertainment, never stayed up so late on any previous cruise. The jazz bar in particular liked that when the band took their break, a saxophonist came on & riffed along to a DJ mixing backing tracks.  
Pure Italy at sea at times, ie organised chaos, food pure Italian vs MSC more broadly Mediterranean. 
Have to laugh when I read some reviews that complain that they have to pay extra for pizza & burgers, must be the only line that do yet serve beautiful food like frito misto & whole grilled fish as standard. 
 

Drink package was so worth it especially as it also covered many drinks at the specialty bars, Campari, Ferrari &  Aperol. Found the cocktails were better made than most American lines we’ve been on, as they were less sweet, not loaded with sugar syrup. 
 

Central dome on deck 17 has lots of comfy seating, great for a sea day especially in winter. 
 

Food is a very decisive subject but we loved it, I’ll let some photos do the talking. 
 

I'm sure the bar tenders would give you a glass of soda water along with your drink of choice. 

Mio is similar to Robinson's Mini no sugar added squash that we have in the UK.

The deadline for installing the appropriate scanners in order to abolish the 100ml rule is June 2024.

Only London City, I believe, has changed with others to follow. 

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

Totally surprised that Coronation memorabilia is being sold in Cobh, which is not part of UK. They split from Northern Ireland in early 20th century(3 rd May 1921).

That's because it looks like he bought them in Portland. 

And then you get posts from a recent live from by MeganGC1983 showing Guinness at $11?

4 hours ago, aring75 said:

 

We are planning on trying to get to WCB tonight. I will definitely check!

 

Also. I love that your CC handle is “WeeDram” and you enjoyed just “a few.” Lol. I think we may count our drinks much the same way. 😆

I don't get the fixation with either rum, check out the added sugar in these, between 20-40g/l, no wonder they taste smooth!