Essiesmom

On Seashore and Seaside there was a metal bin inside a cupboard below the sink in the bathroom. My cabin steward brought me a box of tissue. I joked that maybe it was a diamond bonus. EM

Are you entering your voyagers club number, not just signing into the website? I just posted this in a thread yesterday…when you pull up a cruise, on the page that says to choose your offer…basic or the one with WiFi and drinks…along the top you input number of guests, etc. on that same line enter your Voyagers Club number. If it is recognized, you will see the fare numbers change. EM

I don’t believe you can make a reservation until you are onboard. EM

The deck plan says convertible sofa. No indication of upper berth. Are you sure this cabins holds 4? EM

A glance at cruisedeckplans shows insides as 512, OV at 100, balconies 1425. They are no longer classed as Bella or Fantastica, they can sell them as either. With those numbers, your chances of a free upgrade are highest booking an OV. I am on Seashore in June with a Bella OV gty. I prefer to do Fantastica, but when I selected OV the only option was a Bella gty. I prefer an OV over an inside because I want the couch. I don’t book a balcony because I don’t use it. Now, I am also sailing on Magnifica in July. In this case, I booked a Fantastica Inside and was able to choose the cabin. I chose the only cabin offered that was for three. On Magnifica, all upper bunks are wall mounted, and a cabin for 3 will only have one wall with bunk. I was offered the option to bid for an OV or balcony, and the OV was a particularly attractive price. But many, many of the OV cabins had two bunks, and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting one. EM

Charges from MSC are processed through a bank in Switzerland or Paris, so you might incur foreign transaction fees if the card you are using charges those. But they will clearly be from MSC so your card company should recognize them as legit. EM

Some travel agency sites do. You just have to wade through them to see. EM

Well, have you looked at the deck plans and counted how many of each type there are? Back in 2019 we sailed on Seaside. When I booked, I checked number of cabins on cruisedeckplans.com. This was before any bidding for upgrades. I noted that there were 80 OV cabins, half Bella and half Fantastica. And 1300 balconies. I figured if I booked a Fantastica OV gty I would probably get a balcony. Because there will be some people who book a cabin number because that’s what they can afford. We did get a balcony. Last year I also sailed on Seaside, and booked a gty…don’t remember if it was inside or OV, but was Fantastica. Got assigned balcony. I’m awaiting my current gty on Seashore, Bella this time because that was all that was offered. It’s all in the numbers. EM

I’ve no idea about the noise, as I’ve not been in one of those suites. But there are movies and parties that happen around the Long Island pool, which is two decks up from the highest aft facing cabins. And a bit forward from them. There are no activities scheduled for the infinity pool area. I will post the schedules from last Dec. when they populate to this iPad from my phone.

I already have one…maybe I will check my carryon and carry on the egg crate. Might be worth it for five nights. However, it they would give me an extra half dozen pillows, I might survive. EM

Try not to over plan your ports. You have chosen the hottest month for a Mediterranean cruise and the hottest locales. And August is the month when Europeans take vacation, so venues will be crowded. My practice when visiting a new port is to take the ship tour that gives an overview of the location, and only a half day. And don’t try to do everything as a group. Not everyone will be interested in the same things. EM

You will find many interracial couples on the ship. No one blinks an eye. Relax and enjoy. EM

This has been mentioned many times…but when they assemble a table of singles or unrelated couples, no one checks packages. I never have one, but others at the table do. EM

Just read every thread here on the first ten pages or so that has YC in the title. That will tell you more than you want to know. EM

I cringe when I read of Broadway style shows on cruise ships. I always think they have never seen a real Broadway show. Yes, there are a few of the largest, newest ships that have a real Broadway show. But for the other 99% the show in the theater is more like a Vegas Revue. EM

But, it’s an experience that must be…’experienced’. Like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, the souk in Marrakech…but on a smaller scale. I wonder if the shopping area in the new dock area has cut down on the crowds in the Straw Market…?

Somewhere in the checkin there was a place to fill in ‘sailing with’. You would input the other booking number there. If it is too early for checkin, you can call customer service and have them do it. EM

Take some external pictures and send to cruisedeckplans.com. All but one of their exterior pics are of her before she was stretched and the balconies tacked on. Spent 9 days on Armonia, interesting ship. EM

There is a very recent thread about this near the bottom of page 3. Started Thursday. EM

That just tells you she’s never seen one…or did t know she saw one. EM

I’ve also never heard of cash refund…but maybe in form of OBC, ?refundable? Or cash it out in the casino…. EM

I use videos occasionally when researching cabins. Sometimes for myself, more times to answer the cabin questions of others. I am particularly looking for the locations of upper bunks. I want to know if they are in the ceiling or on the walls. I much prefer still pics, only viewing videos when that is all that is available. For example, I am booked on Magnifica in July for 3 nights. I booked an inside, the only one shown available that had only one bunk, which is on the wall. I was sent an offer to bid for an upgrade, and I do like having a couch in an OV, but many of the obstructed OV have two uppers, so I declined to bid. EM

You don’t press numbers. You slide the ball along the bar. You need to know what the current price is to book that cabin type to know if it is a bargain for you. Or what it would have cost if you have booked it originally. I put in a minimal bid for the next category up for my July 14 sailing. But I could t price check because the category was showing sold out. EM

Yes, but I am never one to try to be the first onboard. Especially when I traveled with my sister, I had to work to get her up in time to eat the free hotel breakfast. Take the latest shuttle bus. But I like to get onboard in time to get a nap before sail away. Old lady here. Now I will be sitting around in the hotel lobby, using their internet while I wait for a time to get a taxi to port. I can live with it. EM