WoodyWindy

What JT said, but if you're doing a B2B, and someone is joining on the second leg (presumably in a different cabin?) absolutely check with the Matre'd immediately after both are boarded to make sure you get to sit together - you'll need the keycards for all rooms that are to be linked. Land-side customer service can link your reservations, but they apparently can't enforce joining the tables beforehand unless all cabins are on the same itinerary.

On 1/22/2023 at 2:00 PM, travelberlin said:

Or maybe if they get bumped because they did not cruise in the last two years, they can apply again for the status match 😫. Anyhow with diminishing perks is not really worth it.

Ivi

All I'm saying is that the diminishing perks aren't necessarily the fault of the match program, and the glut of status folks is a transient issue that was exacerbated by the plague. Perks across the travel industry have been in a race to the bottom for years.

Status matches are always a trade-off. The "good" thing about MSC's is that their whole program is still built on "What have you done for me lately?" If you don't cruise for 2 years, you're back to zero. This got extended during the plague, and there's some pent-up demand, so at the moment, there is a glut of status folks, but, that will even out as the ones who got the match to try it and didn't like it, or just on a whim "because they can", stop cruising (or don't end up taking one at all) on MSC.

Hi All,

I'll be on the Meraviglia in a couple weeks, and this is the first ship I've been on that supports the MSC for Me app, so I have a couple questions:

1. How critical is it to use the app while onboard?

2. Does the app require that you have the purchased WiFi package?

I do have the one-device package, but I had planed to use it with my PC, rather than my phone.

Thanks, @Georgia_Peaches, for a wonderful review! I won't be in YC, but I'm sharing a 4 night Meraviglia cruise with several family members (in separate cabins) in January. I've got probably one of the best non-YC seats on the ship - Wake balcony 14268, top dead center aft - (if you like that sort of thing) all to myself. 

As for food, last December DW and I did a Divina, and I love, Love, LOVED the Burrata Caprese on that trip!

7 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

I am interested in how to exchange the champagne for another type of beverage. I rarely drink alcohol and don’t care for champagne. Soft drinks or beer would be great. Did you ask for this prior to boarding or just tell the cabin steward? 
 

Thanks.

That was actually quite difficult. There isn't a "standard" substitution for it. I don't know which actually succeeded, because I asked practically everyone I could think of - from the Steward, to the Voyager desk, to customer service. It strikes me that they may have actually delivered the bubbly, and then substituted it out on our later request. I'll be doing the same thing on my January 29th Meraviglia, so I'll try to keep better records this time. 🙂

1 hour ago, Ryan82 said:

I think the speciality dinning is valid for diamond loyalty members.

It was in December 2021, as I received it on my Divina 3-night. I also got the champagne gift (which I exchanged for some non-alcoholic beverages)

You also get the Diamond "Experience" meal at a premium eatery, if applicable.

You've pretty much described the whole island, which is a pretty easy walk, but also has shuttle carts, should you prefer. You more have to hunt for the rocky zones than the beach areas. Just decide if you want open ocean or lagoon.

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

I'm Executive Platinum, so when I travel with DW I get her upgraded.  I would never think about having people I am traveling with on business tailgate with my boarding in Group 1.  If you choose to do it, fine, but I tend to follow the printed rules, so I wouldn't try it.

For reference, my context is almost all concerning family groups, which is what I thought this thread was about. I'm a whole lot more skeptical of tour groups trying to do something like that. Business cooworkers are a bit of an in-between state. In that instance, I would expect for a single travel companion on the same ITN would not be an issue. An entire department on an outing to a retreat or conference, unless they bought out the premium seating, would be more along the lines of the tour group mentioned above. 

7 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Where do the points come from if you have never sailed MSC?  We are NCL platinum too and got matched to gold with  5 percent off for our Meraviglia cruise next October.

Correct, since other than status qualification, MSC points are like "Whose Line is it Anyway?" points -  you can't "use" points for anything, so they don't matter. So, when you are matched, you get the exact number needed to qualify for the match level. Note, however, that the points DO expire if you don't cruise within 2 years, and you'll therefore lose your status. This is true whether they are granted or earned.

6 hours ago, Raj.K said:

Isn't the boarding order dependant on seating class or number on planes? Even access to lounges is limited to usually to member and one guest (on the same flight) on most airlines, right?

Access to lounges has its own rules, which are very different from boarding groups. Generally the whole party can board with the boarding group of the earliest member. (Also applies to early boarding for people needing special assistance - when that is available at all. Usually the whole party is allowed to board...).

9 hours ago, JAGR said:

Not AA or DL.

That is not my experience. I have always seen the highest status prevail for travel companions. (I've been flying AA for years. Not quite Million Miler, but in the upper-mid hundreds of thousands, and multiple years of EXP.)

50 minutes ago, JAGR said:

The rooms are booked in Bella class, per the OP in another post, which would make using the Diamond boarding perk a bit too much to ask for.

 

To my mind, it is like a family booked together in coach on a flight.  If one of the family members gets or merits an upgrade to First, you would not expect that to entitle the passenger to have all the family members board in the early First Class boarding group.

Actually, most airlines will board all members of a single ITN with the highest status member of the group. I'm not sure about MSC boarding, though, the odds of success are higher their booking codes are linked.

I was on Divina in December, and will be trying Meraviglia in January. My impression was that Divina is probably more laid back than some of the larger boats. For example, they don't have the acrobatics show. I have to agree about the voice/music balance, though.

I would suggest trying the specialty/premium restaurants.

I was on Divina with my wife last December, and we had a great time. Definitely not a "party barge" like CCL and some other lines on Caribbean itineraries, but there was plenty to do. We don't gamble, so I can't comment on the casino facilities. 

Your best choice is always a passport/passport card. If you live in one of the (very few) states that issue them, an "Enhanced" driver's license should also be sufficient (though they are so rare, you frequently get blank stares from agents when you try to use it). Note that an Enhanecd DL is NOT the same as a "Real ID". The fallback of birth certificate and picture ID may still be OK, but I would not try it unless you truly have no other choice.

I'm going to be in 14268 at the end of January. While Deck 10 aft balconies are the longest, unlike Divina (on which I had a wake-view balcony) last December, Deck 14 on Meraviglia "kicks out" several feet, and therefore has loner balconies than the decks immediately below.

I'm happy that MSC is different from the "mainstream" publicly traded lines. I do agree, though, that if they can't make the Euro-style experience work over here at volume, they should steer at least a couple ships toward some US-based hospitality management.

The Divina doesn't have the specialty array of some of the huge RCI ships, but it has the ever-popular steakhouse, a Japanese (non-teppanyaki/hibachi) restaurant, and IIRC, a premium pizzeria. 

I think you'll get your dinner. You may also get the bottle of sparkling wine. Other things, who knows?

My December 2021 cruise had not credited, and it took several calls and emails to get it fixed. (I also was on the cusp of losing status). The eventually did, though. I made sure, when submitting my request for missing cruise credit, to include my voyager number the cruise dates, cabin, and confirmation information. photographic evidence (such as a picture of your keycard, and/or you on the ship) can't hurt.

My wife and I had the Deck 12 cabin right under the Deck 13 one in the video. It had a fairly normal balcony - maybe a notch longer than normal, but nothing like the 10/11 balconies. From 9 down, they bump out the cabin itself, so the balcony is back to a normal size.

Just got off the Divina a couple of weeks ago. We were in a Fantastica balcony (aft corner), but only 3 nights, so we did Nassau and Ocean Cay. The room was cozy, and the bed was comfortable. I wish we would have had lounge chairs on the balcony, but maybe space was too constrained.

The ship itself was great, and the staff amazing. Dining experiences were good for us (Butcher's Cut, MDR, and Buffet), but food choice is personal, so YMMV. We missed the first night's main theater show. The second night's revue was pretty decent. I also had fun doing triva and karaoke. Atrium entertainment was generally good as well.

Motion was more than the last cruises I took but not horrible. No seasickness, but my wife was landsick for about a week upon our return.

10 minutes ago, ready2cruzagain said:

No it did not get extended another year, still just one extra year here.  Probably the cruise on the Divina has not been credited yet is my guess.  

 

Once you hit 10,000 points, the points keep adding up. But seriously, unless they get another tier it does not matter.  I am going on 20,000 but doesn't get me anything more.

Thanks. That just makes the 2022 expiration seem even weirder. I wonder if maybe once I booked, it automatically kicked the deadline out a year to ensure that once I took the cruise it would have time to credit before the status expired, or to allow for any delays in processing.