tcneal

One question I have that I haven't found the answer. Since Butlers ARE included in the tip pool, does their share decrease the share for the Steward or everyone. Many cruise lines post the breakdown of the $12-$13 per day service charge that is divided between Steward, Waiter, etc., MSC does not. Since this is 1 extra person and I don't believe YC guest pay a higher service charge, does it just lower everyone else's tip. Maybe, it's not enough of them to matter much, but I was always curious.

There will not be much passenger traffic but the main issue with being under the pool deck is the crew cleaning and moving chairs around early morning and late evening. This is the reason I booked Deck 16.

The only people to blame for this are those who started the brawl, there have been a couple of follow up stories in the UK press recently, other passengers have said that the family members were picking arguments with other passengers days prior to the brawl.

If it takes what the security did to stop them then so be it. personally I would have put them all adrift in a life raft but as the law does not allow for that they had to remain on the ship until they arrived at the port of Eden.

Carnival cannot be held responsible for trouble makers which this family clearly were.

Well said. I totally agree!

I understand your loyalty but do you seriously believe that? Seriously? Come on

What loyalty are you referring? If you are trying to say that I'm cheering for Carnival, then you are wrong. I don't even like Carnival that much and it's far from my favorite cruise line (If you want to know, it's Royal). What I'm debating here is the idea that this situation is Carnival's fault and somehow this could never happen on MSC. If that is what you are implying, come on.

Maybe MSC's security could have handled the situation better once the brawl started. That was not Carnival's finest hour. But to imply that Israeli security force could magically pop up anywhere on the ship to prevent this happening sounds silly to me. There are so many places on every ship that I have been on where there is no one around, so I don't believe MSCs' security is everywhere at any given time.

Well... what I saw on CCL I never saw on any other cruise line . No line immune to this behavior but MSc has professional Israeli security on board and I can insure you they know what they are doing .

A brawl started because one person stepped on another person's shoe. I'm sure the Israeli security can prevent this from happening? I guess they are on every floor in every hallway. If they are, I probably wouldn't want to sail like that. There is no security that can prevent this. It is prevented by the people involved. Someone with the good sense to walk away and not ruin there cruise.

This is completely insane: how does MSC build a ship with four-person suites, with three beds??

 

 

In the exact same way that they have an SJ3 Aurea Whirlpool cabin for 5 that can sleep 6 and has 6 beds!

 

 

Simple solution for 9002 is bunk beds, all that space and very poor storage just like the standard cabins, too much money spent on staircases in the Atrium and not enough in many cabins, odd thing is that Meraviglia cabins look the same and same colours!

I agree. It's clear to me that many rooms should have bunk beds but didn't get them. It seems like they couldn't order enough or some made the cost cutting decision to go to regular sofas because the I bet the bunks are more expensive.

Of course jerks may board on any line. However, each cruise line has its corporate on board experience that it uses to attract its target market. Example, Carnival is the Fun" ship with low prices. In comparison, HAL offers a more laid back experience and its entertainment on board is more a quiet cerebral type (ie, classical music venture , bridge (although no longer with a bridge director), etc.

 

How many drunken brawls break out with a group at a classical music recital?

 

MSC is very family oriented (I know Carnival claims to be the same) but its idea of family is to provide an atmosphere where extended family groups or other groups can relax and enjoy themselves. This includes the idea of long dinners where one relaxes and enjoys the company and the meal (the idea of such a meal horrifies the gobble and go crowd). Yes, there are unlimited drink packages on MSC, but it is not a two fisted drinking clientele.

 

Until you cruise MSC (or HAL, Princess, Celebrity), you may not understand the idea of cruise lines' different cruising experiences and the expectations of those who are repeat cruisers on each line.

I agree with you that jerks can can board any line and I don't think our opinions are that different. Like I said, I'm looking forward to MSC. But, to correct one point, I have sailed Princess before (and know many who have sailed HAL and Celebrity) and I understand the experience. The big difference, in my opinion, is the crowd being older, so I guess that will contribute to this situation likely not happening.

But I don't know if you are aware, in North America (I don't know if this is the same in Europe), MSC is undercutting even Carnival's pricing. So, if we are equating low prices to the clientele, this is more likely to happen on MSC than on say Royal Caribbean, which is significantly more money for a comparable ship. I will try not to make statements about MSC since I haven't sailed yet. But, from everything I'm reading, you can't compare it to HAL, Princess, or Celebrity. I know what I paid for my cruise and I'm not expecting it to be on par with other lines that are significantly more money. I think that is the mistake some people are making.

Wow must be a tough day on the Carnival board for you to venture over to the dark side. May the force be with you [emoji33]

Well, seeing that I don't spend any time on the Carnival board, I'm not sure what's your point. My comment had more to do with the idea that the nationalities on board had something to do this. It had little to do with the cruise line.

You will find out what is meant by an international passenger base when you cruise.

 

MSC's policy is to market a certain percentage of each cruise in various world markets (North American, Australia, Central and South America, Asia, Europe).

 

Therefore,on each cruise you will find people from all over the world as passengers.

 

I don't remember the exact number I was given for cruises out of the USA, but it was somewhere around 30 - 40% of the passengers will be the North American market.

 

This means you will heard multiple languages on board and the buffet will have food stations that have items geared to some of the different passenger cultures on board. It is a great chance to try something new.

 

If you want to also experience a different approach to some on board games, try the games (Trivia, Majority Rules, etc) that are geared for all the differnt languages on board.

 

In other words, you are leaving home (both wherever you live and Carnival), be prepared for things to not be like home.

I understand what MSC is trying to do in its marketing and that there will be a good mixture of cultures. What I don't understand is why anyone believes that because of this, MSC is immune to this behavior. Does anyone know what the mixture was on the Carnival cruise?

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There have been two instances of ships now sailing from Australia in the past week where this has happened, the issue appears to be the people involved.

I totally agree. This is why this thread is very strange to me. I do not understand why we are talking about Americans vs Europeans? This was clearly an issue in Australia. Even though Carnival is an American company, I seriously doubt they had many Americans on board. One comment here is referring to how MSC's "international" crowd would be different. First, I don't know what international means, unless this is a euphemism for European. If so, just say European. I'm from America, so to me, this was an "international" crowd. Even so, I don't indict all Australians as less classy. And I also don't agree that any one area is classier than another. When you are operating at a certain price point, you will get a certain clientele. And maybe a wealthier clientele will be less likely break out into a fist fight but they can also be some of the rudest people on the planet. I wouldn't consider that classier. I can only speak from personal experience and I haven't cruised as much as some here. But cruising has surprised me and altered my opinions on many groups of people. America is diverse and we all don't think alike but I will say the friendliest cruise I have ever been on was a RCCL cruise out of Texas where the passengers were predominately Texans and Mexicans. I point it out because I was expecting not to like it. Probably, the rudest cruise I have been on was another RCCL cruise where a lot of the passengers (and crew) were European. Again, not what I was expecting.

I'm looking forward to my first MSC cruise. Mainly because it will be different, not better or classier. And, I will sail Carnival again. Well, maybe not out of Australia. :)

I'm in the same position as you as I'm going on my first MSC cruise so take everything I say with a grain of salt. But, from everything I've read on this board, the ships design are great, on par with (maybe better than) Royal, NCL, Celebrity and better than Carnival (Never been a fan of Carnival's design). I wouldn't put MSC's theater shows on par with Royal. Depending on the ship, Royal is running Broadway level productions. Many MSC productions are a small cast and are about 30 minutes long. But, It's all subjective, especially food, so I won't comment on that.

You were able to book it for 4? When we tried TA told by MSC that they didn't allow that. I know Prosecco was able to do it.

Yes. I booked online. They didn't show up until all other YC cabins were gone. Then about four 5 person cabins became available. So, I didn't have a choice.

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Thank you very much. This helps a lot. Now I don't have to worry about my 2 teenagers sleeping together. Also, really happy the pullman is in that position instead of over the main bed like some other cabins on the Seaside.

I hope someone finds a way to post these pics. I have been waiting for this setup for a long time.

I just give the print outs to the person at the curb when handing them my bags and they will take care of them. Don’t feel like buying those plastic things for cruise tags if I will use them for 2 hours once a year.

Well, we all have to decide what is worth it. For me, it has been one too many times where I haven't gotten my luggage until 11 pm on the first day because the the stapled on tags fell off and I have to go the bowels of the ship to reclaim my luggage (It has happened twice). To me, the 5 bucks that I paid for the tags is worth it.

I have downloaded the eDocs but not printed them yet. Just had a look and the luggage tag runs the length of an 8x11 sheet of paper and about a third of the width. You would fold the tag in half so that both sides are printed, so that makes the tag approximately 5.5" x 2.5". The link to the ones I posted list their size as 7.1 x 3.2 inches so they should work just fine. They are a heavy-weight, flexible plastic with a stainless steel loop and are very sturdy.

Thanks, I have tags that are similar to the ones you have that I used for Carnival. But, I know Royal's tags are not a good fit since they are much narrower. If MSC's tags fit your holders, then I'm OK.

There are a couple different sizes- a quick search on Amazon will bring them up. I bought these and have used them 3 times for NCL luggage tags:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LMK7R6C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Do you know if your holders work for MSC? I haven't seen the MSC tags. But there are the Carnival/NCL holders or the RCCL/Celebrity holders. What size are MSC tags?

Thanks for the review. Do you have any pictures? I would love to see how the bedding is set up for 5. I have not seen any pics yet anywhere.

The zipline is free for YC members? I had not read that before.

I have read a couple of people posting this but I have seen nothing written from MSC or anyone who has sailed YC saying they received it for free.

TC ... Will try and find it and add it here if I can, for now here is one I saw on youtube.

 

Thanks. It would be helpful if you are able to find it. I saw this video on youtube. Very short and not a good view of the balcony. I have been trying to get a feeling of how much room is on the balcony, especially along the back facing aft. Can chairs or loungers sit comfortably in this area?

Kelly ... Just incase you are struggling to find them ... :)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2581121

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2569812

Thanks for the links to the pics. I'm still not able to see your FB video. I remember trying when you first posted the link.

I agree with you. They were being touted. If you look at MSC's promotional videos, they all included the "Miami Style Condos", so I was expecting a lot more information once the ship sailed. But, I'm seeing very little. The one short video on Youtube that I saw, I was not too impressed. I know some people were happy with it. I will be switching mine to a YC Deluxe.

Which ship are you sailing? The reason I ask is that they decided to increase the passenger to butler ratio on the Seaside. More cutbacks I guess. You might not get the same level of attention that one may have gotten on the Divina or other ships. I'm hoping it's the same, but numbers are numbers.

Has anyone who actually experienced dining in the converted buffet area commented on there experience? We sailed, Aurea clas - in part because it allows the anytime dining vs set seating. We did pass through the buffet area one night - low lighting, table cloths, it was lovely. Ironically, I would have easily eaten there, no where near as noisy. Same menu, yes, even for Aurea class. I think people are getting hung up on "buffet", it actually resembles a restaurant at night. I certainly wouldn't feel like a second or third class citizen in that venue.

I haven't seen it yet as I don't sail until June. I'm pretty sure they dress it up nice and I knew it was the same menu. The point I was trying to make it is not common among cruise ships. They built a ship with not enough room in the MDRs to accommodate the number of guests, which goes to the overcrowding issues. Also, if it was truly equal, it wouldn't be exclusive to the lowest "experience" and you would see Aurea guest assigned to it. IMO, first come first serve would be the easiest. Not saying this is a deal breaker or anything close to it. I'm trying to compare to other lines.

LMAO.....IT is not common practice....As a matter of fact I've never heard this ever happening ....and I've been cruising since 1979

That's what I thought. I thought I might be missing something because I have never heard of this either.