carlmm

For those interested in prices for upgrades: Euro area: Easy to Easy Plus € 12 if bought before, € 16 if bought on board Easy to Premium € 20 resp. € 40 Euro Easy Plus to Premium € 18 resp. € 24 Dollar area: Euro area Easy to Easy Plus $ 13 if bought before, $ 15 if bought on board Easy to Premium $ 33 resp.$ 44 Easy Plus to Premium $ 20 resp. $ 28

I am afraid you are perfectly right. Everybody who observed what happened within a short time after lines like HAL or Celebrity abolished any serious dress code, can tell the story of the race to the bottom. Now you see hardly anybody dressed up. On Cunard itself we see what has happened since there is no more noteworthy dress code for non formal, sorry gala, sorry elevated nights: Yes, there is still a substantial group of passengers who follow the old dress code of jacket and tie. Thank you to you all. Yet, I myself saw, and there are many other reports of, clothes I neither expected or care to see during a Cunard night.

Prices on board for cruises of 7 days or longer in the US, Caribbean and such: Easy $ 57, Easy Plus $ 72, Premium Extra $ 100 per day. No guarantee for accuracy.

The changes have been reported by a number of German online TAs. The systems gets more complicated, priced differ by length of the cruise, region and if booked before or on board. Eg. for cruises of 7 days or longer in the US, Caribbean and such, it says: Easy $ 46, Easy Plus $ 61, Premium Extra $ 85 per day. On the other hand, the limits rise, too: Easy Plus $ 10, Premium Extra $ 16.

Lucca is famous for its broad walls. IMHO nice but the old town itself is much niecer. Hard to recommend something specific, there are an abundance of churches and m8nasteries worth a visit, a few museums and all the streets and squares.

I guess you know how to get to the train station as you have visited all these other places? You have to connect trains in Pisa, otherwise it is straight forward. You should check the timing on the trenitalia site as the trains to Lucca are not frequent all day long. We once missed a train in Livorno and would have had to wait quite long in Pisa. Well, the taxi was about € 90 Pisa -Lucca.

In Germany at least the prices for MSC's drink packages will increase tomorrow, 27th February. If one buys a package today the old prices are still valid for any future cruise. I do not know if this has been discussed somewhere and if this applicable to the UK, US or any other market but it might be worth to check for some.

Yes, thank you, that menu looks great.

Thank you @edinburgher 🙂

Currently I see not need fro you to be concerned. The current situation is very unusal and supposed to be due to a combination of various aspects including even the moon phase. Thus, in your situation, I would look forward to a great stay in April.

We will be in Genova / Genoa this Summer. Any recommendations for authentic open air restaurants (evening) and open air bars which are open well past midnight?

OK, Casa Mila labeled as Hidden Gem. Maybe 50 years ago. Or rather never?

Just a word of warning to avoid disappointment: When the water of the Seine is low, which it is most of the time, you basically see quite a lot of the walls of the river and not that much of scenery or sights. Of course it can still be a lovely experience.

I would even say many complaints come from people who go to a 4 star hotel in Europe and expect it to be like a Howard Johnson in the US. Or even go eg. to the Danieli in Venice or the Sacher in Vienna and complain about it not being like the chain hotel they are used to.

The three sites mentioned are some of the major ones in Marseille. Thus it sounds like a reasonable option. Make sure these are not only outside visits. At least you should also go into the church. There are many more sights in Marseille to keep a visitor busy for several days, several of which you could also discover on your own, eg the castle, the cathedrale or the NEW museum site by the port. Either way I certainly recommend for a first visit to enjoy some of the many sights of Marseille and not to travel an hour or more to other cities.

Just today I called and got a booking confirmation without repricing. Just imagine. 😉 Not doubting the heartfelled and repeatetly reported experience of some, probably the vast majority of the ten thousands guests each week did just fine.

This might (really just might) indeed be a reason for the answer the OP got. From various posts it appears that MSC does not want to match that freely to diamond as they used to, but than it appears that this not handled consequently as some still report such a match. Yet, so far I have not read from anybody who got the match but did not receive the benefits.

Tips are included in the package, whether you bought it individually or as part of the deal.

Thank you for your interesting review!

Thank you, @FOPMan.

Thanks again. Yes, I am looking into an MSC cruise.

Thank you, Hank. Does that mean, check in will be on the tender pier? I cannot picture the process there.

Still, that is really your perception. I am sorry you feel so bad. Taking a step back, I do not see any bad customer service. >Customer decides to buy a product, gets the product and pays the price. >Settled. >Later customer remorses, wants to give the product back and demands a refund. >Seller accepts and agrees to refund. The refund will be processed in line with the usual companies processes and timelines. (Some people even have experienced a faster than promised processing time.) >Fine. Perfect. Done.

I'd like to visit a concert in the New World Center in Miami beach? Does somebody have experiences and/or advice? How early do they sell out? What do people wear? Would a suit without tie fine? Or too much or too less? Any close by recommendation for after concert drinks and maybe restaurant (concert may end at 9.30 or so).

Maybe you can relax a bit when you realize that MSC is an Italian company. Have you been to Southern Europe? It just is not Royal Caribbean which I would nowadays regard a very US-American line. Some things are done differently and with less urgency. Do not worry. Things will sort out. Processes and style on board will also be different.