rdt123

10 minutes ago, Denversail said:

I don’t recall any resorts in Galveston more like a selection of Motels near the beach. If you aren’t looking for access to the beach maybe stay at a nicer hotel in Houston. They are likely more designed for business travelers but you should be able to find some with a nice pool and amenities.

Thanks, I wonder if I should hire a car and head off somewhere 

Hi all

we are sailing on the Jubilee in August 24 and are flying into Houston four nights prior. Ideally I’ll try some Texas BBQ but other than that we could use a resort with a pool etc to relax and get over the jet lag. 
 

can anyone recommend a family friendly resort within an hour or so of the port ?

cheers

Rob

Thanks mate - I’ve booked 5:30 and worried it was a bit early - I’ll see if I can move on board

rob

Hi all

can anyone in the uk tell me where they ordered their covid tests from. Am I right in thinking those posted out lateral flow tests are ok where they email you the certificate after you upload an image ?

rob

Perfect thanks so much 

Hi all

we are sailing on the escape in august. The NCL app allows me to book speciality dining. We have some free due to take all. We are interconnected to my parents who have a separate booking.

if I book speciality dining on the app I can choose six guests. Will we be able to book for six and have my parents join us and use their credit ? Not sure how it works

cheers

Rob

Yes that’s right it’s a UK booking. 

3 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Look at the terms and conditions section on your booking for Final Payment, Cancellations and Penalties.  Depending on length of cruise the timeframes differ for penalties/cancellations.  From my experience as long as you're before final payment, you can make any change including full cancellation with no penalties.

Hi thanks

there terms seem to say cancellation 53 days or more out leads to loss of deposit. I wonder if they’d let me transfer to a Europe itinerary or a 2023 sailing date? I’ll ring viva voyage tomorrow - love how these things always come up on Sunday  !

rob

1 minute ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

If you're before final payment, you should be able to do whatever you want because it's fully cancellable.

Surely we’d lose the deposit wouldn’t we?

Hi all

we are booked back to back next year from Miami on the Seashore. We had booked both cruises through viva voyage in a grand suite with about 4K GBP owing in each cruise. We have paid 440GBP deposit on each. We have now decided to buy a new house and will complete next summer (brilliant timing!). 
 

rather than cancel (cause we can’t by the house and do the 8k on the cabin as well) we wondered about switching to a less expensive cabin like a balcony. 
 

does anyone know if I can change to a less expensive cabin after booking and if so what, if any, fees would be involved?

thanks

rob

MSC have confirmed to me today that seaview is relocating to Northern Europe so my sailing won’t go ahead. MSC UK don’t yet know what the result will be but they say my agent will be informed. I note the seaside is cruising from Rome 3 days earlier but we can’t travel on that so I’d imagine we will just be refunded 

12 hours ago, dritan said:

Hi

I've been in a similar position.  What they did for us was put a 25% increase on your deposit for when you want to rebook.  For example my £300 deposit turned into a £375 future cruise credit. 

Thanks - do you I’ll be able to knock the amount off one of the cruises I’ve already booked or is it at time of booking only ?

Thanks very much. If I’ve only paid deposit do I just get that back or is that considered  as cruise credit ?

rob

From the uk. If they require vaccinated passengers only we are die because of the kids (blatant age discrimination) 

ive just heard the ship is now sailing Northern Europe !

rob

17 minutes ago, Bertie Doe said:

If something nasty kills your July cruise, say a new variety of Covid that's difficult to control, then there's a good chance it'll kill off all other cruises.

 

I would pay the balance, if worse thing happens, you'll probably get it enhanced by 25%. As you are aware, flights to Rome via Easyjet are quite cheap, should you have to re-schedule. Regards Paul

Thanks - in a bizarre twist I read another thread saying my ship is now cruising Northern Europe for the summer ! 

Hi all 

a bit of advice. We were due to cruise on the seaview from Rome on July 25th. There’s  me, my wife and two kids in a two bedroom suite and my parents in a balcony.

we booked through an agent with a 400 deposit on ours and 200 on my parents.

Our payment due date is coming up next month and im not confident the cruise will go ahead. That said if I cancel we lose our deposit. If I pay the full balance I’m tying up 4K I could use for another holiday if the cruise didn’t then go ahead. I’m also concerned that I may book flights which go ahead but the cruise doesn’t. I think we’d all be happy with a credit note toward a future cruise (we’ve got two msc cruises booked in 2022) 

any thoughts or ideas much appreciated 

rob

Thanks for all the advice. Well I booked the two MSc cruises. Strangely on my MSc page it shows the first as ‘booked’ but the second as ‘on option’. Does anyone know what that means ?

rob

i can book two 7 nights from miami on the seashore for around £9k in a one bed grand suite or two 7nts on the carnival vista from galveston in a family harbor suite for £6k. Prefer the ports on the msc cruise and flights from the uk a little easier to miami (though quite cheap to houston if i fly via amsterdam) kids are 9 and 4 - any thoughts from a family holiday perspective? 3k difference is tempting

Rob

Thanks both that's very helpful info. We are going to book the same cabin (11002) for both sailings. 

Rob

hi all

I'm hoping to take a 14nt cruise from Miami in Aug 22. The short version is that when i choose the 14 night itinerary on Aug 6 the cabin we want isn't available (1 bedroom grand suite SE3). However if i choose both 7 night cruises on the 6th and 13th it shows on both. This is true on the msc website and viva voyage

Firstly does anyone know why this happens? It was showing me this very same issue for a cruise i nearly booked for this year. Secondly is the only solution to book two 7 night cruises and if so will they make me get off??

thanks

Rob

Hi all

thanks for the help. I’m going through the match process now as I’ve done 6 with ncl but never with MSC

its for four of us. The reason we wand the grand suite is that my wife is keen on the idea of having a separate sleeping area for the kids ( 7 and 2). Just issues of disturbing them when in and out of the balcony of an evening. There can also be snoring considerations when I’ve had a beer that relegate me to another room !

i spoke to MSC today and confirmed that the same cabin is available for both 7 days but not for 14 nights (which I find utterly bonkers, imagine a hotel saying a room is available for two one night stays but you can’t just book two nights?!)

mickey - yes they said the 400 pound or so deposit would be payable on both 

all very odd but seems the only way forward at the minute 

thanks

rob

Hi all

looking at the Seaside next August. If I look at a 14 night on Aug 1st I am limited to balcony cabins and a J3 suite.

if I split the trip into the two seven night cruises I get the choice of superfamily, grand suite, 2 bed grand suite yacht club etc

my agent rang MSC for me and they simply said yes that’s right!

The only solution I can see is booking two seven night cruises back to back in the same cabin then arguing the toss about getting off halfway though! Seems really bizarre - any ideas why this is or whether it may change - we really wanted a grand suite but that doesn’t show on the 14 night - just on the 2 seven night itinerary’s 

rob

Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Had a look on the MSC USA site and it states that the fares are applicable in to USA and Canada residents. 

Ill ask over there in the msc board - prices for the balcony aurea experience -

msc website - £6400

uk agent - £5600

us agent - £4411

quite a difference - basically the cost of flying four of us to Miami !

rob