quattrohead

15 hours ago, seannyice81 said:

I would SPECULATE that perhaps Freedom has a sooting issue, but thats really just an uneducated guess. Of course assuming it isn't a lightening strike.

I was on her during the Stumpy days and noted heavy black smoke coming out of the previously burnt side on several occasions, so yes there is a possibility she has engine issues that may have contributed to this fire even though it is the other side this time.

I cannot imagine why the fiberglass caught light unless there was extra soot in that area.

The ship reminds me of our first ever MSC trip on her sister,Poesia. It was stunning.

How is the overall condition of the ship ? It looks good from the pictures.

The pictures and info is great, but it makes for hard work to actually find anything.

Can I suggest putting the pictures into cloud storage and link to them with a description in forum posts.

On 2/10/2024 at 7:11 PM, chengkp75 said:

And, it was the ship's lines and winches that were responsible for the ship moving at the dock, and that movement caused the bumper to fail, which then caused the damage to the ship.  So, the ship is not only responsible for the damage to the ship, but the dock as well.

I have seen the thrusters used to help keep a ship up against the pier, why did they not do this ?

BTW in the great storm of 1993, I was working on the Commodore Caribe1 and we were the only ship that docked in Jamaica for a couple of days...at the James Bond pier. We had massive black tyre marks up the side but we made it.

We also hit the dock in Jamaica when leaving one time, hit the prop and had a bad vibration for a couple weeks until it was fixed during the normal Saturday turn around in Miami.

After our experience on Seaside and checking pricing for Divina in November, I don't feel the need to cruise again anytime soon.

Poesia 2013. Nice looking ship and very European experience back then.

Divina several times, great ship all round. First choice every time. Crew always good too.

Armonia 2019. To Cuba, lovely older ship with the best crew EVER. Had so much fun.
Meraviglia 2022. Incredible looking ship but only 3 day. Need to go back for a 7 day.
Seaside 2023. Hated this ship, public area's way too small for the size. Won't go on this class of ship ever again.

"Once again" Emma is a good cruise director.

It is plain to see NCL is doing everything possible to generate income and slash costs.

It is a disorganized mess due to chronic under staffing.

Wedding cruise review coming in the following days....Gem was good, wedding planners a disaster and customer service a disgrace.

That is an extreme amount of soot for any modern ship. Something was not right.

Even the Carnival Freedom who's funnel fire could have been caused by an excessively smokey engine on the port side, did not have a soot issue when we were on it after the fire and before the funnel was replaced. I saw a ton of smoke billowing out of it one evening in short bursts.

Photo and credit card info is not required ahead of time.

And thinking they should do better with their IT...priceless 🤣

Call in to them, they should be able to find your friend something that is not bookable through the website.

Meraviglia seems to have a management and morale issue now that we did not experience when we sailed on her last year out of PC.

Any chance it is partly due to the type of Pax sailing out of NY ?

On 12/22/2023 at 8:42 AM, buffet24 said:

It's Windy.com!  Go have a look!!! 👍😉👍

 

Also, if anyone is sailing on Meraviglia in the future, please let the Captain know about Windy.com as well!!!  😉😁😂

The Seaside had a computer setup at the back of the bridge connected to a large TV monitor that had tabs open for Windy, Ventusky and some other internal and external information services. The 2nd officer was a young British guy who was very good at explaining what they did and why in various situations.

The engine control room (monitors many other systems too) was very cool too.

I feel the exact opposite, really did not like the Seaside (class) at all, so small in the public areas it was claustrophobic.

We enjoyed the Poesia many years ago and have loved the Divina several times.

BTW, I was looking at ship locations during the storm and another cruise ship (I forgot which) was heading to Miami but turned around and went back out.

2 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

The entire topic is ludicrous to be honest. The captain is the Master of the Vessel and whatever decision he or she makes is the decision. Oftentimes those decisions are in concert with the cruise line and the port authority. I was so frustrated with idiots on the ship yesterday "well it wasn't THAT windy, the Captain could have brought us in on time."  Unless you're a qualified cruise ship captain who has piloted that particular vessel in those wind conditions, you're wasting our time. 

Ain't this the truth. Have they forgotten that we used to sail around the whole world using nothing more than the wind and a large flat object !!!!

Heck, even driving along Rt1 and A1A this past week has been interesting in a small vehicle.

5 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

That was some wicked weather yesterday but I'm absolutely gobsmacked at how well this ship is handling the seas. Incredibly smooth with barely a hint of rocking, even in the worst of it. Easily the smoothest ship we've been on in a while.

MSC have the best ships by a mile. Divina, Meravaglia and Seaside have all been super smooth for us.

Divina especially was doing a fantastic job keeping up over 20knots with 40 knot sideways winds last time we sailed on her. It had a determined slight tremble about her but little rocking....working hard.

8 hours ago, WindinmySails said:

However, I think the design of the ship, although very pretty, is faulty. 

This is exactly how I felt about the Seaside. Huge ship but felt too small in all the public area's and the darn bathroom.

15 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

The captain had assured us that we'd have no issue making up lost time over the remaining 5.5 days left in our crossing.

You won't, Divina is a very quick ship. Love her.

17 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

the ship's compass would need to be recalibrated and this would be accomplished turning the ship around a full 360 degrees in the harbor just after leaving port.

This happened to us once in Miami or PC on Divina too when returning from a cruise. We did a full 720 in the turning basin and boy it was quick. Fun times.

22 hours ago, cellfree said:

Actually had another cruise booked on her as she was being moved to Tampa but then the shutdown hit.

Us too.

MSC were idiots with these cancellations, it was obvious that Armonia was still in Italy and had no chance of making it here to run the first cruise.

I called and asked several times and was told everything was fine. Last call was around a week before, it would have had to hitch a ride with Dr Who in the Tardis to make it...."everything is fine" said the rep.

20 hours ago, peder said:

 

I meant crowded outside by the pool areas, despite the Seaside class ships have the highest percentage of outdoor space in MSC's fleet (similar to the Prima/Viva and a few other ships designed in the same era). I never experienced any crowding inside.

Plenty of room by the pool. Not enough shaded area's to escape the sun but enjoy the outside.

On 11/25/2023 at 4:49 PM, peder said:

I've seen how crowded things can be on the Seascape/Seashore, with even the Aurea and Yacht Club areas feeling plenty full on sea days. I imagine it's worse on the Meraviglia-class ships since there's less outdoor space per passenger.

Seaxxxx class ships might be bigger overall, but they are ridiculously tiny inside, horrible design. I will take any other ship over these.

Only spent 4 days on Meraviglia but it was very easy to use and enjoy.

We were on the last Seaside cruise and it was obvious many crew were just waiting to get off and go home whilst others that were staying on had a better attitude. Humans.

The Seaside was the biggest ship I have ever been on and felt like the smallest, apart from the hundreds of miles we walked lol.

The bathroom is the smallest I have ever been in, even my crew cabin on the Commodore Caribe1 back in 1993 was bigger. Thank some common sense that the shower doesn't have a curtain, there would be Asphyxiation deaths every week otherwise.

Public area's were WAYYYYYYY too small for the ship, totally useless. Ended up not liking the ship at all, but she does sail very well. Maybe a good ship but a terrible resort. I will not go on this class of ship again.

Armonia, Poesia, Divina and Meraviglia are all far better in every regard.

We went on the Armonia when she was doing the Cuba runs and absolutely LOVED it.

Our cabin #9001 was right at the front of the ship and had a great view and is bigger than average.

The ship was in great condition, I had fun trying to find the new section. You can just about spot it inside the hall ways.

The crew made it even better, had the most fun on any cruise, EVER.

Could the ship itself be boring, probably but I would absolutely book it again if it came back to Florida.

Yes we did, right in the middle of the lifeboat drill !!!!