Mingus

7 hours ago, gmjc2 said:

Anyone with cruise line shares----do you have a certificate and or any other documentation from them?

I called Carnival and was told that I just need the print out of the statement from my trading website! It seems so not "official" to me. 

Guess I am too picky!!

 

I've always used the notice of annual shareholder meeting and proxy statement. It has the shareholder name and number of shares.

4 hours ago, MTJSR said:

Speaking of the tv series, did anyone else notice that the buffets got very little screen time overall?  And for the variety of MDR menus, specialty restaurants and other food venues, food in general was just a passing image. I wonder why?

The bars are where the money is made......the buffets, not so much 🙂

Here's an interview with Arnold Donald (Carnival Corp. CEO) regarding possible changes and protocols.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5366/

2 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Cruise officially cancelled.

Were you notified?

6 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

We are regular Celebrity cruisers, and were on Princess a number of years ago.  Our most recent cruise was on MSC Seaside, and MSC is now our favorite line.

I think what we liked most was that it did not feel like any other cruise.  Most of our cruises in recent years had become very similar.  Our favorite part of cruising is just being on a ship at sea; however, more and more elements had become not all that different from being at home, due to the passenger mix -- not very mixed.  On Seaside we were among fewer than 700 American passengers, out of 4400 people.  Nobody talked about the Steelers; the music was more varied, and did not include "Margaritaville" or "Sweet Caroline"; the food was more varied (and mostly very good); the show lounge entertainment was more Cirque du Soleil  than Rock and Broadway.

All of that was a plus for us; for someone else I'm sure it's a negative.

We had read complaints about service and other issues before we went.  We found the service, and the warmth of the crew, outstanding.  

In short, it's absolutely worth considering, as long as you do some research about the style of cruising MSC offers, as well as the different "Experiences", etc.

We're regular Princess cruisers and our first MSC cruise was also on the Seaside......a fantastic ship, especially in the Caribbean.

I agree with everything that was said above. However, one negative is that there was a lot more smoking areas on the Seaside (and probably on the other MSC ships, since more Europeans are smokers) versus Princess.

We were Bella Experience and didn't experience any degraded service.

The Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle was outstanding. The captain and senior staff attended, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served. Other cruise lines don't offer much, if anything.

We watched all the episodes a few weeks ago and were shocked/surprised to see my DW & I on the Royal Princess episode in the Caribbean  😮

I had two Sept. 2020 sailings on deposit, booked directly with MSC USA, which I wanted to cancel.

When I called the US number (877-665-4655), I was automatically transferred to the Canadian call centre (which has a different #).

Amazingly, they answered within 7 minutes and then able to transfer me to the US call centre (without an additional wait).

It looks like Canadian phone numbers are no longer able to call MSC USA directly.

Anyways, the agent was very helpful and said I should receive the credit card refunds within 20 days.....here's hoping!!

Any USB outlets on the Meraviglia?

21 minutes ago, xcell said:

I was trying to transfer my booking from MSC (Canada) to my TA and it seems more difficult than it is supposed to be.

 

Everything seems to be more difficult than it should be.

The website is convoluted and unstable.

The Voyagers Club list of discounted sailings (5 + 5, 10 or 15%) is hidden under "Manage Bookings" and not evident like on the US site, which is under "Voyagers Club".....duh

The Canadian call centre is even worse. The agents were not able to apply the Voyagers Club discount. The booking had to be referred to a manager to manually apply the discount later in the day. Then you have to call back to find out the final price. 

Also, because I had a previous issue with my deposits being non-refundable (it was hidden in the fine print) and now more fares with non-refundable deposits, I read the terms & conditions very carefully.

The US version:

• Cruises 5 nights or less (excluding MSC Yacht Club): $99 per adult or $198 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)
• Cruises 6 – 14 nights (excluding MSC Yacht Club): $199 per adults or $398 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)
• Cruises 15 nights or longer (excluding World Cruises and MSC Yacht Club): $300 per adult or $600 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)
• World Cruises: Non-Refundable 15% of total fare
• MSC Yacht Club:
  • Cruises 5 nights or less: Non-Refundable $99 per adult or $198 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)
  • Cruises 6 – 14 nights: Non-Refundable $199 per adult or $398 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)
  • Cruises 15 nights or longer: Non-Refundable $300 per adult or $600 per stateroom (based on double occupancy)

and the Canadian version:

1.3       Cruises 5 nights or less: non-refundable deposit of $99 per adult or $198 per stateroom (based on double occupancy). Cruises 6-14 nights: non-refundable $199 per adult or $398 per stateroom (based on double occupancy). Cruises 15 nights or longer: a non-refundable $300 per adult or $600 per stateroom (based on double occupancy) is due and payable by the Passenger at the time of Booking.  For the World Cruise, a non-refundable deposit equal to 15% of the price of the Package is due and payable by the Passenger within the first week starting from the date of the booking confirmation.

So that says all Canadian deposits are non-refundable.

Looks like they didn't do a very good cut & paste, but the "devil is in the details" and these are the T&C you're agreeing to.

It shouldn't be this difficult to book a cruise 😞

31 minutes ago, TNRunnerGal said:

When are the rooms ready? - I would like to carry on a backpack and small carry-on piece and drop those off in the room. 

The Seaside will set up a station on deck 6 (next to the Shine Bar) where you can check your carry-on bags.

They'll give you a receipt and will hold your bags until 2:00 pm.

That would be great to have Cdn$ pricing (hopefully at a discounted exchange rate).

Had a great time on the Seaside last year.

4 hours ago, mvh said:

Any success stories from anyone (Bella) who was able to change their dinner time on the Seaside?  There is only two of us any we do not mind sitting with others if that makes any difference.  We are hoping to get the middle seating, but are not confident that will happen.  Can someone tell me the process in trying to get it changed?  Thank you,

We were booked in Bella on the October 27th sailing of the Seaside.

Our MDR assignment was 5:30 at Seashore (don't know the table size), which was too early for us.

We were able to have that changed to 7:15, table for 2 at Ipanema (also for the 2nd leg of our B2B).

A head waiter was at the entrance to Ipanema (deck 6 aft), between 11:30 and 3:30 to assist with our requests.

Go there as early as possible after boarding.

There's also a 7:30 seating at Seashore.

The 7:15 seating was a little hurried (not a lot of chit chat with staff, nor 2nd cup of coffee), but was ok.

The MDR lights were turned up at 9:00 to indicate it's time to leave (next seating was at 9:15).

On 1/10/2019 at 10:34 AM, EMS8 said:

 I sent email to Princess Customer Relations last month expressing my displeasure on the expiring cards.  I received a call this week from Princess and I am satisfied with the resolution.  

Are you able to share the resolution?

15 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

How does that work; and is it Black card priority only leaving ship, or does that work for return also? 

We received a notice from the shopping host the night before arriving at GC.

You would meet at the designated area and tender off as a group.

The Black card priority tendering is only for leaving the ship.

2 hours ago, citizenfrank said:

Absolutely SPOT ON ….Swimming pool not recreation members area, open air toilet, wet ball court or social meeting place!

It was great being able to swim a few laps without a human obstacle course.

The Money Bar Beach Club was excellent.

Short $12 taxi ride each way (Punta Langosta Pier), for 1 to 4 people. Taxis waiting for the return trip.

No charge to enter or for loungers, just purchase some drinks and/or food (reasonably priced and nachos were huge!!). The waiters were excellent, no hard sell, no vendors.

Quiet location, some water sports rentals, no beach but some very good snorkeling (the snorkel boats come here).

http://www.moneybarbeachclub.com/

On 11/12/2018 at 5:49 PM, Luckyone2 said:

In Grand Cayman, what is the tender ticket process for non-yacht club passengers?  I am thinking that it is best to buy a MSC excursion for this port.

 

Thank you!

You could join the shopping host and tender at 9am.

Also, black card gets priority tendering.....no need to pick up a ticket.

I'm familiar with Princess' B2B procedure. 

They deliver to your cabin, an "in transit" information letter and new cruise card for the 2nd leg.

You scan out with old card, then in with the new.

If you're staying in the same cabin, the initial cruise card covers both legs.

What's MSC's procedure?

Are you allowed to skip the muster drill on the 2nd leg of a B2B?

Yes.

Here is a link to MSC's cancellation policy so you can read it for yourself:

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/Terms-Conditions.aspx

,

I found out the hard way that these T&C are superseded by the T&C of any specific promotion.

In my case, the fine print did state "non-refundable deposit", in the same font size, buried in the middle of a couple of hundred words.

I was unpleasantly surprised once with a non-refundable deposit.....always read the fine print very carefully.

We were told the same thing!

Our mini bar hadn't been set up when we got to the room (we must have been right behind you as we were about 12th to board!) so I called and asked for all the alcohol to be switched out to beer. They delivered it while we were at lunch and we only got 8 beers. I called and was told the same thing about limiting it on the one night cruises.....hmmmm!

Any idea if this will become a new corporate policy?

Also, would you still be able to trade the bar setup for a bottle of wine?

Thanks for sharing this very interesting article.

We've seen Tom Franek and he's a great entertainer.

Mourn the passing of 'Landfill Diner'.

I'll pass on this one :eek::)

Which Port is this ???

Curacao.....it's in the title :)