Duck Down

We booked our first MSC cruise on the Meraviglia leaving this Sunday. It was a last minute booking and we are scrambling to educate ourselves on everything MSC. It will be a working vacation for me, so I ordered 3 of Browse & Stream packages (one per device). We have Rogers cell service and have been successful using Wi-Fi Calling (calls & texts) on Royal, Princess, and Norwegian. It has never worked on Carnival. Any Canadians with Rogers have success with Wi-Fi calling on MSC? If not I will have to get by without it.

We are on the Venezia right now on our way to St Thomas. We fully agree with the casino comment. Heavy smoke with not much ventilation. We have had 1 breakfast, 1 brunch, 1 Diamond lunch, and 3 dining room dinners so far. The dining room service is hit and miss. Some teams are super slow and unorganized while others are highly attentive and efficient. Around 50/50 so far. We have found staff to be friendly all the time. Enjoying the shows. Food quality is good. Overall a great cruise so far.

For me, good Internet speeds are essential as I have to work 2-3 hours a day while on a cruise (tradeoff for being able to take 3 weeks away at a time). I even pack a 22" monitor so I have a second screen to work on. I will take 3mbps every day if I can. 3mbps works for Teams meetings and I can download the reports needed although the download will take a little longer. I can also watch some youtube videos at that speed. We had 3mbps on Enchanted January this year. We have had much worse with NCL Getaway in March with less than 1mbps (a couple of weeks before they got Starlink). On the Carnival Horizon last fall, there was barely any speed. We are looking forward to being on the Emerald in a couple of weeks, and also have 12 night Carnival Venezia right after. I know the Venezia has Starlink, and I am hearing the Emerald may have it as well.

Thanks everyone. I was on the Enchanted Princess in January and the phone setting played a factor. Speed increased when turning off the Private WiFi Address and Limit IP Tracking settings.

We have a cruise booked on the Getaway out of NYC. My wife will be on vacation and I will be tagging along. I have to work during the week and purchased the unlimited streaming plan with includes VPN. How are the speeds? I have a few of Teams meetings (no video) and am hoping I will be able to join. Worse comes to worse I can get out of them but still want to appear that I am working.... I plan on sneaking out for a quick beach break for a couple of the ports and at least I have the evening entertainment and can enjoy the meals.

Has anyone brought a Brita water jug and kept it in the cabin fridge? We are thinking about bring one and filling it up with tap water.

We were on the cruise as well. The actions of a few, ruined it for many. First, A lot of people did not read or understand the communication prior to getting off the ship. It was actually noted when we first got on that we would have to clear customs in Miami. The night before arrival in Miami, we were left a communication as well as a piece of paper (Immigration Ticket) with our Zone to get off the ship. We were given Zone 14 with a time of 9:30 - 9:45 AM. It specifically stated that if you were not getting off the ship, to disregard the ticket, and get off when "Last Call" was announced at 10-10:30 AM. We originally wanted to get off early to go to South Beach because i had to be back on board for 1 pm for a work meeting. Because of our Zone 14 9:30-9:45 AM time slot, we decided to stay on the ship, go through customs, then stay on the ship for the day. They made a few announcements in the morning to WAIT until last call if you are staying on the ship. Quite a few people did not understand/listen and were stuck sitting in the terminal until everyone cleared. It ended up they were the lucky ones as they had seats. We joined the lines around 10 for "Last Call" to disembark for customs. While walking through the terminal to go to customs, we saw a huge number of people sitting in the chairs waiting to get back on the ship. The actual process through customs was quick and efficient. In no time we were cleared and outside the terminal. Then we saw the line..... The line was long and not moving. We were in the line for hours outside the terminal. A positive was there was a roof over our heads blocking the sun, and there were large fans blowing down. Many people had issues standing in the line. Our backs were starting to hurt, and my sciatica was yelling at me. Terminal staff started pulling those in wheel chairs and walkers into a fast track line into the terminal. It seemed that after a couple of hours, the line started to move. We found out it was only to get to other lines that were not moving. Lines: 1.) Outside the terminal waiting to get in. 2.) Inside the first floor waiting to go up the escalator. 3.) Second floor waiting to go through security. This is where there was finally some communication from RCCL. One of the ship staff started to address the crowd. He only got out out "Sorry for the delay" before the crowd erupted with pent up frustration. There were boos, swearing, and chants of refund. He had to walk away. 4.) Post security waiting to get up top the third floor. 5.) Third floor waiting to get onto the gangway. We finally got on the ship close to 1:30 PM. I missed my meeting, and we went to lunch. Others took even longer to get on the ship. During the dinner, the head waiter for the dining room came by asking how our day was. We had a good laugh after telling him he should not be asking that question that night. He said he was one of those searching for the missing passengers. There was not an official announcement from RCCL as to what happened or the reason for the delay. When we got back to the cabin later that night, there was a note stating that they were issuing an onboard refundable credit due to the "boarding delay". It was quite a day.