nferr

Not in my experience. Very similar and I've cruised numerous times on both. Diamond on RCL and Platinum on NCL.

Cruising Meraviglia in January on a nine nighter. Couldn't beat the pricing with drinks and wifi included for a solo. Looking forward to it. Most reviews I'm reading lately have been positive. The ship seems somewhat equivalent to RCL's Quantum class, obviously with some differences.

Why pay early? I pay through my credit card anyway (get the points), and always pay it off at the end of the month. Keep my money until I have to pay. Just make sure I have a reminder when it's due and I usually do it a few days early just to make sure it goes through without a hitch.

The Yacht Club or the Haven are way above a normal cruise cabin experience on RCL. No comparison. Close friends always cruise the Haven and love it, they returned recently from a cruise on MSC's Yacht Club and said it was basically equivalent and better in some areas. Myself, I usually cruise solo and don't like being waited on so I book regular cabins, but I don't even pretend to think the experience is similar.

You can pay what you want. That's the current system. I just find it funny when people act like it's not to save money. After this I'm done with this topic because no one is going to change their mind. My entire point was just roll the charges into the port charges and "fee" area to spread them around.

MSC's loyalty match is fairly worthless IMO. You do get 5% off when booking. Nothing like the four free daily drinks I get on RCL.

Nobody said elsewise mister internet.

No thanks. I just pay my fair share. Unlike others. But you do you.

Yeah, I'm 60 miles from the city. Hourly train service into the city takes about 75 minutes. Many more trains during rush hour. I'll share my thoughts after both cruises. But I enjoy them all, I pretty much roll with the punches, don't expect perfection.

I'm lucky. MSC Meraviglia cruises out of NYC which is actually a little more convenient than NJ for me. I'm cruising on the Oasis in October and the Meraviglia in January. I booked the Oasis last year and got a great price but couldn't find anything reasonable for next year. MSC came in way lower and I got the drink package and free wifi promotion. I do get the four free drinks a day on RCL but it still wasn't competitive for any future cruises versus MSC pricing. I suspect I'm going to like the Oasis better, the Meraviglia seems more like a direct competitor to the Anthem. But I'm giving MSC a shot (nine day cruise to the Bahamas) and I'll see if I like it. From what I've been reading seems fine for the price.

Makes sense except it's not a land based hotel which has to follow US employment laws and minimum salaries. I'd like to see a hotel that employs the number of workers per customer as a cruise ship.

Same at Cape Liberty in December.

Exactly, pay better and you would have one good employee instead of four working 25% of the time. Which i don't believe any decent employer would allow anyway.

Then it's on the employer.

Don't you think an employer would would fire those who are working 25% of the time?

I've been cruising over thirty years and haven't noticed a huge difference in the quality in the MDR's. I think the selections and variety have gone down somewhat but not drastically. And of course we now have all the specialty restaurants which were pretty much nonexistent. But I haven't cruised RCL since December and the old menu so I'll see next month if the quality has really dropped. I'm not real picky though.

I don't really wear expensive jewelry except watches. I usually wear Breitlings which are worth in the thousands. When cruising I sometimes take one of the Breitlings which I'll wear around the ship, but if going ashore I bring a cheaper watch. I'm old school, I feel naked without a decent watch on.

Just cruise with a more exclusive line in that case. Most people want cheaper base cruise fares. Then they cry when services are cut. RCL is a mainstream line.

I booked Oasis for October for $975 total for two people with $150 OBC out of NY to Bahamas, seven day. Yes, inside room and booked about 10 months ago. And I'm Diamond so I also get four free drinks a day. So comes to $58 a day per person. The free drinks alone are worth that. Just booked this month a nine night Bahamas cruise on MSC out of NY for January for $1020 with open bar and wifi included for $1020. And that's a solo price, so it's about $115 a day including the open bar and wifi. They still include twice a day cleaning but I'm not going to cry if they cut it considering the prices.

But are you willing to pay hundreds more for your cruise? You can cruise for a little over a hundred dollars a night including all your food, entertainment etc. A decent hotel is well over a hundred a night including nothing but a room and maybe once a day servicing. A lot don't even service the rooms anymore.

Yikes. I'm a night owl. Usually don't go to bed till around 2am. Even on a cruise I normally get up around 10am.

All up to the individual as you say. I usually spend about 30 minutes a day on the balcony, which I do enjoy. How much is that worth to me is the question. I've settled on around $200 or so for a seven night cruise, adjusted for a longer cruise. I bid up from an interior to a balcony for under $300 on a 15 night transatlantic on NCL last year and for $220 on an 11 night cruise on the Anthem also last year. Well worth it, but I suspect that it's not going to be as easy on my upcoming Oasis cruise in October or my MSC cruise in January. On Oasis a balcony was over $1,000 higher when booking (over double the fare), on MSC it wasn't as bad, about $600 higher for a nine night cruise in a solo cabin.

Never said they wouldn't be handled.

Which will be read and handled by someone that works for him.

MSC also has a limited offering late at night in the buffet. Snack items and pizza, their pizza is supposed to be very decent, I'll find out in January. NCL has O'Sheehans open really late, with wings, burgers, reubens, etc. RCL can't offer nothing after 9:30, something has to give.