cublet

9 hours ago, Beamafar said:

MSC has upped their game for the US market.  

Hello,

By becoming more American and less Italian.

Regards,

Cublet

12 hours ago, ospreycruiser said:

Can anybody advise me how the UK/US time difference works when booking your time slot when checking in? Since the US is ahead of UK time does that mean they have advantage when looking for an early time?

Hello,

I know it's a bit early on a Saturday morning after a heavy Friday night, but are you sure you've got the time difference the right way around?

Regards,

Cublet

13 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I'm Canadian, but I have to disagree with saying 'labour' is the  'correct' way to spell the word...it's not correct for the US.  I use 'ou' instead of the 'o' when sending any note or post to Americans as it's MY way to spell and I don't have to change because it's going to the US despite auto correct.

Hello,

I worked for a couple of petrochemical companies many years ago - before the days of email and the internet.

So one day a memo arrived castigating us over the spelling of the word 'tyre' and not 'tire'. But at the bottom of the memo was a line - printed as part of its manufacture - saying "Think - is this memo really necessary?".

Regards,

Cublet

6 hours ago, the penguins said:

Oh dear "teen-age" another word/phrase we can't use. Our grandson insists he will be a "teen" in June not a "teenager". Oh yes and when I ask how he got on at Ice Hockey his standard reply is "it's just hockey Grandpa". 

Hello,

If I was being an old cynic and got that response, my presumption would be that he lost.

Regards,

Cublet

9 hours ago, the penguins said:

That would go down just great with our grandson's teachers in Dallas

Hello,

From somewhere I've picked-up the idea that English speakers of English cannot teach that in America to children under teen-age.

Fact or fiction?

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

When I ask for Prosecco on MSC, I get Prosecco - unlike on Royal Caribbean or Celebrity.

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

When it come to spelling and grammar, my biggest surprise and disappointment was on Cunard's QV. The printed dining room menu had Lamb Curry and Poppadom's.

(Sigh.)

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

I'm with Ernest Hemingway: One Martini is enough, two Martinis are too many, three Martinis are not enough.

Regards.

Cublet

11 hours ago, RTShaker said:

Your interpretation of supplement is flawed. That has always been one of my pet peeves when people discuss this. OP specifically stated 150% supplement. That intimates a fare plus an additional  150%.   A supplement is an amount in addition to the originally set price, so his assessment of a 150% supplement is correct. The charge is 250% of the original fare. If  the charges were 200% of the fare it would be a 100% supplement.

Hello,

This is another case of two countries divided by a common language. The Royal Group seems to be of the view that a 'supplement' is a multiplier not an additive unlike the rest of us.

Regards,

Cublet

2 hours ago, little britain said:

I have 

1. Chandon

 2. Chandon

3. Red Zinfandel 

 

I emailed to confirm that I would get #1 on my recent 5n cruise; received email confirmation that it would be…. And of course we received #3 !!! 🤔🤷‍♀️

Hello,

I hope you shared them!

Regards,

Cublet

34 minutes ago, twangster said:

<Humongous snip> 

 

This is the problem when a company doesn't invest in modern IT.

Hello,

This appears to be the case particularly when the CEO or COO is a bean counter who, armed with a spreadsheet, cannot see the need for anything more sophisticated.

Regards,

Cublet 

On 3/3/2024 at 6:27 PM, island lady said:

 

Of course.  It's still a cruise same as any other, but we only had to pay taxes and port fees for cruise fare.   Plus dinners in CK and breakfast in Chops and my favorite....free unlimited WIFI.  🙂 

Hello,

Thank you for your assurance.

However looking how things seem to be going with our grasping penny-pinching new CEO, I would not have been surprised if these benefits, and any others, had been removed.

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

When I came to book 2025 Indy out of Southampton, the DP340 Single Special prices had not been loaded so someone had to work them out manually. Being in possession of a (misplaced) sense of helpfulness, I worked out the SS price and forwarded it. But the agent ignored it and worked it out herself. She divided the couple's price by two and that was my SS price. There really is no hope for some people.

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

Do Pins on their 'free' Pin cruise still get their (1) Free 6 dinks per day, and (2) their three free 'amenities' (aka bottles of wine)?

It wouldn't surprise me either way.

Regards,

Cublet

24 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I just did several mock bookings for November. For a 7 day cruise on Icon out of Port Miami in November, it is $6,970.68 for an ocean view balcony. On Oceania Marina, a 10 day cruise in November out of Port Miami is $7,198 for an ocean view balcony. I like RCI, but it doesn’t compare to Oceania, especially when the price per day is actually cheaper on numerous Oceania cruises. Why someone would pay the current Icon prices still baffles me. It’s like these passengers are paying BMW or Mercedes prices for a Honda or Toyota. 

Hello,

This is horrendously off-topic, but is a response to your posting.

A certain UK television motoring programme stripped a car of all its identifying marks, or marques, stuck it in a town centre parking-lot and asked people to decide what it was.

The vast majority said it was a BMW.

It was a Honda: And I have driven them for over 20 years and the only thing that stopped me last year is that they no longer have a saloon (or sedan - as you call them).

Regards,

Cublet

9 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

That sounds awesome how personalized the cruise was. I really don’t understand Royal’s pricing, especially when cruises are priced higher than Celebrity. No staff on Royal talks to us unless it’s about giving a 10/10 on the survey. 

Hello,

Royal is now run by an accountant. His principle seems to be to charge as much as he can get away with. MSC is effectively family owned and run - it *MAY* be being subsidised by the container operations but I have no way of knowing.

Regards,

Cublet

47 minutes ago, RavenCruiser said:

I recently booked a Mediterranean cruise on MSC/YC, (Divina), which will be my first MSC cruise as well as first non-Caribbean cruise.  Previous cruises were on RC/Carnival/NCL.  Cruise is from May 17-24 and the port calls are Mykonos, Santorini (Greece), Izmir Turkey, and Naples.  I checked the MSC site for available excursions and only saw three to five for each port.  All of my prior cruises had a fairly large number of excursion options.  Can I expect that more options will become available or is this something to expect with either MSC or those ports? 

 

Thanks for your help.

Hello,

My experience is that Royal *APPEARED* to have lots of different excursions at the ports of call. However if you read the various texts word for word, you would find that you went to all the same sites but in a different order on one excursion compared to another. OK, there was some slight difference in the verbiage but the substance was the same.

Yes/maybe some more excursions may be posted closer to sailing date.

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

I remember on one cruise, the passenger in font of me at security post shore trip had his bottle of something inspected by the security lady. She asked what it was, the passenger replied (and I cannot remember what he said). The security lady turned to her colleagues and asked 'do we sell this in any of the bars'  and when she got the answer 'no' she handed the bottle back to the passenger.

Whether that is the determining criterion I don't know but it's not unreasonable.

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

Many years ago I was on Constellation for what was called an "Extensive Wine and Food Cruise" out of Southampton - covering France, Spain and Portugal.

We were allowed to bring on board two bottles of local wine from each of our ports of call for consumption on board including MDR without corkage.

Regards,

Cublet

18 hours ago, islandchicklet said:

Yeah, I hate calling but I guess I have no choice.  And of course, I will have to call 12 times to get 2 answers that seem similar.

 

THANKS for your input!

Hello,

And that's exactly why I use a TA - let him have all the aggravation.

Regards,

Cublet.

4 hours ago, little britain said:

A bit out of sequence- last night’s show was Showgirls. I’m not sure if it is the same as the version on Odyssey, but it was similar. Lots of lovely leggy ladies and feathers!

 

We don’t think Spectrum has a live orchestra 🤷‍♀️? There was certainly no sign of one at the show, no mention of one when Bonnie (CD) came on at the end to thank lighting engineers etc etc; and no band at the Top Tier event.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello,

I don't want to show my age (you'll have to cut-off one of my legs and count the rings to do that), but this looks very much like 'Bill Cotton's Band Show' and 'The Television Toppers' dance troupe!

Regards,

Cublet

2 hours ago, little britain said:

Today we are in Penang. A gorgeous place. You dock right in town. 
Full of beautiful shophouses and a new street art trail

shophouses

 

 

streetart

 

 

After 10,000 steps we ended at the E&O for lunch.

Hello,

It looks like Bristol's Banksy gets everywhere:

I've been following your travels - are you setting out to be a tax exile with all the time away you're having?

Regards,

Cublet

Hello,

I'm sure most of the complainers are either American or used (exclusively) to American cruise lines. MSC is, sort of, Italian (too complicated to go into).

There are several things that are different but are raised time and time again on this forum - proof, if any was needed, that not many read these pages before they post. On my last Virtuosa cruise I sat next, or close to, an American complaining there was no 'Lobster night' or 'Filet Mignon' night - neither are 'big' in Italy. There is also no dishwater masquerading as 'coffee' or something called 'half and half' to disguise the vile liquid further. As most milk is 'foamed' in Italy before it is put in coffee, I don't know how 'half and half' would fare when subjected to a steam wand. Don't get me started on 'wash cloths' either - they must be important to many as three threads on their availability were running here concurrently a couple of months ago. Don't ask for a 'Pepperoni' or 'Hawaiian' pizza unless you want to be laughed/snarled at as they are not 'Italian'. A 'positive' for me, is when I ask either for Champagne or Prosecco on MSC that's what I get; on Royal or Celebrity I am initially served some sparkling swill that I reject, quite forcefully, every time.

On the subject of 'manners', I think that few of the complainers will have visited Italy itself either. If they had, they would have discovered the Italians (and Spanish) to not embellish their speech with 'please' or 'thank you' as much as we Brits and Americans always do - it is not 'ignorance', it's just the way the language is - one 'bene' (or 'vale') might be all you get.

Regards,

Cublet

On 2/4/2024 at 12:17 PM, Mark_T said:

That would be a 'no'..

 

"13.1 Alcoholic drinks, including wines, spirits, beer or other liqueurs are available for purchase onboard the Vessel at fixed prices. Passengers are not permitted to bring onboard any such drinks for use during the voyage, whether for consumption in their own cabins or otherwise. ".

Hello,

The ban is wider than just alcohol:

5 hours ago, SeaNStars4Me said:

I'm going SOLO on MSC in April. If I buy a Drink Pkg. it says "Per Adult" for the price. Same for internet access and spa services. Does anyone know if it would just charge me for *1* or would it automatically charge for 2 people (double the price) since prices quoted are typically based on double occupancy. I'll probably call MSC to ask but just wanted to see if anyone here knew or had this experience. Thanks!  

Hello,

You would only be charged for one.

However that isn't the best way to do it, though a bit late for now - but remember in future. Today, 04/02/24, the cost of purchasing the Premium Plus DP post booking is £704 for the 11night 12th April Euribia sailing. If I was to book the same sailing today AND select the 'with drinks' option price that would only cost an extra £580 over the 'cruise only' price - and that includes gratuities of approx £114 for this cruise bringing the DP price down to £466.

Regards,

Cublet