CruiseScrooge

After getting bounced around a bit and waiting for a call back the final answer is no i can't change or downgrade. They said if i did it 30+ days before sail it could be done. My fault. I will not take a cruise again without getting cancel insurance unless it is super cheap.

I have the easy plus drink package on one cruise and was wondering if i can cancel it? I booked directly with MSC. Should i tell them i'm not going on the cruises? No, i didn't buy any cancel your cruise insurance.

For the folks from Canada here who are driving in have you heard of Yankee Trails bus company and their shuttle bus to the port from Albany/Rensselear ny? Free parking at their HQ and free wifi. $120 round trip pp. I've used them before and they are great.

MSC doesn't have a good track record with keeping all the beers and booze they list on hand. Don't be surprised if the brand you want isn't available even on the first day. Same goes with things like olives, lemon peel, limes, etc... What brand do they use for the well drinks in the easy package? I'm pretty sure they use the cheapest they have at the time. My only YC cruise even had a few so sorry we don't have it replies from the crew. MSC cuts corners in many places but they are the cheapest and that is #1 for me.

There are countless reasons a embarkment or disembarkment can be a disaster. Yes i have been in some bad ones and easily was over 3 hours several times. You can have a bad time anywhere. Airport,traffic jam, bus and train station, etc... If you can't or won't do a 3 hour wait don't go. And many bad events can be no fault of the cruise line. Bad weather, surprise inspection by customs on the ship and crew,

Since covid the Usa cruises i have been on in the MDR the staff often was placing unopened 1 liter bottled water on the tables because they were under staffed. On a formal night there was a worker almost certainly not a waiter zig zaging through the tables dropping off the little 12 ounce bottles all through service. We asked for ice for the room temp water and the confused look on the person's face let us know we wouldn't get any.

the YC inside cabins on Meraviglia with 2 locked doors and a very short hallway to only your cabin are *****. Here's a example. You order room service in a regular cabin and when the crew knocks on the door you open it and take the items. In the cabins with the private hallway the crew knocks on the outside locked door or they call and say they are there and when you open the door directly at your cabin without having your keycard and walk the 10 feet to the second locked door you are now locked out of your room. Meraviglia 15005

a google search should find you the channel listings on a different cruise ships news website. tvpassport.com is one tv schedule website that has espn caribbean schedule if you are into sports.

Many people travel solo or just two people who want to share the table and meet others. It would be a nightmare for passengers and crew if everyone had to have the same package.

On the newer ships aren't the wall mounted interactive screens in main areas for stuff like buying tickets to a dinner show have the menus a day or two in advance? And on older ships they are posted at the restaurants entrances?

The iced tea from the dispensers is not sweetened but of course there is sugar packets available. The lemonade is horrible imho. There are several types/brands of the artificial sweeteners. You could always try to make hot or cold tea with the about 10 flavors of tea bags they have and i think hot chocolate too. Low fat, chocolate and regular milk in available in pints during breakfast but they kinda half hide it. lol. Take some to put in your fridge. Rotating flavors available during the day include mango, strawberry-kiwi, apple juice?,and orange juice sometimes when they are running low on the others. That is buffet. In the MDR i always get water and then coffee at dessert so i don't know about that.

The water was fine when i did a b2b in may. I saw one small turtle and 12 inch fish for a second and plenty of minnows and small fish at the closest beach.

Don't be crushed if on the first or second day the bars have already run out of stuff..

I was on the cruise immediately after the chartered Rock Jammin cruise in feb on the Divina. Rock Jamming is the latest kind of Grateful Dead smoke dope and get high music. The rumors and claims of how many people got arrested was from a few dozen to hundreds. The ship was trashed. We didn't get to see the Super Bowl because the audio and video systems were trashed. They even managed to break tiles in the swimming pools and pulled bolted things off the walls like pictures and letters saying aqua swimming pool. They broke so many swimming pool sun chairs if you weren't warned before hand to check it your bottom went through it on the first one. And the food in the halls by the cabins. They were still cleaning the halls after and picking up food off the floors[not on a plate] after sail time and a public bathroom or two were pretty nasty. Maybe i'm over reacting but i think it was lucky a food bug or covid didn't hit us. There must have been a build up of events and MSC should have been able to say "this stuff stops now" long before the cruise ended.

On MSC in the yacht club you can't ask to be seated with other people to meet fellow passengers. You can say you are Expecting mr and mrs Smith and Mary jones so you need a table for 4. But you can't say you'd be happy sharing your table with anyone since you are solo and don't want to eat alone. So sit by yourself or go the the main dining room.