CruiseScrooge

I had to stop cruising for several years but it was almost always possible to watch the port employees load the cargo especially if you were on a b2b. Or see the food company tractor trailers if you got lost and drove around. My brain fart mind seems to think most of the foodstuff was Sysco.

Unless free has changed since covid the cruise lines on every ship i have been have a few free sites. They will be the cruise line's official site in case you want to book another cruise or excursion or contact the home office etc... One or two news national or international sites with a page or two of news and a weather forecast for that area of the world. 

Sometimes you might get lucky and something like Google works for part of the day and you can do a inprivate/incognito page to get somewhere.

If not does playing the amount of the credit on slots and tables and cashing out at that point work?

I'm guessing it gets asked often but i couldn't find anything.

I have spent $0 and even made money by finding coins in the casino. My weakness was the tiny newspaper stand in Nassau in the little park by the port. I'd buy 2-3 papers local and international and read them on the quiet empty ship with no lines at the food stations. 

To be fair i imagine many languages spoken by passengers on MSC helps screw things up. Years ago on my only costa cruise and was out of italy i was with 2 others. At our muster there was about 50 passengers and everyone else was yelling at us soon after the crew started talking. passengers were moving around like ants on a birthday cake and yelling at us no matter what we did or didn't do for several minutes. They were lining everyone up by height for a photo. Funny now but i still wonder why no crew or passenger thought about trying to yell at us in anything except italian.

I didn't read every post.

I was on the final voyage of the Carnival Holiday. We ran out of some foods the day after the cruise started like the buffet chicken and french fries. Passengers did things like pull the meat out of 2-3 premade deli sandwiches when the crew started to skimp to make one and leave the veggies and bread on the buffet. The bartenders did not give out free drinks. I saw bartenders and crew packing in boxes 1/3 filled booze bottles the final evening. *****? They were packing all the silverware and dinnerware and even the table linen. The tables and chairs were even stacked in the dining room. The video arcade games weren't reset from their one hour free play on the first day and that was fun. Many passengers didn't know it was the final cruise. The shops had discounts but not super duper deals imho. Many of the crew started to show tired or bored faces. One crewmember said they had to stay onboard for a week working and since there wouldn't be any passengers to get tips from they were working for nothing.  

Don't go on a final cruise if having something like milk the entire time or your favorite buffet item is darn important.

I renewed my driver's license last month and the clerk asked if i wanted the real id. I said sure and they replied i had to have my raised stamp birth certificate and bills in my name at my address. 

When i asked if i could bring in my passport the clerk said don't bother getting the real id unless you really want to because the passport is a duplicate id and even better in many ways.

38 minutes ago, Morgsmom said:

Diamond does NOT have late disembarkation privileges.  In the US you must be out of your cabin by 7:30 or 8:00 and off the ship by 9:30.  They will ask you to wait in a "holding pen" in a lounge which is quite boring.  In  Europe it can vary as they embark and disembark from many ports of call so there is more flexibility.  In the US the ship has to go to ZERO count so that they can start the next cruise.

 

Years ago i did the wait until the crew yells get off the *&%^%$ ship. As we passengers moved through

the corridors in port Miami  the port people closed the fire or security doors behind us as soon as our last group inched passed each one.  There was a surprise port authority inspection and we were there a long time. everyone stacked luggage on top of stranger's luggage as high as possible so some people  had room to sit on luggage  or the floor. There wasn't room for everyone to sit even after moving things around and it was pretty warm.

Never again will i be in the last group if possible and i sure as heck won't goof around like i did and be at the end.

I'm in the USA and can get into the website but can't do a fake booking. The UK site is dead for me. 

Agree with the idea something is going on. The USA labor day sales were supposed to end today iirc.

The cruises are on MSC in about 2 weeks but i'm choosing not to go. I booked over the phone but the call dropped before giving my credit card. 

They haven't contacted me in the 50+ days since i booked. Msc has the one time cruise date change policy. What should i do? Call them and explain the situation?

Sit back and see what happens? Any other ideas?

MSC website is better than it was but it can still be awful. I have had those things happen to me. I took my first MSC cruise years ago and i don't remember if i booked online or over the phone with MSC. In my info the wrong sex was chosen and they have never changed it and i ask them to every time i call.

I'd call them.

I stopped cruising to do elder care way before covid. I loved MSC out of miami and have a cruise coming soon but i'm tempted to try the one time MSC change or cancel and take the loss. I'm bella solo inside and thinking the cruise might be more chore than fun. 

6 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

even if CCL is sailing full how many of those pax are booked with these super cheap rates?

I don't think you cruise solo. The fares and deals for solo passengers are worse than before covid.

Did you ask more than one crew member? Maybe the staff member told a white lie to get out of extra work. 

Before covid we had a new busser who didn't know what a screwdriver or bloody mary was. The waiter was

Thanks for the replies. I'd sail out of florida to the carribean. I don't care about sports bars unless they get channels the other tvs dont. I was wondering more if the Onward would carry a national feed of CBS, FOX,ABC,NBC, ESPN etc and what city they would come out of. I stopped cruising 6 years ago and even back then it seems the cruise lines were dropping the national feeds of the networks i mentioned. The feeds were and still are free for home viewing in whatever legal mombo jumbo they use and i'm guessing even if they say a cruise line using it is a commercial license i'm guessing it shouldn't be all that much money. I guess i should have been happy years ago getting a feed out of Denver instead of b-itching because it wasn't NYC.

I'm getting back into cruising going solo after doing elder care for years. Looking to do my first cruise that isn't the cheapest i can find. Would AZ cruises in the fall and winter have MLB, NFL, and college football? And anyone know it the 2022 FIFA World Cup football/soccer will be available? 

Call the single cruise companies and ask your questions. Some companies and agents are very open about how many people have already booked and whatever questions you may have.

Have you considered bringing a apple or apple juice flavored instant powder? I'm a pomegranate addict

and get my good enough fix with it.

ncl Epic has the studio lounge that is meant to be private for solos but people pretty much prop the door open. When they were introducing the cabins they said it was also another option for a second cabin.

It has been years since i have cruised because i was doing elder care but iirc there were solo only activities on our daily activities sheets. This is way before Covid. 

If i understand JT1962 correctly you were on Carnival and the channel lineup was worse than MSC? Wow. What happened to 'usa' cruise lines having the national network feeds out of Denver? I'm not savvy when it comes to wifi, cell phones, laptops etc... but it seems to me the cruise lines want us to buy a wifi package that probably sucks at streaming or even blocks it. Send a email to grandma with one pic attached-sure. Spend 12 hours streaming live sports on a saturday is hahahahahaha 

Thanks for the replies. Things haven't changed it sounds like. Darn MSC, they do so many things well but nickel and dime at this. 

I will cruise again after taking a half dozen years off doing elder care. I go solo and basically eat, drink, and watch sports on tv during the fall and winter. Has MSC

improved their tv channel selections or it still european feeds almost useless for someone wanting to watch NFL ,MLB, and college hand-egg footy ball?

MSC Meraviglia in march 7 nights

$257 plus $150 port charge. fantastica class, easy + drinks, wifi package, outside high up mid ship cabin i picked

$50 onboard credit

being a past passenger helped

msc did massive screwups reservation wise dumping people who booked long ago into gty just before i booked.

i won't be surprised or unhappy if they move me to a lousy cabin since i may have unknowingly taken someone's cabin.

i'd love to be offered a deal to downgrade to inside.

i booked my first cruise in 6 years on the mera sunday for a march 7-day cruise. i think i got a awesome deal. tuesday i booked a 7-day for january and it is a good deal but not awesome and prices and deals have already gotten worse in a few days. it is weird i was able to pick what cabins i wanted for the two cruises and if i understand the timeline already assigned cabins were getting slammed over to gty.

oh. and my answer was for the divina out of miami. there was also cheese, cold meat, bread, fruit such as grapes and crackers to make a snack plate.