pmacher61

I recently disembarked a 26 night TA aboard the Fascinosa. I was in a Samsara cabin which is a "premium" class aboard the Fascinosa ( and presumably others in the fleet). The designated restaurant for Samsara cabin guests was very good - a separate small menu with heavy emphasis on fish. There was open seating which makes a world of difference even on a TA. The MDR menu was available if one wanted to order from it, however the MDR quality was not good.

I really love MSC except for - clueless office people, horrible pre cruise lack of info, bad groups dept and the fact no two people can say the same thing there....LOL

 

So back to MSC finally got pretty good deal I think going to St Martin, San Juan and Great stirrup caye ~

Are you still allowed to post that commercial link at the bottom of all your posts? Isn´t that a conflict with CC regs? Are you still earning bennies for organiazing groups aboard MSC?

Food is subjective. So is pain. However, when someone pours burning alcohol on an open wound most in their right mind would feel intense pain. Likewise with MSC food. It is lousy subjectively and objectively. I am willing to bet MSC spends less on food than any other mass market line.

Now please attack.

Ask if they have insurance...in case their (mis)conduct should cause you damage or injury.

http://ambito.com/

Black market exchange rate of pesos for USD is dropping as govt control over USD purchases has been eliminated. Was 13. Now 10.

Could you tell us what you liked about your cruise. The focus has been only on the negative side. Thanks

Did you read the review? I thought I commented that the decor was handsome and the entertainment good.

What a bunch of intellectually challenged fools you flamers are.

p.s. The Infinity is excellent and the price is not very different than that of MSC.

Wow, the poor waiter had just arrived from Indonesia which is probably a 20 hour flight, he went straight to work and he didn't provide you with the service to which you are accustomed? You sound like one of those people who get annoyed if someone jumps off a bridge during rush hour and you experience a delay.

The waiter didn´t appear tired. He did not speak either English or Spanish. He was unattentive and inept. Dining room mgmt was poor. My tablemates all concurred. Sorry if I sound critical...I thought this was cruise critic.

p.s.

Trust me ...I have cruised quite a bit . I will be at sea for 68 of the next 94 days. I understand when a waiter is tired vs when one is inept. You can flame me all you want. It is what to expect from the MSC cruisers when someone makes negative remarks about the line. It is laughable.

Sir, your review is just that, "sour", and might I add, "half empty", and petty. Yes, the pillows have been lumpy, and ice delivery slow, an occaisonal meal not perfect, some staff new to the English language; but on which cruise line do you find perfection, especially at MSC's price point. As for children, yes, be forwarned that "kids sail free". I have sailed Poesia on three occaisons and found the experience, while not perfect, to be an excellent value, and for that matter, above average when compared to other value cruise lines. Perhaps you should sail Regent, Seabourn, Crystal or Cunard.

The price point for those first 3 lines you mention is much higher than MSC´s, but other mass market lines have better value in MY opinion based upon MY personal cruise experience.

Try reading my review. it was not an occasional meal that was poor. All food offerings were poor . Service was horrible in any language.

I find it difficult to believe CC published something so ridiculous.

This is a ridiculous comment. What part of my review was ´ridiculous?¨Was it the part where I said the sauce for the rissoto and the meat was identical?

With the first two lines of your ridiculous rant, "I confess. I disliked immensely my previous cruise aboard an MSC ship", you blew your credibility – it's obvious that you had an axe to grind.

 

The only thing you left out was whining about the salad forks not being chilled.

This makes no sense. I was candid. I had no axe to grind. What do you think of MSC food?

9 deluded cheerleaders and counting...... ;)

Exactly.

p.s The food and service aboard the Infinity are fabulous.

Why bother?

 

That is correct. If you go to war, then go to war to win, take territory and then return it to those who helped us/whom we were defending or believe in our way of life (isn't that what you want?). And hope like heck we stayed long enough to see it through and do some REAL good.

Again, you fail to appreciate that the original post was to advise cruisers so that they would not be lulled into thinking they could exercise freedom of expression in the UAE. If your "why bother" is reference to that, the answer is simple - because this is Cruisecritic where cruisers get advice about cruising.

If the "why bother" is in reference to why initiate a war to bring about regime change and then not pursue that war, then the answer is: We shouldn't have begun the aggression in the first place so stopping it is the right thing. Better late than never.

You have misunderstood my words. I never said we should start a war to enforce our mores. My country, right or wrong is an obviously ludicrous philosophy, just as the US incursion in Vietnam was a tragic error and against the desire of the overwhelming majority of Vietnamese. Has your association with the military caused you to maintain otherwise? I didn't think that mentality survived.

p.s. I'm boarding the Infinity for 28 nights so will not be replying to your subsequent posts although chances are I wouldn't bother in any case.

The US public does not have the stomach for a long, drawn out war any place in the world. So the political forces control the military forces and we end up generally with something WORSE than where we started. So preaching about other countries culture, prohibitions and punishments does absolutely no good unless the US is going to finish their business to change countries and wipe out injustices. And that hasn't happened since WWII when the US actually had some backbone.

You fail to distinguish between (1) pointing out the unjust mores of a foreign place and (2) dropping bombs to nation build. That's a rather significant distinction you utterly fail to grasp.

Moreover, your take on the Vietnam war is revealing. "Finish business"...you have to be kidding. "We have to destroy the village to save it" - is that it?

I inferred you were arrogant by continuously mentioning the US laws and constitution as an argument against the laws and customs of an entirely different country. Questioning the morals and ethics or rights and wrongs of other cultures can be noble, assuming they should be the same as you based on your own beliefs is arrogant.

Let me see if I now understand your thinking...questioning the mores and ethics of some societies can be noble, but assuming they should be the same as "mine" is arrogant.

Firstly, I didn't assume anything. I stated that I am not an ethical relativist. Accordingly, I believe certain social mores are good and certain mores are bad. I believe freedom of speech, freedom to criticize an idea or one's government is good. I believe incarcerating citizens/visitors for such expression is bad. I like the freedoms enumerated in the US constitution as well as those implied in the AU constitution. I don't like stoning to death adulterers, executing blasphemers, jailing critics of government or society. No assumptions.

Moreover, as you can tell, I think it is one's duty to try to act ethically and to be a force in getting others to do so, too. I am passionate about that when I see injustice and oppression. Among other things, it's the rent we have to pay for occupying this world.

And that is why I said we don't have a freedom of speech law "per se". We may have an inferred one when questioned in a court case but we don't have a written in stone constitution like the US does, and as a result most Australians don't believe they can walk around saying whatever they like and be protected by "freedom of speech".

I lived in Sydney for about a year, 10 years ago. I thought it was an open and free society. If the freedom of expression arises because judges have extracted it from the constitution by implication, it makes little difference than if it were explicit as in the US constitution. The result is the same.

Now, of course, I don't know exactly where you walk around, but I believe most Australians ( certainly the ones I met and knew near Government House in Kiribilli)) never felt at all shy about criticizing the Prime Minister or anyone else in government...unlike the more repressed souls who reside in UAE.

Short , but ...sour: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=246817

I think that if you're going someplace that's even a bit out of the norm (i.e. not Europe or Australia, but places like Asia, Africa, Middle East), you need to do some research. If someone goes to Jordan expecting to act like they do in Oregon, they deserve the punishment for any stupid acts they do.

 

And that's considering that Jordan is pretty liberal by Arab World standards!

I agree that doing research is fine, but generally speaking, the average cruiser doesn't research freedom of speech laws or other restrictions on civil rights of the various jurisdictions on the itinerary (ergo my post).

I don't agree that Oregonian cruisers going to Jordan deserve the punishment they get for doing "stupid" acts without further qualifying what the "stupid" act is. Wearing a short skirt, kissing in public, unmarrieds sharing a hotel room, manifestation of homosexuality, or even just carrying a bible into Saudi Arabia might land one in jail in the KSA, UAE, or Malaysia, but I would not consider anyone committing those acts necessarily stupid, just ignorant.

Ahh, see there's that arrogance again. The USA is but one country in this big vast world of ours, your laws and constitution are not universal. And I'll point out as you said "your" constitution, not the UAE's or even Australia's, which incedently doesn't have freedom of speech laws per se as you assumed we did.

What you call arrogance I regard as the desirable absence of ethical relativism. Yes, indeed, I think that often in human affairs, there is a right and there is a wrong - not everything is or should be relative. Stoning adulterers or executing blasphemers may be the law in some jurisdictions, but I regard such practices as evil. That you think me arrogant for taking an ethical position demonstrates how fearful you, and many others, are of being perceived as racist or Islamophobic or whatever just for taking a stand against immoral conduct or governance.

Moreover, I cited the US Constitution simply to rebut your implied charge that my "opinion" on the right of freedom of speech was uninformed or illogical.

p.s. To the extent it is relevant that AU has or doesn't have freedom of speech I do believe Australia's constitution as been interpreted as containing an implied freedom of speech clearly with respect to comments about government and pretty much across the board ( some ill conceived hate speech laws notwithstanding).

http://books.google.com.ar/books/about/Freedom_of_Speech_in_Australian_Law.html?id=immbAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y

http://books.google.com.ar/books?id=dLuKIO_H8iQC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=freedom+of+speech+in+australian+law+a+delicate+plant&source=bl&ots=SvjPfiGGIL&sig=vYAwP_kFJScJcHaeG-8MsLvzAQk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=913IUv77MbawsASgyYCADg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=freedom%20of%20speech%20in%20australian%20law%20a%20delicate%20plant&f=false (see esp ftnote 95).

Well as you say, you're entitled to your opinion....

Yep, me and the founding fathers, authors of our constitution.

Are bermuda shorts considered proper attire in museums, Corcovado, Sugar loaf mountain and other tourist attractions in Rio?

Yes.

Could someone please tell me if there is a dress code for the tango show? Do most men wear sports coats?

 

Thanks:)

This depends on the weather. During the summer most don't wear a sports coat. During colder times a coat would not be out of place though I'm not sure most men wear one.

Your posts sound very arrogant I'm sorry to say. Different countries have different laws and rules to obey. You are a guest in that country and can't expect to be able to do just what you would do at home. If you don't feel like you should conform to those rules then don't visit that country. Just because in your opinion the laws are wrong and Neanderthal, doesn't mean the citizens on that country feel the same way.

You know what they say...you are entitled to your opinion, no matter how uninformed and illogical it may be.

p.s I don't believe I said one should be able to do whatever one wants just like at home. After all, I posted to warn that unsuspecting cruisers might not be aware that conduct okay at home might land them in jail in the UAE. It wasn't about choosing to disobey the law, it was about knowing what the law is.

p.p.s. And yes, I do believe that such restrictions on free speech as exist in the UAE are Neanderthal and unethical, but that's just me.

The "$" symbol is used for the Brazilian real as well as the US dollar. Make sure which was being referred to in any information you saw.

From GIG to Ipanema should be about R$60 in moderate traffic, iirc. The Sheraton is quite a bit beyond that, so R$90 seems reasonable.

The Sheraton in Leblon/Sao Conrado is only about R$5-10 by cab fare past Ipanema.

The title of this thread definitely makes it sound like some official advisory...

UAE is definitely safe if you aren't stupid. Boring, but safe. ;)

If you're stupid, it can bite you in the ass, whether you are in UAE, Pakistan, France, Australia, wherever.

The purpose of the original post was to bring home the fact that conduct which we, in western democracies, regard as perfectly acceptable may lead to imprisonment in the UAE. If the heading made it seem as an official, i.e., government, travel advisory (unintentional) I apologize (if one is even needed) for the choice of ambiguous language, but not for posting the warning.

p.s. Even intelligent travelers can be ignorant of the civil rights laws of a foreign country, especially when those civil rights are so very different than the rights afforded to residents of the countries they come from.

p.p.s. Yes, if you act "stupidly", you may get in trouble in any place, but with respect to simple freedom of speech (the subject of this post) do you really believe the laws of France and Australia are not vastly different than those of the UAE and Pakistan.

if the shoe fits....

Are there usually yellow metered cabs outside hotels such as the Sheraton in Leblon and the Windsor Atlantica.

I believe that, technically, the Sheraton is actually situated in Sao Conrado, adjacent to Leblon. It's on a rather isolated section of the main drag (Av Niemayer) and there will usually be cabs readily available, either waiting in the parking lot outside the front entrance or hailed by a doorman from those passing on Niemayer. The waiting ones may be premium cabs that will charge higher rates. The Sheraton also has a free bus that makes frequent runs into the zona sul strip ( Leblon Ipanema Copacabana, Leme).

The Windsor is located on the strip (Av Atlantica) so it is very easy to hail a cab day or night. Cabs in Rio are safe, plentiful, and relatively inexpensive (with the R$ at 2.35 to the USD).

pmacher61 - What about Uruguay and Chile?

You mention that Argentina is a special case. Does that mean that you would recommend ATMs and local currencies in neighboring Uruguay and Chile? (Given an overall preference for convenience and low risk)

ATMs in Uruguay not only dispense Uruguayan pesos, but also dispense USD if you have a USD account tied to the card. There is no black market and if one needs Uruguay pesos, an ATM is a good way to go. ATMs generally give a good rate of exchange (now that the settlement of the class action law suits against the card issuers have required them to disclose fees etc). I have not been to Chile in a while, but I believe there is no black market for USD. The only black market is in Arg.

p.s. Go Niners.