Av8tor

Not doubting you, but I find it outrageous that insurance wouldn't make you whole for this.  Did MSC refund 100% of the cruise fare you paid plus give you 50% FCC?  Were you hoping insurance would cover the additional hotel, meals & travel expenses caused by the cancellation?

I'd think that would've somehow been covered.  The devil is in the details and policy fine print...

Wonder if you would have had better luck purchasing a policy on your own and not through MSC?

Ben & David thing???  My old grey matter is drawing a blank....🤔

7 hours ago, wgeddings said:

But there was a 15% “gratuity” added so it really cost $67.85.  The worker implied that she got none of that so where does it go?  This is not about tipping or not tipping, this is about being honest and open about pricing.  

 

 

 

Nice review, thanks.

Perhaps the spa employee said that hoping to get an "additional" tip?

No idea, but my experience is that scuba excursions are rapidly becoming a thing of the past on cruises.  Your husband is correct that the ship won't wait for any late self-excursions, not just scuba ones.  If the scuba provider offers dives for cruise passengers (some don't) and the port arrival time is early enough for the dives and departure is late enough to allow for a "safe" leeway, the dive operators are usually very good about getting you back to the ship in plenty of time.  Just be sure to confirm the dive shop's cancellation policy for missed port calls just in case the itinerary changes or the ship can't dock/tender.

I can see your point of view, but I disagree in your interpretation.  The passage you quoted is contained in an explaination of benefits given to Voyagers Club MEMBERS.  If somebody isn't a member, they don't get any of the benefits.  Seems simple to me and I think your reasoning is just wishful thinking...

You must be the only person sailing!!!  😁

Seriously, just start a new topic and create a roll call for your cruise. With only 2 weeks to go, you might not get many posts, but it's worth a try

1 hour ago, Homosassa said:

According to the T&C that everyone is quoting, there is a second condition to the notification process:

 

"To qualify for the future cruise credit or refund, you must notify the Company via telephone at 877-665-4655 within twenty-four (24) hours of receiving the test result and no later than noon on the date of embarkation and provide verification satisfactory to the Company of test results administered by providers other than those retained by the Carrier"

 

Besides the notification (your phone calls), did you also provide verification (documentation) of the test results from the doctor?

 

If you did not provide the acceptable verification of the test results before noon of embarkation, you did not meet all the conditions necessary to be given a FCC or refund.

 

 

With the verification part of the requirements coming after the word "and" in the passage you quoted above, I read that as a seperate item NOT related to the "no later than noon" portion.  If they wanted the noon requirement to apply to the call AND the verification, they should have put the noon specification at the very end.

I think the OP is in compliance with what the T&C require...

mu .02

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Well, we have had a change of plans. After pricing out flights to Miami for the week in question, it was just going to be too expensive. My husband refuses to fly anything but Business/First class and round trip flights were going to cost as much as the cruise itself. 

 

...have you considered back robbery??  😄

Not sure if you can do that directly. However, you can add that OBC to a casino machine and then close it out to get cold, hard cash to use for tips or just fatten your wallet!

Talk about thread creep - what started out as MSC sailing out of LA has evolved to the for now scrapped plans for a new cruise terminal in Seattle.  Not that I mind...it's good to keep up on developments in the cruising world!

2 hours ago, Stockjock said:

I also see MSC Magnifica in San Diego on Feb. 3rd, 2026.  But it's a one-time stop.  Could it be headed to Alaska?
https://www.cruisetimetables.com/san-diego-california-cruise-ship-schedule-2026.html

Might just be me, but I doubt there's much call for Alaska cruises in February...brrrrrr!

I only saw it from Oct/25 through Dec/25 with 7 day cruises so maybe Mexico or west coast cruises?

Could find nothing for any of those timeframes on MSC's website or any other site.

It'd be nice to see some departures on the other side of the country for a change.

While the DL & BC may be OK for the closed loop cruise itself, just keep in mind that, without a current PP, you could run into problems if that person has to fly back to the US for some reason (illness, injury or cruise interruption).

I agree.  I don't THINK there is a restriction on bringing flowers onto the ship, but there are prohibitions against taking them OFF the ship.  Once on board, they have to stay on board and must be disposed off by the cruiseline according to proper protocols to avoid possible infestations/contaminations to floral & fauna at following ports.

6 hours ago, petuniaflower said:

Thanks, msc kind of lists it as having one by saying all ships except..so I was confused.

I hadn't seen that, but in my explorations of Seascape, both on the deck plans and onboard, I didn't see any such thing...

No tennis court.  If you check the MSC website, they have deck plans for all the ships and you can explore as you desire

11 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

There were photo opportunities with the stars in the promenade! 

Cat Woman or just your plain ol' Dominatrix??   Inquiring minds want to know...

4 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

 

There is an outside chance to catch a SpaceX launch on 1/17.  I say outside chance because that will be a manned launch and the safety standards are probably much more stringent.
 

Manned flight safety standards are indeed more stringent, but that probably doesn't apply to the exclusion zone for personnel safety.  That's to protect those on the ground & sea from spacecraft debris, not the astronauts themselves inside the spacecraft, so it sould be the same restricted area for manned or unmanned flights...

5 hours ago, GACruiseDad said:

 

 

I tried contacting my travel agency and they basically dismissed my concern and said MSC wouldn't over allocate a cabin because it was done by a computer and computers don't make mistakes...

 

 

I'd  be looking for a new travel agency!!!!

Nice review, but from its title I was wondering when Seashore started sailing from New York! 😲

Now I get that it was New Years...

6 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Day 9 Ocean Cay.  We had 2 excursions shipwreck snorkel plus wave runners both of which unfortunately were canceled for wind. We took the golf cart over to YC and staked some chairs on the grass.  It's a little cloudy and windy but beautiful.  We have already seen 7 groups of interlopers tossed!  I was looking forward to this as a bucket list item.

Looking forward to OC or watching interlopers get tossed?  😁

7 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Slowly other points were brought up about MSC. I said something (don't remember what) and it triggered this response from the Captain. " MSC had 200 groundings last year of its container ships and no one has heard a thing about them, but just one incident of its cruise department is all over the news."

200 groundings in one year 😲  sounds like they need better container ship captains!!

I've read that YC butler service CAN be a bit slow/lacking if your cabin is outside the enclave, Just something to consider....

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

 Getting off just to walk around and search for a bottle of aloe vera $9.99 for sun burn at Havensight Mall the security officer scanning my cruise card asked me for my "I95" (he was talking to a host getting off behind me). My guess is" I95" is referring to the interstate "Freeway" I95 running up the east coast. Perhaps "I95" is a permission slip to get off the ship ? 

 

  

The I95 is US CBP Crewman's Landing Permit

https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Mar/CBP Form I-95.pdf

Enjoying your review of Explora, just as I have all your other Poop Deck reviews

10 hours ago, dshroyer said:

Here is a quick analysis that I put together.  It shows various ships big and small.  And it calculates the “passengers per crew” metric.  The lower the number the better.  Much better to be on a ship where there are 2 crew members per passenger than 5 crew per passenger, right? 

i understand your concept of the passenger per crew metric, but I think your last sentence above is expressed backwards.  For "better" service I'd rather have 5 crew per pax than 2 crew per pax OR 2 pax  per crew  instead of 5 pax per crew...