ChattTenn

We read on MSC board many times for expenses on board (tips & other stuffs) you must register a credit card at the kiosk AFTER boarding.  On our 1st cruise on Divina we did just that it did not take that long to do it because there was staff at the machine to providing help if needed and will plan to do it again on our next cruise.  For anyone had cruised with MSC once should know this procedure is a NORM for this cruise line as MSC is very European.  We also know the kiosk would not accept a DEBIT card just regular credit card would do.

Happy cruising. 

The regular menu (non YC) seems much better than a year ago from Divina.  We will be on Meraviglia soon and hope the food would be as shown above.  Can't wait.

Hope you will enjoy MSC.   We will be on our 2nd MSC later this year.  Our 1st was on Divina last year with only 1900+ passengers it was very quiet, the food was very European due it was after the pandemic but believe it is better now.  We are the Elite with Princess and got status match on MSC also got one free dinner at Butcher's Cut - very nice.  MSC price is very good and with a free dinner it is better.  Can't wait.

We did a tour from London that included both places. 

Bath is famous because of the Roman Bath but not too much to see regarding the town (small).

Windsor Castle is very large and town surrounding is very small not too much to see.

Both places will require a good amount of walking.  For us I would choose Windsor over Bath because the castle has more things to see.  Our tour was on a large bus and it took us to the lower part of the town then walked through a section of town (I believe near a McDonald) then right to get ticket and entered the castle.  That tour included the Stateroom (very nice) and the Late Queen her dolls collection.  We went through St. George's Chapel on our own (just before leaving the castle).

Happy Cruising

46 minutes ago, CHAMPDDS said:

Fellow Chattanoogan here....Looking forward to my first MSC cruise

Hello - We are from East Brainerd area.

We are considering newbees with MSC the up coming cruise in December will be our 2nd time with them.  Our first was on October 2021 with Divina had only 1900+ passengers and was very quiet.  MSC status matched us (Black Card) and with a military discount MSC is not too expensive so we are giving it another try.  The food is very European and the service was wonderful.

Come on board with an open mind and hope you will like it.

On 9/12/2022 at 5:15 PM, iwtobek said:

Maybe a silly question, but: how do I know that their port arrival time changed?

(Still struggling with the MSC app and website. Highly confused.)

I went back MSC site to MODIFY passenger information and let them sending me another ticket then found out they changed the arrival time from 3PM to 10 AM!!.  It is a little early but it was the same on last year October due to the low passengers count they did not check the arrival time.

On 9/9/2022 at 9:58 PM, nemesees said:

GoPort would be ok but my MSC check in is at 3 pm and GoPort last shuttle is at 1pm. I’m trying to  see if they changed the hours.

 

You might need to go back MSC site (re-check in again) and it probably already changed your check in time.

With 85+ days to go we got 3PM check in time but a few days ago we got 10AM check in time (Black card status + Fantastica experience).  We will park in the garage for an easyearly to get away.

Good Luck

Thanks everyone for the advises.  We will wait and print the docs later on and hope with a new check in time.

We are Black Card members with MSC.  Our cruise won't be 80+ days away Fanstatica experience and but MSC assigned our  1500 check in time !!.  Is MSC always assigned that time for EVERYONE (not YC)??  Anyway can we change the boarding time?.  Any advise from the experts on this board?.

Our last cruise with MSC (first time with them) we got the same boarding time too but due to low passengers count (1900+ Divina) they did not enforce the check in time.

Thank you.

1 hour ago, nemesees said:

Thanks. I’m new to area and never sailed from PC. Would appreciate recommendations from those who have parked, which location as compared to others. Googling doesn’t give that personalized perspective.

If you live in Florida GoPort (https://www.goport.com) would be better idea and cheaper because you do not have to drive long to get home and had seen several youtube about this company.

We normally park at terminal parking garage ($136.00 per week) so we could get away sooner.  Lately all our cruises had been from PC because the convenience of it.

7 hours ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

There is coffee 24/7 in the Buffet on the Divina

 Things might change now but that how it was on our sailing on October 2021 the buffet did not open until 7AM and it was only place we could get coffee from.

Our first time with MSC was Bella experience (was able to pick a cabin then).  We were ok with it but upcoming cruise with MSC we will go with Fantastica because of this we are enable to pick a cabin/location.

Keep in mind the buffet on MSC might not open until 7 AM (Divina) if you need to have coffee earlier you might need to go with Fantastica so you can order room service.

For the price and MSC ship is beautiful.  

Have a good cruise

13 hours ago, gnome12 said:

@ChattTenn, can I ask what cruise line your second option is with?

Hello,

It is Royal Caribbean - Jewel of the Seas.  

Thank you HALLASM for the input.  We are leaning toward the cruise from Amsterdam too and hope to see Norway next year.  We had one cruise planned in 2020 but had to cancel due to Covid.

We had been in Olso on Baltic cruise but never have been to further north of Norway and trying to come up with a cruise that could capture the most of Norway fjord.  For some of the experts on this board which one of the two below has the most beautiful fjord.  Thank you for your input.

9 hours ago, kicia said:

We will be sailing on the Divina next Sunday and have a few questions.  We have sailed on MSC 

Which specialty restaurants are available for the Diamond tasting menu dinner?

 

What are the actual dining times for early and late seating?

 

Is regular water still provided free of charge in the dining rooms?  In the specialty restaurants?

 

Are there two formal nights on a 7 night itinerary?

 

Thank you!

 

 

The free dinner for status match was at Butcher's Cut on our cruise last year.

Our early dining was 5:30

Tap water was served (free) in the dining room.

There was only one DRESS YOUR BEST on a 7 days cruise.

Divina was our first with MSC and it was not too bad.

Happy cruising

Few years back before Crown Bay comes into the picture when they had too many ships in one day some can drop anchor in the bay then tender people to downtown Charlotte Amalie.  

We like St. Thomas too.

On 7/6/2021 at 10:15 AM, SisterHavana said:

When I was there a couple years ago, we stayed at The Square. Loved it. Excellent location- across from City Hall, a block or two from Tivoli, lots of shopping and restaurants nearby. 

We second to The Square and walked to it from the train station.  Very good location and very close to many tourist must see places.

10 hours ago, hallasm said:

‘Den gamle By’ is definitely worth a visit. Whether one can walk is an individual question. It is 1 mile from the harbor to ‘Den Gamle By’ - It is an easy stretch through Aarhus Latin Quarter and along the 'Aarhus  stream'. There are many cafes where you can get a refreshment on the way.

As I can recall there is a charge to enter to this place but it was not too far from the ship pier and very easy to do.  People lives in that area are extremely helpful too as a tourist (with a map on hand a give away signal) and asked if we needed help and showed us how to go in ENGLISH.  We had a wonderful memory from that place.

We had a cabin across the laundry room once and did not hear anything.  We got clothes washed when others were out or late at night.  In the old time it used to free to use the machines but not anymore.

Carnival and other lines hire a bunch of cheap labors and we (cruisers) are paying wages for their peoples and they call it as tips.  

Carnival cruise price is not cheap but they are trying to cheap out a lot of stuffs such as room one service per day (our cabin steward has 38 cabins to care for), food is down grade/cheap and portion is very small etc.  But the suggestion tip is getting up there with other lines which have a better service.

Peoples might jump on me for saying all this but after 10+ cruises with Carnival plus many more from other lines we can tell the different.

Congrats!!.  You will like a balcony cabin and hope it would be a good location.  

Happy birthday.

We did Rapid NAAT Test at Walgreen's for our 4/30 cruise and result came in less than 1 hour.  No question asked at the pier.

In Cozumel Mexican has had dogs to smell for fruits and illegal stuffs.  We had seen they took away those stuffs from cruise passengers before. 

South America (Chile/Argentina) they checked EACH passengers at the gang way.

We are as Americans we could afford to spend money on shore for snack.  

Enjoy the day.