GrandyMandy

7 hours ago, kernow said:

We purchased the Silver with cruise cover and excess waiver. The only difference between them was the amount covered for cancellation, Silver is £2000pp. Medical and repatriation is the same for all levels (£15 million if I remember correctly).

Thank you.

On 4/11/2021 at 1:42 PM, kernow said:

Not sure what you are saying. The Cover for You insurance covers Covid both before and during the cruise. For our 4 night cruise it cost us £14.

Hi !

Did you purchase the Bronze or Silver package ? We are on the 24/05 4 day sailing and really just want one that covers MSC requirements !

Regards,

Mandy

Magnifica is not coming to the UK and all her cruises are cancelled. She is being replaced by Virtuosa on 3/4 day cruising with 7 day ones in June around the UK.

So, there you have it ! 

A helpful discussion and great information .

Thank you.

Mandy

PS. There is a great MSC info. site on Facebook, which has a lot of POSITIVE MSC pax who are more than happy to help out with questions and give reviews. 

3 hours ago, Preziosa said:

Hello Mandy

see you on Grandiosa the 10 th of november. We are a couple from Denmark.

 Og du ogsa !

4 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

I think you trying to save in the wrong area, you are spending €€€000 on a cruise and trying to save about €25.

 

Taxi cost from Hamburg Airport to cruise terminal is about €42.50.

 

The problem with S-Bahn, could be travelling in the rush hour, trains full, changing trains having to use stairs to get to other platform.

 

Why the stress you are on holiday, taxi cost is 3 cocktails.🍹

 

Here you can check yourself the taxi cost:

 

https://www.hamburg.de/taxirechner/

Viele danke, aber mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut !

On a Sunday at 11.00 am, I don't think that there will be too much of a rush hour or full trains plus one change. However, it is good to have the information and to be able to make choices.

Grusse,  Mandy

14 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Yes, it is very simple, usually the S-Bahn (you have to change at the main railway station) is at the opposite track. Actually your options are very limits, all kinds of UBER services are illegal in Germany and the airport is very, very far away from the cruise center which is in the middle of nowhere where most locals have never been in their lifes. Taxi for the whole trip will be hell expensive.

 

S-Bahn combined with this hansetix is the best bet I guess, I never heard of free MSC shuttles from the main railway station and I highly doubt this. But I don´t know.

Salamat !

Terimah Kasii.

It appears that the S- Bahn to Veddel and then the 2.50 Euro shuttle to Steinwerder is the most inexpensive way. The latter isn't laid on by MSC.

Regards,

Mandy

1 hour ago, monsterl said:

You can use the "S-Bahn" to the trainstation Hamburg-Veddel. 

 

"hansetix" operate multiple times on 10 Nov. a shuttle bus from "Veddel" to Steinwerder: https://www.hansetix.de/cruisegate/cruisegate-steinwerder for just 2,50€ per person (english website available, very early prebooking required, the bus has just 24 Seats!)

Thank you. Do we have to change on the S-Bahn ? If so, how simple is it ? We will have one large case and 2 hand luggage.

Regards,

Mandy

2 hours ago, Preziosa said:

We are on the sailing the 10 th of november from Hamburg with Grandiosa. We park Our car in Hamburg airport the 9 th of november and Take a taxi to Our hotel near to where Our ship is dokking. It Will cost around 35 euros.

Hi ! We are on the same sailing, going on to Genoa but arriving on the morning of the 10th. However, the taxi prices to the Cruise Centre appear to be a lot more than 35euros. Is that for a regular taxi from the rank ?

Mandy

Any hints, please on the best way to do this ? Obviously taxi, but It also appears that the Subway may be an option, with changes.

Thank you.

Mandy

32 minutes ago, Colin_Cameron said:

Hi,

 

Yes, free washing, drying and ironing.

 

Don't take your own powder. Due to the processing requirements for the waste water you have to use the powder provided. Also free.

 

You don't say which ship. On QV and QE the laundries are directly above each other but on QM2 they are scattered about the ship so the nearest one may be on the deck above or below you.

 

Regards, Colin.

 

Ha! All replying at the same time.

Queen Elizabeth.

I believe that there are self-laundry facilities aboard ? Washing, drying and ironing  ? Is this free and does one have to provide own powder etc. for washing or are there paying dispensers ? 

Thanks, Mandy.

One thing to bear in mind, is that the DSC on your particular cruise does NOT go to the crew on that cruise ! If you think logically, the crew personnel are continually changing due to their individual contracts. They also change ships during their contracts.

The DSC is sent to the company and the individual crew members are given a bonus at the end of their contracts. 

We were also told that the bonus did not equate to the DSC and a percentage was kept by the company.

Mandy

I was only thinking about that today in Sydney's heat as we are also on the QE May cruise from Japan to Vancouver. !

:)Hi!

Has anyone any experience of or if, the 'perks', ie 'Bottle of Sparkly', is given to Black members on a 2 day/1 night cruise ?

Thanx, Mandy.

:pThere is a Meet & Mingle organised for this embarkation, if anyone else would like to sign up.

Mandy.

It's certainly not the case in the UK. I have emailed three times now and all I get is the automated acknowledgement with a promise to reply in 48 hours. This all started three weeks ago! Useless doesn't begin to describe them.

Couldn't agree more, it took 2 weeks and many emails, including one to the CEO plus starting action on Revolver before I received any action - and we are black members with double figures of Msc Cruises !:rolleyes:

Just got off in Marsailles Friday- Taxi from port to airport was 47 euros. It was easy, taxis go right to the terminal, you just go right inside and check in your bags, then upstairs to wait for the boarding process which is pretty quick!

Thank you, for the info. Presumably, it will be a similar price from the airport.

I have had mention of taking the airport bus to the main train station St Charles, I believe and then a taxi from there to the Cruise Terminal. Has anyone done this lately?

Thanx,

Mandy.

That cruise is over.

Hopefully not, as I only booked it yesterday !:)

(5th October 2018 translates to 5/10/2018 in the UK.)

Does anyone have any tips for Marseille airport to the cruise terminal that they would pass on, please.:D:)

Mandy

Below is a detailed write-up I did on Japan's luggage delivery services for your reference:

 

Q: Is there a luggage transfer service / company that we can contact who will transfer our luggage from the Yokohama Cruise Terminal to our Tokyo hotel after our cruise? We would like to send our luggage to the hotel after we disembark the cruise ship while we visit Kamakura before checking in at the hotel later in the day. Any information you can provide will be much appreciated.

 

A: Great question! You are wise to think about such logistics in advance. Japanese often use such services generally referred to in Japanese as “takkyūbin”. (That’s why you rarely see Japanese lugging heavy luggage around on public transport.) They are very reasonably priced and reliable. However, non-Japanese are sometimes intimidated by the Japanese form they need to fill out, or they are concerned about the headaches they might face if the luggage doesn’t arrive as expected. However, previous guests that have followed my advice and have used such services have emailed me later to express their gratitude.

 

There are two main companies in Japan that provide this service, and I’ve never heard anyone say one was better than the other. The first one is Sagawa Express. Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.sagawa-exp.co.jp/english/service/standard/service01.html In previous years, they have sometimes had a kiosk inside the port of Yokohama’s Ōsanbashi International Passenger Terminal. I do not know if that will be the case in 2017, but I will try to find out. The second provider is Yamato or “Black Cat” (nicknamed from their logo). Here is a link to a description of their services: http://www.kuronekoyamato.co.jp/en/personal/ta_q_bin/.

 

To be honest, I find the English information on these sites a bit wordy and unclear, so let me boil it down to the basics from personal experience. First of all, you will need to fill out an application or waybill. Since most convenience stores in Japan handle such services, I recommend you pick up a couple (in case you make a mistake) when you are out and about during your cruise. You will need to know the address of your hotel AND their phone number (which is required). Since whoever receives your luggage may not speak English well, approach a Japanese crew member on board when they are not busy, and ask them if they could please fill out the name and address of your hotel in Japanese for you. This will speed things along when you give them your luggage and insure a reliable delivery.

 

You will need to pay in advance, and a typical large suitcase—depending on distance traveled—will typically cost around US$10-20. Confirm with them the delivery time to make sure it meets your requirements. (They cannot do same day delivery, but they can often deliver it to your hotel by noon the next day.) So, you will need to be strategic about what you keep with you for the first night and next day if you plan to go out early. Japanese hotels provide sleepwear, so it is not necessary to pack that unless you just want to do so.

 

You can use these services at many points in your journey. For example, if you are arriving early before your cruise and plan to stay overnight at least 2 days in the same hotel, you can have your luggage delivered from the airport to your hotel and then avail yourself to inexpensive transportation options luggage free. Just look for the Sagawa or Yamato kiosks at the hotel or ask the hotel information counter for assistance. As an added bonus, the staff at the airport should be able to speak English. Depending on your itinerary, you may want to have your luggage delivered from your hotel to the terminal. Every hotel in Japan has the necessary paperwork and can assist you---just make sure to inquire about the timeline in advance so you don’t miss the cut-off. Likewise, you can do the same thing in reverse when you disembark.

 

One word of caution. This doesn’t make sense to me, but if you plan to send your luggage from your hotel to the airport when you leave Japan, you have to send it two days in advance for Haneda airport (the closer one) and one day in advance for Narita. So, just ask right away when you check in about the cut-off time so you can decide if it meets your needs or not and plan accordingly.

 

As the saying goes, “when in Rome . . .”. So, give these services a try. Your back and shoulders will be grateful you did!

Hi Heather,

We are on the MSC Splendida, disembarking Yokohama on the 28th April '18 and wondered if you had an update on sending luggage from the terminal to either a Tokyo hotel and/or Narita airport ?

Kind regards,

Mandy

We recently booked a guaranteed balcony cabin on the Sinfonia to Durban. It was a late booking and we are black members. We have now been upgraded to a suite, so it possibly depends on status and the demand for the lower price cabins.

Mandy :)

Having just returned from Aacruise on Splendida I've managed to go past the 20,000 points mark (20,100) by carefully planning the spread of On Board Spend (OBS) between myself and my wife. She has just missed by 100 points. We couldn't try for 20,000 each as it was almost a certainty that we would have ended up as 19,900 for both of us, such are the vagaries of the way MSC allocate OBS and pre-paid spend. This way we guaranteed one of us would get to the magic (I hope) number.

 

 

With the rumours of a new tier above BLACK I'm hoping that they keep the current ratios of roughly doubling the points required to move from one tier to the next.

 

Classic to Silver 2,200

 

X 1.95 for

Silver to Gold 4,300

 

X 2.33

Gold to Black 10,000

 

X 2.0

Black to new? 20,000?

 

 

average multiplier would be 2.09 ((1.95 + 2.33 + 2)/3)

 

 

 

Anybody else gone through this barrier?

 

 

 

Pete

Malcolm and I are, Pete.

However, is Bedford ???

Mandy.

We are also on the same voyage, but haven't booked a transfer in Barbados yet, just in Genoa from the BA flight.

Generally, we have found that more excursions are offered on board and transfers as well, depending on the times of your flights. We are also on the BA flight back to Gatwick.

Paying the balance today !

Looking forward to meeting you on board.

Mandy.:)

Thanks

 

I had the same e-mail and checked my Cruise Personaliser and it clearly shows 19/9/2016 as the balance due date. Just read your post and checked the e-mail and attachment again and it does say that it should be paid within 7 days. I will ring them later!

 

Rob

I sent an email back and was told that it was just a'friendly' reminder and my actual date was the 18th ! Like yourself, my invoice shows the 19th, so that is when they will receive it.

Mandy.