georgiapeach84

6 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

I have cruised a lot in the Med, thought that no routing could make me excited anymore. But the Musica cruise in Oct/Nov does. 

 

Overall the choice is simple, Western med loads of ships, cheap prices, but Eastern is much more interesting. But make sure that Santorini is included.

This is my issue! The western route is an enjoyable known since I've been to a lot of the places and countries. 

But the eastern- it just looks so interesting! Such an intriguing unknown!

Ahhh! I am grateful that these are the kind of *tough* decisions to be facing at the moment. 😄

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

We are like you (even though we are 4* on HAL) after sailing on the MSC Splendida in YC from Genoa last October and are now also fans of MSC. This September we are on the MSC Preziosa from Hamburg to the British Isles. And now currently trying to decide which European MSC cruiseto sail on before our HAL Transatlantic in Fall 2024!

 

Looking on the MSC website there are two MSC cruises with YC you might consider in September/October 2024. Of course both are what I call "bus stop" sailing with multiple choices of ports for embarking/disembarking.The MSC Splendida will be leaving from Trieste and sailing to Italy, Greece, and Turkey. The MSC Divina will be leaving from Civitavecchia and sailing to Sicily, Malta, and Greece. This Divina cruise is one of the cruises that we are considering. The other is the MSC Poesia from Copenhagen to Genoa over 15 days.

 

We enjoyed Siracusa on our Splendida cruise and did a daytrip MSC excursion to three small towns nearby.

 

 

Those are two I've itineraries looked at! We've never sailed on the Splendida, but we've spent a couple weeks on the Divina and really liked the ship. 

I'll have to check out the Poesia one as well.

Thanks for the insights 🙂

And I hope you do a review of the transatlantic trip! That's on my bucket list!

1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

I much prefer the eastern routes, but I’m trying hard to think of things that would interest a four year old.  The Med is not known for beaches…at least not the pristine sand you are used to in the Caribbean.  Honestly, if I was to take young children to Europe I would focus on Northern Europe. EM

We're not planning to do Northern Europe at this time.

What did you like most about the Eastern routes? 

We're planning a 7-10ish day cruise in 2024 (either May or Sept/Oct). We'll have our 2 kids with us who are pretty easygoing travelers (at the time they'll be 4 and 8- they don't need screen time to be constantly entertained and mix well-ish for their ages with adults). We travel at a pretty leisurely pace and enjoy equal times being touristy and relaxing with a book, are more likely to visit a museum, check out historical sites, or have beach days than go skydiving or speedboating. We have been on several MSC cruises in the Caribbean and already are familiar with and fans of the line 😄 so no surprises there. 

I've traveled a bit by land in Western Europe, but have never been to Eastern Europe. There is a strong likelihood we'll be traveling by land in Spain, France, and Italy sometime again in the next few years, but unlikely that we'll go to Eastern Europe any time soon. 

That said- if you've experienced either or both- by land, air, or sea- what are your thoughts? Western Europe is more of a known trip that I personally already know I'd enjoy, but I've never experienced southern Italy (anywhere past Naples/Amalfi Coast), Greece, Turkey, Croatia, etc. 

Also if you have been on either east or west cruises: what port or ports are your favorite(s)? 

Thanks! 

Has anyone stayed at the Beachside Hotel in Cocoa Beach? They have a variety of fly snooze cruise packages. We're flying in from MCO the afternoon before and their rates including shuttles to/from airport and to/from port are about the same price as just the hotel of some other big name chains nearby. It looks like it has a good vibe and is in a great location (near Ron Jon's)- curious if anyone had stayed there before? Thanks! https://beachsidehotelcocoabeach.com/

To be fair, thinking in retro, this alone might make it worth it 😁 (re: priority embarkation)

We haven't sailed since 2019, but our past two cruises were with MSC with and Aurea suite (Divina) and Aurea balcony (Seaside). This was back when a free massage and the drink plus package included all specialty coffee and gelato from the 3rd party spots (chances are they discontinued this because of the amount of gelato our kids alone consumed that week :D)  Needless to say we enjoyed the MSC charm and rolled well with all it's quirks. 

Other perks that we enjoyed:

*we loved the (at the time) thermal spa on the Seaside

*flexible dining 

*access to the top solarium

We're looking at Seaside or Meraviglia sometime in the next several months- Caribbean/Bahamas for 4 or 7 nights. 

Thoughts from recent travelers? Any other perks I'm missing? (Also please don't say Yacht Club...my heart says yes but my bank account says no.) Cheers!

Mr. Sanchos has the all inclusive section (where you pre buy tickets) or the pay as you go beach section. IMO the pay as you go option is a great and affordable way to visit if you just want some beach time without all the other stuff. The facilities are nice and the restaurant is good and reasonably priced. If you want to go a little further down the island, Chankanaab Park would be fun for those ages without being overwhelming.  

23 minutes ago, pinkpanther52 said:

 

Here are my thoughts. If you spoke to me before I had started to unpack and if YOU went to guest service and sorted it out before my luggage had arrived and if YOU agreed to sort out any issues arising from the swap then I would consider it. There is NO way I would be waiting at guest services with you so you would have to find me if it was sorted. However I will still have lost some of my trip time waiting on you to sort it so would expect to receive some onboard credit from you the amount being dependent on how long it took for you to get this sorted. BUT this would ONLY be if you asked nicely and did make threats of your toddler spoiling my trip.

Thank you! This is truly a helpful response. 

(Also I have no intention of making any threats to anyone having my toddler be a brat- and for 99% of the time, she's not. And the 1% of the time she does, she gets spanked and time out. Tricky thing on a ship- time out can't happen in our stateroom or balcony. But kids sing, laugh, and do kid things. They should not climb on people's stuff or act like drunk banshees - to be fair I've had far more incidents regarding inebriated adults on balconies or staterooms than any other people's children). 

It's likely too that unless you are streaming, you will not cap out your max data on a premium plan (and it doesn't look like this allows streaming). And 

19 hours ago, Noncon said:

Just because it is unlimited doesn't mean it is fast, or even usable once everyone else onboard starts hogging bandwidth on the satellite.

 

KJ

Very true! We had a streaming plan on Divina last year and with the exception of early mornings, even a video call on skype was nearly impossible. 

16 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

You also wrote about...

 

 

...while them being kind or not has nothing to do with their answer. They could be kind and still say "no". Their answer wouldn't make them unkind. 

Hopefully kind implies their response- even if a "no", "not interested", "bad idea"- would be polite. I have no expectation other than a hail mary that it's worth asking and completely agree that they are still 100% kind by not wanting the inconvenience of switching. 

Again in regard to other posters: my question of possibility is if MSC allows this sort of thing in the chance both parties are in agreement. Also I'm the kind of neighbor who would never expect to inconvenience anyone without some form of repayment for their time and hassle- OBC, a couple bottles of nice wine, etc. 

Shots all around, folks. No need to get your panties in a bunch. 

My original question was "is it possible". Not stating "they have to (or they're terrible people!)" or "they should (because it's the right thing to do)". 

Here's what I do know, thanks to the incredible Tim from MSC. Switching before boarding, even if we knew the people, would be difficult because of their booking system. However once on board, it's very possible and if arranged before the parties unpack, the logistical aspects of switching cards, etc is very simple. Just in case someone in the future wants to know. 

16 hours ago, ellasnan said:

They may want to change because they are nice friendly people! Or even want to avoid having the toddler shouting from their balcony to grandad as I know ours would be doing that if they were so near but yet so far!

Fingers crossed! She will likely be singing Frozen songs from the balcony at 6am as a hangover wakeup call for all the late night partiers 😄 Here's to hoping we are neighbors with nice folks like you who get it! (Not to mention with the new wristbands, it shouldn't be too hard to change room details!)

15 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

 

1

16 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

Sorry, no ..... You're dreaming. You and you're account are assigned to that cabin. Why would some strangers want to even bother for a second to go through that anyhow?

Your* 

Long story short: we booked 3 rooms side by side, Aurea Cabins, 14039, 14037, 14035 on the Seaside. The passengers in the middle cabin dropped out before final payment- they were the middle cabin. When we called to confirm final payment and note the room was dropping out, we requested to switch to their room (14037- it has an adjoining door with 14039 and we have a toddler who would dearly like to run back and forth between rooms- it's my parent's room so they prefer this). MSC said they would change it at that time, but didn't. 

Is there any possibility of asking/begging/bribing the hopefully kind passengers in 14037 to switch rooms once we're on board and MSC allowing that change if they agree? 

So true!

We had this happen actually on a trip to Italy several years ago in terms of luggage lost. We spent a pretty penny at H&M to replace the staples (and didn't receive anything from the airline- although the luggage arrived back stateside 2 months later!).

Still was one of the most memorable and beautiful trips I've taken!

My DH has a formal work event each year, but as a Tech guy who wears jeans and button ups or hoodies each day, he doesn't have many formal options.

I'd agree with Macy's above and also add JC Penney. Additionally stores like Burlington Coat Factory may have some nicer options as well (beware the cheap, crinkly, thin tux shirts! However the ties, bowties, and vests are plenty!). Additionally ebay has a lot of secondhand suits and tuxes available for a steal as long as you know your measurements and are buying from someone reputable.

IMO (and I'm a 30-something and former classical musician) it's better to overdress than underdress, so if you enjoy the full tux, go for it! It's a timeless and classy look. Cheers!

Just google " how to get competetive quote for your cruise" ... the first link is where the power rests in your hands [emoji38]

 

 

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@1cruise@atime

Very helpful. Grazi!!! :D

Good to know I was on the right track...

Hi all!

We have just booked our first MSC cruise on the Divina in an Aurea Suite (room 9009- the 2 room corner one with a big window and small corner balcony!- I'm so excited!).

We have booked direct but would like to see if any travel agencies have good relationships with MSC and have any nice perks or OBC to offer if we switched our booking. I've found one that will offer a $100 off our cabin and $100 OBC but want to know some options.

I know you can't specifically use Travel Agency names, but can you share tips on how you've found good travel agencies? Especially ones that have good relationships with MSC (most don't that I've talked to so far).

Cheers!

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