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You can go to their website and that information, and a menu, are available. I hate to put a price since if someone reads this in a year or so and the prices have changed, they will not know. You can google search krazy lobster or try thekrazylobster.com

I probably could have talked her down some more but I did not mind paying the $30. Had you been to Majahaul before? I wish I could probably convey how disappointed I was to see it so developed yet also how it was a very nice place now too. Just different. If it was more than just my DW and me, I would have definitely spent more time there and I heard several people commenting how good the food was at Krazy Lobster while I was getting my massage.

They had lamb as an option often both in the MDR and in the buffet. Being from the south though, we never ate lamb growing up so I do not usually eat it. There was almost always an Indian food option and lamb was in that often. I do not recall Prime Rib in the MDR but it may have been there. Filet Mignon and such was the first sea day on "elegant night". When on board, all of the menus for the MDR every night are available to review at the start. There might be a post somewhere where someone posted each night's offerings.

Entirely possible and I am sure she wanted additional tip. Who would not. I just wish they would eliminate tips except completely voluntary when one receives great service. Raise the prices or rates a little and actually pay a decent wage to the employees. Most of us in the real world do not have to rely on tips (unlike waitresses and bartenders).

That is a great point that I had not considered. Thanks!

You will love the ship. Hands down the prettiest ship we have been on and I continue to be amazed at how the layout kept it from feeling so big (until you start walking it 🙂). Be aware too that there is no self-serve ice cream and instead free ice cream is available on either side of the buffet from amount noon until 5 but there was always a very long line. The concept for the elevators was a good one and as I mentioned it worked fine on the Carnival Horizon so it must be something MSC does on purpose or by accident to make them so bad. Please, whatever you do, make sure to at least tour the Spa area even if you do not plan to use it. I have never seen nor imagined such a place.

March 31 – Port Canaveral – A pretty day as we got to Terminal 10. The process was to pull up to the terminal, unload luggage then go park in the garage. There were 2 lanes approaching the terminal and everyone was lined up in a single line in the right lane. A few shuttles passed in the left lane then people decided that passengers should use both lanes. We had been waiting in the right lane so it made me angry but of course there was no signage and the person directing traffic ignored the line breakers (if there were not supposed to be doing that?). Still, we unloaded the luggage, tipped the porter and parked with no issue though there was inadequate signage. Security and checking was fast and simple since we pre-registered. As we walked to the ship, there was a man in front of us carrying a 12 pack of Coke. Everything said you were not allowed to bring drinks so I was surprised no one stopped him. I stayed near to see how mad he would get when they took the 12 pack on the ship after he had carried it so far. Imagine my shock when no one said anything and he boarded with no problem! Given how expensive soda packages were (and that if 1 in a cabin has a drink package, ALL in the cabin have to have one) I would have loved to bring my own soda! Not my place to say anything to him or the staff though but why have rules if you are going to ignore them? The ship is enormous! It is very beautiful and shiny and airy. We had an Ocean View (non-Yacht Club) and it is a nice room (5159). We are less than 10 doors from the main atrium and Deck 5 is where there is a large bar, dining room, live entertainment and lots of noise. I was worried. Surprisingly though the room was very quiet and location is not an issue. There are several twists and turns between our cabin and the atrium and it did great job deadening the noise. The ship was laid out efficiently to make a huge ship seem not that big. We went to the Marketplace Buffet. It was huge but broken into stations so well that it seemed small. The seating was also broken up better than other ships. The food was varied and very tasty. We enjoyed it. Then we started walking the ship. Did I mention it is HUGE? Very well laid out and very nice. The Spa was incredible. Tons of rooms and options. Various steam rooms, saunas, hair salon, barbershop, nail salon, etc and even a snow room. Wow. Evening dining was unassigned until we got our keys. We had the Bella experience. We wanted late seating but learned when we got it that it is 9:30! Waited in a long line to try to change to early (7:15) or anytime dining. Bella cannot be anytime so will wait to see if we get changed to 7:15. Now is a good time to mention some things MSC is horrible about. Of course their website and pre-cruise customer service is well known as not just the industry’s worst but yet they keep going lower. On board, “signage” is a bad word and you can expect to have no idea where you are going. One of the main activities is the popular “waiting in a line” event which is free of charge and constant. Since signs are a bad word, the lines are everywhere. By assigning staff with the least English skills to address questions, it helps ensure no one gets the right line the first time. For example, I mentioned we needed to change dining. A very standard occurrence on any cruise. I had to ask 3 people to finally get to the right place (which was a folding table near closed shops). Since it is a common issue, you might expect signs and several assigned to help handle it. Ha ha, you are on MSC where the long line terminates in 1 person behind the table. I imagine some MSC executive saying “Hmm, I think we should take the people with the least English skills, put them in the noisiest area and let them wear signs offering to help! That should get everyone really frustrated and angry. But somehow make people line up to get to shout at the non-English speaker in the loud environment and ensure that the crew really has no answer to whatever we think the customer is going to ask! Yeah, that will be great!” The elevators were like on Carnival Horizon. You tell a terminal what floor you want and how many in your party and it assigns a car. Car comes and there are no buttons in the car since it knows what floor to go to. In theory. In practice on the Seashore, the elevators take forever. Parents don’t monitor kids who just push lots of buttons so often there are 3 people on an elevator that has 9 stops. Seashore has a lot of elevators but somehow “waiting for an elevator” is rapidly moving up the activities list. Back to good. The welcome aboard show was wonderful. Lots of singing, dancing, magician and a juggler. Far superior to anything I have seen in the last several cruises. Tomorrow is Ocean Cay and our ship will be one of the last to visit it before it is closed for renovations. April 1 - Ocean Cay Ocean Cay (OC) is a beautiful place and it is nice that the ship docks and it is only about 50 yards from ship to OC. No long walks from the ship. I am curious to know what they will renovate but no one knows yet so keep in mind my comments are pre-renovations if you read this when OC reopens. There is a huge food pavilion which is nice but there were only 2 lines. The lines moved very slow and were long. Last time we were here, they were actively cooking burgers and food but this time it was all pre-cooked so that aroma was missing. Food was okay but nothing special. Hopefully they will redesign the pavilion. Another big issue was lack of beverages. There are bars but for those of us who just wanted water, some ice and water stands would be nice. There was a single point for water/tea or lemonade on either side of the pavilion but nowhere else that I saw. DW (darling wife) enjoyed the beach but I am not a sand fan so returned to the ship. A late cruise through the buffet yielded some good food but also highlighted an on-going problem with the buffet - lack of beverage stations. There was one on each side of the huge buffet. Thus, long lines most of the time and there was usually no ice working on one side or the other. When they had ice, it was the “good ice” (chewy, crushed) but they need more beverage stations. No word on our request to switch dining times so I got to wait in some lines and be directed to different people/places then the restaurant manager changed it in about a minute. Seeing how easy it was makes me wonder why MSC made me first stand in so many lines and see so many people. Maybe most people just give up? Found out the cabin TV had a “source” option that showed options for TV, Screen Mirroring, & Bluetooth. Bluetooth was simple and worked great. Since I had a lot of movies on my iPad, screen mirroring would be awesome but it did not work. Guest relations claimed TV and my iPad had to be on the wireless network and since TV was not on a wireless network, screen mirroring was not really an option. Doesn’t sound right to me but hopefully some day screen mirroring will be an option. I also noticed that there are no free movie channels (other than TCM) but there is an option for movies on demand for $10-18.00 each. Categories like Action, Fantasy, Drama, Horror or Adult with 4-6 in each category. It would be nice if the TV had a guide showing what was on each channel (not just the channel name). Watched NCAA women’s Elite 8 in the sports bar and took a brief break to see the OC lighthouse show. Lighthouse show was okay but not awesome. Since Elite 8 started at 7:00, we did not eat in MDR (Main Dining Room) or catch the show (a comedian). April 2 - Ocean Cay - Nothing really new. Stayed onboard. Lunch buffet was good (especially meatloaf), beverage bar still a problem and elevators still slow. First night in MDR (we were originally in Central Park now in Tribeca - there are several complimentary dining rooms with same menu). It was nice and the food was average to above average. Service was average. Italian wedding soup was very good and DW loved the Short Ribs. I will say Carnival service was better and quicker. There is $5.00 charge for second or more entree. A couple seated next to us the man was deaf so I had to ask a stupid question. ASL (American Sign Language) fascinates me. Turns out different countries have different sign language and even American is different from British. Always fun to learn something. Show was “Divas”. It was terrific! Singers were great and so were dancers. There was a dark skinned woman dancer with very short hair who was truly incredible. She must have gymnastics training the way she was spinning and flipping (think tango or samba). In Feb we saw a show called Divas on Carnival and we both agreed that this was so much better (same name but different shows/songs) and we enjoyed it very much. The theatre holds about 1300 and there are more than 5300 passengers so reservations are recommended. No assigned seats but up to 15 min before the show, only people with reservations are allowed in. A big difference is that there were no waiters walking around taking drink orders so get any drink before going in. Found an app on my Apple Watch that measure sound noise. In Atrium by our room, noise level was 96 (exposure for more than 10 minutes is likely to cause hearing loss). Sound level dropped steadily walking to our cabin and inside the cabin noise was 43 (seemed silent to me). Just FYI. April 3 - Day at Sea Time change to match Mexico so back 1 hour. We got up in time for breakfast and there were lots of choices. Including lots of bacon! There was a 3:00 Magic Show in the main theatre. It was okay but nothing great. Magician did card tricks and rubric’s cubes and in a huge theatre, it was hard to see. I was only about 6 rows back. Almost full theatre so I pity those in the balcony level. First formal night. Maybe 25% were really dressed up but I did see staff turn away folks in shorts so that was good. Filet Mignon, Shrimp and lobster tail was all good but not great. Show was “Encore”, Broadway show tunes and we were really excited based on the last 2 shows. It did NOT disappoint. It was an incredible show. The singing was wonderful and the dancing was amazing. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful the shows have been. We have been on other lines and even another MSC ship but nothing like this. Major kudos to MSC if all their ships’ shows are this good. April 4 - Costa Maya At 10:00 the alarms went off for a crew drill so there was no sleeping through that. We loved Majahaul and have watched it go from poor, simple fishing village to a tourist spot. We were not prepared for what we found though. The Costa Maya port area has grown exponentially and is huge now. There is a faux Mayan Temple visible that is a water park. There were tons of taxis available ($4 per person to Majahaul each way). Of course no one has change so it is really $5 per unless you were prepared with change. When we first went, it was almost all dirt road from Costa Maya to Majahaul. Now it is paved highway passing many hotels, shops, restaurants and houses. Majahaul was completely changed. No simple shops, schools or fishermen. Bars, tourist shops, etc all the way. It was so sad to see the old Majahaul gone. The new one is not awful though. The Krazy Lobster was very busy and a larger beach area than I expected. There were tons of women offering beach front massages ($25-40 for 30 min). I got one at Krazy Lobster for $30 for 45 minutes. It was okay but clearly she was not a trained masseur. Prices for food and beverages were very reasonable. People with pushcarts were going up and down the street selling food and beverages too. Of course every shop was shouting for you to come in. It was not what I expected but it is definitely worth visiting. Show tonight was “The Journey”. A man gets a train ticket and visits European countries. Started in England/Scotland, Ireland. Then France, Spain and ending in Italy. At each “stop” there was dancing and songs in the local language. The “traveler” was an awesome dancer and all the songs and dancing were very well done. April 5 - Cozumel We ate lunch at buffet then walked into town. There are pedicabs available (tips only) but we walked from the ship to the port area. The port area is very busy with shops and vendors calling people in. FYI there is a Starbucks at the exit of the port area into town with free WiFi. Walked around a couple of hours then returned to the ship. No MDR or show tonight since we have to watch the Lady Gamecocks in the Final Four. Buffet was good and show was the magician I saw earlier so no problem. Lots of QR codes asking for feedback but oddly the QR codes don’t work. Pretty much sums up the MSC attitude that they want you to think they care but in reality do not care. April 6 - 2nd Sea Day We had to set our clocks ahead an hour to return to EST. A quiet relaxing day. DW got a pedicure at the spa. Which brings up another pet peeve – mandatory “gratuities”. Cokes were $3.50 each and then an additional “gratuity” of 18%. So Cokes were really $4.13. You could leave an additional tip if you wanted but why not just say Cokes are $4.13? Even if you don’t use the bar, such as getting a Coke out of your minifridge in your cabin, it is $4.13. Who is getting that “gratuity”? What did they do to deserve it? I am pretty sure no bar person put the drinks in the mini-fridges and that the person who did (cabin steward) is not getting any of that. The pedicure was $59.00. 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. The show was “Rock Royalty”. It was not quite as good as the others, perhaps because we had some knuckleheads behind us who kept telling in a very loud piercing tone. It was still good though. The elevators continued to be a huge problem as everyone was sick of waiting for them and there never seemed to be rhyme nor reason to what they were doing. Maybe they only had 1 working a bank of 4. I know that on the Horizon, this same system worked very well so it has to be something MSC did but I wish they had just left them regular elevators. April 7 – Port Canaveral I remembered the nightmare that was debarkation on our last MSC cruise and had read how bad it was. It was that bad. We were supposed to be out of the cabin at 7:00. There were lots of lines and total chaos. Elevators? Forget it, they were never arriving so people where lugging heavy suitcases up and down stairways. No crew or signage to be found. It could have been worse or more of a confusing disaster but I am at a loss to really figure out how. Fortunately, we were mentally prepared for it but it was still not a good way to end the cruise. Long walk to the parking garage with luggage. Fortunately we got home in time to see the Lady Gamecocks win the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship. OVERALL – Bartenders were something to watch. They were incredibly slow and would ignore customers with practiced ease. There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason to who they would serve first and people were getting very annoyed. But, of course, they were getting an 18% tip regardless of what they did, right. Room steward was pretty good. Their system of requiring a key card to have the lights on helped the steward know when the room was empty and he did pretty good emptying the trash, restocking towels, making the bed, etc. However, he would often ask us if there was anything we needed. We would tell him things like “please keep ice in the ice bucket” but he never did those things. Instead he would keep asking if there was something else we needed and it was tempting to say “please do what we have been requesting” but we just quit. He seemed nice. There is a section of the ship dedication to the MSC Foundation. Before the show, there was a presentation about the MSC Foundation and lots of posters about it and ads on TV. I am glad they have a Foundation but when I am on a cruise, I do not give a hoot about it. I paid to be on a relaxing cruise, not be pestered about donating to a massive multi-national corporation. I am sure they get some tax benefits by having the Foundation stuff but give is a break from having to hear about it or how you are pretending you are doing something helpful for the world. I was excited because I finally got my status match and was MSC Gold in Voyagers Club. That is the 2nd highest. It meant nothing. There was a reception the last night of the cruise where I would get my “free drink” and get to take a “free picture”. I did not bother to go. On other lines, you get benefits like free gifts, free bottles of water, something at least but not on MSC. If you are not he highest tier, it is no benefit. All the so called discounts are other things, I never saw. No shorter line for guest services, nothing. MSC Positives – · Beautiful ship that is mostly very well laid out with comfortable cabins (bathroom was a little tight but workable). · Good food (not great but certainly good) · Incredibly good shows · Beverage stations had tea, lemonade and fruit juice most of the time · Nice Main Dining Room(s) MSC Negatives – · Beverage package too expensive and all in a cabin have to have it if 1 does · Bartenders slow and rude, ignoring customers and generally very slack · Lines, lines, everywhere a line · Poor English skills. · Lack of beverage stations, ice or water · Horrible horrible elevators · Lack of signage · Total chaos of debarkation · Website, MSC for Me app, Customer Service in general · Crummy Voyagers Club

@leen50 I do not remember his name. Sorry. It was Southern Lights restaurant and he was very nice and responsive though. @BETSY DOLL I know there were poker tables in the no smoking casino but I avoided the smoking one. Several poker versions so I feel confident Texas Hold’em was one.

Average alcoholic drinks are about $13 ($15.34 after the automatic 18% gratuity). So $600 equals about 40 drinks. On a 10 day, that would be about 4 drinks a day. For most people, that is not many drinks per day, especially considering the Cheers package is up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. A lot depends on how you break down the cost. We just got off the Magic last week and I was surprised how much the average drink cost had risen. i used to think $10/drink. I LOVE the idea of getting her a $500 gift card (for $450 from AARP) and telling her it is hers to spend on whatever she wants with no oversight from you. However, that $500 will go pretty quick at ~$15 per drink. Still, it is a good compromise between the drink package and just relying on what you bring aboard. I usually have the DOU in the casino for me and my DW and I have gone into the casino, sat down for a few minutes at a slot machine and ordered a drink on my way somewhere else but that can be a hassle compared with ordering drinks while in the show, on deck, etc. Again, it is up to you and what you are willing to do. I do recommend you check to see if the DOU is just you or you and your companion.

Here is a link to an episode about a Carnival ship (the Vista) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6551242/?ref_=ttep_ep1

I don't like to say "age" because she is not all that old but rather it is just normal wear. The ship itself is still fine but there are some things that can only really be done in a dry dock despite the crew's best efforts. For example, one of the stops on the Behind the Fun tour was the crew's hot tub. It was out of service and apparently had been for quite some time since parts from it were used to repair one of the guests' hot tubs. Our guide was not too upset about it because he said trying to use it was like trying to sit in a hot tub in a hurricane and when we stopped there, we saw what he meant! LOTS of wind!! 🙂

Cruise aboard the Carnival Magic – 2/18/24 to 2/24/24 February 18, 2024 – PortMiami It was raining when we arrived at the Miami port. Unloading the luggage was no problem, but trying to find a way to get into the parking garage was a nightmare. The signs were misleading, and there were a lot of one-way streets that meant we had to circle the entire parking lot, about six times before we found the right road to take us to the parking garage. When we got into the garage, all of the spaces were occupied. This was surprising since we were trying to park at about noon so I have to assume that a lot of people on other cruises must’ve parked in garage D. The embarkation process was extremely fast and far easier than it has been on cruises in 2022. When we got on the ship, it was raining and the cabins were not ready yet so the buffet area was very crowded, but that is to be expected. We found some seats, and got some lunch. I was pleasantly surprised at how flavorful the buffet food was. They had the cabins ready a little before 2 o’clock, so things began to clear out, and we went to our cabin (an interior cabin on deck eight). The cabin was smaller than many other interior cabins, but otherwise it was OK. We walked around the ship and checked out the layout after we did the self muster drill. The muster drill took only a couple of minutes and I really like this process much better. The rain was coming down harder at Sail-away time, so most people were under cover or involved in other inside activities. Tried to take showers but our shower drain was clogged so water would not drain. Called Maintenance and within 10 minutes it was fixed and good to go. I am excited because we were able to sign up for the behind-the-scenes tour on board and I have never been on that excursion. Dinner that night we were at a table for eight and I asked the meter D if we could get a table for two. He quickly accommodated it and made the changes so going forward. We have a table for two in the main dining room. The food in the MDR was well above average based on other carnival cruises. So far so good. Usually on the first night, there is a show that includes various performances from the playlist performers, but this time there was no music and only a comedian. I later learned it was because they were having some technical difficulties that prevented the normal musical show so the comedian was an “on the fly” adjustment. Feb 19 - first fun day at sea. Drizzling rain and a high of 75. We slept late. I ate lunch at Guy’s Pig and Anchor barbecue. It was hard to find, but I think it was well worth finding. I have eaten at the Pig and Anchor on other ships and I thought this was much better. There was a group having a private disco party. Saw people dressed for a disco after lunch and did not realize why at first. Started thinking there were some really weird hippies on board before realizing that it was a group having a party. Not many at late seating in the MDR. Filet and short ribs instead of filet and lobster. Filet was overcooked. The show was “88 keys”. Preshow a guy was great guy Rodney on the piano who really got the crowd involved. Show was very static with almost no dancing so I did not like it very much. Feb 20 - Grand Turk - like many Caribbean ports, Grand Turk is a pier that leads into a secure port area. Inside this secure port area is a beach, pool, Margaritaville, and the usual assortment of cruise line shops. Tried to rent a golf cart to tour the island. The cost was $120. There was also an option to rent a car for the same price. We walked out of the port area toward the town, and there were more people renting golf carts and cars, but it was the same price. Apparently many people had prepaid for a jeep or something else because they was a lot of angry people at the kiosk in the port. We were unable to get any price better than 120, perhaps because there were two ships in Port, and all of the golf carts were quickly rented out. There were ATVs and scooters, but the ATVs were only available as part of a tour package and we were not interested in a scooter. There was no rental by the hour. DW was not interested in paying $120 for renting a car since it would only be a short time and the island seemed to be the same as most other islands. We returned to the ship after walking around in the secure port area. The locals are apparently doing a great job of holding steady on the $120 price so it is either pay $120 or walk. Based on the people angry and complaining, I encourage anyone to be very careful about pre-paying! High winds kept us docked until 1:00 AM but made next port timely. Apparently if you are on side of the pier, the wind is no issue but if you are on the other side of the pier, high winds will smash you into the pier if you try to move. February 21 - Amber Cove. We have been here before so we only got off the ship to aces free WiFi to check on things back home and to check emails. Pedicabs are available top take you from the ship to the port building and although they are free, a tip is expected and I would not use one if I did not have tip money. The show that night was America Rocks. More of a concert than a show. No real dancing but okay show. It was the performers last show before their contract was up and they were leaving the ship when we docked back in Miami. Feb 22 - at sea day 2 – We were excited for the Behind the Fun tour. Met in library at 9:15 for the 9:30 tour. Tour guide was from playlist show – Brent. There were 15 people and we had to sign releases. Souvenir hats and lanyards got distributed and at the end of the tour got a bag too. We saw the galley, theater behind the scenes, crew areas, crew bar, crew galley, Storage areas, engine control room, and ended at the bridge to have a picture taken with the captain. Cost $130 per person and took about three hours. I had seen most of the areas on TV shows like Mighty Cruise Ships, but it was still interesting to see. DW have not seen the shows so enjoyed it. The crew we encountered were extremely nice and polite and it is amazing. If you have not watched the Mighty Cruise ship documentaries, I highly recommend them in addition to this tour to appreciate what all goes on behind the scenes. Feb 23 – Nassau – We have been to Nassau often and there was nothing we needed to see or do so we did not get off the boat. I did notice that the new port area was complete (it had been under construction the last several times we were there) and it looks nice. Our wait staff in the main dining room remained outstanding and DW and I were both surprised at how few people seemed to eat in the MDR late seating the entire cruise. Many tables were empty or partially empty the whole time. Our wait staff (Merrily and Myat) commented that the early seating was busier but it is something to note. Also interesting to note that even on “formal” nights, fewer and fewer people were wearing even a tie. I am not a huge dress up fan so it doesn’t matter to me but it was interesting to note. Feb 24 – Miami – Debarkation was probably the fastest and smoothest I have encountered. The only problem is that we departed from Terminal D and parked at Terminal D but we returned to Terminal F. There was a shuttle available to take everyone to Terminal D parking garage or we could walk but since it was drizzling rain again, most chose the option to take the shuttle. There was 1 person loading the luggage onto the shuttle then driving it so loading took a while. Plenty of porters and other staff around but I guess loading luggage was not in their job description. Getting out of PortMiami was a little easier but not by much. OVERALL – · It may seem we did not do much and that is true. We wanted to rest, relax and eat and we accomplished those goals just fine. We got just what we wanted. If you want a high energy, that is great. We wanted relaxing and got that so I wanted to shout out to all those who just want to relax. · Gift Certificates – I had several gift certificates from AARP ($45 for a $50 certificate or $450 for a $500 certificate). They were in e-format and I have never had a problem before. On the Magic however, none of the kiosks would allow you to manually enter the card number and insisted on the physical card. Had to go to Guest Services for them to enter the card and it went through without a problem but having to deal with Guest Services is always a bad situation. · Smoke-free casino – I loved this! The main casino on Deck 5 had smoking but they had a smaller version on Deck 4 that was smoke free. It was seldom crowded and it was a huge relief to not have to choke on smoke! I had the “Drinks on Us” program that is supposed to be free drinks while playing in the casino but you are supposed to order only from the waiter/waitresses circulating and they seldom did that. The servers in the Deck 4 casino were simply awful. And the bartender would get testy if you went directly to the bar. · Magic showing its age – The ship was nice but there were numerous rust spots visible and other signs showing that it needs a good renewal in dry dock soon. · Doorways are great places to gather – It entertains me to watch people and my fellow cruisers are always good for a laugh. It continues to amaze me how people cannot resist gathering in a doorway or any area of congestion rather than the wide open spaces. If you’ve been to a wedding reception or any similar function you know what I mean. · Cruise Director Jake – He just annoyed me with his swarmy attitude and fake happiness. He came across as less genuine than most other cruise directors. · COVID – DW and I felt fine all the way home but Saturday night, I developed full COVID and a few days later she started symptoms too. There were no masks onboard and I feel sure we touched something we should not have touched and then touched our faces so it is just the risk you take in today’s world. I did not enjoy COVID (that thankfully is over for me now) but at least it waited until I got home. · Guest Services Desk – saving the worst for last! There was always a long line that moved slowly since there were only 2 or 3 people working it and one was dedicated for Diamond/Platinum/Handicapped. Amazing, the 1 or 2 not doing Diamond/Platinum seemed to take lots of breaks just walking away from the counter regardless of the line. On debarkation day, there is always a long line but still there were only a few people manning the desk and taking breaks. I keep a close eye on my onboard account to try to avoid having to go to Guest Services the last morning but of course they tried the “water scam” on me. The water scam is that you have 2 water bottles in your room and if you open/drink them, it is a $5.87 (with tip) charge. I always put them in the desk drawer or top of a closet to avoid accidentally opening them. We get a free one as Gold anyway. When it is time to leave, I pull out the ones with the paper label and return them. The cabin steward waited until the last evening to record that we had used one of the bottles (untrue) so the next morning at check out, I noticed a $5.87 charge. I waited in line and had it removed but most people would have just shrugged and figured it was not worth $5.87 to be delayed and stand in line. With 4000+ passengers, that bogus $5.87 adds up quick to unjust profits so I refer to it as the water scam. I encourage everyone to ALWAYS check for such things and when they occur, don’t just shrug it off because that encourages businesses to keep doing it while banking that most people will not object to the little charge. Other Carnival ships have not been as bad at Guest Services as Magic was.

Going on an MAC cruise in a couple of weeks. On other lines I request an extension cord for my CPAP and it has been no problem. Read a user comment that MSC charges $30 for one though. Is that true? Anyone know for certain? not worried about water or outlets but need to know about extension cords. Also I usually request and receive a fan on other lines so anyone know about fans on MSC? not Yacht Club but I am Gold level status from status match. If that matters.

Thank you everyone

I had trouble finding a response about this and was sifting through a lot about bringing soda onboard the initial boarding. My question is at a port of call (Grand Turk specifically after we leave from a US Port) can I buy some soda and bring it on board to drink onboard? More specifically, if I go to a store there in Grand Turk and buy a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke, is there a problem bringing it back aboard? Does it matter if it is a 2 liter plastic bottle, a six pack of the 16 oz bottles or a package of cans? I know what I can bring on at the initial boarding so this is not that question. I know alcohol bought in a port is normally "checked" and held until time to disembark at the end of the cruise but I want to know about non-alcoholic soda bought at a port call. Thank you!

HAL is my favorite line (well, next to Disney but nothing can really compare to a Disney cruise I think). We have cruised most of the other lines that sail out of the US and HAL has great service, food, and all around dedication to the passenger. As was said above, MSC is not that way. Nor is Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc. but they are not supposed to be that way. Their price reflects it. Do you get the same service in a McDonalds that you get at a Ruth Chris steakhouse? Of course not and no reasonable person would expect that so it is important to compare apples to apples. You are trying to do that and it is admirable so I encourage you to keep the McDonalds vs. fancy restaurant comparison in mind and adjust expectations. After a number of cruises, I know what I like and want and understand how the process works. For first time cruising, HAL is terrific because of all of their attention to customer service. Now I do not need it so much so Carnival, MSC, etc. are fine choices because I prefer to save money. If this is only your second cruise, you can still have a great time on a "fast food" cruise line by keeping expectations in line. As others have said, you can still get the HAL experience if you go with Yacht Club but, honestly, I have never felt the extra cost was worth it to me. Your experience will also depend on what YOU want to get out of it. Do you like the nightlife, parties and dancing? That is probably better and wilder on the "fast food" lines. Do you like fancy dinners and dressing up? that is probably better in the HAL, Yacht Club and such lines. Personally, my wife and I like relaxing, laying in the sun, sleeping late and do not care about gambling, drinking, partying, deck events and such so whether we are on a fancy line or a fast food line it makes little difference for our particular preferences. Only you know what makes you happy so I encourage you to not to let someone tell you how great or bad any cruise was until you know if their expectations from a cruise are similar to yours. I hope it goes great for you!

Yes, and no. There is no "directly at the cruise terminal" since you check in at one place then are bussed to another place to go through security and board the ship. However, there are buses that take you and the uber/taxi can drop them at the first point pretty easily. From there, transport is provided so they should not have long walks. Don't hesitate to request a wheelchair if necessary though and I am sure they have arrangements there.

A happy ending finally!!! I found a blog online that mentioned how to handle problems with MSC and Voyager Club. After multiple calls and e-mails that were ignored other than the conflicting and incorrect information discussed above, I did what it said and it worked. The blog suggested sending an e-mail to J.Lopez@msccruisesusa.com (Julio Lopez the VP of Contact Center), A.Varricchio@msccruisesusa.com (Angel Varricchio, Director of Pre & Post Cruise Customer Service), R.Rodriguez@msccruisesusa.com (Rubén Rodríguez, CEO of MSC America) as well as MSCCustomerService@msccruisesusa.com. The blog (or post) is https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/msc-cruises/ I sent the e-mail with all the prior ignored e-mails to all those addresses at once. Within 24 hours, I got an actual response from customer service! Of course it was wrong and showed they did not actually read the message but it was a start. For example, they tried to claim that they could not go back and give me points for a prior cruise (I had to remind them I had tried repeated pre and post that cruise to get information and was always told it was done but it never was) and that they could not status match my Marriott status (I never mentioned Marriott, only HHonors) and could not give me status match since I had already taken a cruise (a cruise they had no record of and refused to give credit for so how could they claim I took it and at the same time claim that I did not). I went back and forth about those things a couple of times then silence again. After a week of silence, I sent a follow up e-mail to all the addresses again which quoted the e-mails with their mistakes and, lo and behold, got a response within 24 hours that I had not submitted the status match form and asking me to go fill that out. I explained I had filled it out about 4 times in 2021 when they kept claiming not to have received it and this time had already done it several times again since they kept claiming not to have it (apparently their default claim) so please give me an e-mail address where I can fill it out, print it out and directly e-mail it to ensure they received it. Wow, suddenly they had it but did not have the supporting proof of my status with HHonors (although I had submitted it each time they claimed to never receive it). So I replied with 3 different photos of my HHonors status and just got an e-mail from customer service that it was all straight. I logged into my account and confirmed that I now have the correct status and credit for the prior cruise. FINALLY.. So, although their "customer service" relies on misdirection and just claiming they never received whatever you sent although they confirm receipt of it, they can and do fix things. It is a shame that we have to bother the higher ups with such petty issues but perhaps at some point the higher ups will force the workers to actually do their jobs. On the other hand, it could be like that pizza customer service commercial where they had a room full of ringing phones and the boss was telling them not to answer any so they could claim they had no customer complaints. Maybe the higher ups encouraged the workers to engage in such tactics to avoid actually doing something but I really hope that is not the case and, based on my experience, I do not think that the higher ups want that. A quick final piece of advice whenever you are dealing with customer service in anything. Be clear and concise with the problem and suggest specific solutions. In any event, I hope this helps anyone else having problems. Good luck!

Quick follow up - I have sent 2 more e-mails (total of 3 about 10 days apart) to the address specified (mscvoyagersclub@msccruiseusa.com) and received no response other than an auto-response acknowledgement that they received it. Of course, they are "experiencing higher than usual volume" (they do not understand that if it is ALWAYS that many, it is NOT higher than usual). If I try to call and work my way through the "press 1" maze and get to a person that person will either claim that they are going to take care of it and actually do nothing or they say that you can only get it solved by sending an e-mail. Either way, same result with the bottom line being that I think MSC has the worst customer service I have ever seen. My guess is that they only hire customer service specialists from the cable companies. This is ridiculous!

@Two Wheels Only yes, I have an account and did try that. The 2021 cruise is apparently linked but does not show up. However, when i try to link it using the booking number, it says it is already linked and when I called, the person confirmed it shows linked on their system but they cannot access anything to do with Voyager Club (but happy to book me on another cruise...). The ol' "other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"😃

@Essiesmom yes I was supposed to be a member of the Voyager Club on my first cruise but they had things all jumbled up and messed up. Tried to fix it ahead of time and was told I had to do it at the port. Port said I had to do it onboard. Onboard they could not access the records so round and round I went. After cruise, never could reach a person and they would not reply to e-mail. My full review of the fiasco on Divina is on my review at so I should be getting credit but then again, it should have been done correctly back in 2021 and it was not. @peteandpris The status match thing was part of the original problem back in 2021. There is a great link to a chart showing how MSC matches with other cruise lines and hotel program's for the status match. For me the best was HHonors where my gold status matched gold status for MSC. Submitted the form and information several times back in 2021 but they kept claiming they never received it. Started the process again with submitting the form and information and still waiting. Some said they heard back pretty quickly but that has not been my experience! Good luck to you with yours. To view that chart, a google search or search here will find it for you. @JamieLogical ain't that the truth!!

Update - 9-5-23 Call from MSC Cruise Concierge and left voice mail at my office and on my cell phone. Hoping it was a response to my e-mail, I tried to return the call and after waiting on hold and hearing how much they appreciated me calling, several times, I heard a click then the line went dead. Called back and same thing. Guess they are shortening the line by just picking up and then immediately hanging up. Finally chose the option to get a call back. He called me back later and after going around in circles, he was trying to book me on a new cruise. I told him I am waiting for my Voyager Club points to be corrected and he said he had nothing to do with that. He suggested I send an e-mail. I said I already did and when I said I sent one, he said I should probably send another. I asked how many it normally takes and he stammered a bit. Bottom line, they have managed to frustrate me yet again.

We went on the Horizon twice as shown in my signature. Both times, the IMAX had first run movies and the hottest new movies as they came out (meaning the blockbuster tent pole movies). Prices were $9.95-$13.95 which is about the same or cheaper than land based ones. No showing was packed but all had 1/3 or more seats filled and I mainly went to afternoon shows. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Be prepared to let it go? 😒. If only I could but sadly I am not too good at that. I wish I was and in my head I see the wisdom in your advice but I know it will eat at me. At least I have several months to “encourage” them to get it straight. 😃. Last time I only had a few weeks then was onboard the ship where “costumer service” would mysteriously lose thei ability to speak or understand English when it suited them and I was faced with the choice of pressing it and losing relaxation time while they played “we will check and contact your cabin” (and of course did not and the person I dealt with would disappear later). I’ve emailed and will wait a week or 2 but I will keep following up. I will update when something happens though.

When we cruised on Divina in 2021, I had an absolutely awful time with what MSC calls "customer service". I was told many things that were simply not true, received promises that were later denied, had problems with neighbors smoking awful smelling cigars/cigarettes on the balcony that made our cabin stink like a smoking room in an airport while the crew would do nothing about enforcing the "no smoking" rule and the list goes on and on. I decided I would avoid MSC in the future. Here it is 2023 and there is a perfect cruise for us for my wife's spring break 2024 and a great price so I decided maybe it was unfair to judge MSC by the 2021 cruise since it was toward the end of the COVID issues. We booked it. ANNDD the problems start back up. There is no record in the Voyagers Club of us taking the 2021 cruise so we did not get points for it. I tried to call and after 3 attempts of being on hold for more than 30 minutes before giving up, finally took advice I saw here and made a point to call first thing in the morning. I actually go through to a person (Chris). He seemed helpful and said he would have it added and update the Voyagers Club information. I was happy because despite the inability to get through the other times, at least someone was being helpful. He said it would be updated in a couple of days. Now, 2 weeks later and nothing has changed so I called back (again first thing in the morning) and got through to someone again. This person told me that they cannot change or affect the Voyagers Club so she had no idea why Chris would tell me that he could or did take care of it. She gave me an e-mail address and said the only way to resolve any issue with the Voyagers Club is by sending an e-mail to mscvoyagersclub@msccruisesusa.com. I have done so. I did that before in 2021 and it lead to absolutely no help and my outlook now is not very good but I will let everyone know if MSC has actually changed their ways and is providing customer support. The lie from Chris is not improving my opinion of MSC. In addition, I completed their form for "status match" using my HHonors status. I did that (3 different times) for the 2021 cruise and they denied every receiving it. I am anxious to see if they lost this one too. It is great to have a status match program like they have but it is far less great if it doesn't work. I have read many other gripes about MSC and their "customer service" and it is shame because the Divina was a beautiful ship. Let's see if MSC has improved since COVID.