LadySpoilt

Finally got resolution after several emails and calls.  Early last week was told yes (via email) we could use it and upgrade to YC.  Yesterday morning was told no we could not as the rules had changed in January and it was not permitted. She said we could escalate it via email to a manager.  Sent email and surprisingly received answer late afternoon...no we could not use for YC with the same "rules change" argument.  Called again and complained  (perhaps since we could/did supply original email saying that we could) finally they relented and said ok we will let you use it.  Shall try to actually do it this morning and see what happens as MSC has a history of saying one thing (or letting you book one thing) and then coming back and saying "no you can't do that" and cancelling the already deposit paid cruise.

8 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

That’s disappointing to hear.  We used one on a 28 night sailing in YC once (and, while on that cruise, we received a 50% future cruise discount voucher as a result of missing a couple of POCs which we used for a 23 night YC cruise 😁). 

I could be wrong.  I thought when they changed rules for casino that this was stated.  Maybe it only applied to upgrades from the free cruise vouchers

I know they say (as of I think January) that the 30% off voucher does not apply when booking a YC room, but does that apply to vouchers received prior to January?  Still have a couple from last fall I would like to use before they expire.

It would be helpful IF they indeed did move buffet wait staff to the MDR, but with all the recent service and cost cutting measures I would not count to heavily on that.  I am more inclined to think they will simply be cutting staff and not simply be moving all them to the MDR.

Regarding how long people were waiting.  I can't give you a definite amount of time but as we were seated near the entrance and could see what was happening some of the people were waiting a considerable amount of time.  Almost makes me wish for the old traditional seating times where you just walked in and sat at your assigned table at a certain time.  Before I am called out on this I am aware that the Apex and Edge have 4 distinct MDRs and this would be difficult to impossible to accomplish.  I am merely saying that prior to the buffets everyone had an assigned time and MDR. With the advent of the buffets and their success this changed (less MDR customers).  Now with the very downgraded options and service in buffet chances are more people will be again going to MDR

On our recent Apex cruise we noticed how long the lines to get into MDR were and all the pagers being given out.  With the recent change to the buffet I suspect the lines to become even longer.  My question is how this will be handled?  We eat early so we were able to almost be seated immediately but by 6:15 or so the lines to get in were very long. Yes, while I know you can make reservations I wonder just how long you would have to wait.  Example....you have 6:30 reservations, you arrive at dining room however the lines just to sign in were sometimes all the way down the hall. Just to get to the desk you were going to be waiting in a long line so just how good is making a reservation going to be?  Granted I suppose you could "dig" your way though the crowds to get to the desk but at times even that was difficult as there we so many in line and only a single person at the sign in desk.  So your 6:30 reservation to get in and then be seated was already closer to probably 7 or later.

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

18 months from the last points you earned/cruise.  Extended due to covid 

Thank you!  Exactly what I wanted to know

22 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/casino-bcc-flyer-july-25-2022.pdf

You have 18 months to play and earn your tier status.
The current earning period is from January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 but has been extended to December 31, 2022.

I read this, but my question is is the 18 month period from your last cruise or is it on a calendar your basis?

Regarding Casino  Tier points when do they expire?  Is it 18 months from when they were gotten?  Example....last cruise was 3/22, do the points on this cruise expire 9/23 or when?  I realize during Covid they extended some things but I am only talking about going forward.

14 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I don't understand this post.

I'm not sure what happened.  My post was in response to the original posters cruise on on Oct 16. I have fixed it below.

I could have written this post as our experience on the cruise was the same.  Very little staffing, very often in YC lounge only one person taking drink orders, and on several occasions no one was taking drinking orders (you had to go to bar yourself).  And many times we got the "we are out of that" response.

The meal choices in the YC dining room have been severely cut down as well. Usually only 3 entrees available (yes you could still get the "offered everyday choices" ) but the overall quality, choices and service was disheartening.  One good thing though about halfway through the cruise a waiter (Ripon) remembered us from a previous Davina cruise (he even remembered the exact table we occupied and my chocolate fetish).  Once we were seated in his area the service seemed to improve.  One other negative about the dining room are the paper menus you still get.  OK I can see the reason for them during Covid but it appears that this will be a continuing thing.  I know that wouldn't bother many people but to me it cheapened the whole expensive YC dining experience. Something about getting paper menus verses a real menu was a really cheap downgrade in my opinion. 

I will say the room was well taken care of and ice kept stocked.  But we rarely ask for anything more than ice and extra towels.  So it was really just basic service.

First of the week we had sworn off booking future MSC cruises but after the waiter change and the casino being not as tight as I have seen it we may reconsider.  Even though I now think that YC is way overpriced compared to what it used to be in both price and service, the 30% voucher combined with an occasional really good deal may change my mind.

Spoilt

On 10/17/2022 at 12:33 PM, gmbhardy said:

We are on the Meraviglia right now spinning in the waters off Ocean Cay. Unable to dock because of currents. This is our fifth YC cruise and so far we are extremely disappointed. We cruised on the Seashore in April and had a great experience. This one is a dud so far. We’ve heard other people say the same thing. Service is non existent. The liquor tastes funny. The YC bar has nothing premium in stock. Cutbacks everywhere. No sparkling wine in your room. Nothing about the mini fridge (last cruise we received a bottle of liquor). Diamond perks cutback no chocolate ship, no gift. Our butler knocked at our door, introduced himself and said call if you need anything. No explaining anything. It almost seems like the crew is staging some sort “work to rule’” labour demonstration. We are on this ship for a B2B so I sure hope things improve, but they appear to be going in the opposite direction. I will post again later with an update.

 

I could have written this post as our experience on the cruise was the same.  Very little staffing, very often in YC lounge only one person taking drink orders, and on several occasions no one was taking drinking orders (you had to go to bar yourself).  And many times we got the "we are out of that" response.

 

The meal choices in the YC dining room have been severely cut down as well. Usually only 3 entrees available (yes you could still get the "offered everyday choices" ) but the overall quality, choices and service was disheartening.  One good thing though about halfway through the cruise a waiter (Ripon) remembered us from a previous Davina cruise (he even remembered the exact table we occupied and my chocolate fetish).  Once we were seated in his area the service seemed to improve.  One other negative about the dining room are the paper menus you still get.  OK I can see the reason for them during Covid but it appears that this will be a continuing thing.  I know that wouldn't bother many people but to me it cheapened the whole expensive YC dining experience. Something about getting paper menus verses a real menu was a really cheap downgrade in my opinion. 

 

I will say the room was well taken care of and ice kept stocked.  But we rarely ask for anything more than ice and extra towels.  So it was really just basic service.

 

First of the week we had sworn off booking future MSC cruises but after the waiter change and the casino being not as tight as I have seen it we may reconsider.  Even though I now think that YC is way overpriced compared to what it used to be in both price and service, the 30% voucher combined with an occasional really good deal may change my mind.

Spoilt

On 10/17/2022 at 12:33 PM, gmbhardy said:

 

 

Anyone know which terminal the Meraviglia leaves from in Port Canaveral?

Thanks

Spoilt

Does anyone have a price list for a wash and blowout?  Does it have to be reserved on board (did not see an option to prepay)

Sorry meant 2/13/23

Edge was not showing up earlier today for the Edge 2/13/23.  Constellation was only showing up.  Edge is now showing again.  Sorry for the confusion.

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

Got the coupon on board last week, but I can't figure out how to apply it when I go to make a booking on MSC's site.  Do I just go ahead and book it, and then reach out MSC customer service, or is there a place I can put in the code?  Thanks

The easiest  way is to call and book through the casino phone number on the bottom of letter.  

Yes you can book it and then email existing reservations to have it applied, however I am generally hesitant to do that with MSC customer service issues. (I have done it once this way and it worked fine BUT not a fan of doing that way.

Spoilt

1 hour ago, granddutchess said:

I am unsure of how to access this "companion fare".  I have AMEX PLAT and have never had this option.  I guess I'm missing something.

I has to be a Delta Platinum Amex

6 minutes ago, 5waldos said:

But it would be a really really bad business move to do something very out of line with their competition. 

I don't think it would be out of line for very long.  Because once one does it then the others will most likely jump on the bandwagon.

We have been successful (using both the Platinum and Reserve cards).  Sometimes it takes  a bit of compromise, departure and arrival times may not always be what we wanted but its still been worth it.  Also the Reserve cards free use of the Sky Club (cardholder always has free access while he gets 4 free companion tickets) has made it worth the annual cost.

11 minutes ago, Rjbobalou said:

Why stir the pot?

I did not see anything in what Arizona Wildcat wrote as stirring the pot. It was simple question relating to cruising. And a question that I suspect many of the other cruisers (myself being one of them) have wondered as well.

Spoilt

8 hours ago, Virginia100 said:

At. $130 a bbl I would expect it any minute now. $10 a day? Chump change and I can see why.

 I absolutely remember getting hit with it.  As a younger couple with 2 small kids at the time an extra 4 x 10 x 7=  $280.00 wasn't chump change and 25 or 30 years ago that amount stung! (I actually don't recall if it was 10 pp per day or how it was calculated...but it still stung). At the time I recall we  were on one of the first cruises that got hit with the fuel surcharge and found out about it just a couple weeks before the cruise.

35 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

We still strictly masked because we knew that there would still be the fools on board who either live in our state or were from out of state that would blithely ignore the conditions that exist in Tampa. We removed our masks only when eating , drinking or in our cabin.

 

Sure enough, about two days into the cruise we started hearing the dry cough, cough, cough from unmasked passengers.

 

(those cough, cough, cough people did seem to disappear and were not seen again - they were in the MDR at the same time as us with the same waiter). 

 

I think we need to step back a little bit here Homosassa.  The "fools on board" comment was a bit harsh. I will be cruising this month and I do not live in Florida and I will not be wearing a mask and I do not consider those that are/will be unmasked fools..

Now for the real reason for my post. I am/will be one of those "cough, cough, cough unmasked people" that you seem to disdain when we cruise later this month.  Its a bit judgmental to assume that I must have covid since I am both coughing and unmasked. Covid is NOT the only reason one coughs.  I should know since I have been diagnosed with a throat condition that causes coughing spells.  Daily several times a day.  I don't judge or even consider it any of my business if someone chooses to wear a mask (I don't know their reasoning or the circumstances as to why they choose to) ....now if those same people would treat the unmasked the same as they dont know the unmasked reasoning or circumstances either..

8 minutes ago, jerseygirl3 said:

 I just hope those who choose not to wear a mask don't harass those of us who do. 

Just as I hope those who choose to wear a mask don't harass those of us who do not.. 

I cruise this month and am not planning on wearing one.

Spoilt

1 hour ago, blueskadoo said:

Announced just this morning by the captain (who was so excited to share he came into the guest cabins with the announcement) masks are now optional in all areas of the ship, including the theater and casino. He said those who still wished to wear masks could, of course, and the crew will also continue to mask, but passengers are not required to any longer.  

Good!!  Now if we can just get the Apex to drop theirs!!

We weren't cruising Celebrity at the time.  Not sure what cruise line it was that hit us with it. I do remember the over $ 65.00/barrel price.