runner2013

On 6/2/2024 at 3:34 PM, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I think you're mistaken. I sailed once on Celebrity without my wife. I got my points but my wife didn't get points. She wasn't there.

I'm not mistaken. At least when it comes to Royal. Celebrity, not to sure. Guess I'll have to try a solo on them and see what happens:) 

On 6/2/2024 at 3:53 PM, publicpersona said:

 

On Royal, a married couple in a household are the same level as the one with the higher number of points.

You are absolutely correct. When my husband and I got married he was given my emerald status immediately. All it took was a phone call to C&A society.  

Thanks, 

That's sort of what I figured but thought I'd ask anyway, 

Hi all, 

Longtime cruiser of several other lines but a newbie to MSC.  I've checked the fine print for the Voyagers Club and can't find what I'm looking for so I thought I'd try here. 

DH and I will be sailing on our first cruise with MSC in October. After that if he or I sail alone would the other of us also get the points because we're married or just the person who was actually on board? (Royal and Celebrity award the points to both since we're married, and I was hoping MSC did the same.)

Also, are you awarded 'double points" as a solo cruiser, or no?

TIA for the help

I did a solo 3 day trip to get DH and I to Diamond.  We're booked for our first cruise with the free drinks perks now. Definitely worth it.

Side to side!! I knew there was another term but I was drawing a blank😁

Thanks everyone for the help

Hi all, 

DH and I will be on Allure in Oct for a quick 4-day trip from Miami. Since we're going to be there anyway, we decided to book a 3-day trip before that on Msc . So my question for you all is does this count as a b-t-b since it's two different lines? We weren't sure if 'technically' to call it that it should be the same line. We've never done two in a row so we're having fun with saying 'oh we're doing a b-t-b " 🤣

(it really is the little things isn't it that make us smile)

Thanks

Hi all, 

First timers here sailing on MSC, does anyone know if there is a dining room open on the Magnifica for lunch on embarkation day? DH and I are not big fans of the craziness that seems to happen in the buffet area. 

TIA

One other question, 

Is there any type of walking track on the Magnifica ?

Thanks

Hi all, 

We ended up using a TA. We did the status match to Gold, and received our loyalty #'s as well. We're excited to see what MSC has to offer. I downloaded the app and was surprised, there are several notable differences between MSC and other apps we've used for Royal, Celebrity and Princess. 

No ship map, check in isn't allowed until 30 days out, and no way to pull up what your loyalty status benefits are being the three that stood out for me. Not a big deal though, we'll learn as we go. 

Any recommendations as far as activities or venues we should make an effort to check out? We're open to pretty much anything. 😁

Hi all, 

Hubby and I have a cruise with RC booked for October and we're looking at doing a short cruise before that on Msc for the first time to see how the line is for us. Since we are Diamond on Royal, and he is retired military my question for everyone here is: would it be better to book directly through the cruise line or use our travel agent?  Would it make a difference as far as any perks we would be eligible for? 

Also, if we were to book directly with Msc, can they take the Status Match info over the phone or will we still need to submit it online after the trip is booked. 

Any advice greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

18 hours ago, dockman said:

way too much drama all around for my taste.....travel can be stressful even when all is perfectly clear and in order.....seems a lot of extra stress to finance a cruise...guess i am old fashioned that i simply would not book a cruise if i had to finance it.

I agree. I'm so used to being in control when I book and pay that it would be foreign to me to do a lay away type thing. However, If the right situation presented itself I'd be open to looking into it  it there was no other way. 

11 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I don't know if I was dreaming this, but somewhere....I read...that Princess does have an installment plan.

 

Sometimes I have a hard time separating what I read on the computer and "reality".  

 

Of course, I didn't take a screen shot nor would I ever do this.

Way back when the buddy was trying to figure out why his charge card was being charged after the final payment date, he called Princess directly to inquire and they had no idea what he was talking about. Come to find out, Princess Promotions paid for the trip up front and is still billing him now. So maybe Princess doesn't offer the pay up front option,   and it's just the Princess Promotions department, which isn't actually part of Princess that does it? 

If anyone knows for sure, please let me know. Who knows, maybe it might be something worth considering? 

Hello again all. 

Just thought I'd let you know DH's friend returned to Ft.Lauderdale yesterday safe and sound. He said they all had a great time and would do it again in the future.( Although I think he'd use a more 'traditional' method to book the cruise vs. Princess Promotions). 

Turns out P.P. paid for the entire trip up front and the buddy is making payments from his credit card until next April. So the confusion as to what the charges were are finally explained. 

Anyway, all's well that ends well I guess. 

Happy Sailing to the rest of us😁

Hi all, 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.

I'm happy to report DH's buddy made it onto the ship and is having a great time. He did some sightseeing in Italy the day before embarkation and is enjoying his time on board. 

He still plans to talk to the Next Cruise people regarding his 'future cruise' situation he was told he signed up for by Princess Promotions, (whether or not they can help him, he doesn't know)  but otherwise he says he is satisfied.

If I heard more i'll report back. 

P.  

HI all, 

Well, 

It's go time for dh's buddy. They all leave this afternoon for Italy.  They received their cabin assignments, are all checked in on the app, and I believe made all their dinner reservations as well. 

Not sure if the buddy ended up getting travel insurance or not, didn't want to ask and seem like I was beating a dead horse.

They arrive on Sunday, (flying from United States) and don't board until Tuesday the 2nd. Supposedly they have tours booked for the Vatican and one other place. They also have transportation arranged from the hotel to the pier on embarkation day which makes me feel better. My final piece of advice was to bring copies of everything, just to have. You never know what you might need. 

The buddy did also say Princess Promotions paid for the entire cruise upfront and will be taking payments from his credit card until sometime next year.  So, I guess that situation was straightened out as well. 

Anyway, that's all I've got. 

If the buddy happens to contact DH while sailing i'll be sure to let you all know. 

To anyone else who may be hopping on this sailing, safe travels and have a great time😁

I want to say there are a few policies you can buy close to the sailing date, but the options included in them are not the best.  

If/when I hear anything else I'll be sure to come back here and let you all know. 

Thanks for your input and advice. As always much appreciated. 

Hi all, 

Just thought i'd pop back in with a quick update. 

Hubby's buddy asked us for help booking travel insurance for the trip. We thought they already had it through Princess, but his buddy said they felt it was too expensive and wanted to look elsewhere. His significant other has a very sick sister and they're looking for a policy that will cover them in case the worst happens, and they need to leave the ship and fly home. 

I took him to the sites I usually use but they too, did seem expensive. I advised him to call the company directly and speak with an agent. I felt that would be the best way for them to possibly get the best rate for the option they need. 

They also have their flights through Princess after all. Originally, he said they did, then he said they didn't, now they do. 

No idea what to make of this but again we're staying out of it.

We also don't know if the buddy has gotten his cabin assignment yet, or if the travel agents/company he's been using this entire time is still taking money out each month to pay for the mysterious future cruise he agreed to when he originally booked. 

Again, we don't feel there's anything we could do at this point anyway, so we'll let sleeping dogs lie. 

They are all supposed to leave this Saturday. They join the ship April 1st in Italy.  We're hopeful but nervous. Once I hear anything I'll report back. 

I didn't even know there was a club being built in Nassau. Now Cozumel as well 🙄. Good for folks and/or families who will use it and enjoy it. But me personally, not that interested in going to Nassau or Cozumel on a large portion of my cruises. I walked around Perfect Day at Coco Cay once, it was wonderful but that was enough. If I wanted a beach vacation, I'd have booked a nice hotel somewhere in the Caribbean. 

3 hours ago, Scottdalfonso said:

We are doing our first Princess cruise in August, the medallion thing sounds really neat, you can even find others in your party on the screens in the hallway, or you can have food delivered right to your pool side seat....if it works the way it's supposed to, it's definitely a great idea. 

The Medallion technology is pretty nice. We were skeptical at first but once on board it seemed to work out pretty well. 

One fun note, when standing by the elevators, watch the big info screens on the walls. They read who is nearby and sometimes will put a welcome message on the screen with your name. 

We were onboard for our 1st year wedding anniversary and all week every time we approached a screen it changed to a congratulatory message with our pic and glasses of champagne. It was a nice little touch that we appreciated. Definitely something you'd never get from Royal. 

11 hours ago, Russ Lomas said:

On our Princess cruise last week, some things were very different, in a better way, to handle this.  They have a screen about 10" diagonal on the wall outside your cabin.  When you get within 3 metres or so of the cabin, your cabin door automatically unlocks if you are wearing your Medallion.  It was also programmed so that it automatically opened our kids' room if we went there.  When the door unlocks, is shows your profile photo on the screen on the wall and welcomes you.

 

There are 2 buttons on the screen at all times.  One is to "request cabin service" and the other is do not disturb.  Whenever we left the cabin, we hit the service button and whenever we were in the cabin, we hit the "do not disturb" button.  Problem solved about the cabin steward disturbing us when we were in the cabin.

 

He got an idea after a day or 2 of when we were out to dinner or breakfast, checked the screen to see if we were in or out, and then quickly cleaned it while we were out.  Never saw him in our cabin (only in the halls), but the cabin was neat and tidy 100% of the time.  It was like walking into a brand-new cabin every time we entered.  Other cruise lines need to consider a similar method.

We've also sailed with Princess several times. I agree, the display screen outside the room is a very nice idea. It worked out well for us every time. 

17 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Don't pass on trying the free breakfast at JR.

 

OOhhh, When does this happen?

Every morning or only certain days.:

Is it listed in the Compass?

Thanks everyone for the help. This is our first time on an Oasis class ship and we wanted to make sure we know what to expect. 

Hi all, 

We will be sailing on Allure in October. While reading online versions of the Cruise Compass from Jan 2024, it says reservations required under several of the shows. 

Can anyone who's been on Allure recently confirm reservations are actually needed or is it still just walk up/first come open seating?

Thanks 

Hi all, 

First time DH and I are booked on Allure and wondering if we can see the Aqua show from our balcony. We're in Cabin 11729 on Deck 11. We've never been on an Oasis class ship and have no idea what to expect. 

Tia