JT1962

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-ship-suffers-issue-itinerary-impacted/91465

I believe the repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral leaves April 9 and the first cruise from New York is April 22.

I would guess the number of passengers on recent sailings was higher than normal due to the holidays and schools being out. The staffing may be adequate for the typical passenger count before and after the holidays. Cruise lines can’t easily add additional staffing for a few weeks at a time like many land based businesses.

Diamond members are usually after self-debarkation, then they call groups based on your cabin number. If you need off quickly, and aren’t a Diamond member, I would use self-debarkation.

Try sending a message to the email address below. I’ve had good luck getting responses the few times I’ve had to contact them. Others have reported getting no reply, so no guarantee. mscexistingreservations@msccruisesusa.com

Nothing I have seen that does a partial or full transit. They do have itineraries that go to Colon and you can take an excursion by boat through the canal with a return by bus.

If you get a Black Card at checkin, you should be good. If not, you can ask at check in or go to guest services as soon as you board and ask them to confirm.

I tend to agree. Many seem to want a Disney type experience where it is the fantasy of exploring something different, but they know it is safe and not real. It’s funny to read reviews of cruises that have stops in both developed and undeveloped ports. The same person will complain that the Costa Maya port is not authentic and a cruise line built tourist trap, but Santo Tomas de Castilla in Guatemala or Colon, Panama is a dump, dangerous and there is nothing to do.

Most itineraries from Galveston (also New Orleans & Mobile) travel to the Western Caribbean and usually include only 3 ports instead of the typical 4 ports on a similar itinerary from Florida. They also don’t visit a cruise line private island, unless they are a rare sailing to the Bahamas. MSC may decide to offer some cruises to Ocean Cay (their private island), Nassau & Key West to give an alternative to the typical itinerary provided by other lines from Galveston.

The ship MAY change to local time since all ports are Eastern time. I know many will tell you the ship never changes time, but I was on the Splendor in May and the ship changed time to match the port times. I have been on 20+ cruises over the years and most have changed time to match the port time. I would check with the dive companies, if you haven’t already, to see if they adjust times to accommodate cruise passengers. If they have enough cruisers interested, many vendors will adjust the time.

Companies always make it easy to book / sign up online, but very hard to find or don’t even offer the ability to cancel online. They want you to call so they can try to talk you out of cancelling. Luckily cruise lines aren’t as bad as the cable company. 😀

I think there may be limited sailings and / or a limited number of low solo supplement deals allowed per sailing. You also have to choose the specific link from their website to see some of the solo deals rather than the main page with the current Holiday promotion. Try this link: https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/solo-traveler

I would definitely expect a more mature crowd on that cruise. NE / Canada cruises tend to have an older crowd as well as those that are longer than 7 days.

The cruises less than 7 days always seem to attract more of a party crowd on all cruise lines. I did not notice any marijuana smoking on the Meraviglia in January or Divinia in October, but it was constant on my Carnival cruise to Alaska in May and out of Mobile in June. With more US states & many countries making it legal, some of the cruise lines seem to have given up trying to stop it onboard.

Best time we have found is Jan - Feb (other than holiday weekends, first 2 weeks of May, last 3 weeks of September, first 3 weeks of Nov, first 2 weeks of December. Worst time is any holiday, March / most of April (Spring Break), late May - first week of September, Thanksgiving & Christmas. Will never go during Spring Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s.

I was able to use iMessages consistently on the Splendor in May with no paid WiFi plan, just connected to the ship WiFi to use the Hub App. It was hit or miss on Ecstasy in June. It seemed that short messages worked, but longer messages or photos rarely worked. I think there was enough extra bandwidth so that short iMessages worked. I also received messages from my local TV news app, F..B, and other push messages, but could not use those apps as normal.

Most are unable to register a card on the website. Just go to one of the several kiosks on the ship once you board and register your card there. Very quick and easy.

Looks like the same sale as Black Friday / Cyber Monday on the website now, just renamed Holiday Sale.

It’s May 8, 2023. Looks like it is sold out. It’s no longer on the website and other sites say you need to call to book. That 7 day itinerary is also part of a 26 day re-positioning cruise that ends in Genoa. I actually booked the 7 day cruise several months ago and then added the repositioning portioning on May 15 about a month ago.

Travel Agent OBC is usually not posted until you board. I have usually seen it by the 2nd day of the cruise on my statement.

Yes, airfares are expensive to most of those locations, but it is an option if someone is willing to pay more for different ports than are offered from the US ports. I am sailing on the Divina in January with stops at Belize, Costa Maya, Cozumel & Ocean Cay and in May with stops in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya & Ocean Cay. Both are 7 days from Miami with 1 day at Ocean Cay.

Most of their cruises spend at least one day at Ocean Cay, with some itineraries spending two days there. That limits how far they can go on a 7 day roundtrip cruise and still allow a reasonable amount of time in the other ports. I’m sure that the cost of fuel, space availability in ports, contract terms with the ports, etc. also play a role in the itineraries. They also offer some great itineraries sailing from St Maarten, Barbados, Martinique and Guadeloupe.

I was happy for the most part with the cabin assignment. It was a Fantastica Cabin on Deck 10 about 3/4 of the way to the back of the ship. It was very convenient to the passenger elevators / stair well with no noise from those. The only issue was there was a crew hallway and stairway on the other side of the wall that you could hear doors slam and people using the metal stairs at times. Luckily it was mainly during the day and not a problem at night. I usually pick my cabin, but Fantastica was $ 150 up charge above Bella on that cruise. On my previous cruise in January and my 3 cruises for 2023, Fantastica was $ 25 or less extra for solo, so I picked my cabin for those.

I booked a guarantee cabin on Divina for my cruise in October and it was assigned about 2 weeks after I booked in March. I have had other cruise lines assign a guarantee cabin as late as 2 days prior to sailing.

Getting an experienced customer service rep is key. They know the quirks in their system and how to book it. Most seem to be new and haven’t learned the tricks yet.