UPNYGuy

2 minutes ago, VernRDH said:

What cruise are you on in Feb? We are on Anthem 2/9 sailing. Regular balcony, nothing fancy.

Also hi 518 neighbor! 

we were booked on Mereviglia on the 2/11 sailing. I forgot we were also booked on vision on 2/8 (thought I changed it). I kept the VOTS out of Baltimore and dumped the MSC booking. 

5 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

But we all have our own opinions so I will leave it at that.

100%. In fact, I just realized I was double booked in Feb (MSC Meraviglia  Y/C and Royal Caribbean the the same week). I switched it for Royal because the ship was half the size. 

1 minute ago, ray98 said:

I always wondered why MSC groups and boards were dominated by YC discussion, such as small portion of the passengers dominating the discussion.  You just don't see that in other brands who also do the 'ship in a ship' model.  Then I cruised MSC.  It was all clear after that.😂

spend a week on a BA class NCL ship not being in the Haven. IMO no different experience than being on Meraviglia in a non Yacht Club cabin. The reason why this topic comes up frequently is people that cruise frequently tend to prefer the elevated guest experience of a smaller to midsize ship, but like the activities on a larger ship. That was why this concept came into existence. 

27 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

Yes… but not necessarily on MSC. Ive cruised on most major lines out of N America and MSC is the most inconsistent and chaotic cruise line 

i have observed. You need alot of patience and a good sense of humor to survive a week on MSC , outside YC.  

So have I . I have sailed on Carnival (Havana and non-Havana), Norwegian (Haven and Non-Haven), Royal Caribbean (one was in a the Royal suite on a Freedom class) HAL, MSC (Y/C and non Y/C), and Oceania (concierge level verendah), and roughly 50 cruises between them all.  Your experience imo is an anomaly and not comparable to mine.  

3 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

 

While this may be your opinion, it's a wholly inaccurate statement. YC is delightful but, so is a cruise not within YC. 

Correct. DW and I cruise in and outside YC. This is a generalization, and one I find to be inaccurate. 

It will be business as usual. COVID is here and never going away. 

On 8/29/2023 at 6:48 PM, WayneLaR said:

Similar to "Aluminium" and "Aluminum".  The former is the British spelling and it is pronounced al-you-min-ee-um.  The latter is the American spelling and is pronounced a-loo-min-um. 

 

AS Oceania sticks that i near the end of the name I suspect it was/is intended to be pronounced O-she-ann-ee-ah.

Oh-she-aye-knee-ah or Oh-she-annie-ah are the two I have heard as proper. 

On 10/24/2022 at 2:47 PM, Hlitner said:

Based on our recent (last week) Seashore cruise the dress code is almost non-existent.    Even in the evening you will see some folks wearing shorts and flip flops.   Nobody was dressed like a slob, but "smart casual" seems to have little meaning for some folks.  On the one formal night many folks did dress a little better (at least half the men actually had a jacket) but we only noticed a couple of folks who bothered to "dress up" to anything approaching formal.

 

Hank

I haven’t worn a jacket on a cruise in years. Slacks and a polo, and I’m all set. 

3 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

Yes they would be even better for sure, but I have a weak spot for a genuine cruise ship from another era !!!

Back in 2012 we were blown away by how gorgeous Poesia was and the totally different feel to Carnival.

that’s exactly why I’d rather a Musica class there. IMO would give a more upscale interior.
 

Granted, DW and I do sail on Carnival. But the decor on the ships with the exception going to the vista class and Excel class leaves much to be desired. Carnival has been trying to de-gaudify the ships in the conversions (triumph to sunrise, victory to radiance). But there is only just so much they can do all at once. 

10 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

It was Poesia that went out of FFL in 2012.

explains why I thought it was Magnifica. Same class of ship. 

5 minutes ago, quattrohead said:

I personally think it was a mistake not to send Armonia to TPA after....you know what !!!

I think it would have been the perfect ship for that market.

IMO a musica class would be a bit better there (Poeisa, Magnifica, Musica, Orchestra). They are about the same size as the Radiance and Spirit class, but imo have a nicer interior.  

7 hours ago, First time cruiser 77 said:

What way does wifi work see its included in yacht club but don't see any options for WiFi when booking on seascape Aurea package 🤔 

you do not get wifi with Aurea cabins. You need to book the promotion that includes the beverage package and wifi to get it (at least in the U.S.)

On 9/1/2023 at 9:49 AM, JamieLogical said:

I highly prefer MSC's included drink package to NCL's. First of all, it includes bottled water and espresso-based coffees from the bars. Second of all, despite MSC's package "only" covering drinks up to $10 and NCL's allegedly covering drinks up to $15, the drink prices on NCL are so over-inflated as to be ludicrous. A shot of Bailey's on NCL is priced at $16 now, so you have to pay an extra $1.20 for a shot of Bailey's in your coffee! On MSC, a shot of Bailey's is $8.

 

I sailed the MSC Meravilia with the Easy Plus package, shortly after they had implemented their new policy that you only have to pay the difference on drinks priced over your package. I wanted to test that out, but I actually had a really hard time finding a drink over $10 on their menus that I even wanted to try. I settled on one and paying the difference worked as expected, but I didn't like the drink at all, so stuck to the items under $10 for the rest of the cruise.

the other thing to keep in mind is that you can upgrade the beverage package on MSC right through the website. you can go from Easy Plus (which is included in the promo) to the premium one and just pay the difference.

these elevators are NOT that complicated to use. I do not understand why people moan about them. It simply assigns you the elevator that is most direct to your deck. Carnival has these installed on the Horizon and Panorama, and I vastly prefer them. I also had *zero* issues with them on the Seaside.  

It is when you get hordes of people that dont follow the directions that get impatient.

32 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

Divina used to cruise out of Ft Lauderdale....I believe it was in the  early 2010's when MSC first entered the US market. I recall seeing the gorgeous ship across the port from the other ships.

Divina did as well? I seem to recall Magnifica also did, but I may be mistaken.

Just now, ray98 said:

 

There were plenty on the Seaside in May including some who were Fantastica that didn't get their preferred early choice.

hmm. That’s interesting. 

30 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Couple of observations….

 

1.  The shows that have contracts that are expiring are being replaced by internally developed shows vs paying for Broadway/Vegas shows.  I’ve seen some of NCL’s newer shows (Syd Norman’s shows comes to mind).  They’re excellent!  Anxious to see the big theater productions they’re bringing to their stages.

 

2.  True, room stewards have more cabins to take care of, but they’re only cleaning them once/day instead of twice per day.

 

Just thought I’d add some perspective!

that makes sense. That’s really no different than what other cruise lines are doing now anyway. I’m assuming suite/Haven still get 2x service if requested?

4 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

The most visible impact has been cabin stewards and entertainment, the stewards are now servicing about double the amount of cabins and the entertainment casts are being cut down as contracts come up for renewal. 

I did see that most of the broadway type shows seem to be axed.

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You are lucky! I was Fantastica on my last sailing and initially assigned an 8:30 dining time despite requesting early. Even with Fantastica, there are no guarantees that you will get your requested time, you are just allegedly given priority for your desired time. I was able to get my time changed to 6:00 once onboard by being willing to do a sharing table.

Im also Diamond, so perhaps that plays a part, but I have never had late dining with bella.

13 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I agree that the brand new terminal in Miami makes it less likely we will see MSC sailings out of other FL ports any time soon. They seem intent on expanding to other US regions right now, having just started sailing out of NYC, soon to be sailing out of Galveston, and looking towards Alaska sailings next.

and look how quickly they abandoned TPA. 

6 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

and looking towards Alaska sailings next.

They had Alaska in mind when the Meraviglia and Bellissima were built. There was a blurb from the shipbuilder at the time that they were deliberately shorter than the Fantasia class so they could fit into the existing docks up there. I would personally rather a Seaside class get sent up there, with all that outdoor space. 

On 8/25/2023 at 7:19 PM, VernRDH said:

we do enjoy relaxing at the adults pool preferably in the shade on sea days

def. go for the interior y/c on the Meraviglia in this case, much less hectic. You can feel that the ship has as many people on it as it does.

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

 

No....Aurea only.  The rest get the chaos of MSC assigned times.  Book Bella and there is a good chance dinner is the 9:30pm seating.

unless you pre-request dinner at the early seating. DW and I have done bella and have never had 9:30 dinner seating. 

On 8/26/2023 at 8:09 PM, VernRDH said:

Thanks for the replies! I think we may just go Fantastica this time and see how we like the overall experience. 

If you are used to flexible dining time, this is only offered with Aurea level bookings. Or (as it has been mentioned) forgo the balcony if you can, and book in the Yacht Club in an inside cabin. You will be surprised at the level of service. 

years ago, MSC had a ship based at Port Everglades (think it was Magnifica), They moved to Miami with Divina to compete with Royal and Carnival.