Msc Website

[grimpil]

We have just booked on the Lirica 11day deep southern carribean for Feb 15 -06. Thank you for all your posts, really helped in researching for the right cruise. Looks like a beautiful ship. On the MSC website there does not seem to be anywhere you can enter passport/immigration info. A common theme with most posts was how smooth embarkation was. I don't see how this is possible without entering all this info on-line prior to the cruise. Also I don't see anywhere you can book excursions on their site. We booked the cruise through skyauction so we really don't have a travel agent. Any info would be appreciated. I will email MSC but usually response will be much quicker here.

[seagulls]

I agree the MSC website leaves a lot to be desired. I think Sasso will be planning big improvements in this area in the very near future.

[bigmike7]

Yo-

 

Strange as it seems - and believe me - we had the same exact questions - MSC does EVERYTHING at the pier prior to boarding - and it still is like a 15 minute proposition - so sit back - relax - show up at the pier with your documents and passports and all will be taken care of by a multitude of folks on computers -

just hope that you enjoy your Lirica cruise as much as we did 'cause it was GREAT!!

 

Mike

[mary.g]

I also booked our cruise on the Opera through Sky Auctions and they required passport information which they passed on to MSC before our tickets could be issued. Hope this is helpful. From a fellow Canuck!:)

[LuvBNatC]

I sailed on Lirica this past April from Ft. Lauderdale and found the boarding process a bit different from the American mass-market cruise lines.

 

True, you can't register on-line in advance. In fact, you fill out no paperwork whatsoever at any time.

 

When you get to the pier, the check-in process is one of the easiest I've seen. They check you in, set up your onboard account, take your photo, and give you your boarding pass all right there. On other lines, this is done in stages in various places as you board.

 

They do not ask for any emergency contact information, so make sure you have entered it in your passport because that's the only place they could find it if anything happens to you. They do take your passport as soon as you board the ship. In the past, this has only been done to me (an American) when I've made transatlantic crossings, never in the Caribbean.

 

In fact, on my April cruise a couple got left behind in Jamaica and had to fly back to the U.S. and meet the ship in FL to collect their belongings. They had trouble getting in because the ship had their passports, and Immigration had to clear them by contacting the Lirica at sea. So make sure you photocopy of your passport and keep the copy with you.

 

As I'm writing this, the reason for collecting the passports now makes sense. They don't have you fill out any of the usual paperwork that asks for information from your passport because they have the actual passports. Personally, I don't like surrendering my passport and I'd rather take the 5 minutes to do the paperwork. Also, since the passports are kept on board, no one at MSC on shore has any information about you (including emergency contact info) in the event you were to take ill and be airlifted to some other country or the ship were to sink or become otherwise inaccessible to communication. As farfetched as those scenarios seem, it happens and MSC would be in a pickle. And I won't even get into the possibility of identity theft where crew have a whole cruise's access to a big pile of passports.

 

I'm surprised that Homeland Security and the Coast Guard let them operate like this, but that's how it works.

 

Hope this helps.

[henri]

- By embarkation your passport is scanned. All information is on a list and is available (for customs/emergency) as well in U.S. as in headquarter in Naples, Italy.

- It is not true that all crew have access to the passports. They are stored in a save and only security officers have access. Not even reception have access without guided by security, even more,.. reception has to call Hotel-manager, and he contact security to go to reception!!.

- It is very easy when MSC have the passports, especialy by visiting specific countries like Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, etc. (and it will be more and more), because when customs come onboard to stamp/controle the passports it would take a full day when everybody has to come personaly to show and let stamp his/her passport when leaving the ship.

- When booking your cruis through a T.A. you also (although her in Europe) fill in your passport-info and your emergency-contact on a form. That info in also known by MSC.

- It is indeed a good idea to have a photocopy of your passport with you all the time when you're abroad.

- There are very good, stringent, international rules about handling passport(s-info) on ships/planes.

 

Henri.

.

[LuvBNatC]

Good information, Henri. Thanks. However, when Americans sail in the Caribbean, their passports are given only a cursory glance by Immigration as they leave the ship and do not get stamped. So I see no reason for holding them during the voyage at all.

 

I booked my cruise through a real American travel agent (not a Web site) and she did not ask for any personal information. I provided nothing about passport number or emergency contacts to her. She had nothing but my name, address, and phone number to pass along to MSC.

 

After seeing the behavior of the crew on Lirica, particularly at the Information Desk, I have misgivings about overall security on that ship and would not be surprised if unauthorized people do have access to passports.

 

A day or two before we left the ship, our passports were returned by being tossed onto our beds. This means the cabin steward (who probably delivered them) and anyone else with a cabin key had access to them until we returned to the cabin and found them.

 

I don't know if any of my concerns are valid or not. I was just sharing my recent first-hand experience. I was surprised by MSC's casual attitude toward passports because I know that they are treated with utmost confidentiality in all other circumstances when we travel abroad.

[dorijo]

Hi

Can anyone tell me if a soda card is sold onboard the Lirica? We are booked for Jan 24 2006 Southern Caribbean. Also could anyone tell me what La Pergola restaurant is between the pool and the cafeteria on deck 12..Our cabin is right below and i am wondering if it will be noisy and if it is carpeted?

Is this an alternative restaurant or the seating for the buffet?

Thanks

Doris

[LuvBNatC]

Hi, Doris,

 

I don't remember seeing anything about soda cards being sold on Lirica, but I wasn't looking for one, so I could be wrong. Someone else might be able to give you a definitive answer to that.

 

La Pergola is an area of partially covered deck (no carpet) with tables and chairs, a bar and buffets on either side, leading into the main buffet area. One side had pizza, and I think the other side was burgers (I never ate there, so I'm not sure).

 

The only time it got loud during my cruise was from about 10-midnight when an Austrian trio sang for the Germans onboard. I think they gathered there most nights, and there was lots of beer-drinking and singing of German music. I don't know if this is customary on all sailings with a large group of Germans.

 

But before you panic, I don't think the noise should be a huge problem. The deck seemed to be pretty well insulated by glass. And the whole ship seemed to curl up and go to sleep by midnight every night. (Although I did hear that the disco got wild in the wee hours. Every time I ever walked through there at night it was empty and quiet.)

 

Hope this helps.

[grimpil]

Thank you all for taking the time to post here. I called MSC directly and they took our passport #'s. They were very polite and courteous. Sounds like everything is taken care of onboard. I haven't seen anything mentioned about soda cards on any posts. I can imagine the excursion desk will be very chaotic without pre-booked tours. Thank you all again.

[czechmate]

I agree the MSC website leaves a lot to be desired. I think Sasso will be planning big improvements in this area in the very near future.

 

I would not put my faith in Sasso nor any of his many Vice Presidents in this or any other area - if my correspondence with them is indicative.

[czechmate]

I haven't seen anything mentioned about soda cards on any posts. I can imagine the excursion desk will be very chaotic without pre-booked tours. Thank you all again.

 

Hi there.Hope that when the time comes you will have a great cruise.

 

SODA CARDS. You can read the post I made under the thread "Review of Lirica 04/22/05, 10 day caribbean" started by Italgirl.

 

EXCURSIONS. In the past there was not a problem. In the cabin there was a printed sheet with details of all excursions available on your cruise, You simply marked those which you wished to reserve and dropped that back to the excursion desk.

Tickets were delivered to the cabin later and the charge debited to your on board account.

 

If you have not done any pre cruise research and are not sure what excursions you wish to book - the in cabin TV has videos of the ports of call and there is also a talk with film.

 

There is a site where the excursions are shown and I will try and locate the address and post back here. Trouble is not ALL listed excursions are offered.

 

Naughty thought for you! You can certainly do all the excursions yourself at far less cost - and avoid being placed in a bus where the tour guide speaks only in a language other than your own. Just do your own research and know what you want to see.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Posted by a member in another thread

 

You can download the rates and itineraries from

http://www.msccruisesagent.com/msc/....asp?PageID=200

 

and download the brochures from

http://www.msccruisesagent.com/msc/...d=38&l=n&tid=12

[seagulls]

All I can say is someone had better get a more efficient web site going. There is hardly any information on the present one. I have requested a brochure twice and have yet to receive one. I am booked on the Opera in January, 2006. But if they want me to repeat, they had better start replying to my inquiries.

[caviargal]

MSC called me 2 weeks prior to sailing to get passport information for my cruise. This is not what other posters have experienced so perhaps this is an imporvement.

 

I agree that their website leaves much to be desired.

[goodclicks]

I have yet to receive my brochure ordered through the UK website months ago. However MSC seem to be very efficient and prompt to post brochures when asked by phone. That applies to both the US slales office (as i didn't have the UK number at that time) and the UK office - i received it the very next morning. The people on the end of the phone were very helpful and pleasant too.

 

Do you know if the 2006 brochures are available yet? Supposedly I am on the mailing list to get one when they are, but again i applied through the website, so who knows?

[BopRN]

Grimpil....Are you willing to share your price you got for your 11 day Lirica cruise on Skyauction? And does that include port charges? I am trying to figure out what a fair price is for that cruise. I have gotten quotes all over the place from some websites. Thanks.

[bigmike7]

Grimpil....Are you willing to share your price you got for your 11 day Lirica cruise on Skyauction? And does that include port charges? I am trying to figure out what a fair price is for that cruise. I have gotten quotes all over the place from some websites. Thanks.

 

Yo BopRN-

 

We got our 3/31/04 "Lirica" cruise off of SkyAuction and paid like $515 plus $350 total fees for like $865 total for an inside just to give you a rule of thumb-

 

I noticed that SkyAuction has raised their pricing - but it appears not by much-

 

btw - we met people that got lower - last minute fares than the fare we paid at SkyAuction-

 

Mike

[grimpil]

We paid close to the same (35 more) as BigMike7 for our 11 night southern carribean on the lirica for 06Feb15. You can check the 'WINNERS" list to see what the last round went for. It has been up to 600. Last year we obtained quotes from 4 travel agents and saved about 500/person for 10 night celebrity summit cruise. Just shop around, set your max bid and be patient. There is also a $15 processing fee and be sure to read all details re:cancellation/changing dates etc. They do offer insurance at a reasonable price but not sure if the coverage is that good. (As a Canadian it costs about $40,000 to fly back air ambulance if needed). Good luck with your bidding.

[grimpil]

We paid close to the same (35 more) as BigMike7 for our 11 night southern carribean on the lirica for 06Feb15. You can check the 'WINNERS" list to see what the last round went for. It has been up to 600. Last year we obtained quotes from 4 travel agents and saved about 500/person for 10 night celebrity summit cruise. Just shop around, set your max bid and be patient. There is also a $15 processing fee and be sure to read all details re:cancellation/changing dates etc. They do offer insurance at a reasonable price but not sure if the coverage is that good. (As a Canadian it costs about $40,000 to fly back air ambulance if needed). Good luck with your bidding.

[BopRN]

I always wonder if someone at Skyauction isn't bidding the price up higher. How would we know that? It sometimes takes a huge jump(no one else would make it jump that much since we all want a dirt-cheap price!) and I figure if they aren't getting the money they want, they bid under a fake name. We bid on a condo this year and the same "person" on all 3 of our tries kept bidding higher and higher and never won....then "he" would show up on the next listing again....It just makes me wonder. It also makes sense that if "they" bid and the condo or cruise didn't bring in the money, they would bid really high and "win" and then relist it.

[grimpil]

BopRN, you have a point, there is no way to tell who you are bidding against. All you can do is get a few quotes and set your max bid. I've heard from a friend that he won a resort stay for an incredible price and they just emailed him -sorry not available. Apparently they can do that, all legal stuff is in the terms and conditions section. When you are searching for a specific cruise make sure you check to see if port charges/taxes are included. It usually says right at the bottom of the listing what these charges are. Sometimes there is also a date surcharge which can be up to $200, so you really have to read every line of the listing. BTW are you an RN? I am an RN in CVT/CCU/telemetry

[BopRN]

Yes I am an RN...pediatric recovery room/outpatient surgery dept.

 

For the Lirica, I am assuming port charges are included as I see no mention of them specifically...is that what you are expecting too? I do know about the big chunk of fees/taxes at the end of the cruise description.

We used SkyAuction to book a condo in St Maarten last month and the condo was wonderful and all the transactions went smoothly..and we got a fantastic price! Hoping to have have the same good luck with a cruise.

 

Thanks for your advice and info!

Betsy

[mamabelleuk]

Hi there,

I can't speak for Lirica but there certainly was a soft drink/non alcoholic beverage card you can buy which I believe is aimed at children. I met an adult who had bought one mainly for the daily non alcoholic cocktails! This was on Armonia so I expect the same deal is available on all MSC ships. Sorry I don't have any further information on it other than I believe it covered 5 drinks. Hope this helps!:)