Anyone booking the Seaview for 2018?

[CruiseIreland]

Hi. I received the email offering 10% discount on MSC Seaview for Voyager Club members. I am strongly tempted to book for October 2018. I don't see any posts here about the Seaview so I was wondering if anyone else was considering it and, if not, what is holding folks back? Cheers, Ken.

[Mikesa1721]

Hi. I received the email offering 10% discount on MSC Seaview for Voyager Club members. I am strongly tempted to book for October 2018. I don't see any posts here about the Seaview so I was wondering if anyone else was considering it and, if not, what is holding folks back? Cheers, Ken.

 

If MSC Seaview wasn't sailing a similar itinerary to MSC Meraviglia, I think you might have seen more people eager to book onboard MSC Seaview. I have to think those who are booking MSC Seaview will be looking to experience the ship more than the ports of call,,:)

[All-ready2cruise]

nevermind ;)

Edited July 14, 2016 by All-ready2cruise

[suron]

The e-mail came through to me whilst I was visiting son and his family who are based in Dubai. They too got the e-mail having travelled MSC before.

 

As son can get direc flight from Dubai to Barcelona and I can get a low cost flight from my local airport (Bristol) we decided to investigate and are booked for July 13th and will be having a Super Family Plus cabin. Price was very good with the discounts and other perks with the Fantastica package. There are five of us travelling and it will be nice for the twin grandsons to have their own space, me to have a cabin to myself and son and wife in the third cabin. Although they say the Super Plus Family cabins can accommodate up to 10 I think that may be a bit of a squash even spread over three adjoining cabins.

 

Anyone else on the same sailing as us??

 

Good luck with your plans for those comtemplating booking on this new ship

 

Suzanne (Bristol, UK)

[Beamafar]

Hi Ken

 

I reckon I was the very first person to book a YC cabin on Meraviglia as I rang before the sales phone lines opened and arranged a call-back which I received moments before sales opened. I got really caught up in the excitement of it all as it was the newest MSC ship since Preziosa and a new, different class of ship. Since then, it's been announced that the Cirque de Soleil won't be up and running 'til July 2017 (I'm booked on her in June) which came as a bit of a blow at first and has made me wary of booking anything new 'til it's operational. The one consolation I have is that I got 20% Black Card discount before it was discontinued and, because it was an Early Booking Rate, I had a €10 future cruise voucher which translated into €400 OBC so I'm pretty pleased with the value I've got from booking when I did! The prices at the moment are crrrrrrazzzzy!

 

Also, the fact that the itinerary is more or less the same as the Meraviglia (which is one I've done so many times I'm tired of seeing it being offered ALL the time) means that I won't be rushing out to book it anytime soon. Another thing, too: I'll be interested in seeing how Meraviglia prices look next Spring when we'll get a real sense of how bookings for her have fared. If she doesn't sell well, I can see a lot of offers coming down the tracks and so would expect the same thing for Seaview in 2018!

 

As they say on some TV show or other: "So, for me, that's a 'No'"!

[Beamafar]

If MSC Seaview wasn't sailing a similar itinerary to MSC Meraviglia, I think you might have seen more people eager to book onboard MSC Seaview. I have to think those who are booking MSC Seaview will be looking to experience the ship more than the ports of call,,:)

 

Cor-rect Mike, on both counts - as far it goes for me, anyway!

 

I wouldn't mind staying onboard and missing the ports as sometimes the ship is the destination for me. However, with most of MSC's Med cruises not leaving the EU area now due to terrorism, we can't avail of Duty Free prices and, as DH is a smoker, it's a deal-breaker for us.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Beamafar

[Mikesa1721]

Cor-rect Mike, on both counts - as far it goes for me, anyway!

 

I wouldn't mind staying onboard and missing the ports as sometimes the ship is the destination for me. However, with most of MSC's Med cruises not leaving the EU area now due to terrorism, we can't avail of Duty Free prices and, as DH is a smoker, it's a deal-breaker for us.

 

Wow Bea!!! I didn't know that regarding duty in the EU. How much are cigarettes there these days?? :)

[Beamafar]

Yep, no duty-free shops onboard ships in the Med! I always believed that MSC went to Tunisia solely for the reason to be able to sell duty-free as there's feck all else reason to include Tunis as a port of call!

 

In Ireland, a pack of (20) cigarettes is approx €10.80 depending on brand - that's roughly $12. The price onboard for 4 cartons (buy 3 get 1 free) works out at €1.70 per pack - $1.90. A fairly hefty saving and, when we travel with my parents we always bought at least the duty-free allowance per person each. We used to cover the cost alone of one of us travelling based on the savings!

Edited July 14, 2016 by Beamafar

[Mikesa1721]

Yep, no duty-free shops onboard ships in the Med! I always believed that MSC went to Tunisia solely for the reason to be able to sell duty-free as there's feck all else reason to include Tunis as a port of call!

 

In Ireland, a pack of (20) cigarettes is approx €10.80 depending on brand - that's roughly $12. The price onboard for 4 cartons (buy 3 get 1 free) works out at €1.70 per pack - $1.90. A fairly hefty saving and, when we travel with my parents we always bought at least the duty-free allowance per person each. We used to cover the cost alone of one of us travelling based on the savings!

 

That's a very expensive habit Bea!! I bought my sister-in-law a pack of cigs for $10.00 and couldn't believe it!! In Florida they were a bit cheaper,,about $6.00 per pack,,but it's still pricey!!

[Beamafar]

That's a very expensive habit Bea!!

 

Hence my need for Duty-Free availability, Mike. The Med cruises were terrific value for us when we sailed from Barcelona to Tunisia because cruise and airfares are cheap - especially in winter when we'd stay onboard if the weather was poor. Invariably it would still be a lot nicer than Irish weather and we more often than not had some very pleasant, sunny days which were better than what we'd get in Summer in Ireland LOL!! Alas, the ships no longer sail to Tunis. We started sailing the East Med as an alternative because Turkey, who is not in the EU (yet!) was on the itinerary, but now that's gone, too!

[Mikesa1721]

Hence my need for Duty-Free availability, Mike. The Med cruises were terrific value for us when we sailed from Barcelona to Tunisia because cruise and airfares are cheap - especially in winter when we'd stay onboard if the weather was poor. Invariably it would still be a lot nicer than Irish weather and we more often than not had some very pleasant, sunny days which were better than what we'd get in Summer in Ireland LOL!! Alas, the ships no longer sail to Tunis. We started sailing the East Med as an alternative because Turkey, who is not in the EU (yet!) was on the itinerary, but now that's gone, too!

 

That leaves you with The Emirates and the Caribbean Bea!!!:D

[Beamafar]

That leaves you with The Emirates and the Caribbean Bea!!!:D

 

................ or Grand Voyages from Europe where, at least, the currency onboard is Euros so no nasty currency exchange rate issues for moi :D

[BermudaBound2014]

Yep, no duty-free shops onboard ships in the Med! I always believed that MSC went to Tunisia solely for the reason to be able to sell duty-free savings!

 

 

BINGO lol :). VAT is a killer also, not only lack of duty free to consider, the savoy traveler should also note the 18% VAT on everything Eu. Thank heaven for KOtor :).

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mikesa1721]

................ or Grand Voyages from Europe where, at least, the currency onboard is Euros so no nasty currency exchange rate issues for moi :D

 

I'm going to have to experience that nasty currency exchange rate,,,:eek:

[Beamafar]

I'm going to have to experience that nasty currency exchange rate,,,:eek:

 

It works in your favour, Mike - the $ to € is good. It's when it's reversed, it's not! :mad: Which is why I'm not keen on heading Stateside.

[sidari]

Bea ... you forgot to mention the sneaky extra vat that you have to pay when moored in Spanish ports that the EUSSR allows Spain to get away with.

[Mikesa1721]

It works in your favour, Mike - the $ to € is good. It's when it's reversed, it's not! :mad: Which is why I'm not keen on heading Stateside.

 

For now Bea,,,we'll see how the exchange rate is next June,,:D

[Beamafar]

Bea ... you forgot to mention the sneaky extra vat that you have to pay when moored in Spanish ports that the EUSSR allows Spain to get away with.

 

Yeah, I've seen that mentioned several times on here, Dave, but I've never experienced it myself.

[sidari]

For anyone buying drinks onboard while in a Spanish port the extra VAT is added to the price, not sure how they get around those with drink packages though.

[CruiseIreland]

Good points re itinerary. As a 3rd cruise next year is off the cards, l might consider a new ship in 2018. The early booking discount of 5%+5% was tempting but l will hold off, l think...for now! Ken

[Beamafar]

Good points re itinerary. As a 3rd cruise next year is off the cards, l might consider a new ship in 2018. The early booking discount of 5%+5% was tempting but l will hold off, l think...for now! Ken

 

I think you're doing the right thing, Ken.

 

There are very uncertain times ahead and at least two events that may affect MSC's pricings - especially for Med cruises

 

1. Brexit ............ If Sterling falls much more against the Euro, it may impact bookings from British passengers.

 

2. Escalation of terror attacks in Europe ............ Rightly or wrongly, many Americans (and perhaps others) will cease cruising the Med if atrocities continue.

 

It'll depend on what percentage of MSC passengers come from the UK and US to affect their overall Med bookings should one or other of these factors come into play. Though we're talking about cruises two years from now, so anything can happen between now and then.

 

From the point of view of the 5% extra discount incentive, I've seen other sales promotions that worked out cheaper than Early Booking rates with the 5%+5%. The promotions seem to change up every three months or so - just keep an eye out!

[glittergal1]

just booked seaview for November 2018 soooooo excited

[vacationmommy]

I will not be on the Oct 2018but we are going to be on the Nov 2018 excited to see this line and this ship.

[Skier52]

Hence my need for Duty-Free availability, Mike. The Med cruises were terrific value for us when we sailed from Barcelona to Tunisia because cruise and airfares are cheap - especially in winter when we'd stay onboard if the weather was poor. Invariably it would still be a lot nicer than Irish weather and we more often than not had some very pleasant, sunny days which were better than what we'd get in Summer in Ireland LOL!! Alas, the ships no longer sail to Tunis. We started sailing the East Med as an alternative because Turkey, who is not in the EU (yet!) was on the itinerary, but now that's gone, too!

 

You need to look at cruises calling at Gibraltar as it has special status and vat does not have to be charged on a ship that uses Gib, just the same as Tunis or Tangiers

 

link to the site for the quote

 

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Insights/On-Europe-cruises-getting-acquainted-with-VAT

 

 

 

 

Cruises that do a roundtrip itinerary from a Spanish port must charge the tax. Ships making a port of call in Spain are supposed to charge the tax while they are in port or in Spanish waters.

 

There is a further wrinkle. If the cruise visits a non-EU destination, such as Gibraltar or Tangier, the tax no longer applies

 

Pete

Edited November 1, 2016 by Skier52

[Beamafar]

You need to look at cruises calling at Gibraltar as it has special status and vat does not have to be charged on a ship that uses Gib, just the same as Tunis or Tangiers

link to the site for the quote

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Insights/On-Europe-cruises-getting-acquainted-with-VAT

Pete

 

 

I'll have to watch for this on my Meraviglia sailing as I'm boarding in Barcelona! I'm pretty sure I've done an itinerary where Tunis was pulled and didn't experience the added VAT. Maybe having a pre-booked drink package was the reason and I may not have purchased anything else onboard?

 

Unfortunately, as you know, MSC doesn't usually visit Gibraltar, Pete. Fortunately there are a couple of E Med cruises which have non-EU PsOC as alternatives to Turkey. There are also one or two W Med ones so I've enough choices which offer duty-free opportunities with MSC to keep me happy. Just waiting for the right price promotions, now :rolleyes: