New(ish) to MSC - Some Caribbean cruise questions

[PrincessPete]

Hi, we have been on one MSC cruise on Magnifica four years ago in Europe and loved it (we are from the UK). Thinking ahead to 2022 and keeping fingers crossed, we are looking at an offer today for the 14 night cruises from Barbados that stop at a Caribbean island every day.

Although we have done several Caribbean cruises, one of the attractions of this cruise is the fact that it goes twice to both Martinique and Guadeloupe neither of which we have been to since the early 1990's.

Just a few questions, please:

• Are most of the passengers on these Caribbean cruises from Europe or the USA? 
• Is there any significant difference onboard between the Fantastica and Aurea experiences other than the Spa benefits? (both include the Premium drinks package in this offer)
• The Yacht Club cabins are, of course, a lot more expensive but do have the benefit I believe of a smaller restaurant where you can dine at your own choice of time?
• They also offer priority embarkation - in other cabins does it normally take a long while to embark with so many passengers?
• Any idea of the likely fixed dining times in the Caribbean - 1900 and 2100 hours was suggested by our Travel Agent?
• Do many people on MSC (particularly in warm weather cruises like this) wear formal dress on "Elegant" evenings.
• The offer we are looking at includes gratuities - is the Service charge that I have read about separate to that?

None of the answers would affect our decision to book but we are just interested.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Kind regards. Peter

 

[PrincessPete]

Sorry to ask a further question (tried to edit the original post but it would not let me).

Looking at the MSC brochure it says the Aurea experience cabins have "My Choice Dining" - is that correct as my TA suggested that was only the case with Yacht Club cabins?

Thanks again. Peter

[emmas gran]

Hi Peter I will try and answer as we did this cruise in 2019 on Preziosa

Most passengers are from Europe French Italian and Spanish, they do special flights like the ones to Barbados from UK.

We have only done YC so cannot answer re other cabin grades, which also applies to dining question. We were taken off the bus in Barbados and boarded first, a Premiun drinks pkge and I believe wifi are now included.

Having done 10 weeks in 15/16 months on MSC YC is the only cabin I would do

[emmas gran]

Not a lot of Brits dress up formally but you will see some glamorous Europeans

Gratuities is the service charge

 

Hope that helps

Liz

Edited September 12, 2020 by emmas gran
addition

[emmas gran]

Also check your travel insurance as we would not be covered for 2022 by our bank as at the moment FCO advice is not to cruise. Bookings made prior to the advice/ Covid are OK

 

Europeans board in Martinique and Guadeloupe 

Edited September 12, 2020 by emmas gran
Addition

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, PrincessPete said:

Hi, we have been on one MSC cruise on Magnifica four years ago in Europe and loved it (we are from the UK). Thinking ahead to 2022 and keeping fingers crossed, we are looking at an offer today for the 14 night cruises from Barbados that stop at a Caribbean island every day.

Although we have done several Caribbean cruises, one of the attractions of this cruise is the fact that it goes twice to both Martinique and Guadeloupe neither of which we have been to since the early 1990's.

Just a few questions, please:

• Are most of the passengers on these Caribbean cruises from Europe or the USA? European, very very few USA/Canadians on the Caribbean cruises that don't start in USA.. also, a decent amount of Caribbean nationals, as the cruises have no US ports, so no need for visas.  Great mix of demographics.
• Is there any significant difference onboard between the Fantastica and Aurea experiences other than the Spa benefits? (both include the Premium drinks package in this offer)  Yes, to some extent. Aurea includes "better" cabin locations, My time (aka anytime) dining, spa perks, free room service delivery (Fantastica does also, but not 24/7), priority boarding, etc.  
• The Yacht Club cabins are, of course, a lot more expensive but do have the benefit I believe of a smaller restaurant where you can dine at your own choice of time? YC includes butlers, private dining room, pool deck, lounge/bar, totally free 24/7 room service, and more.  It's pretty great - but so is Aurea, etc. Depends on how much more it costs via Fantastica or Aurea on whether we book YC, or the "lower" cabin and do some extra specialty dining. YC also includes the Premium package, but since your promo included that regardless, it's a wash.
• They also offer priority embarkation - in other cabins does it normally take a long while to embark with so many passengers? No, it doesn't take long, particularly as guests show up at different times during boarding. The first hour can have some wait, but we're talking 10-30 minutes versus maybe 10 with priority...
• Any idea of the likely fixed dining times in the Caribbean - 1900 and 2100 hours was suggested by our Travel Agent?  6 and 8, or 7 and 9, it varies.  Aurea has anytime, so you can go at any time you want during the restaurant open hours.  
• Do many people on MSC (particularly in warm weather cruises like this) wear formal dress on "Elegant" evenings. We have found that guests tend towards more dressed up overall on MSC versus Princess or Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, etc.  Particularly on formal nights.  But even the poolside garb has definitely been more polished than the US counterparts.. we love it, as it definitely contributes to a more cosmopolitan feel, others aren't as enamored.  YMMV.
• The offer we are looking at includes gratuities - is the Service charge that I have read about separate to that?  No. The service charge is MSC name for daily gratuities...

None of the answers would affect our decision to book but we are just interested.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Kind regards. Peter

 

Answers in read. This is our experience with MSC. Others may have had different experiences... Enjoy!

[deliver42]

You pretty much nailed it.

[mickey89]

Be very cautious booking a MSC cruise out of Barbados.  We booked MSC Splendida in their YC for March 2021 only to discover that MSC had decided to change the ship to MSC Poesia which is a smaller ship and has no YC.  They refused to refund our deposit saying that the ship has the same itinerary and you will given a suite.  MSC never even told us of the change we found out via social media, MSC just don’t care for their passengers and treat them with little respect.
 

We had experienced the same 14night Barbados cruise aboard MSC Preziosa in 2019 and 2020. We would never consider anything other than the YC on this itinerary as there as so many Caribbean residents that board in Guadeloupe and Martinique that it becomes an overcrowded party boat.  
 

The yacht club is essential if you choose MSC. Better by far is stay clear and look to Celebrity for a quality experience. With the pandemic still with us for the foreseeable future maybe cruising should stay on the back burner until the experience offered is made very clear.

Edited September 14, 2020 by mickey89

[CruisingFox27]

On 9/12/2020 at 6:14 PM, PrincessPete said:

Hi, we have been on one MSC cruise on Magnifica four years ago in Europe and loved it (we are from the UK). Thinking ahead to 2022 and keeping fingers crossed, we are looking at an offer today for the 14 night cruises from Barbados that stop at a Caribbean island every day.

Although we have done several Caribbean cruises, one of the attractions of this cruise is the fact that it goes twice to both Martinique and Guadeloupe neither of which we have been to since the early 1990's.

Just a few questions, please:

• Are most of the passengers on these Caribbean cruises from Europe or the USA? From Europe and the Caribbean usually.
• Is there any significant difference onboard between the Fantastica and Aurea experiences other than the Spa benefits? (both include the Premium drinks package in this offer) Aurea has access to a private sundeck, better cabin location. There is a comparison chart between the experiences on the MSC website which outlines all of them.
• The Yacht Club cabins are, of course, a lot more expensive but do have the benefit I believe of a smaller restaurant where you can dine at your own choice of time? Aurea has Anytime dining in it's own section of the MDR
• They also offer priority embarkation - in other cabins does it normally take a long while to embark with so many passengers? Aurea has priority embarkation too
• Any idea of the likely fixed dining times in the Caribbean - 1900 and 2100 hours was suggested by our Travel Agent? Varies between sailings and ships.
• Do many people on MSC (particularly in warm weather cruises like this) wear formal dress on "Elegant" evenings. Lots of people will, it depends on the demographic of passengers. If the majority are UK and Europeans passengers then most probably.
• The offer we are looking at includes gratuities - is the Service charge that I have read about separate to that? No, it's the same charge.

None of the answers would affect our decision to book but we are just interested.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

Kind regards. Peter

 

It's far from necessary to book YC to enjoy an MSC cruise, we have sailed both and enjoyed our cruise experiences equally. Unfortunately, some periods in the calendar do mean the ships are busier than others. We had the misfortune of not realising Summer holidays commenced in June in the USA and sailed from Miami late June. We were very grateful that we had chosen YC for that sailing as it was very crowded and passenger behaviour was unpleasant. We usually saIl off peak and haven't experienced the same problems.

[deliver42]

I've sailed YC and Aurea. I found that I enjoyed the cruise either way. I fact, we're booked on the Seashore in Aurea for next year.

[Hlitner]

We truly love the Yacht Club and would cruise no other way when on MSC.  Yes, the YC does have their own restaurant which is open seating (no reservations).  The YC also offers you a nice expansive private lounge and sundeck.  As to patient mix in the Caribbean, our experience has been that more then half the passengers were European (from many countries) with 1/3 to 1/2 from North America.  As time goes on and MSC become more established in North America we would expect an increasing percentage of Americans/Canadians.  

 

Embarkation from Miami has not been good on our last two cruises.  The problem was that our US Authorities held up embarkation because of their own issues.  Since we were in the YC, we had the use of a private lounge (with some snacks and drink) to relax until embarkation finally commenced.  The rest of the passengers were stuck in the rather uncomfortable terminal.  Once embarkation does commence it can take a significant period of time to get 4000 plus onto the ship.  Those in the YC do get priority and are led aboard by a Butler to reserved elevators.  Some of the other higher categories also get embarkation priority.

 

On our cruises only a small minority (including me) wore formal wear.  Although I have my own formal clothes I would not take them on future MSC cruises in our out of the Yacht Club.  A simple blazer would be more then adequate and make the wearer one of the better dressed.

 

The "Service Charge" and "Gratuities" are one and the same :).  

 

 

Hank