WC dilemma - line vs itinerary?

[JanR]

On 7/9/2021 at 6:39 AM, SargassoPirate said:

Conventional wisdom is to never book a world cruise on a line with which you have not traveled. 

Yup, that is advice we have often heard and somehow completely ignored (perhaps at our peril) for our 2023 MSC World Cruise.

 

For us, the decision came down to one emotional decision and one logical decision.  The emotional decision is that we wanted to do a true circumnavigation, point A to point A world cruise.  Just as Phileas Fogg had to start and then end his 80-day adventure in London's Reform Club, we wanted to start and end at the same port (technically, I want even the same berth...but I'll compromise).

 

Then the logical decision comes down to price.  We actually started saving for a world cruise in 2005, but we ultimately used those funds in 2014 to pay off our house.  As retired military, our pockets are not as deep as others, so price was definitely a consideration and it came down to MSC or Princess which are the only 2 balcony full circumnavigation cruises that we could afford.  Here itinerary won out as the MSC itinerary seems more enticing.

 

And yes, we are going in to this with eyes wide open.  We have heard both horror stories and praise for MSC.  We'll find out soon enough for ourselves.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, JanR said:

The emotional decision is that we wanted to do a true circumnavigation, point A to point A world cruise. 

 

That was my number one desire for a world cruise as well.  The Amsterdam left from Pier 26 in Port Everglades, but returned to Pier 4.  (Went a bit further than a "point A to point A" because of the difference in distance within the port.) 

 

I don't recall which MSC ship on which you will be sailing.  I hope you like it.  I thoroughly enjoyed my one week cruise on MSC Meraviglia in January, 2020 and have hopes of returning for another cruise on MSC. 

 

Enjoy your cruise!   

[JanR]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

...I don't recall which MSC ship on which you will be sailing...

Ours is on the MSC Poesia. 

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, JanR said:

Ours is on the MSC Poesia. 

 

I remember seeing her at dock in Port Everglades.  Nice looking vessel!  

[JanR]

On 12/13/2021 at 4:46 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

"...(Went a bit further than a "point A to point A" because of the difference in distance within the port.) ..."

Bonus!  Definitely got your money's worth!

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, JanR said:

Definitely got your money's worth!

 

In more ways than that!  😀     It was a great cruise!  

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

For us it is the CREW and where the ship is going ..

[John&LaLa]

On 10/22/2021 at 6:01 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

The other consideration is the RCCL WC will be a number of segments, with most likely a very small percentage of the pax on for the entire cruise. On the Viking 2019/20 "Ultimate" WC, on the first half, only about 200 were doing the entire voyage, or first half. Therefore about 700 new pax every 2 weeks - the WC'ers refered to them as HoHo's - Hop on, Hop off.

 

While Viking will provide a true WC experience, with no segments, I expect the RCCL cruise will be many B2B2B's.

 

From what we hear, the full trip folks are over half the ship. I'd guess upwards of 1000 passengers

[John&LaLa]

On 10/22/2021 at 7:46 PM, Mich3554 said:

It is many B2Bs.  I took a look at the web site and it looks like it is broken into segments.  In fact, I think I saw it advertised as such…..’even if you can’t do the whole cruise, you can do a piece of it’.  
 

We leave next week for our 56 day B2B2B and I am curious as to how different it will be from our WC.  

 

4 segments, the second is over 90 days. Rest are around 60

[Janet&Carl]

On 12/14/2021 at 5:01 AM, JanR said:

 

 

And yes, we are going in to this with eyes wide open.  We have heard both horror stories and praise for MSC.  We'll find out soon enough for ourselves.

 

 

MSC is my favourite line - best pizza at sea - don't do burgers and fries very well but if you like seafood you will love MSC.

[SargassoPirate]

4 hours ago, Janet&Carl said:

 

 

MSC is my favourite line - best pizza at sea - don't do burgers and fries very well but if you like seafood you will love MSC.

I've heard, but never confirmed, that MSC will match your status with other cruise lines.  I wonder if that would apply to a WC and what the perks would be?

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I've heard, but never confirmed, that MSC will match your status with other cruise lines.  I wonder if that would apply to a WC and what the perks would be?

 

That is true with MSC.  I am a 5 Star Mariner with HAL.  When I sailed on MSC, I was given their Diamond (Black Card) status.  I would think that the type of cruise would have nothing to do with loyalty status.  Specific perks given by one's loyalty status on a line, I doubt those exact same perks would be given by MSC.  

[Janet&Carl]

22 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I've heard, but never confirmed, that MSC will match your status with other cruise lines.  I wonder if that would apply to a WC and what the perks would be?

yes it is easily done and can be done before you book - so that would make it applicable 🙂 all you need to do is contact them by email and show proof of your status on another line/hotel chain and you will be matched to an applicable loyalty status.  You will then receive all the benefits of that status level.

 

[JanR]

On 8/7/2022 at 6:12 AM, SargassoPirate said:

I've heard, but never confirmed, that MSC will match your status with other cruise lines.  I wonder if that would apply to a WC and what the perks would be?

We did exactly this.  When we booked our World Cruise, we also loyalty matched our NCL status.  Additionally, you get credit for the world cruise as soon as you book and pay your deposit.  So, we will be Black (Diamond) when we step onto the Poesia in January.

 

The benefits for the Black level include a free specialty restaurant per cruise (don't know how this works on a WC), Spumante, and even a dance class.  There are better benefits on other ships, but not very many (any) lines match loyalty in the first place.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, JanR said:

We did exactly this.  When we booked our World Cruise, we also loyalty matched our NCL status.  Additionally, you get credit for the world cruise as soon as you book and pay your deposit.  So, we will be Black (Diamond) when we step onto the Poesia in January.

 

The benefits for the Black level include a free specialty restaurant per cruise (don't know how this works on a WC), Spumante, and even a dance class.  There are better benefits on other ships, but not very many (any) lines match loyalty in the first place.

 

Is the Black level their basic level of loyalty, as those aren't overly impressive.

[JanR]

19 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Is the Black level their basic level of loyalty, as those aren't overly impressive.

Unfortunately, it is their highest level.  Like I said, other lines have more generous perks.  However, it is nice that MSC will at least match other lines' loyalty programs.  This means that you potentially could have these meager benefits without ever sailing on MSC before.    In fact, most other lines give you nothing but discounts (and a cocktail party) until you've put a decent number of nights at sea with them.  

[Heidi13]

57 minutes ago, JanR said:

Unfortunately, it is their highest level.  Like I said, other lines have more generous perks.  However, it is nice that MSC will at least match other lines' loyalty programs.  This means that you potentially could have these meager benefits without ever sailing on MSC before.    In fact, most other lines give you nothing but discounts (and a cocktail party) until you've put a decent number of nights at sea with them.  

 

Wow, thanks for clarifying.

 

On Princess we were Elite, which gets free laundry, free internet, drinks in the fridge, etc. Even those benefits can't entice us to sail again with Princess, so MSC aren't even in the running, with those meagre benefits for their top tier.

[Jim Avery]

Another thing we love about Viking is that they don’t fool with that stuff. Cunard Diamond here but Viking “status” is much better imho.