Blows me away to read the disparity of opinions on MSC.

[DaKahuna]

15 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

problem is even though i asked for a paper 1st day i didnt get one till day 3. then only 2 more for the week. i dont mind if you dont offer the service but if you do you gotta be consistent.

 

ditto with PM treats in the cabin. if you deliver one day, you have to all days.

 

On Divina in February we received the newspaper starting on day 2 and the evening treats every night except the last night. 

 

[MonsterJoe]

Leave a quick note in your room letting them know how much you enjoy them, and I bet they will.

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

Leave a quick note in your room letting them know how much you enjoy them, and I bet they will.

 

 We seldom ate all them.  Neither of us are big on snacks and we usually did not get back to the room before 10 PM and that's a little late to be eating anything.   

 

[MonsterJoe]

5 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 We seldom ate all them.  Neither of us are big on snacks and we usually did not get back to the room before 10 PM and that's a little late to be eating anything.   

 

Sure -  I meant it about the newspaper, too, for the other poster.  I've found that leaving little notes of 'Thanks!" and small requests/preferences are taken to heart.

"Thank you so much for the newspaper today - I really enjoy reading it with my morning coffee every day. I hope you had a great day!"

or

"I love to read the paper with my morning coffee. If there is any way you can find it for me, I will appreciate it so much! Thank you!"

[Mommapadraig]

34 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

problem is even though i asked for a paper 1st day i didnt get one till day 3. then only 2 more for the week. i dont mind if you dont offer the service but if you do you gotta be consistent.

 

ditto with PM treats in the cabin. if you deliver one day, you have to all days.

We must have been extremely lucky on our Seashore cruise in May. We got the newspaper and the evening treats every day.Our butler saw me drinking a Dos Equis and when we went back to the room there were 2 in the fridge.And if anyone is wondering we tipped them on the last full day.I hope we aren’t disappointed on our next YC cruise.

[DaKahuna]

@MonsterJoe  If you had seen my handwriting you would understand why I seldom write notes.  There have been times when I had trouble reading my own writing. 

 

@Mommapadraig  We did not have a similar experience.  We seldom saw our butler, only the 'assistant butler' who was wonderful.  Even out and about in the lounge we did not see him.  He did show up and escort us to our dinner at the Butcher's Cut, which we had him make the reservation.  Otherwise, if he did anything for us it was completely unseen.  

 

On the other hand our 'assistant butler' seemed to almost always be around and asking us if we needed anything every time we saw him.   

 

[Mommapadraig]

12 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@MonsterJoe  If you had seen my handwriting you would understand why I seldom write notes.  There have been times when I had trouble reading my own writing. 

 

@Mommapadraig  We did not have a similar experience.  We seldom saw our butler, only the 'assistant butler' who was wonderful.  Even out and about in the lounge we did not see him.  He did show up and escort us to our dinner at the Butcher's Cut, which we had him make the reservation.  Otherwise, if he did anything for us it was completely unseen.  

 

On the other hand our 'assistant butler' seemed to almost always be around and asking us if we needed anything every time we saw him.   

 

Our butler and Jr butler worked together in the morning making up the rooms. I have never seen a butler “lower” himself to do that on NCL.Our NCL butler was very clear on what we needed to ask our room attendant to do….we found that butler to be worthless. Unfortunately our butler/jr butler team on the Seashore are both on their last contract. They are returning home to India to get married. Both of their fiancées are studying to be doctors.yes they were also very personable!,

Edited July 9 by Mommapadraig

[Best Cat Mom]

2 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

problem is even though i asked for a paper 1st day i didnt get one till day 3. then only 2 more for the week.

Every day after returning to our cabin from breakfast in the restaurant, we'd stop by the cabin to pick up our paper. If the cabin was made up but there was no paper, we'd stop by the concierge desk to ask for it. They would usually then bring it to us in TSL within a few minutes. I know at least one time our paper was sitting right on the counter with our room number on it, as if they were waiting for our butler or junior butler to pick it up and drop it off in our cabin.

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

We seldom saw our butler, only the 'assistant butler' who was wonderful.  Even out and about in the lounge we did not see him.

Some of the butlers service the One Pool area during the day. We've found ours up there several times when we've been out and about after breakfast. Now we know to expect to find them either in TSL or at One Pool after the butler has finished helping the junior butler with the morning cabin housekeeping. (We've also seen the butler helping change sheets in the cabins in the morning. They seem to be doing a little bit of everything all the time!)

[Mommapadraig]

12 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Some of the butlers service the One Pool area during the day. We've found ours up there several times when we've been out and about after breakfast. Now we know to expect to find them either in TSL or at One Pool after the butler has finished helping the junior butler with the morning cabin housekeeping. (We've also seen the butler helping change sheets in the cabins in the morning. They seem to be doing a little bit of everything all the time!)

I’m glad to read this about your butler team. Like yours our butler was also working at one pool and he also was the one who served us high tea.

[chrisgp999]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Let me toss out a thought.  If you are in the largest, most amazing suite, of a Holiday Inn, you have a lot of exclusivity, but you are still in a Holiday Inn!  On the other hand, if you are staying at a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton, things are not so bad :).  Think about it.

 

Hank

The premise of your question is flawed.

A Holiday Inn would never haver the "largest, most amazing suite".  Nor would it have all the services and amenities provided in the Yacht Club experience.  

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, chrisgp999 said:

The premise of your question is flawed.

A Holiday Inn would never haver the "largest, most amazing suite".  Nor would it have all the services and amenities provided in the Yacht Club experience.  

You are preaching to the choir :). We have been fans of the YC ever since our first MSC YC  cruise on the Divina.  But, and this is the big but, we are also big fans of luxury cruise lines.  There are very big differences.  One might also consider that luxury lines can cost about the same as the YC, but also can cost 2 or even 3 times the YC cost (depending on the line, the itinerary, and the suite category).    Sadly, we currently have no future MSC bookings because of the limited itineraries.   One major advantage to most of the luxury lines are the smaller size of their ships.  It allows them to go to ports not normally available to the large ships (such as with MSC).  

 

Consider our upcoming small ship luxury cruise in the Caribbean.  It goes to places like Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and St Barts (along with 5 other ports),  When we last did MSC in the Caribbean, we did not even bother getting off the ship in any of the ports except Ocean Cay.  For us, the YC was a superior destination than most of ports.  I guess one down side to being old is "been there, done that, too many times."  In ports like St Thomas, Ocho Rios or San Juan, we would normally be happier on the ship.  Nothing wrong with those ports, but after the first 30 or so visits staying on the ship is a great alternative.

 

Hank

[chrisgp999]

21 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You are preaching to the choir :). We have been fans of the YC ever since our first MSC YC  cruise on the Divina.  But, and this is the big but, we are also big fans of luxury cruise lines.  There are very big differences.  One might also consider that luxury lines can cost about the same as the YC, but also can cost 2 or even 3 times the YC cost (depending on the line, the itinerary, and the suite category).    Sadly, we currently have no future MSC bookings because of the limited itineraries.   One major advantage to most of the luxury lines are the smaller size of their ships.  It allows them to go to ports not normally available to the large ships (such as with MSC).  

 

Consider our upcoming small ship luxury cruise in the Caribbean.  It goes to places like Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and St Barts (along with 5 other ports),  When we last did MSC in the Caribbean, we did not even bother getting off the ship in any of the ports except Ocean Cay.  For us, the YC was a superior destination than most of ports.  I guess one down side to being old is "been there, done that, too many times."  In ports like St Thomas, Ocho Rios or San Juan, we would normally be happier on the ship.  Nothing wrong with those ports, but after the first 30 or so visits staying on the ship is a great alternative.

 

Hank

Your points are well taken.  All of our MSC cruises have been in YC Royal Suites, either on the Meraviglia or the "Sea" class ships.  We choose the Royal Suites specifically for the services and amenities not offered in the lower category suites.  To obtain the same amenities on EJ that are important to us , we'd have to spend more than double the cost.  Sure EJ has other luxuries that are not available on the MSC ships, said amenities are just not important enough to justify our extra cost.  It appears that we have both satisfied different target demographics which will result in revenue for the MSC corporation and enjoyable cruises for us all.

[Hlitner]

46 minutes ago, chrisgp999 said:

Your points are well taken.  All of our MSC cruises have been in YC Royal Suites, either on the Meraviglia or the "Sea" class ships.  We choose the Royal Suites specifically for the services and amenities not offered in the lower category suites.  To obtain the same amenities on EJ that are important to us , we'd have to spend more than double the cost.  Sure EJ has other luxuries that are not available on the MSC ships, said amenities are just not important enough to justify our extra cost.  It appears that we have both satisfied different target demographics which will result in revenue for the MSC corporation and enjoyable cruises for us all.

I think you accurately reflect our own thought process, when it comes to cruises.  What makes us somewhat different, from many cruisers, is that we have no loyalty to any specific line (we will soon cruise on our 18th line) but do look at itinerary, amenities, value, quality, etc.  The MSC YC ticks a lot of our boxes but does lack in terms of itineraries.  In the YC, we have only booked the regular YC outside suites.  On our last to MSC voyages, we had the opportunity to upgrade to Royal Suites, but we could not see the cost/benefit for us.  We spend very little waking time in our suite (we love to be out and about, socializing, on the sundeck, etc).  The Royal Suite would get us the same food, same booze, same entertainment, etc.  All that extra space is nice, but for us, would be mostly unused.  But that is why there are different categories of cabins, different ships, and different itineraries.  Lots of variety make it all fun.

 

In a few weeks we will be back cruising the waters of Croatia and Greece.  Next spring we will be back in Japan and eventually cruise around Japan and over to Alaska.  These are the kind of voyages we cannot get with MSC or even Explora Journeys.  We would love to see MSC expand beyond their current offerings but will not hold our breath.  We would love to do a long transpacific cruise (a southern route) on MSC!  Perhaps someday.

 

Hank

[no1talks]

26 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

"These are the kind of voyages we cannot get with MSC or even Explora Journeys."

Hank, I've no doubt you know about the MSC activity in Asia. It just doesn't "check enough of the boxes" and that is perfectly understandable for a highly experienced cruiser like you.

However, lest other readers think MSC doesn't have any cruise options for seeing Japan, I would like to mention the two Tokyo-based itineraries. Unfortunately, demand doesn't seem to be great enough at this time to run these two cruises (10 & 11 nights) more than once each per year. One goes this October and the other in April of '25. 

[Best Cat Mom]

40 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

In a few weeks we will be back cruising the waters of Croatia and Greece.

I've read your posts for several years, including when we were considering trying Oceania for their menus. How are you with the current tensions in the area around the Black Sea? We've hesitated to sail -- or enjoy a land holiday -- east of the Mediterranean until the war is over.

 

I do agree about with you about transpacific wholeheartedly.

[no1talks]

3 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

"I do agree about with you about transpacific wholeheartedly."

It's just not MSC's thing, BCM. They are all about flipping those cabins for the next batch of fresh passengers (and fresh wallets for on-board spending). 😉

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

I've read your posts for several years, including when we were considering trying Oceania for their menus. How are you with the current tensions in the area around the Black Sea? We've hesitated to sail -- or enjoy a land holiday -- east of the Mediterranean until the war is over.

 

I do agree about with you about transpacific wholeheartedly.

We certainly would not want to be cruising to Ukraine (been there twice).  Odessa and Yalta were very interesting cruise ports.   We have had two cruises, this year, that changed their itineraries to avoid calling at Turkey, which is a country that DW and I really enjoy visiting.  In fact,  we needed to book air to Tokyo, for next spring, and decided to use Turkish Air so we could stopover in Istanbul for a few days.  We have also driven into and through parts of Poland, during the war, and other than seeing lots of Ukrainian flags and some small nightly pro Ukraine demonstrations in Krakov, life was very normal.

 

I think the much bigger problem for the cruise industry is losing the use of the Red Sea and Suez Canal.  This has disrupted many cruises and caused all kinds of difficulties for cruise lines that have struggled to repurpose/relocate ships.  The Black Sea issue will likely end as soon as the war ends. But what is happening in the Red Sea seems like a problem that may be difficult to solve.  Even when the war in Gaza ends, those Houthis may be difficult to control.  I fear that the Red Sea/Suez Canal will remain closed, to cruise ships, for many years.  

 

Hank

[Best Cat Mom]

1 minute ago, Hlitner said:

We have also driven into and through parts of Poland, during the war, and other than seeing lots of Ukrainian flags and some small nightly pro Ukraine demonstrations in Krakov, life was very normal.

I am of Lithuanian heritage and our relatives there tell us that now is not the time to visit -- even the ones in the travel industry. Once Putin is no longer a threat (and how many years have I been saying that!), we will travel once again to the land of my ancestors.

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, no1talks said:

It's just not MSC's thing, BCM. They are all about flipping those cabins for the next batch of fresh passengers (and fresh wallets for on-board spending). 😉

Perhaps true, but not really an issue for cruise line operators.  Whether a ship is full on constant 7 day voyages, or full on a 30 day voyage, they are still full :).  We have done several long transpacific cruises, and the ships were always sold-out.  In fact, some cruise lines will get more money, per passenger day, for that kind of cruise.  But longer, more adventurous cruises are apparently not in MSC's DNA.  For DW and me, that severely limits the cruises we will even consider, on MSC.  I have no desire to cruise on MSC, in Europe, because they operate like ferry boats on shorter itineraries.  MSC will embark/disembark folks at numerous ports along their routes, and we think that destroys the "cruise experience."  

 

We do a lot of European cruising (heading back in a few weeks for our 2nd cruise/trip of this year) but there is nothing done by MSC that has ever caught our interest.  Ironically, MSC has a huge presence in Europe, but they are focused on very short itineraries.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

4 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

I am of Lithuanian heritage and our relatives there tell us that now is not the time to visit -- even the ones in the travel industry. Once Putin is no longer a threat (and how many years have I been saying that!), we will travel once again to the land of my ancestors.

Visit where?  Europe is a pretty big place and most parts are not directly impacted by the ongoing war.  Your comment reminds me of a European who told me they did not want to come to the USA because they keep reading about all the shootings in Chicago!  

 

DW and I have been traveling, internationally, for a very long time.  If we let our trips be defined by conflicts, fear of conflicts, politics, climate disasters, etc. we would never leave our home.  When we went to Egypt (for a several week independent trip) several friends told us we were crazy.  The terrorist attack at Luxor, was still in many minds, and the world political situation was keeping many folks away from Egypt.  For us, this meant it was the time to go since we thought the situation quite stable (Mubarak was still in power), prices were very good, and overtourism was not a problem.  It was one of our best trips, in over 50 years of extensive travel.  The Egyptians were not only friendly and helpful. but more than a few thanked us for coming to their country.

 

I do get that many folks have lots of anxiety and fears about world travel.  But there are also plenty of us who simply work with the situation that exists and continue our traveling ways.  Even during COVID, we managed to travel (to the Keys and Mexico).  If folks want to find a reason to stay home, there will always be good reasons.  For those of us with the travel/cruise bug, staying home is not an acceptable solution.

 

Hank

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Visit where?

Near the Black sea or Lithuania. We're keeping to the west side of Italy these days. My people are from southeastern Lithuania near the current day border with Belarus, which is currently being intensively fortified by Lithuania, since the ruler of Belarus is closely aligned with Putin.

 

Keep in mind that Lithuania is about the size of West Virginia so everything is quite close. And Putin is not my family's friend.

[Hlitner]

30 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Near the Black sea or Lithuania. We're keeping to the west side of Italy these days. My people are from southeastern Lithuania near the current day border with Belarus, which is currently being intensively fortified by Lithuania, since the ruler of Belarus is closely aligned with Putin.

 

Keep in mind that Lithuania is about the size of West Virginia so everything is quite close. And Putin is not my family's friend.

I would not have an issue visiting Lithuania, which is very far from both of the current wars.  At the moment, the Baltic is OK (although nobody is visiting Russia).  Without getting into politics, Lithuania has some degree of protection since they are in NATO.  At least for the moment, even Putin has not seen fit to test Nato's Article 5.  The closest we have been to Lithuania is when we visited Estonia.  

 

Speaking of eastern Europe, we found Poland a really nice country to visit.  We were shocked to find that most of their roads were in better shape than our roads here in Pennsylvania :).  The eastern European countries (including the Baltic nations) might be one of the answers to the over tourism problem that is found throughout much of western Europe.  To us, it is fun to go to places before they are discovered by tourism and eastern Europe is one of those areas yet to be discovered :).

 

Hank

 

[Best Cat Mom]

Please keep in mind that LT is a Baltic nation and not now usually considered part of Eastern Europe.

 

Unfortunately, the area of my family is part of is the Sulwalki Corridor, which is the next "land bridge" that Putin wants to consolidate the former USSR. I've visited before and I'll wait until he's gone for my next visit. 

 

Luckily, there are plenty of other places to visit in the meantime. And if those places are in Italy, I'll somehow deal with it. 🙂

[DaKahuna]

17 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

Luckily, there are plenty of other places to visit in the meantime. And if those places are in Italy, I'll somehow deal with it. 🙂

 

So no cruises to Greec on your mind?  We were following two threads on the Celebrity forum and Greece has now managed to get on my radar.  Have not talked with the DW about it but I think she'd be interested.