MandyMooToo

It was not available for us last cruise on Wonder in December. We always enjoyed it but I do not know that it was any healthier than anything you could have gotten in the WJ, just prepared in front of you and chopped nicely.

No concerns for us above the normal, don't flash cash or wear lots of jewelry, don't lay your bag down anywhere, don't wander down any alleys, etc. But to me, that is common sense in any place, anywhere in the world. We were in Cozumel in November and will be there again in a few months. Can't wait, we always enjoy that port.

We like to watch the live map in the mornings while getting ready and then at night when winding down before bed. It is nice to spend a little crash time together, vegging out after a busy day. The channel options are not great but we can usually find something to play that isn't too annoying and on our Wonder cruise last year we could airplay to the TV and watch whatever we wanted to. That was nice!

Very moving! I admit to crying a few tears.

You never know. Our experiences have been yes, you can take it onboard and no, you can't. So we typically just take one and if they deny us then we pick it up on the way home. It has been 50/50 in the last two years.

The last time we flew into Sanford we rented a car and drove to the hotel, nearer to Port Canaveral. The morning of the cruise we returned the car and they shuttled us to the port.

Sign into your cruise and check the excursions for Miami. I know for cruise port to airport they have shuttles that are typically around $25 pp for port to airport.

I am certain the timing of our visit, shortly after they opened and not long before Covid, has a lot to do with the situation. This will be our first trip back to Costa Maya since and I wanted to try something new, without having to do the AI thing. CM may become a port that we remain on the ship for in the future. Thank you for the feedback!

Thank you, we will likely wind up at KL. About 4 years ago, give or take, we tried Malecon21 and were disappointed. Granted, they had just opened up so maybe they have improved but we didn't enjoy it as much as we hoped to. At the time they had one or two AI packages to choose from, we chose the highest priced package even though we knew we wouldn't spend that much PAYG (just didn't want to have to be concerned with any extra fees aside from tips). When we arrived we were given four chairs that were split far enough away from each other (in different rows too) that we could not hang out with the other couple in our group even though they were not busy yet, and yes, we reserved together. Then they brought drink menus and each drink we picked they said we could not have. They said AI packages could only have frozen drinks (Pina coladas mainly) and a rum punch type of drink, can't remember what it was called, and a couple of other single liquor/mixer type drinks. The food was vey limited too, we could not choose what we wanted off the menu. When we complained they just said "sorry." Drink service was very poor too, even though we were tipping well. Probably got three drinks all day? So maybe they have gotten it together and are much better now, but I really dislike the idea of AI unless it is a resort with lots to do/benefits that will keep us there all day. Guess it cannot hurt to try KL and see how it goes this time, thanks again!

We have not been to CM in about 4 years and did a resort for a day with forced AI fees. It was okay but we do not want to go that route again this cruise. Would it be possible to just get a taxi to a beach and walk/chill/swim then PAYG for drinks and lunch? Any beach anyone would suggest?

If I remember correctly, most of the RCCL ships tend to have Clinique, Lancôme, Clarins, and some have Chanel also. Haircare tends to vary quite a bit, I believe. You can often get an idea of haircare brands by looking at salon service offerings. Sometimes they say "Kerastase treatment" or something along those lines.

The odds are the same as any other time. Plenty of people no show due to emergencies, cancel, etc. When this happens, RU easily fills the empty spaces and it can be a domino effect. Example, suite is canceled, a JS or balcony may get bumped up, which then bumps up a balcony or ocean view and then an interior, etc. Even sold out cruises often wind up having empty cabins or RUs.

Well, every good thing must come to an end at some point I guess. We are having breakfast in the YC restaurant, looking out over the water. It’s dark but beautiful! We have had such an amazing time on this cruise. There is definitely another MSC cruise in our future. I will do a short wrap up here of pros and cons and end my live review. Cons first as there aren’t many: internet isn’t as good as other lines; hot tubs close early; not allowed to order pizza and bring it into the Top Sail lounge (several of us wanted to just hang out last night and snack on a pizza for our last night but the crew said it wasn’t allowed to being pizza into Top Sail—odd since they have snacks out basically all day there but, oh well). Pros: amazing crew (I don’t think any of them sleep more than 4 or 5 hours a night, they are everywhere all the time); food was terrific; ship is beautiful; cabins are beautiful; so clean everywhere; Yacht Club itself is just an exceptional experience; never any crowds or lines on the ship; embarking/disembarking super smooth (even though we had a bit of a wait to get on the ship); great ship layout and easy to get around. I am sure I am leaving things out but we are overall very pleased with our first cruise on MSC. Thank you for reading my live review and I hope you all have an amazing next cruise!

In Nassau today, or last port. Cloudy and rainy all day. Our group took a taxi to John Watling’s and did a tour. We walked back to town where some went back to the ship and some remained in town. We did some shopping and had lunch at the Bearded Clam. Headed back to the ship to take advantage of our spa access and used the sauna, thelasso pool and the salt therapy room. So nice and relaxing. It would nice though, if people would maybe keep their voices down a bit so everyone could have a nice, chill break but it is what it is I guess, (pics of the salt therapy room added). Due to the nasty rain we will head to the Top Sail lounge and hang out for a while before getting ready for our last dinner in YC. I admit that we are having feels of regret about the cruise we have scheduled later in the year on another line now. We shall see how it plays out I guess!

So yesterday we spent most of the day at the YC pool. Lunch at the pool buffet and just lounge’s in the pool with friends and has cocktails until time to get ready for dinner. The lunch buffet this far has been really good. Lots of grilled fish, cold salads, meats and cheeses (with the always available burger and hot dog option). The bar service was slow for a little while and some people started getting pissy and rude. They had only two bar tenders to cover everyone at the YC pool area and it was during lunch too so the bar was packed. I’m not sure why they would have so many servers walking around taking drink orders when they didn’t have enough bar tenders to serve the ones sitting at the bar. But whatever! It wasn’t as though any of us had to be anywhere so waiting for a little bit was fine🤣 We wound up meeting friends in the Top Sail for drinks and snacks before dinner and then ate on the YC restaurant again. None of us were super exited about the menu offering so most of the table went with the filet again. A couple of the men ordered two entrees (no up charge) and said they were both good (scallops and butter chicken were the additional choices they made). Back to the Top Sail for an after dinner drink and then on to the illusionist show. The show was cute but if I’m being honest, it wasn’t amazing or magical or anything. He did a few tricks that were interesting but mostly used people from the audience for light comedy along with his tricks. We left when it was over and made our way back to our cabins to sleep before our last port of the cruise, Nassau. We normally plan to stay onboard for Nassau as we have been there so many times but it has been a while since we’ve been there and we haven’t seen the new port area so we will get off and have a go at it!