rodndonna

is there a Rant 5 coming/ ... it hasn't sounded all that bad (except for Embarkation).

We are looking at booking our first MSC cruise and am kinda surprised with the thread response being so resoundingly in support of TA booking over MSC, and in particular in case something goes wrong. I guess intuitively with other line bookings we always book direct as I feel like I have more control over the booking (no in-between) . I guess my biggest concern is that maybe MSC is known to have more issues with bookings than other cruise lines. Is that the case? What kind of problems arise? I see one poster referring to being downgraded from YC, but wondering how common that is and what other kind of issues arise from the MSC side. We're looking at a run-of-the mill Seascape 7 day Caribbean next March in a Premium Aqua cabin or YC inside cabin if that matters ....

Just one final comment from me .... (famous last words)... I totally understand people's frustrations and that thinking of "I have been a regular XYZ cruiser for 35 years... and they are not focusing on "me" ... their loyal customer" I kinda would argue they are focusing on "you" , but more in the form of the "new you" ... As an example If you are a now loyal 75 year old cruiser you likely started with HAL when you were 40-50 years old .... they were focusing on you then, and that's still who they are still focusing on I expect. There is still something for everyone, but the focus I believe is the 40-55ish demo ... and that demo has a much wider palate and more dietary restrictions/desires that previous generations. Maybe I am wrong, and I am not a cruise business expert, but if I were a HAL like brand of cruise, that is who I would focus on.

I totally agree. The majority of time people complain about food decline from the "good old days" they complain about "steak" and/or "lobster" .....without noting the PLETHORA of new options and dietary restrictions that are now accomodated. For us, the things we eat today is NOTHING like what we ate 40, 30, 20 years ago ... . The restaurants (ones that have have survived changing trends in what people eat) have varied over the years, my grocery stores have varied over the years, Most of my diet today (probably 5 out of 7 suppers a week) are items I NEVER ate 30 years ago.

I'll only add that, although I am no coffee exper, I think that the decaf coffees at Dutch Cafe and such are as good as the regular coffees. I am "sensitive" to caffeine and typically have a regular coffee in the morning (can only drink half of it), and then only decaf after that (afternoon and after dinner occasionally). I can't tell the difference in quality (but again - no expert)

If they are making the effort to develop the menus for the venue on Aqua, I would expect some of the better/popular ones would start making their way into the MDR menus for veggie/vegan options on all ships expanding what they have currently.

Since Covid we have sailed HAL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL and have been lurking on those boards. They all have an equivalent version of this thread resurrect regularly. I suspect the boards on the lines I don't peruse much have them also.

Using a site like Cruiseplum (it's not a booking site - so can be named here on Cruisecritic) the cruise price history is easy to check. Like you I see no difference in prices for 2 cruises I have booked and another one that I have been looking at.

Do you know people that would actually do that though? How common do you think that would be? I wouldn't ..I've never booked a cruise I didn't have a good expectation of taking. As a person who always books HIA and therefore always has refundable deposits, the promo is of limited interest to me, but I think it is good opportunity for others to book "Best Fare" price without having to risk typical deposit.

That is very good news - love Thai food and are "mostly" plant based diet (some fish) - so 2 big wins for us 😀

For the CO to be refundable - it would have to be booked as a refundable (HIA based) fare though..... is that correct? We always book HIA anyway ...just wondering

Correct, NB is the same. Was living in NB before coming to Ontario in 2017. Sunday shopping was alive and well in NB and as far as I know still is.

At the end of the cruise, Cole (the CD) said they had been working for 3 months prior to bring Woz onto the cruise. Just another example of how much effort went into making this cruise above and beyond the norm. I do now get to forever casually work in the phrase "....I was on a cruise with Steve Wozniak....."

Thanks for the review ! We were on your TSE cruise and nice to relive experiences and read about the experiences we missed (like 360) It was our first Princess cruise - so the bar is set perhaps a little high now for Princess 🤔

apologies for a tangent question - relating to Plus fares for Casino players (discounted fares) Does anyone know if the additional cost to Plus (say $60/pp/pday) is discounted by Casino rate at the same level of discount against the fare? For example - if one received Casino discount of 15% against cruise fare - would they effectively get that 15% discount against the added Plus charges - so essentially $51 instead of $60pp/pday? I ask because that is how it works with HAL and Casino discount fares. With HAL and their "Have it All" or HIA fare pricing, there is an advantage in booking with the HIA fare as that add on cost is reduced. HIA can generally be added later, but no Casino discount would be applied if not included as part of the fare. We have only sailed Princess once (last week) and not really expecting a Casino discount offer - but - I am curious 🤔