NightWoman

On 8/30/2022 at 2:21 AM, vhagues said:

What I can’t understand is why Ambassador, a new British Cruise. line that wants to build up their business, and yet they think ditching fare paying passengers, who are “their number one priority” is in favour of housing refugees at anchor in the Clyde for months is a good move. I think it’s a bad business decision and I for one will be cancelling our booked cruise to the fjords. The £300pp OBC does not make me want to give them another chance! 😡🤬

 

V Hagues. Dissapointed, angry and let down!

We've booked a cruise in May because there was a sailing from a regional port but I think we will be in for a disappointment.

I agree, as a new company with 2 ships and only 1 in commission and trying to build a customer base in a difficult climate Ambassador has let down thousands of people who paid deposits in good faith. 

This isn't about helping refugees it's about a better money making opportunity coming along and Ambassador are prepared to cancel on the contract with us. 

As it is there is no social housing available for people who live in Scotland so where will the 1000 + Ukrainian families go after the 6 months, they won't just be thrown off the ship after the harrowing time they've gone through. I would be surprised if any of the cruises start in May. 

I think Ambassador have made a poor decision with this plan as they have already let down and lost the trust of  regular cruisers and potential cruisers, let's face it there must be a number of cruise companies who have ships not sailing due to the current lack of crew, why haven't they offered ships as well? 

In addition, the Ambassador promo says Ambition will have a full reburshment prior to sailing, which to me means all cabins,  public areas and all the other things behind the scenes, if things don't go to plan will a refurbishment even take place or will it be the the most important, that being bringing the engines up to standard, all these things take time and if there are further delays or issues it means the paying passengers will once again let down. 

3 hours ago, tring said:

 

Thanks, yes I am confused with the mention of service charges as I was not aware there was any. 

 

You can only edit posts about 15 -20 mins after they are posted.  After that they can not be edited, though can be removed if reported via the report system (takes a few hours) and can then be replaced, but our conversation has now added information, well sort of.

I also need to amend my grammer, it should read 'were' included 😄

Tring, thanks for bringing this to my attention and you are possibly correct.

I did try to edit my post to amend this as I may have misread something, that's why I added the Ambassador Moments to show that the service charge and gratuities was included in the Expedition package. 

If you book before the cruise I believe it's £38pp for the top package (Expedition) if you book on board it's £44pp this includes the gratuities and  speciality coffees as well. You are allowed up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day. 

If you don't have the package your drinks have a gratuity of 18% added to every drink. 

On 2/27/2022 at 3:25 PM, thepla said:

When I go to site still says what I posted. Maybe some cache issue.

 

Do you know what msc rule will be? If I have negative test 72 hours prior to boarding time will they test at port? I know we don't travel for over two weeks and if you call msc their recording indicates they will follow rules of country. So maybe they might change between now and mid March.

From what I can gather, even though Dubai have lifted their restrictions about PCR testing, MSC still want passengers to have a PCR test either 48hrs for fly cruise and  72hrs for cruise only before travel then another PCR test on arrival in Dubai 

So triple Vaccinated then 2 PCR tests within a few days of each other 😏

I am trying to get clarification from my TA about this as it seems to be a bit excessive. 

20 hours ago, thepla said:

I do not see where PCR test is not needed.

 

The information on Emirates website was updated yesterday

6 minutes ago, thepla said:

This takes a big worry off my chest. Does msc allow antigen test within 72 hours for virtuoso?

MSC requirement for a cruise only booking is a negative PCR test 72 hours before embarkation and 48hrs for a fly cruise, so hopefully the one on arrival at Dubai airport is still in effect which would most likely cover most people, if you are in Dubai longer then you would need to arrange one at your hotel.

As from today Dubai has announced new entry requirements.

Passengers travelling to Dubai no longer need to have a pre-departure PCR test if fully vaccinated and have valid vaccine certificate with a QR code.

MSC still require a negative test 72hrs prior to embarkation so hopefully these will still be available at Dubai airport, hopefully someone embarking soon will be able to confirm this.

According to Emirates website the information states:

 If requested, passengers must undergo a PCR test on arrival in Dubai and self‑quarantine until they receive a negative result. In the event the passenger tests positive, then they should follow the guidelines issued by the relevant Health Authority in the Emirate of Dubai.

So it could be random testing but I'm not 100% sure if this is the case, but good news that no expensive test before travelling 🙂

1 hour ago, Marmaduke said:

I have received an email asking me to register for embarkation testing, but having completed the form, every time I press submit it comes back with a data error message telling me to check my details.  Several other people on my roll call are having the same problem so it is not just me.  I have emailed the adress provided (eurofin) two days ago but no reply.   

 

Has anyone else had this problem with their cruise and what procedures do you have to go though if you turn up at the port having not registered.

Apparently it's a system problem which they've not yet managed to resolve, lots of people affected. Azamara will register everyone at the port who haven't been able to do it 😊

Thank-you for your help, I'm waiting on a return call from Staysure who we've used in the past.

Would anyone be able to recommend a reasonably priced insurance group/company in the UK who will cover recently diagnosed cancer condition?

I've searched a few companies and the cost is extremely high...

On 11/2/2021 at 9:11 PM, ElmaLee said:

We are booked for Canaries on 11 December.  According to Azamara web site we must have been double vaccinated 14 days before sailing and will be given a rapid COVID test prior to boarding in Gran Canaria.

 

https://www.azamara.co.uk/booked-guests/before-you-board/explore-well-at-sea

 

Web site also suggests another test prior to disembarkation but I’m not sure why as this is not a current Spanish requirement.

We are on this one as well so it's good to know what we will need 😊

3 hours ago, kernow said:

They are currently onboard doing b2b2b, and have been talking to senior staff. Of course it may vary a bit with people's test results but a general picture.

I see, thanks for this. 

We are going on the 2nd October sailing and it's more than I expected. 

I just hope it's not like MSC was in August 🙄

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

On another forum its being reported there are 1800 on sat and then over 2000 on the next few sailings, so it may be busy!

Curious 🤔 how does the person on the other forum know the passenger numbers for forthcoming cruises? 

To be honest I'm not surprised that there's COVID on board. As far as I'm awate MSC have sailed around Italy since last year without issues.

We were on the Greenock to Greenock sailing on the 11th August and initially we thought that MSC had pretty good protocols however it was clear they were not enforcing the rules around mask wearing and hand washing and more and more passengers were disregarding these rules andl as far as we could see these passengers were never challenged. So 4 months sailing around the UK and COVID is on board which really says it all.

It's disappointing but not surprising that people can't/won't abide by the rules because they don't apply to them.

2 hours ago, doublebzz said:

I thought that you were required to purchase insurance from MSC.  To be clear, are you saying they will accept any Covid insurance notwithstanding what they are saying in print or did you book your cruise before this was a requirement?

Sorry I didn't realise you were in the USA so it may be different rules for you.

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

Excellent, many thanks. For tonight we have decided to concentrate on sailaway, never having been 'doon the waaater' on a ship....closest so far has been a ferry from Wemyss Bay to Arran! 😂

 

Given the stonking sunshine all day for today, we will simply eat somewhere on the move tonight, and be ready for those ropes being cast.....hopefully on time, or even early, so we get to see some of the scenery before darkness descends!

Sailing down the Clyde is lovely and the scenery is quite stunning especially if it's a lovely ☀️ evening and a glass of 🥂 Enjoy 

2 hours ago, hamrag said:

That information might just be enough to keep us out the buffet area, we have seen some ridiculous buffet behaviour on past cruises pre-covid!

 

What night was the Gala night, and was there any other theme evenings? We are so appreciative of all you have posted, which is immensely helpful to us.....we leave for the port in only 3 hours time!

Tonight is white night, Thursday and Monday Gala nights there were other theme nights but didn't really pay attention to them or actually see anyone dressing up for them but maybe we just missed seeing them.

14 hours ago, styles27 said:

Two things stood out for me in your very thorough review “3000 passengers and 1400 children” and it sounds like the buffet was self serve. YIKES to both of those things. 

Makes me glad we’re sailing out of FL where a lot less people are cruising and the buffet is not self serve. 
 

Thanks for taking the time to write. 
 

 

styles27 you're welcome, we fully expected the crew to serve the food in the buffet but it was self service which in my opinion was a mistake as you know what the buffet areas like when it's busy, some people seem to leave their manners and hygiene isn't in their vocabulary.

Enjoy your cruise 🌞🍾

11 hours ago, K8T said:

We got off this ship today and absolutely agree with you.  The ship is stunning inside, the bars excellent, the staff can’t do enough. 
 

However MSC are not enforcing masks or distancing.  Queuing an hour for water park tickets part under a covered walkway, is not COVID friendly, neither is the free for all buffet. 
 

We couldn’t even use the pools or hot tubs until after 4 as they were absolutely crammed with kids.  Sunbeds all reserved with towels by 8am.  It was MSC Benidorm   We have a teen and have cruised all her life in the holidays but never seen anything like this.  We even saw a family go to the late buffet and bring burgers on a plastic tray to eat in the champagne bar! 
 

The staff were excellent and I felt really sorry for them, they are doing their best and dealing with rude passengers.  However MSC shouldn’t have cashed in and filled the ship with cheap fares and stepped back.  
 

We didn’t get any discounts and paid full price, we didn’t get the cruise we paid for and my daughter tested positive this morning when we got home.  Not surprising to be honest.  She wore a mask and is double vaccinated. MSc knew there were four teens with positive covid on Saturday when the got off,  yet didn’t tell those on board using the Club, or put restrictions/cleaning in place.   

Absolute carnage and negligence.  

 

I hope your daughter has recovered it's certainly not what you expected after your holiday.

I have to say that in all the times we've cruised we've never seen some of the things that happened on this ship.I agree it's the crew I felt sorry for as well t's not their responsibility to keep passengers in check but supervisors didn't appear to bother and on other lines senior officers' and the captain are seen about the ship and it's them who should nip these behavours in the bud, if people can't behave unload them at the next port, I think we may have heard the captain once.

I'm sure the crew got a very poor impression of some British people.

10 hours ago, doublebzz said:

Were you required to purchase the MSC Covid insurance and, if so, was it checked at embarkation? 

Hi doublebzz,  you don'the need to buy MSC insurance, we purchased our insurance through Staysure which included COVID cover and yes they were through in checking your policy, I printed off the relevant pages of the table of benefits and highlighted the appropriate information plus the validation certificate which shows the names of the passengers also make sure your policy has cruise cover.

It's preferably to have paper copies as the Internet could be a bit dodgy at the port and it will make embarkation quicker.

8 hours ago, hamrag said:

Thank you soooo much for such an informative review, most helpful. We board in Greenock tomorrow 1st September, and yours is the first comment I have seen for a Greenock embark. 👏  Did you stick with assigned boarding time, or do they permit earlier boarding?

 

Hadn't really thought about the P+ drinks option,so how do you do that and what is price per day....and is it only possible to purchase on embarking day?

 

We only booked this on Friday past, so haven't had any time to explore the cruise fully at this stage!

 

TIA

Hi hamrag, we were about 30 minutes early and they were't checking the times possibly because there weren't large numbers embarking in Greenock, it was very efficient.

The P+ will be £16pppd as you are booking on board, go to reception as soon as you embark and it will be added to your account, I think you get 48 hours to book but I'm not 100% sure of that, it's definitely worth it 🍾😊

Also if you eat in the buffet go right to the back of the buffet where there are lots of empy tables and it's quieter.

Enjoy your cruise 🌞

29 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

What ship?  Sorry if I missed it.

Sorry I missed out that important fact 😏

It was MSC Virtosa

Yes, they do ask if there is anything you don't want so they substituted the fish with chicken and beef, it was a brilliant night 😋