Stem to Stern

Whoopsie! (Again.)

Hee hee. In total agreement on this one. Our Equinox cruise had a super loud lady with her husband on board that took every meal in Luminae. As you know Luminae is not that big, so with her being at the table in the middle of the room closest to the maitre d desk for mobility reasons, she was only a couple table aways from every other table and every word could be heard. Sometimes the "back room" of Luminae is less crowded. Sadly, we sat adjacent to another couple at the banquette on the wall behind the maitre d desk on the second to the last night of the cruise. One of our dinner neighbors contracted covid. On the last evening of the cruise, we were contract traced and quarantined. Not a great way to end a cruise, but we were fed, hydrated, and compensated. A great crew in The Retreat help us overlook this minor cruise snafu.

That name does not sound familiar. I seem to remember her being well-tenured with Celebrity. This encounter was on Celebrity Equinox in 2021. I need to keep better notes because my memory is obviously not serving me.

Great way to start a cruise. Lunch while you are still coming down from the initial high of boarding.

Luminae ~ If she is still on board, the female waitress from Mauritius is incredibly kind and sweet. I wish I could remember her name.

Park n go on Ellet’s drive is the best. Book in advance on their website for best price.

Thanks. I just read over that on their website. Really looking forward to the tasting menu after your description.

Same situation here. Did you get a $50 OBC for each of you? Oooo. Looking forward to Butchers Cut for sure.

Do you know if that is the only perk? I read something about a complimentary visit to one of the specialty restaurants.

Good to know. Thanks. Did you do the upgrade once you were on board the ship?

Guilty as charged.

Looking forward to this. When are you going?

Yay! Refresh my memory (too many threads to sift thru.). Did you Diamond status match prior to booking? If so, did this qualify you for any type of discount or additional OBC? Thanks for all of your contributions.

Hi Jim, Charla convinced me. Giving a serious look at a 7-night sailing in Yacht Club on Seascape. It would be the largest and most populated (nearly 6,000 passengers😳) ship we have ever been on. Definitely plenty of places to walk, but the refuge of the YC away from the GenPop sounds great. Did I count only 130 suites in the Yacht Club on the deck plans?!? Top Sail Lounge is much more spacious than The Retreat Lounge and it has live entertainment. Spa thermal area access. Priority everything. Among other amenities that look to compare well with The Retreat. On the other hand our recent cruise on Azamara Onward was the smallest ship we were ever on, maybe almost too small tonage-wise for my liking. Although it was great running into the same new friends over and over again with less than 700 on board. The verdict is still out for us on whether or not we will give Azamara another go. We will savor our stay in The Retreat this year while on board Celebrity Summit, but sadly I fear skyrocketing pricing may force us to call this our last hurrah in The Retreat. Although everything about The Retreat has pretty much wowed me, I do recognize the threshold of price exceeding perceived value. And I do value my hard-earned dollars. Time will definitely tell.😁 By the way over the weekend I submitted the form on MSC’s site for enrollment in their Status Match program. I heard back this morning with an email welcoming me to MSC Voyagers Club, assigning me a Voyager number, and matching my Azamara Discoverer status (equivalent to Elite on Celebrity) to their Diamond level. Per recommendation on these boards I avoided using my Elite status for my status match enrollment as MSC has reportedly only matched Elite to their Gold level.

Welcome aboard! Can you tell us if there are any late-night snacks in the Top Sail Lounge? Or will we have to venture into the GenPop for something to eat late at night?

I have the same concern. We are considering a YIN on Deck 18 directly below this interior white space on Deck 19 deck plan. Is there anyone on board currently that can inquire and provide intelligence? Thanks.

Thank you so much for starting this thread. I am looking forward to following along with your review of Yacht Club on MSC's newer ship. Bon voyage!

A great tip! I finally learned this one from a fellow passenger on the last night of my most recent cruise. It only took me 17 cruises and 20 years of cruising on five cruise lines to figure it out.

No price drop here…. Dec 2023 Summit 5 night in Sky Suite Booked in June 2022 at $2,736 ($273.60 pppn) Today same prices out at $4,896 ($489.60 pppn) Only one Sky Suite available.

Bon voyage! Thank you for posting all of the great info and pictures.

Cheese is her love language. She had me at white-gloved butler escorted walks to wherever.

Which reminds me...Remember The Poop Cruise of 2013??? I would be worried too if I were on an upcoming sailing on this ship. Hopefully their specialist gets to the bottom of the matter.

I You Tubed the gorgeous MSC Seascape pretty intensely yesterday. The ship is still red, glitzy and pattern-heavy, but in a much more toned-down way compared to MSC Divina. They are still doing the velour headboards, but they have moved on from mauve and animal prints to greige and geometric prints. I have no cruises booked until December, so may give it a try over the summer. Thanks again @GenerationXfor the insight and inspiration during my cruising dry-out period. Safe travels home.

From the photo shoot for MSC’s upcoming ad campaign…. Nailed it in an epic way, Charla. Or is that Captain Charla?

Charla, You are killing this Live Thread. I can’t tear myself away from the photos and all the wonderful attention you are receiving from the crew on board. But it is killing me that my next cruise ship embarkation is not for another 332 days. You got me thinkin’ ‘bout my options. Familiarizing myself with www.msccruisesusa.com and headed for You Tube next. It is always good to have options.🤔😃🙏