cantwaitt

this is very helpful. I am going on 2 MSC cruises out of Dubai as part of a 6 week trip and was hoping not to pack a suit jacket. Looks like I don't need to.

On 1/5/2023 at 2:42 PM, Liviucostin said:

I'm planning the cruise the following week. My first MSC as well. Very confused.

 

Want to make sure I have this right: I can sleep on the ship the 7th night, eat breakfast and then disembark like any other 7 day cruise? The 12:01 arrival suggests everyone must disembark by 2 or 3 am.

As a New Yorker who takes the commuter rail and a taxi to the pier, I find all of these recommendations very interesting and very viable. Can't believe you can park in Manhattan for $10 a day. May be the city's biggest unknown bargain since the $1 pizza (no more since covid). 

In Montevideo can you do this on your own? Does the ship drop you off near the city?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app

Do you need to bring pictures from home? Was there a long line on the ship to obtain the

visas?

Sent from my XT1080 using Forums mobile app

NCL charges for a lot of things that are including in the price of just about every other cruise line. Very annoying.

My favorite part of NCL is not bringing a suit and tie. Otherwise, there is nothing better about NCL than Carnival except for one or two shows for which there is no extra charge. But you need to get tickets in advance and time it with dinner. Hopefully that night there is no wait for the dining room.

Just writing this irks me about NCL.

I would never take NCL as a solo traveler. You will end of eating alone every evening because of their freestyle policy.

I would take a cruise on any other cruise line, but make sure YOU DO NOT GET Anytime Dining. That would be the same as NCL's policy.

I would ask for a large table at dinner and you will have people to dine with every evening.

After this consideration, I would then choose the itinerary that seems most interesting to you.

I would then take tours with people organizing them on Cruise Critic. Then you would meet more people from the ship.

Go to Trivia, demonstrations, etc. on the ship. People are very friendly on cruises.

Have fun!!!!!

Be careful with Costco. Sometimes--just sometimes--they seem to give away a lot of extras like OBC's and free parking, but then when you check you realize their gross price is higher than many online travel agents and the NET price is higher at Costco.

This said, sometimes their deal is better. Like any purchase, you must do your research and the math.

I have to say that as a person who cruised when he was young and middle-aged and now as a senior, we older people stay up late and rock it out whenever the cruise line provides in one of its rooms a band playing 50s, 60s and 70s music.

We go early to bed--or the level with the snacks--only if the music sucks.

Just had to say this.

We had a great experience with SPB. So did our friends in each of the two following years.

In general, just have fun. However, I do recommend the following:

1) don't fly in day of. It could be stressful due to potential delays, weather, etc. Plus if you wake up in the embarkation city, you will be much better rested for your first day on the ship.

2) Make dinner reservations on line in advance. Then on the ship you can always change them. Sometimes on NCL there is a long wait for your desired time, so at least you will have a reservation. Other days you can walk into any dining room any time without waiting. No predicting.

Ideally you would want to spend several days there. But if you have no plans to, or at this point not sure, I would definitely do it.

Like one other person, I usually would not do a 3-hour bus trip. But this was a unique experience.

We also used SPB, which did a great job here and in StP. We also preferred taking a bus. Didn't sit right with me having a German directing me to a train.

Also, although no one pointed this out (astoundingly), I highly recommend the Holocaust Memorial and Museum, the latter of which is underground. That's where we stopped for an informal lunch. We just took snacks from the ship, ate off the land (haha) and kept it moving.

I did it twice, and both times on a Holland America cruise.

They give you a pass that enables you to circumvent the line when you come back and want to board the ship. That said, in both cases we came back late in the day when there were no longer lines to get on. So, it was moot.

But the point is they do allow you to avoid the lines with people boarding for the first time.

Enjoy. It is a great feeling when you see people getting off and going home and you know your vacation is only half over.

To quote my Uncle Louie from 45 years ago: If the meal is good, why have salad?

(Actually, I have a big one every night except on a cruise). Just havin' fun here.

On the positive side, January is the best month to get discounted tickets for Broadway shows.

Several online marketplaces, a good app (won't mention the name) and then there is the old standby, TKTS, which has shorter lines in the cold.

Enjoy!

Thanks for the quick response.

My wife told me an hour ago she read on RCL's website they now charge for napkin folding, cooking demonstration and a few other things.

I have to see that to believe it when I am on the ship. I will report back after my cruise. I usually need to confirm things first hand before I believe anything.

I am going on the Grandeur of the Seas next month, my first RCL cruise in a few years. I am stunned to learn that many things that were included for years now comes with a charge. Even innocuous things like napkin folding, which I wouldn't go to anyway. Sounds like they are discovering their inner NCL. Not a good thing.

My question is: I see they have a nature walk at Coco Cay for $30. Can you do this walk on your own or is there a turnstile of some sort that prevents you from roaming the island?

We were in that spot two years ago on our Med cruise. We are considering another Med cruise this year but I told my wife I would NOT go to Turkey because, unlike the rest of Europe, they not only are potential targets of ISIS, but the Kurds (who they have been bombing) and the Russians (whose plane they shot down).

Like Egypt, I'm glad I was already there. Would not go now.

Not even sure about the rest of Europe but I live in New York which is on the top of the potential target list.

At the end of the day it is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Just want to say that if an airline saw baggage checked by an individual who did not get on the plane, they would halt everything, take everyone and all of the baggage off the plane and have everyone claim their bags.

the unclaimed bags then won't be allowed on the plane.

What the cruise ships need to do is match the bags with the person who is booked for the cruise before accepting them. Otherwise anyone can come down to a pier with a blank luggage tag and throw luggage on to the ship.

then we have to hope the scanning works 100% of the time.

Just saying.

I was just shocked from reading on several boards how many times cruises get curtailed, turned into bus trips, etc.

Believe me, I know traditional cruises miss ports. I've missed my share.

But river cruises sound like a situation where if you book it you have to make a deal with yourself to understand the risks going in and then not get upset or disappointed when it happens.

I will definitely check out AMA.

Cruise Critic is invaluable for these and other reasons.

Thanks everyone for your constructive comments.

My reaction to this?

What a security lapse. Someone who is not booked on a ship can get luggage on to the ship.

Very, very scary.

I would contact the Department of Homeland Security so they can get the porters and longshoremen to implement a requirement that you show them your travel documents before you can place baggage on a ship.

Everyone seems to sugar coat the fact that ports are missed and the high end river cruise you must pay for way way in advance is replaced with bus tours at times.

I don't know about you but this would really irk me. And the frequency and the unpredictability of the interruptions is very disconcerting.

I am an experienced cruiser and travel who was seriously considering a river cruise for this summer. But I have to admit after reading several different threads, I am bagging those plans.

Very disappointed.

I know what you mean. I was also looking forward to trying a river cruise. But I don't feel like my high end cruise turning into a low end bus tour. We did a number of bus tours 30, 35 years ago (I'm not as old as this reads). Prefer cruises to buses.

And it does not seem like the boat swap is as seamless as you seem to suggest based on what I have read on these boards.

Ideally I like mixing land experience on my own for cities that are inland with cruises for port cities.

I think we are going to put together a two-week eastern European land trip on our own and then do a traditional Med cruise with not too many overlaps ports for us and do something different in the overlap ports.

We are going to do the river cruise when we go to Asia, hopefully in a couple of years.

We were seriously considering a Viking cruise for this July. But, after reading this thread and the threads (and reports from friends of friends) about frequently cancelled cruises due to the water level I think I am going to drop this idea.

Traditional cruises don't require final payment until 75 days out, which is reasonable.

Wow. turning a high end river cruise into a bus tour really sucks. I think I will rethink this idea.

We would not be happy campers if that happened to us.