Daisy P

We had a spa balcony stateroom for our holiday cruise on Norwegian Getaway and we really enjoyed the thermal suite for late afternoon relaxation. Are there similar spa facilities in other ships (besides other Breakaway class ships) on any cruise line? Do any Royal Caribbean ships have co-ed steam room and sauna?

Thanks for your input, everyone, but after A LOT of research, we have decided not to go with Armonia after all. The more complicated the booking got, the less attractive MSC and the whole itinerary strted to feel for us. Opted for Norwegian and a completely different itinerary instead!

Here's another choice- took some research- we are doing RCI Empress B2B- Nov 19 & Nov 26- fares are very reasonable. 1st week is Cienfuegos & Santiago & Georgetown. 2nd week is a very good Havana overnight, with Cozumel & Nassau. Seeing all 3 major Cuban ports. No changing of cabins. This was the only one I could find like that this year.

 

Bonus- RCI cooks the Thanksgiving turkey this year, not me!

Sounds great! However, we're limited to cruising during the Christmas vacation...

Life is not easy when you are from Finland ;) Like it is when you are from Malaysia like me. We always book on the German MSC website, I think this should also be the most easy way for you. And the prices for the Germans are nothing to complain.

That's a great tip, thanks! However, when I tried booking with the German site, I got the same problem as with Swedish and UK site: the only option for country of residence is now Germany, when trying to register, and you can't change it.

MSC is (usually) not offering this cruise in countries from where they don´t have flights to Cuba. So for example Austrians have to book in Germany and will have to fly from Germany. How you plan to reach Cuba from Finland without a MSC flight? They will be some challenges and high costs! I would recommend you to choose a flight to a place where MSC offers this cruise (Russia, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK/Switzerland via Spain. And book the cruise from this country as starting point.

Yeah, the cruise starts from Miami, but flights should have nothing to do with booking a cruise. We've always booked our own flights when cruising with Royal Caribbean, whether in Europe, America or Asia.

MSC makes things too complicated, I guess we just have to use a Finnish travel agent / company that offers this cruise. We're just so used to doing everything by ourselves that this is quite irritating. Almost makes us reconsider and choose Empress instead...

It seems that you somehow ended up on

the page with the description of the cruise

and not on the reservation page.

Try this link

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/MSC_SearchCruiseManagerRedirectCmd?storeId=12264&langId=-1004&catalogId=10001&monthsResult=&areaFilter=CAR%40&embarkFilter=MIA%40&lengthFilter=&departureFrom=12.01.2018&departureTo=12.31.2018&ships=&category=&onlyAvailableCruises=true&packageTrf=false&packageTpt=false&packageCrol=false&packageCrfl=false&noAdults=2&noChildren=0&noJChildren=0&noInfant=0&dealsInput=false&tripSpecificationPanel=true&shipPreferencesPanel=false&dealsPanel=false

Scroll down to Armonia and select the date.

You may change the country as well and

see if it works.

Tried the US website, but it doesn't work because it only gives you North American countries as options when you try to register.

Seems like you can book straight through MSC only from certain countries (even Sweden has it's own page but not Finland).

But now I actually found a pretty good price for this cruise on CruiseDirect.com. I wonder if that's a liable company?

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/Plan-Book/Cruise-Detail.aspx?cruiseid=AX20181224MIAMIA

24 Dec 2018

From the bottom of the page I've changed country to Finland.

I have recently booked a couple of cruises directly through the MSC website. Is there a particular problem you are having in doing this?

When I get as far as viewing the cruise that I want to book, I can't find anywhere to click in order to actually continue to choose the cabin and book it. I wonder what I'm missing?

Thank you Perakcruiser!

One more question:

So far we've booked all of our cruises straight from Royal Caribbean website. As for MSC, booking straight through the cruise line does not seem to be possible. Which site would you recommend for booking MSC?

I hope someone can answer one more question:

So far we've booked all of our cruises straight from Royal Caribbean website. As for MSC, booking straight through the cruise line does not seem to be possible. Which site would you recommend for booking MSC?

We've only cruised on Royal Caribbean so far, but now we're considering booking Armonia to Cuba/Caribbean. We're hoping to find answers to these questions:

Is there a non-alcoholic bevarage package available for aduls? We drink only diet coke with lunch and dinner (and maybe a couple during a sea day) and just water or orange juice at breakfast. On Royal we've always had the soda package. Would some kind of a package be worth it for us on Armonia? How much is a can of diet coke bought separately?

There seem to be prices for a sun deck and loungers. I'm assuming that is some kind of a special and more private sun deck? There are still loungers that you can use for free to enjoy the sun some place, right?

There also seems to be price for fitness classes? Are there any classes for free? What is the fitness center like? Is there empty space, mirrors and mats to do your own streching etc?

Any other major differences between MSC and Royal that we shoud be aware of?

Thanks everyone, this is all valuable info.

We're slowly starting to lean towards MSC now.

Thanks for your input so far, everyone!

This "people to people" thing seems very confusing. There seem to be many different views on how this works. On MSC site it says "You cannot get off the ship in Cuba unless you are on a shore excursion." Is that true (or are they just trying to sell excursions), and is it like that with Royal Caribbean as well?

We are planning for our next cruise (Christmas/ New Years) and having trouble deciding between these two options:

Empress of the Seas, 8 days

Miami

At sea

Santiago de Cuba / Cuba

Labadee

At sea

Cienfuegos / Cuba

George Town / Cayman Islands

At sea

Miami

OR

MSC Armonia, 7 Days

Miami

At sea

Montego Bay / Jamaica

George Town / Cayman Islands

Cozumel

Havanna / Cuba

Havanna / Cuba

Miami

-------

We are a couple in our early 30s, and as you can see from my signature, we've only cruised on Royal Caribbean so far. But

the most important thing for us is the itinerary, so we don't have a problem changing cruise lines, as long as we still get the basic cruise experinece we are used to.

The main thing with this cruise is that we'd like to visit Cuba. Cayman Islands is a great bonus that comes with both of the itinerearies! We've already been to Labadee twice and Cozumel once. Montego Bay would be a new port in Jamaica, since on our last cruise we went to Falmouth. Anyway, any of these "extra" ports would make nice beach days for us. Choosing Armoni would give us an extra day to spend in Miami, which would also be welcomed, since we are flying in from Finland, so we don't get there that often.

So basically it comes down to, which would be a better way to see Cuba, two days in Havanna, or Santiago de Cuba + Cienfuegos? Based on a quick search, in Cienfuegos we would probably visit the El Nicho waterfalls. In Havanna I'd probably look for something ballet/dance related. But other than that we don't have any specific plans.

Another question is the ships. Both are pretty small, right? So far we've enjoyed all the Royal Caribbean ships we've been on, from Enchantment to Harmony, and don't necessarily need all the bells and whistles. We go for the inside cabins since we don't spend that much time there. All we need is two loungers in the sun, books to read and a jacuzzi(+pool) nearby! We don't drink or party, but like to go to the gym, and we mostly eat at windjammer (mdr once or twice per cruise). We have chosen the soda package on all of our cruises because we only drink diet coke. Is there a package like that at MSC? It seems like on MSC you have to choose between different experiences (bella, fantastica...). If we choose the most basic option, will we be missing out on something essential? On Empress, we'd be in Platinum class for the first time. Is that anything worth considering?

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you!

How far is the train station from the port ?

 

Did you book tickets at the station ?

It was about 20 min walk from the ship to the train station (we walk pretty fast).

Yes, we bought the ticket for each leg at the train station before boarding the train.

It's pretty simple to take the train from La Spezia to Pisa to see the tower. We did that last year, and after Pisa we continued by train to Florence before returning to La Spezia. It was a packed day but we saw everything we wanted and didn't need an excursion! It's very easy to DIY in Europe.

We are back from our cruise and we did do the Dunn's River Transfer excursion. This it how it went down:

We got off the ship and walked to the platform where most of the excursions started from. We were met by a nice young lady who would be our guide for the day and she gave us wrist bands with her name on it. We waited until the whole group had gathered (about 15-20 in total) and we were led into a minibus.

The ride to the falls was about an hour an we stopped once to rent watershoes for those who didn't have any. It was very interesting to listen to the guide as she told us some facts about Jamaica, but I really did not enjoy the "ice breakers" or how she kept making us say "ya man" etc.

When we arrived at the falls we were adviced to leave everything we didn't want to get wet on the bus. That was good, so we didn't have to worry about lockers or anything. We were in our swimwear and water shoes.The guide got us entrance wristbands and explained where we would meet when everyone would have completed the climb (not a specifc time, just as soon as we would be done). The tour guide did not climb with us but we were divided between different fall guides to do the climb.

The place was packed! Our fall guide was a nice and quiet older man but there were also photographers who were more loud. It was time for the dreaded "let's hold hands" bit even though we were not even in the water yet. That was the most awkward part. Me and my husband took the end of the line and as soon as we got in to the water we started taking photos and enjoying the water and just hung behind the line. Holding hands just didn't make sense (I wanted to use both hands when climbing, that felt the safest!). No one else held hands the entire time either. In the hardest parts the guide stayed and helped everyone individually by hand.

When we arrived at the top, we waited for the rest of the group and walked back to the buss. Then we drove to the Reggae Hill where you could buy lunch if you wanted to, or you could just chill or swim in the river. For us this was actually the most enjoyable part of the excursion! Me and my husband were the only ones swimming in the river and it was very relaxing! Every once in a while a group of people floeted by down the river in tubes (holding hands ;)) and we were happy to be there chilling at our own phase! The Reggae Hill stop was supposed to be 30 min but it was over an hour.

There was one more stop for some shopping on our way back to port, but it was very short as no one wanted to buy anything.

To sum it up, climbing the falls was pretty much what we expected, it was an experience to tick off of your list (and we got some cool photos), and this excursion was the simplest way to do it. The Reggae Hill stop was a nice bonus for us. So we're glad we did the excursion!

We had a great day in Sandals!! It was a part of our 10th anniversary celebration and so worth it!

We tried to call in the day before to make a reservation, but they said we should just show up the next day. So yes, it seems that it's not possible to book a day pass in advance.

Thank you, CruisinCrow! The place seems wonderful. Luckily our ship doesn't leave Nassau until at midnight, so we can stay until 6pm and don't have to worry about being late.

Nassau will be one of the ports on our upcoming cruise on Enchantment of the Seas, and we'd like to spend the day at some resort.

For awhile we (DH and I) were already set on British Colonial Hilton because it would be so easy to walk there from the ship and the price seemed reasonable. I had read somewhere that it would be around $60 pp including $40 food credit. I send an e-mail to the hotel asking whether we could buy the passes as we come or if we should buy them in advance. I didn't get any response, and now I noticed that it says on their web page that the price of the day pass is actually $100 (and still not all inclusive), so I started to look at other options, and we're now considering Sandals.

I'd be grateful if someone had recent experiences on Sandals (Royal Bahamian) and could confirm that the information that I have been able to find is correct?

- The price is $110 pp (10.30 am to 6 pm), and it's all inclusive so it includes all the food and drink (we only drink diet soda) and watersports (we'd like to do stand up paddle boarding), and towels will be provided? What kind of options woud we have for lunch? Could we eat at any of the restaurants mentioned on their web page?

- We don't have to book in advance, we can just pay as we get there?

Thank you for your help!

Would the guide also be from the ship (along with the photographer)?

Any other experiences or reviews of this excursion?

Thanks for the replies! We've got the hotel on south beach booked now, and uber sounds like a good option for transportation.

One more question: after the cruise from Fort Lauderdale, we have late night flight back home from Miami airport. Any ideas how we could deal with our luggage, so we'd be able to enjoy one more day in Florida before returning home?

We'd like to experience the Dunn's River Falls on our upcoming Harmony cruise, so the Dunn's River Transfer excursion seems like the easiest way to go. I haven't found many reviews about this exact excursion and the ones I've seen haven't been too good. Has someone done this excursion recently and would you recommend it?

Basically, what DH and I (both in our early 30s) are interested in would be the transportation to the falls, and we would preferably like to do the climbing on our own at our own pace, without having to take part in the hand holding with strangers and other group activities that the guides seem to put you through. (For a couple of Scandinavian introverts like ourselves, the stuff like the first 6 minutes of this video would be just painful and awkward:

If we took the Dunn's River Transfer excursion, would it be posssible to separate ourselves from the group and go about it on our on until it's time to get back to the bus?

A couple of practical questions: Is there a place to change out of your wet swimwear before leaving the falls? Do people leave their towells (and dry clothes) in the bus while climbing the falls?

I know we'll need watershoes to climb the falls, and a water proof backpack would be handy. Any other tips for this excursion, if we decide to book it?

Thanks for your help!

Thanks for the replies! Spending the night in South Beach sounds like the way to go. What about the transportation to Fort Lauderdale in the morning, is there some kind of public transportation that we could use, or would you recommend a rental car or something else?

We'll be doing a 4 day cruise from Miami port on Enchantment and after that a 7 day cruise on Harmony from Fort Lauderdale. There's one night between the cruises. We would love to spend the day after the first cruise in Miami, but we haven't decided how we're going to get to For Lauderdale and whether we should get there in the evening and spend the night there, or stay in Miami for the night and then get to Fort Lauderdale in the morning and go straight to the port. We're me and my husband (in our early 30ies) and we'll have two suitcases, so if we would stay in Miami for the day but go to Fort Lauderdale in the evening, we'd have the problem of what to do with our luggade during the day.

We appreciate any suggestions on how to handle this :). What would be the best method of transportation and would you recommend staying in Miami for the night or going to Fort Lauderdale?

We're sorry if similar questions have been asked before. I tried to do a search but most questions seemed to concern transportation between ports and airports.