Sandypaws21

2 minutes ago, Reds4life said:

I was exactly in the same situation on Divina and it was completely fine. No need for a jacket

Thanks for replying - it's good to know and reassuring that he isn't the only one.

Thanks for the reply.  No point packing one if he doesn't need to wear it.

My husband wears a suit all the time so isn't keen to have to take one on holiday.  Can we still eat in the main dining room if he's not wearing a jacket to dinner?  He will be wearing nice trousers and a smart long-sleeved shirt.  Our only previous cruise experience was with RCI on one of their smaller ships, Rhapsody, and he didn't need a jacket, even for the 'formal' night.  We have also booked the speciality dining package, so I'm hoping the steakhouse, Italian and Sushi bars don't require a suit either?

Thanks for this. Will remember to pack the swimsuit- sounds fun!

Thanks for the replies - I will just play it by ear and see how good the service is.  👍

This is only our 2nd cruise and our 1st MSC one.  I know there will be a daily service charge payable, but is it the norm to leave a tip at the end of the cruise for the cabin steward?  We did this on our RCI one.

Enjoying your report.  We are on this ship mid-January so are anticipating some choppy seas too!  Still looking forward to our first MSC cruise.

Following with interest this post.  We are on the Meraviglia mid January and starting to think about what to pack.  So far, I got a light puffer jacket (which is warm but not bulky), a raincoat and hoodie!  I know it's not going to be warm when we are there, best we can hope for is no rain!!

Thanks so much for your review.  We are booked on our Meraviglia cruise for 17th January and having only done one cruise previously (with RCI) I was anxious about this MSC one as I'd read some awful reviews.  We aren't fussy people and know that the weather will be unpredictable but are now looking forward to the experience.

7 hours ago, Até said:

Purchasing the pre-bookable "tasting menu" meal on line will save you the 15% gratuity that you will be charged if purchasing on the ship.

Thanks for the suggestion - I will look into that.

15 hours ago, hamrag said:

 

On board is fine, we never saw them busy....and Butchers' Cut is superb!

Thanks for that.  Loving the sound of Butcher's Cut!

Thanks for the review.  We are on the Meraviglia from 17th January and I was planning to pre-book the Cirque show.  It would appear that it might be better to wait until we are on board?  Also, we fancy trying a couple of the speciality restaurants - the steak house and Italian one.  Are we better pre-booking those or again just waiting until we are on board?

The sofa is long, so I assume it will be fine as the extra bed.

No we didn't experience any noise at night - even from the centrum below with the entertainment still going on, we couldn't hear it once our door was closed.

Oh, it did work - but picture is really small. Sorry :(

Hope it gives you an idea of what it was like though. Any questions, please ask. :)

I've never attached a photo - so here's hoping this works! This is our room - photo taken on our 20th anniversary. Our room attendant had made our towels in to swans and set all our cards around them - lovely touch!

The room was plenty big enough for DH and I, but I think yours must be a different format as I don't think you could get another 2 people in. The bathroom was a good size (just on the left side as you entered), wardrobes on the right (again, plenty for us). There was a coffee table sitting in front of the dressing table which we moved because you had to go round it and I felt I would surely knock my shin off it in the middle of the night if I had to visit the bathroom! The highlight for us was the full-length window. It was great.

The 8th floor is ideal too. Just one floor above is the pool and Windjammer and the restaurant was 2 floors down on the 5th. We only used the lift the day we arrived with the cases and the day we left.

We were on Rhapsody at the end of October for a 10-day Eastern Med cruise. It was our first cruise, so have nothing to compare it with but we really enjoyed it. Our room was 8042 and we were really pleased with the cleanliness, space and decor. Our room attendant was lovely.

We ate breakfast mostly in the Windjammer (buffet) and it was very good - lots of fresh fruit, pastries, eggs, etc. We did go to the main dining room on both sea days but found the service slow and they kept getting everyone at our table orders wrong, so wouldn't really recommend it for breakfast. Dinners, though were excellent. We had anytime dining so that meant we went for dinner whenever it suited us. Food and service were always very good. We did eat in a couple of the specialty restaurants (Chops Steakhouse and Giovanni's Italian). Really enjoyed Chops but didn't really rate Giovanni's). Lunch in the Windjammer was also very good.

Entertainment was mostly enjoyable and the tours were good, although a bit hurried and a couple of changes of itinerary due to Greek port strikes (obviously outside RCI's control, but nevertheless disappointing).

All in all, we really enjoyed our cruise and would have no hesitation recommending Rhapsody.

Thanks for this information. Will be looking out for any offers when we board on Friday :D

You dreamt it, they are definitely allowed and I always take mine

Phew! Thank goodness for that :)

Thanks for the quick reply.

Getting very excited now for our upcoming first ever cruise departing on Friday!!! The long countdown is nearly over :D

Starting to think about packing and I was wondering if I am allowed to take my hair straighteners? Not sure if I imagined it, but I thought I read somewhere on here that they aren't allowed - is this correct, or did I dream it :confused:

Thanks so much for the comments. I think we might give it a try, perhaps on one of the two sea days, as suggested. :)

Looking forward to our upcoming first ever cruise! I noticed that RC offers a wine-tasting session. Can anyone tell me if it is good? We are not real wine snobs, but would be interested in this if it was worthwhile.

Thanks for the advice about the currency. Puts my mind at ease knowing that we don't need to bother trying to exchange a few lira.

Some don't like the hairdryers in the stateroom, Typical complaints are that they are weak and they have a button than must be held down continuously.

I know the sort, thanks. Will probably try and make do with the one provided, as luggage space will probably be at a premium! Won't bother DH too much anyway! :p

Sorry I didn't explain myself very well.

We are booked on the RC Ephasus tour, so I don't think we need any money for transfers, or do we have to tip bus driver etc :confused:

We are setting sail on 30th of this month :D We have our Euros organised for the port excursions in Greece, Rhodes, Crete, Naples and Rome but as we are only 1 day in Turkey we weren't sure what to do about getting Turkish Lira. Will we actually need any? If so, can we get some on board? We don't plan on spending much, perhaps a tacky souvenir or two for the kids ;) so probably would only be needing 20 or 30 Euros worth - is this possible, or what does everyone else do?

On a different note, and probably are really silly question :o - will there be a hairdryer in the cabin?

Thanks in advance :)