optimusprime82

I had asked a similar question about Halloween on the Meraviglia. Not much information was available. Glad to hear that at least some ships celebrate the holiday.

14 hours ago, Spidybabe1 said:

Cruised 4x on MSC and have seen people denied admission into MDR on formal nights due to their clothing, and being asked to either change or dine in the buffet 

Safe sailing 

I'm sure this is a turn off to some cruisers but honestly I prefer this type of policy. MSC is also the only cruise line I've been on that has asked parents to take their crying/screaming child from the MDR. Again, I'm sure some people will find that appalling but I find it refreshing. If you want to wear what you wore to the beach to lunch or dinner you're free to do so... at the buffet. It's not asking a lot that you wear sleeves to dinner, etc.

So there really isn't a distinct Italian restaurant on board anymore? That's a little disappointing. We enjoyed Eataly when we were on the Divina in 2017.

12 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Plus we know they are offering free yc upgrades even during peak time.

I need to get a call from MSC offering me a free upgrade to YC lol.

When recently called to rebook our next sailing for a lower price the CSR asked us where we got our $100 OBC since it was in our booking notes. We had put money down for a future cruise while on the Divina that was supposed to come off of our bill at the end of the cruise but that didn't happen despite several calls before the cruise ending. I ended up having to call Customer Service after the cruise to have the $100 applied to our future cruise which wasn't very easy either and required a Supervisor to review.

I found this on YouTube a while back. Definitely looks like they do celebrate on board...

2 hours ago, JAGR said:

There will be others from Cowtown on that sailing!  Not us, unfortunately!

I'm so glad that CMH got rid of the "Cowtown" merchandise. Columbus has a hard enough time shedding that image without selling t-shirts and magnets in the airport.

Sorry you won't be on this sailing. The silver lining is you won't miss any good college football games lol.

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 4:59 PM, Beamafar said:

Have you joined the roll call (I don't remember seeing you on it)?  Here's a link if you're interested:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2480345-msc-meraviglia-10282019-13-night-repositioning-cruise-nyc-to-miami/

I haven't yet but I intend to. I did a brief search for this cruise on the roll call page a days back and yielded no results but I wasn't exactly trying my hardest to find it. We enjoyed the "Meet & Greet" we did on the Divina. in September 2017.

On the subject of Halloween, I'm hoping they play a couple horror movies in the theater. When we were on the Divina they had a nightly Jack Nicholson film series that was a lot of fun and was unique compared to a lot of the onboard cinema I've experienced.

I'm not sure if Trick or Treating is a thing in Europe/Italy but I'd love to see some European Halloween flair since that's one of the reasons we enjoyed MSC so much the first time, it felt distinctly un-American (aka Carnival, which we've enjoyed previously).

51 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Great question!  We're on that sailing, too, and hadn't considered that it would be Halloween when onboard.  🙄  (In my defence, we're boarding earlier in the month - on the 18th - so weren't thinking about the end of the month - more focussed on planning for 14 ports of call).

You've certainly got a great cruise ahead and you'll get a little bit over everything going north and then heading south. We had thought about doing the New England/Canada cruise but repositioning angle really sold us on the cruise departing on 10/28/19. See you onboard!

Sailing on the Meraviglia repositioning cruise from NYC to Miami on October 28th. This will be our second MSC cruise and our first on the Meraviglia and our first over a "major" holiday. We're looking forward to there hopefully being some Halloween festivities onboard. A YouTube video showed some Michael Jackson Thriller crew dancing, on the Divina I believe, but we're curious what else we may get to experience.

Thanks!

Has anyone that was on board the Escape last week received a post cruise email survey yet? I seem to recall receiving an email from NCL the same day we disembarked during our last cruise but I still a haven't received an email yet.

I am interested and not trying to defend NCL but on cruises from NYC to Bermuda when they get disrupted because of a Hurricane where do you want to go?

 

If all the cruises out of Bermuda were canceled where did RCCL send their ships?

 

Really a no win for the cruise lines. Had they gone to Bermuda and got caught in rough seas returning people would be unhappy.

 

 

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Again, I'm not so much upset about them feeling the need to make the change. It's where we went and the lack of compensation compared to their competitors.

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We were planning on putting money down on two more cruises prior to the itinerary change. After some discussion my wife and I decided that we probably won't be sailing with NCL again unless they make a good offer after I discuss my concerns with corporate next week.

Unfortunately I just don't trust NCL. They appeared to jump the gun on this itinerary change and then gave us terrible stops. The experience onboard has been okay but not amazing. We both enjoyed the service and amenities on MSC much more than what we've experienced so far on the Escape.

NCL is free to make their own business decisions regarding how they treat their guests and I'm free to spend my money elsewhere.

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From an article on Cruise Fever...

"Royal Caribbean changed Grandeur of the Seas sailing from a trip to Bermuda to a cruise with a two day stop in Nassau, Bahamas.* As a result, the cruise line is adding to a 50% refundable onboard credit (of their cruise fare) to passenger’s accounts.* Any amount they do not spend will be credited towards their credit card on file.* In addition, they will also receive a 50% credit towards a future cruise for cruises booked in the next year.

If a guest wishes not to sail on this modified itinerary, they will receive a 100% credit towards a future cruise.* Grandeur of the Seas is scheduled to leave Baltimore on September 8. 2018 for a five day cruise to the Bahamas.

Carnival Cruise Line is also offering guests compensation for a cruise that needed to be altered due to weather concerns.* Carnival Pride was scheduled for a seven night cruise to Bermuda from Baltimore departing on Sunday.* The itinerary has been changed and the new port stops will be*Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Freeport.

As a goodwill gesture, Carnival is giving all passengers on this sailing a 25% future cruise credit for any cruise taking place before March 7, 2020.

Both cruise lines stated that the reason for the change in itineraries was done for the safety of the guests and crew.* All credits will be based on the cruise fare that each passenger paid."

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I hope the escape passengers don't feel to bad..... rumor has it the Dawn is going to CANADA. Yes that's me. I'm praying for the Bahamas as this point since I'm from Maine!

The NE/Canada cruise has been on my list for almost a decade. I should have done it in 2016 or now because I wouldn't be stuck wishing I was switching places with you.

But what if when you bought the porterhouse the restaurant told you they would make their best good faith effort to deliver you a porterhouse, but you may end up with some other form of steak, including ground round and you would not be entitled to any compensatory treatment? That's really a more apt comparison here.

I guess a lot of that would depend on what we consider to be a "good faith effort." If the Porterhouse isn't available did the restaurant really make a "good faith effort" to get another good cut of meat before giving out the ground round or did they just go straight to the cheap stuff without considering any other options?

I say this all just to drive home the point that "niche" is an inherently subjective term.

I see your point but a NE/Canada cruise is a niche cruise, I'm sorry but that's just the way it it. Going to the Bahamas is one of the most common cruise destinations for the American market place. Almost everyone that cruises has been to the Bahamas, it's actually pretty hard to avoid. I would say that NE/Canada is even more niche than going to Alaska and is probably rivals going through the Panama Canal as far as being common place to the average cruiser.

I couldn’t agree with you more! They haven’t heard the last of me. I was offered to switch to one of two other weeks, but only for the Florida itinerary. If they are willing to switch weeks, why won’t they switch for another Bermuda week? This is the worst itinerary they offer!!!

Port Canaveral is a joke. I've walked through empty parking lots that have more character. When we were in Nassau in October 2016, when the Breakaway diverted from heading to Bermuda, there were lots of stray dogs, trash was everywhere and almost nothing was open. It was better last year when we stopped by while on the MSC Divina but it was still pretty run down versus what it was like twenty years ago.

Again, I'm not blaming them for changing the itinerary. I understood why they did it in 2016 and why they're doing it now. I'm upset about paying for a porterhouse steak and getting ground round instead without any adjustment to the price or an opportunity to get a discounted porterhouse later.

I shouldn't have to point this out........But did you ever think their are some people who are glad they are going to FL and the Bahamas because they already have been to New England? We were just in Bar Harbor in June, going back would have been a slap in the face

Okay, buddy, because those two itineraries are apples to apples right? A niche itinerary to NE and Canada versus what is essentially a weekend booze cruise.

People complaining about them moving the cruise is amazngly entitled attitude to have

 

There is a hurricane

They are keeping us safe

Deal with it

 

Enjoy the cruise your getting and chill

Seriously

You knew the rules signing up or at least you should have if you paid attention

 

Deal with it

Having empathy doesn't cost you anything in case you weren't aware.

We've planned and paid for two trips to Bermuda over the past nearly four years and had the rugged pulled out on us twice. I'm not upset that NCL made the change to the itinerary due to the weather, no one is saying they made the wrong call on that for safety reasons. I'm upset that we've paid a premium price, twice, to go to Bermuda and we've ended up in Florida and the Bahamas both times. I could have flown to Florida and paid 50% less to take a better cruise than what we're getting now.

I'm sorry you lack the empathy to understand why that may be disheartening to someone that has had two expensive (to me at least) trips substituted for cheap booze cruise alternatives.

I fought with them for eighteen months when this happened in October 2016. I'm preparing for another long fight because I'm not happy about going back to Florida and the Bahamas again.

I understand that the weather isn't under their control but they do have the ability to offer a comparable cruise instead of a bottom of the barrel itinerary that isn't worth half of what we paid to go to Bermuda. If they said we were heading to NE and Canada I'd be disappointed but also excited to experience something new, going back to FL and the Bahamas is a slap in the face.

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Were all who stayed offered any onboard credit to make up for lost itinerary? I had my HIgh School reunion on a cruise (in between Hurricane Frances and Ivan). We were all given the chance to cancel with refund or stay and receive an onboard credit. But then again, that was another cruise line.

$100 of shipboard credit each. That's the reason I spent eighteen months going back and forth with their customer service department about.

Willl NCLlet us know before we board ship if there is a change in course due to Florence?

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October of 2016 we were booked to sail to Bermuda with Hurricane Nicole nearing the island. We boarded at regular time, had our muster drill, then we were told that "Bermuda was not an option". So we overnighted in New York and sailed out at about 8 in the morning to Cape Canaveral and a 6 hour stop in Nassau.

We might have been on the same cruise with you. I spent the next eighteen months fighting with NCL for some additional compensation for a future cruise. Of course that future cruise is the 09/09/18 sailing but I'm hoping this will blow over some, pun only slightly intended, and it won't affect this trip. Fingers crossed for what's worth.

It's not a store, but a section in the boutique (at least when I was last on Escape). Prices were high and no discounts to be had really. You're better off going to Macy's in Herald Square (if taking Escape out of NYC) for better selection/deals.

Thanks for the heads up. That's disappointing for sure but I'd rather get that out of the way now. It will be interesting to see how their selection stacks up to what we saw on the MSC Divina last year. They had a couple racks of Lacoste as well but it wasn't heavily discounted, nor was there a huge amount of sizes available. One of the reasons I was so excited about the boutique was that NCL goes out of their way to mention it on the website but it doesn't sound that exclusive now.

I appreciate you chiming in.

Lacoste is my favorite clothing and scent brand. Unfortunately there are not a lot of stores that sell the brand in my area. The nearest Lacoste Outlet store is two hours away and my local department stores only sell it in small quantities so I'm pretty excited about there being a boutique on board.

Before we depart next month I was hoping to get some feedback regarding the Escape's Lacoste Boutique so my expectations aren't way out of proportion. Is it a full fledged store for both men and women with a lot of selection or is just a couple polo shirts in a large "closet?" Do the prices actually seem better than the average store sale? Any cruise exclusive items or items that are branded by NCL in some way? Does anyone have any photos or experiences that I (and others) might find helpful?

Thanks!