Rossco01

Thank you for the very interesting review. Very interesting to read the differences in BC.

Probably also worth pointing out for the original poster that there is in fact only 1 speciality restaurant (The Verandah) and the other "speciality" restaurants quoted are all in a part of the Lido as a "pop up" restaurant. I believe your cruise planner on My Cunnard will show which of the pop up restaurants are available on your cruise (typically 14 days before sailing).

Having never sailed Cunard (but sailing with other lines before) we were quite impressed with the "booking confirmation" card definitely provides that up market feel and sets a standard from a customer service perspective

There is no testing by MSC now on embarkation. You need to do a test (either PCR or antigen/lateral flow test) 48 hours before and provide results certificate when you embark.

From what I've read elsewhere if you booked through a TA you'll get your tickets from them. If you were to ring MSC it'll tell you they can only help if you booked direct and to contact your TA. I would give your TA a call to confirm.

They will accept Randox tests...these are not "monitored" but satisfy the requirement.

In UK ( at least sailing from Europe ) you just need to do an antigen/ lateral flow test where you can get a certificate to show MSC. Randox are popular in the Uk. Buy their test, collect it locally, download the app, do the test, upload the result and you get a digital certificate in minutes.

The OBC issue refund also raises it's ugly head if for whatever reason they have to give you refunds for excursions/experiences and you've booked them on a second cabin. We have a two cabin booking for end of July. Unfortunately due to cancelled flight we had to do a cruise move (not too much of a problem) but as part of this process we were issued with refund for previously booked experiences/excursions. I queried why we'd only received partial refunds and the answer was that we'd received refunds for excursions/experiences booked on the website BUT for those we'd booked over the phone they could only issue OBC. Not really that happy about that as it means I have shell out the money again to get the discounts pre-cruise....and hope that the OBC is then refunded. The reason they can't refund the money? well if you have a two cabin booking their online system only allows you to book experiences/excursions for the first cabin. They give you a phone number to call for to book anything for the second cabin. Apparently the way this is recorded on the system is "different" and they can't refund it. I've seen a lot of issues on managing our latest booking that seem to be "system" related. Even a cruise move seemed to need "another team to unlock the booking" before it could be completed.

Certainly in the terms and conditions it does say that (see image I clipped from the website where you book your drinks package...available to those with a booking). Whether there is any flexibility I'm not sure. Probably best to contact MSC directly and ask.

Yeah it happens but not only on MSC...had the same happen on RC as well.

When we were on the Meraviglia in 2017 we bought in advance what was then the "100 photo" package ( I think it's now the digital package ) and we loved it....the photographers loved doing the photo shoot and every night we'd stop for 10-15 minutes chatting whilst they took photos...at the end of the holiday we just had to select 100 photos which were then all printed for us. It really was great. I'm tempted to do the same for our Seaview holiday end of July but we've got a lot of OBC for this one with rolling over the cruise on last two years so I'm not sure what the photo package options would be on board. If anyone remembers let me know.

Certainly when I try to do it online it will always select all passengers when I choose a drinks package and doesn't allow you to select individuals (just tried it). So from an online perspective all passengers have to have same drinks package on a booking. The T&C's on the booking package say "Packages must be booked by all guests occupying the same cabin, travelling together and wishing to dine at the same table". Whether they'd do exceptions to this by calling them I'm not sure.

Looks very similar to the Abyss (I think) on RC's Wonder of the Seas.

Great review and some lovely photos. Sounds like you had a lovely time.

I think in general for those used to booking a simple package holiday booking a cruise is a bit of a minefield with myriad options available. Not only the route/ports, but also the cabin classes and then on top of that the many options and excursions. Many are hooked by the “From” price and this quickly escalates when you start adding things in. I don’t think the cruise lines are always that great at explaining the differences either. I know we spent many weeks researching and understanding what we were getting when we booked our first MSC cruise. I think that is why Marella is so successful in the UK as they keep the package relatively simple, very close to a normal all inclusive package holiday in Europe. Drinks included for all, with a single premium drinks upgrade package with a one off price. Apologies to the OP as this drifts from your original feedback. I have to admit I very much enjoy sailing with MSC and the price point is excellent but as you’ve experienced they sometimes struggle with anything that doesn’t follow the normal approach. But I’m sure for many many others everything is very smooth and goes beyond what they expect. I do hope you’re enjoying your holiday and things are improving. I have to admit I never experienced the hard sell except once… and a polite “not interested” was all that was required.