nealjr

Go to Roll Call, if you haven't already and see if anyone has posted for your cruise, if not go ahead and post your cruise.  Hopefully you will meet others going on the same cruise and compare notes on excursions.  Good Luck

1 hour ago, Liviucostin said:

They have announced their summer 2022 Northern Europe cruises but indeed they haven't loaded them to their booking system. MSC Orchestra will be doing Northern Europe cruises leaving from Hamburg to the British Isles starting at the end of April 2022. 

 

https://www.msccruises.com/en-gl/About-MSC/News/MSC-Cruises-Summer-2022-Programme.aspx

Thanks for sending the link

My family wants to book a cruise in 2022 leaving from Hamburg going to Ireland and Scotland (United Kingdom) which is offered this year but nothing is available in 2022 for Northern Europe.  I find it strange that nothing is available  at this time for Northern Europe, a large territory that isn't being offer by MSC.  I don't feel comfortable booking a 2021 cruise because of the covid situation and hoping things improve for 2022.  I don't understand why MSC is holding off on making available 2022 cruises for Northern Europe knowing that other cruise lines are.  Anyone have an idea why MSC is delaying???  Thanks

3 minutes ago, ssmea03 said:

Has anyone ever had a call returned? I think that's a brush off, likewise regarding the unavailability of supervisors, I am sure they are under orders to never transfer a call to a supervisor. They will go and have a chat with one themselves though. 

When you reach an impasse just keep challenging them to do what you want.

I think you can safely assume that the official policy is that you must rebook to make the kind of changes that you want to do.

You for sure have to cancel the existing booking and rebook, transfer you deposits from the "old" to "new"

Just last week I called in to change my booking because the rates were lower then when I booked.  I had no problem except I had to paid additional deposit from $97.00 per person to the current $197.00 per person.  No additional taxes were charged other then the rebooking because the original booking was canceled in full.

1 minute ago, mdxter said:

You are right about not staying in port long. Would like for the itinerary to stay in Santorini for the sunset and maybe skip Bari. What did you do in Santorini? We are planning to take a boat to Oia from dock as soon as we are able to get off the ship. Do a photochute in Oia and take the bus back to Fira.  

Thanks so much for your insight.

You have to remember that docking at 8am in Santorini doesn't mean you get off at that time.  Priority goes to the people who have booked tours through the ship-first ones off.  The other people have to get tender tickets, first come first serve as far as getting off.  Leaving at 2pm means you have to be back on the ship no later then 1:30pm, you do the math, doesn't give much time.  PLUS , you need to check how many other ships will be in Santorini the same day, traffic jam taking the lift if all the ships arrive close to the same time.  We were lucky, one other ship in port the day we were they plus we arrived later which made it easy to take the lift up and back down.  We had a tour booked starting at 10am and still didn't make it in time.  So we took the lift up and  walked around and shopped, came back down and did more shopping, back on board for 1pm.  You will  have to hustle if you hope to do what you have planned.

6 minutes ago, mdxter said:

That is good to know about the elegant nights. Which nights? How was your cruise? What did you do in each port? What did you like or did not like about the ship, food, and the ports of call? 

 

Thanks for the information.   

         The ship was fine, always people cleaning, polishing,etc.  The only big thing that we disliked was the disembarking on the last day.  They herded everyone into the theatre  at different times which caused overcrowding and people standing around waiting for the "letter" to be called so that they could leave.   Most of the people standing were in the way creating traffic jams for people trying to leave with carryons, once you cleared that then you had to deal with people trying to get off for their tours.  Utter chaos!

         We had the aurea  package with anytime dining which was nice.  Seated at the same table with same servers ever night, food at night was good to very good.  You had a different menu every night so you were able to try something new everyday.  Breakfast and lunch was at another restaurant buffet style but you were seated and once you got back to your table you had service for drinks,etc.  Again food was good to very good, really no complaints.

         We only had  two arranged tours, one in Kotor and the other in Bari while the rest of the ports we did our own thing.  Of the three greek islands we enjoyed Corfu even though it was the largest of the islands in Greece that we visited.

         Elegant nights the best that I can remember were on Tuesday and Friday.

        My family enjoyed the cruise the size of the ship was fine because it didn't take long for you to learn your way around.  The ports visited was great, the only draw back was we didn't have a lot of time to visit especially in Santorni, docked at 8am and left at 2pm.  Same thing in Bari, docked at 7am but left at 1pm, seemed like MSC was cramming one too many ports into your cruise.  I would have enjoyed more if the ports had longer stays, just my opinion.

      I think you will have a great time, hopefully the weather will be great to enjoy.

3 hours ago, mdxter said:

Dear all,

We will be boarding the MSC Opera on June 23rd, out of Venice. We are carnival platinum cruisers but this will be our first time sailing on MSC cruises. The wife wanted to know if there will be any elegant night on the Opera? She needs to pack appropriately. Thanks in advance.    

We just got off the Opera on the 26th May and there were two "elegant" nights,  of course not everyone participated.  Hopefully Venice athourities will have release the ship by the time you board.

27 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

What is with the US office?   The codes should be inputted at the time of booking and the discount should be applied immediately.

I booked our May 2020 cruise shortly after the 10% discount was available doing it via MSC website and was given credit immediately upon booking.  Don't understand why the discount was not applied unless the time has expired.  Nashna didn't state when the bookings occurred.

 

43 minutes ago, ikea logistics said:

 

You will love the sail out from venice and the sail back in at the end Santorini if you are going to that one is a lovely place don't use the donkeys and it is a tender port

 

Were are leaving and coming back to Venice with stops in Kotor, Mykonus, Santorini, Corfu, Bari, Italy.  Port intense

19 hours ago, deniseatnycs said:

 

 

1st time on Opera embarking Alicante on Wednesday.  Will hopefully, post a favourable review when we return from Venice.

 

Denise

 

Please do a review when you return.  We are going on her in May starting with Venice and then the Greek Islands so any information will be helpful

28 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Breakfast and lunch is served in the main dining room.  On some itineraries, the MDR is closed at lunchtime if the ship is in port for the day.  Opening times will be indicated in the Daily Programs (which will also show if the MDR is closed).

 

Opera is a Lirica-class ship;  we've been on 2 others - Sinfonia and Armonia.  On Sinfonia, there was a dedicated area - only for Aurea guests - to dine in for breakfast and lunch in the alternative MDR to the MyChoice one (with much more attentive service).  On Armonia, the MyChoice (Anytime) restaurant was open for breakfast and lunch for Aurea guests (and Fantastica suite guests who also get MyChoice on this class of ship).  I don't know what system Opera operates, so I suggest you check this out once onboard.

Thank you so much, will check when on board.

We will be on the Opera in May with my family of which we have the aurea package.  I know about the dine anytime experience for dinner but my family was wondering if the breakfast as well as lunch is offer in the dining experience as well or will we have to  go "buffet" style for those meals? 

Thanks

I just checked the U.S. website and it still states you have the option of disputing if you wish.

14 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

Did you experience any noise from people in the corridor, entering YC or going to and from the TSL?

No that was never an issue.

No, that was never an issue.

We had cabin 15030 and wouldn't think  twice about getting the same cabin in the future.  As others stated you are close to the lounge as well as the concierge.

What about ships that don't have the Y/C only the Aurea?  Do you have any priority in tendering?

On 1/3/2019 at 2:32 PM, pcur said:

First of all, check this site for your date in Santorini, and then you'll know how much a problem you'll have with the cable car line:  http://ports.cruisett.com/ .  I always put the number of ships in port in my planning notes for all of our itineraries.  Really helps to plan the day in port.

 

My husband travels with a very lightweight collapsible stool, as he has back problems when he stands too long.  It's titanium, holds up to 300 lbs, and it fits any 26" suitcase.  Very handy when we travel and might have to stand in any long line.  He just goes somewhere and waits until I get to the head of the line.  Walking tours where you stand and listen, museums, just about anywhere.  We will definitely be using it in Santorini.

 

However, I suggest using cell phone and texting back and forth.  Take turns sitting, walking around, getting something to drink, and then texting when it time to get on the cable car. 

I hope your link is correct, it is showing only our ship as being in port on May 23rd.

4 minutes ago, vluvski said:

If you need a direct link, Neal, here are some options: 

https://www.cruisetimetables.com/visitingmykonosgreece-24jul2019.html

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports

Based on this website  we only have two ships scheduled on the 22nd of May.  I hope that holds out

5 hours ago, vluvski said:

We have 7 ships in port on our Mykonos date! 😞 Did you ever find a tour that offers private boat transfer to avoid the crowds of the ferry with so many ships there?

What website  did you get this information from?  On the 22nd of May?

14 hours ago, Até said:

For your non-Caribbean sailing booked before November 12th you had the "All Inclusive Restaurant & Bar" package sometimes referred to as 431.  Often it was also referred to as the All Inclusive Classic package, but there were some minor differences between the 431 and the US Caribbean 534 classic packages that aren't really relevant.  You did not have the Easy package, only Aurea bookings made after November 12th got Easy.  The Easy package is a much cheaper package than Classic and covers far fewer beverage choices.  See the linked thread below which has a chart of the differences between Easy and 431.  The same thing "happened" to my Aurea bookings and I had to call to get it changed back to the 534 US Caribbean Classic package.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2613904-preziosa-drinks-package-info/

Thank you so much in clarifying what has taken place in November.  I guess I will have to call customer service to be sure that we get the package that was in infect at time of booking.  I wonder how long they will honor pre November bookings for drink packages?

21 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

We will both keep our fingers crossed, I only have one but mine is December 2019.

Our cruise isn't until May aboard the Opera with the Aurea package and when I called MSC to confirm our drink package she told me that it was the "easy" plan that use to be called the "classic" package.  I tried looking on my booking but no where does it state the package that was standard back in April when I booked our cruise.  At this point I'm totally confused if they (MSC) has switched packages and are  lying to me.

Whatsinport is another one which we often use, although as not all the sites are accurate you should check more than one.

 

 

Sometimes the "cruisecalendar" on these sites connects via link to the official port site.

 

 

Some official port sites give the cruise calendar, some do not, but the official port site is always worth trying first. Some also give the name of the berth and its location within the port, others only list the ships and their timings in port.

Thanks, will check that on as well

I used Cruisetimetables. There are some discussions on the accuracy of using the sites listing ships in port and other factors, such as time in port, so please consider the source!

 

 

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Thank you, I'll keep that in mind