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One thing to add about the Duplex cabins is the floor plans don't relay how much of the balcony is taken up by the air lock vestibule to prevent cabin pressurization while underway. Also, on the World ships the second level balcony is not accessible from inside the cabin. You must go outside on the first level and then up the exterior staircase.

Is this price what you see on the MSC main site through a booking you have? I see non-YC OCC14 base cabanas listed at $252 (before any pre-purchase discount). And YC ones are showing at $422 and $475 for Oceanview and Beachfront respectively. These prices are for a May World America sailing but I'm not seeing price variations by sail dates or ships.

While I am a dual citizen I don't have much experience with this regarding MSC and it's probably best to call and ask. My thoughts: Do you have dual citizenship? Or do you have some official residence status in Austria? If not I think it's probably best to use the country that you have a passport or ID from.

I actually think MSC delays putting out later group's luggage to thwart these people. I have experienced it with NCL the most. Worst were in Manhattan, Tampa and San Pedro ports, we had priority disembark but when we got to the luggage areas it was full of later groups searching through the bags. Sometimes they had them roped off, but just try to keep the people out.

I think it's a bit off-putting to show the YC exclusive items to non-YC bookings. I get the cabanas but why not offer smaller group excursions, whatever that really means, to everyone who's willing to pay a premium for them. I'd even accept giving YC first dibs. I doubt there will be that much demand since some of the prices for two are close to what you can hire your own private tour company.

Actually, I believe we opted for the Champagne. The prosecco was from the Diamond status.

@luckyinpa posted this list from May. I can't explain the ones with prices on the spirits, perhaps it's for a second bottle?. Last cruise I just got the prosecco - about a $15 value.

* $59 plus a 15% gratuity because of purchasing on the ship. But hopefully you were going to tip anyway. Has anyone been offered to pre-purchase an individual restaurant meal lately?

Actually I can see some pricing now through the TA booking site excursion pdf generator. It does say "Not Be Used" and they come up under the "Something Special" category. https://www.mscbook.com/shop/TAPortalExternalView?storeId=10757&catalogId=10001&langId=&taportalIframeKey=MENU_EXCURSIONS&hideSideBar=true

There's a MSC webpage devoted to this. US site redirects over to UK site. https://www.msccruises.co.uk/cruises/excursions/msc-yacht-club-excursions ETA: I believe they haven't yet populated in the MSC booking site so I haven't seen prices.

I probably should have been more specific and asked - compared to a US Summer sailing on Princess or HA. Not sure of your sailing history. I'd be interested to hear a comparison if you book a Summer trip on one of the Seaside/+ class. I was hoping Magnifica would be less of a draw to families than the newer ships with more kid oriented features. But the short itineraries and low prices are likely going to be their main booking driver.

My guess is it will be used as temporary worker housing. It's a small cruise ship with about 100 double cabins, a restaurant and social areas. MSC knows how to run it as temporary lodging.

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You mention a two story balcony. On Meraviglia, Bellissima, Grandiosa, Virtuosa and Euribia they have forward facing Duplex suites with private hot tub but there is only one balcony connected to the lower level. These Duplex cabins are on lower decks and were originally not part of the Yacht Club and thus are not physically connected to the Yacht Club public areas. On the Newest World class ships there are two types of Duplex cabins, one type is forward facing with a two deck balcony with private hot tub and the other type is side facing with a one level balcony and no hot tub. Both are within the Yacht Club complex.

Do you think the ship was anywhere near full capacity? Did you notice a large number of children compared to Princess and HA? How about the fellow passenger nationality demographics?

Understood. Subtlety doesn't seem to keep those comments at bay. My apologies if you didn't appreciate the sarcasm. Thanks again for a value minded review.

A good summation of MSC. Now awaiting responses suggesting that you look at Yacht Club for your next sailing. /s

I really try not to change a MSC booking once made. It's quite possible they make you cancel and rebook for something as simple as removing a 3rd passenger, thus having to book at the going rates and promotions. Look at the booking Terms and Conditions to see the latest cancel dates and penalties. If you suspect mother is likely to cancel then put her as the 3rd guest, that might make canceling her more easy. Canadian Terms& Conditions.pdf

@ all the posters pushing for TAs. It seems to me the OP's question is specifically asking between booking online and calling MSC directly, and not asking about whether travel agents are better. OP is free to correct this.

On my past Meraviglia sailings they moved 90% of the acrobatic type performers you would typically see in the other MSC ship classes theater over to the extra fee Carousel shows. But at least they filled the void with other type shows like ventriloquist, juggler, magician or similar. Were there only singers and dancers in the main theater?

Anyone out there that has recently had the Easy, not Easy Plus, package? Since MSC has removed the up to dollar/euro limits from the description? Prior to it's removal I believe it was about $6. I'm interested to know whether MSC still treats it like the higher packages in regards to offering a discount towards more expensive drinks. The below still appears in the FAQ: If I choose a drink not included in the package, do I pay a full price? No. Guests who purchase alcoholic all-inclusive beverage packages Easy, Easy Plus, or Premium Extra, and who want to enjoy cocktails, spirits and/or wines by the glass that are not included in their package, will pay only the price difference between the package allowance and the à la carte price of ordered drinks. But now without any monetary "package allowance" associated with Easy on the main MSC website I'm unsure how it works. Once in the booked cruise area I can get slightly different package descriptions, my package limit amounts have odd typo errors. But again Easy has no "package allowance".

There's been a lot of discussion about the overall passenger makeup on the New York sailings. I've been on Meraviglia twice from NY but what I consider off season, i.e. shools were in session. Any issues with passenger behavior on your Summer sailing? I did late Summer once on NCL and haven't been willing to do that time of year again.

The MSC website used to be near impossible to book through if you wanted to use Voyagers Club or other discounts but lately it's much more functional. The only difficulty would be claiming special discounts like military or medical worker where it requires calling an phone agent. I've booked my last two online with no issues. Personally I've tried multiple agents and find since I'm willing to search out sailings where MSC has already heavily discounted the price the travel agents can barely offer a hundred dollars OBC on a $3000 sailing. Not worth it to me for giving up control of the booking. Now if you're booking a holiday sailing where MSC is charging a premium rate the TA can do more and it might be worthwhile. On a $800 booking TA's don't want to know you. I've had just as incompetent service from TA's as new MSC booking agents. The best you can do is get familiar with the product yourself, you can be your own best advocate. I also prefer owning the booking myself, without some third party getting in the way. On the MSC Cruise Critic board I'm in the minority on this subject.

You were lucky the email wasn't in Italian.

I haven't paid attention to the regular passenger sequence on my last couple sailings. Have they dropped using the color tags for your luggage? All I see is group numbers by deck.