CruisingFox27

Thanks EM. I've only ever been into the speciality restaurants for the Diamond meal. I knew it was offered then, but didn't know if it also applied when you've booked the tasting menu. No help to the OP so, I'll not mention it 😉

Do you still get the 50% discount on other dishes ordered?

Personally, we find the extra hour allowed in the cabin to be a very useful benefit. Even on USA cruises. Just allows for a more relaxed departure.

Indeed, I was very confused when a notification popped up. This has reminded me how excited we were about trying Butchers Cut on our Meraviglia cruise and unfortunately, reminded me of the worst meal experience we've ever had on a ship! I can't believe it's 4 years since our sailing 😱

We were quite disappointed with the evening musical offerings on our Lirica cruise in April. The first time we haven't really found anyone we enjoyed listening to in the evening. However, the food was very good. We'll be embarking Splendida in October, and will definitely hoping for improved entertainment.

Have you considered a bubblebum seat? Would that work? https://bubblebum.co/

Either I'm not very observant* or it's never been a noticeable issue on any of our YC sailings. I'll be ultra alert when we're onboard next month. *(which probably isn't the case as I've a naturally inquisitive nature. DH describes it as very nosey 🤣).

On ships without the app I've never seen the menu other than outside the restaurant entrance. And the evening menu is only displayed after lunch service completes.

We've always found a couple of these to be very useful. We have ones which come with multiple international adapters.

Our cruise to Egypt will visit Alexandria and Safaga. We have been advised that we will receive a 72-hour visitor visa on arrival in Alexandria. However, between the port stops, we traverse the Suez Canal. Our itinerary 2 Nov - Alexandria 3 Nov - Suez Canal 4 Nov - Suez Canal 5 Nov - Safaga Is the 72 hour visitor visa adequate? I had assumed 72 hours referred to from its issue time, rather than 72 hours actually on land in Egypt. If the Suez Canal time is excluded or two visitor visas can be issued, we're fine. Obtaining clarification of that is quite difficult. Does anyone have experience of a similar itinerary?

There currently an issue when you log into your booking that the dining time states "dining preference not set". How it works is determined by your booked experience, as outlined by essiesmom above.

On our Halloween cruise the only people dressed up were the entertainment team and a few children from the kids club.

No. Just the benefits listed.

Our last cruise was in the Mediterranean, the tour groups all met in the theatre and were called by group number, as their transport was available. As an independent you just go to the designated exits for that day. You don't have to wait for the tour groups to exit before being able to disembark. Everyone is scanned off by security at the exit so, if you arrive at the same time as an excursion group, they'll be a queue. We didn't experience anything disorganised or lengthy in this process.

Yes, you can take hair straighteners. Mine have been packed in either hold luggage or my carry on, over the years. We sailed a couple of months ago and it was fine, although I can't recall on that occasion where they were packed.

I've never known the bars to be closed on port days. Not all well be open, as listed in your daily planner. The only county I've seen restrictions applied is Saudi Arabia, where alcohol isn't served.

The priority check in relates to the queuing system at the port rather than the time of your arrival to check in. It's just a separate desk for Aurea guests not that you have priority to arrive first. That said, outside of Covid restricted sailings, they aren't very strict on checking your printed time and actual time. In our experience anyway. Certainly, if we had 3pm, I'd be arriving earlier 🙂

It's incredibly frustrating. The price difference between Aurea and Fantastica can be quite different but contains limited perks now compared to the previous benefits. And that is really dependent on your dining preference. We tried Fantastica on our last sailing, we were lucky to not have to share a table, but the fixed dining time just isn't for us.

I can't say I recall a band playing poolside in the afternoon, on any of the MSC ships or cruises we've been on.

We asked about this once and the Concierge offered to book the excursions for us, that was about it. Some cruisers have reported the occasional private tour being offered but largely the YC excursions benefit is a bit of a myth I'm afraid.

Not at Barcelona, but all of the European ports we've embarked at have been very similar. There's a separate check in desk marked Aurea. Head to that and check in ✔️

If that's the specialty restaurant onboard then, yes. Your Diamond Dinner will be available at whichever specialty restaurant available. We were most recently on Lirica, no BC so our meal was in the pan Asian restaurant.

Have you completed the medical/dietary requirements form? That would probably aid you and I'd also speak to the Maitre D once your onboard and assigned your restaurant. I'm sure I've swapped items from meals but only occasionally. You can certainly order extra vegetables as a side dish with each meal, if you want to supplement them for potatoes.

It is perfectly possible to have an excellent cruise on an MSC ship when not in YC. I've done so, many times. It's a forum for people to post opinions and that's yours. However, it's an inaccurate assessment to say anything other than YC is "crap". Borne out by myself, others here who review and according to the many thousands who choose other categories to sail. Is YC wonderful, yes, it is. Is everything else, as you've described it "crap". No, it most certainly isn't. I find it quite a disrespectful attitude to those who've booked their trips outside of YC, to state their cruise will be terrible because they're not YC. People save and sacrifice to book cruises and to disregard their experience isn't kind or true.

Only the Bamboo is enclosed.