CruisingFox27

While this may be your opinion, it's a wholly inaccurate statement. YC is delightful but, so is a cruise not within YC.

Highly unlikely. We had our embarkation port changed from Shanghai to Singapore due to Covid and nothing was offered regarding the change. Our airline allowed us to change the destination though. The only issue there is that the flight isn't cancelled. If the flight is still going ahead, the insurance company probably won't be interested.

Anytime dining is only available to Aurea experience passengers or YC. And, yes, you can dine at any time during the restaurant opening hours.

I like those. We've a plug in type that we bought for a cruise but actually find very useful at home. Obviously, you're restricted on location of the plug socket but, they look great.

I love the planning part too. As soon as we booked my spreadsheets were up and running 😁 I was watching ship tour videos yesterday, which DH found very funny as this will be our 3rd time on Splendida. I see you're booked for a Mauritius to SA. That's part of our upcoming trip too. We're Italy to SA. Have a great cruise @KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

Our repositioning cruise this Nov visits some of these ports, and this is the description for the Valley of The Kings tour; The Luxor is a must-see site for all lovers of history and archaeology and is the destination of this full-day excursion. Begin with boarding a coach for a 4-hour drive through the desert to reach the west bank of the Nile river and the city of Luxor, standing on the ancient site of Thebes, the capital of the pharaohs in their golden age. As you travel to this iconic site, you will have a short stop at the two massive statues of Amenhotep III, also known as the Colossi of Memnon. These two twin statues in a seated position, with the hands on the knees and the gaze turned towards the rising sun had the original function to guard the entrance to Amenhotep's Temple of Millions of Years, a gigantic cult centre built when the pharaoh was still alive. Next, you will reach the Valley of the Kings with the extraordinary opportunity to visit 3 royal tombs. After this leap into the history and grandeur of ancient Egypt, it will be time for a well-deserved stop at a hotel located on the east bank of the Nile river to enjoy lunch and recharge your batteries. Once refreshed, the tour will continue with a stop at a bustling Egyptian bazaar, the perfect opportunity to haggle with local vendors and buy a souvenir to take home as a memento of this wonderful day in ancient history. In the additional notes it states that it includes visits to 3 tombs, excluding Tutankhamun and Ramses V or any which require an additional fee. The tour has just sold out for our trip, although it still lists the price as £159. Definitely book early if you want to do this tour. At several points I had issues seeing the tour descriptions through my booking. Thank you for confirming the best Petra tour @KINGBOBOFTHENORTH that's the one we've booked. And the Hurghada information. We were planning the above tour but have now booked a Nile Cruise for next year, we'll visit the Valley of the Kings then.

Thanks for all of the information and sharing your trip with us.

Which dining time is most popular really depends on the demographic of the passengers on your sailing. If you've lots of Mediterranean nationalities, they generally prefer late dining. Dining times also vary ship to ship. On our last Mediterranean cruise in April dining was 6.30pm and 9.00pm. If you're unhappy with your assigned dining time you can attend your MDR and ask to change. They're no guarantees but they'll accommodate if they can.

That's been our experience.

The newer ships may have a separate Aurea dining room. The older ships which don't have YC definitely don't have a separate dining room for Aurea. The 3 I've sailed on certainly didn't anyway.

Robes are only provided in Aurea cabins or Yacht Club. Unless, if you're a Diamond level Voyagers Club member then they'll be provided at any cabin experience level, as one of the VC Club benefits.

There isn't a currency exchange onboard and in the locations you've listed, cards would be the accepted form of payment for most purchases.

No YC ish benefits for suite guests. We've sailed on a non YC ship in both an Aurea suite and an Aurea balcony cabin. The only difference is location and size of cabin and its facilities.

Super. Thank you.

Delighted you're still having a great trip. Is there a very varied mix of nationalities on board? And another quick question, is there a variety of draught beer in the pub, anything like a real ale?

For Egypt? I'm not getting a visa for Egypt in advance, it's not necessary as we're in transit. This was the update on our roll call. The visa will be handled by MSC on our arrival, details are on the website: https://www.msccruises.co.uk/-/media/global-contents/visa-and-documents-pdf/english/summer/document-visa-positioning-summer.pdf All guest in transit in Egypt will receive a fast trip stamp which is valid for 72 hours (free of charge). Although this is from the UK website, it states that it is applicable to UK and US passport holders.

If you plan for something a little nicer then you don't risk being turned away. The dress code does state 'no shorts'. You may or may not be turned away, both are possible.

Great to hear your cruise has started well. In amongst the evening events are there bars which aren't busy and you could just have a quiet drink? Is the ship generally very busy? Some friends are looking to cruise next year. Euribia is the ship which would match their dates and itinerary requirements. I've recommended MSC but, I'm concerned about how busy it would be during school holidays and their experience not matching ours as we only sail in term time.

Yes, there'll be an Elegant Night. If you have a search on here there'll be some menu's posted. https://www.msccruises.co.uk/manage-booking/before-you-go/what-to-wear

Your status is the points you board your cruise with. The points are allocated after your sailing completes.

If you're on a 7 to 10 night cruise you'll probably have 2 elegant nights. If you're in Europe and its muli embarkation, they could be any night, including the last night of your cruise. Some passengers will fully dress up, tux/suit and evening dresses. And some won't. If you're sailing in Europe the dressing up will happen more so than the Caribbean.

No, if all passengers are adults. Yes, if you're booking for a combination of adults and minors.

We've tendered in the Caribbean, on a YC ship but we were non YC and that was the procedure I described, as I recall. Tickets were delivered to the cabin, we didn't attend a meeting point etc. Hope you're having a fabulous trip @alyssamma

It's been a while since we did a tender port but, as I recall you receive a priority ticket in your cabin. All non priority passengers have to go to the meeting point and obtain a numbered ticket and are then called in numerical order. Priority ticket holders can just go to the tender embarkation point. It has been a while so things may have changed but I definitely remember getting the ticket in the cabin.

I hope so CF. Our Asia repo in Feb '20 was, unsurprisingly, very disrupted so, we missed China and Japan. I'd love those longer itineraries to be reintroduced. A South American repo is also high on my list. Soon....😊