Itchy&Scratchy

lol, it's unpredictable. We were supposed to be there till 8 pm last Sunday, but without any explanation the all aboard time was changed to 3:30 and we left at 4. Weather was great, so I don't know why.

extremely weak magnetism on the doors, but the walls were better. I was unable to stick the sheet magnets to the door, and the only ones that worked were these: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pen-Gear-Magnet-Set-10-Count-Multi-Colored/400812925?athbdg=L1200&from=/search I glued them to the back of the figurines I purchased and used a "magnets". but premade magnets that have a magnetic sheet coating only stuck to the cabin walls. I previously used them on the RCI and Princess ship cabin doors without a hitch.

deck 8, not covered, and a smoking location right in the middle on the port side:

the rays weren't the problem. They were very nice and cooperative, and actually the highlight of this rather painful excursion. Too bad we only had 20 minutes on the location.

fun fact: neither we, nor my parents found any life vests in our cabins last week on Seascape.

I haven't watched the video yet, but I found our last week's Seascape sailing completely disorganized, chaotic and crowded. It was a Thanksgiving sailing, so crowds are expected, but we sailed on Thanksgiving with other cruise lines, also on large ships, and this time was different. A lot of people on our sailing's FB page also found it to be disorganized to a fault. Many said (even those in YC) that it would be their first and last MSC cruise. I found that the degree of disorganization was unexpectedly high for us personally, and even though we enjoyed many aspects of this sailing, we will be very cautious if and when we decide to give MSC a second chance. I am not saying "never again", but I am saying - we'll see. A lot more positive stuff must happen to outweigh the negatives. I will write my review shortly. We had a lot of positive things happen, so it wasn't "all bad and horrible".

happened to our sailing as well. I think it's a glitch. Tell you what - several people got hurt on our MSC stingray city excursion, including me and my dad. MSC documented our complaints, but did nothing else about it.

I got it about 3 times total.

but the second passenger already paid their part of the fare? MSC already got the money.

perhaps, you should specify which airport and which port you are talking about.

that really depends. We were there in April, and uber from POM to FLL was more than $120 each way (3 of us). Must have been "peak time".

is it the same for US?

thank you, unfortunately, he doesn't do kid's club at all. We would rather go to the MDR together than leave him elsewhere for the duration of the dinner. We may pick a specialty restaurant he'd like to try and pay for his dinner.

considering that I posted the menu on March 2 on the very first page of this thread, everyone else saw the description months ago.

The description under the "shack" (aka deluxe) version is pretty thorough.

We've never had a Plus or Premier Package before, nor did we ever purchase Specialty dining. So, I don't know how it would work. We have 2 adults and 1 13 yo in the cabin. Premier package applies to guests 1 and 2, and includes two Specialty dinners. What happens if we bring our kid with us to a Specialty restaurant? He is not an adventurous eater to put it mildly and he usually orders Fettuccine Alfredo in MDR every night. Most likely, he won't want anything off of the Specialty restaurant menu. Would he be charged for a specialty dinner if he orders from an MDR or kid's menu? Will he be charged if he takes some of our food? Or will he be charged anyway for simply taking up a spot in a Specialty restaurant, so we may just go ahead and order a specialty entree? As an alternative to ordering while at the restaurant, we sometimes get a slice or two of pizza and bring it with us to MDR for him, but I am not sure if they'd allow a kid to bring food to a specialty restaurant from another eatery. Please tell me about your experiences with this situation.

OP didn't mentioned being chosen by a sniffer dog for further inspection. Last year we were standing in the TSA line at ATL airport which uses drug sniffer dogs all the time, and one of the dogs smelled a woman's private area for a very long, uncomfortable time. As in - stuck the entire snout up there.... But didn't alert. Left her alone after a while. Farther down the line the same dog visibly alerted his handler to a big guy. He was taken out of the line and taken away for interrogation.

I even checked the date... No, not April 1.

Thank you! 🙂 Sounds lovely!

that looks delicious! Do you remember if tea offerings were good? brand name?

I will create a new thread, but I may not post live, even though we'll have an internet package on this cruise. We usually don't get an internet package, and that's the reason I don't ever post live and I would also hate using my phone for reviews. I like taking photos of everything, arranging them by subject, and then creating an in depth review while using a computer, especially if it's our first time with the cruise line or on that ship and I have to type a lot. 🙂 I do believe Seashore and Seascape do differ quite a bit, despite being similar ships.

I must disagree. We've always had excellent dining experiences on Princess ships (except for Caribbean Princess which was hit or miss). We actually cruise on Princess mostly for the dining experiences. We had enjoyable dining experiences on all RCI ships. We had average to below average dining experiences on NCL Jade and Getaway. We are looking forward to comparing our past dining experiences to those on MSC, Celebrity and Carnival in the near future.

we are sailing in 10 days (during a school break, no less, the horror!) and I will provide a thorough review, although it will be for a different ship (Seascape). Seascape has had more negative reviews lately than other MSC ships, so Mera should be a better choice for you. Thankfully, you can book an MSC ship to get a great price and then cancel without penalty before 90 days (unless it's YC).

so, you didn't sail during a school break, I take it?

I'd try carnival as well. After many years I finally convinced DH to try it next year. Newer NCL ships (Getaway and newer) will also have fun things for kids to do for free. Pricing is iffy lately. RCI"s prices are out of control quite a bit now, but on a big ship like theirs, I'd go with an interior cabin to save money. We only sleep there on RCI ships, because there is so much fun going on. On Princess ships we prefer to have a balcony because it's much more subdued so we spend a bit more time in the cabin, and I love to read on the balcony. We are trying MSC for the first time in 10 days (yay!), and from what I've gathered so far, the crowding issue is serious on their ships due to design. We never felt crowded on RCI or Princess ships even on full sailings (and they are always full when we sail), but MSC is different. Might be an issue for someone on a spectrum. Booking MSC ships in advance will get you the best price and cabin choices. And yes, advance bookings will win price wise over RCI.