Itchy&Scratchy

but it IS served on an Italian ship which is sailing from Florida, but MSC charges for it. all of them provide it. At no charge. Cruising is the only time my family eats soft serve ice cream, and it's an important part of our cruising experience. Carnival has only Pepsi products? Mmmm, ok, we'll get over it. The drink package doesn't apply on Harvest Caye? Mmmmm, ok, we'll live. The buffet closes at 9 pm? Not a problem whatsoever. Cabin attendant only cleans once a day? Whatever. MSC charges for soft serve? Yeap, that might just be a deal breaker. 🙂 MSC also limits ping pong hours? Ugh. And there are reports that they also charge for the use? That's a no for me, dawg! (c)

European Americans here. My DH and DS love soft serve ice cream and have several cones a day while cruising. This is what they love. Turns out, you have to pay $4 per cone of soft serve outside of very small time frame in the buffet on Seascape. Or you have to have a minor's package. What other cruise line makes people pay for soft serve by the pool? Maybe, you don't care about the soft serve ice cream availability, but for some people it IS in fact essential.

Are you saying that MSC is serving better food than Celebrity? Are you saying that Celebrity serves fast food? I am trying to understand your statement. We are about to try MSC for the first time (third time is a charm, hopefully, due to the pandemic) - not YC, but I have just read many recent non-YC Seascape reviews here on CC which were very negative. So bad, that I cancelled my second MSC cruise (next year) and booked Celebrity instead (also a first). We will be sailing with an open mind, and we are not overly picky, but since it is a vacation we pay for, and it's not exactly cheap (Thanksgiving break), so we have expectations. Not royal expectations by any means, but still. Oh, and we don't expect MSC to be as good as Princess for sure. If it is in some aspects - yay, bonus!

I couldn't link my and my parents' reservations even though all of us had the Easy Plus package. The system simply refused to. I booked ours during one holiday promotion, while I booked theirs during a different holiday promotion. Alas, we'll never know what would become of it because the sailing was cancelled due to pandemic. But we will know in November, since for our next sailing, we have the Easy Plus, while my parents and in-laws don't have any packages. This board assured me that we would have no problems sitting together. I am not paying $1K more for drink packages they will not even use just to sit together.

since OP is sailing currently, those non-YC cabanas may be sold out by now.

and then you click on each dining room - one of them is bound to have menus.

I sure hope WE do. I just booked our first Celebrity cruise for next year. Strong contenders for our spring break were MSC Seascape, NCL Joy, Celebrity Reflection and Carnival Horizon. X won. We usually do Princess or RCI (love both, but for different reasons), and we tried NCL 1.3 times. Yes, that's 1.3. We hated NCL's food and the smell of smoke literally everywhere, but loved the entertainment and the family/kid activities. This and next year will be full of firsts for us. We are trying MSC, Celebrity and Carnival for the first time ever.

we were there twice with two ships in port on the same day, with one being a mega ship both times, and it was still a wonderful beach day. We don't do anything other than vegging out on the beach and swimming. All the youthful sporty people seemed to migrate to South beach, whereas more leisurely people like us (despite one of us being a 12 yo) went to Breezy Bay. It was a lovely quiet beach time. The island is gorgeous.... To each his own. We only cruise a couple of times a year, so not going to the beach while cruising is a waste. Hubs is blond, DS is a redhead. We have no problem with being under an umbrella which are very plentiful on Cococay or in the water, while wearing rash guards and sunhats (and SPF).

yeap, our kid only drinks soda, and doesn't touch anything else. Would have been great to have a soda only package.

since we don't do YC, but only a regular inside or balcony - we are going on our first MSC cruise this fall (reg balconies). Since I am taking the entire family (us + parents and in-laws), it had to be reasonably priced, and MSC definitely comes out ahead in that category. As for the value for the $$ - we'll see. I also had MSC booked for next spring, but after reading some recent Seascape reviews, I cancelled the spring cruise and looked into other lines. The major contenders were Celebrity Reflection, NCL Joy and Carnival Horizon. Comparison points were price, activities, food and itinerary. I ended up booking Celebrity inside yesterday. The food will be much better, and Reflection is going to ABC islands. That itinerary alone is worth it. And it's just us.

yes. Emerald gets 2 bottles pp. Well, we got 4 bottles for 3 of us, but one of us is a minor.

also, hypothermia usually gets me. I may be able to fight it off on my own, but put me in the freezing temp/cold room - and bam, I get sick.

Thank you, I do know that, but the cruise I am about to book is going to Harvest Caye yet again. 🙂 It's the same exact itinerary we were on in 2018, but a different ship. It is a nice free island. My mom went exploring after the beach session and found a lovely little aviary and a butterfly house in the back - an unexpected bonus. The island also had a kid's aquapark. And, yes, having a pier instead of tendering is always great.

We'll do just that, thank you. Just fill up our contigo tumblers with some yummy goodness and off we go to enjoy the beach. We don't ever get alcohol packages, since we don't usually drink at all (like - at all), but may get an occasional mojito on a cruise. So, full price packages are a definite no-go, because we'll never drink that much. Since it's only $150 pp for 7 days, I am really considering it. Maybe, a couple of mojitos or margaritas a day, plus some sodas, and we'll break even in no time. I do wish it included fancy coffee drinks (not necessarily Starbucks, but other lines have their own house cappuccinos and lattes), since it's my guilty pleasure while cruising (but once again, like with alcohol - not at home).

it's in the Ts&Cs fine print. I don't know when these rules went into effect.

can I apply it during the final payment or do I need to apply it when I am booking a reservation?

I mean - NCL is charging us for the drink package for that day. It's sort of like a private island, kind of like Labadee. A free beach stop. Since the package doesn't apply on Harvest Caye, I am asking if the bars on the ship are open. Some non-private islands have the rule that cruise ships may not sell alcohol or open the casino while docked. The one time we were on Harvest Caye we didn't have a package, so I didn't care either way.

So, what do people do to get a drink? Pay for it on the island or walk back to the ship to get a drink every time? Are the bars on the ship even open? Seems interesting that NCL charges us for the drinks that day, but we are unable to actually use it. Beverage packages work differently on Cococay and Princess Cay. Unlimited Open Bar Package (Open Bar) Guests who receive the Soda Package may obtain fountain soda and juices at any bar, lounge, or restaurant throughout the duration of the cruise, excluding Harvest Caye bars, restaurants, or venues. Offer is not applicable on Harvest Caye, sailings that are two (2) days or less, on selected charters, or on Pride of America.

no, they don't. The free at sea open bar service charge does not apply to the 3rd or 4th person if they are under 21, and they don't get a soda package either. I am currently booking a cruise for the 3 of us, and the moment I enter my kid's age, the service charge for the 3rd open bar package is taken out and the total charge becomes $305 instead of $457. I thought that he'd get a soda package instead, but then I read the Ts&Cs and turns out, he doesn't.

I both print hard copies and save copies on my phone as documents/images. Just like on my computer, I have folders in my phone's file storage - one per cruise.

you may not have traveled with two teens of different genders. 🙂

this is worse than I thought.

me too. I definitely read it as: here is what you need to produce in terms of supporting evidence if you get hurt on an NCL excursion.

Food is definitely subjective, but I am a glutton who will eat just about anything, but I doubt anyone would like raw baked potatoes or super dry gnocchi without any semblance of sauce. When I say - inedible, I mean it. Oversalted, cold, dry... Also, the buffet kept running out of all the dishes except for french fries. We'd never had french fries on a cruise before, but that Getaway cruise was french fries galore - the only edible item. The crepes were a definite highlight and the only food we remember with fondness (although, they were great on Jade and mediocre on Getaway). We want edible. We are not picky - we are even happy with current RCI food, even when others think it uninspired and underwhelming. the menus changed about a month and a half ago. You can see all the menus from our 7 day Oasis cruise in April here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2930782-oasis-april-2-9-2023-a-wonderful-cruise/

by "gym" do you mean the bathroom? lol