jame_g

On 4/29/2024 at 8:17 AM, -The-True-North- said:

Hopefully by RCL!

Hopefully NOT!

I don't think you can pre-book, and walking in isn't recommended. You should try to book after boarding, but don't wait too long. The reservations can fill up quickly, especially for the most popular times, and you might not be left with much choice of days or times.

10 hours ago, jamon said:

So if I am reading these terms and conditions correctly, Diamond members ARE entitled to a complimentary specialty restaurant tasting meal on 3 or 4 day cruises. Is that what cruisers have experienced in the past???

That's the way I read it too. The other items specifically state they are excluded from cruises less than 4 nights. The Diamond specialty restaurant tasting menu dinner doesn't indicate this. (I haven't done a 3 night sailing on MSC.)

Certain VC perks are not offered on cruises of less than 4 nights. This is what is listed in the current Terms and Conditions:

Welcome back cocktail party

Diamond Member party

Dancing Class (Diamond)

Sweet Chocolate Gift (Diamond)

We basically do the same. We leave the service charge in place, then we tip extra individually for those who go above and beyond. We may also tip a little extra to those that most frequently provide us service. The other thing is that if there is someone who has given really good service, make sure you fill out the survey and mention their name.

Does anyone know the recipe for the MSC Signature Cocktail?

It's basically a martini, but I think it has vodka, amaretto, liqeur 43, and a cherry. I'm really not much of a vodka/martini drinker, but I've enjoyed this cocktail on our last couple of cruises and would like to be able to make it at home occasionally.

Thanks! 

My spouse and I are both Voyagers Club. I always book online, and his VC number never populates and I can't add it. (Even though we always cruise together, and the information I submit for him matches his VC info.) My OBC credit shows up immediately on the booking. His credit will never show up until after I call and have them add his VC number to the booking. So it's per VC member.

Anyone have any idea when Virgin might post sailings (Caribbean) for Nov/Dec 2025 based on past experience? Most cruise lines seem to have their early 2026 sailings already available, but Virgin cuts off at Oct 2025. Thanks!

On the ships that I've been on, there was soft serve available to everyone most (but not all) afternoons (~ 2:00 or 3:00-5:00pm) somewhere on the ship. However, it was not self-serve. You had to stand in line for someone to serve you.

On Meraviglia, they had several soft serve flavors available in the pool area just before the entrance to the buffet.

On Seashore and Seascape, only Vanilla and Chocolate were available (I think one day they had strawberry instead of chocolate) at the dessert station in the very back of the buffet.  

Make sure that both you and your travelling companion have your VC number linked to the reservation. I always have to call a couple days after the reservation is made to have my spouse's VC number added. Once added, the OBC should display on the booking confirmation. (They should send a new one, plus you can access it from your online account.)

Here's a Drink Package Comparison Chart that will give you some idea of the brands that MSC carries. Not sure that MSC always keeps this updated, and it may vary some depending on ship and itinerary and availability. It doesn't tell you what the well brands are. (It will likely be one of the "lower" brands on the list, although not guaranteed.) But it should be fairly accurate for the Plus package you asked about.

I had to switch from Edge to Chrome. I get lots of errors on Edge, although I'm still typically able to get into my account. But if I want to search for a cruise to book, I have to go to Chrome because Edge gets an error if I try to open or book a specific cruise from the results. Been this way for a couple months now.

Yikes. The cruise I booked for Jan 2025 just a few days ago literally doubled in price! I guess that's one way to make up for the sale price because it still comes out higher.

I've done it previously when booking online, so it was set up to do so. The FAQ even indicates how to do it when booking online. The option just hasn't been appearing the last couple days (at least).

When I go to book a cruise more than 180 days out, the website FAQs still say I should be able to apply a full pay discount. However, when I try to do a booking, I'm not getting the option to do this on the summary page anymore. It will still let me just do a deposit or do a full payment, it just doesn't give the option to apply the full pay discount. Anyone else encountering this? Is it a problem or recent change?

The price I paid for a cruise booked a couple weeks ago is exactly the same price as what I see under the Black Friday deal. (For some cruise lines, the black Friday deal is only actually a deal for "last minute" cruises that still have significant openings or cruises farther out that don't seem to be selling well for some reason.) I've heard rumblings that with MSC, their end of year sale may actually be better than the black Friday sale. Just no guarantees. 

Usually just a small amount of additional OBC ($25) and maybe a reduced deposit. There may also be a price guarantee that you can rebook one time if you find a lower price after booking onboard.

Sometimes they may run an additional promotion to actually give more OBC, but even that may vary by what cruise (date, ship/itin) or category you book. I just booked YC onboard and got an additional $200 OBC for my cruise for booking onboard because they had an active promotion.

Here are some pictures of YCP suite (Deluxe Grand) on the SeaScape. Only one is the closet. There's also a standard closet across from the bathroom with a full length mirror next to it, in addition to the walk-in closet. Plus another closet with the robe and slippers plus some drawers and shelves between the balcony and minibar.

On 6/22/2023 at 5:14 PM, Two Wheels Only said:

Some of the Grand Deluxe Suites have a walk-in closet and some do not. I haven't made a list of which do and which don't (I probably should have started when Seashore launched). I know that some are wider than others but that doesn't correlate as to whether there is a walk-in or not. 

 

19009 does have

19013 does have

19014 does have

19015 does have

19025 does have

19028 does have

19032 does have

 

If anyone has any more info, please share. I can work on making a list with links/photos/videos for Seashore/Seascape. 

 

On 7/6/2023 at 4:41 PM, mmbcater said:

19002 has a walk in cabin

 

19018 does have a walk-in closet. Very nice.

The on-board cruise consultant stated that when you book for two, the default Deluxe Grand Suite assigned will not have a walk-in closet. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's what she claimed when we booked a Deluxe Grand with her and asked for a suite with a walk-in closet. We got 19014 for that booking. (Which means you only get a walk-in closet if you book for 3 people, book for two and choose a different cabin to one you know has the walk-in closet, or if all the cabins without a walk-in closet are already booked when booking for two).

Did anyone else get this email? I suspect it was sent by accident since it obviously has missing info and references black friday which is still a month away.  Unfortunately it's not letting me share the attachment. 

3 hours ago, Selion said:

They are not going to take a bus load of tourists to rob them. 

History does not back up this statement. Groups of cruise tourists have been robbed at gun point on excursions in various Caribbean ports, including Jamaica, many times over the past 10-20 years. Entire tour groups or bus loads held up at once and it hasn't stopped cruise lines from visiting yet. All they usually do is cancel a specific tour. While this doesn't happen regularly, people need to be aware, alert, and should be cautious about bringing more than needed and obvious theft targets off the ship. Not trying to scare people, but empty assurances aren't helpful.

So far, depending on the ship, I've found soft-serve available to all passengers at no additional charge for a period of a couple hours in mid to late afternoon. Most days but not all. Either at a dessert station on one side in the back of the marketplace buffet, or at an outside station between the buffet and pool.

That's just a "discount" to purchase a specialty dining package pre-cruise. It doesn't mean being able to book them for free.

If it's more than a couple weeks, follow up with another email. Include the original information or copy of the original email. When I had an issue, I had to follow up with a second email after not getting a response in 3-4 weeks. Then I got a prompt response.

There are some "excursions" that may be limited to Yacht Club, but you'll also pay a premium price for them, they aren't really something included. Like the YC Cabanas, a YC ship tour, or a private limo excursion for a group. $$$$$

Also, we upgraded from an Aurea aft suite overlooking the adult pool area. But MSC and their upgrade vendor screwed up the upgrade even after billing us for it. (not much of a discount over booking YC directly either). So we were forced to take the original room. Halfway through the cruise corporate verified the error and told them to move us. While we enjoy the YC benefits and have sailed twice since in YC, the actual switch in rooms was a disappointment. That aft suite was sweet and the YC room suite really wasn't any improvement. We almost refused the upgrade after being in the aft suite, especially since the cruise was already half over. But MSC did eventually make it right and we got a satisfactory refund a few weeks after the cruise.