perakcruiser

Pentecost holiday in many European countries, almost no chance for a last minute grab. For those great last minute rates you really need to go offseason. I am cruising with MSC the same week in Europe (other ship), have booked already and I am 100 percent sure that it will not get cheaper.

I don´t like this pure train ride where you have to immediately return. Basically it means going there, 10 minutes break, going back. Almost not worth to go out of the train. $226 sounds a hell of money, but it´s Norway. For a six hours trip with bus, train und lunch this is actually a pretty fair price. And the train one way is enough, a lot of tunnels.

So where does this endless line of people walking over the Europa bridge come from? 😄 But as said before, it depends on the terminal, if it is B it is only 2 km to Colom. And don´t forget, there are people who are fit and want to walk. In our earlier days we walked all the way from the port to Sagrada Familia and back. It is not such a big thing. The walk from the Terminal behind E to A feels longer. And probably is😉

Yes. For some unknown reasons MSC is doing the refunds extremely quick now, have not experienced this in the past 😄

Just one thing to add, even it looks so attractive and inviting from the port, you cannot walk up Montjuic directly. There is no way to cross the road B-10, you will end up at an underpass that is unfortunately closed. If you want to walk you need to go all the way to the Drassanes roundabout first and then back. For public transport you can use the busses 88 und 89 from the stop Moll Ponent to Metro Parallel and then onwards. Unfortunately it is not possible to buy a useful ticket on the bus. Also cannot buy a T-familiar card as a foreigner online. So there is no real practical solution, but when your cruise ends or starts in Barcelona, you can get the T-familiar at the airport already.

MSC is indeed not selling cruises starting in Tunisia and Morocco on their websites, but I am not sure if local travel agents might sell these cruises for MSC in their local markets.

This is available on all MSC ships since I cruise with them (2011).

For you in YC this has no relevance, but generally it is certainly much more relaxed to have the embarking/disembarking in one of the minor ports. If really all ports are used for embarking/disembarking, that depends on the route. In the Eastern Med not all ports are used, in the Western almost all ports are used, Malta and Ibiza sometimes not, Tunis never (I think).

But on board they add the 15% service charge. So it should be $107 on board and that would make it exactly 20% cheaper for you.

It is only performed if it is ordered by the guest or better said by the family of the one with birthday. I ordered it for my 7year old last time and she was so happy. I will againorder it on my birthday cruise in May, but certainly only because of the kids having fun, not because of me 😉 Unfortunately this ship does not have a Butchers Cut, otherwise I would know my birthday dinner now, the seafood platter looks so amazing and the wine pairing surely is perfect also.

You are wrong. People not book MSC "because it´s cheap", people (like me) book them, because they love the product. A cruise line can never survive with just being cheap, that´s something that works for airlines, but not for a ship one spends a whole week or more.

I have never been on the Divina, she usually loiters around in North America. So is there a real difference between the two ships? There is a difference between Preziosa and Fantasia/Splendida, these two don´t have the magical pool for example.

The Linguine alla vongole indeed do not look delicious 😄 But I never have seen this dish in all the years with MSC, it is a YC dish. Well, the MDR version better should be avoided. Still MSC is unmatched for pasta overall. The policy not releasing information to any person except the person involved is normal, Celebrity is the same. With a 80 years old person it is of cause annoying, but on the other hand this policy is not senseless.

That is because MSC changes the rules for points all the time and they not change it overall but separately for each market. Gambling, DSC, just because you got points two months ago does not mean you will get it again. Double voyager points für a cruise? Can be "prepaid", can be on board spending, who knows.

Following as we will do this cruise later this year with the Preziosa. What you plan for Le Havre?

I could not agree more, but unsurprisingly there a great, mediocre and disappointing parts. Even less surprising, the easier it is to go there, the more unattractive it is.

Oh yes, I forgot already! St Petersburg maybe had the highest priority for me, I will surely not do a Baltic cruise without.

Yes, I am expecting this also. As I will most probably only go one time in my life to Florida, I better wait to minimize the risk.

OK, this of cause can happen. But usually the vast majority of "Chinese" on MSC (or other) cruise ships are from UK, Singapore, ...

What you think are Chinese tourists are usually 95 percent not Chinese 😁

There is a "Ricks Cafe" in Casablanca basically on every corner 😄 Fully agree, this trip is one of the best. But there is a lot of competition, so sometimes MSC is not the best choice. Check also Celebrity, who regularly beat MSC´s price on this trip. Yes, this is it. For me, I don´t have a full itinerary on my bucket list, but I want to visit Zakynthos (which I do this May with the Armonia) and Ocean Cay (which is a logistic nightmare from Malaysia 😄 And yes, Antarctica, of cause.

The MSC shuttle goes very close to there. Just walk down the main shopping street of Hamburg for 10 minutes. During the week you also can use public transport, but not on weekends. Unfortunately MSC mainly visits Hamburg on weekends which really sucks. Taxis often overcharge foreigners by not taking the cheapest route. No real rideshare in Germany, forget about this.

The infinity pool in the back is my favourite pool on all ships. And the layout of the Preziosa is just perfect. She's the best.

Ouch, that is really too much. Way too much. But on the other hand not surprising in the week the US spring break collides with the European Easter Holiday. Well with kids there are no options, but I hope it will be not so much when we sail in the Med in two months during Pentecost Holiday. This at least is not followed in all European countries. By the way I like your review a lot, especially your deep understanding of MSC reflected by this comment: This is one of their signature dishes, I totally love it.

At the moment there are no cheap cruises anymore. No matter if Armonia or Euribia. I paid the highest price per person per day I ever paid for a cruise (Every cruise line, not just MSC) this May on Armonia. Which I sailed two times before in 2011 and 2017. Also your upgrade was a good deal, I would take this with no doubt. But no more balcony cabins available for our cruise, we need to stay inside 😉 Right now I guess best deals are not possible when sailing April to September. What you paid is already the best deal, we just have to accept that Carnival ruined the market in Europe for the passengers with taking so many ships away from Costa.