perakcruiser

You need to be seated at 5:30, actually 5:45 with the 15 minutes grace period.

No, the Preziosa is also involved in the big switch. At the city stops you certainly can use public transport or just walk around.

The ships are so totally different, even if there is an "offical" equivalent category in reality the cabins are just not comparable. Overall being changed from Opera to Bellissima suite sounds not like a bad deal.

You are right. With the other things also. When it comes to places out of their home market (the Med), then things are totally different, I would not expect they let you off somewhere in the Caribbean or the Middle East.

You should write where MSC denied you. I don´t believe that MSC would ever deny to get off in one of their schengen ports in the Med that anyway have lots of pax embarking and disembarking. Not to talk about the above case leaving the cruise in Bari instead of Venice one day later.

Don´t even think about Kotor, this is non-schengen area! Bari is a port where many people will embark/disembark, so this should not be a problem at all. And the train to your preferred airport in Italy should be VERY cheap if you book it so far in advance. This is probably true for most cruise lines but not for MSC in the Med.

The 20€ is not always available and especially not on every market. But, yes, if available only at the time of booking, no second chance.

No, only the newer ships and the shows mentioned here are only available on the Mera: https://www.msccruises.no/nyheter/carousel-production-at-sea-shows

Actually this is a good question! I recognized on our last MSC cruises that the "path" or route channel is missing. Not happy with this, will ask next time on board why.

Very nice! Enjoy your cruise, looking forward to the review. Where on board you catched that amazing crayfish pasta?

Last week of summer holidays in some parts of Europe. Next week all the kids will be gone except the very young ones.

Sure, but as far as I know Portugues speakers can communicate with Spanish speakers. And for cruise lines it is not easy to hire Portugues speaking staff, but maybe their middle america workforce went to a language school for a few weeks before boarding.

Wow, that is brutal that Spanish is not enough for the staff.

That the buffet is not open usually not means that you cannot go to the drink stations. Did you try to attack the buffet area from the front and back entrance before 7AM?

And they are so similar that most passengers could not tell on which ship they are. Going from Virtuosa to Lirica would be a difference, but one could argue that it is not a downgrade to go from a crazy big ship to a smaller and more releaxed ship. Smaller ships are by no means cheaper 🙂

These exist only on the newer and bigger ships that have a small second theatre for it. They are not always available, thanks to Covid and the death of Cirque du Soleil they did not have it for years. Now slowly coming back. If you are not interested then you easily not even notice it because they are not effecting the main theatre program.

If it is the Preziosa, calling her a lower class ship should disqualify you from ever booking MSC again 😉 And I find it quite generous from them that they offer you a refund just because the ship has changed. Usually they not even give a refund for a dropped port.

Multigeneration family trips is the original DNA of MSC. And it is impossible for Italy lovers not to love the Mera. At least not after visiting the Mozzarella station.

Oh! I found it was a very nice 1km walk thru pedestrian only area. And my 73 year old mom could do it easily with her suitcase to and from the ship. Of cause "luggage" is different, some have wheels, some have not and I also would not be motivated to carry a golf bag or so. The end of the journey is indeed the Radisson Blu hotel.

This is ridiculous as most of the Fantastica benefits have very limited use for the majority of cruisers. As all others said, it is mainly about choosing the cabin by yourself or not. On the other hand, the price difference between Bella and Fantastica is usually so small, not really worth to think too much about it. You pay a little bit more and get a little bit more. If it will be a great cruise or not has zero to do with this choice.

I boarded in Cannes and liked it. Walking distance from the train station and much smaller crowds. Certainly the process to start the boarding takes longer than normal, so even with a YC booking I would not show up at 9 or so. Waiting there is ugly as there is nothing, maybe also no YC facilities landside. But you also don´t need to wait until 14:30, something in the middle should be fine.

On the webpage. If no cruise and fly is available, then MSC does not offer it for this market/route.

You're welcome. I am cruising with them for more then 10 years, never been in any "speciality" restaurant not the YC. And I am a beef eater, but apart from one or two beef dishes that I know they do perfect, I avoid it, beef is really their weak point, but with so many alternatives absolutely no problem for me. By the way, beef is also the weak point in many restaurants in Italy, of course not when they are specialised in Bistecca Fiorentina. Which MSC also serves for a upcharge.

Well, this is quite simple, and certainly it is not MSC to blame. I easily could choose food I totally dislike from the buffet and in the MDR and then complain. But it was my lack of knowledge and to a certain extent also lacking experience with MSC. After cruising many years with MSC I can honestly say the food there is good. I have many dishes I love and I am looking forward to and they always suprise me with new stuff. Yes, overall good and not exciting, but I dont expect five stars when I pay for three stars. Yes, no filet mignon and no expensive seafood if you not pay extra. Not willig to pay for this and complaining is a little bit ridiculous.

Water, tea and coffee (and milk and lemon slices) are available 24 hours at the buffet.