perakcruiser

And today is the big day. The Bellissima should go for the first time on this route:

Hope we will get something to hear from premiere cruisers. 

4 hours ago, hmwende said:

Is there a cost to participate in the following:  gelato, fitness center, flight simulator, cirque de soliel?

Fitness Center is free for all, except special activities. All other have to pay. Gelato not sure if it is included in some packages, at least for us it was never free in 11 years cruising with MSC 😄 

4 hours ago, hmwende said:

We enjoy old school cruising and being assigned to a large table at dinner so that we can meet other folks. Is this possible with MSC?

This is the norm. Note that you will be placed with passengers of your nationality. If your nationality and mother tongue are not matching, let MSC know before the cruise. Also note that if you are from the free water world you certainly will not be seated together with pay water world passengers. 

11 hours ago, styles27 said:

Don’t they already do this with the Bella, Fantastica and Aurea “experiences”?

Actually before MSC started that Bella and Fantastica (and Wellness, Aurea came later) thing, they had a much more complicated system with more different prices for same cabin types. 

To make it simpler they reduced to Bella and Fantastica. The main thing about Fantastica is basically higher decks (for some trange reason sometimes also Bella are located on a higher deck).

I am not surprised that they change now, as Fantastica is basically quite unattractive with the only real perks being the free photo, the extra Voyager points and some kids activities (room service for some is great, for most it´s useless). 

We always booked the available Bella cabin closest to the Buffet. Probably this will not be possible anymore without Fantastica. Let´s wait for the details. 

1 hour ago, KellyCz said:

Would it be smarter to go with something lower and midship?

For me no recognizable difference. 

30 minutes ago, phissy said:

Another consideration is the itinerary. That maybe also temporary. 

Just my opinion, but I don´t think this "temporary" thing is a topic anymore in Summer 2022. Long time all back to normal then. 

7 hours ago, Missymssy said:

I wasn't able to find anything recent about MSC Opera. Considering booking a 7 night round trip from Marseille next October. I have only been on 2 cruises in my life (obviously pre-Covid), so I'm a little nervous. 

 

MSC seems confusing with the different levels of booking in itself, and if this ship is nothing like others, well, not sure if it's worth it. lol

You can read the millions of Armonia reviews, the ships are samesame. Take all reviews with a pinch of salt, some unhappy people just had wrong expectations. 

Nothing bad to say about the Opera! It is classical cruising in the Med, soon this will be gone completely and you missed it. But if you go with kids, then better take the newer MSC classes with the modern cruising. 

2 hours ago, styles27 said:

The main reason is I’m not comfortable handing over thousands of dollars to a company that isn’t consistently delivering what people are booking and paying for. 

If there is one thing I am not concerned thinking about MSC then it is financial stability. If all others gone broke, they will still sailing ...

Nowadays is it difficult. On one hand I am happy that MSC is trying to offer something in these extremely challenging times for all. I wanted to visit the EXPO in Dubai and combine it with a cruise and "swimming hotel". To my surprise they managed to offer it and - as usual with them - for a unbeatable price.

On the other hand I know this will maybe not work out as expected. With changing cabins last minute being my last concern. I am also OK if the boat stays the whole week in Dubai and really works as a swimming EXPO hotel, I just want don´t to discuss anything with them after my booking looks OK and even the on board credit for voyagers selection is in it 😄

42 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

MSC has totally lost the plot!   We’re giving Celebrity another go next September as we’re fed up to the back teeth with MSC’s nonsense. It’s breaking my heart because we had a ball on Seashore last week - our 24th MSC cruise. 

Uhh, I would love to know if MSC "forgets" this anniversary or sets up something special for you. My count is at 9 now, so ...

15 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Then you haven't been paying attention 🙂

 

This is MSC Customer Service 101. In fact, there are only 2 things to know when working for MSC...

 

1) As a rep, never communicate. If you are somehow forced to give an answer, ensure it contradicts what the previous rep said.

 

2) As an IT dev, make sure the customer gets at least one error for every two log in attempts. If you can keep the website down, or lose bookings, then you will get a bonus at the end of the year.

Touche! But without defending MSC, I think this is Italian corporate law from my experiences with Alitalia (Farewell!), Trenitalia and others.

My favorite glitch from the MSC website is that if a cabin category is not available you just need to add one child in your booking, then all the cabins are here to choose from. Just remove the child again, the cabins stay 😄 

3 hours ago, morrieb1 said:

There are no transfer/sightseeing packages. 

Oh yes, MSC is offering this in some ports if you fly in the afternoon. 

3 hours ago, tkwbear said:

Any suggestions for shore excursions would be appreciated!

Just download the excursions PDF for your cruise. They have the 3 finger system to show the "difficulty level", you should be comfortable with one or two fingers 😉 

5 hours ago, Kelownabccan said:

is it worth the effort to try and change the booking to Fantastica.......it seems the only extra perk is having breakfast in your cabin which we  rarely do anyways and the cabin we have is a really nice one aft on deck 10 a B1 cat

Actually the real extra perks are the free photo (only possible on one special evening in the MDR, you will not be told which one without asking 😁. Hint: It is not Gala night). Calling it "professional" is technically correct 😉

And the extra voyager points. So if you close to hit Black and can make it with Fantastica and not with Bella it is a good idea to fork out the extra money. 

If you travel with kids there is another thing with the free special kids activities for Fantastica. Depends what is available but usually the kids want to join and then you have to swipe your cruise card with Bella 😜

The continental free breakfast on the room (which by the way was included in Bella before also) you probably will only order once, nothing worth to talk about. If you have a cabin on deck 10 aft, that is close to the best you can get. This is rather hard to get with Bella and you certainly got it only because you booked so early. So in your case upgrading from Bella to Fantastica would just mean two (for the second you usually have to fight with the photo desk 🙄) very expensive photos. 

9 hours ago, Urbee said:

Qatar.

This is good. But I don´t think they have online chat to solve problems like Emirates. 

But anyway I do not really see a risk as it is clearly stated that passengers under 18 years accompanied by the fully vaccinated parents can enter.

11 hours ago, Urbee said:

If anyone has some answers id be happy to hear.

Very difficult. MSC will not be able to tell you anything, they have their own arrangements with Saudi-Arabia. And whatever the embassy would tell you, that has no value anyway. Which airline you are flying, at least Emirates? 

25 minutes ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

So basically I'm back to having no idea what's going on at that port!

My guess, and this is only a guess, is that the ship will collect all passports at the beginning of the cruise and return them at the end of the cruise, getting necessary visas along the way.

Actually this is usually exactly the way it goes for passengers who need a visa for a destination. Let´s say Turkey on a med cruise 😄 Or Havana. 

About the excursions, my mistake. DMM03 is indeed the one for 52€, DMM07 is the guided tour with music and food. We are also thinking to lock in DMM03, then we can be sure that we can leave the ship and visit Saudi Arabia for a reasonable cost. And this Ithra seems to be quite interesting also. 

You are going in December already? 

34 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

You would pay for the visa via the embassy if it is needed when you apply for it.

No.

18 minutes ago, ChC said:

If you can find the department within MSC they should be able to provide you with the most up-to-date information. But knowing MSC organisation behaviour I can only wish you the best of luck.

As you correctly assume, the immigration department at the MSC HQ strictly refuses to talk with customers and also does not give information to the hotline people. If you are very lucky you can catch a guy from the immigration desk on board, usually when asking at the reception and the staff points with the finger and says "Here is our immigration guy, you can ask him". Catch him and ask "Can we leave the ship in Istanbul?" and he will say "Yes, no matter what was told to you before, all passengers can go ashore in Istanbul" 🙂

As MSC has never been in Saudi Arabia and will start cruising to Dammam December onwards I would not be surprised if they also not already know everything full detail right now. 

2 hours ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

Interestingly, a few weeks ago I wrote down shore excursion prices and they only offered one for Dammam. It was called Cultural Dammam (Tour DMM01) and it was USD$75 per person. Yesterday I went back to actually book shore excursions and there are sevaral options there and DMM01 is now called Cultural Damman For Fully Vaccinated Guests but it now costs USD$126. So my guess is that this includes the necessary visa for Saudi Arabia.

Hmm, when I checked a couple of days before there were two options, DMM01 ins now 109 € (I dont remember the old price as I did not consider it) and a much more spectacular called Al Ahsa, the forgotten oasis for unfortunately very steep 152 €. Now they have more already. King Abdulaziz Centrer for World Culture in Daharan (Tour DMM07) costs friendly 52 €. Will research this place in the next days, sounds quite interesting. 

If this excursion is available for 52 €, then the visa price (if there is one) cannot be very high. 

As I have booked under the law of the European Union whatever happens MSC anyway cannot charge me something extra i don´t want, so wait and see is the way to go. 

Strange, I was in Dubai (one day stopover) in September and was able to leave the airport and check in a hotel (and bring the kids to Dubai Aquarium). Fully vaccinated and with the PCR test that I needed to do before the flight for my final destination  Kuala Lumpur. Well, we have to see what the first cruisers will tell us beginning of December.

The shuttle bus stop is very close to Al Ghubaiba Metro Station. But it goes straight to the EXPO and the metro has many stops and you have to change the line. Difficult to say what will be faster. 

16 hours ago, Roger88 said:

Have you heard the last news? They are going to rename FB into Meta now. I wonder what stands behind it, but in any case, I expect a better interface and search engine in general. FB helps get cruise information faster than anything else out there

FB will not be renamed Meta. The mother company on the stock market changes its name from FB to Meta. The reason is that investors should see that FB is much more than FB, i.e. Instagram, WhatsApp. The FB product will not change. 

2 minutes ago, nikkiw60 said:

and I have also been looking at the government site for Saudi.

Not useful as the cruise companies always have their own deals with the governments. And I have learnt that "normal" government officials don´t know these deals anyway and will probably give you a wrong answer. As we got from the Turkish immigration a couple of years before. Good we did not believe them and waited what will happen during the cruise. Result: No visa needed, all nationalities could leave the boat.

4 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

I am not mixing this up with Bellissima why would I ? I am on the Virtuosa who has a port stop in Saudi Arabia as I have said.

The Bellissima Fly&Cruise includes "SAUDI ARABIA VISA", the Virtuosa Fly&Cruise does not. 

And as many markets not allow the cruise companies to add any unavoidable extra charges that are not included in the advertised price, it is technically not possible for MSC to force you to pay for this visa if you don´t want to have it. 

It is in this way with St. Petersburg, Havana and so on. 

In your case where you booked the cruise with Bahrain it anyway is totally impossible that MSC charges you for a visa you don´t want. 

Let´s collect some information about the EXPO cruises from MSC. The EXPO, which was delayed because of the pandemic, finally started at 1 October 2021 and will last until 31 March 2022. MSC changed their boats also, the Lirica is not there now, but the Opera and the Virtuosa (both starting 28 Nov). Also the free EXPO tickets from MSC are gone, at least they don´t advertise them anymore. Anyway, the tickets are really cheap compared to normal EXPO prices. Note that you get a free ticket if you fly Emirates or Etihad. 

There are free shuttle busses from many places in Dubai and also Abu Dhabi to the EXPO. I meanwhile found out where the relevant shuttle close to the Dubai cruise terminal starts: 

• Al Ghubaiba –next to Al Raffa Police station or Al Satwa Star Building (bus route 292 – it is available from Sustainability Expo Rider Gate to Al Ghubaiba Bus Station and vice versa)

No idea about the layout of the cruise terminal, could be a short walk (less than 1km) or a long one (3 km). The busses should run every 15 minutes. 

Certainly MSC also offers trips to the EXPO from Dubai port. These are priced 29 € (under 18, over 60) and 59€ (others). Yes, you are guessing right, entrance is free for juniors and seniors.

From Abu Dhabi the shuttle busses run from these three places:
 

• Abu Dhabi International Airport Station. Service  frequency is every 20 minutes.
• Marina Mall Station. Service frequency is every 20 minutes.
• Abu Dhabi Main Bus Station. Service frequency is every 20 minutes.

None of these is really close to port. Maybe other cruisers have information about the options to leave the port area in Abu Dhabi. 

12 hours ago, nikkiw60 said:

Have found out couple of days ago that unless you book a fly cruise with MSC you will be have to get a visa for Saudi at £154 per person. Even if you stay on the ship! Saudi was not on the itinerary when we booked it was Bahrain. I am very angry about this. We have booked with 2 extra nights in Dubai at the end.

Well, nobody took this cruise yet as the ship is still in Europe. But in a few days we will hopefully know more. 

But so far I never was charged for these kind of visa when not leaving the ship. OK, one time I was charged and had to go to reception the night before arrival and tell them that I will stay on the boat. The visa charge was immediately cancelled. 

I think you mix this up with the Red Sea cruises from MSC with the Bellissima. 

On 10/22/2021 at 11:13 PM, Beamafar said:

Thanks. Also great to read from you again. Good timing to come back

Better switch to here before someone complains... 😊

Yeah, I was not in mood for cruise talk during the pandemic with no cruise in sight and then only cruise with rules hard to take. 

But as we can visit the EXPO now and MSC put some ships over there we are back in business. 

Right in time for this thread.

We always said that some day we’d do the cheapest cruise we could find on an alternative cruise line to MSC to experience, compare and contrast it.

Same with us, but it is so difficult! We cruised with TUI Cruises and Celebrity before, but that is a while ago. And now always when we want to try another line, MSC is coming around the corner with a similar route saying "I have an offer for you that you will not be able to reject. And by the way, it is not the Opera, in is our brand new Virtuosa". 

Certainly true, so here we are again. Don´t know anything about NCL, looking forward to read your thoughts. MSCs competitors for the EXPO cruise were mainly the two big Germans, AIDA and TUI Cruises. Prices were OK there also, but well, they are German. The companies, not talking about the guests, that is fine everywhere. But we with our infamous "Malaysia boleh" mentality not really suit to these German and US company style while MSCs lack of professionalism and Italian attitude makes us feel comfortable. Having said that I have to admit that I was close to throw the notebook out of the window during the booking process 😄 

22 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

It’s built into our cruise fare, so there is no way to remove it for us, M. 

And even if it is not built directly in the cruise fare, there is also no way to remove or adjust it. But in the central european markets they have started with this beginning of 2021 they usually offer a huge discount when paying while booking instead of on the ship. 

But still only msccruises.co.uk-bookers get HOT DRINKS AND WATER for free, @Beamafar

17 hours ago, Gatordad1967 said:

why is punishing the guy at the bottom of the totem pole the best way?

The European cruise companies not work like the US cruise companies. Or do you think it reduces the salary if one pays the Hotel Service Charge in advance (49 Euro for one week cruises) instead of onboard (70 Euro)?

As far as I know the Hotel Service Charge is now impossible to cancel in most markets. If it is possible in the US, then probably because MSC knows that in this market not many cancel. 

MSC was really creative in finding a legal way to make the HSC mandatory and still can advertise prices without it 😄