perakcruiser

14 hours ago, AeroXWD said:

Paccheri pasta with pine nuts, pesto and cured speck for my main course (very good)

I am missing the magic word GRAGNANO* on the menu. And this in the YC! 

Maybe because it is a US sailing and the Americans anyway would not valuate?  Or they stocked up overseas? But where to get Paccheri there? Questions over questions, you should really have asked ;)

*) Not a brand, but he Pasta city of Italy, famous for the best pasta available. Usually MSC happily emphasizes the dishes where they treat the passengers with Gragnano pasta. 

10 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

The Canti Rosso appears to be sold in Europe and Japan.  I can find online priceing for £5.50-6.25 which is roughly $7 to $8 USD.

By no means this is the wine available on MSC for Easy. Canti is a big wine group, I even doubt that the house wine they produce for MSC is sold b2c. Which does not mean that people cannot enjoy, but this is really 2 € per bottle stuff.

And for the Cabernet I guess you found the wrong one. It is this here:
https://cavazzawine.com/en/wines/cabernet-cicogna/

This wine is certainly available in shops, but I don´t think it is possible to get it for "$9 to $11.50" (0,75), not to talk about the 1,5 liter bottle. Would be happy if you can show me that I am wrong :)
 

So avoid further misinterpretations, the Chablis I mentioned is the Chablis Le Classique from Pascal Bouchard:
https://www.pascalbouchard.com/en/wines/chablis-le-classique/

 Very popular in Europa, available in some supermakets usually for 20 €, but not under 15 € per bottle. On board the bottle costs around 50 € if I remember correctly. Great stuff!

So these alone are two reasons why the Premium package is quite OK, while Easy and Premium Plus are really totally unattrctive for people like me who only drink wine, water and coffee.

The red from the Premium plus is a Barolo, one of my least favourite grapes(Nebbiolo) and the white is a Pinot Grigio. 

1 hour ago, Até said:

Sorry, no.  When I did see people order house wines the brand was never mentioned.  At bars I think they did have bottles of it, when ordered in the restaurant it may have been bulk wine, but I'm not sure about that.  People ordered multiple glasses throughout the cruise so I assume it was bearable stuff.

The house brand is Canti. But the Cabernet is another cheap brand. If someone wants to enjoy wine on board MSC I would highly recommend to upgrade to premium. That gives you for example a very nice Chablis and the Cabernet "Cavazza" is also good. Premium plus is completely useless. Only one extra red and one extra white. 

1 hour ago, jkgourmet said:

Our definition of drinkable = our usual home supply of bottles in the $7 to $10 range.  Not the stuff in jugs or boxes.  

 

The wines in the easy package are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy under this range. 

3 hours ago, blueslily said:

I have nevercsailed on MSC but am considering trying the line for the first time for my birthday in February. Are bathrobes and slippers standard for all room catagories? 

No slippers, no bathrobes in "normal" cabins.

As he/she risks to lose his job by stealing things for you, you have to bribe him/her. "Asking nicely" will result in a friendly no.

Strange you need to pay port taxes, I don´t think MSC is allowed to charge passengers from the Netherlands this if you booked on the NL webpage.

27 minutes ago, MMJJOli4 said:

since at MSC the children only have to pay taxes.

You mean the DSC? Europeans usually not need to pay taxes on MSC cruises when they book via their local MSC websites.

I thought about this question a couple of days.

Is it the Pizza and Pasta combined with MSCs very attractive prices?

Is it that MSC loves my two kids more than any other cruise line? 

Very good arguments, but at the end it is maybe as simple as this: I don´t want a boat that is full of Malaysians (yes, possible with cruise lines over here), also don´t want a boat that is full of Americans, also don´t want a boat that is full of Germans and so on. I like the athmosphere that the whole world is on this cruise and everybody enjoys it. 

2 hours ago, jkgourmet said:

But in reading reviews, I'm concerned that it's changed.

Nothing has changed.

Actually in my opinion this year MSC even increased the variety of ethnic cuisine alot. On Seaside there was "Speciality" Dining only in the smaller buffet (Asian, Brazilian, Bavarian, Italian, Mexican and two more I forgot). And that was great, for the first time on MSC we skipped some nights at the MDR because of this. 

If the MDR is open, embarking guest are not allowed to have lunch there. They check the cards. So buffet is the only option but the welcome buffet is a good option and usually people anyway want to enjoy their first MSC pizza immediately.

Probably no European TV channel has ever bought any tv rights to show this (as far as I know) so you won't be able to see it on land and of cause not on the ship. In the sports bar it will be 99% soccer but unfortunately not the MLS.

If thanks to the time difference the ship will be in a port there is a good chance that you can stream it. 

Kettle, no. Strong hairdryer, yes. 

3 hours ago, pepper said:

and a liquor bottle for me (the only one who drink), in your experience, how often do they confiscate?  

Surprisingly there is no offical statistic for this. After many years of cruising with MSC I only can tell you sometimes they are super strict and confiscate everything. Sometimes they are super lazy and let everything go thru. Certainly, if you bring six bottles of wine or other drinks, then they will not be lazy.

My guideline: 1 bottle of wine per suitcase gives you a good chance. 

Yeah, this "I can afford YC, nothing else matters. And yes, I am even paying hundreds of dolllars tips there" showing off is probably a very US thing that should not surprise on a US forum. 

@brandy3415Apart from the YC, MSC ships are mainly single class ships, don´t need to think about the difference between Bella and Fantastica. 

Montego: Need to take a taxi to the beach. Bargaining hard is necessary, but usually successful. Avoid Doctor's Cave Beach at all cost, Walter Fletcher Beach is closest to the ship, good choice. We prefer Dead End Beach close to the airport, really cool place. Both places I did not see any people coming and trying to sell things. 

Grand Cayman: Here the problem of "private beaches" is fortunately not so big. Just walk north, the beach close to a place called "Laguna del Mar" is good. MSC has some quite nice excursions not too expensive, Stingray City for example. 

Costa Maya: This place totally sucks. Stay on the ship or book a excursion to the Maya ruins. Also available at the cruise terminal, but also expensive. Don´t even think about the water park, it is one of the worlds Top 10 worst tourist traps 

On 12/6/2019 at 5:20 PM, CruisingFox27 said:

On Meraviglia in October we received stress relief mini boats. It really varies from sailing to sailing and what they've available and how many are required. We received pens on our previous sailing but it could be a cap or notebook, it's just selected randomly. 

Guess it is just some cheap stuff from the logo shop they sell very bad at the moment. We got a tote bag with face value 1€ they sell I the shop for 5.

14 hours ago, jdvmd said:

Question - what is considered the milestone gift? Silvers and 

above are supposed to get that. 

Never got anything, my milestone gift when reaching silver was that they reduced the perks for silver. Surprised that they did not do the same when reaching Gold 😄

The MSC flights in Europe and to Middle East are usually very good. Their flights into the Carribean are terrible, especially if you are unlucky and been put on a flight with Air Europa. 

No and it very easy to avoid the very limited smoking areas. 

16 hours ago, April42749 said:

A true gourmet wouldn't be happy.  A gourmand would do just fine.

The thing is just that you need to know what you want. If you are not familiar with the MSC dishes there will be a lot of hit and miss on your first cruises. Apart from pizza and pasta where MSC has the reputation of being number 1 for a good reason. Risotto maybe also but I don´t eat. 

There are many dishes on the menu for years, even I totally hate. For example the suckling pig with myrtle, inedible for me, totally inedible. But for some reasons I don´t know for some people this is a favourite MSC dish, so it will never disappear. 

Also there are quite a lot of dishes that sound nothing special at all when you read the menu, but they are outstanding. Maybe not Gourmet, but a source of happiness. 

10 hours ago, alyssamma said:

Also, has anyone done this cruise? If so, any feedback is welcome.

This cruise has been done only two times before (2018, 2019), both times with the Orchestra. So difficult to say, I had a cruise on the Poesia from Venice in 2015, loved it, but there were no sea days or maybe only one that I don´t remember. 

Better call them as fast as possible. Usually no penalty, but in July there is a big chance that one week closer to August means a higher price. And no free kids. Good luck.

Last August in Paris there was UBER and BOLT available finally. Would be surprised if Marseille is different. So the taxi sadness should be a thing of the past 😀

OK, thanks, both I don't know and never seen a ship.

4 hours ago, JP82 said:

Is there something specific then about this cruise? Would love to know.

Yes, you cannot compare this cruise to the other northern Europe cruises. It combines Iceland and Greenland, two dream destinations for many Europeans. MSC is offering it exactly one time a year. Their competitors are very few, most mainstream cruise lines don't go there. The price may look high, but it is by far the cheapest in the market, these Greenland cruises usually start with triple prices. 

It is also a dream cruise for me, but either it is fully booked (2018, 2019) or I am not in Europe in August (2020). In this case I world not care about the ship (been on the Poesia, classical MSC ship, not bad, nothing special) or the many kids (I bring my own 😁). Fingers crossed for 2021, I will not give up.