perakcruiser

On 11/20/2019 at 2:02 AM, DCGuy64 said:

This is a bit of an old-ish thread, but I thought I'd ask: what foreign channels are available, i.e. not in English? I'm particularly interested in news channels, especially in German, French, and Spanish. Thanks!

The international stations of these countries like DW (Germany), France 24 and so on.

When we were in the Carribean on the Armonia in 2018 almost all channels were US channels even no US pax on board. 

12 minutes ago, Zeikah said:

Thanks. We have never been to Europe or UAE.

Yes I am more about the ship as the destination. My wife on the other hand is more about the destination. Hence my dilemma. haha

OK, but in this case it is not difficult for me. I know how brutal the flights are, certainly Malaysia is closer than Australia, but still brutal enough ;)

But nevertheless, if you never been to Europe and get the chance to see two of worlds top cities with Barcelona and Rome, a glance of France with Marseille, the lovely Italy medieval cities of Genova and Palermo and La Valetta, the wonderful gem in the Med, and all this with a brandnew MSC ship, that is well worth the extra hours in the airplane. And the flight from Dubai or AD to Europe is not really tough. 

On 11/16/2019 at 7:36 AM, travelsmileandlearn said:

He told me on the Armonia that the food was okay, and there were no beef choices for dinner besides the one steak on the menu each night.  I've also read that MSC pretty much has the same thing in buffet day after day.  

Last thing absolutely is not true. It is very important if you like Italian food. Pizza, Pasta (or the mentioned Ossobuco) is much better at MSC than on other cruise lines. Steaks are not. 

If you sail the Armonia think about taking a cabin that allows you to dine in the La Pergola restaurant. There you not only have free time choice but also a better menu. 

7 hours ago, Zeikah said:

I have narrowed it down to two options. I can either do 7 nights on the Seaview from Dubai. (Bahrain,Doha,Sir Bani Yas & Abu Dhabi)  or 7 nights on Virtuosa from Barcelona. (Marseilles,Genoa,Rome,Palermo & Malta).

 

Difficult. 

I would say this depends on how many times you been to Europe and these places. Certainly they are much more interesting than Bahrain, Doha and AD. The big highlight in the Middle East is Dubai and some places in the UAE you can visit with rental car (Liwa Oasis and so on). But the Seaview should be also a great destination in itself. As the Virtuosa will be certainly.

0.75 like always.

We did not get any milestone reward when reaching gold. Not even a e-mail. The gift was a gym bag with face value 1€. 

The only real advantage of Gold is priority at tender ports. On this cruise the only tender port was at embarkation 🙄

Yes and the staff is doing these trivia games no matter somebody's joining or not. If it's in the daily planner it will happen 😁 But on ships with many UK and US passengers usually some people join.

2 hours ago, allmotormark said:

Holy crap that must hAve been a long bus ride!! Why not the train?

At this time there was a new bus company called Megabus in Italy. They started their business with tickets for 1 Euro. We used them quite often in 2015, even our student times were long gone.

In 2016 they (unsurprisingly) stopped operations, anyway our first child was born and now we are back in the train world. 

22 hours ago, allmotormark said:

I’m trying to remember if I could self debark in Venice I don’t think I ever did in Venice. I have sailed out of there a few times. 

We did one time in Venice, but that was when the ship docked at the industrial harbour and the passengers tendered back to Marittima port. We had booked a bus from there to Milan at 12 PM. We did not getting any notice in advance that we will not debark where we started the cruise. So maybe the port informed the captain also very late.

Anyway, in the morning without knowing where we are and how far away from Marittima, we left the ship immediately. So we easily catched the bus but waited two hours in the brutal heat of the unpleasent bus station. 

You need to go to the Spa and select a date. Usually all dates are available, but when you just show up they probably refuse to let you use the 1 hour immediately. 

12 hours ago, floridian1 said:

According to the Seaside YC concierge - they told me when you prebook it does NOT include gratuity. If you purchase on board it DOES include gratuity. 

He lied to you.

12 hours ago, ashank1m said:

Also, did notice on my last three cruises with MSC they don't seems to have much special on board for discounts.

I also realised that the some years before so common big discounts for spa have disappeared. But sure will be available when the booking situation is bad. So maybe not a bad idea to book in advance but leave space for one more promo on board.

2 hours ago, JP82 said:

Is that a non German Riesling!!??

No. And the Riesling "Dr. Loosen" is the worst Riesling I had all my life. Nevertheless there are many great wines available, non of them with the Easy package. You need the package that includes the wines per glass from 6,50 to 10,00 for them. Or pay by glass (be aware of +15%). 

On 11/18/2019 at 10:44 AM, Andrew72681 said:

Belize City- in our other visits to Belize, it has never seemed like a place where you would just venture out on your own.

Oh! I thought it is perfect for just venturing out on your own as off the boat you are in the middle of the town. 

On 11/18/2019 at 10:44 AM, Andrew72681 said:

Roatan- we’ll venture out on our own this time again in Honduras, probably take a cab to see the Monkeys and Sloths as they are Addison’s favorite. We’ve always been very comfortable. 

Negotiating with the cabs at this cruise port is something not very enjoyable ☹️

On 11/18/2019 at 10:44 AM, Andrew72681 said:

I also know that you can’t expect Filet Mingon at Sirloin Prices (or in this case Regent Seven Seas Service at MSC prices)

With this attitude it is not possible not to enjoy a MSC cruise. 

8 hours ago, deweytrader said:

The Seaside is one of the most beautiful ships we have been and are expecting the Meraviglia to be just as beautiful! 

It would be an endless discussion what is better, Mera-Class or Seaside-Class. But one can hardly gainsay that the Meraviglia is MSCs most beautiful ship (not knowing the Grandiosa). 

10 hours ago, nuky said:

I´m not even that sad about the OC miss, but this behaviour makes that cruise my first and last MSC cruise...

Legendary rule for MSC cruises since ten years or more: Their ships are full of people who have sworn before "This was my last cruise with MSC!". One example for that kind of people: Me in 2011 and 2015 

15 hours ago, Stadleter said:

North Europe is not only Norway and fjords. You have Poland, Finland, LT, Latvija, Estonia, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany... 

Pleased that newer ships are going to the Baltic 

Yes, and also Iceland, Färöer and a little bit more. 

Been there, all great cruises, but the Norwegian fjords is the crown of Nothern Europe for sure. So I really recommend DO IT NOW before it gets impossible or hell expensive. All the other countries will still be very happy to welcome cruise ships. 

Same of cause for Venice, DO IT NOW. A cruise that not goes along the Giudecca-canal or that not ports at the Venezia cruise terminal is not worth it. The good thing is - other than the Norwegians - Venice needs the money from the cruise ships desperately and has no interest to see it going to other ports on the mainland. 

Even you have 150 OBC already it is very likely to have more than 150 on the final bill for the missing 100 points. At least if you are willing to pay the DSC.

17 hours ago, spence1936 said:

When you say dock at the right port, they would still be in Venice just different doc right?  

Yes, sometimes they dock at a industrial port. Then there will be tender boats to the cruise port. 

By the way I am quite sure many Northern Europeans have flights booked for this cruise with MSC. So there should be a MSC bus you can book on board for the lunchtime flights. Anyway you have your own transport already, but at least MSC will have big interest that this passengers will not miss their flights.

16 hours ago, spence1936 said:

 

I plan on trying to ask MSC to let us disembark ASAP and trying to reserve a taxi to get us there as fast as we can. 

Don't talk, just do. And certainly you cannot use the lugguage service, you need to carry by yourself. We managed to be with the first 10 passengers when we needed.

12.45 should be not a big problem, as long as the ship docks at the right port in Venice. Which it not always does.

The port fees the cruise companys have to pay are already out of this world expensive.

Until 2025 they want to ban step by step many older ships and big ships also. 

11 hours ago, dexddd said:

Thanks for this.  Been hoping for a new(er) ship in Northern Europe for 2021.  Any idea when bookings open?

Norway continues to behave extremly ugly to cruise companies. It will get totally worse in 2025. If you not done the norway cruise until now, I would recommend to go no matter what ships MSC sends.

On 11/14/2019 at 1:50 AM, sidari said:

 

Communication is not one of the MSC strong points sadly.

Never was. Remember their Tunis policy. Weeks (!) after it was changed they informed the passengers.

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I was on Seaview at the end of September on an itinerary that I chose because it featured Ajaccio, Corsica.  Seaview had been going to that port all summer long, every 7 days.  But for 'operational reasons' my particular cruise couldn't go there.  I only found out because @WonderMan3 got the notice while he was on the prior sailing.  We went to Toulon instead – which a French couple we met on board was very distressed about, because they consider Toulon the least interesting port in the Med.  And MSC never updated the map or website for that sailing.  BUT I didn't come here to ***** and moan about it – I made lemonade by paying (a lot) for a taxi to take us to Aix-en-Provence.  We had a lovely day, and it didn't ruin our cruise.

 

I was on this cruise two weeks later, like many of the people now in the Carribean with OC, we booked this cruise mainly because of Ajaccio. Actually most ports we stayed on board. I would have cried many tears if they would have cancelled Ajaccio and can absolutely understand that people go mad for being shipped to Toulon. MSC should have given them a very, very, very good reason at least. 

That is a little bit different than the OC case. You have to expect that MSC cannot hold the opening date, but you cannot expect that they are not able to sail to Ajaccia after they did this all the months before. 

46 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Has anyone been on either a Fjords or Iceland cruise on MSC?

Yes, not just with MSC, the Norwegian fjords cruise is a must. MSC is doing it for ages already and they doing it very good. 

But Norway is not the Antartica, the size of the ship does not affect the route. Some changes are expected in the future, better don´t wait with this cruise.  

48 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Will we be out of place as Americans?  

No, you will be the 10th or 15th strongest nationality group of 50 :D

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

The only future cruise credit vouchers I remember were the ones that you purchased for €10 and they gave an OBC value which differed depending on cabin type you booked.  One of ours gave us €400 OBC for a YC booking.  😜

Yes, that is what I am talking. They sold ONE product on board, but that T&C did not match there billions of local products. It should be valid for "Last Minute" bookings, but this Last Minute offers had a different name in different markets and at the end we were told "only Italy MSC last minute". Some endless discussions on board with unhappy customers and disappearing Service Charges later, MSC cancelled it. 

13 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

Very clever on MSC's part not to offer a clear-cut 20% off a future cruise, thereby controlling the value of the offer.

Otherwise I woud expect them to exclude some offers like MSC Specials or Holiday Breaks. This future cruise credit has brought a lot of unhappiness to us in the past (the one you bought on the ship for your next cruise).