CruisingNole

Do you work in the Celebrity marketing department?

What a joke.

They don’t need to. As long as you keep booking cruises, what’s the problem? Reading this thread is just sad. I can’t fathom eating at a restaurant, being disappointed, and returning over and over hoping for a different outcome. Take your business elsewhere and force them to do better.

As someone who travels to Europe once a year…where the heck are you going that “way less” than $254.54 per day ($2800/11) covers lodging, transportation, food, beverage and activities for two adults? Sleeping on a dirty floor in a hostel and eating ketchup sandwiches is not an apples to apples comparison to a cruise…yet. 😂

MSC is the cheapest cruise line one could take. Parents with children are typically on a budget. Which cruise line do you think a low to middle-income family would choose…the cheap one or the more expensive one? It’s kind of a no-brainer.

No more Royal cruises this year. Can’t justify the price considering how diminished the product is. Booked on Celebrity next month. Balcony for 4 nights on Silhouette was cheaper than interior for 3 nights on Independence. Same weekend, similar itinerary. And then on to Virgin in November. Maybe they will be better than Royal…maybe not. Won’t know until I try.

I remember shortly after the restart in 2021 the passes were around $70 each and I still didn’t purchase it. Couldn’t fathom paying $200+ I’m 2023.

Eastern Caribbean Antilles - Valiant Lady Nov 18 - 26, 2023 https://virg.in/JVyM

You’ve noticed no decline whatsoever over the past 4 years? Nothing? You’re either not paying attention or you’re fooling yourself. And it’s not just Royal, it’s an industry-wide trend.

No, Royal has definitely had an across the board decline. Without a doubt.

Royal’s recent absurd pricing has driven me to Virgin and Celebrity. I’ll know first-hand next month, but I suspect Royal did me a favor.

Ahhh yes, of course. Verify there are no kosher cruises in January. Everyone knows to do that. Shame on the OP, he/she is completely to blame for this. Come on…

Curious as to why you say this. Did you find that most drinks were included in the regular package and felt the upgrade was not needed?

Based on current reports, it sounds as though sailing YC is the only way to tolerate the MSC sh*t show.

Thank you. I was not sure as the OBC from Celebrity is available now in the cruise planner and OBC from TA is only available onboard. I used some of the Celebrity OBC by upgrading drink package, but there is still a balance left that I was hoping to use for lunch speciality restaurant onboard, and want to make sure that nonrefundable OBC is depleted before the refundable. Thanks again for confirming. 🙂

I have nonrefundable OBC from Celebrity and refundable OBC from my TA. I don’t anticipate using all of it. Once onboard and I make a purchase, will the nonrefundable or refundable credit be used first?

Thanks, appreciate the response. Unfortunately at 6 weeks out, there are no reservations for Murano on any night. I’m hoping they will release more dates/times once we board.

Appreciate the tips everyone. Should we board and there truly are no other reservations available on that day, hopefully they will at least let us move it to another day without penalty. Although I imagine we’d lose the first night discount, which is fine.

I’m sailing Silhouette in March. Murano is already booked solid and the only reservation I was able to get is 9pm on day 1. I prefer to eat at 6pm - 7pm so the plan is to go straight to the restaurant after embarkation to try to get a reservation earlier in the evening on that same day. If there is no wiggle room and they can’t give us an earlier reservation, will they typically issue a refund?

MSC is a budget cruise line. To say the MSC experience is on par with other cruise lines is laughable. The experience, service and clientele…as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

It is currently far cheaper to sail and drink on MSC than any other cruise line that offers a drink package. The Carnival clientele will follow.

Stay classy, Royal.

I’m doing a 4 night on Celebrity in March. The rate was all inclusive and I used provided OBC to upgrade to premium drink package and book a speciality restaurant or two. And it was cheaper than 3 nights on Indy or Mariner once you factored in cost of beverage package and gratuities.

At the moment, a 3/4 night cruise on MSC out of Port Canaveral is far cheaper than what Carnival, NCL and Royal are charging (especially once you factor in the value of the drink package). So in other words, MSC will/has become a dumping ground for the people that either can’t afford or don’t want to pay the price Carnival, NCL and Royal are charging. Something to think about.

Your description of the show made me laugh so hard that I might actually take the cruise just to laugh at it. 😂