Jeal

Thank you so much for this review. We are going on our first cruise with MSC on the Seaside and appreciate the wealth of information you provided.

kelleherdl - many, many thanks for the info. I appreciate it. If you think of anything else a first timer on MSC needs to know please let me know. We are excited to try MSC.

Port Canaveral - Orlando. I’m fine boarding at 2:30 but my husband likes to go early.

We are going on our first MSC and booked an Aurea balcony. Since we only booked this cruise today and it leaves next week our boarding time says 2:30. The Aurea benefits say priority boarding. Does that mean we can board whenever we arrive?

Thank you wowzz, VibeGuy, ldtr, and Mowogo for responding. I appreciate your taking the time to respond and your knowledge!

It’s doubtful that we would cruise 28 days a year on CCL.

Soooo - is this a good time to buy 100 shares of CCL stock?

Gelato was not included - only the Premium sundaes. The Sky Princess did not have the cakes.

JimmyVWine - that is exactly how it was! Truthfully, although we like Princess, we will book our next cruise on a different line. For the first time in a long time we did not put a deposit on a future cruise.

Sea Hag - I agree that it was terrible and there was no good reason for it. It would have saved them money if they allowed us to just get a scoop of gelato.

I don’t know the date but it was after the price increase in the packages.

MissP22 - I agree. I asked Guest Services about this and they said that was how it was rolled out. brisalta - those cakes weren’t available in the International Cafe nor anywhere else on the Sky Princess.

We were on the Sky Princess March 11-18. The Premium desserts were good when you could get them. Because we had booked our cruise after the price increase our package did not include single or double scoops of gelato - just the Premium dessert sundaes. The sundaes were made with gelato. A few times we were unable to get the sundaes because the glasses they serve them in weren’t ready and they refused to use any other dishes. Honestly, we didn’t think they were worth it. We would much rather just get a scoop of gelato in the flavor we liked even if we have to pay for it. There weren’t any cakes included in the package.

I did tell the gelato guy not to include the candy and he was fine with it. I also skipped the whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yesterday, they did not have not any sorbet. According to the gelato guy, they only have mango and the sorbet is not part of the Premier package. Time will tell. I am not complaining - just telling what my experience has been. I’m still going to get gelato every day.

I am on the Sky now. Today, the Premier desserts are being made with gelato but with much smaller pieces of candy than the ones pictured on the Princess website. If all you want is a scoop of gelato, you have to pay for it since gelato is not included in the Premier package. Seems crazy to me but that is how they are doing it.

Thank you so much for posting accurate, first hand information about the premium desserts. Hopefully the dessert package offerings are similar on the Sky.

The great thing about these desserts is you are not forced to eat them. There are many other perks included in the package or you can skip the package all together. Some of you commenting on the how unhealthy the desserts are will happily consume a 12 ounce steak without a thought or eat two or three sugar free desserts because they are sugar free. As someone who eats a healthy diet (my whole life) and would not knowingly eat something with artificial sweeteners, has weighed about the same since high school, and walks 2 miles every morning and then another 2 miles throughout the day, I can assure you that I will be trying these concoctions. I’ll let you know how they taste!

Havedogwilltravel- thank you so much for taking the time to post all of this. We appreciate it!

Thank you for your reply txjim09.

We will be docking an hour after the Carnival Vista in Mahogany Bay. Is the beach by the port going to be very crowded with 2 ships in port?

runner15km - Thank you for your input! I appreciate it. I think we may pick a different beach. That beach is small to begin with and I’m concerned about being next to smokers.

Will it be super crowded at the beach in Mahogany Bay if the Carnival Vista is there with us? They get in an hour earlier than us. I’m trying to decide if I need to pay for a Relax on the Beach package or will there be enough free loungers for passengers from both ships?

Do you have an invoice from your original booking? That should show what was included. Look toward the bottom under the cruise fare and taxes. It should be under Payment Details.

I doubt they care - they are usually at the salad bar.

Several times during a cruise we eat at the buffet for dinner and even with the reduced offerings there appears to be plenty of choices. How much can one person eat and how many choices do you need? It bothers me that so much food is wasted on cruise ships. People take more than they could possibly eat and then it just gets thrown away. I would guess less than 10 percent of the passengers eat up there on any given night. We always see a number of staff members.