jules815

Sailing on Mera in October. Anyone else have a problem with this stop being on the last day of a 7-day cruise (eastern Caribbean)? I know they have to share the island with other ships, so it depends on their itineraries too. Shame they couldn't flip OC and Nassau, making Nassau the last day. Or better yet, skip Nassau completely and dock at Ocean Cay for the last 2 days. 😄  I really want to enjoy our day at OC, but on the last day, I know I'll have packing on my mind. Unfortunately, a B2B isn't possible for us this time.

15 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm interested in how you know this information. We're waiting to see what happens with two European cruise later this summer and we'd love to know what's up. Our TA also mentioned the 16th so I'm assuming MSC plans to make some sort of announcement.

Wondering if that will also be the day their "Travel Requirements and Protocol" link on their website for Caribbean and the Bahamas will finally be working. It's been Coming Soon... for a while now.

1 minute ago, jules815 said:

Isn't Mera supposed to do shorter cruises during July and August?

Correcting myself...

Just checked out their website, 3-4 night cruises beginning in August??

6 hours ago, sidari said:

Heard from our friends who were due back onboard in early July, they have been told that July and August cruises will be cancelled and their new boarding date is likely to be early September with cruises starting mid month ... 😱

Isn't Mera supposed to do shorter cruises during July and August?

On 6/12/2021 at 11:09 AM, molly361 said:

Go see the Loyalty Ambassador when you get onboard for the second one and they will take care of it for you

This. We turned Diamond on the first week of a b2b, and the Loyalty Ambassador took care of everything.

18 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I have found that Sorrento's pizza is substantially upgraded.  I enjoyed the last time I was on Liberty.

MSC has the best pizza (for a cruise ship) that we've ever had. 

1 hour ago, phissy said:

Went to MSC site, clicked on On Board then drinks packages. There is a bold print Drink Comparison Chart , click on that. 
For Caribbean -Winter- looks like speciality coffees are included. 
Mini bar is listed under YC amenities. 
did notice that those who purchase Premium Extra- website shows not included in Specialty Restaurants. 
If I click on it under our cruise booking add on section, it does say included in Speciality and Ocean Cay. 
I still find it interesting that MSCis trying to sell us drink package on our YC booking.

Thanks, I'm going to have to check out the website. 

When we were on Seaside in 2019, we could get specialty coffees at Venci outside of the YC. Wondering if that's still available to us. I know Meraviglia doesn't have Venci, they have something else similar, but will it be included for YC guests?

5 hours ago, deliver42 said:

The problem with the U.S. Virgin Island ports is the they want 100% vaccinated passengers only to debark.

Problem??

No mini-bar? No specialty coffees??

I have two hotels booked for our cruise in October, but not sure which one we'll stay at yet. We always book early, and the planning for me is part of the vacation. I love it.

I always check out travel websites first for reviews, but always get as good or better rate booking directly with the hotel website. For this trip we decided to treat ourselves and fly down 2 days pre-cruise, so we wanted something on the beach and with a nice pool.  I have 2 booked because our first choice (Cadillac near South Beach) had some cool to luke warm reviews a couple months ago (with photos), although recently they've been much better, so I'm monitoring.  Rates for both places were good though. In fact, after all those bad reviews, the rates went down, and I rebooked and got an ocean front for lower than what we were originally paying for an ocean view.

19 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Since I never had a test I’m curious why you won’t get a nasal swab. I heard they are painful. Is that why?

I've had two. First one was last summer before having a medical procedure. I was more worried about that than the procedure. Piece of cake. Last month I was seen in the ER and they did another one. Didn't even phase me. Maybe minor discomfort for a few seconds, but not painful. It's over so fast.

I did hear that some people on blood thinners can get a nose bleed, so maybe that's why they're against the nasal swab?

2 hours ago, mimi7ccr said:

I'm also waiting with bated breath to hear about our 9/19 cruise out of Port Canavaral on Divina.  It was booked as a 7 nighter.  I hope they aren't going to mess that up.  It's my 83rd birthday!!!   

Well unless they make another change, as of now, looks like you'll be fine. Good luck to you!

On 6/9/2021 at 9:50 AM, phissy said:

Same here. We decided to “push” ours from October to mid November a few months ago.

Wait what? Isn't Mera starting 7 days in mid-September???

38 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

MSC requires testing prior to boarding, another before boarding and then a 3rd during the cruise.

Do we know if this is for vaccinated guests?

11 hours ago, jrapps said:

Isn't MSC the 4th largest Cruise Line company in the world? (Behind Carnival, Royal, & NCL)? Do we just assume it's not major because they don't have a super large US presence?

 

Edit: I just looked it up. They are the 3rd largest, slightly bigger than NCL.

Oh yeah, they're big, I just meant they're not a big player in the US yet. We've only sailed with them once, and I didn't even know about them in the US until I started doing research on NCL Haven. We were looking to try something different, and while looking at Haven reviews, MSC Yacht Club kept coming up. The ship we sailed on, Seaside, was beautiful, and the Yacht Club experience was fantastic. 

We're not happy about them going the unvaccinated route, but we're not sailing until October, so who knows what will be happening then.

27 minutes ago, cured said:

So a port refused to allow passengers to disembark due to 2 unvaxxed passengers tested positive.  A whole ship missed part of their itinerary due to 2 positive tests.  Luckily the other ports did allow them to disembark.

 

But Isn't that exactly what everyone is saying they don't want to happen to their cruises if there are unvaxxed passengers on it? That they will miss ports or their cruise will be cancelled. The Caribbean Islands don't have the kind of health systems Italy has so may be more likely to not allow passengers off the ship. Now we have concrete proof denial of disembarkation of an entire ship due to a couple of covid cases can and will happen.  Makes for a much stronger case to require vaccinations.

Exactly! It will be very interesting to see what, if anything, they'll be doing differently with their ships in the US. 

9 hours ago, cruisegoal100 said:

It's sad that Royal Caribbean apparently will be the only major cruise line that will sail from the US without requiring proof of vaccination. Our concern is simply that unvaccinated cruisers will now be encouraged to cruise Royal which could create a less safe environment on these cruises.

Although not a major cruise line, MSC isn't requiring vaccinations.  Part of their return to cruising statement does say this though:

"Those who are not vaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be subject to requirements such as additional testing, as well as restrictions, which will be announced at a later date. "

So it looks like somehow they're going to find out if you're vaccinated. No idea what the restrictions will be. They're starting in August with only 3-4 day cruises. 7-day cruises will begin mid-September. 

We have a cruise booked on their Meraviglia out of Miami for mid-October. Not really happy about their decision, but we've been canceled 3 times, flights have been changed and we're looking forward to sailing in their Yacht Club again. 

Always fly in the day before, and we still try to get as early a flight as possible so we can enjoy the day at the hotel pool or beach. 

One year we got to the hotel and learned our oldest daughter had forgotten to pack her bathing suits! Really good thing we had the extra time to do some shopping. I'll never forget that.

This part was interesting:

"Those who are not vaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be subject to requirements such as additional testing, as well as restrictions, which will be announced at a later date. "

No restrictions for vaccinated guests?

2 minutes ago, kilkoyne said:

Wow, my cruise is a 7-day on September 25th. Looks like I may luck out.

Looks good! We shouldn't have any changes to our itineraries either (we're 10/16), but I really don't care at this point if we do.

Admin. please remove if this is already posted...

MSC Announcement about the restart of cruising

MSC Meraviglia will kick off MSC’s restart in the U.S. starting August 2, with three and four-night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas. Each sailing will include a visit to MSC’s private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.

Starting September 18, MSC Meraviglia will add seven-night cruises from Miami to the Bahamas and Caribbean, also including a stop at Ocean Cay.

MSC Divina will resume voyages from Port Canaveral on September 16, offering three, four, and seven-night cruises to the Bahamas and Caribbean. These sailings will stop at Ocean Cay as well.

Washington Post. May be a pay wall, so I copied the paragraph below for you.  Article here:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/06/04/royal-caribbean-vaccine-summer-cruise/

"So far, the CDC has approved nine ships for test cruises, operated by Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line and MSC Cruises. Two ships, operated by Royal Caribbean sister line Celebrity Cruises, will go straight to voyages with paying passengers since the company has said it will meet the vaccine threshold. Norwegian Cruise Line, which has not been approved to restart, has said it will initially require everyone on board to be vaccinated."

2 hours ago, Até said:

Any sources you could add?

 

 

Kind of strange that MSC is still selling Meraviglia cruises the first week of July.

 

 

I'm not sure where I saw it, but I definitely read it too. It was a reliable source (maybe Miami Herald??) and it got my attention, because it was the first time I've seen MSC mentioned when they talk about the other cruise lines.

1 hour ago, Cigar King said:

I think I have been healthier these last 15 months, at least in regard to simple things like colds.  Around here, the winter drags on for so long, many people eventually get the crud that just lasts until Summer.  This last winter was great.  I don't know anyone who got the flu, and colds were way down too.  I got one, and actually got over it in a reasonable time.  (two feet of snow, spent to much time helping everyone dig out)  Long story short, I think I will continue to wear a mask, in certain circumstances for a while, regardless of what the rules are.  We just flew, and neither of us came down with anything.  I think the mask may help in some circumstances, if for no other reason than it keeps you from touching your nose.

We've been much healthier too. We were at Menard's today, and I didn't wear my mask; still feels strange, but trying to take the plunge and trust the science.  That said, I can see down the road times where I will mask-up, airport, on the plane, etc.