Illbcruzn4life

On 4/21/2024 at 12:02 PM, dbrown84 said:

does MSC, especially the Seashore, have made to order stations in the buffet for lunch/dinner?  I'm thinking pasta station, stir fry, or noodle bar.  I'm assuming they have omelet/egg stations at breakfast

On Seashore they had an omelet station. Only 3 choices. Ham,cheese, and something that looked like pico. 
 

they had a fried rice station at the buffet.

On 4/18/2024 at 5:53 AM, 80sGal said:

Wait, what?  Our status match went through about a month ago and our 1st cruise is in October.  My account still shows the same balance due as before we got bumped to Gold.   Do I have to call to have the discount credited?  

Good luck. Some of the phone reps are not very good.

On 4/17/2024 at 10:13 AM, Fergus said:

I would recommend making yourself an MSC account.  I did that at the same time as booking my cruise and, even though it's not the sleekest/best functioning website out there, I've been able to book excursions, purchase a drink plan, look up port times, and get lots of information about the ship.  And as of this past weekend, did our online check in.  I think all of those things will save us time once we board the ship.

Was the drink package more expensive buying it after you had already booked?

Was on Seashore from 4/14 to 4/28. Had the lobster tail and filet both weeks. Wasn’t charged extra.

Was on Seashore from 4/14-4/24. Still the same muster drill.☹️👎🏻

8 hours ago, squigglydownunder said:

Keep in mind that Ocean Cay is closed for upgrades but only for 46 days.

That doesn't feel like sufficient time to increase dock/turnaround area for a second ship to me.

Scheduled to reopen May 23. They are making the dock bigger to accommodate the World America

10 hours ago, jcollin said:

Just off the Seashore.  What we thought (4 of us) were the good and not so good things.

Good:

Embarkation - We had Aurea so we went through the priority line about noon time,  Didn't really need it as the lines were small at that time. Total time from arriving to on the ship was less than a 1/2 hour.  The room keys are in a little envelope hanging on your door.

Dining room - We ate in the Manhattan room. The service each night was great.  The food was good as well.  We always sat in the same area each night.

Room - we were on the 15th floor.  Our room was cleaned pretty quickly in the morning, and we also had turndown service each night.

Cocktail bar on deck 8.  The best drinks we had. Some we had to pay extra for as our package only covered up to $10.  The jungle bar was fun too but humid. We also liked the sports bar.

The Spa - It's nice and not crowded.  We enjoyed the saunas and steam rooms.  We made reservations the first day but just walked in at other times with no issue.

Hola Tacos - specialty restaurant - we did the all you can eat.  It was $42 for two and the food is outstanding, great service too.  

Top 19 - Great place to relax.  Hardly anyone up there and tons of room.  It did get really hot as there is little to no shade.  The two hot tubs are a good size and were empty most of the time.  

The rectangle shaped hot tuns on 8.  They are on both sides of the ship so one is in the sun and the other shade.  They aren't super-hot but they were the best tubs on the ship.  They are right against the glass overlooking the ocean.  It was fun to sit there and look out over the ocean.

La Cabaret Rouge - Fun spot we stopped into before the 9:30 shows.

Disembarkation - They do want you out of your room at 7 which seems early, but the process was smooth.  We ate breakfast, went to Cabaret lounge and about 15 mins later our number was called. We walked off grabbed our luggage with no issues.

 

Not so good

The buffet - The food is fine, but this is your only option on embarkation day as well as port days.  The area for the buffet is big but trying to shove 5000+ people in there doesn't work.  Why no dining room for lunch?  One of the enjoyable parts of cruising is having someone wait on you for meals.  Lunch felt like we were back in school visiting the cafeteria.  

Breakfast service, or lack of - Breakfast was served in Central Park.  It was complete confusion each day.  I think we had 10 different people from that start to end of breakfast one day.  None of them knew what the other was doing.  One day we had already ordered and yet we got menus again.  Coffee refills were hard to get.  Orders were usually missing something.  They had plenty of wait staff but couldn't seem to figure out a process that works.

Muster - It's bad.  We went to our room to watch the video, that never came up on the TV.  Then we joined the mad rush, on the stairs, to our muster station to have our cards scanned.  Here's a tip - Only 1 person needs to make the trip.  Just bring both cards and they will scan them.

The elevators - We actually had no issue with them.  Just select the floor you want for the number of people, in our case 4 for 15.  We heard lots of other people complaining about them.  I think it would help if MSC stationed a few of their team near the elevators on day 1 to tell people how they work.  It was close to the last day and someone jumped on our elevator and asked is this going to 16.  Someone said did you select 16 and they seemed confused by the question.

 

Overall, it's hard to have a bad time on a cruise.  This was our 3rd on MSC and we would do another.  We heard lots of people talking about how nice  the Meraviglia was so maybe we'll try that next.

We were also on the same cruise and couldn’t agree more with the dining room. Breakfast was like the keystone cops. We didnt have as good of luck with the elevators. So many times one person hit the button and 6 pushed in. Wrote on the survey to post instructions at the elevators.

10 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Glad it worked well for you. The MCO reserve appointments really make that airport a breeze. Hope you had a good cruise!

The best part of clear at MCO is it's free. The cruise was excellent.

Thanks again

Thanks for that tip on using clear at MCO. Used it today after our 14 day cruise on MSC Seashore. Got us right through when the regular lines were 13-17 minutes.  on the app it says you have 10minutes on either side of your reservation to make your appointment. We showed up abou 30 minutes early and they let us go right through.

So thank you again! Much appreciate the tip!

11 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

No they do not.

tyvm. I didn't think so either but somebody else said they did. 

13 hours ago, Biker19 said:

The flier seems to have moved back to a previous link https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Promotions/rci_sales_event_USD.pdf

 

Very short this week with no bargains.

maybe they ran out of ink.

I was under the impression that was stopped.

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

As a first time cruiser, I would recommend using those free valuable resources that a TA or PVP provide.  PVP is personal vacation planner, basically are people that Carnival has work with clients (kind of a Carnival TA) but only deal with Carnival.  In either case they have great knowledge base and are free,,,

Agreed

On 4/4/2024 at 9:46 AM, Mum2Mercury said:

We always go with My Time Dining.  About a year ago we took a last-minute bargain cruise and were forced to take Traditional Dining ... it was okay, but it reminded us why we prefer My Time.  

 

Best practice is to make reservations (in the phone app) as soon as you reserve your cruise ... then change the time, if you want, later.  Most people want the earlier time slots, and they do fill up.  If you arrive a bit early /a bit late for My Time reservations, they'll work with you ... but if you don't have reservations, you'll wait. 

We always take my time. Last October we went on Oasis and found out they changed my time and we couldn’t eat earlier than like 7:30. Next time we will take early

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

Even in a topic with this much information people still don't understand the difference between Real ID and an EDL.  Baffling.

there is another forum I read and the amount of misinformation is unbelievable. Try to give correct information and nobody believes you. (shrug)

2 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

Carnival has really been testing the water with price increases. 12 half liter water bottles for 14.95 plus 18 percent delivery fee. Remember how water was going to be fairly priced after they banned bringing your own? I have noticed a huge markup for balcony rooms over interiors so I have decided interiors aren't that bad at all. Choices are good ! 

I hear you. With us both being retired now I'll take an inside cabin versus staying home any day.

2 hours ago, DukeASUGirl said:

During working hours, which also happen to be school hours. Both parents have to take off from work, and sometimes it might necessitate two different appointments in order to get the entire family handled, if you don't want them to miss important classes. For example, my husband and I will both be going to the post office twice next Friday in order to get my kids their passports - the first appointment will be during the younger child's lunch period, then we take him back to the school and sign out the older child during her lunch period. 

 

And the older one is still a year away from being eligible for the 10-yr passport, which means hers will only be valid for 5 years. 

 

Inconvenient, but it is what it is. But that's why we haven't gotten passports for the kids previously, when the only international travel we've done with them could be done with a birth certificate. Wasn't worth the hassle. Now that we'll be flying to Canada later this summer, we do need a passport. Didn't make sense to get passports 6 years ago for the one 3-day cruise they took in 2018, because we would have had to get another for their 2023 cruise - it would have been a one-and-done.

Your case is what @sparks1093 always says which I agree with him 100%. You did what was best for you and your family under the circumstances. A lot of people think one size fits all.

1 hour ago, TheLargeFamily said:

Yes it's Texas. 

 

I have a sinking feeling right now. Back when I was planning, I googled and found this (attached) which I thought was adequate at the time.  Glad I packed those birth certificates. Wow. 

 

Glad to learn from u rather than at the terminal. 

Well this proves Jimbo's point.

On 2/25/2024 at 8:11 PM, Shidah said:

We are the opposite, we have only cruised NCL because of the free style dining.  Trying our first Carnival cruise and already worried it is a mistake.  We are waitlisted for YTD, but the only option we had was late time seating, which for a variety of personal reasons does not work for us.  I have called a few times each week to see if we got off the waitlist, so far no.  This is literally keeping me up at night and makes me really miss NCL.  

if it doesn't get changed before you cruise go see the maitre'd when you board the ship. Odds are you'll get the change you want.

1 hour ago, hawkinsh said:

What about minors?  What do they need besides a birth certificate?  Can't find it on the Carnival site.

because that's all they need.

2 hours ago, Davechipp74 said:

I never understood why passports are such an issue for people, just get a passport if you plan on leaving the U.S. My 8 y/o niece has a passport, my sister got it for her specifically for a cruise.  

My 4 y.o. Granddaughter just got hers. We are heading to Punta Cana for a week later this summer

10 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I can be more clear.  I am talking about all of them.  While you and I understand the difference between Real ID and EDL and their functionality differences, in regards to travel, we add in Passports and passport cards.  Hoe much mote confusing could it be to occasional travelers.  They were all trying to simplify secure.  
 

Instead we have one designed for air travel, one designed for contiguous birder travel (and oh by the way totally different than the other used for domestic travel).  Then the second oh by the way it is not accepted in all border states. We can wla e passports and passport cards out but they confuse it more. 

Your talk to text seems to be on the fritz.

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Even RCCL cruisers agree with me

who is a Royal cruiser? I can only imagine you are referencing me since I am the only one who liked your post. I'm an equal opportunity cruiser. Even if the ship is butt ugly it is putting butts in the seats and at a very high price. How long that will last is anyones guess. Prices have always been higher for new builds when they start cruising but this is another stratosphere. I for one won't be on her anytime soon. I'll be on the Mardi Gras after my MSC cruise. 🙂

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

They need something to pay for those monstrosities…..other than the absolutely ridiculous rates they charge for Icon.  But when you are doing 1+ ships a year at 2 bill per ship.throwing some free booze at their loyal customers must work….  All that said, if it works for you, it work.  Thanks for the reply.

They’re monstrosities until Carnival builds one. Then they’re the best things since sliced bread.

6 hours ago, skywalkr2 said:

To this point my entire cruising decisions have been based around getting Platinum level.  I am not alone in that.

If you are happy that is all that matters. 🙂