freeholdfriends

We just booked the Getaway for the Baltic cruise this August. We have previously cruised on Princess and Carnival. Our package includes 4 speciality dinners. While looking at some sample menus ,I noticed that there are a la carte prices. Do you pay to get in the restaurant and then again for the food? I assumed 4 dinners meant free. Can someone help with this? Thanks

No they don't but you can see the matre d.

Thanks thats what I wii do

Hi, I am booked on the Magnifica. I have just been diagnosed with kidney disease and must follow a low sodium diet. Does anyone know if MSC offers a low sidum menu?

What train do we need to take to get to Warnenmunde from berlin. Also is theberlin marriott a good choice for the overnight stay before the cruise?

I think we will only be going there to get on the ship. I just wish MSC offered some sort of transportation from berlin to the port. We are a little nervous about manuvering a 3 hr train ride and the an additional transfer to Warnenmunde

Thank you

We are sailing from Warnenmunde. We can fly nonstop from Newark, Nj to Berlin. We are planning to go 2days earlier and see a little of Berlin. My question is: what is the best way to get from Berlin to Warnenmunde? I saw a train and a bus to Rostock but not to the port. My MSC rep said that MSC does not offer transportation to the port from Berlin. What would experienced MSC cruisers suggest? Should we go in a day earlier tomthe port or are we safe in leaving the daybof from Berlin? We sail at 7pm. Thanks for any help with this.

We are in US and just booked our first MSC cruise directly. The fellow we are dealing with was excellent. He got us a great cabin and when I status matched he prompltly sent us the new discounted price. SO far, so good.:)

Makes sense. Thanks

Thank you for the picture. One question, i expected the solid wall on the right but is that a standard balcony divider on the left? It seems larger and more solid than ones I have had on other ships.

Great to hear that you liked Magnifica. I have only cruised on Carnival and Princess so this will be a very different experience for us. We have been to Europe several times so I think I know what to expect. I love the different cultures and interests. I am Irish so I will talk to everybody. Really looking forward to this trip.

Thanks for the info. Our pvp explained that we would be on the side of the ship for some of the ports but not all. I believe this was the only one of these type cabins available. We are super excited to try a European cruise line. I love the differences. I am now hooked on researching everything MSC. Lol::):)

We have just booked our first MSC cruise. It is for the September 3,2017 Northern Europe cruise. The itinerary is fantastic. It starts in Germany and ends in Genoa. Can any of the experienced MSC cruisers provide me with some info? I am platinum on Carnival so I am doing the status match. On Carnival you can bring one bottle of wine per person at embarkation, can you also do that on MSC? ALso, we have booked Fantastica cabin 10190. Has anybody ever booked this cabin? We realize it is last cabin before the hump so it has a full wall on one end but, it also has a bigger balcony. Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks

MSC will match your loyalty status from most major cruise lines and hotels,,here is a link that will help you get started:

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en-us/MSC-Voyagers-Club/Loyalty-Match-Program.aspx

Thanks. I am platinum with Carnival. I will check if this is a match.

I am new to the MSC site. We are looking at booking the British Isles cruise in August of 2017. So, I keep seeing something called a status match. Can someone describe what this is? It sounds like they honor your status from other cruise lines but I am not sure of that. If so, what cruise lines do they match? Thanks for any info.

I don't know about texting but you can use facebook messenger. However that means everyone you are messaging needs to be on the plan. Or you sign off your phone and they sign on to get the message and reply.

If I get the fb package can I message my kids back home? I am really being dense on this feature. Thanks for any help

We are also looking atvthis excursion. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have really enjoyed your writing. Very entertaining. I must ask you if you have ever been to NJ? The BEST pizza you will ever taste. We have thick crust, regular NY stle and my favorite, the thin crust. We found it to be better than the pizza in Italy.

We have been on two ships with Serenity...Sunshine and Miracle. sunshine is pretty but the two upper decks face the movie screen so it can get noisy. We absolutely loved the Miracle. We spent hours out there and enjoyed every minute. We loved the spirit class ships.

Enjoyed your review but would have liked to have seen a different Ship reviewed for Carnival which would have made it more of a fair and balance review.

 

The Elation would be more in line with Royal's Monarch of the Seas. Also, five night cruises are, in general, Party Ships and attract a different type of passenger make-up! The Elation is a completely different experience than a Spirit Class, Conquest Class (more in line with Navigator) and especially the Dream Class Ships such as the Breeze.

 

I was very surprised that you found the service not good nor anything special about the Crew on the Elation. Although I've never been on that Ship I have sailed Carnival many, many times and always found the Staff and Crew to be very friendly and wonderful and had received very good service.

 

IMO, HAL is above both lines in food quality, service, etc.

 

I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience on the Elation. My recommend would be to give them another try either on a Spirit Class Ship or the Breeze! :)

I agree. I have been on many Carnival cruises and have found that it is very good value. I have only cruised on Princess and Carnival but we are booked on HAL for Alaska this August. we did the 12 day Med on the carnival Sunshine last year and it was fantastic.

We are looking forward to a more upscale cruise on HAL but we are also paying a lot more.

We stayed at the Hotel continental this past September and it was not pleasant. Our room was not that clean, the bathroom was a flood zone and the food on the buffet was not changed during the 36 hours we were there. It was gross. On the plus side, the location is marvelous and the on tap beer and wine was fine. We had a basic room so maybe a slightly upgraded room would be better.

We sailed the Sunshine this past June to Italy etc. We loved it and had a great time. It was everything we expected and more. We are not picky and can overlook minor issues. I am not sure what the negative reviews are all about but we would not hesitate to sail her again.

We were also on a Med cruise in late september. The only issue we had was that it was a leaky ship with multiple pails and some wet carpet. But, the overall ship was great. We had a fantastic trip and would go again in a heartbeat. The food was good and the staff was superior. You will have a great time.

The only chance for the gazpacho is if they add it to one of the Mexican port of call menus.

I didn't care for the fruit soups but we absolutely loved the gazpacho. I looked forward to it on every cruise.

I am having a hard time with the naked tables. I wish they would leave the tablecloths on the table to look like fine dining and not like the tables on the lido deck :rolleyes:

I agree. I like the new food options and service ideas but the tables look like Applebees.

We went on the sunshine this past september. It was a fantastic trip. We spent 3 days in Paris and then flew to Barcelona for a day and then the cruise. Our itinerary was one of the best I have ever seen. We stopped on Monaco, rome, Naples, Florence, Venice for two days, dubrovnik and finally Messina and then back to Barcelona. We realized we would only get an overview but that was fine for us. we had never been to Europe so this was a wonderful way to sample many places. We know that we want to go back to Paris and Barcelona and Naples (Amalfi coast)