Buckeyefrank100

I was referring to misleading stories by the news media.

They all do it.

You CAN make it but I absolutely would not attempt it unless you're OK missing it. I personally would never fly in the day of the cruise. You are at the mercy of weather, staffing issues and mechanical issues. Friends of ours didn't heed our advice and missed their cruise a few years ago. We had other friends who were stranded in Mexico for 5 days due to weather.

That is the same situation as us. We were on the Mera under Bella and we received late dining at 8:30. I ran into quite a few Bella that were assigned to the dining option they didn't want.... coincidence or not? There was a big sign outside the dining room that said early dining is full.. No switching. We're booked in Fantastica in a couple weeks and requested early dining. We were able to put in a special needs request for early dining due to some medications my wife is on. I have been confirmed early dining for this cruise.

Very nice hotel in a good location, but the bathrooms are a little different.

We stayed there when our daughter had her beach wedding. The hotel is very nice with a nice rooftop pool area and a walkway across A1A to the beach. The only strange thing about the hotel was the bathrooms in the rooms. There was a window that was covered with slanted wood slats. If someone wanted to, they could look in to see what was happening inside.

We loved Branos Italian Grill in Cocoa Beach

We were on the MSC Meraviglia a couple months ago and had a lot of issues. It was only a 4 day sailing, but there were a LOT of issues... lines for drinks, lines at the buffet, out of ingredients for drinks etc. Due to personal issues we will be unable to go on a previously planned cruise in August so we booked the Seaside for a 7 day in May. I have heard several times that a 7 day is better on MSC so I guess we'll see. It sounds like for the general population that the Mera issues we encountered won't be fixed on the Seaside, correct?

It's sales tax not VAT. Nowhere in the US to my knowledge has anything resembling a VAT

You are correct. It's a Friday and been a long week. They do not have an income tax, but they do have a sales tax.

Yeah it is odd. It has to do with state sales tax. In Florida there is no issue because they do not have a sales tax. Each city / state handles things differently and cruise lines each react differently.

I've heard that bowling is $30 for 30 minutes and the F1 simulator is $10 for 10 minutes.... Feels like their standard is about $1/minute

There are states that make it illegal or difficult for cruise lines to offer drinks under drink packages while in port. One of them is Galveston. Other states will require a sales tax to be charged on the value of all drinks while in that state's waters... Some cruise lines will pay for that out of the package proceeds, others pass that charge onto the customer.

The 2023 menu I found on google shows the tropical treasure section drinks are all $10. As such, yes they would be included in the easy plus package.

Typically the E means you only have Emergency calling available at that time. It happens sometimes when going in and out of service. A reboot typically works to reset the connection when in range.

Drinks on MSC vary in price but are generally priced at either $7 or $10 to fit into the packages. There are some drinks that are $14 or more, but almost everyone can find a drink for $10. You'll just need to weight out how much you'll drink and whether it's worth it or not.

How are the lines for drinks during the day? Are they experiencing shortage of anything at bars?

This isn't only a Carnival issue. We're booked on the Icon OTS and a cabana at Coco Cay is $1500 for the day. It's everywhere.

I know for the Icon, it's $87.99 today and has been since we booked.

You generally will not know until you get your room key. It's listed on their. If you're booked with Bella experience you likely will not get your preferred. We talked to quite a few people who were given the opposite of their preference. It started to feel a little like they were intentionally doing it.

Not a true statement at all. Some ports do have different lines and some do not. We have done both and never had an issue or delay getting off a ship. If it takes a little longer... it's like 2 seconds.

Be careful you know what you're getting with the dining packages. There are generally limited options for selection on the packages unless you want to pay even more for higher level food. Also be prepared for walkways closed causing traffic issues, long lines at the buffet / bars and out of stock items. Hopefully you don't have the issues we did. On a positive note, the app on the ship wasn't bad at all actually.

and what do you expect RCCL to do for the entertainer?

If you're Diamond Plus you obviously know that there is no cruise line (not just Royal) that will refund or give a future cruise credit for an issue like this. I am earnestly praying for the healing and ability for them to cruise. I have been in that exact situation when a friend of my son's couldn't go and he lost the cruise fare and airfare. It really stinks, but it's not a compassion issue and all lines are the same. It's too late for this trip but travel insurance is the only way to guarantee recouping of funds this close to travel.

On our sailing I didn't see fresh Mozz anywhere for the entire cruise and their pizza wasn't all that great. Almost every time we got pizza, we had the option of pizza with crust and cheese (no sauce) or pizza with crust and sauce (no cheese). And the flavor wasn't there for me either.