MEFIowa

Though you can take your bottle of wine to their restaurants and pay the corkage fee to drink it there. (Your own beer and hard liquor only allowed to be consumed in your cabin.)

You nailed us. Riviera was the perfect ship for our 20-night B2B in the Med last Oct-Nov. Just one sea day. We'll find out if Sirena works as well for 22 more nights in the Baltic starting 8/28. Just one sea day. I damn near went stir crazy on Riviera 12/2021 when we were forced to miss St. Kitts due to a passenger medical emergency that diverted us to Puerto Plata, DR. Added an extra sea day. That 3rd sea day I was ready to jump overboard. Just wasn't enough to do. And we had great weather to enjoy the pool and only 719 passengers, so treated like royalty.

Do keep in mind that you can bring on board at embarkation and in the various ports beer, hard liquor and wine. Drink any such beer and hard liquor in your cabin, BUT you can pay the corkage fee to drink you own wine in their restaurants.

Really, so you don't look at the same TV monitor when you check your individual accounts during the cruise? You tell him to turn his back or leave the room? And please STOP pretending that you have one joint account. You don't. You get your own separate statements! So, couples can do what they want. (You might study the statistics on couples and finances. Those who have shared accounts, those who have individual accounts, those who have a mix of both. This is 2024. Not 1954. So wide variety of practices in regard to finances and financial activities.)

We did 20-night B2B on Riviera as Trieste to Athens and Athens to Barcelona (10-11/2023). We did NOT experience this. Port after port was fine. Very port intensive cruises. We did miss Livorno but diverted to La Spezia due to weather. Our private tour operator cancelled our trip without charge, for they knew the day before it was changed, as did we. (And there was even a national transportation strike that Friday AM. Had fun marching in the parade in downtown La Spezia. Saw the one communist flag and had to "join" him briefly, since we beat them in the Cold War. I was USAF & SAC, and they've never come back to their former glory years in Italy!) We've got a 22-night B2B on Sirena starting 8/28, so hope our luck holds!

Not sure that's O, based on what people even in suites have told me or complained about having to spend. BUT I do chuckle that NCL sends me the Regent Seven Seas booklets and brochures, too. With the name of my usual O contact on the cover. They go...right into the recycling.

You do realize now you're discussing those who neither have nor care about " a budget"? Ronrick1943 mentions BUDGET. And I respond by mentioning BUDGET. So for the REST of us who do have to BUDGET.... Would this be 75% of the cruisers? 90%? I'm not filthy rich and we don't live like plutocrats. I live within my means and my budget.

Though during the cruise IF you go to the TV menu and look at your statement, you'll be seeing YOUR statement and HER/HIS statement, two different statements, tied to how each is using their own World Card. You don't see just one statement tied to your room. It is good to keep in mind that IF you want to, you can use the World Cards in a way that works best for you as a couple so you feel comfortable each day with your then current statement.

Our theory is go for the airfare and cabin in our budget that lets us do the most before, during and after the cruise. We cruise to really see and do fun things in fantastic places. So, we'd rather save a lot on our cabin to spend 3 nights each before and after the cruise in some wonderful city (e.g., Venice & Barcelona last year) and do some amazing private excursions (to Ephesus & Rome). We've got 3 nights in London and 3 nights in Copenhagen for our upcoming Sirena cruise in the Baltic. And that budget has to include any expenditures on board, too, like drinks. (We bring our own alcohol on board.)

Keep in mind that: "All onboard purchases and services will be billed to your onboard account. You will simply present your [O] World Card whenever purchases are made. ... [O] will issue you an [O] World Card. This card will serve as your boarding card, stateroom door key and onboard account charge card. Your World Card also serves as your shipboard security ID and as the ID required to embark and disembark the ship." You can see your respective balances on the TV monitor daily and you'll each get a "Preliminary Statement" printout before the end. And you can each then get a final "Statement". How you use your individual World Cards will affect who is charged for what. So, she could use her World Card to pay for $550 in Spa charges but you could also charge $400 to her card and $150 to your card. My wife and I prefer to stay on top of who is getting charged for what to balance out the amounts during the cruise rather than any reconciliation at the end. But that's us. (Must be my MBA and her being a Dental Hygienist? We like to track things carefully.) Pulled out one of my old Preliminary and final Statements. See on 11/25/22 we both were charged $113.40 at a Boutique. I think this was for something my wife wanted.

We've sailed Riviera 30 nights since 12/2021. 10 nights each in B3, A4, and A3 cabins. The first 10 nights in an A4 pre-refurbishment, W Carib. The other 20 nights were B2B, A3 then to B3, in Med 10-11/2023, post-refurbishment. A BIG plus for Riviera is that unlike Marina she has the big T-shaped therapy pool in the forward spa area. "Free" for A and higher cabins. Loved to sit in it after a hard day's excursions at around 5:30 pm. While wife got ready for dinner. Met a lot of interesting people there! The B & A cabins are identical in size and layout. The A gets you the various amenities. Being able to make specialty reservations BEFORE the G-B can mean you might get the type table and time/day you want. I did enjoy the Concierge Lounge to read various daily printed out newspapers (from Canada, UK, and USA). The laundry rooms on passenger decks work wonders for long cruise. We did those 20 nights B2B starting from 3 nights in Venice and ending with 3 nights in Barcelona. Think we did laundry 4 times. Day 2 and day 19. then 2 in the middle, like Days 8 & 14. I'd get to the one on our deck about 0650 and get right in, but I'm always up early.

I wonder if a bit of commonsense has been lost as people talk past each other and avoid the obvious realities. First, the smaller R-class ships are in their own world. Only 630 or so passengers. Second, even the larger O-class ships and Vista are NOTHING like the megaships. Bit over 1200 passengers. It makes almost no sense to compare smallish ships to behemoths. Third, some of MSC's ships are floating cities! MSC World Europa is 216,000 tons! 2600 staterooms. MSC Euribia is 184,000 tons. 2400 staterooms. MSC Grandiosa & Virtuosa are 181,000 tons. 2600 & 2400 staterooms respectively. MSC Meraviglia & Bellissima are 171,000 tons. 2200 staterooms each. I'm scratching my head trying to think how one could or would validly compare any of the MSC ships I've mentioned even to Vista. Tiny in comparison. You can't expect nightlife or entertainment or passengers or experience to be similar in such different environments. Anyone who craves the megaship experience isn't going to like O. BUT then when it comes to those ships my first thought is usually, "I wonder how much urine is in their pools and waterslides?" That's just me.

Just curious, what cabin level? G-B? A? PH?

For our upcoming Sirena voyage the dress code is discussed on p. 4 of the Welcome Aboard: "ONBOARD DRESS The ambiance on board is casual yet elegant throughout the cruise. Country club and resort-style attire are appropriate for both men and women. In all evening dining venues, we request that guests adhere to the country club casual dress code. Shorts, casual jeans, t-shirts, athletic footwear and sandals are not permitted in the [GDR], Red Ginger or Tuscan Steak. However, as [TC] and Waves Grill exude a resort-casual ambiance, dressy shorts and casual shirts may be worn at these venues. Tank tops and swimsuits are not appropriate attired for any of our onboard restaurants at any time. We recommend casual and comfortable attire when going ashore, with a particular emphasis on appropriate footwear, including good walking shoes and in some destinations, reef-walkers and beach sandals. Some tourist sites may require specific attire. Please consult with Destination Services located on Deck 4 for more information."

Classes, segregation, exist on airplanes because the airline creates it. Not all did or do. Have you flown on say a Southwest 737? Either now or back in the day? And we know why airlines create the various classes. To maximize their profits. You pay a lot more to get a little more. They pocket the difference as profit. And, no, I don't ever fly business class or 1st class. We're both in the same airplane going to the same place. In a relatively short period of time. I'd rather save the money for the destination.