CruizinSusan70

If you have a package, you get two visits per person for the 3 course meal over the course of your cruise. If you have standard, then you'll have to pay for the good pizza.

All drinks on the evening special menu at Good Spirits at Sea are covered by the Plus package. That's all we care about. And most of these drinks are not made with basic brands.

If you ever need to spend OBC, you can go to Cherry on Top and buy gift cards and use that on a future cruise towards your deposit.

For only those booked with standard fare.

If there's a loophole, you need to plug it.

I understand where you're coming from, but it's in the terms and conditions from the various cruise lines that things can change such as port stops and nuisances on board and their butts are covered. Does it stink, yes, but only you can decide if the changes are bad enough to make you change cruise lines. Peruse the various threads, there are unhappy campers on multiple lines.

Your options are not decreased. If you have the plus 60 or premier 80 package, you can visit Alfredo's either two times or unlimited times and get the 14.99 prix fix menu of 3 courses of your choice. If you have the standard fare, you can go to Alfredo's and if you don't want the 3 course meal, you can get a pizza a la carte and pay whatever they are charging. Supposedly it's 8.50 on the older ships in the fleet and it's been reported as both 8.50 as well as 12.50 on the newer ships in the fleet. I saw the 12.50 charge on another thread.

Great choice. St Maarten is great since you have the Dutch and the French side, it's like two port stops in one. Make sure you do a tour that also stops at Maho beach so you can see the planes land. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC4ef6A437I You also have the option to fly into Miami or Fort Lauderdale

Not gonna happen. It's an overpriced 14 day cruise out of Baltimore on a 21 year old ship that has 8 sea days and makes 3 port stops in Canada and 2 port stops in Greenland. Doesn't stop in Iceland.

I sent our next 5 cruises in for approval back in May or June via fax for sailings between 9/2023 and 5/2024. Got rejected for the first time. Sent them in again a few weeks later, got rejected a second time. Waited a few more weeks and sent them in via email. Got approved in 36 hours. And this was on slightly discounted rates from my TA, not heavily discounted gambler rates that sometimes get approved.

No, not at all. Cheers is charged every day of your cruise unless you embark from Galveston or NYC, then the first day is pay your own and Cheers starts on day two at 6:00 AM.

They dress a bit more fancy in the YC. Shorts were not allowed in the YC dining room at night, at least when we were there in 2018.

No, you'll be gold and then you go to Diamond, but you need to cruise on MSC once every 3 years in order to not lose your status. We cruised on then back in January of 2018 on the Seaside when she first came over in the Yacht Club in an inside at a great rate. We gave them another shot last month on the Meraviglia out of Brooklyn. We stayed gold the entire time because the three year rule was on hiatus during the shutdown. Having gold this time meant nothing. The first time we got invited to a great cocktail party with the Captain and we got our picture taken with him. Back then if you were Diamond, you got a solid chocolate replica of the ship. That perk has disappeared I believe. At this point MSC is in our rear view mirror. Our new line of choice these days is Princess. Their plus package is 60 per day and you get their drinks package with included tips, wifi and gratuities all included. That same package would cost about 103 on Carnival.

Right now it's totally free with hour long waits at lunchtime on a sea day. In the future the majority of those cruising with the standard package will no longer visit so that eliminates a good percentage of possible visitors. Also, some package people may want to use their prix fix meal at a different casual option on board such as Salty Dog or O'Malleys. Besides, since they have a la carte options on the menu and if the manager makes an arbitrary rule that everyone that gets a seat must make a purchase, then the second person gets a 3.00 dessert and the first person uses their prix fix option.

No, because the Crown Grill is a prix fix only per person charge with no a la carte pricing. Whereas Alfredo's will be offering a la carte pricing and the one menu I saw posted on another thread did not have any fine print that disallowed sharing. So, if sharing is indeed allowed, then two people could split the 14.99 meal for lunch. If they insist on two people paying, then the second person can order a 3.00 dessert and the first two courses could be shared.

RCI wishes that they had a venue for free that had the quality of food that is at Alfredo's. I've spent 4 weeks on Princess within the past 15 months and 7 weeks on RCI over the 30 years. The pizza at Sorrento's is a joke and is the worst pizza between Princess, Celebrity, NCL, MSC and Carnival. You have purchased the Plus package, so you will be able to visit Alfredo's for free twice and possibly 4 times if you wish to share the 3 course meal for lunch. And I assume you have read that RCI sent a letter out inquiring if their loyal cruisers would pay for the garbage they serve at Sorrento's.

From what I understood, the green or blue means nothing to suites and Elites regarding embarkation, only check in. After the initial check in process, you still go to the suites/Elites waiting area and you still embark onto the ship prior to the general public. If John Q public checks in @ 10:00 and embarks onto the ship @ 11:15, while the suites and Elites because they may be blue check in @ 10:40 and embark @ 11:00, who is getting on the ship first?

That's how much it costs to activate your app. What part of the anti Princess mountain are you planting your flag that makes you so disgruntled as to no longer cruise on Princess? Otherwise known as which change are you most upset about? I chose the 14.99 since the $5.00 room service charge is eliminated if you pay the 14.99. Or did you visit Alfredo's every day and now since it's become a casual pay location instead of complimentary, that is where you'll fly your flag?

No, but just the best (at Alfredo's)

From looking at your cruise history, you're going to abandon Princess over a 14.99 charge?

All you need to do is purchase the plus60 package and you get 2 visits per person. If you split the meal, you get 4.

To the OP....best of luck and enjoy your cruise. Just beware that you are comparing an apple to an orange for the most part. You're sailing in the Yacht Club, which Carnival has nothing on any of their ships to compare to. The Yacht Club is the ship within the ship concept similar to the Haven on NCL, the Retreat on X, and the Star Class on RCI. The closest thing Carnival has is the Havana area, but that is just a private area with hot tubs and a pool, nothing like a closer comparison that the other cruise lines I mentioned have.

And the OP will be staying in the Yacht Club, which is a bit dressier than Class 2 (Aurea) Class 3 (Fantastica) & Class 4 (Bella). MSC has a four class system on their ships. Just one of many differences between those accustomed to cruising on a US based line versus a European one.

The status match with MSC means nothing unless you are Diamond on Carnival and match up with MSC's Diamond, which gives you a free specialty dinner. The other levels really don't give you anything of importance

If you add Cheers and also are able to get the wifi/easy plus drinks combination on MSC, then MSC comes out way ahead. We were on the Meraviglia last month and our all in was 799 per person including taxes, wifi and the easy plus drink package. Carnival can't touch this unless you're a gambler. But, we'll still choose Carnival every day of the week and twice on Sunday when compared to MSC. Have 25 on Carnival and another 5 booked. Did MSC twice, including Yacht Club.