CruizinSusan70

I will have to infer that you are a teetotaler or a very light drinker. The drinks package on RCI fluctuates because of their dynamic pricing policy and can easily hit over 80 a day. For two people 1100 for 7 days is feasible and substantially more than the 300 that NCL charges for the gratuity. That's 800 more on RCI, so unless NCL is charging more than that for the cruise fare, it's a savings when you factor it all in by sailing on NCL.

The gratuity portion for two people for the drink package for a 7 day cruise is about the 300 you mentioned. But, if you have the sail away rate and buy the drinks package, it's around 130 per day including the 20% gratuity.

The difference is that the drink package on NCL is valid on day 1 out of NYC and Cheers is not valid on day on Carnival out of NYC. Individual drink charges and taxes in general apply across the board, but it's the difference in allowing the packages between the cruise lines that's the debate.

Then you obviously were not alive during their perfect season.

The Ravens could make that same statement, but obviously the 49ers are doing just fine with their third stringer.

Simple. Bayonne is in New Jersey. Totally different rules than New York. As a matter of fact, it's Carnival that follows the rules in NY, while NCL doesn't and allows their drink package. Since the drink package is included as an included "perk" on NCL and Cheers is an a la carte purchase, that is probably the loophole that allows NCL to bypass the NY state stipulations.

Easy solution...only do B2B's so you can be the monopolizer. 😉😉😉

How about the cheap Carnival cruiser who lines up on the last sea day to come up with a lame excuse to remove their gratuities? If rock bottom prices motivate this type of cruiser, then MSC will fit the bill. They are even one step ahead since you can get basic wifi and a drinks package bundled with certain promotions that blow away the price on Carnival factoring in Cheers and wifi.

Step away and quit drinking the Kool aid. MSC will not pass Carnival Corporation mainly because of the diversification and number of companies involved, but they should make inroads versus the Carnival division of the corporation.

The build up that happens in water chambers with regular tap water is because of the impurities that are in them. These are not present in the tap water on board because of the desalination process that the water goes through. Because of this extra step, there would be zero build up if the water from the tap was used in your chamber.

Very easy to do. Just did it from the January 2 five day sailing of the Celebration to the January 8 seven day sailing of the NCL Encore in Miami. Cost us 21.00 with tip for taxi between the ships, but it was very easy.

Eastern.....Amber Cove has the complex next door, St Thomas has nice beaches and a tour to St John would be great which you can also do on your own. San Juan can be a walk around old town or just stay on the Celebration. Trunk Bay in St John is great.

Below is a link for a 15 ft electrical cord from Lowes for less than 5 bucks with tax. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Project-Source-15-ft-16-2-2-Prong-Indoor-SPT-2-Light-Duty-General-Extension-Cord/3135033

My DH has used a CPAP for over 20 years and I have used one for about 6 years. We never use distilled water in our Resmed Airsense 10 machines while cruising or at home. They work just fine. The water chamber gets replaced every 6 months and the occasional build up is cleaned with an old toothbrush every month or so.

Ours are always Black & White.

If we ever got a Cheers offer such as RU1, RU2 or RU3 I would put down whatever deposit they wanted. Since we never get one of their target marketed codes it's a moot point. If you have a 500 deposit because of a solo situation and you need to cancel, the penalty should be 100 and the remaining 400 would be issued as a one year to use FCC. The other option would be to book through a travel agent that has refundable deposits.

We did one MSC cruise back in January of 2018 on the Seaside. We stayed in an inside cabin in the Yacht Club. We enjoyed it, but the entertainment was too European influenced and no piano bar or comedy club was a disappointment. The ship though was beautiful and we're going to give them another shot this July out of Brooklyn on the Meraviglia. Since we now stay in HC cabins, we couldn't stay in an inside HC cabin in the YC because they don't have any on that particular ship. But, the price point was great. About 1600 all in for the two of us with their second level drink package included. If you're interested in a Prima Class sailing out of Florida, the only one for later this year and next is the 12/16/23 sailing of the Viva. Otherwise you'll have to wait till 2025 for the third ship to come out. All of the other Viva sailings are out of San Juan or Europe and the Prima leaves FLA in March.

More than likely true, but MSC could take some of it's older ships and place them in the secondary cruise markets that Carnival monopolizes such as Mobile, Charleston, & Norfolk or with limited competitors such as Tampa & Baltimore in order to have a price war.

Currently booked on an 18 day B2B in November on the Beyond and a 14 day B2B on the Wonder April of 2024. Will wait and see about the Icon Class. Next up is our 14 day B2B on the Prima in five weeks.

In general everybody that is loyal to a particular line is complaining about cutbacks, eliminations, price increases, etc. It's the same on Carnival, Royal, NCL, Celebrity and Princess. If you cruise on the newer toys of each fleet you should have a better time. The Mardi Gras and Celebration are a notch above the rest of the Carnival fleet. Some Carnival cruisers will disagree, but then again they probably have not cruises in comparable new large ships in the NCL or RCI fleets. The Prima on NCL and the Edge Class ships on X all take it up a notch and the cutbacks will be less.

MSC is in the best financial situation and they also have the most new ships in their pipeline coming out in the near future, unlike Carnival which has the Jubilee and the two Sphere Class ships of Princess. MSC is probably the top line sailing over in Europe and they want to cross the pond and expand their presence here. They have four ships currently in the US and will have the Meraviglia sailing out of Brooklyn and will be building a new terminal in Galveston. No word yet about their west coast plans, but it would make sense to concentrate on other geographic areas of the country first to expand their footprint. Their product has a very European flair to it and because of this many who cruise on them after starting out with the US based main stream lines either love them or hate them. They do have great price points and there is a niche for them to expand their presence. They need to obtain first time cruisers as well as seasoned cruisers from other lines that are disillusioned by what their current line of choice is currently offering. In general, none of the big three are going to change their marketing strategies based upon what number four is doing. It's an ambitious goal that they have and with them being in the best financial situation of the top four, they could eventually bypass NCL to climb into #3.

I believe that Diamond members receive white colored cards.

Facial recognition is now also used on Princess, Celebrity, Carnival and NCL. RCI doesn't have exclusivity with it.

Duplicate

The Prima will be home porting in Galveston as of November of 2023 and it's sister ship the Viva will be home porting in San Juan when not in Europe with the exception of one sailing on 12/16/23 out of Miami. The third ship in the class doesn't come out till 2025. Did 11 days on the Prima last Halloween and another 14 the end of next month.