stueym

Let’s be clear…..when you book RS it has a price that is set apart from other YC cabins and experience. There are a list of benefits you are buying with that booking including the extra real estate in the cabin and balcony. The guaranteed cabana is part of that set of perks. Would it be reasonable for other people to think they should have use of the lounge in my suite, because I am in another part of the ship….no. So here’s the deal….there will always be classes of benefits based on the fare/experience booked. I know how much of a premium I am paying for RS, just like you might know how much of a premium you are paying for a YC experience compared to someone who only booked (and paid for) an Aurea suite and experience.

You beat me to the reply 🙂. Yes I investigated this too. We have a January cruise in the opposite configuration of rooms and when I reviewed it, 15010 balcony door can be opened, but they would have to come through the slider into the bedroom of 15008 (Royal suite) through the connection to the lounge and then use the slider to access the front royal suite balcony and hot tub. Probably wont be a huge issue for us as a group, but certainly not openly accesible..

You guys are not paying attention to where MSC sees its growth coming from. It is absolutely Global even for their Caribbean product. 1. They are extending their operations into linkage air operations. They were partners with Lufthansa in trying to acquire ITA Airlines (The nationalized bankrupt Alitalia). They have gotten into air freight too to match their ocean container operations. Expect to see more investment and partnering joint ventures in air operations to link their other (cruising) products. 2. They are a MAJOR anchor sponsor of Formula 1 with trackside bill boarding at every race this year. F1 has seen huge growth in the US market and internationally over the past few years due to the very popular Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ series and the demographic in that growth trends young due to the attraction of the age of the star drivers. Now you might not be into Motor sports, or pay attention to F1 (carried in the US by ESPN using the UK Sky Sports team’s broadcast), but believe me it is a high end product with luxury brand connotations for decades. Interestingly in a number of the Asian races, they switched the branding from the MSCCruises branding (Familiar navy white that we all know and love) to the yellow and black MSC shipping logo. That tells you a little about how they view the their branding in the respective geographical markets. 3. They tied up with the World Cup to position their ships in Qatar as floating hotels. Guess who is staying in Yacht Club on the World Europa?….the wives and girlfriends of the England soccer team. It’s safe and provides them luxury and privacy in a way that might otherwise be difficult to achieve given all the high end hotels are already full of the teams , their support staff and the associated hangers on. Expect that their very heavily trafficked Instagram and twitter feeds will be heaving with beautiful shots of our gorgeous MSC ships pools, bars and Swarovski staircases. You think MSC don't know the reach that gives them to a young affluent experience seeking audience….? All that to say this Scotsman living in the US for tha past 20 years loves MSC’s entertainment. It is much more akin to traditional European style variety shows rather that broadway musical’s. That style of show might have long passed in the US TV environment and be seen as a relic of the 60’s and 70’s, but believe me the format is enormously popular around the world. Just watch some of the most popular weekend evening TV shows in Latin America and Europe and you will still find traditional variety music and dance performance shows. I particularly like some of the ballroom dance performance. Those dancers are athletes and if you know what you are looking for are often championship winners from that realm of the dance world.