peder

I've read some reports that the table spacing might be different in the Aurea area, and we've personally had great service in Aurea, never finding the oft-derided service from Bella and Fantastica customers.

We haven't sailed with Explora yet, but we really like larger cabins, so for us we were shopping for a Grand Penthouse. But the pricing is all wrong relative to the Ocean Terraces. For us, an Owners Suite or Royal Suite in the MSC Yacht Club is a much better value, so that's where we've stayed for now. Weird though that we should probably be a target customer for Explora and I just can't make the leap.

Precisely, @no1talks. It's ok if Explora isn't for everyone, that doesn't mean it won't work for many. Dude, it's ok if you're not their target customer.

Oh, that's interesting. When I try to do a mock booking, I only see GTY cabins, so I haven't seen this. They make it seem like that category is just a standard size cabin based on the sq ft and description. Also annoying: if we had chosen one of the aft cabins originally, I'm assuming we would have been upgraded automatically to the Sanctuary Collection?

After sailing in MSC Yacht Club and DCL Concierge, I understand the direction that Princess is going, and I'm excited about this change, especially for future classes of ships. We are currently booked on the Sun Princess, which will be our first time with Princess, eager to see the new ship. We are in a Premium Deluxe Balcony cabin, because we liked the idea of the larger balcony and because we knew Princess had up to this point been a more egalitarian line and we wouldn't need suite benefits. We booked with Premier, and we were planning on buying access to the Sanctuary once onboard. But now with the announcement of the Sanctuary Collection, I'm leaning toward switching to a Sanctuary Collection Balcony cabin. It's only a bit more expensive (since we were already planning on buying Sanctuary passes anyhow). But I am not sure I want to give up the larger balcony... Princess really needs more interesting cabin choices like you can find on Celebrity, MSC, NCL, and Royal. I don't think I should feel regret about upgrading to the best offerings, but I kinda feel like I'll hate having a balcony without loungers. Also, why doesn't Princess have any cabins with their own whirlpool? They're prevalent on MSC. And it really seems like their should be a duplex option on the Sphere ships.

Probably some groups in Line app? Or maybe there's a group WhatsApp?

Genoa's a great city, and anytime the port is located that close to the city center it gets bonus points. Very walkable city, and depending on where your hotel is, you can walk to the port.

Good idea for a thread. Seascape/Seashore Aurea sundeck is great with the 2 whirlpools and having its own bar. Thermal spa on Seascape/Seashore is large and very similar to the Meraviglia-class ships.

Makes sense. It's wild when a regular balcony room on another line costs the same as a Royal or Owners Suite on MSC. But despite the low prices for these rooms, you can often find last-minute availability for these cabins (probably in part due to the issue you've pointed out about deposits being too low for these suites and people changing their plans late).

Surely Princess Cruises would be happy to move your cabin (for the appropriate fare difference, of course) to a Reserve Collection Mini Suite without requiring cancel/rebook.

The only difference I'm aware of as someone who has not sailed on any Fantasia-class ships is that 2 of the Family and Executive Suites on the Divina and Preziosa can connect, whereas there are no connecting options on the Fantasia and Splendida.

https://cruiseradio.net/four-msc-ships-will-cruise-from-north-america-next-summer/ No Magnifica in North America next Summer, Seascape confirmed with 3- and 4-night itineraries that the Magnifica had been doing.

Based on this reddit thread: It looks like the 3-day/4-day Magnifica itineraries will be swapped with the Seascape, hence why all the Seascape bookings were canceled. So the Seascape stays in Miami, doing short Ocean Cay + Bahamas + Key West cruises. Given that the Magnifica ends its World Cruise in Marseilles, I'd assume they'll keep the Magnifica in the Western Med for Summer '25.

Yeah, I don't think it's anything concerning, just somewhat surprising and might mean some interesting and new itineraries for some ships.

Magnifica sailings also canceled.

Not until the Fall.

Anyone have a summary of the schedule changes for Summer '25? I thought someone here had mentioned the Divina will be changing? And folks this week received notice that their Seascape Apr-Aug '25 sailings have been canceled. Will the Seascape be heading to Europe for a stint? Or maybe the Canadian Maritimes?

They might say everything is great and they're changing nothing, then suddenly announce a bunch of changes. They just probably don't want to announce things before they are ready to roll them out. But also, yes, they're probably still largely content with their product launch and may not be aiming to make large changes just yet.

Sure, but the fossil market is already captured. Explora's cost of customer acquisition is going to be highest with the fossils. MSC knew before even entering the market that they'd need to find ways to carve out new segments / differentiate themselves, because the market is a very crowded oligopoly that has many substitutes (like Four Seasons on land).

This has been hit-or-miss for years. Depends entirely on your cabin stew and how much they'll go out of their way to help, is my understanding. Maybe try to find a deckhand that openly discusses how much they hate MSC and ask them to bring one down for you 😅

School districts stagger breaks throughout the entire Jan-Apr period. And also, more and more parents will take their kids out of school without worrying about missed days.

jockstock isn't really resurrecting an old thread... it's a rolling list of bizarre issues about MSC.

What ship and itinerary?

Will be in the Il Campo Aurea restaurant space that has been underutilized?

When we sailed on the Seascape we had an amazing cabin steward that was by our cabin several times each day. Very hard worker, always checking in. And not heavy cleaning, of course, but if we stopped in quick to get the kids a quick shower and outfit change after pool time, hit the buffet, then come back a short while later, we'd find that the room had been tidied in between. So I don't think that level of service is a total anomaly.