peder

We were on the other side of the hallway in two cabins and never heard a thing from the sun deck or from our neighbors.

Out of Genoa on the Seashore this June, the age requirement was 7. On the Seascape out of Miami in February, there was no age requirement, just a height requirement.

oh cool, so then you probably have a lot of options if there are no YC inside cabins remaining. 2 Deluxe, 2 Grand Deluxe, 1 Owners Suite + 1 Deluxe, etc.

For some folks it's a dealbreaker to have their kids in another cabin that does not connect. I really wish there was a 2-bedroom YC category.

Nope, they sure don't! 😂 I've watched these pretty closely and on the dates that my schedule is free, it seems everyone else is also looking for these handful of suites on the handful of ships I'm interested in. I've come to accept that for the few room categories that fit my family, I need to be booking pretty far out.

I would like to know why MSC moved away from this concept in the Meraviglia Plus ships (Grandiosa, Virtuosa, Euribia)

Also, check CruisePlum to see when the RS and OS are available.

If it's in your budget, I'd also recommend the Owners Suite. I don't think the deluxe/grand YC suites are great for 3+ folks. I'd actually recommend booking the Aurea suites (the "grand" ones, not the "premium" ones) before a regular YC cabin for your situation.

MSC had changed Virtuosa sailings to the fjords due to "port congestion", so I'm assuming MSC was crowded out of some of their Norway cruises by competitors and/or by ports limiting traffic. Would the same have impacted the Fantasia?

What types of changes would prompt such a late cancellation? Is MSC going to make a strategic change, or did they identify issues after sea trials? I can't imagine that cosmetic issues would prompt MSC to make a decision like this.

It depends. The kids-sail-free promotion doesn't always run, and kids are still subject to port fees and taxes.

Probably will be published sometime before October. You can pretty much expect similar itineraries as late 2023-early 2024, but maybe with different ships/slightly different ports.

Oh that's awesome! A lot of the reviews I've seen have been mixed, glad you had a great time! I'm intrigued by the World America, and its new concept that they've dubbed "The Harbor". Seems like they have a lot of flexibility with this class of ships to adapt them to each market.

On the Meraviglia-class ships there is no bar in the Top 19/Top 20 area. Apparently at times (or as staffing allows) they will have someone up there taking drink orders, but there's no dedicated bar/galley serving drinks right there).

Reviving an old thread, but I've seen pictures that suggest the World Europa's Top 20 Exclusive Solarium has a dedicated bar?

Also on that note, surely MSC is planning on selling the Lirica-class ships at some point? Maybe even the Musica-class ships? Perhaps once Explora builds out a few more ships? It seems like they'd have overlapping itineraries, and I'm not sure that Lirica/Musica ships operate at the scale that MSC seems to be moving toward.

It's been said repeatedly that the two lines will operate independently from each other because MSC wants Explora to consistently deliver better service, and I think that makes sense. But from a corporate strategy perspective, I assume a big reason for operating as two companies is that it makes an eventual sale (full or partial) of Explora or MSC easier. MSC is doing a ton of the heavy lifting to get Explora off the ground, and they probably want to eventually see the benefit of that work. As an example, they may be able to later sell something like 10-20% of the business, then take those proceeds to fund the next round of ship expansion under the MSC label. Of course, they may not ever do that, but typically from a strategy perspective, you'd want to leave as many of those types of options open.

The aft outdoor lounge space is new

At this rate, they'll mass-market Explora so much they'll just re-merge operations with MSC

I had wondered if they were going to end up in the fjords after the Virtuosa had some itineraries modified, but now it's clear the scheduling changes across the two lines are unrelated.

I believe it's just the Virtuosa, but I find it all a bit odd TBH. From where I sit, I don't understand how they couldn't have anticipated the "port congestion", and why that would only impact 1 ship.

I wonder if there are reasons they don't simply jack up the port fees and taxes in these towns. Seems like that would be an effective tool to limit demand.

I just think it's weird that the cruising/travel community treats the fjords differently than everywhere else with respect to cruise traffic and pollution. For some reason, it's rarely mentioned that Alaskan or Chilean fjord cruises should be limited, but the Norwegian fjords are held to a completely different standard. Also, there's a more persistent belief that visiting Norway by sea is somehow less legitimate than by land.

Sure, that itinerary wasn't changed too much, but the June 15th one was completely changed, and MSC isn't offering any kind of price-matching or onboard cruise credits to make up for the change.

Someone on Facebook received an email with their updated itinerary for the August 31st sailing on the Virtuosa: