4sallypat

21 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

 

by the time we sailed on Seascape in November 2023, its Casino was non-smoking. It was glorious. We do not use the casino for gambling, but we found that deck to be very convenient for crossing over from aft to forward and back, and their bar to be well equipped.

I hope non smoking casinos are done to the European sailings but I don't hold much hope as Europeans smoke a lot more than US folks.

3 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

If you booked with MSC USA or MSC UK you will get free water in the MDR (usually a pitcher, sometimes bottles). No matter where you sail or what your nationality is. Others have to pay, selling water was always a important source of income for MSC. 

 

Wow, I learned something!

We had free bottled water at the MDR no matter what service (B, L, D) and we did not purchase a drinks package.

Thanks.

14 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

No, non-Americans (most) would love to get a pitcher of drinking water in the MDR, but it is not possible for them on MSC, they have to buy the water bottles in the MDR. 

 

 

Is this on US cruises ?

When we took the Mediterranean cruise, we always had pitchers of water available at all meals in the MDR.

8 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Do they not have the juice machines/dispensers even out at lunch and dinner? Are they just marked as out of order or are they empty?

Juice only at breakfast - buffet or dining room.

Lunch, Dinner, Late night - no. 

Must purchase separately.

If you have access to a lounge, it may be a great way to relax before your flight.

We used the BCN airport post security lounge: Sala VIP in terminal 2 for free using the Priority Pass from our Amex Plat card benefit.

Shower was very nice prior to boarding.

They have relaxation areas for kids too.

You can have you luggage stored at the airport too....

On 9/2/2023 at 2:46 PM, JamieLogical said:

Also worth noting that as Aurea, you can get free continental room service breakfast and have coffee, tea, milk, or juice delivered to your room. Also, in the MDRs at breakfast, servers will come around with pre-filled glasses of various juices.

Fantastica experience also included free breakfast service too but the selections were limited.

I enjoyed getting up at 6am, to photograph the next port, get my coffee and an MSC breakfast treat that just wowed me every single day.

They didn't have too many put out so by 8am when everyone else was up, they were long gone.

Anyone know what this is called ?

Since Aurea offers above the Fantastica experience, you should get free bottled mineral water at the MDR.

Only European cruises have this. 

US sailings no.

Don't forget time change when cruising to Greece!

23 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Well: It seems that current menus are even shorter now, at least on the US sailings.

 

Some few notes: It seems the Chefs suggestion is out of the extra fee. It also seems the risotto plate is gone. And it seems the always available are out of the fee. My best bet is that they're trying to control demand just on some of the most sophisticated entrees to avoid waste and because they might to be very short staffed. They'll give you free reign on the cheaper, less sophisticated things though. I believe we will have a version of this here in Europe, but the pasta dish will need to be out of the fee roll, because a typical Italian holiday meal is on the likes of "starter/soup/salad + pasta/risotto + main course + desert". Portions might to be small, but for a 4 courses meal, that is just more than enough food.

Oh no - risotto is gone?

If this happened on a European cruise, Italians and myself would revolt and mutiny!

Risottos are the best - had 2 plates every night!

1 hour ago, Brighton Line said:

So gone are the stacks 6+ inches high of empty lobster tails at least on one ship?

That makes sense !

Does this happen on US cruises ?

Have not seen this on a European cruise.

43 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

The pasta is the prima course and the fish/ meat dish is the segunda.

 

MSC is used to offering its pasta dishes as the smaller prima course  for those who wish to eat traditionally. 

 

If the pasta is order as the prima, it shouldn't be considered a second entree (segunda). 

I enjoyed ordering 2 appetizers / salads and 2 entrees as the portion sizes were small on a eastern Mediterranean cruise I took in June '23.

If the portion sizes goes up, then I won't have to order an extra salad and entree...

The only surcharge I paid was the T-bone steak dinner I ordered - €15 extra. 

That was the only menu item that had an extra charge in the MDR.

Well worth it - only needed 1 to fill me up.

😆

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

I've been on enough ships to know that not many of us need two entrees.  🙂. Myself included.  

Recently returned from European cruise on MSC Sinfonia and we ordered multiple appetizer / salads as well as entrees because the portion sizes were very small.

Unless MSC increases the size of portions, there will be an Italian mutiny as there are more Italians cruising Europe...

I have ordered 2 risottos and 2 entrees without dessert.

If you disembark at 7am, your luggage will be waiting for you at the port.

The longest time it takes is the line for the group to disembark - when we queued up, there were some who had to be the first in line so they ran from the meeting point to the exit gangway as soon as the group was called.

Make sure you have your cruise cards as they will scan it as you leave indicating to the ship that you have departed.

Daily planner lists solo traveller meet up location and times: 

While all their mains are good, my favorite was a side: risotto.

MSC being Italian does make the best risotto.

I had all their risottos at every meal: mushroom, seafood, vegetable, and my all time favorite: asparagus risotto..

Are you using a mobile or computer web to login/sign on ?

I have been looking at MSC Bellissima for my next cruise in spring 2024.

Looks like winter 2023-2024 is set but further out I can not see any Asia cruises.

Increase Southeast Asian cruises.

Add west coast cruises for west coast folks.

Keep European standards and practice.

15 hours ago, Mark_T said:

The process aims to get a queue formed so they can respond quickly to any cancellations with a revenue optimised chain of upgrades to fill the space.

So which cabin you are currently in matters, as well as which cabin you are bidding on.

 

Actually availability at any point isn't required.

100% correct!

The 3rd party company contracted with MSC lines people up for available upgrades.

People do cancel last minute or move their cruise to another date / ship.

The higher you bid, the more likely you will get the upgrade but once it's done, you can't go back.

12 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Well, the only cruises to Canada you'll find are primarily out of NYC during September and October for fall foliage.  The only west coast Canada cruises would be those that embark from Vancouver or those that stop in Victoria as a foreign port stop that embark from Seattle.

It'll be a few more years till MSC tackles Alaska.  They have their foothold in FLA, are now in NYC with the Meraviglia and will soon be in Galveston.  It'll be baby steps until they infiltrate other ports on the west coast and take on Alaska.

Yes, I agree.  

It will be awhile.

I would gladly take a cruise on MSC from Vancouver up thru the Canadian islands into the Alaskan inner passage and up to Anchorage.

In the meantime, my next cruise in spring 2024 will be on MSC Bellissima - Japan - Okinawa - Taiwan...

Would love MSC to have a west coast port of departure!

Living in California, I'd travel anywhere to Oregon or Washington if they would cruise here.

Not interested in cruising from East coast or Caribbean / Mexico.

Very interested in cruises to Alaska or Canada!

5 hours ago, sealynx said:

Nope, different class. Sinfonia shares class with Opera, Lirica and Armonia. Orchestra is actually part of the class with Musica, Poesi and Magnifica. The latter a approximately 1/3 larger than the former.

What is the MSC Bellissima category fall into ?

I am looking at a fall or next spring cruise in Japan / Korea / Taiwan.

13 hours ago, KyloRen said:

 

I LOVEEEEE THIS! I cant wait to read your review! I am sailing out of Split, Croatia, We are headed to two stops in Italy and two in Greece.

 

I'm the least picky person ever. (but also LOVE high end food) and these pictures look GREAT!

 

I'm a Carnival cruiser mostly so my expectations are not high..( I like the food on Carnival) I always think the MDR food on Carnival is to large so that's GREAT to hear about the portions. I just dont wanna look like the fat Americana ordering half the menu. But hell, when in Rome!?

 

I've heard the pizza is prenominal. Cant wait to dig into numerous slices. 

 

I'm going to be upgrading my drink package from Plus to the premium version I realized on the last Princess Cruise I was on just how much better the "good" cocktails were.

 

OH MY GOSH THEY HAVE AFTERNOON TEA?! Yesss!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Split is a great port to embark - no boat tenders and not a busy port to start from. 

You will have the ship to yourselves almost all day as everyone else is off the ship exploring the town.

Beware that your next stop in Venice, you will need to take your passports (never needed it at other ports) and the boat tender times are longest plus you will need to buy water taxi tickets ahead of time. Ship docks off Marghera island (commercial shipping port) and takes 20 minutes by boat to get to Venice city center. Returning though it may take over an hour as you have to take one water taxi to the MSC embarkation island and join tons of cruisers starting their cruise.  Be prepared to be checked by Italian immigration, passport controls, TSA scanning of your belongings, metal detectors, and re-board another water taxi to your ship.  Then the huge line of water taxis waiting to line up with the single water dock took a long time.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you arrive in Split at least 1 day prior to your cruise date.

Reason: some flights are delayed / cancelled this summer due to crew shortages, airplane issues, weather, and technical issues. 

We got delayed a whole day due to a lack of crew on our 2nd leg being cancelled. Luckily, I planned 2 days prior arrival for such an event and it paid off as we arrived at our embarkation port in Athens, Greece 1 day prior.  

I am still waiting for a large compensation check from British Airways under UK261 for the cancelled flight.

We did however enjoy an unplanned day touring London...

As for the drink package, make sure you understand to break even, you must order at least 5-6 drinks per day even on port days where you will be off the ship most of the day.

I ended up not getting the drinks package because I am a light drinker and only one in our group that consumes alcohol.  Even paying per drink on board, the entire week I paid €190 for alcohol plus whatever I paid at port cities.  Saved me €700 ($800 USD) by not having to buy 2 drink packages.

Venice port city:

Wife bought $3000 handbag from LV in Venice for $2000 (costs less in Europe and you get the 18% VAT tax refunded):

Short video on the water taxi from the island to Venice city port:

@Kylo Ren

We just returned from sailing the MSC Sinfonia last month and loved it.

Which port are you embarking at ?

MDR portions are small and just right - makes it easy to order additional appetizers, salads, entrees and my favorite risottos at dinner.

We dined in the MDR most of all our meals onboard.  Avoid the buffet - they are a zoo!

MDR entrees may show up similar in the buffet but not the same as the portions in the trays are huge. Usually the breakfast and lunch items are more commonly seen in the buffet.

Buffet does not stay open 24 hours - they have closing times (2am-6am and in-between lunch & dinner). 

For night owls, they have midnight bites that opens at midnight for a few hours.

I loved the afternoon tea at 4pm just before buffet dinner started.

Reminded me of the English style of high tea but on an Italian ship.

No chef's table - no speciality restaurants on MSC Sinfonia (Lirica class = smallest, oldest ships in the fleet).

Pizza bar is open lunch thru midnight.  I loved it that when I asked for a cheeseless pizza they made it !

On the Mares outdoor bar, on the side, they would host special menu item made in front of you:

Limoncello bar

Pastry cake bar

Pasta bar

My review posted here:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=373

Water from the ship is very good - almost better than bottled.

MSC has some extraordinary water engineering to provide a very tasty water from your tap, buffet, etc...