skittl1321

You can go back to the ship to eat, right? You don't have to go to the island buffet do you? 

On 1/27/2023 at 1:43 PM, Vegancruzer said:

I am having a hard time picking  myself up off the floor at the change in the MSC drink package prices since my last cruise with them. Minimum is $38 per DAY per PERSON. I'm only drinking water, sodas and the occasional cocktail, this is way too much, especially for days in port. Are ANY beverages free?? - sodas in the buffet area? I know there is coffee and tea available.

My cruisemate and I are not planning to go on a drunkfest, good grief...

Can we NOT purchase a drinks package and just pay as we go on the cruise card? 

All the travel agent has to say is "That's just the way it is now"....not impressed.

I have never purchased a drinks package on the cruise. I get by with water, and juice with breakfast that is typically included. A few cruises I have purchased 1-2 drinks over the course of the week, making my total bill under $20, my husband typically purchases a drink with dinner.  Some cruises we have purchased $0 of drinks (especially when they let you carry on a 12-pack of soda which is enough for the week for me; unfortunately MSC doesn't allow this).  It just isn't necessary.  Except my all inclusive cruise, I have never been on a cruise with soda included.

You don't need the drink package.  But there are plenty of people for who $40 a day is a savings compared to paying for their drinks individually.  I know people who can easily drink 5+ sodas, 4-5 alcoholic drinks per day without "trying".  And then there are the people who "Try" to get their money's worth. If you are partying until 2 am or later each day, and then getting up at 8 am to start again, it isn't hard to stack it up.

What are the typical schedules for kids club like? Is it free for all? Are there planned games or crafts? Is it mostly screen time?  Is there a paper schedule given out? Do you need to sign up for sessions ahead of time?  Are they very strict about which age group kids go into, or can siblings stay together?

My kids will be 4 and 6.  

On 1/13/2023 at 4:27 PM, icat2000 said:

Its in your contract that you commit to at time of booking. And also why they invented travel insurance to protect you from any unlikely circumstance that might crop up.

 

So make a claim through your insurance company.

This doesn't really help the person who now has to pay double though. Travel insurance isn't going to cover that.

Probably because the moderators have seen those questions the most often.  

Does anyone have suggestions for the best things to do with a 4-year old? 

Is there a tour provider that would accept him for tubing on the white river? (The cruise excursions he is too young.)

Oh, my husband will not want a non-alcoholic package, even for ice cream.

We will probably buy gelato once, but have typically spent nothing extra on cruises, so I wasn't interested in for fee options.

The kids have the minors packages, so at least they will have some soft serve 🙂

This was an interesting read. We gave up on Carnival after our last cruise where we just felt like it was not for us- the food was horrible (I literally walked the entire buffet and didn't pick up a single thing to eat; and the main dining room was uninteresting with horrible service compared to previous sailings). We were tired of the same activities.  So we are giving MSC a try. 

Now I'm wondering if we made a mistake, but alas, I guess I will find out in the summer.  If MSC is not for us, next year we have Royal.  Carnival's prices were always excellent, but the experience just went downhill every cruise we did with them.

I will say, I am hoping MSC's food is as good as it sounds. Looking at Royal's new menus, I can barely find anything I want to eat, and MSC's every single day there is at least something I am excited about.  But I'm a pasta person...

On 12/30/2022 at 10:07 PM, Cruise5life said:

how many times a day do you clean your house??    
 

 

Many?  I am constantly moving things to laundry, santizing/disinfecting counters in kitchens and bathrooms, sweeping or vacuuming, taking out trash, putting dishes away.  

I cannot vacuum my own on a cruise, and especially in sandy locations, feel it should be done daily.  In my house, towels have room to hang to dry, so I do not need to change them daily, but there is not room for bath towels for 4 people to be spread to dry in a humid cabin, so they need to be changed.  I don't make beds at home, but my couch also does not turn into a bed each night at home, so if I want a couch during the day on the cruise, the cabin needs to be made up.  I empty my own trash at home, but on a cruise, there is not a bin I can empty the small cans into, so a steward needs to do that as well.   

I think once daily service to vacuum, change towels, and empty bins is enough; but twice is needed to change the bed to a couch and back again. They aren't really that easy for a passenger to do themselves, since the entire bed has to be made, and honestly, I'm not great on hospital corners since they don't have fitted sheets!

Is this a good excursion for a 4-year old who enjoys snorkeling?  So many of the tours have age limits, so I wanted to see if anyone has experience with it.

Are cabs/buses reliable in Georgetown where we won't need to use a ship excursion?  Does the turtle center sell out often, or is it an easy, open admission?  (I see I can purchase tickets online, with a very flexible cancellation.  Just want to make sure there is no good reason to go with the ship. (We always get back early.)

On 1/6/2023 at 4:22 AM, Stockjock said:

Why not just go? I would imagine that a couple of days won’t make a big difference. Just let the insurance company know that you will be gone for two days. In fact, I just got off of a seven day cruise and was gone a total of two weeks in Europe, and while my car was not totaled, I do have an insurance claim pending during this period for water damage.

If her husband is injured, having gone on a cruise might make it very difficult to claim damages from the insurance company, since there will be no immediate documentation from a doctor, and in a trial, the insurance company can point to the vacation they took and not being stuck injured.  (Having been injured in a car accident, they try to go after everything to "prove" you weren't really injured, and it's BS)

My booking came with the Easy Plus drinks package. I don't drink alcohol. Would they change it to the non-alcoholic package?  I'd think it was a non-issue (since soft drinks are on both), but the non-alcoholic says it comes with soft serve ice cream, and the easy plus does not...  

Status matching was SO easy. I took a screenshot of my carnival VIFP account and had an email saying I had matched status within 20 minutes.  

(I'm VIFP Gold, which got me Silver; so I don't think it gives me much, but hey- nice of MSC to offer it. An amazing first impression.)

On 1/4/2023 at 11:47 AM, Chris19821 said:

Just got off the Seascape. We had one formal night.

Several themed nights (60's, black & white, etc.).

How do you know ahead of time what theme nights to pack for?  

I know MSC always has a white night, but are others standard?

Just booked my first MSC Cruise. I'm super excited, but a bit nervous as reviews seem mixed.

Our kids will be 4 and 6- can you give me a preview of how things will go?  Do I need to bring things to keep them busy on sea days, or do you think the pools and kids club will keep kids this age engaged?

Is the only children's menu the one that is for "babies older than 12 months"?  

How does the crew do with children?

Our booking came with the drinks package, and it says it has soft serve ice cream; is this like on carnival where it is just out on the deck? How much does gelato cost, as I know the kids will want that!

Any other tips for making the best of an MSC cruise?

On 1/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, neverbeenhere said:

I use one of these or at least similar.

I have nothing like this on a cruise.  The vast majority of what I wear on a cruise (sundresses) doesn't have pockets, hence the issue with keeping my card...

Do these ships have approval from the ports? (Yes, I know no one on this board knows this answer...rhetorical)  How many of these will end up as cruises to nowhere?

I've thought about purchasing, because I do think CCL will continue to exist as a company.

However, if they declare bankruptcy and reorganize, that stock is worth zero.

In the past I've wanted to buy stock for on board credit on Carnival; but that program is not a given (nor are it's dividends).  I'm no longer cruising Carnival, but have looked at HAL (for Antartica) and Princess.  

In the end, I think it's too much of a gamble for me. $800 isn't much to lose, but I think the chance of bankruptcy to discharge debt is very real.

Thanks all. That's helpful.

Still very unsure if we want to book a cruise or not, even with the current sales going on, it is still a pricey thing.  The idea of a cruise might be a bit much for us still.... oh, coronavirus.

I'm looking at a Baltic Cruise in August based on NCL's 48-hour cancellation policy. 

I suppose I could call them, but I wanted to see if anyone here knew the answers, as talking to people is scary...

1) When NCL books your air- do they always fly you in same day, or is there an option of arriving the day before?  We once did a Galapagos cruise where we planned to fly in 3-days early (self booked) and through a series of incredibly unfortunate events, ended up there about 4 hours before the charter flight to the ship left.  Thank goodness we planned way ahead... (we did have insurance, which paid out for the hotel cancellation, but missing a once in a life time cruise would have been awful).

2) The airfare for the children (3-year old and 1-year old) is more expensive than the adults (I assume the adults get "free or reduced air") does this mean they are giving the infant a seat? I do not want a lap child to Europe!

3) Is airfare booked through NCL refunded the same way as the cruise is under their 48-hour policy? (Which I assume is only due to coronavirus, they haven't been this generous in the past.)

Sorry but maybe I am sceptical but just don’t buy this story. Having looked over the back of a cruise ship many many times I have been in awe as to how high it is and how tremendous the wake from the ship is. She looked like she had been in a spa when she stepped off the rescue ship. An enormous fall which probably caused internal injuries and 10 hours swimming? It just doesn’t make sense.

 

 

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There doesn't seem to be any authority doubting she was in the water for 10 hours.

She clearly was able to get cleaned up while on the rescue ship.

The Adriatic is extremely salty and warm, if she was able to remain calm, she might have been able to lay and float more than she had to tread, so the swimming wouldn't be exhausting, just the stress of wonder if someone would find her.

So what is it that you are doubting?

How she fell off the ship is questionable (though presumably cameras know the answer, so authorities do too). This post just looks like there is doubt she fell at all.

Hi- I am looking into an NCL cruise and I see that the promo running right now that will allow me a free 3rd passenger expires today; so I don't have a lot of time to do my research.

We will be traveling with a non-potty trained 21 month old. I (think) that means she is not eligible to use the kids clubs. However, does NCL have hours where the kids can play in the clubs while being supervised by parents?

We've been on many cruises, and I'm really convinced it is a great idea with a toddler; but alas, all of our other vacation plans are just not working! We do love cruises. (But I'm tired of Carnival, hence looking into NCL)

Hey, friend - it's me - April. I will PM you elsewhere with the serious stuff. Here I'll...not do that.

 

Thank you for the lovely and specific trippie. I especially appreciated the menu and food photos (oink!). You know I am not a food snob (cough*plasticcheese*cough)...but there seems to be quite a difference between the food on DCL and what you showed here. Would you say this was typical for Carnival? Or do you feel this was more...Walmart (for lack of a better word) than what you would have expected?

 

And do you think that Carnival pitches its offerings to...perhaps...groups of young friends? Or young couples without kids? Because ropes course aside...it didn't look appealing to me at all. DCL is so desperately expensive - but reading this has made me cross Carnival off my "maybe" list. Thank you for being so frank.

 

 

PS: I think the Indian was meant to be an homage to the Village People (though - sob! - you are probably too young for the Village People). I liked him. :)

This was the worst food of any of our Carnival cruises- both for me (though I admit being pregnant, I wasn't happy with food) and for my companions. However, it was perfectly edible, you won't go hungry. You should go look at my Triumph review for Chef's table. If you do ever find yourself on Carnival, I think you would enjoy that experience.

We haven't done another line because I am a budget vacationer when I can be - I go for the islands and those are the same on DCL! We try to avoid too many sea days, because I don't love the ship activities as much as other people do. I'd like to try other lines, but the prices are so high! I don't think Carnival is the party line it used to be; but younger is probably their target market. I'm not sure about "without kids" though, as the boats are filled with them and they seem happy. Not having kids when we travel though, I can't tell you about their kids programming.

People do say it is the Walmart of the Seas, but honestly, I'm a Walmart shopper. It's a good value product. It isn't the Dollar Store of the Seas, or the Thrift Shop of the Seas. I'd love to try DCL- but only if someone else is paying. Clearly I'm not a Carnival cheerleader; but I also always tell people we have fun on Carnival, and clearly I've been back plenty of times!

I do think the Indian was an homage to the Village People. But with it being a different time, I would have picked a different person. The cultural appropriation thing is just too much for me. I get really uncomfortable when people are in those sorts of headdresses.

That's what I thought too? If you don't know them, how in the world would they know what room you were in? That's not known to table mates.

Because we got along when we were sat together, and over the course of 8 nights went to a few shows together, we even did a beach day together. It turns out our cabins were only a few apart, so they saw us go in and out. We figured Carnival sat us together because we had very similar profiles- same cabin type, both booked on military rates, couples of approximately the same age. I don't know if they still do, this was 10 years ago, but Carnival had a knack for placing tablemates who would enjoy each other's company together. Another cruise we met people who we've since gone on another vacation with- because Carnival placed us together.

We've never talked to them since, I didn't use facebook then, so we didn't keep in touch.

It never hurts to call and ask, but it is unlikely. Agree with the suggestion to ask for a credit, or to transfer the booking.

When you don't buy insurance, you self insure. In this case, it didn't work in their favor.