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Thank you, Bird. Greatly appreciate the information. Noe hoping against hope I don’t need to cancel.

Alas, it is looking like I will need to cancel a cruise booked through casinos at seas that sails this Saturday. In addition to the $140 administrative fee, I paid the port taxes, prepaid Daily service charge, and the tips for the free at sea dinners. Am I correct that if I cancel I should receive a refund to my credit card of all of these charges with the exception of the $140 administrative charge? And this still applies even if I cancel on 2 days notice [will know for certain on Thursday morning for a Saturday cruise]. Many thanks in advance for your kind replies.

Unless they have changed it recently, embarkation and disembarkation in Port Canaveral occurs on Deck 7 on the Escape. Just take the stairs or elevator one flight down to make dinner reservations (typically in Le Bistro or Teppanyaki) and show reservations (they have recently moved this to the supper club on 6).

Thanks for the info, Bird.

Dined with the Captain and Spa Manager on the Escape recently. Lovely. I have a question for those knowledgeble as I only recently became Sapphire as was solo on this past cruise. Will you be permitted to bring a guest to the dinner with officers if the guest is not Sapphire but is your traveling companion? Thanks for any insight.

I was on the 4 day portion of the OP's cruise. It was my first time trying MSC. Realizing that a 4 day cruise is often not a good measure of what a line is really like, I am heartened to hear the OP's review. TBH, I was planning to post a largely negative review of the 4 day cruise, because in all honesty, it was not good in many respects [and to be blunt, some of the reasons for this were outside the control of MSC]. But now I won't do that, and I will give the benefit of the doubt to MSC until I take a longer cruise with them. One thing I will note is about the buffet food, as the OP went into depth about it. Compared to other lines, there is simply substantially less variety if the 4 day cruise was indicative of what they would do on a longer cruise. That was true at lunch and at dinner, but particularly at dinner. Most other lines often have a "theme" night at the buffet each night of the cruise, and you end up with the normal staples, including Indian, asian, grill, and salad stations, in addition to five to seven additional dishes centered around the theme of the night. Not my experience on this 4 day cruise with MSC. Substituting salmon or veal or roast turkey at the rotisserie section was about as varied as it got.

To the OP and anyone else with info: Are stateroom upgrades typically offered onboard? Sailing MSC for the first time this Sunday, and my experience with RCL, NCL, Princess, and Celebrity has been that no stateroom upgrades are possible onboard. Would appreciate any insight, as perhaps MSC does things differently? Thank you.

Related question: I status matched but have never taken an MSC cruise before. My voyagers numbrer has been entered properly with the cruise booking. Will my benefits be made available to me on the first cruise, or do I need to wait for a second cruise?

It still says 2022 on the signs. The whole main area is done. They are adding a separate shopping hall and they still need to finish work on the pedestrian exit. For those interested, monkey island is up and running.

We made it into Taino Bay on the Escape today. As far as I know, this is the first time Escape has ported here since last year’s accident. we just released lines about 1 hour 45 minutes after scheduled sail time. Taino Bay has come a long way since last year. Nice pool small beach area plenty of shopping and restaurants (and more under construction).

Recently, they have been asking that all drop offs be done by placing keys in the night deposit box, even when the store is open.

I see that at least some of the car rental agencies in Port Canaveral -- Avis and Budget at least -- tack on a 9.99 fee for rentals from port canaveral. I assume this is meant to cover the cost of the shuttle to their rental agencies in cape canaveral. But I've also been informed by said rental car companies that the shuttle will not be running the day of my arrival at the port and I should find other means to get to their rental counter. I also see this fee is not charged if I simply book a car in cape canaveral rather than port canaveral, at the same rental locations. My question is this -- are the rental car companies still entitled to collect that 9.99 fee even if their shuttles are not running and simply because you are a cruise passenger? Thanks in advance for any insight.

I was B2B this past summer on NCL Joy to Bermuda and then Oasis to Bahamas/Perfect Day, both in oceanview balconies, both 7 day cruises. Here are a few observations, YMMV: 1. Public Spaces: The Joy observation lounge is a great indoor public space. Oasis does not have something comparable. But the outdoor public spaces on Oasis (in particular Central Park and the Boardwalk) are far better than any public space the Joy has. The only thing that really compares is the Waterfront space on NCL Joy, which is nice but not nearly as big. 2. Entertainment: Obviously subjective, I give the nod to Oasis because of the aqua 80 show and ice show, though the NCL Joy production shows (Footloose and the Gift) were better than Cats and the headliners on Oasis. Oasis just has a lot more to like in this regard. 3. Food: The subject that launches a thousand ships. The quality is better on Oasis, the variety is better on the Joy. If you like Indian food (like I do), it is MUCH better on the Joy in terms of variety and taste. 4. Vibe (no, not the beach club on Joy): Two different cruise destinations, but a comparable number of sea days. Seemed like more first time cruisers on Oasis than Joy, if that matters to you, which it didn't to me nor did it affect me. Found the Joy to be a little subdued when it came to the partying, but you can find it if you look for it. Lots more of that right in front of you on the Oasis. If you are cruising during the summer, expect lots and lots of families with kids. 5. Check-in: A crap ton easier at Bayonne. Feel free to ask any questions.

Hi there, Will be disembarking Oasis on August 21st. Me and 6600 other people I suspect. I am assuming I will need to book an uber/lyft in advance, but was wondering if anyone has had success at catching an uber/lyft within a reasonable time period after requesting when disembarking. I realize this can be ship/day specific, but if anyone has had any experience with making the request as they got off a cruise I would greatly appreciate your comments. Finally, bonus points if you can tell me where uber/lyft pick up is at cape liberty. Thank you!