kelleherdl

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Here is another observation at the terminal port of Miami for Yacht Club arrivals. Those YC that arrive at the tent set up and see no one around make the mistake of not waiting for an escort into the terminal. Instead they see others going it alone into the terminal and they follow suit. They are then caught in the long serpentine line of steerage passengers. 

Another positive for Port Canaveral!  The tent is always up and staffed prior to terminal door opening! No reason for YC guests to fend for themselves. The porter leads know how to handle the YC guests’ luggage. Always identify yourself as a YC guest; whether to traffic direction, porters or terminal staff.

2 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Beyond Jealous!

 

Splitting up a similar amount of time on three separate ships where only one is on E!

It’s an extended journey on EJ2 of three unique itineraries all somewhat centered on Barcelona. So much for the comments several months ago about not being able to construct a ‘longer cruise’ in EJ with the modified itineraries. 

No problem at all storing away clothes from two large and three small suitcases for a 16 day cruise. The hanging space was adequate for both of us. I only took two blazers, really only needed one though. We are packing over the next few weeks for 23 days. We will pack for ~10 days and plan on using the self-service laundry. There is nice drawer storage as well. There are shelves in the armoire by the balcony door and some in the dressing area in addition to the admittedly limited drawer space. Shoes fit well on the floor and shelf in the men’s hanger area in the dressing area. An 8-day should be a piece of cake.

52 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

We need a ‘kick in the butt’ attitude change in this world and reverse this thinking. We must all realize that the best is yet to come… so start booking cruises as far in advance as possible to get the best cabins and best prices …NOW. (I got this from James Cobb’s TED Talk)

Yes! MSC should release its 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 …..  sailings immediately, 😀

6022 is right above the Crema smoking area. 

2 hours ago, momofmab said:

I hated the psychedelic "spa music" that MSC pipes in on their YC pool deck.  I am definitely planning to use my earbuds if Explora has the same music.

My recollection is that Explora 1 did have the European obnoxious ‘spa’ music at the Helios pool at least, my preferred sunbathing area. Unfortunately, I haven’t lost all my hearing. I may actually bring my earbuds on a Med cruise next month. 

We sailed Preziosa in Europe for two weeks last year. We had previously sailed Preziosa for two weeks three years ago in the Caribbean. We also sailed Divina several times and personally enjoy the YC difference on the Fantasia-class ships. But we understand that some who prefer the Seaside and Meraviglia - class ships prefer the more contained and more expansive YC experience. That said, we found that our overall experience on the Fantasia ships was just as appealing as the larger/newer ships. I find the Pool One area and bar/grill is far more friendly and personal on the Fantasia-class. I strongly suggest you speak with the YC Director. Most of them have also directed or were managers in YC’s on the larger ships. I know them to be very receptive to comments on your feelings about the ‘difference’ in the YC experience.  I’m sure they will do what they can to make the rest of your cruise as pleasant as you expected.

On 8/10/2024 at 10:14 AM, mica178 said:

For YC, as long as you know your cabin number and have identification that matches your reservation,  you don't need anything else. Or at least that was my experience. 

Time will be saved for the checkin if you either print the cruise ticket (the one with the QR/barcodes) OR save your MSC for ME app QR code. (Save that QR code to your cell phone wallet or photos). These are your ‘tickets’ to board the ship following in terminal checkin. You will save the time needed for the checkin agent to have your ‘ticket’ printed. If you follow all the FAST TRACK checkin instructions, print or save the QR code to your phone, and are sailing with passports your checkin at the terminal takes less than a minute per passenger, even if you need a new photo taken.

We were actually given a complimentary upgrade to the starboard side Royal Suite on the Divina, NOT the Sophia Loren Suite on port side. That particular RS was in desperate need of a dry dock and we actually considered asking to be moved back to our regular suite. But it was such a nice gesture from the YC Director we didn’t want to offend. 😀

2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 So you cannot get both military and Voyagers Club discounts on the same sailing? 

 

 

 Our Travel agent did the same thing for our cruises. 

 

 

Correct, only Military USA/Canada or Voyagers Club.

the huge benefit is multiple bookings under one Military Discount. You can save big time with group travel, particularly if booking multiple YC Deluxe Balconies 😀. You can’t do that with Voyager Club Discounts 

On 8/6/2024 at 3:07 PM, bertha said:

Somewhat related question. My sisters and I are all in same cabin. Three of us. Can we each add a credit card to allow each of our charges and gratuities to go to our individual cards?  thx... 

JamieLogical is correct.  When you scan your cruise card at the kiosk you will be presented with the list of persons in that cabin to be included on the credit card you are registering. You select the names then continue with the process. If you do it this way each person in the cabin not selected must then register a credit card. BTW, this is also the way you can block children from charging. Don’t select their names when registering your credit card for that cabin.

or you can choose to stand in line at Guest Services the night before disembarkation.  😟. Clearly not the preferred solution in my mind.

if you do not want to register a credit card, or do not have one, you may ‘deposit’ cash on your ship account. There are specific kiosks that will accept cash, like an ATM. Or you can stand in line at Guest Services. ☹️

We’re doing 14 days in February/March, San Juan to San Juan, no stops in the Bahamas. 😀

On 8/1/2024 at 2:34 PM, PaulMCO said:

Myself I would wait for their big holiday sale, since you are looking far in advance.  Their bookings are not going like hotcakes.  Last year they had a 30 to 50% off sale on Black Friday.  No guarantee that they will repeat, but these heavily discounted sales are "new bookings only" and they will not refare an existing.

And sometimes these discounts can be stacked, but you may need a wired-in travel advisor to go to bat with their business development manager. I added a ‘new’ booking on the front end of an existing booking. My TA went back and forth and got me the promotion on at the time as well as a less publicized loyal Yacht Club guest promotion.  Amounted to a ~45% discount.  

Just got our check-in email for Sept 23 Explora 2 cruise from Tarragona. Completed the check-in and got the e-ticket/luggage tag email.  So that looks pretty solid for the 16 Sept initial sailing.

15 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

As a proper southerner, I have trouble believing a European cruise line could make proper grits, but I'll give them a try the next time we're on MSC to see for myself. 

As proper Southerner as well I found the grits surprisingly satisfactory. But aren’t grits more of an individual taste than wine? 😀

1 hour ago, sea bright said:

Just booked our first Explora cruise on Explora I in April. What is the issue with the Helios pool?

Nothing in my opinion. It’s my favorite.  Honestly it’s the soaking Helios pool.  It sloshes back and forth underway. Impossible to use really in any sea state other than calm.  Supposedly they installed some sort of baffles. Otherwise it’s my favorite Sunning area and bar. 

5 hours ago, casperthecat said:

I’ve seen on Facebook that maiden voyage is now September 16th but I’m not booked just reporting what I’ve read.

My understanding is that the 16 Sept cruise is now the ‘shakedown’ cruise with press and the like. The formal ‘inaugural cruise’ is 23 Sept as its sailing from Tarragona during their local festival. I guess it really doesn’t make that much difference. We are boarding in Tarragona for 3 legs.

2 minutes ago, cbfb said:

When is the plan to complete the construction? 

Sorry, can’t help on that. I think the original build time for both garages was 18 months. That was 8 months ago I think. But those of us who sail from 10 often have seen things pretty quickly once they got above ground level.

3 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Been reading that with more than 650 guests that Explora is having problems with long waits for a table at dinner at every restaurant, even lines forming at Emporeum Market Place Buffet. Also reading a lack of evening entertainment. DW just this morning suggested we cancel one of two Explora cruises for another Royal Suite on World America for same month.

Yep, it’s plus and minuses.  We’re keeping our 23 day Med grand cruise on EJ 2 this September (18 novel ports for us), also keeping our World America and Virtuosa cruises. Different objectives and selection of ports. Overall we may be tapering off our cruises in the next couple of years as we run out of itineraries that interest us. I agree the evening entertainment on EJ seems to still be wanting.

If you are not OFF the ship by 9:30 (assuming normal ship arrival) you are delaying ship clearance by CBP to process the back-to-backs and embark new guests. As Morpheusofthesea mentioned this is the most frustrating time on turnaround day for ship crew, shore staff, and CPB.

7 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Today is Grand Cayman. We anchor. MSC is now providing 8 (last time just 5) tenders to transport guests. There are two gangways. Those doing independent tours last time needed a tender tickets. Those with tours just congregate in the Chora theatre. It takes 15-20 minutes to load one tender and its still a 5 minute ride. YC guests with MSC tours are escorted to Chora Theatre and grouped with steerage. YCers independent are escorted to other gangway to waiting tender. Coming back is the rub for YCers. They have to be grouped with steerage all fighting to get back with one line (last time, have yet to hear what happens later this afternoon).

We were hugely lucky on our Seashore visit to Grand Cayman last month. We were the only ship in port so we had all the Grand Cayman tenders working for us. Yes, it takes longer to fill those tenders going ashore, but getting back to the ship was very easy.

48 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

 

I can't 100% confirm but plans were announced last year....

 

https://www.portcanaveral.com/About/Recent-News/Port-Canaveral-Expands-Electric-Vehicle-Charging-I

The new garages at Terminal 10 and Terminal 6 are going up much faster than the original announced plans. Just hope we don’t get any severe tropical storms early season that will slow Terminal 10 work. There’s a small disturbance off the coast now with stiff breezes. All the construction is craned positioning of prefab sections, so that can be problematic. The new garages will at least double capacity at both terminals. The newly announced Terminal 8 will also have a huge garage. 

10 hours ago, no1talks said:

Quite the change, if I recall correctly.

Morpheus, back when Explora was just out of the gate, wasn't there a disdain for the line among the YC staff? Again, I may misremember, but I thought you had commented on the lack of familial warmth for Explora on the part of YC.

We had a long chat with our Butler on our last Seashore cruise. He personally had ZERO interest in moving over to EJ. He very much likes the overall work environment of the YC. We agreed with him on the differing roles of ‘hosts’ on EJ. He believes this is the general feeling among the Butlers in YC. We love both EJ and YC. They both have their distinct appeal to us. We have only sailed OT’s on Explora 1, so we have no experience with Residence Hosts on EJ.

On 6/13/2024 at 10:17 AM, kelleherdl said:

EJ announced today a special promotion for MSC Yacht Club previous guests. 30% off for new bookings for Summer 2024 Med bookings. 

Today we booked a third segment to our original late September Med cruise on Explora 2. Originally we had Rome>BCN>BCN. We added the 7-day from Tarragona>Rome in front. The additional cruise was booked as a ‘new booking’ not an addition to the previous booking. The deal was as noted above, 30% off the already posted summer promotional fare. Make sure your TA or EJ Ambassador notes your prior MSC Yacht Club guest status. The MSC Yacht Club discount is a separate line item in the final fare calculation on our confirmation. For some reason our MSC YC sailings were missing from our EJ profile even though we used the 2023 promotion.

Don’t know if it’s completely true, but any agent said they are instructed to only take new photos if the one already there doesn’t meet spec. Something about reducing the amount of data that goes over the Wi-Fi and connection to the ship’s computer. Personally, they took a new one for my wife when she asked. Not a problem.