kelleherdl

Trust Hamrag’s comparison. He’s a frequent YC traveler, but not always a ‘cheerleader.’ Many YC senior staff are poached from the ‘upper-echelon’ cruise lines Oceania, Viking, Seabourn and the like; so the service level is very much up there. This Fall we will be sailing on MSC’s new ‘luxury’ brand, Explora Jouneys. We will be able to compare the ship-within-ship concept of the Yacht Club on a big ship, with all that a big ship offers, to the smaller full-ship luxury concept. It will be interesting to see if we prefer the smaller luxury ship to Yacht Club on MSC. Until then, I consider myself a Yacht Club ‘cheerleader.’ Dennis

Elevator goes all the way up. The ‘private’ Yacht Club elevator services all Yacht Club floors. On the earlier Yacht Club ships, like Divina, it also goes down to the spa.

Mine worked just fine recently. YC-1 to YCP. Since there a so few YCP’s I didn’t hold out much hope. Minimum bid of $75 pp worked. Only a 4-day.

In my experience, courtesy ship wheelchairs and pushers will be available once you are in the check-in area of the terminal. Regulations do not permit ship’s crew to go ‘outside’ the terminal; I.e. security. On the one occasion I needed a wheelchair to get from transportation to inside the terminal I brought our personal wheelchair. But do fill out the special needs form. My experience was Miami and Port Canaveral, so I do not know the particulars for New York.

YC deposits are non-refundable, unlike other bookings.

Not true. Non-US passengers routinely sail from Port Canaveral (Orlando). Yes, you do need your ESTA or visa, just like any other US port.

I forgot to pack my stud/cuff link set on our Norway/Baltic cruise. The onboard costume jewelry shop only had one set of cuff links left, much less a full tuxedo set. Luckily I had the white button strip for my shirt and bought the last set of cuff links for sale on board. So NO, do not expect to see any formal attire for men for sale or for rent on the ship. Dennis

Folks. You will be fine if you can’t print your eTicket. You will just need to complete the health questionnaire for each guest at checkin. It does add a few minutes, but it will not keep you from either going through security or checking in at the terminal. As others have mentioned before you can just enter a series of 9’s for the passport number and that will often get you through online checkin.

If you do venture downtown there is a very large vibrant public market that is NOT directed as a tourist market. The new cathedral in town is really quite remarkable in its architecture. The old cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake. We really found a stroll downtown ending with the park at the end of the port area to be well worth a couple of hours. Dennis

While you may want to park right in front of the Yacht Club tent to drop your bags that is not really necessary. All the porters know there is a Yacht Club bag drop at the white tent. When you are directed to pull in just inform the porter you are Yacht Club. They will bring your bags to the white tent. You can confirm this when you sign in with the pier agent at the tent. The Yacht Club bag carts are right behind the tent so you can visually confirm that they are loaded on the correct cart.

All MSC ships have both NA, EU, and UK outlets on the vanity desk. Newer ships also have USB charger ports at places around the room. The best solution is to buy a universal adapter plug which also has USB ports. You can thus use whichever outlet your items don’t use to plug in the universal adapter. Amazon has multiple adapters. Cyber Monday is your friend. I also take a three outlet multi plug to use in one of the NA outlets. you will already have a hair dryer in your vanity drawer.

If you self identify as Diamond to port staff you will be directed to the Aurea/Diamond line for CHECK-IN. There is only one line for actual BOARDING. When boarding commences it is by group with Yacht Club and special assistance guests followed by Aurea/Diamond then by group number. Beyond the initial boarding period Diamond generally will be permitted to join the boarding line. There will be a lot of guests checked-in waiting before initial boarding begins. Your actual experience will depend on when you arrive at Port Canaveral.

From what I have seen the marketing and sales at the corporate level is a separate company, but from the ‘travel agent’ level Explora Journeys is working with the more experienced MSC agents. So there is some cross fertilization. I happen to know one of the marketing folks at Explora US, and one of the agents that is working closely with Explora. Just by chance. Dennis

To make the Explora cruise a way better deal is that the Seascape 14-day is a run-of-the-mill back to back Eastern/Western whereas the Explora is a unique itinerary. My friends really pushed hard for us to book that one as well, but that would have been a bridge too far. Dennis

Oh Graham this is a stretch for us retirees as well. We will only be taking one ‘larger’ cruise next year. It’s just such a nice itinerary and we always did want to try a luxury line, even as new as Explora. I think we technically get a TA out of it as it goes from the European half of Iceland to North America. Joann would never take a traditional TA due to the number of sea days. 😀 Dennis

I think this is all of us Yacht Clubbers’ major concern. Yes, the design concepts promise one of the most elegant ships at sea, but will the ‘experience’ wow us GP’s down in the Ocean Terrace Suites. 😀

We are Explora Journeys reservation #728, so very early booking. We are on the 16-night Iceland to New York inaugural, September 9, 2023. Fare is Exactly $800/night, double occupancy or $12,800 total for an OT1, the lowest class. It’s a bucket list itinerary, a lot of great ports AND an inaugural call to New York. Dennis

Extracted from MSC Cruises USA website. 16 Nov 6pm EST. CRUISE WITH CONFIDENCE The relaxation of global travel requirements and our health and safety protocols now make it even easier for more guests to sail with us.Vaccination & Testing Requirements: For Guests Sailing From U.S. Ports: Vaccination and pre-cruise testing are recommended, but not required, on most cruises. For guests sailing from a U.S. port with stops in Cartagena (Colombia): Vaccination is recommended but not required. Vaccinated guests must show proof of vaccination at embarkation and are recommended but not required to test for COVID-19 prior to their vacation. Unvaccinated guests ages 5 years old or older are required to submit a negative test at embarkation.

We paid the driver at the end of the day plus tip.

MSC Divina repo cruise, Oct 2022. We did an independent tour with a taxi driver at the taxi stand outside the cruise terminal. We let the taxi stand marshall know we wanted a 4 hour tour of all the major sites. He quoted $100 for a complete tour (2 of us). He pulled one of the senior taxi drivers out of the line and we went off. Our tour included the Monastery, the fort, Old Town and the old wharf area. We wanted to see the cathedral, but it was closed for an event. He knew the city very well. He was clearly one of the senior drivers as all the other drivers knew him. Sorry, I can’t find his card. We had done Cartagena once before, but this time we wanted a more inclusive tour. We told the driver we did not want a shopping stop, so we didn’t waste any time there. We much more enjoyed this visit around town and glad we went with the ‘private’ taxi tour. side note. There had been a lot of rain overnight and several of the streets were flooded. Took a driver with excellent knowledge of the city to get around. Be patient, traffic in Cartagena is very rough, particularly getting out of the port area. Dennis

Well that’s great to know. It must have changed.

Unless things have changed in the last few months Hola is a contracted speciality restaurant and not included in the Diamond selection.

Please be patient with the terminal check-in agent. I understand there are a few extra steps for guests with birth certificates. Not a big deal, but it does take a little more time as birth certificates can’t be scanned in like passports. A little trick I learned from another guest which may work for you. It is possible to enter any Id number into the spaces for the birth certificate guests. This will allow you to get past those steps to complete online check-in. The numbers that are needed must be manually entered by the check-in agent at the port anyway. Obviously, this only applies for US closed-loop cruises which permit US citizens to travel with birth certificates. Enjoy the cruise.

Yes they can. It will likely be a private car service. Unlikely that they will book a taxi. Our van from Kiel back to Hamburg was even charged to the onboard account. Very convenient. It will cost more than standing in the port taxi line though. Dennis

MSC sailings have ‘priority’ over NCL cruises at Terminal 10. When there is a conflict the NCL ships will be at another terminal, generally Terminal 6. I use the term priority in parentheses because I have no knowledge of any legal or official designation.