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kelleherdl

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Everything posted by kelleherdl

  1. We’ve sailed Divina and Preziosa on at least two cruises each. Most of the Divina fans are in North America, most Preziosa Northern Europe. We like them both. We always sail YC so we appreciate the evening stroll to dinner. Crew seem to love the Preziosa and Divina as well as they do tend to get re-contracted (I know it’s not a word). The only annoyance for us Yacht Clubbers on the Fantasia class ships is the aft pool, mentioned above. Sometimes the ‘view’ of other cruises can be less than appealing, particularly those that linger into the dinner hour. 😀
  2. When did you sail? On the Iceland to New York inaugural cruise the multi-language books were already in the stateroom. I am very certain that the diversity of books in the room would not have been left by prior guests given the diversity of titles and language, and they were most certainly NEW books. Those of us who sailed on early cruises know the books were already there. Dennis
  3. The stateroom ‘libraries’ have been stocked since day one. The books are not lefts, they are provided by EJ.
  4. As you can see my original post was in June of 2023. This was indeed before MSC US website was updated with the new itineraries. Dennis
  5. Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America really OWN the Alaska market. We routinely sailed Alaska on Holland America in Neptune Suites. In my opinion, neither Holland American nor Princess, even with their most expensive cabins, provide the type of experience you are used to with MSC Yacht Club. A Celebrity ship with the Retreat may come close, but the price premium above MSC YC is sizable. Even Princess and Holland America at their prices are way above YC, with nothing near the same experience. When and if MSC add Alaska I will be one of the first to book. It will give me the reason to do Alaska again. So I think you are left with options among the other mainstream cruise lines with a lesser experience than the Yacht Club.
  6. I found quite a few folks, like me, love the sun. With loungers on all sides of the ship it’s easy to find shade wherever the sun ISN’T. The great number of lounger locations for me is a strong design element. Now if you choose to stay in the same place all day long it can be an issue. The earth does rotate, so as we all know shade will move throughout the day. I’m willing to move with the sun and use the copious availability of towels to set up a fresh lounger.
  7. In our experience you can get yourself off to its best start in Yacht Club starting in the terminal in the Yacht Club area. Be gracious with the Head/AsstHead Butler managing the area. It will be hit or miss you meet the YC Director here. The Head/Asst Head Butler are the NCO’s in the Yacht Club. Also, there will be regular Butlers and Junior Butlers there. Take the time to speak with them. Ask them if they know who your butler will be. They know the room blocks and THEY DO TALK to their colleagues. At your first chance speak with the Concierge or Asst Concierges at the desk. They can be a great help, particularly if you have any special things you want arranged for the week. Let them know early. The Lounge Butlers in the Topsail Lounge are also important to meet. They will make your cruise with their smiles and you will generally get drinks ordered your way after your first trip to the Lounge. Our favorite YC staff are the Bar / Grill / Pool staff up at Pool One. You will see most of them at other YC areas throughout the day. We spend most of our cruise up there. Sit at the bar sometimes. Don’t always wait for them to visit your lounger or table. You will find if you do that during the week that you will be visited as often as you like. And lastly the Hostess/Host at the YC Restaurant. We always visit on embarkation day and let them know we prefer an early sitting with the same fine Waiter/Server team for every evening during the cruise. It does work. We are not particular with our wines so we don’t bother ‘cultivating’ the Sommelier. He/She may be around the Topsail Lounge for your welcome on embarkation day. Chat him/her up and let them if you would like to be served at dinner each evening. We use the ‘envelope’ method of saying additional thanks at the end of the cruise. Others, use the immediate thank you. I don’t think it matters.
  8. I was also bothered by the simple space/passenger computation based on gross tonnage/ passenger count. I think I remember seeing a computation several years ago based on ‘passenger space’ / passenger count. I fully recognize that gross tonnage is directly related to total ship space, but does not take into account ship design that may have been used to maximize passenger friendly space.
  9. You are sailing Yacht Club. Do not drop your luggage with the regular bag drop. Look for the Yacht Club pop up tent. If needed ask. It’s generally white but can also be blue. There will be agents and porters there to provide the special handling. This will also be where your Yacht Club Experience will begin with escorted entry into the terminal. You can still drop your luggage first and then park, but do look for the Yacht Club tent first.
  10. Early in the cruise you will be invited to go up to the Chef’s Kitchen, starboard side right outside of the Explora Lounge on deck 11. Check out the schedule and select the day you want to join in. Then go to Guest Services and sign up.
  11. On board, in my experience. I found out personally that booking before sailing did not get translated to be registered when onboard.
  12. I doubt this will be viewed as the most romantic, but I was present as a gentleman popped the question as he and his gentleman partner were checking in for an MSC cruise. All the check-in agents started applauding and cheering and us fellow guests joined in. He actually gave a ring at the check-in counter. Since you will be in Yacht Club get in touch with the Yacht Club Director for your cruise. My personal suggestion is if your itinerary includes Ocean Cay consider an area there. Since the cruise you will be on does include Ocean Cay, maybe the lighthouse or the point across the channel from the wedding pavilion. The only kicker on Ocean Cay is the possibility that you wont get in due to weather. Another option is the Bridge of Sighs on the aft of the ship. It’s quite a big photo op area. The YC Concierge will be able to arrange all things from photographer to flowers to beverages. On MSC Seashore the email for the YC Director is YCDirector@mscseashore.com. The YC Director will likely forward to the Concierge or the Head Butler.
  13. The Health Questionnaire is a page for each passenger on the booking included in your eTicket, along with your Boarding Passes and your luggage tags. I don’t print all the eTicket, just the boarding passes, the health questionnaires, the luggage tags, any on-board credit I have, and any pages that show the excursions or other item I pre purchased. since you say you completed the online checkin you should now have the option to request your eTicket from the website. If you booked through a TA it’s far less tedious and frustrating to have him/her email it to you.
  14. My TA did get back to me. She assures me that her file shows the full Extended Journey with both segments. It’s still disconcerting that EJ is having such poor website development go live without adequate testing of both functionality and data import.
  15. I certainly don’t have any direct knowledge of any construction timing, but why are folks thinking the christening date in anyway corresponds to when the terminal will be delivered and open for cruises. Certainly, the World American will be finished and sailing before a 4/12/25 christening. She has to get here from Europe somehow. 😀
  16. Looks like LVMH is looking to expand the market for Mercier outside of France. We are not huge champagne drinkers, but did enjoy the M&C on our first two ‘journeys.’ We will be fine with trying Mercier. Personally, I’ve never cared for VC, but others have raved. We only sail OT’s, so no Dom P for us.
  17. Guests should definitely log into their accounts. I did this morning and noticed that one segment of one our ‘extended journeys’ disappeared. I’ve already messaged my agent to confirm that it’s still there on the booking portal. In their haste to delete non-confirmed options they may have inadvertently deleted a confirmed reservation. i agree. When the new guest portal is fully up it will be much better. Dennis
  18. Only addition to the list of birth certificates is the Department of State or Consular Certificate of Birth Abroad. Some of the older ones and from certain consulates are very intricate with ribbons and wax stamps. Personally, if I had one I would definitely get a passport, as I would hate to be carrying it around just to go on a cruise. I would have mine framed, particularly if it was signed by the sitting Secretary of State at the time.
  19. Did your sister-in-law also have a passport, but sailed with license and birth certificate? There is no way that a driver license/birth certificate combination should have worked in the passport facial recognition line. The facial recognition system used for immigration uses the global passport biometric database. Normally, all returning birth certificate passengers must have their documents personally inspected by a CPB Officer. It is possible that a valid passport holder, NOT expired, will be recognized; even though they boarded with license and birth certificate. Lucky happenstance here I think.
  20. The most likely is that the individual would never have been allowed to board the plane to the Bahamas. A driver license alone will not get you on the plane. A passport is required. The use of driver license plus birth certificate is only valid for a closed loop cruise from and back to a US port.
  21. If this has changed great to hear. If MSC fleet wide is using this procedure it is a great improvement. It makes perfect sense to do it this way. I know NCL asks you to visit your muster station as you board. It will require scarce crew on turnaround day to man those muster stations to scan, but it’s a small price to pay to alleviate the mass movement after the on-tv safety briefing. does anyone know if this a general change or just a courtesy for Yacht Club?
  22. I guess we do have separate understandings of what is ‘included?’ From the EJ FAQ’s….. How much are gratuities? Gratuities are included in your journey fare.
  23. The OP asked about wheelchairs at the Yacht Club tent. I mentioned that wheelchair availability once in the terminal has not been a problem. I have never seen wheelchairs outside the terminal at the Yacht Club tent. Again most of my experience has been at US ports with some in Southern Caribbean and Northern Europe.
  24. I’ve never seen wheelchairs available at the Yacht Club tents outside either Miami or Port Canaveral. I can’t remember about Barbados or Point a Pitre. I have seen them inside the terminal; also going through Immigration at disembarkation. I would suggest you arrange either a personal wheelchair, or one from the mobility vendors supplying outside the terminal.
  25. By Arthur’s own Facebook post he is on Meraviglia right now. He always keeps his FB friends up to date on his travel.
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