AmoMondo

Thanks both. very helpful

On 9/29/2023 at 7:07 PM, cantgetin said:

Love the bar tab concept--it works for everyone whether heavy or light drinkers.  Sure, some of the current freebie tabs may go unused, but if not included in your booking, you simply calculate how many $300 tabs + bonus you think you will use based on the current menu prices and purchase that amount.  No charge per person or per day.  As light drinkers, a "beverage package" on other lines never made sense, while sharing a bar tab is great.

Agree. I stopped going for the drinks package on ther lines because often the wines by the glass that were included were mediocre to grim. I’d rather have a single glass of something I like than a litre of cheap vinegar. Also they started getting more picky about which brand of spirits were extra charge.

This is far more flexible for sure, you just have to make it work for you.

23 hours ago, jon81uk said:

Currently onboard a busy Valiant Lady apparently with 2200 sailors and we’ve not had any problems with dining. I did make reservations at 45 days out but have been able to change the time of some  without problems and also turned up late at Test Kitchen so my reservation had been automatically cancelled but they were still able to seat us. I have seen people report they are being turned away at the Wake for walk ups, that seems to be the hardest place to get into.

 

If you want the prime 7pm slots you need to get in quick as soon as booking opens in advance or onboard. But getting 8pm or 6pm isn’t difficult.

Does 7pm tend to be the prime slots on all cruises? 

I’m doing a Wetsren med sailing and on some other lines, British and North American passengers have been in a minority 9sometimes very small) with far more Spanish, French and Italians who tend to eat later. Mind you those were Italian cruise lines that catered for 5 languages at least in everything.

Ar VV sailings more English speakers and early diners?

I like 8 or 8.30 when on holiday so maybe i won’t find it so difficult unless being solo makes it more difficult?

What is the mix of table sizes? Are most larger tables or more for 2 people? just wondering where they put solos 9at a table for 2 on their own or at a bigger table).

Thanks for the reply. I found a wine list so worse case scenario, a bottle of Dom Perpignan would put a serious dent in the tab. 

Only $100 was part of the booking offer, the rest came from status match from being Diamond with MSC.

Good to know they won’t freak if I buy for others like some of the other lines drink packages

Interesting thread. I’ve got a $700 ba tab (matched loyalty and booking bonus) and there is no ay I’m going to get through that in a week on my own.

I was hoping it was akin to onboard credits on other cruise lines where it could be used to offset cost of spa treatments but apparently not.

I do drink but not a lot. Maybe I will just have to order champagne rather than my usual occasional glass of Prosecco  or make new friends!

I don’t do shore excursions preferring DIY, so my only bill at the end will be for the spa. 

14 hours ago, Tralfaz1138 said:

 

The general recommendation I've seen for things like that (from Virgin and really for phone apps in general) is you can first try to delete the cache and/or data for the app to see if that fixes it.  If not, you can try to uninstall and reinstall it.

Thanks.

Eventually got it to work by uninstalling and reinstalling it. Completed the check in docs, so that’s out of the way now

I can’t get the app to work at all. It initially worked when I first downloaded it but never since.

It just has their logo spinning for a while then I get “Hmm, still not happening….we seem to be having problems loading your data” the try again button never works.

Anyone got any ideas on how to fix this? Do you think deleting it and reinstalling it might work?

Thanks

Thank you can’t get in, that is quite reassuring.

My cruise is a 7 night med cruise with just one sea day. I have been to 4 of the 6 ports several times but 2 new ones to explore.

I’ll be selective about the entertainment most likely but with a beautiful ship, great food and weather and some new places to explore that will keep me entertained.

I’m still working full time despite having passed the normal retirement age, so I enjoy relaxing on cruises rather than charging about trying to pack in as many things as I can - that’s what my working week is like!

Loved the food tour video CruisingWalter. gave me a great insight into all the options. It’s the Scarlet lady I’m booked on (although I think the restaurants are the same on all the fleet). The Test kitchen looks amazing. the others b looked pretty good too. Not sure about the Korean one, not from a food point of view but the loud party atmosphere!.

I wear hearing aids, so no earplugs required - one of their programmes is mute - which I use in the office when I’m trying to concentrate but it has other uses too.

Thanks also for the information on the solo events. not sure if i will try those or not. I’m kind of an introvert but might try the first event to see how it goes.

I was in 2 minds about booking this cruise line because of my age and introverted nature but the food was the major appeal and the cabins look great too. I will go to the shows too but will be just as happy with my kindle in my hammock or in those quieter porches.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied to my questions. they have all been helpful.

Thanks for all the great information. Looks like I’ll be booking before I go. Might also book breakfast or lunch in the ports I have been to before and not so eager to be off the ship all day.

yrs I’m travelling alone and booked directly rather than use a TA.

I didn’t know about wristbands. On the 3 lines I cruised with before, it was cruise cards that doubled up as your room key (except Coral Expeditions, they just got you to sign for anything extra charge but there were only 88 pax).

I’ll keep reading the threads on here as you don’t know what may be different until you see it mentioned.

Hopefully the app will have lost some of its kinks by the time I need to use it to make reservations.

I’m not new to cruising but am to VV. Booked my first cruise with them (Med cruise next year) and am glad to see the threads about the app being a bit flaky - thought it was just me.

So I have applied for my status match and got it. Are there any other forms that I need to be completing through the website or app now or do them after i have made final payment?

When making the booking, they said you would get an option to spread the cost in instalments. I never saw that option, so paid the 20%. can I make monthly payments myself rather than wait until the balance is due? Am I better doing that on the website or is that possible on the app?

Is it just dinner that I need to prebook on he app or afternoon tea or do I also have to prebook lunch? I’m hoping not as I usually go ashore myself without excursions and sometime I come back onboard for lunch but other times I don’t and I never know what i will do until the day itself. So if I decided to come back onboard, are there any options for lunch without a booking?

I presume for breakfast, you just go when you feel like it during their opening hours?

Sorry for all the questions, just wanting to make sure I understand how things will work.

I am excited for my Seaview cruise this summer, it will be my first cruise outside of North American waters and I am very excited. I've heard there will be a LOT of British guests who board in Barcelona, is that true or just a stereotype? I did hear that there will be many English speakers, but they are predominantly British, which I can believe.

Unless things have changed dramatically in the last 18 months, I would not say there would be lots of Brits onboard. Their popularity has probably expanded in the U.K. over the years but many still choose RCCL, P&O,Cunard etc.

There will be a lot of Italians, Germans and Spanish though.

I’ll be boarding my 22nd cruise at the weekend and hVe never embarked at Barcelona, but mainly Genoa for Western Med. MSC for some reason used to have Irish passengers joining at Barcelona.

I think it’s best to only expect some not lots of English speakers and from many nationalities.

It’s not that MSC aren’t flexible, it’s just they can’t accomodate everyone. There are never that many tables for 2 compared to all other sizes, so on some cruises demand exceeds supply. They give preference to those with medical conditions or on honeymoon or a special anniversary.

I’ve always asked to be seated on a large table (its part of the booking process). I always go for second sitting. On 2out of 21cruises with MDC, I was by myself which wasn’t a lot of fun, but not much they could do when there were only 11 English speaking passengers on one of them and they were either on first sitting or not wanting to share. So,etimes I’ve managed to get a full table of 8pr more but mostly less than that. I’d do better if I were on first as that is when the Americans and a lot of Brits prefer.

It used to. E really easy to book any cruise as a so.o

Assembler. Just after the credit crunch, you could even get some sailings with no single supplement. Then it became almost impossible (at least in the U.K.). There were some sailings where they wouldn’t accept any solo bookings. Had the ridiculous situation that they had around 20cabins unsold for the Dubai sailings 3weeks out and preferred to leave them unsold rather than sell it to me even at 200%.

They appear to have relented somewhat but do appear to ration the number of solos on a particular cruise. Last time I looked (last year) they was no availability at all on the newer bigger ships. No matter which dates you looked, until you changed the pax number to 2.

Used to sail solo with them 2,3or even 4 times a year but rarely do now. They went from being solo friendly to unfriendly, then completely degraded the Club benefits. Plenty other places to spend my holiday budget!

Hope you’re having a fantastic trip !

Thanks Pluto_fan!

It’s all sorted ( I think). They confirmed my club number wasn’t showing on my booking and have now added it and re-issued the cruise confirmation. They have sent an email to the department that issues the tickets requesting they reissue them tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how much has changed since I was last onboard!

Thanks both,

Yes it’s deginitely missing. I will call the. And get it fixed.

So it’s been 2 years since and have just been reading through my tickets for my sailing next Saturday.

First thing I noticed is I can’t see my Voyagers Card number any where. My luggage labels don’t have that I’m Black on them. Is this a change or have they forgot to,put this on? (I’m positive your club status was on your tickets previously).

Do they still have the preferential luggage drop queue and priority boarding for Black members at Venice? I still have my black card, so I can show that, since there is nothing on my paperwork to indicate I am.

Second thing I noticed is the embarkation procedures. You used to get your photo taken at check in, in the terminal and given Hijra card, cleared security and boarded the ship. It’s saying on the tickets, that you get your photo taken on the ship now and that your card will be in your cabin. Is this right?

Don’t want to phone the U.K. office tomorrow to get my tickets fixed if this is how they do things now!

Thanks

At £23 per day, I probably drink enough coffee, water and the occasional cocktail or Baileys, to make it worth while even if I treat myself to the occasional decent bottle or glass of wine.

You won't be able to do your own launder on MSC u less you plan on hand washing stuff in the bathroom.

Their laundry package is usually excellent value though. Not sure if the Seaside will have the same deal but as the previous reply says, you can see everything yiu can pre purchase when yiu log into your booking.

In more than 20 cruises with them, I e had. Towel animal anoutbtwice. It's not something they do as yiu e found out. Personally it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

As for the little squares of dark chocolate, yiu hetbthem with every espresso or cappuccino yiu order in the coffee bar.

Some hotels do this, I don't expect every hotel to do this. You seem to expect all. Raise lines to do the same as each other though.

Thanks for the additional information. I think I'll just go for the basic package.

The wine packages are good value but with it being a 7 night cruise and me travelling solo, I just wouldn't get through that much wine.GHANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP.

Thanks Bea. It's the XO that I like too!

Going to do a week in Eastern Med on the Poesia with the new Albania port if call..

So I'm back again after a long break from MSC and cruising and trying to get my head around the changes since April 2015!

Also trying to decide between these 2 packages and with the Premium almost double the ordinary one, just not sure. What might swing it is the wine. What are they serving these days on both lackagaes please?

Does the ordinary package still include glasses of prosecco? What's the red wine like? If these aren't that bad, might go with that and just pay for the occasional Remy Martin or Armagnac as an extra.

Thanks