omarchs

Hi,

 we have also been looking at booking one of these out of NY also, but are waiting for better deals including the drink package since the May trips still appear to be pretty empty probably due to them being relatively new to NY.

 We also took the early seating last time on MSC since we didn’t want to eat at 9:30. It was printed on your cruise card your dining time and table number. I guess you could call if you booked directly or have your travel agent request, but as many have noted, their customer service is sometimes lacking and any request may not matter.

They assigned us for 6pm and we checked for when the Maitre’d was available after boarding. We wound up having a table for 12 and the Maitre’d did the usual routine that it was very crowded and not much available later for a table for 2. They eventually gave us 7 pm with a table for 2 after the usual begging. The table ended up being a long 6 or 8 top that wasn’t split where usually there was just one other couple at the other end so you had a little privacy since we were on the other end.

We found dining usually slow since portions are small and many people order multiple apps, entrees that keeps the wait staff very busy. Also it is very hit or miss whether you can get a mixed drink in the dining room so always bring one in if you don’t want wine for dinner which many times is the only available option.

Have a great trip!

Would be nice if they added a few cruises out of NYC before arriving in Miami to replace the few Mardi Gras cruises they cancelled from NYC after it’s first shipyard delay.

Not sure what category cabin you are interested in, but NCL removed the concierge-level cabins which were unique to Joy. Most were reclassified to the new club balcony (old min-suite). There were some larger concierge that were reclassified to suite or Haven rooms.
 

Never saw a full breakdown of the changes, but some people may have liked the old concierge rooms with their perks. Some people may not like the Haven as much now that more rooms have Haven access, but that is really dependent on how many were reclassified into the Haven.

FYI, 

I was looking at the Joy next spring out of NY and all the Concierge cabins are showing as sold out. Wonder if NCL is removing their classification during the downtime to make the ship consistent with the rest of the fleet or could just be another glitch?

Do appreciate the option to reschedule, but I bet they are going to charge you a new deposit on a new cruise regardless of how much FCC you have. 
 

Recently had a Carnival cruise that was cancelled and we were given FCC as compensation. We had to put down a new deposit on a new cruise while the FCC was just taken off the final amount due and this was months before the virus.
 

I expect NCL will ask for a new deposit amount in addition despite all the cash they are keeping. Plus the inflated prices we will need to pay. Will be interesting to see what the parameters will be about booking a new trip!  Our trip is still a few weeks out so we are going to wait a few days before waiting on hold.

Glad they finally sorted it out for you!
 

We were on the Meraviglia in October and were surprised at how much trouble we had ordering drinks with the drink package. Never had so much trouble ordering drinks on other lines with a drink package.

It appears that the bartender has to scroll through your whole cruise info when ordering a drink instead of just getting immediate info on whether you have a drink package and if so what type.

We upgraded to the premium package and the bartender at the first bar told us that he had to charge us for our drinks since they were over the easy limit. He then proceeded to scroll through all the info on his tablet showing only the easy package. I then had to wait 1 hour at guest services for them to tell me the bartender didn’t scroll through all the booking info to find the premium package upgrade listed. 
 

We continued to have issues on/off throughout the week ordering. We kept saying how is this order going to go and like you said we had to constantly check our account to ensure no extra charges.

It was also ridiculous how restrictive drink service was in the dining room. You could only easIly get their pick of a white/red that they had in the dining room rather than a particular wine. They really had no mixed drink service which was crazy. They would do it, but you might see your drink in an hour since they weren’t staffed for it. One of the Maitre’d s told us that there was a disagreement over whether the restaurant or beverage department would get credit for bar revenue in the dining room so MSC basically avoided the issue by advertising on their website limited beverage service in the dining room.

I think most were in the $80-100 range but we never looked that closely. Someone may have examples since they are probably standard across the fleet. They did include two seats.

One thing we didn’t like on Royal was they reserved many seats in venues or Promenade for extra fee champagne packages. Pool area and some of the promenade were free options. You already pay a premium for a NYE voyage so thought it was just gouging people. Neither one of us likes champagne so we didn’t see the need to buy one of the “limited” packages. We had a good laugh when we walked into 270 on the Anthem and one of the waiters said to sit anywhere if you didn’t reserve space and all we saw were reserved signs everywhere.

Would recommend you buy a package if there is a venues theme that you really like so you don’t miss out. We had previously been on NYE sailings with Carnival and NCL and all venues were first come first served so we didn’t expect many seats would be sold in venues. The amount they sold seemed to be limited to what they can sell.

One thing we thought ridiculous is that it was an extra $5 for a baked potato with the dining package. Most lines let you choose from most of the main menu in their steakhouse with their dining packages, so we were pretty surprised that they would charge extra for a baked potato on top of having a much smaller menu.

Thanks to all for the info and glad many already booked replacements at a good deal!

I was just reading the fine print of the email and it indicates “the FCC is based upon the cruise  fare paid for this voyage”.

I understand our deposit will be refunded, but does this mean we would just get 25% of our deposit amount paid as a FCC or would the FCC still be based on the full cruise fare w/o fees/taxes?

Thanks for posting!

I didn’t see it in my account either, but wanted to check rates on our 6 day Mardi Gras out of NY anyway. I was surprised To see that both NY voyages are now missing. Both seemed to have plenty of cabins last week so don’t expect they are sold out.
 

Our reservation is still showing in my cruise manager. Maybe they want to exclude these particular cruises from the current promotion and just hid them.

Thanks for the review and hope you are feeling better!

We were on the following trip and the germs were still alive and well. The whole ship was coughing away from day 1. We were shocked at how few people were using the sanitizers/washing stations going into the Marketplace and no MSC staff were proactively spraying despite all the coughing.

We survived until late in the trip and had to both visit the doctor for the same nasty infection once home.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

i thought at one time the lagoon area was going to be for Haven guests, but others could buy day passes. Is this no longer true and this area is only available for those booking cabanas?

They also don’t provide you with departure times for shorter tours which I have never seen on other mass-market lines. Makes it more difficult to plan your day in advance so that 20% pre-cruise discount isn’t necessarily free.

Have a great trip to all those departing tomorrow! Hopefully you will get a special send off by the city. There has been some local news coverage that it is the largest ship to visit the Manhattan pier so it should be a big deal for the city.

1 hour ago, Beamafar said:

Wonder what kind of a welcome she got (if any).  Will she get a great send-off tomorrow evening, I wonder?

Probably only if they announce a long-term commitment to sailing out of NY on a more frequent basis 😎

56 minutes ago, CruisingFox27 said:

The PM function doesn't work 🙄

 

9am I believe. Are you embarking? Would love to hear how the process goes as it's a new embarking port for MSC. 

Not until the 18th. Was just hoping to check the NY harbor cams if I had a few minutes when it was due to sail in. Thanks for the info.

Does anyone know what time the ships docks again in North America Monday? Tx

1 hour ago, Oxo said:

We were on the Seaside last Nov 10,2018 and only received 1 meal each, which was 2 meals per cabin even though we are both Black Card. Previously on the Divina we both received 2 meals each. They have reduced that from 2/BC to 1/BC. 

I thought MSC changed it officially to one Black card meal per cabin even if there are two Black card members in the cabin? I know we only received one on the Seaside last year even after complaining onboard we should be entitled to two. Maybe this is another situation where it is interpreted differently by ship/staff member.

Maybe I am confusing it with NCL that only gives 1 platinum meal even if two platinum members are in the cabin.

NCL charges a 20% gratuity on the full drink package price when you select their “free” drink package as a perk. Currently their drink package is $100 day and doesn’t include bottled water. We travel on NCL quite a bit and we are used to this extra charge needing to be included.

MSC charging $27 a day upcharge on an included Easy package seems like them just following the crowd to bulk up profits. I was reading that Celebrity is also thinking about adding a mandatory gratuity amount when you get the “free” perk of a drink package. 

Waiting to see if the NYC rumors prove true that they can only serve beer/wine while in NYC. I will be asking for a $27 pp credit that day since I am not paying for a premium upgrade if that is all they are serving 😎

19 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

FF ... they don't serve drinks other than the included cocktails or specific wine that I think they may offer with the dinner in the Cirque venue, regardless of what cabin category you're in or drinks package you have.  Here's the dinner menu that's offered:

 

 

 

Thanks Bea! 

Do you know if the menu is the same for both shows?

On 7/14/2019 at 7:04 AM, heatherb1958 said:

Seems that they have improved the selection on the Easy package. A new menu posted on social media shows an increase in the number of cocktails available under Easy. They probably had a lot of complaints about the limited choice yet the price was only 10 or 20 cents more for a preferred brand which did not make sense. 

See the difference in these photos. The first one I took in Feb on the Meraviglia, the second was posted recently on social media although I notice my menu is in Euros and the second one is in Dollars it appears . 

Thanks for this. Very interesting. We had already upgraded to premium due to the minimal Easy menu. We could easily live with this new menu and save the cash. They better be prepared for some unhappy campers if they will not refund the upgrade amount if this menu is the new standard.

Hopefully we will see some shorter than 10-14 day cruises out of NYC.

On 5/24/2019 at 4:33 AM, Beamafar said:

There are very few 2-tops in the MDRs and are reserved for those celebrating milestone anniversaries/birthdays and those with special needs.  Black Card members are given priority for the remainder by the m'D, who you need to see on embarkation at the designated time to make a request for one. 

 

Some 2-tops are very close to other tables - which kinda defeats the purpose lol.

Hi Bea,

  are there any more 2 tops in the Meraviglia anytime dining room compared to the traditional dining rooms?

Thanks!