omarchs

Yes, very close. We used it for last year’s jazz cruise. Typical crowd mentality at times with line cutters and second streetcar drivers coming up behind the first car letting riders on from the back of the line instead of keeping the doors closed and pulling up once the first was full. Didn’t have this issue at other streetcar stops, so be prepared for some possible aggravation at Julia street at peak times.

Does it also appear that the starboard Haven outdoor space has cabanas and the new port opposite side has the current overhead top to provide shade for the back row? Was wondering how the Haven outdoor setup would be with now both sides available for the 1st time and these nice photos seem to answer the question.

These private islands were the last relatively unspoiled stops in the Caribbean and away they go! Can’t we just enjoy a beach and the ocean anymore? I guess not.

I have been trying to do the Web check in for our May Seaside cruise with varying success. Had to use Chrome to enter the info since it kept disappearing via Safari. Kept getting many versions of eDocs every time i could save one more piece of info even though they said they wouldn't be available until 20 days prior.

Question for those who have completed the web checkin/received eDocs. No guidance as to what to put into place of birth. Are they looking for the town, town/state, just country? They indicate it is a mandatory field on the eDOCs. Also saw that the eDocs don't include a value for "State". I remember that the profile autofilled this, but it doesn't come through into the eDocs. Not a mandatory field, so not overly concerned, just wondered if anyone else had this same issue.

Can’t help on the rum limit in Cuba, but the usual customs guidance for foreign travel is a liter per person duty free with more duty free if you also stop in st Thomas. At least that was the last cruise guidance I remember.

FYI, have also wanted to find the Cuban version of Havana Club rum in the Caribbean. Was in Nassau a few months ago and the price was ridiculous so you have to be better buying as much as possible in Cuba.

We were also looking at the jr suites and figured the coastal kitchen at dinner was a great perk until we started seeing posts about attitude/availability being an issue.

Royal must guarantee this option if it is included in the description or they must remove it if space is an issue. Like the extra room in the cabin, but we are not going to pay that much extra if this perk isn’t reconfirmed by Royal.

Yes, but another case of a large group using up limited facilities for events at day/night without a peep from MSC. Getting tired of having to google every potential trip and many times these things get added after you book.

Thanks for the review. We don't sail until May so very appreciative of all the feedback from the current cruisers!

We also have the $400 onboard credit directly from MSC on our room. Were you able to use this to apply to the daily service charge? Some say you can, others indicate they needed to go to the casino to cash out their onboard credit since it couldn't be applied directly for the service charge.

I'm surprised that the yacht club and the main dining room would share the same menu. I was under the impression they were always completely different. That seems odd...

I completely agree! You would think they could have come up with a separate Yacht Club Italian Night menu with the premium everyone is paying to stay in the Yacht Club.

There is no difference. If you wait until you are onboard it can come off of any accrued on board credit, though.

 

I will also add that the daily service charge is only $6.25/pp/pd for children over 2 years and is free for children under 2 years. This is saving us a big chunk over some other mainstream lines that charge full price for everyone, regardless of age.

Has anyone had experience where their onboard credit could be applied for the daily service charge? There have numerous conflicting comments about being able to use it. Some have even gone to the casino and cashed out their onboard since they indicated it couldn’t be applied.

Thanks!

Thanks very much for posting! Was beginning to think that people somehow are not allowed to post the Yacht Club menus. There have been many requests for them and people have posted 100s of ships photos when staying in the Yacht Club, but no menus (until now!).

Thanks again and hope you have a great trip!

You made me look at the cancellation policies since i wasn't sure what they were on MSC as a first-timer. Looks like you can cancel without penalty before final payment. Were you within the final payment period for them wanting to keep the deposit or were you outside of the penalty period?

We don't sail until May and haven't made final payment so just wondering what our phone call would be like if we do decide to cancel and so something else.

Thanks!

Anyone have a guess as to when exursions will start to be listed on Alaska cruises? Port times are short so I'm curious as to what will work. We are very excited about the Bliss so flexible about whatever excursion but seems like for some ports especially Juneau many excursions won't work

Just saw a few excursions added for our October Mexico sailing which is later so i would hope you would see yours any day now.

Thanks Bob for the excellent review! Have been eagerly awaiting YC feedback.

Do you have any feedback on the YC dinner menus? Sounds like the choices are rather small with an always available section. We aren't overly adventurous and wondering if we will be able to find something each night without always resorting to the same every night options. Hoping not a lot of game birds/very fancy items so wondering if you have any menus or feedback?

One poster attached some menus, but they matched what was also posted for the main dining room and assuming they are not the same.

Thanks in advance and glad you had a great trip!

I would be less inclined to bring along "formal" clothes if they continue to just have the one elegant night as some have noted in the first few sailings rather than the two planned.

I think there were 3 levels of plans/speeds. I bought the middle version and it was extremely slow at times. Also felt like it was a waste of money.

You would need the highest level in this case in my opinion since you couldn’t depend upon the other two levels. I would talk to the internet manager the first day to see what file size restrictions there maybe even in the top package to see if she would need to send on an island instead.

Have a great trip. We enjoyed the ship very much!

Also to note her dry dock time was cut down too, so she probably won't be Sunshined?

Is this official? Figured that only a Sunshine revamp would make this an attractive option out of NY for many, myself included.

Will try to squeeze in the Horizon this year and sail the competition out of NY in 2019 if this just winds up being another band-aid upgrade to an older ship. Competition has upped their game in NY lately and also MSC will be in the market in NY 2019. Carnival we deserve better if this isn’t a full sunshine type revamp.

...or they could just be like every other cruise line these days that has guidelines/suggestions for dress and hopes that the majority follow them, but won't enforce them if people don't comply.

So does this mean you can’t leave the obc in your account and just having the dsc charged/applied with the obc and must remove via the casino?

Glad u had a great trip!

I was shocked when another poster indicated that they don’t even provide the departure time for excursions. Sorry they screwed your’s up.

We have so much onboard credit, we were hoping to use for excursions/tips but are afraid they might sell out, but concerning that they can’t get the pre-booking right.

One question for you. Were the Yacht Club dinner menus different than the main dining room? One poster showed them from the Yacht Club and they looked identical to the main dining room and we were impressed by them.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info and glad you had a great trip!

The Yacht club menus look the same as other menus posted by other cruisers in the main dining room. Does the Yacht Club really use the same menus?

Summertime so I would hope Bermuda, but not sure if they can find a berth. Some ships are even doing Canada during the summer now.

They may even try doing the Florida/Bahamas since they could show off their private island to the NY crowd.

There is also a missing voyage over Christmas. Can’t imagine that it could be chartered that week.

Appreciate the live music, but I would hope that their evaluation of the US market would indicate some of us would like a little more variety in the music choices.