actuarian

It's not just MSC. Royal Caribbean and Carnival are also constantly "on sale". None of the sales mean very much. Every once in a while, there are legitimate promotions but even they do not help everyone, just specific segments of the market. Examples of promotions that help selected people are "kids sale free" promotions and reduced single supplements.

Even with 330, the Seascape Yacht Club will not be crowded. I have not been in the Yacht Club on the Seascape but I have been in the Seashore Yacht Club and those two ships are almost exactly the same. Therefore, the real issue is the interlopers (and the people with "ACCESS") and it is the responsibility of the crew to deal with them. They can be dealt with. I have not seen interlopers in Retreat areas on Celebrity ships because the Celebrity crew keeps them out. What Celebrity can do, MSC can do too. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has access on Celebrity. There are people with access on Royal Caribbean and the suite lounges and restaurants on Royal are often crowded. I have never cruised on NCL but perhaps someone else can comment on the crowding or the lack of it in the Haven.

The "overall space ratio" does not seem very important when one is in the Yacht Club. The Yacht Club is a "ship within a ship" and should have its own space ratio. Since the Yacht Club is not literally a ship, its space ratio cannot be calculated directly but it can be estimated. For example, the gross tonnage of the Seachore is 169,400. The Seashore carries a maximum of 5,448 passengers so its minimum space ratio is 31.09. That is certainlyk crowded. However, about 12% of the space on the Seashore that is either public or made up of passenger staterooms is for Yacht Club members only. That means that we could define the "Yacht Club Tonnage" as being 12% of 169,400 or 20,328. In theory, the Seashore Yacht Club could carry a maximum of 595 passengers but that will never happen since I have never seen anyone cram 5 people into a Yacht Club Deluxe Suite. It the Yacht Club really carried 595 passengers, that would give it a space ratio of 34.16. As a practical matter, the Yacht Club almost never carries more than 300 passengers so the real space ratio that one is likely to experience there is around 68 so it is very comparable to the space ratio on the Explora. The choice between the MSC Yacht Club or the Explora is mostly one of personal preference. Would you rather be in a small luxury ship with limited facilities but the ability to go to places that a megaship cannot reach, or would you prefer to be in a luxury enclave within a megaship and have access to all the entertainment and other facilities of the megaship. My preference is the latter.

I am preparing to book one of the Whirlpool Suites on the MSC Seashore for a party of 5 (my son, my daughter-in-law, 2 granddaughters and me). MSC says that those suites can sleep 5 but can anyone tell me how the sleeping arangements are set up for 5? I know that there is a bed for two and that the sofa can be set up to sleep the 2 children but I do not know where the 5th adult will sleep. Thand you for any information that you can provide. --Dave

According to a travel agent, "MSC Yacht Club services are provided complimentary to all [Explora] OCEAN RESIDENCES and OCEAN PENTHOUSES.". That should include Ocean House and it seems more likely since there are only 23 Residences but the total of Residences and Penthouses is 90. Ocean House is able to accommodate all Yacht Club members on a ship like the Seashore, which has 131 suites in the Yacht Club. Therefore, it would seem silly to limit it to the 23 Residences, as another person said in this thread.

I just got off my April 23-27 cruise on the Seaside. They were not selling access to the Top 19 sundeck; it was available only to Aurea Experience members and to Yacht Club members (including myself), who were able to access it through the doorway that connects the Yacht Club pool deck with the Top 19 deck.

The prices to upgrade to The Retreat seem to be higher on newer ships and on older ships that have been “revolutionized” than they are on the M-class and S-class ships that have not yet been revolutionized.

1- Accessible sky suites do not have tubs. Most other sky suites do have tubs. 2 - You will have access to the Retreat lounge and your dinner restaurant will be Luminae. 3 - You will keep the same drink and wi-fi packages that were included with your original reservation. However, regardless of what packages you originally had, you will probably receive unlimited drinks while in the Retreat lounge. I have never seen anyone asked to show a room key when ordering a drink in the Retreat lounge. 4 - There is a small chance that you will be moved to another suite if you do not require an accessible accommodation and some other person does. However, that can only happen if another non-accessible suite (sky suite or better) is available. 5 - Of course, there will be more motion in the forward part of the ship than mid-ship. However, I have been in forward suites several times and never been bothered by motion. On most Celebrity ships, the most expensive suites are either far forward or far back. For example, the penthouse suites on M-class ships are far aft and the Reflection Suite (on the Reflection) is far forward.

MSC has reduced the perks that used to be associated with the Aurea experience. It was probably worth that much 2 years ago when it included unlimited thermal spa access and when the base price of Aurea rooms included the drink package. However, the add-on for Easy Plus is now the same for Aurea as it is for Fantastica and unlimited thermal spa access is gone. What remains are the gifts left in Aurea rooms, priority boarding, anytime dining and access to the "exclusive solarium". IMHO, those perks certainly have value but they are worth less than $800. They would be more valuable if the Aurea solarium had a pool like the Yacht Club sundeck has but that is not the case. Personally, I would rather have a Yacht Club inside room than an Aurea balcony room and the prices for those two options are often very similar.

I would limit it to Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Carnival. HAL and Princess are in a premium price category, along with Celebrity, Viking and Disney.

"Need"? There is probably no "need" for once a day cleaning. Indeed, there is no "need" to cruise at all. Cruising is a luxury, not a need, and twice a day cleaning increases the luxury. Before, RCCL eliminated twice a day cleaning, they used to joke about how luxurious it was during many of their welcome aboard shows. I remember a cruise director saying that she could go to the bathroom during the night and come back to find her bed made. She was stressing how luxurious it was (although, taken literally, what she described would have been frightening).

Even though RCI owns Celebrity, Celebrity does provide a higher standard of service than does Royal Caribbean. Celebrity still places towels on the loungers by the pool, has real cloth towelettes in the public restrooms, offers a cold towel and a beverage before one reboards the ship at a port, and includes classic items on the dinner menu every day (as Royal Caribbean also did until this year). Those little things make a difference, as do the twice daily room cleanings. Several of the goodies that used to differentiate Celebrity are gone but at least some do survive. If they all go, I for one will no longer have a reason to sail on Celebrity instead of one of the big four mainstream cruiselines (Royal, Norwegian, Carnival and MSC).

"Need" has nothing to do with it. Twice daily room cleaning is a luxury and, by definition, luxuries are not needs. I do not need twice daily room cleaning but I do like having my room cleaned in the morning and still having fresh towels and ice delivered every evening. Luxuries have long been part of cruising and, even though I do not need them, I miss them when they disappear, and they are disappearing one by one. Among the things that I miss are midnight buffets with ice carvings, indoor cinemas and well-stocked libraries. I do not need any of those things.

Aurea experience cruisers never had to pay for the use of Top 19 or for seating there. However, MSC used to allow Bella and Fantastica experience cruisers to pay to use Top 19. I am pretty sure that this option is no longer available. The only cruisers who are admitted to Top 19 are Aurea Experience cruisers and, on some ships, Yacht Club members. I do not think Yacht Club members are really supposed to use Top 19 since they have their own sundeck. However, on some ships, Yacht Club members can simply walk through from the Yacht Club sundeck to Top 19 (but not the other way).

The MSC website used to show show Top19 as being free to Aurea Experience customers and available for purchase to others. Back then, I remember seing that sign showing prices. However, around two years ago, that was changed to showing Top19 as being "exclusively" for Aurea Experience customers and I did not see that sign during my most recent cruise. My understanding is that access to Top19 is no longer being sold.

Cruise prices are just following the same path that long haul air travel is following. I traveled to Italy last October in business class. My next trip this May to Spain will be in premium economy and I am paying almost as much as last time; business class prices have increased to the point that I can no longer afford to fly that way. I usually purchase my airline tickets about 4 months before flying. The business class non-stop round trip that cost around $3,000 in June of 2022 cost around $11,000 last January. Today, it costs $12,194.28 in business, $2,671.28 in premium economy and $1,911.28 in economy. Of course, there are much better fares that require a change of planes but the minimum fare for business class (with changes) is still much higher than it was a year ago.

Actually kids ask strangers for cash all of the time. If you did not know that, you probably have not been to Mexico recently, or you stay very close to the port when you are in Mexico. The only thing that is unusual was that these were kids who's parents could afford to cruise.

A ban for life is not adequate for vandalism or assault. Royal was quite right to force some of them to disembark in Aruba. That will at least cause them to regret their actions, particularly if any of them were traveling with birth certificates instead of passports.

Usually, when they lock one of your bids and expire the rest, it means that the locked bid is going to be accepted. The fact that the locked bid is pending probably means that they have not yet assigned a new room to you. Still, it is likely that a room will be assigned and the bid accepted when they get a circular toit.

That is why I specifically said "especially on M-Class ships". On M-Class ships, there are only three specialty restaurants. Therefore, if you get a 3-meal (or more) package, you have to either use it in the same restaurant twice or use it in restaurants with a la carte pricing. Since the specialty restaurant menus do not change from day to day, many people may not want to go to the same one twice unless they are on one of the longer itineraries. As of today, the description of the package in "Plan My Cruise" still includes "Guests dining in Sushi on Five or in Raw on 5 will receive a maximum of $30 credit towards the food items on their bill."

I have seen this same statement many times before but, especially on M-Class ships, it is a mistake to assume that dining packages always provide a discount. For example, ignoring the gratuities which get charged regardless of whether or not you purchase a package, a 3-night package on my February 20, 2023 Summit cruise would cost me $143.99, although it provides only a $30 credit if used at Sushi on Five. If I do not purchase the package and instead purchase and reserve the meals in advance, I pay $54.99 for Le Petit Chef and $49.99 for Tuscan Grill. That adds up to $104.98. Adding on the $30 credit at Sushi, one prepaid and pre-reserved meal at each of the three restaurants costs a total of $134.98 or $9.01 per person less than the package costs. So it is always worth checking the prices for advance reservations before deciding whether or not to purchase a package. These prices vary depending on the sailing date and the purchaser's Captains Club status.

It is certainly true that "the vast majority of the passengers on any ship are not in suites". Nevertheless, I am pretty sure that the largest share of the profit does come from suite passengers. I read an analysis of this that applied to NCL's Haven passengers but I cannot think of any reason why it would not apply to Celebrity also. Similarly, it is well known among accountants that airlines make nearly all of the profit that they make from from long haul flights from the relatively small number of business class passengers. They only break even on the other classes of service.

That amount only applies if you order a second lobster tail in the MDR. You can still order a lobster tail plus a second entree that is not lobster and there is no additional charge for that. IMHO, the lobster tail plus the lamb chops (or sometimes rack-of-lamb) that are usually available on lobster night make a great combination.

Unfortunately, you have to actually speak to a human being in order to add notes to a reservation. This means that you have to either call the cruise line or call a travel agent. Either way, there is a good chance of being made to wait on hold.

This is a problem that I have seen several times. If you do not want to be moved, it is important to make sure a reservation has "no upgrades" in the notes. Otherwise, the cruise line is free to move you to any stateroom that is in a higher category that the stateroom originally reserved.