Essiesmom

Following here, too. I’m making my first jump to the Vista class in Sept. on Vista…had to wait until she came to Port Canaveral. Then I will be on Venezia January 5. That will be my milestone cruise, #25. Travel solo also, since my sister passed two years ago. EM

It’s complicated. When you are dealing with Princess, HAL, and some other lines that will sell two seven day cruises as one 14 day cruise, and therefore reserve some cabins for the whole 14, and others for the 7,…sometimes a TA or cruise line vacation planner can get those cabins released to you. For example: back in 2011 I booked a specific cabin on Nieuw Amsterdam for a 12 day cruise from Venice. A few days later I decided to change to the 24 day collectors cruise. That cabin was available if booked as two 12 day cruises, it not as one 24 day cruise. My TA was able to persuade them to let us book it as the collectors cruise. EM

This is a pic from a cabin that has a symbol for double sofa bed. I always thought the drawer held a pad that was placed on top of the couch when made up as a bed. Maybe so, but apparently it is also a trundle. I would think it would make it difficult for the person on the couch part to get up to the bathroom…. EM

The twins are not as wide as a standard twin..33” as opposed to the standard 39”. So your king bed is actually 66”, instead of 78”. Bigger than a queen, but not a king. EM

They will also show not available when you are trying to book as a solo. Cabins are available, it they want two or more in them. EM

Balcony cabins do not have wall mounted pullmans on Spirit class ships. In fact, even the inside cabins on Spirit class have the bunks in the ceiling. EM

I believe the ship is Fantasia, of Fantasia class. EM

Carnival will take a copy of the BC, and I believe @Ferry Watcherhas reported faxed copies in Seattle.

There is a white party on every cruise. EM

If the person hitting you up in the gym was not an employee, you should report it to guest services. I think that’s prohibited. EM

Cruisetimetables says Meraviglia should be there May 23, Seascape May 24. EM

On Seashore and Seaside there was a metal bin inside a cupboard below the sink in the bathroom. My cabin steward brought me a box of tissue. I joked that maybe it was a diamond bonus. EM

Are you entering your voyagers club number, not just signing into the website? I just posted this in a thread yesterday…when you pull up a cruise, on the page that says to choose your offer…basic or the one with WiFi and drinks…along the top you input number of guests, etc. on that same line enter your Voyagers Club number. If it is recognized, you will see the fare numbers change. EM

I don’t believe you can make a reservation until you are onboard. EM

The deck plan says convertible sofa. No indication of upper berth. Are you sure this cabins holds 4? EM

A glance at cruisedeckplans shows insides as 512, OV at 100, balconies 1425. They are no longer classed as Bella or Fantastica, they can sell them as either. With those numbers, your chances of a free upgrade are highest booking an OV. I am on Seashore in June with a Bella OV gty. I prefer to do Fantastica, but when I selected OV the only option was a Bella gty. I prefer an OV over an inside because I want the couch. I don’t book a balcony because I don’t use it. Now, I am also sailing on Magnifica in July. In this case, I booked a Fantastica Inside and was able to choose the cabin. I chose the only cabin offered that was for three. On Magnifica, all upper bunks are wall mounted, and a cabin for 3 will only have one wall with bunk. I was offered the option to bid for an OV or balcony, and the OV was a particularly attractive price. But many, many of the OV cabins had two bunks, and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting one. EM

Charges from MSC are processed through a bank in Switzerland or Paris, so you might incur foreign transaction fees if the card you are using charges those. But they will clearly be from MSC so your card company should recognize them as legit. EM

Some travel agency sites do. You just have to wade through them to see. EM

Well, have you looked at the deck plans and counted how many of each type there are? Back in 2019 we sailed on Seaside. When I booked, I checked number of cabins on cruisedeckplans.com. This was before any bidding for upgrades. I noted that there were 80 OV cabins, half Bella and half Fantastica. And 1300 balconies. I figured if I booked a Fantastica OV gty I would probably get a balcony. Because there will be some people who book a cabin number because that’s what they can afford. We did get a balcony. Last year I also sailed on Seaside, and booked a gty…don’t remember if it was inside or OV, but was Fantastica. Got assigned balcony. I’m awaiting my current gty on Seashore, Bella this time because that was all that was offered. It’s all in the numbers. EM

I’ve no idea about the noise, as I’ve not been in one of those suites. But there are movies and parties that happen around the Long Island pool, which is two decks up from the highest aft facing cabins. And a bit forward from them. There are no activities scheduled for the infinity pool area. I will post the schedules from last Dec. when they populate to this iPad from my phone.

I already have one…maybe I will check my carryon and carry on the egg crate. Might be worth it for five nights. However, it they would give me an extra half dozen pillows, I might survive. EM

Try not to over plan your ports. You have chosen the hottest month for a Mediterranean cruise and the hottest locales. And August is the month when Europeans take vacation, so venues will be crowded. My practice when visiting a new port is to take the ship tour that gives an overview of the location, and only a half day. And don’t try to do everything as a group. Not everyone will be interested in the same things. EM

You will find many interracial couples on the ship. No one blinks an eye. Relax and enjoy. EM

This has been mentioned many times…but when they assemble a table of singles or unrelated couples, no one checks packages. I never have one, but others at the table do. EM