Essiesmom

It might be if it is a cove balcony.. I used to book balconies when sailing with my sister, excuse she liked to sit out and read. I prefer to move around the ship and people watch. But I lost her last year, so I am back to gty’s. But I speculate. Last year I saw that the Esctasy was being replaced by Spirit for a short time in JAX. I quickly went online and booked an inside, 1A gty, knowing that the cabin category I booked on Ecstasy did not exist on Spirit and I would be upgraded, possibly to the 4K picture window (formerly French door) inside. And that’s what I got. One time on Celebrity, I booked a partially obstructed balcony on Silhouette. A few days later they ran a special, gty balcony for the price of an inside. That saved me $1200 and I got a great unobstructed balcony. In 2018 I booked us an OV gty on MSC Seaside. I knew there were 40 OV cabins in my ‘experience’, but over 1300 balconies. We were assigned a balcony. I am booked on the same ship for August, did an inside gty and already assigned a partially obstructed balcony. Pretty far forward with metal balustrade instead of plexiglas. Works for me. EM

Your problem may be that to sail on a Farcus ship, it will need to be Conquest class or older. I don’t remember if the Dream was flashy, but definitely felt the Magic was dull, not memorable other than it was dull. EM

I’m curious as to how long this tour is, and how you are going, as Butchart Gardens are in. Victoria, not Vancouver. EM

The simple solution is to fly in a day early and collect your baby food and formula powder at WalMart of another supermarket. This includes diapers and wipes, too. EM

It only will they be going to Coco Cay…you will be able to get the double cheeseburger there…. EM

Packable backpacks and totes are plentiful online. I have several from Luglife.com. Also available on Amazon. Just Google. EM

No, none of those on Carnival. They will be happy to purée food. EM

There are three ships waiting outside the port: Seascape, Celebration, NCL Escape. EM

You’re welcome. EM

Go back to the main MSC page. On the upper left you will see ‘See posts about’ and to the right in blue ‘select ship’. You will get a drop down menu to select the ship you are interested in. Select MSC Poesia and you will get a page of threads with references to her. EM

Ask on the Ports of call board for Bahamas/Nassau. Welcome to Cruise Critic. You also might Google accessible Bahamas. EM

We used them some years ago, from hotel in FLL to Miami port. You should be asking on the Florida Departures board, under North American Homeports. EM

Depending on what was under the blanket, it might have been more comfortable…. EM

What is the on time record for this train? Where does it start? I think a very recent thread about this was moved to the West Coast Departures board. EM

If you take an excursion, it must be through the ship. No independent excursions are allowed. I believe this is a requirement of the canal authority or Panama. If you choose not to take a celebrity excursion and stay on the ship back through the locks to Colon, you might try for a taxi to take you touring, but it’s not recommended. EM

You need to understand that I have the smallest phone I can get. Just last week I upgraded from the SE 2nd gen to the SE 3rd gen. My first smartphone was the original SE of 2016. EM

I don’t see the pier mentioned on that schedule. EM

Princess does this all the time when they overbook gty. They call it a Move Over offer. And sometimes a Move Down (to a lower category). Move to another cruise and get the cost of the previous cruise back as OBC. I think there are other details. Nothing new. EM

According to the deck plans on the MSC website and cruisedeckplans, your cabin does not have a foldout couch, only meant for two. Not sure how ‘spacious wardrobe’ is interpreted. EM

I sort of find the upgrade bidding to be an amusing game. I am booked on B2B short cruises on Seaside for mid-August. Both booked solo as Fantastica inside gty. It is interesting that I booked the second leg first, online. The next day I had a call from a number that I had associated with MSC consultants. I had already been considering booking the previous 4 day, so I did. I asked if they could link them. Anyway, a couple weeks ago I got an invitation to bid for an upgrade. I put in a modest bid for an OV, another for an Aurea balcony, and a YC. I didn’t bid for a balcony because I have learned I seldom use it. Well, a couple days ago I got an upgrade notice. No, not any of my bids. I was granted a balcony, forward on deck 12 with metal balustrade. Okay. I’ll take it. The next day I get another invitation to bid for upgrades. The prices were much lower than the previous offers. I bid on an Aurea balcony again, and a YIN. Interesting that I haven’t heard anything about the first leg. EM

I just added it to my iPad ….hope it works. I never visit forums on my phone…screen is too small and typing near impossible. EM

Welcome to Cruise Critic. The best place for your questions is on the board here for Costa. But I will make a stab at part of it. If you want to take pictures from your cabin, you do not want an ocean view (OV) cabin. Sometimes the beds are in front of the windows, and the windows are recessed, and streaked with saltwater. If they washed them in every port, they would be dirty again as soon are you are out to sea. The forward facing cabins on deck 6 might not have such dirty windows but you have to keep the drapes closed at night so lights don’t affect visibility from the bridge. And they are considered obstructed due to an open deck in front, which you can access, but it is very windy while sailing. So if you want to take pictures from your cabin, you will definitely want a balcony. But you might find yourself out on the partial promenade on deck 4 also. Pretty much the only time you will see the coastline is when you are entering and leaving port. A higher deck won’t make much difference. When not in port, ships are several miles away from the coast, perhaps ten miles or more. Once you have booked the cruise, you can go into your booking and book the excursions. You will need to read the conditions of carriage to see what the cancellation regulations are. If visiting a particular attraction is important, it may be possible to book a trip independently. There are guidebooks that can help you do this, or even tell you how to do it independently, without an excursion. Rick Steves’ books on cruising can help with this. In any event, I’ve had a look at that itinerary and it looks interesting. EM

I was on Summit

I just got off a Celebrity ship 6/11 and those signs were on the tables in the buffet. But I try not to be in the buffet during peak times. Since I was solo, I often chose a stool at the high counters by the windows. EM

I was on this cruise, inside cabin deck 2 forward. No sewage smell there. No Covid either. EM