Essiesmom

There is only one excursion that I have seen that saves a lot, and it is at Ocean Cay. The rest $2-5. EM

Cruisedeckplans can show you that. Click on your ship and down the left side it shows each cabin type and how many. EM

Hmmm…that means there is new garage construction at two terminals…terminal 10 also. EM

On cruises from the US, the manifest that is submitted before departure is checked by CBP or some agency while the ship is at sea. Any irregularities found, the guest is met when the ship returns and sometimes escorted off in handcuffs. Outstanding warrants, etc. I suspect the same thing happens with all ships. The manifest was submitted, and while Armonia was at sea, either Spain or some EU agency checked the manifest. And perhaps one of the Bolivians popped up as someone whose visa application would have been denied. And since the visas were faked, there was no record of a visa application. That triggered an examination of all of the Bolivians, and there was no record of visa application. MSC would have been informed and likely spent a great deal of time trying to find a solution without having to cancel the embarkation in Rome. But they were not given the choice. What puzzles me is why MSC didn’t offer those guests the option of boarding at the next port, Messina. EM

NCL Sun transiting westbound on Saturday it’s hard to resist a good bridgecam.

Interesting track:

Fantasia yes. EM

We have a section for Panama Canal in the Ports of Call boards. I have a thread going there called Look Who’s in the Canal Today. If you go and look at the pics, most from the Panama Canal cams, and some from the bridge cams of the ships. You will soon see the difference between the old and new locks. EM

Pure speculation on my part, but I suspect this TA has done this before, perhaps for not so large a group, but the visas were so good they have never been questioned. Maybe some have been legit. But I’m betting that somewhere within the group was someone whose visa application would not have been approved. And just as from the US the manifest is submitted before departure, and further examined while the ship,is sailing. That’s why in the US the occasional guest is escorted off in handcuffs upon return to port. But the scrutiny of the manifest, probably bu Spain or EU officials, picked up this individual who should have been denied. Which led them to examine the others, and make the grand discovery. And I’m betting also that MSC was informed midway in the cruise that these people could not be debarked, and were working feverishly for some resolution that would have avoided canceling the Rome departure. And I would also bet that the people left stranded in Civitavecchia could have boarded downline in Messina, where she will be tomorrow. EM

For Cozumel, Google Cozumel insider. They post the schedule a week at a time, but you can see where various lines usually dock. Cozumelinsider.com. EM

April 5 and Viking Octantis is making her way eastbound.

They are actually quite different. I have been on Seaside twice, last in August 2023. What I liked most about Seaside is the second buffet on deck 16. It is modest, and only open for breakfast and lunch…but it is much less crowded than the one on 8. I really felt Seashore was larger…there seemed to be more venues. I think some of them might have been on Seaside but I didn’t find them. I think you should do them both, but do Seaside first. The sticky buns were much better on Seaside. EM

It’s possible that your itinerary may get a slight alteration. Right. Ow I am watching the Viking Octantis docked in Fuerte Amador. Her schedule was to transit April 4 and dock in Colon April 5. Fuerte Amador was not on her itinerary. But she was there April 4, I expect her to transit eastbound today and skip Colon. So maybe your itinerary will change to transit a day early and spend the original transit at Fuerte Amador. EM

One ship can still dock in Ocho Rios, at the James Bond dock. EM

No. EM

If you watch enough ‘To catch a smuggler’ on National Geographic channel, or similar, you will get an idea of what they are looking for in passports and visas. EM

The font you are using is nearly unreadable, requires a magnifying glass on a mobile device. It shows as fine script in light gray. Comic sans font does that when you are on a pc. EM

I doubt that the port employees checking in guests are trained to detect fake documents. MSC is as much a victim here as the guests on the ship who expected to continue on, and those who expected to board the next cruise. When an airline fails to detect fake docs or other causes that a passenger is not admissible to a country, the airline has to return them to their point of origin at their expense. MSC is now stuck with having to send these people back…somewhere. EM

Two threads on the MSC board. EM

Don’t know, never been in YC. EM

Ask on the Royal Caribbean board

There are a lot of ‘I don’t understands’ in this situation. Like in the US, I presume the people who do check in in Brazil are port employees, not MSC employees. This cruise boarded guests in San Paulo and Rio… but they called at ports in the Canary Islands, (Spain), Madeira (Portugal) and then Malaga (Spain), all Schengen country ports, before being detained in Barcelona. Were they trying to debark there? I don’t remember my docs being examined again until I got to the airport… Or could it be that during the cruise the people were researched and found to have false docs and Barcelona was the best place to stop them? I know when airlines deliver a passenger who turns out to not be admissible, whether for bad background check or fake docs, the airline is responsible for putting them on the first flight back to their point of origin at airline expense. So, does MSC have to pay for flights for all 69 back to Brazil, or Bolivia? And if they are not admissible to Spain, they can’t send them to a hotel until their flights. What a mess. EM

There is not much difference in temp in Panama in January or June. Look at your geography. It is very close to the equator. The on,y difference is the rainy season, and less rainy season. EM

These blurbs are on the excursion brochure for Ocean Cay

It’s still on the first page on NCL board, second thread from bottom. It’s 24 pages long. EM