mvh

1 hour ago, psmarkle said:

 

You should be fine with those times. We always book our own GC excursions, sometimes spur of the moment at the pier, and have never had a problem making it. I will say, stingray city on your own excursion vs through the ship is the way to go!

Thanks for the confidence. I was able to find the same one at 11:00. So, I feel I will be fine. I agree that the ship offered excursions are jammed packed and not as good as booking yourself. Especially on ports I have been to several times.

This sounds very encouraging. I am sailing in a few weeks and I am sure it will be sold out as well. I expect it to be crowded, but what cruise isn't? I too know how to avoid the masses as much as possible. It also doesn't bother me when I can't. I'm half full as well.

7 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I don't know if the OP is still reading, but here comes some unsolicited advice/opinion from a old (ahem - experienced) cruiser.

 

OP, unfortunately, you have just had the opportunity to gain wisdom about cruising.

 

At this point, there is a good sum of money invested in this cruise.  If you cancel, all that money is lost unless you purchased travel insurance that includes "cancel for any reason" coverage.

 

Go on the cruise and be willing to adapt to the restrictions you have placed on yourself by upgrading to the Yacht Club.

 

This means if you wish to eat with your family members in the other cabins, you probably will be eating in the buffet or a specialty restaurant (additional charge).

 

And take what you have learned about this time and either make sure that you read and understand all the information on a cruise's lines website (especially the ticket contract, Terms and Conditions  or whatever name the cruise line uses for that information).

 

Always research and read the small print included with an offers.

 

Each cruise line is different. Never assume what one cruise lines does is the same as another cruise line.

 

Matter of fact, never assume anything.

 

You may want to find and use an experienced travel agent that knows the requirements on the different cruise lines.

 

And learn from the posts on Cruise Critic across the various cruise lines from various posters complaining that they decided to upgrade after booking and are now unhappy about what the change did to their original booking. 

 

Find an itinerary you like at a price you like and book it. Don't go chasing price drops  or upgrades. That is how problems develop.

I'm sure the OP appreciates your "I told you so". Great advice to read the small print Captain Obvious.

All 4 of my MSC cruises were full capacity. It felt no more crowded than any other ship I have been on. You just have to be smart about things. Yes, the buffet will be busy at noon, but you will find a table. Yes, the pool will be busy on sea days.  It's a cruise ship, If you want a good chair, get up early.  Even if you're at the pool by 9:30 ish you can find a chair. At least that was our experience, MSC is no better or no worse as far as crowds. IMO

22 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Last night's dinner... In its infinite weirdness MSC decided to have a Gala dinner on the last night, while asking people to dress up for dinner, and also to pack their luggage and to only keep the necessary stuff with them.

 

 

Eggplant parmigiana was pretty good:

 

 

I loved Salmon Rillettes, even though I didn't know that it was going to be minced salmon with some kind of a red caviar on top. Neither did my husband - he really didn't care for it, so I ate his portion. The waiter forgot to bring me my own. 😞

 

 

 

 

To my shame I also didn't realize that beef tartar was a RAW dish. Hubs didn't order it and didn't think to warn me either, lol. I got it for myself and my parents, and when it was brought out, my DH said - oh, did you know it was raw? Nope. I actually asked the waiter just to be sure. I stopped eating it - sorry, but I don't trust MSC to properly "disinfect" raw meat. Even though I get a medium steak. 🙂

 

 

 

Lobster bisque was ok. I guess I am not a fan, but I keep ordering these on cruises, hoping to one day find the one I like.  When I order clam chowder, it's always different on ships, some I like, and some I don't.

 

 

Both DH and I ordered filet mignon. Mine was plain, and his as intended - with the jus. It was good, but not Princess or even RCI good.

 

 

Our waiter tried to get us to order a lobster "for just $5", but we are not fans. Instead I would have loved to have the wild mushroom pasta, but I didn't want to pay extra to get a tiny portion.

 

My parents had Salmon en Croute, since both of them love salmon, and my dad is very fond of feta cheese. It was very good according to them. I also loved the presentation.

 

 

 

 

This beautiful chocolate cake was Royal cake, and it was scrumptious.

 

Ice cream of the day was once again coffee, and our waiter brought it out to all of us without even asking, because he remembered how much we loved it before. It was wonderful yet again.

 

We also tried baked Alaska, and it was very good.

 

 

And that's it for MDR food. 🙂

 

I must also note that the asst waiter always brought bottles of mineral water (still and sparking) for our dinner. I don't know if it's because we had an Easy Plus package or everyone gets them as well. I am still not sure.

So what exactly had the added charge? Just an extra main dish? You could order extra desserts as well as appetizers/sides? We probably won't since we try to watch the calorie intake and really over do that with the drk pckg, but I am curious.

12 minutes ago, Pookie2u said:

Well that doesn't sound promising.  It's my guess that it's a glitch and the customer service rep didn't know other than the screen had nothing. 

I'm with you about the tenders.  My last experience left quite the impression and I don't care to repeat it.  But I've not been to Grand Cayman and was kind of looking forward to seeing a new port.

That's what I thought, but I tried again and gave them an actual excursion number and the two I wanted they said were both sold out. They had a few other things that were not sold out. We did fine a Stingray tour that leaves at 11:15. I think we will be ok for that time even if we're not on the first tender. Still plan on getting a ticket early though.

11 hours ago, Pookie2u said:

My May cruise also does not have the Grand Cayman excursions but I did find some listed on one of MSC's pages, https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise/destinations/caribbean/cayman-islands/george-town . I'm hoping they will become available before I sail.  Happy cruising!

I found this too. I called MSC to book one and they said everything was sold out. Funny that nothing else is sold out for any other port. Oh well, honestly I would rather stay on board than do the whole tender thing, but we have newbies that want to go ashore.

17 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Instructions are in the Daily Program on your bed the night before. But the problem may be guests actually following these instructions.

Thank you, this helps a lot. You are correct about following directions. We will be sure to be one of the first in line for the tickets for whatever that's worth.

15 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Yes. From your posts I would follow your advice. There is no way a ship with 5500-6000 passengers and 2 gangways, with 5 tenders working together taking 13 minutes to fill one tender with 2-3 tender ticket groups, say 100 guests each tender, can unload so many in a timely manner. There were 56 tender tickets called. First tender called 8-8:30 am, last #56 was noon (11:56 am I made notes as we stayed on board). All aboard at 3:30pm. The conclusion...Take cruises with tender ports, on ships with fewer passengers.

 

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Last week our MSC tour was scheduled for 9:30 and was over an hour late. Other tours started 2 hours late. People were very upset.

Do you know if they gave I time and a place to line up for tender tickets? Was it the night before like NCL?

49 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we were late last week. Everyone blamed it on the harbor master.

 

We had an MSC excursion which was supposed to start at 9:30, but it didn't start until an hour later. Many people on other MSC excursions were delayed by 2 hours. I booked an MSC excursion because I've read on here about people not being let off the boat until much later.

That's what I would like to do, but for some reason there are no excursions list for Grand Cayman on the website. It says they are working on it and coming soon? Been like that for over a month, we'll see.

Can anyone who has recently tendered to Grand Cayman on the escape give me an update on how long it took without being in the Yacht club or a MSC booked excursion? We anchor at 8:00 and we have a 10:00am excursion booked. Will I make it? Also, has anyone recently been able to book an excursion to GC? I am now less than 50 days out and it still shows nothing. Thx

Having the same issue with Grand Cayman. I have also heard it has taken over 3 hours to get everyone tendered as well. 

4 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Or spend the few extra dollars to book a MSC sponsored tour. MSC caters more to the money. I was just like you for 50 years. When you hit 70 you will change. We do not bother getting off the ship anymore. We love port stops, gets everyone off the ship for a few hours.

Tried to book an excursion from the ship, but of course MSC's tremendous website has no excursions for Grand Cayman. They disappeared about a month or two ago and no one can help when I called. Plus when you book with the ship it is usually jammed packed with over 100 people. The same tour off the ship is only 15 people. I have sailed MSC 3 times (once in yacht club) and they have all been fine with no complaints. However, there is no doubt they are by far the worst run company at sea.

3 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

In September 2023 it was a joke for sure with only one gangway. Do not know about how gold/diamond status works without a butler to guide one to the proper gangway. The Tour/YC gangway is not advertised and tours are guided down to this unadvertised gangway as are YC guests by butlers. The gold/diamond may in theory have priority, but with 5500 passengers not listening to instructions NOT to congregate at the advertised gangway one will find it extremely difficult to butt their way to the front of this gangway. As I stated above, with the only one gangway the butler could NOT butt their way in front of the congregated crowd to even pick up a dropped pencil. If tender ports are important to you stick to Oasis. Otherwise go Yacht Club.

Yeah, that makes sense. Spend 3 times as much so I can get an extra few ours on an island that I've been to 15 times. I've done yacht club, even though it is nice it in no way is 3 times as nice. I go for some warm weather and to party with some cocktails. We still end up at the same crappy islands no matter what class we are in. To each there own, I can afford it, I just can't justify it.

10 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

We anchored at George town Grand Cayman around 8am. No time changes this Thanksgiving week. When we went in Sept 2023 only one gangway to the tender. This time 2 gangways, one for tender tickets, the other for MSC sponsored tours.  MSC hired 5 tenders to ferry guests to Grand Cayman. (these tenders are complimentary) All the MSC purchased tours would meet in designated lounges, no tender tickets needed. Tours and Yacht Club guests have priority getting off. All guests with private tours or on their own have to get tender tickets given out on a first come first serve basis  at Sports Bar. Tenders for tours and YC began around 8-8:30 and tender ticket numbers were not called until 11:30 (in Sept. with only one gangway) for everyone else. Getting back was another long wait. We also had another port change from Belize City to Cozumel. Something to look out for. Belize City requires tendering as well, only the ships must anchor farther away and regular tenders take an hour both ways. Our cruise, the ship got word from the tender company in Belize City that their larger capacity hydrofoils were having engine problems and could not reach speeds to keep the trip down to 20 minutes both ways. They could only provide tenders taking 1 hour both ways. We got a notice "Due to operational reasons, your cruise itinerary has been amended" and went to Cozumel instead. One time with over 5500 passengers, even our butler reported he had trouble butting to the front of the tender line with so many guests trying to get off. He said something about not being able to pick up a pencil should one be dropped. With 2 gangways operating tender tickets were called immediately 1 & 2 (about 30 per tender number called) took 13 minutes to fill and 20 minutes to shore. Tender # 56 was called at 11:50 am and 15 minutes later no longer needed tender tickets. All aboard at 2:15, leaving at 3:00.

Are you saying some people only got 3 hours at port? What a joke. How can a company be so disorganized? We were on shore in less than an hour on the Oasis. So, gold status does nothing even though it states priority tender boarding? 

Also, our arrival is 8:00am ship time. Isn't that actually 7:00 in GC? If so, we'll be fine.

What time can I expect to be on the island if it says 8:00am arrival. I am looking to book my own excursion that starts at 9:00am from the cruise port. We are gold status and supposedly we get priority tender (whatever that's worth). Do they hand out tender tickets the prior day? 

3 hours ago, Jorhammer said:

MSc has no excursions in Grand Cayman for any itinerary 

Very strange, they had a bunch for my sailing about a month ago, they they magically disappeared.

We are Fantastica and still can't pre-book specialty dining and we are less than 60 days out. Also, there are no excursions available for Grand Cayman. I find it hard to believe every singe excursion is sold out. Not a big deal since we never book the excursions on the ship, just odd.

39 minutes ago, chisox021 said:

Yea.. That makes no sense to me either..  When beer is way more cheaper than liquors and whiskey's - but if you get the Easy Package, you're only getting Heineken...  But the beer prices are $7.50 for any other type of beer - but they don't let you do the $8.00 credit towards them... I guess there's a method to their madness..

This is not hard to figure out. Of course it doesn't make sense to the consumer because they want the best deal. If you only had to pay the difference, no one would buy the Easy Plus. By not including beer, MSC gets more people to purchase the Easy Plus. Very smart on their end whether the customer thinks so or not. Yes, I hate it too, but there is no way I can drink Heineken for a week, nor can most beer drinkers.

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 It's a shame it will no be ready for our February sailing. 

 

Who cares? It a terminal that you're in for 20 minutes?

1 hour ago, Morgsmom said:

Ok, so here's a conundrum (and not of the wine variety...) theoretically why couldn't you apply the $8 credit on the easy package towards a $7.50 beer so that you are not limited to just Heineken.  I see that it says "cocktail, favorite spirit or special glass of wine" but this seems like a fine line to me... Thoughts?

So they get you to buy the Easy Plus Pkg. They are not stupid and it worked on me. Well worth the upgrade if you are a beer drinker and they have a Sports bar with a decent selection.

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

I think you are correct that something changed as far as the food and as the regular told you.

 

Just plain honest, the dinner menu and food stunk.  Done eight trips on three ships and a couple weeks ago just plain bad.  Pool food actually good except filet was not good and the rolled pork with cheese was not even cooked, literally raw and cold.

 

People should not cruise if they expect excellent dining experiences. The main dining rooms are equivalent to Applebee's. Specialty dining is not much better. This is not just MSC, this is all 6 lines I have been on. (MSC, RCL, Carnival, NCL, Princess, Holland) 

Again, subjective, but no way is anything excellent.

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

there are 5 of us, so it's not $35 for the whole week.

And you are right - it's "funny" that a cruise line would charge more money for additional entrees after people have already paid thousands for the cruise to have unlimited MDR meals they have been accustomed to throughout many years.

It will become even funnier when people start cancelling because of the excessive nickel and diming. I prefer to pay a bit more but have every MDR meal included, along with all inclusive fun activities like on RCI.

Wow, 5 of you that all need that extra entree? Go to the buffet, or Golden Corral.

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

funny ha-ha. MSC introduced the $5 charge after the final payment but before my cruise. It would be very stupid to cancel a cruise after the final payment date because of the extra entree charge.

 

But I already cancelled the next one, because it's before final payment, and I don't like nickel and diming to this extent, especially since the general consensus for a steerage class on MSC ships is that it's below average to average (according to the latest reviews).

What's funny is you will spend $1000s on a cruise but won't spend $35 for a whole week of an extra dinner. People need to except times are a changing and MSC is not the only company with increases. The $5 footlong at subway is now $10. Sad, but true.