uCruiser

is tipping compulsory ,or can you stop it and tip who you want

I believe you can go to the service desk and stop it and then tip whoever you want.

I just read the review here https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=623744 and that person says the following:

REMEMBER when you board in Florida you will be charged a very hefty tax on any drink you buy while in port. Nearly double the cost of a drink. It’s a Florida law and they collect a lot of revenue. Drink after you pull anchor is my advice.

It's funny though, because on the main booking page it says "Experience: Bella", but under Price details>Price Breakdown it says "Experience: Fantastica".

It's not a big deal really, but I wouldn't complain if we got free room service :cool:

I booked a Bella balcony on Seaside, and was assigned a Fantastica balcony (according to their deck plan colors).

Does that mean I will have Fantastica privileges on that cruise? I got the "Drinks on Us" included with the cruise, so I was more thinking about the free room service?

Well, that would be for 2 people, so you personally would only need to drink $833 on a 7 day cruise, or 119 a day, so roughly 8 - 10 drinks a day depending on price. For us, that is easy to do starting with mimosas in the morning and not stopping all day. But if you are a light drinker or a port intensive cruise where you are off the ship a lot, it could be a better deal. For us we would likely be paying more.

Good catch! That's for two people.

I'm definitely not a light drinker on a cruise, but I not so sure about $833. Beer @ $5 each would be 24 beer per day. The fruity MSC signature drinks are $7.25 so that would be 16 drinks per day. We could maybe get somewhere near that amount the first couple of days, but not all 7 days. We tend to slow down a bit towards the end of the cruise.

I think we will save some $$ on MSC vs NCL, but not enough to let it determine if we should cruise with one or another.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to my first MSC cruise in September!! :cool:

If you're referring to the 'Drinks on Us' included package, you'll pay 15% service charge on anything ordered. There is no service charge added on the all-inclusive Classic drinks package (which is often included as a promotion) - just to clarify.

Yes, Drinks on Us is what I am talking about.

Thanks for the info (y)

No you will still be charged an additional 15% for each drink ordered

So it's based on what I actually drink? I like that a lot better than NCL. To their "free" included drink package they add $250 in service charge for a 7 day cruise. I would need to drink for $1,666 on MSC to reach that amount in service charges.

What is the service charge for the included drink package? Is that included in the $12.50?