Greygooser

So if I do want to leave a card in the slot, would I have to tell them I "lost" it and they'd give me a 2nd card? I assume the "lost" card would no longer work on the ship, but it would work to keep the power on.

I successfully matched Hilton Gold to MSC Gold. Only took 36 hours. I had previously booked a MSC cruise and was given a "welcome membership" with 0 points. Despite being approved and matched to Gold, when I log in to my account it still says 0 points and a welcome membership. When I log into the app, it shows I have 4300 points but still says I am at the welcome membership level. Has any encountered this? Does it fix itself eventually?

I ended up getting the Hilton Honors Surpass card, which gets me Gold for $95 annual fee. Minimal spending will get me 150k points (worth 3-6 nights at a Hilton property), plus some other perks. Pretty good card.

Thank you, good info.

Unfortunately I don't have status anywhere. Can I wait until after I reach gold on NCL to match? It would be after my first MSC cruise. Or can you only match before your first MSC cruise?

Hi folks. I have my first MSC cruise booked for this June. The only program I have any kind of status for is at NCL, and I'm at Silver. Looking at a chart that was posted, that would only get me to the lowest level at MSC. I have been told you can only match once. My question is, can I wait until after my first MSC cruise and then match? I ask because I'm going to be Gold on NCL after a cruise in August.

Interesting. I'm staying in YC in June for a 7 day cruise, wonder if matching now with NCL at Silver, plus adding points from the cruise will get me to gold anyway. Or do I not have a choice, must I do the match before I take my first MSC cruise? Edit: Now I'm reading NCL gold members end up getting matched to Silver anyway. So maybe it won't make a difference for me anyway.

Not to hijack the thread on a tangent, but I am having my first MSC cruise this June. I am Silver on NCL, and will be gold later this summer. Does anyone know if can I match now, then match again after my NCL cruise?

Good to know, thank you!

double post, disregard

Does anyone know if they allow you to order items from the MDR menu at the YC restaurant? I guess it defeats the purpose of the better food in the YC, but its nice to have more choices.

This is great! I'll be in the YC on the Meraviglia in June, appreciate all the info. Any chance you could post a photo of the dailies? I'm just curious what the hours are for the YC exclusive facilities, and it's my understanding they're only listed on the dailies given to YC guests. Sorry to see the Top Sail Lounge doesn't appear to be open during the day, I had been planning on spending a lot of time there!

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the perspectives. Would rather not spend the night in NYC, I'll probably try and take an earlier bus.

Hey folks. Having been in the Haven "lite" on NCL (smaller ships, no dedicated Haven restaurant/bar) and hearing great things about the YC, I have finally taken the plunge and booked an inside Yacht Club stateroom on a 7 day sailing on the MSC Meravigilia this June. I did it through an MSC concierge, which went smoothly. I'm looking forward to my first MSC cruise, and have been trying to do as much research as possible. I do however have a few questions for those experienced in the YC. -From what I've read, the dress code in the YC is casual during the day, but no shorts/flip flops allowed during the evening. That's totally fine, just curious if that's what happens in practice. -While on the topic of the YC restaurant. Does anyone think it's worth it to get a specialty dining package if you're in YC? It seems the YC restaurant will have better food, but curious what others think. -As far as embarkation, I see the YC guests get whisked by others. My embarkation time is 11am out of NYC, with check-in closing at 1pm (2 hours before we sail). Does it make sense to arrive earlier? I was going to take the train/bus down from Boston to get there before noon so I can walk right on the boat, not sure if that's a good plan. -Finally, I'm told the YC get's different Dailies then the rest of the ship. I have yet to find any posted. I'm really just curious of all the operating hours of the YC exclusive facilities, but it would be nice to see a copy if it's around in case there's any other relevant info. Thanks in advance for any insight. Very excited to be trying the YC experience and MSC in general!

I fully agree, don't mind the cost, was actually surprised reading the original post I quoted because I had always thought we'd have to purchase the extra meals. Just wanted to confirm. Thanks again for all your input Gary!

Thanks, that's what I thought. The post I quoted made it seem like it was common practice and the rule wasn't enforced.

Hello all- Been reading much (but not all) of this thread. Big thanks to all it's contributors and of course the OP. Lots to learn for my first time booked on a ship with a proper Haven. Quoting an older comment here, just want to confirm I understand. We will likely do the Free at Sea Plus upgrade (with 10 ports worth of excursions it seems like it will be a good value). As far as specialty meals, with the upgrade, the adults will then have 4 meals each, but the two children in the same stateroom will still have zero. So my question is, do you find it's fine for the adults to give them their cards and say we want to use 4 credits? I was under the impression the rule was only the person with the credit could redeem the meal. TIA for any insight And for a Haven specific question, does anyone have any insight into the Haven check-in/embarkation process at the port in Rome? Would love to hear it. Also interested in if there's a long process disembarking to go through customs or anything. I've never cruised from a port outside of the US before. Thanks!

Maybe dumb questions, but if you take advantage of the BOGO, do you have to purchase their ground transportation? And is there any window of time where they present the flights booked and you can cancel them for a refund?

I didn't notice any difference. The Tropicana Room is a little more formal and has music, but the menus are the same. I only ended up eating the the MDR's a few times for dinner, because I really enjoyed the complimentary noodle bar and ended up eating there at least 3 times for dinner. I never ended up taking any food out of the MDR, but when I used my specialty dining credits I asked for my dessert to go. Both times they delivered it down to my stateroom.

just want to chime in and say the MDR and specialty restaurants (even complimentary noodle bar) always ask gentleman to remove their hats, at least for dinner. Or that was my experience on the Getaway last week.

I was just on the Getaway. We were told earlier in the trip we weren't going to Puerto Plata, but rather Great Stirrup Cay. No reason given. We didn't end up going there either because the waves were allegedly too dangerous to tender to the island. So, we had three straight days at sea. Now, many of us are asking for our port fees to be refunded, and NCL is flat out refusing.

I arrived at Port Canaveral 3 days ago. Off the boat by 7:15am, took the GoPort bus arriving at MCO around 9. Was at my gate by 9:30. I didn't check a bag, but with self tagging at the kiosk it wouldn't have added more than 5-10 mins. If you are really concerned you can always pay for an uber/lyft, but even waiting about an hour for the GoPort bus I can't imagine you'd have an issue with a 12:15pm flight. Good luck!

I am on the Getaway right now. Bartender told me about this. Even though they have to work during the trip (doing some deep cleaning that there isn’t usually time for), it’s a lot more relaxed and he considers it time off.

Im in the same position as you OP. Haven’t been on a cruise since 2015, going on the Getaway in 11 days. I had a lot of questions as well. The search works wonders for my specific questions, but beyond that everyone here has been very helpful. Only thing that troubles me is you said you’re leaving on 12/7, but my Getaway sailing doesn’t get back to Orlando until the 8th! 😀 hope it’s a typo and you don’t have your flight/hotel on the wrong day!

To me the FAS plus is the way to go if you want to upgrade. For my sailing that leaves in 13 days, I have an offer to upgrade to premium plus beverage for $348. The FAS plus that includes that, along with additional Specialty Dining, Unlimited Internet upgrade, and more excursion credit is $420. For $72 more dollars, that would be the move IMO. If the costs are comparable for your cruising and you think you'd take advantage of any of those additional items, I would strongly consider that. Good luck!