Mark_T

You prepay your bar tab and some cabin grades also come with a bar tab credit so you will not just get hit at the end of the cruise, but yes it is a different way of doing things for sure.

If they haven't unbundled your AI yet then it doesn't seem to show the upgrade option... Can usually fix that with a quick phone call, but if you are planning to upgrade you'll want to phone anyway to get the CC discount.

All too often the crew need complaints from guests to enable them to deal with the entitled few that spoil the atmosphere for everyone else.

That's a very fair point, and one reason why we experimented recently with a short MSC cruise as they are not carrying the debt load that has to be at the root of a lot of these recent changes.

I guess the perceived security situation will play a big part in the degree to which independent exploration is going to be allowed on any ship excursion...

From a non-suite perspective , where I'm feeling a little pressured is that I can see the E class experience carrying sentiment even with these cuts and the range of speciality dining would still make it enjoyable, but only if you can get past the 'infinite veranda' issue, which we cannot. S class could still work with Murano, and the World Class bar adding some necessary 'style' to the experience, but M class is going to be a very poor experience outside of the Retreat, and our next Celebrity reservation is on Millennium...

Comparable to the old product, no, I don't think so, but every time they make cuts to the non-suite experience they edge closer to other cheaper lines. They are walking a thin line now where they are banking on the entertainment and general ship experience to carry enough weight that a greatly reduced MDR experience will not put people off...

I'm not sure that is true, as long as they can continue to raise prices and still get the suites sold there is little need to change anything there. I'd guess they have managed to flush most of the FCC generated during Covid through the system now, so the test will be if the reservations stay solid once people are not bolstering their $$ with 'free' FCC...

On the app, but look at the current sailing for your ship, not your own sailing.

I would always say do not bring any food off the ship at all, but if you are going to do it then commercially packaged snacks are least likely to cause a problem, so not unwrapped cookies or pastries... If in doubt ask the security staff, do not just try to sneak stuff ashore...

I am right, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen to your cruise as well. You just won't know for sure until you board unfortunately, as the experiment may continue...

You are right of course, the ship experience outside of the MDR is still solid and largely unchanged, and if in a suite pretty much nothing has changed except the price, so certainly no reason to just cancel. I don't think anyone is trying to 'tear down everything' but if there had not been a major outcry over the OVC changes do you think Celebrity would have significantly walked them back? Similarly if nobody makes some noise about the series of cuts to the MDR menus both in terms of options and quality then it will result in a considerable reduction of the experience for those not in the Retreat. This is more about trying to defend the experience for those not in suites so they don't have to look elsewhere, than trying to tear it down to make them look elsewhere...

They already implemented the up-charge for room service so we get to keep the salmon there 🙂 This isn't about availability, it is about budget cuts.

Keep in mind that you are only seeing the menus for the current Equinox cruise in the app, not the actual menus for your cruise, so it is not surprising that you are seeing what is currently being reported...

Agreed, these specific changes alone wouldn't do it for us either. As another step in a gradually accumulating series of service reductions, at some point it will push us too far...

The reports a few weeks ago were that even where people had made reservations, they were being told they were not being used once on board, but who knows, these things can change rapidly... If they can still be made they should be at the bottom of the webpage below the speciality dining options in the cruise planner.

This one I assume? "With numerous fascinating sites with a history intertwined with Spain, France and the United States that never fails to delight, Casco Viejo (Old Compound) offers highlights which include the 17th century churches, the ruins of century convents and residences, original dungeons, a French monument to the 22,000 who died building the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Museum in an elegant, restored building that once housed the headquarters of the French company that attempted to build a sea level canal." Not sure I've ever had much more detail when booking ship tours, but It is listed as 4.5 hours and at a rough estimate it is going to be close to an hour each way on the coach so you'll have around 2.5 hours in the Old Quarter. It is not listed as a 'scenic tour' so you will be getting off, but it doesn't mention time for individual exploration so I'd expect it to be mostly a guided tour and probably a museum visit, although that isn't specifically mentioned. Hopefully someone who has actually done the tour will be able to tell you more, but given you already have a group, why not look at arranging your own private tour?

Sorry you had that experience, but it was not the same for us, nor does it translate to all other European cruises, or Europeans in general... ... nor is it compliant with MSC policy so did you raise this with any crew while you were onboard?

I seem to recall that they were no longer allowing MDR reservations on E Class ships as with 4 to choose from there should be limited waiting....

Start with a light bag or you've already lost a few pounds before you even think about clothes...

One of the small things that makes a huge impression for us as well... On Celebrity, even when you can track down the secret supply of the real thing, it never tasted this good. (... and most of what they offer is frozen. not fresh). We enjoyed the OJ on Divina a couple of weeks ago and decided to book another cruise almost on that alone 🙂

Bit of a sweeping generalization there... Didn't even smell smoke once on Divina cruising around Italy a couple of weeks ago and the smoking room was empty whenever we walked past it. Last stats I saw had daily smokers in the EU at around 20%, and US at around 12.5%, so yes, higher in Europe, but a long, long way short of 'almost everyone'...

Is this actually an MSC fly/cruise, or a package your TA has put together themselves? If it is MSC organizing the flights, transfers etc. then I'd expect them to be more organized in terms of the time you leave the ship and transfer to the airport. If it is a TA package then MSC are probably going to expect you to be off the ship at the usual time in the morning... It used to be a lot easier with Barbados, we last did a fly/cruise out of there 15 years ago with a different cruise line and we went straight from the plane to a coach and on to the ship without even seeing our checked bags, they went to the ship on their own. Similarly on the return we last saw our bags when we put them outside our door on the last night and then not again until we got back to Gatwick... things have probably changed a bit since then 🙂

It is the flight-time that a twin engined aircraft is certified to be able to fly on a single engine so it sets the maximum distance it can be from a suitable airfield on its route. With 180 mins of flight time the aircraft can take a more direct route, with only 120 mins (or less) it has to go a longer way around to stay closer to suitable airfields.

if whatever plane they are using has less than a 180 min ETOPS rating then it can't fly direct....