thanna

"I'm sorry" you had so many issues. The Alchemy bar is always the highlight of our cruise, to the point now that we will not book a ship that doesn't have one.

After multiple attempts to book a cruise over about a month, I finely gave up and went back to Carnival.

I was looking forward to trying MSC and spent a lot of effort to get my status match. But in the end I just cannot except waiting on the phone to make a booking that I most likely will not be able to see online once it has been done. Like someone mentioned earlier, I am taking my money elsewhere. That may be the only thing that forces MSC to get their act together. Hopefully they will and I can try it in the future.

Contact us form on web site is not working for me. I fill it out and hit submit the type field disappears and it tells me it is a required field but will not let me change it back. No existing res yet, I am trying to book.

Does somebody have a valid email address for customer service? I tried customerservice@msccruisesusa.com and it got bounced back as invalid.

Just tried to book my first MSC cruise. The web site is terrible. Took me around and around and ended in a non-helpful error message. Tried it 3 times. We have been on about 50 cruises on other lines and all but 2 were booked direct on the web. I am not using any kind of VPN, I am in the US, and I know what I am doing. Just about ready to give up, I have no interest in waiting on the phone for hours.

Were you peaking at my notes!

We were also on this cruise and had very similar experiences. In 30 Carnival cruises we had never had a problem with the AC until this cruise. We had an interior room on deck 7 and it was not cool. They came with a meter (with tin foil wrapped around the thermocouple) and checked it and said it was 72 degrees. It did not feel 72. So their answer was to give us an old box fan.

Our room steward was just ok. Twice we had to track him down to get blue towels because he had not replaced them.

Casino was very smokey. We normal spend more time in the casino, but avoided it for the most part this time.

Kind of makes me wonder if they were having a more global HVAC problem that affected the rooms and the casino ventilation.

The last time we were on (after network tv loss) the Skybox sports bar did not open till 1:00, so there was a bunch of people waiting and 1 nervous bar tender. He had a list of what games he could get, which was basically Sunday ticket minus any network games. If the game you want is on local TV you are out of luck. Sunday night game they could not get, but Monday night they could. It was a strange mix. Hopefully they have a better plan now.

We sail mostly Carnival and did one of these cruises as a quick get away in-between. In general it was not bad. The embarkation process is a little strange but doable. Don't forget to set your dinner reservations at stands before you get on the ship. Also, if you drink, but the coupon books on board. the drinks are expensive if you don't. Food was about the same. Show was terrible. Like a middle school dance recital.

Ship is very open for a small ship. Very grand looking. Rooms are about the same or larger than Carnival.

They do have caffeine free diet coke on the ship. I always get Captain and caffeine free diet in the evenings or I would never go to sleep.

My wife and daughter in-law have done this several times. Separate rooms and reservations. The spa staff do not care, they want the business.

Currently (1/29) waiting to depart the splendor and there is a problem with the gangway. There has beed nobody getting off for an hour and they are waiting for techs to fix it. This going to be a mad rush once it is fixed. If you are going out on the splendor today expect a late boarding.

We always book privately and never have a problem. I think it is important to support the local economy. When you book with Carnival a large portion (40%) goes into their pocket and not the local economy.

Maybe this is common knowledge but I had never heard it before. The drinks on us card in the casino carries the same 15 drink per day limit as the cheers package. On the Splendor last week my son had the drinks on us card and during one of the sea days when we where in the casino all day, he hit the limit that night and they would give him no more.

We did the private sunset sail with seamonkey-tours last week and really enjoyed it. Clifton is very knowledgeable about the island because he has lived there all his life. This boat is perfect for a small group of up to 6 or maybe 7 people. The vegie wraps with hummus are very good and they were able to provide us with the adult beverages of our choice, just need to let him know.

Keep in mind that this is a sailboat and part of the excursion is outside the protected cove so it will move around and lean over like a sailboat. It is very stable, but if you have a problem with getting sea sick you may want to take something before hand. They can also arrange transport for you from the cruise port and it was great. Max was there waiting for us on time and was entertaining in his own right.

We have a private sunset sail scheduled for next week with seamonkey-tours.

I will let you know how it goes.

My wife and I were also on this cruise and we completely agree that the main dining room food was not good. We have been on over 20 Carnival cruises, so our expectations were set by other Carnival cruises with the American table menu. There was something just off in the dining room. Items that we had on other ships and enjoyed were just not as good. This was our first cruise on the "left" coast, so we thought that might be it. We heard a lot of people complaining.

I have booked 2 of these pack and play cruises so far and am still looking.

It is too good to pass up. Is it a sin that I have 3 cruises booked right now? I may need an intervention.

Instead of another "is it worth it thread", I though I would recount our experience using the Cheers program for the first time. My wife and I are platinum cruisers on Carnival but had never done the Cheers package before. Because I am one of those people that that analyze our bill after every cruise, I know that on average we spend $30 to $35 per person per day on drinks.

The cruise we decided to try in on was an 8 day southern Caribbean on the Valor. This was the perfect storm opportunity because it was just us on this cruise and it had 4 sea days along with a port (Grand Turk) that we did not care about getting off at. So basically, 5 of the 8 days would be sea days.

For the purposes of making the math easy I am going to talk in rounded numbers without the 15% tip. The Cheers package for 8 days for 2 people was then $800. We ended up drinking 143 drinks at an average of $7, which would have been $1001. So we saved about $200.

Here are the bullet points:

- Started drinking about 10:00am each day (I know why so late?)

- Never made it to 15 drink limit, highest was 12 or was it 13

- Most of the drinks we like were $6.95, some more & beer less

- My wife got a "drinks on us" card in the casino on day 6

Final notes: If you want to make the most of it find a waiter that you like on the Lido deck and give him a cash tip. You will never want for a drink after that. There did seem to be a negative reaction by some of the bar staff when they realize you are on the Cheers package. This was most evident in the casino. For this cruise it worked out for us, but I don't plan to do it again unless we get a similar cruise with a lot of sea days.

We were also on this cruise and absolutely agree with you about how rocky it was. We have been on 30+ cruises and it was not normal for a Conquest class ship move around that much. The seas were a little rough but not that bad.

As far as the other items you mentioned, we had a opposite experience. Our cabin (deck 11 balcony) was an ice box. We had to keep turning the thermostat up to keep from freezing. Our experience with the casino bar staff was very bad. Once they saw we were on the Cheers program they would disappear and never even come back to bring us the drinks we ordered and we tip extra!

The casino seemed to not be prepared for the extra volume of players on this cruise. There were many times that they were losing money because they were short of dealers and could not open more tables.

We also took an upgrade from a GTY inside to a Balcony on deck 11 on the Valor. We also happen to be on the 5-8-15 cruise.

Did not know about those rooms not having a roof over them, but my wife loves to be in the sun so it will work out well for us.

We have done about 30 cruises and about 20 on Carnival. We did 1 cruise from Tampa and will never go back. They do not know how to handle the crowds, we waited forever to get our bags and port staff were rude. The terminal inside is small and run down. In addition the security people outside were on some kind of power trip.

Being from Orlando, we cruise a lot and Tampa is our 2nd closest port but we would much rather drive to Miami.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. Because we live in Orlando we have the benefit (and curse) of being picky about what cruise we take. The cost of the Dream and the Glory is about the same to us because we can have someone take us to Port Canaveral and not have to park there for a week. The ports are almost the same (Costa Maya vs Grand Cayman). So it really does come down to small things to make the difference. I do beleive the new menu is a small thing, but with all else being equal?

We are trying to decide between the Glory or the Dream for a late January Western Carib.. With all the negative feedback on the new menu, I am temped to avoid it. Am I over-reacting?

Just of the Eurodam and had a Lido Cabana. Best money I ever spent on a cruise. I felt like a king and enjoyed being close to the pool. Do not know if I would have liked being away from everything in the Reteat. I am spoiled, I never want to go without one now.

The idea that anyone would have a problem with this is offensive and shows just how petty people are. I take my father in-law who is confined to a wheelchair on cruises with us. He does not drive, but one of us has to push him from parking lot. That fact that it is a little shorter distance than the rest of you walk is a small consulation. Which of you want to give up your mobility for free parking! :mad:

You are probably the same people that jump in the elevators to go 1 floor, while people in wheelchairs sit and wait.