Janet&Carl

What do you mean by "restaurant voucher" What does this get you? We booked fantastica class. How much to upgrade to unlimited beverage? Does everyone in the cabin have to do the same?

The free dinner in a specialty restaurant is for Black Card holders. You can purchase unlimited beverage packages prior to boarding and they will also be on sale at the port on embarkation. Everyone in your cabin will need to purchase the package.

Aurea package gets the unlimited beverage package as well as other perks such as access to the thermal suite, private deck, your choice dining etc.... Yacht club gets private deck pool, thermal suite access, butler, drinks in the yacht club bar and restaurant as well as free access to the mini bar in your suite.

The older teen club usually meets in the disco - which is why there might be a lot of teenagers hanging around. If you are not sailing Caribbean they can be served alcohol after 18. A lot of the "mocktails" look like cocktails. I thought the bar staff were pretty good and didnt serve the kids alcohol at all. I cruise with teenagers and have never had a problem.

Last time I sailed MSC they did not have moscato - my mother drinks this and we couldn't get any for her.

Which package are you thinking of purchasing - the charges are by the day not for the whole cruise. if it is the allegrissimo package it includes all drinks, gelato, coffees etc.... and we think it is a good deal.

Last cruise our drinks were not watered down - if anything the liquor was generous each serving.

Heres a link to the different packages https://www.msccruises.com.au/au_en/Images/Pre-paid_Beverage_Package_Pricing_tcm39-69311.pdf

If you google the drinks menu for MSC allegrissimo covers everything with a red * - if you purchase the premium you can order most everything on the menu (I believe except some very expensive bottled wines).

Hope this helps

I have always been able to request that our party be seated together. If you haven't booked as one group it is possible that MSC will not know that you want to be together. On the first day of the cruise it will be advisable to see the Maitre'd. He will be in an office and you can go see him and request the same table or even a change to your seating time. :) They will accommodate any request if at all possible.

Please go early and not ask when you arrive at dinner - by then its too late as you will cause disruption to other guests if you want to change at dinner time.

Yes you do. You have the classic beverages - none of the top shelf stuff. Same with specialty coffees or ice cream sundaes. You can order a coffee (cappuchino flat white, latte etc...) and a shot of whatever ( like kahlua, baileys etc.) and add it yourself ;).

You can eat as much gelato as you want in a tub or a cone but if you want one of the spiffy sundeas you'll have to pay for it.

Make sure you book your free massage as soon as you get on. Aurea packages are heavily booked and if you have a shortage of sea days on your cruise your massage might not be at a convenient time.

the Free time dining restaurant is open breakfast lunch and dinner - no need to hassle with the crowds in the buffet unless you want to.

Enjoy ..... it is a lovely way to cruise.

Hi , We sail MSC and have had the balcony suite you are speaking about with the metal balcony twice. We have chosen this corner one again for our next cruise because Yacht Club is full.

The rooms are fabulous and we really enjoy having a lot of space. The balcony is not so good - it is narrow and not comfortable to sit on. It is ok to stand on and the views are good but they are the same that you will get from the window. It is very windy when the ship is moving and we were only able to use ours on very slow sails into and out of harbour.

My suggestion is that if you want to use your balcony a lot take a better balcony. I you have lots of port days and are only using your balcony for views when you go in and out of port then you will appreciate the spectacular suite and the extra room that it provides.

Hi

I have sailed this cabin - it is two rooms - it is slightly smaller than deck 9 and 10 in the cabin. It has a larger balcony than the corner one on deck 9 and smaller than the corner on deck 10. It is a lovely room - I wasn't impressed with the balcony.

Having travelled as a family of 4 I have tried to get a disabled cabin for the extra space but have never been successful.

If you are moved you will always be moved to a 4 person cabin. some have beds that come down out of the wall over the double bed.

google "msc 4 person inside cabin" and you will get enough pictures to give you an idea.

I find it unusual that they would only give you one package for two adults and one package for two children - are you sure that you are not reading that wrong. that it is one package per person ? MSC state that if you buy an all inclusive package that all people in the cabin have the same package.

MSC try to give you a waiter that can speak your language - for instance if you speak English they will seat you at a table with an English speaking waiter - if you speak French then you will most likely get a French speaking waiter.

The wait staff take language classes and can mostly decipher the menu in any language but are not fluent so cannot answer your questions. I have noticed in the past few years that more Russians are using MSC and they have increased staff from Eastern Europe that can speak Russian accordingly.

If you want anytime dining you will only get that if you book Aurea package or Yacht Club.

I have sailed on both Fantasia and Splendida but I have not sailed on a short cruise so cannot tell you what the theme nights might be. On our recent back to back 7 night cruises we had "White Party" and "Italian night" as well as two formal evenings - Italian night the suggested dress was red/white/green.

There will be plenty of variety on the menu - especially at night with Western Asian and Ethnic tastes all catered for - you can google menus - there are plenty of examples around.

There will be lots of indoor activities in Winter. In the main bar there will be the entertainment team running lots of different quizes food demonstrations, craft as well as board games. Check your daily program for a run down on what is going on each day.

The pools will not be well frequented and the outdoor pool and spas will still be heated. The indoor spas might get a little crowded although I found at times I was the only one in there.

Our first YC cruise we were surrounded by fellow Aussies - only one American in YC and one family of Italians. The American was by far the snobbiest and loudest - the rest of us enjoyed ourselves ;)

I have met some lovely Americans but the ones with money I've met have been LOUD about it

sorry I hit enter before I'd finished - I wanted to say I"m looking forward to the rest of your wonderful review. It's refreshing that you have picked out the highlights I would have picked and not the nitty gritty everyday - well done :)

What a fantastic review - thanks for sharing - love the pictures

On our last cruise we tipped the barman, butler and assistant butler throughout the cruise.

 

However the best response and thanks that we got was when I handed out (and pinned on) Australian Flag Pins, thanking them for making our holiday special.

 

The waiters, maitre de, barstaff and waiters all seemed REALLY thrilled to get something more personal.

 

Perhaps you could get some NZ Flag pins (before you change your flag!!).

AVACTION I just cruised on the Orchestra for the past two weeks. Staff that have pins still wear them. Everytime we said we were Australian the crew member said "I love you Aussies" It was a fab cruise thanks to you memorable Aussies.

And to NZ girl - we were told that the daily service charge is in place of tips and is split up between the staff that serves you. As such (and being Aussie) we mostly haven't tipped on top of that except for the time we have spent in Yacht Club when the holidays were truly memorable.

Looks like your going to have fun.

I'm busy checking for our next cruise on MSC. Loved the Aurea experience.

I found that cruising in the Med is much more dressier than our last cruise to Northern Europe. Hardly anyone dressed up at all for Gala night. I was totally overdressed in my sparklies ;) but felt right at home in them when sailing out of Venice. It adds a nice atmosphere to the night I think.

Buyer needs to be aware of what is included - you can't be spoon fed individual information on every aspect of your holiday. Take a look here and you will see what I mean :D:D

http://www.debriefdaily.com/lifestyle/travel-complaints/

I know on the deck plan that 11009 doesnt look like it has a divider but it does. It is two rooms. The best balcony of the three is the one on deck 10. It goes further round the front but we had a fantastic view on deck 11. The shortest one is on deck nine which seems to stop before it goes around the corner. We had enough room for a sail away party for 6 people at the front - the bit not in the picture above, although it was a little windy.

Thats different to my experience - we cruised out of New York and went up to Canada and back - we did the formalities on board coming back down the coast into America - everyone lined up and they had customs officers on the stage in the theatre and we all filed past them with our passports.

Back in New York we set of for Fort Lauderdale on the same day. We left the ship and had the day in NYC just like any other port day. No customs or anything. That evening we left NYC and had 3 sea days - not very many passengers were onboard and it was great. WE arrived in Fort Lauderdale and had a port day - no clearing of everyone off the ship.

In Fort Lauderdale we started our next cruise and they loaded up with passengers again and we sailed the Caribbean. We did not have to get off and on again just like any Port day. When we got back from the Caribbean we cleared customs when disembarking just like normal.

Less than two weeks to my Aurea back to back on Orchestra.

The small print on my tickets emailed definately says Allegrissimo package.

FOOD & WINE BENEFITS

Premium 20−hours−a−day buffet (gourmet menu for every moment of the day)•

Wide variety of special restaurants serving Mediterranean and international dishes• Unlimited drinks included (Allegrissimo! Package)•

Just about to go on my third back to back - I have never cleared the ship - even when we were on Poesia in America - its quite common on MSC that people do two or even three cruises back to back - because from here in Australia you travel a long way to cruise MSC.

We have always treated it like any other cruise day in a port and got off or stayed on as we please.

What way do the port charges work? We are travelling In July and our son will be 18 months at the time. Does price we pay include charges for him or will we owe money at end?

 

Pity free child places going as it was a big incentive to book a cruise this year for us and would have been something we considered as he got older too.

MrsBraxton your port charges are on your invoice which you pay before you cruise. They are not added to your onboard account.

The Port charges are paid by MSC to the port authority of the places that you dock for every passenger onboard. Everyone pays them even children that travel "free".

mmm interesting - we have been cruising since our youngest was 10 and have had service charges for her on every bill so far.

I shall try and find out :) I am on Orchestra for two weeks. I'm thinking Orchestra is like Magnifica both of them "Musica" class ships.

I have no shame and will ask around - I will even ask the captain when he does his "past guests" cocktail party.

They never cruise free so that is misleading - you always pay port charges - so maybe they are trying to stop the arguments when they charge your account with port charges for the kids.

:confused::confused::confused: