Envelope21

21 hours ago, flannbarr said:

Spoke with a couple at the Barcelona airport this morning. They did a TA cruise on the Symphony of the Seas that left Miami the same day that the Enchanted Princess left (3/9/23). We had perfect seas. They had rough seas the entire sailing across the pond (>16' swells). Apparently several passengers were injured with broken legs and other injuries yet we had smooth seas. They had perfect internet including the ability to stream videos where we had zero internet crossing the pond.

 

We joined the Enchanted Princess in Barcelona after her crossing from Ft. Lauderdale. We were also on the Symphony of the Seas crossing. Yes, it was a bit choppy, but I honestly didn't think it was that bad. I've definitely experienced worse. I did not hear of any injuries due to the rough seas. The only shows that were affected were the high-dive water shows.

And yes, the internet was very good. The wifi on the 6-day Enchanted was abysmal.

Thanks so much, Little Britain! Really appreciate it!

On 10/8/2022 at 9:07 AM, little britain said:

Did Montserrat last Sunday as RCI airport drop off tour as we had a late flight. $79pp.

 

Absolutely beautiful place.

 

 

Hi, I know you posted this several months ago, but hoping you can answer a couple of questions. We will be in Barcelona in a few weeks and would like to use the RCCI airport drop off that includes the Montserrat visit.

1) Did you feel like you had enough time at  Montserrat?

2) Was there a narrated guide on the bus ride there?

3) Was there time to take the funicular? 

4) Do you leave your luggage on the bus/van?

5) About what time are you dropped off at the airport?

Looks like the price has gone up considerably since when you took the excursion. It is now over $100.

On Meraviglia 3-day, there was a 'tropical night' and a 'white night'. The party is held in the gallery under the dome.

Just off Meraviglia today. Had a hard time finding artificial sweetener of any kind.

At the buffet coffee stations, the sugar is not near the coffee dispensers. You have to go to a table to find a little dish with sugar and sweeteners and take it from there.

My fave is Splenda but often not found. Even the 'blue' packets were few and far between. Also, FYI, in the buffet sometimes a staff person comes around with a cart that has ice tea, lemonade and water. I asked for an ice tea and it was sweetened. I wasn't expecting that. Next time I knew what to ask.

Just off Meraviglia today. I gentleman in front of us in line at the restaurant (Waves) was wearing a tank top and he was turned away. Otherwise, shorts and tees seemed to be fine.

We had a 3:00 boarding time at Port Canaveral last week.We always drive to the port as we are fairly local. We park at a shuttle service parking facility.  The service states their latest departure time is 2:00, so we scheduled a 2;00 time with them. 
 

we were at the port at 2:20 and got on with no problems. 

Update: My saga regarding the unrequested upgrade appears to have been resolved. After 3 calls to MSC, and being put on hold numerous times, I finally got someone to help me. They saw in the notes my previous phone calls and were able to escalate my issue to a higher authority (they say it was corporate). 
 

The  ship is almost sold out and the only availability was balcony or YC. I could see on their website there were a few balcony cabins near an elevator. 

The agent asked me if I knew of a cabin number I wanted, I was able to say yes, and I gave him the number of a balcony cabin near an elevator. Within minutes he was able to switch my booking to that cabin. 
 

I think the only reason they were able to work with me on this is because the cruise is only 2 days away — and they probably can’t sell those cabins now anyway. They had already upgraded me to a balcony, so all they had to do was move the location. 
 

I’m so grateful

11 minutes ago, carlmm said:

Really?

There are tons of posts from people asking about the chance of and how to get a complementary upgrade. Will the upgrade fairy visit?

Now somebody gets not only a free upgrade within the same typ of rooms, not only from inside to outside but from inside to balcony and still ....😱

Hi. I knew this would happen. It was only a matter of time until i got slammed. You have no idea of a person's particular circumstance and why they book a cruise the way they do.

There are tons of posts about people complaining about all sorts of thing ... chair hogs or bathrobes or lack of free soft serve ice cream None of which are the least bit important to me. What is important is the location of a cabin. That is why I don't book a guarantee room. That is why I was not happy when they arbitrarily changed my room to the furthest possible distance to an elevator.

But hey,  thanks for your input.

Isn't there a great Seinfeld bit where Jerry goes to pick up his rental car and the rental agent says, "I'm sorry but we have no cars left."

19 hours ago, styles27 said:

On Divina the outside stairs are accessible and bring you right up to the buffet and one deck up from that the adult pool. 

We used them all the time. 
We were able to use the aft elevators too. 

Thanks. But I have since found out, that apparently the aft stairs and elevator on Meraviglia is for crew only. I have another thread going on right now about how MSC randomly and inexplicably upgraded us to a cabin in then back of the ship.

3 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Yes we booked Fantastica too. They can change your room anytime they want unfortunately. 

 

Wow. Ok. That's so weird. What's the point of Fantastic then, I wonder.

4 minutes ago, styles27 said:

@Envelope21You don’t have to wait for your boarding time they don’t look at that. If you can, get to the port earlier and request the change. 
If you can get a doctor’s note mentioning the mobility issue that may help

Really? They seemed pretty specific and adamant about not arriving before your boarding time. Our boarding time is 3:00. I don't know who we could talk to unless we are actually on the ship. I don't think the porters that take your luggage would be much help. LOL.

I'll see what we can do about getting a note from DH's doctor. Thanks.

1 minute ago, styles27 said:

Yes our first MSC cruise we received an unsolicited upgrade We were already in Rome when I noticed the email the day before our cruise 

 

In our case we went from a Fantastica aft facing balcony that we really wanted to a balcony room in the YC. 
The YC balcony was a lot smaller than the balcony that came with room we originally booked so at first I wasn’t happy. 
 

I quickly got over that once I realized what the YC was. lol I hadn’t spent enough time on the MSC boards here so it was a surprise. 
 

I can understand why you aren’t thrilled with being moved to another location. We walk at least 8-10k steps a day when we have aft room. 
 

Thanks. I can see something like that happening if the original booking was a GTY room, but this was not.  

Welcome to the world of MSC, I guess. We've been on over 60 cruises. This is our first time on this cruise line. 

Anyone ever receive an upgrade that they didn't ask for? Our cruise leaves in 2 days and I just got a confirmation that we'e been upgraded from an inside to a balcony. I have no idea why. I know it sounds crazy, but we really wanted the inside. It was close to an elevator and DH has mobility issues. The cabin they gave us is waaaay in the back of the ship. Now they say they can't give us the original one back because it has already been assigned to someone else. In fact there are no rooms left in that same category.

We booked in the Fantastica category so we could choose a room.

Weird.

I suppose we could talk to Guest Services when we get on board, but since we booked so late in the game our boarding time is really late.

Does anyone know about the aft stairs/elevators? I see them on the deck plans, but I heard those are for crew only?

Just got off the Escape. We got room serviced twice a day.

First rule of Cruise Critic . . . always blame the OP.

I bring ziplocks all the time. If I want a late night snack, my only option is  O'Sheehan's and I don't feel like fighting the crowd or dealing with the noise from the Atrium

Will be on this ship in March for a Transatlantic. Are you able to book any of the shows online before the cruise ... or do you have to do it on the ship. Where on the ship do you go to do so? Thank you.

The rules keep changing.

January 14 sailing on Escape went to Amber Cove, not Puerto Plata. Even the captain, when making his announcements said we were going to Puerto Plata, but nope ... it was Amber Cover. The night before, the cruise director said Puerto Plata. Nope.

The atrium noise is certainly not a deal breaker for me, but it is certainly IS a great annoyance. Whoever is conducting a game  at any particular time YELLS into the microphone and it just kills my ears. I am admittedly noise sensitive so I try to stay away from the Atrium.

thanks to all who responded. Much appreciated.

23 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

It’s actually a dollar amount and when you log in to VOOM you have the option of using that to purchase a day for free or apply to the whole cruise

Do you know how it works if you buy the VOOM package before you cruise? I see that there is a discount if you buy it before you board. The pre-board discount is equivalent to $60 on a 12-day cruise. If I wait until I board, the D+ discount would be equivalent to $50. So it would actually be a better deal if I purchase ahead of time. I'm just wondering if  I would get the D+ discount in addition to the pre-board discount?

A D+ discount does not show up in my cart when I go to check out.