BklynBorn47

@lexmiller - Thank you for the link. Not sure why I couldn't find it myself. Except I'm still on "Island Time" after 2 weeks in the Caribbean.

We have 63 days in the Pacific beginning Feb 28th? Does CELEBRITY require a negative test to board in Sydney? According to Australia's website (quoted below), we do not need a test to enter the country. "From 12:01am on Thursday 5 January 2023, people travelling to Australia from China, including Hong Kong and Macau will be asked to show evidence of a negative pre-departure test for COVID-19. Read more about the COVID-19 testing requirements for travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau. If you are arriving from other destinations, you do not need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test to meet Australia's travel requirements. Some countries, airlines and vessel operators may require a pre-departure test result at check-in before you can board your flight or ship. Check the entry requirements of the country you are travelling or transiting through, and your airline or vessel operator’s requirements" Yes, I understand that B2B is a separate issue and we have faced it before with over 100 days of cruising since December 2021.

For what it's worth, this is our experience. We applied yesterday for our cruises Feb 28th to April 24 The $20 was the easy part. For Australia we needed an NFC capable phone and discovered only 1 of our 3 phones worked to download the REQUIRED app. OK one is enough. Many tries to get the required acceptable photo, but finally done. Credit card accepted. Yea! I got my ETA by email about an hour later. My husband did not. We applied for NZ also. Joe got his ETA a few hours later. I did not. We applied one after the other in both cases. Wondering if this is common.

You are correct. We knew that the next cruise was full. All our 6 grandchildren are older than your children. I heartily recommend retirement. Hang in there,

I understand that 3 day right after the TA was a disaster. I'm so sorry for your experience. We were on the TA for 18 days and it was wonderful and we weren't even in the YC. It was our 1st MSC also. Of course, since it takes us a day & night to get to a port with the same afterwards, we tend to always book cruises of 21 days or more. Yeah, we are retired. Easy for us to say.

I agree with the above post - Windsor instead of Bath. We have done both, not on a cruise but on our own when that was our preference pre covid. There was a lot to see in the castle which included touring the kitchen and climbing the tower (not for you I understand). Is there time to walk the castle grounds on your own? I remember shopping in town. It was pleasant. In Bath we had our own car. It would have been a lot of walking. I would think that would be hard on your mother and limit the amount you could see, especially the Jane Austin sites. Considering the Queen's recent death, I think the Windsor visit would be more memorable. Good luck.

My post #19 totally agreed with your PRO items and I commented on some of your CON as applied to our experience. That included how we like hearing the other languages as we listen attempting to brush up our Spanish/French/German skills. So yeah, we must be the oddballs here. My question - I don't remember so many multilanguage announcements. 1)There was the captain's position report at noon (not sure why this is done in any language, it's available all the time) 2)The "report for muster drill" at each port for those that just boarded. This "ferry-like" experience was new to us, but very glad of it because we were able to board in Marseille. 3) The intro to the evening show done by the Cruise Director. Wow, were we impressed! In fact, if we were in the cabin, we had to open the door to hear announcements. What did we miss?

Hi Joe, (My husband's name is also Joe) We also boarded in Marseille. What was most surprising to us was how this cruise was like a ferry with people boarding and disembarking in each port of our itinerary which continued all the way thru the Caribbean As we cruised it, a regular question became "where did you board?" We also handed over our bags at the first check in counter. I didn't even notice that the procedure was different than we were used to. Perhaps because there were relatively few passengers boarding in Marseille? The distance from our curb drop off to the check-in point wasn't very far. The sign said baggage drop off and check in. We did exactly that. One little glitch: There were 2 MSC ships in port in Marseille. Although we are veteran cruisers, this was our 1st MSC which we booked as an alternative to flying home after B2B on Windstar. We handed in our baggage on the WRONG SHIP! Yep, totally our fault. As the staff checked our documents - all in order EXCEPT we should have dropped our bags on the other side of the terminal. The staff leaped into action, found our luggage, took it to the correct drop off point and put it on the conveyor for the Meraviglia. After that rather inauspicious start, we had a great cruise home. I hope yours was good was well.

On the Meraviglia TA (arrived in PC Oct 13th) all announcements were in all 6 languages We loved the International Vibe including the announcements. I would try to understand the Spanish ones while my husband worked on his French and German. Just our thing, I suppose.

That makes sense. We requested tissues also and the cabin steward provided them.

Just off the Meraviglia TA (Marseille to PC) where we had a great experience. I agree with your PROs As for the CONs #1 We found the customer service pre cruise to be exceptional. Never did we have a representative answer the phone as quickly as MSC did. We needed this because we found the website terrible. #3 We loved the International Vibe including the announcements. I would try to understand the Spanish ones while my husband worked on his French and Germain. Just our thing, I suppose. #5 We had an easy and efficient muster drill which I now think is because our muster station was the Broadway theater. We relaxed in the seats and watched the video. Just lucky I guess #6 We thought the food was fine, especially the Italian dishes. I liked being able to view the menus ahead of time on the screen in our cabin. I’m allergic to fish and like to know what options I have before arriving in the dining room. Twice in 18 days we opted for the buffet. #9 NO ONE asked us to buy or upgrade anything except the photographers who kept suggesting we have our pictures taken. Finally the VALUE! Our 18 day TA was not much more than the cost of flying home from Europe. I am glad we tried MSC and will definitely book them again although after reading reports of short post TA Caribbean cruises, maybe not on one of them.

Just off the Meraviglia TA crossing and was finally going to post about our GREAT experience when I began reading about the disaster of the following short Caribbean cruises. Your explanation makes sense. As for boarding problems, the only time we experienced anything remotely similar we realized that the boarding procedure is handled by an outside company (at least in NYC) and wasn't much the cruise line could do about it except complain after the fact.

Wow! I was just about to post about our great experience on the Meraviglia so I am reading this thread carefully. We are just back from 18 days TA on that ship (Marseille to Port Canaveral) after B2B on Windstar in the Mediterranean. Although we have cruised the "ship within a ship" on other lines, this was our first MSC and we wanted to see the basic experience. It was great! We had great service, everything was very well organized. Amazed at the number of activities provided throughout the day. We ate in the MDR evenings and a few lunches. Food was just fine. Friendly, attentive staff. Breakfast and most lunches in the buffet - nice time talking with staff from around the world. Everyone asking if all was OK and did we need anything. We loved the international vibe and the entertainment. Met a lot of interesting people. This makes me wonder if the YC, maybe at full capacity isn't worth it? Perhaps a different experience on a long TA vs short Caribbean jaunts? Final thought - even the Medical staff is great. My husband cut his foot on Windstar, and had the 12 stitches removed as well as follow-up visits on MSC. No complaints whatsoever. The easiest "express disembarkation" we have ever had. Hard to believe we are talking about the same ship as I've heard described here.

Same here, We usually eat in the buffet for lunch. Couldn't figure out why the dessert line was so long. Usually no waiting as I grab fruit tarts or eclairs. Then we saw it! Your photos are right on!

On the Meravigia now TA There has been trivia every day, morning and afternoon. Lots of activities all day. The 6 languages on board do not seem to be a problem Quite a variety of shows nightly. (3 ensemble productions) so far. Only the English speaking comedians limit the audience by language. Can't compare to Carnival since that's the only line we have never tried. Although we have sailed the "ship within a ship" experience on other lines, we did not choose YC for our first MSC. Got to say we are certainly getting good value for the money. Perhaps because there are only 1300 on the TA Crossing.?. YC folks we met said the YC is almost full. Definitely a beautiful ship.