ready2cruzagain

6 hours ago, Sunbridge684 said:

The total amount of luggage in a cabin cannot exceed 100 kg or 8 pieces for all passengers in the cabin. Luggage that exceeds the limit will not be accepted at check-in. Guests who exceed the limit can contact MSC Cruises or their travel agent to arrange for shipping excess luggage separately.

 

• two suitcases per person* (not exceeding 90x75x43 cm in size and 23 kg in weight per bag)
• two pieces of hand luggage per person* (not exceeding 56x45x25 cm in size and 23 kg in weight per bag).

14 cruises with MSC and never, ever have I had my luggage weighed or measured. Definitely had more than 50 lbs per piece and yes we have had more than 8 pieces per our cabin. This is for US cruises. I have been on 60 cruises in the US and no never once seen a scale at any US port, which port have you seen one?

23 hours ago, SailorfromBrazil said:

There's a couple of things that are (unfortunately) moving to mobile and you may be able to consider.

 

QR code menu's at most bars (I find it horrible, except for being able to review them later)

Easy to make shows reservation 

 

Unfortunately they'll blame it on "save the trees" but printed copies are a lot more expensive than updating a single app to the entire cruise.

 

Having said that, due to the more mature audience on a ship, you will find some printed copies of everything for some time at least.

They still have printable menus at all bars. Never had a problem not having a phone and never had to "ask" for a menu, was provided one at all times.

I never use my phone on any Cruise and never had a problem. 14 cruises on MSC, Seashore, Seaside, Divina and Meraviglia and no need for the phone.

It is one free bag per person per cruise. We often sail for 21 days or more but it is booked as 7 day cruises. We each get one bag for each Cruise. This was the case this past January still on the Epic. 21 days, 3 seven day cruises, 2 Platinum people, and had 6 bags of free laundry.

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

So if our B2B is booked under one booking number, any nonrefundable OBC left over from the first leg will automatically carry over to the second leg? That is good to know.

That is what we were told by guest services. I would check with guest services to make sure. I have found that different ships can have a different set of rules with NCL.

9 hours ago, Susannekells said:

I assure you on the Epic, people were lining up for the small venues for the second performance before the first started and they we're 2 1/2 hours apart...

The theater take a lot of people but that was repeat shows or gaming shows.

NCL is heavy on gaming, casino bingo, TV gaming shows.....

Replacing theater shows with gaming shows tipped the balance too far

I agree with you, we were on the Epic in January for 3 weeks and the lines for The Cavern were super long and the wait was horrendous. Yes, hours. The line for the MDR was long, 30 to 45 minutes at most times. Was glad we had reservations, unfortunately NCL has cut out the reservations for the MDR unless a larger group. I stated that on here before and was told I was wrong but I was there. Glad to see it wasn't all in my head 🙄. The entertainment on the Epic was pretty bad.

4 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

sorry if I'm a little slow, but I want to make sure this is only for MDR?  OP said the rule was for any non a la carte restaurants.  Does that mean you can't make reservations for moderno and teppanyaki either?

No, you can still make reservations for Moderno and Teppanyaki, I just made them last week at 125 days out.

10 hours ago, shof515 said:

which ships has long lines? with all ships having 2-3 main dinning rooms that spreads out the crowds where the lines is very short and often moves quick. if one room is crowded, go to the next room

Epic in January and every other time I have been on her (8 times) had a wait time of 30 to 45 minutes and a long line. 

14 hours ago, Rosiepap said:

Were you on the Meraviglia?

Yes I was, it looked like a new one

34 minutes ago, Rosiepap said:

Can anyone tell me the strength of the hair dryers on the MSC Meraviglia? I need at least a 1700. I'm concerned that it's less than that on ships.

Thank you.

 

RP

The one I had was 1800 watts 

Seen BTF too many times and won't go to the show again. Sad.

Been several times to Ocean Cay, we take our own snorkel equipment. The best place we have found is by the rocks near the lighthouse. Seen several fish.

You should be able to add drinks to any category, not just Aurea. I just booked a cruise and it is the second window that pops up, it is Choose Your Limited Time Offer and you can click either cruise only or add drinks. I see they are not offering free WiFi with the current promotion. When I booked it was add drinks and WiFi.  You can purchase WiFi after you have booked.  Not sure when it shows up but mine right now are not showing anything available for purchase. They have a browse package and a browse and stream package. 

Not sure of the current prices since it could have gone up. Here is a good article on MSC's internet and explains the two packages.  https://cruise.blog/msc/msc-cruises-wifi-and-internet-onboard. 

Sign in when you go to book, you will still need to add your MSC number in order to get the 5% off. There will be a place to add it during the booking. 

Yes you can take food and drinks back to your cabin on the Seashore. I have sailed 3 times on the Seashore and it has never been a problem. Don't leave the dirty plates in the hall though, leave them in your cabin and he/she will get them. Makes it hard for people on scooters to get down the hall when people leave their dirty dishes there.

As another poster stated, the entire bathroom floods. There is a drainage pipe in the floor all the say around the floor at the walls so the water does not go out into the cabin. As you stated, except for the sink being in the cabin it is just like a regular cabin without the weird Epic bathroom. 

Not the Breakaway but was on the Epic in January and they did not have the District Brew House and no expanded menu at Maltings or any other bar for that matter.

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

As you can see from my comment above, we visited Catalina Island with NCL during the winter of 2023 on a Panama Canal cruise.  The Freestyle Daily said a boxed lunch could be picked up that morning in the buffet, so don't let anyone tell you that there's some universal rule applicable to all ports that no food can be taken off the ship.

 

I'm sorry I can't help you as to what was in the boxed lunch, as we didn't pick them up.  Our plan was to get a very early tender, and spend a few hours ashore.   (We might have picked up the boxes had NCL told guests that no food or water would be available on the island.  Fortunately, we always have water with us.)   The beach was gorgeous and we really enjoyed our time there. 

 

I did post a review of that cruise with lots of photos, so if you care to take a look, here's the link  (my thoughts about Catalina Island and the photos are at Comment 68):

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your reply! This helps tremendously! I will go and read your review!

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The whole thing sounds bizarre. 
 

First the rules for every port are the same. You may not take food off the ship. 
 

Second, taking food off the breakfast buffet ashore for lunch just invites food poisoning from food not kept at proper temperatures. 
 

I could see it as a one-off after the pandemic, but tour providers provide their own lunches prepared and held at a proper temperature for beach days. 

Catalina Island is a nature preserve no food on the island that is why they allow it to be taken off ship. As you can see from the review above it was almost 2 years after the pandemic and cruises started back up.

I will definitely report back after we go in December

5 minutes ago, jrsegrl said:

We did this on a cruise shortly after pandemic.  I liked it.  When you went to the buffet for breakfast you got an empty box and were allowed to fill it with what you wanted.  It was a nice beach day.

Thank you! 

42 minutes ago, shof515 said:

port regulations says you are not allowed to take food off the ship like box lunch

Each port is different, just repeating what I read on CC boards about the box lunch.  

50 minutes ago, odie1024 said:

I have been on about 10 cruises with NCL over the past 5 years and never heard of this.

Catalina Island, DR has no restaurants or food. Read to go to the buffet for a box lunch on the CC boards and on the site that is not to be mentioned. Here is a link to the review where NCL told passengers to pick up a box lunch at the buffet 

Going to Catalina Island, DR and understand that NCL gives out a Box Lunch from the Buffet to take to the island since there is no food on the island. Does anyone know what is in the Box Lunch? Not looking for exact items, just an idea.

4 hours ago, Mojobaby7 said:

I was curious about this also it says it’s a perk of the gold voyagers club, and it’s my wife’s birthday didn’t know if I had to order it which says $16 and then they would take it off or credit me or they just send it automatically? Thanks for any updates on those who have experience with this.

Are you talking about the cake price under items you can purchase? We did not purchase it, I just told CS when I booked and reminded our waiter and they brought us the cake. 

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Slight disagreement with you on this. You *do* get something for arranging them. (OK, maybe it's not of value to you) When I arranged the Meet and Mingle on our NCL Breakaway cruise, we got tasty treats in our room every day, we were on a first name basis with the F&B director, we got invited to a special event in the Haven (and we weren't staying there), in short: we were treated very specially. I later found out it's because I'd arranged the M&M.

In January on the Epic I arranged the M & G, I had door prizes, NCL Officers showed up, and we had refreshments.  I received nothing for arranging the M & G. So it might depend on the ship.

12 hours ago, KatRangoon said:

We saw uber/lyft all over the place last week when we were at Terminal 8. Unfortunately it's a bit too far of a walk from 10 to 5. It shouldn't be hard to catch a ride though. You might even email/call the Port Authority, they might run a shuttle around there.

On 7/21/2024 at 4:36 PM, ready2cruzagain said:

Thanks, that is what I figured. Thinking a $20 tip before we get started will work out good for him. 

9 hours ago, Stingray64 said:

Uber or Lyft will be a easy run...............no taxis around. I drive both around the port and MCO

Thanks guys, I just remembered we had this exact situation in 2016 in Port Canaveral. Guess I am getting old but found my old thread asking about this. We were on the Epic and had to go to the Sunshine. We just caught a taxi and it was easy peasy.