wayne_trisha

7 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Sailing out of NYC in the winter is a loser proposition despite who else does it.  Lived there and sailing from there ensure 2 days each way of really lousy weather.  This winter she will sail 2/3 full at max.  Much better idea to head south for winter.  The northeast wants warmth those months and to get away from the cold.  Taking half your vacation to get to the warmth is a non starter.  Smarter heads prevailed in beards town.

On top of that there is a significant risk of bad weather shutting down airports. I live right by Port Canaveral but if I lived elsewhere and had to fly to a port I would definitely choose a southern port over a northern port in the winter.

I think boarding starts at 11:00 and you are in YC so you can get start boarding around 11. We will likely show up around noon since we have priority boarding.

1 hour ago, wayne_trisha said:

Last year cruised on Divina and family sat at one table even though some did not have the drink package. I think it is one of those rules that rarely gets enforced.

 

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

 

You can't link reservations ahead of time.  It won't let you.  I tried. 

I don't know about linking reservations. What i do know is we sat at a table as a family and our son's family did not have the drink package. We went to the dining room together and asked to sit at one table. it was no problem.

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I emailed my travel agent about a cruise we just booked a few days ago and he said he will not work with MSC.  I don't know if that's common among travel agents or not.  Ours doesn't work with Carnival or NCL either.  He said he specializes in luxury lines.  We booked the yacht club, I would consider that luxury.  Normally he does give us onboard credit and we like dealing with him directly, but in this case we book with MSC.  However, our cruise is in 41 days so hopefully I don't need to contact customer service.  

I have read not all TAs will book with MSC. If you like MSC I suggest you get a different TA just for booking MSC cruises. I use an online agency and right now they are offering $500 in OBC for YC deluxe suite plus whatever MSC is giving in OBC.

Last year cruised on Divina and family sat at one table even though some did not have the drink package. I think it is one of those rules that rarely gets enforced.

You can find websites with price history but cruise critic is restrictive on posting external links. As 1kaper wrote the advantage of using a TA is onboard credit and if something goes wrong the TA has to deal with it. Only disadvantage is not being able to get my TA on the phone when I need/want to make changes.

The stress part is coming from RCCl where if you don't get your reservations in early you might not get what you want. We had early dining as fantastica and want to be able to eat early so we can maybe catch a show. We are very early risers and that does not change during vacation.

What i am gathering here is that I cannot make dining reservations in advance of the cruise.

3 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

You’ll see a sign like this when you arrive in the designated Aurea Dining Room. 
Just show up anytime you wish between the designated times. 

Thanks!

I don't want to request my choice dining but want to maketime reservations so we get to eat at the time we want. Is there any way to do this?

Cruising on June 11th Seaside. Want to secure our dining time. I have looked all over the MSC website but do not see a method to make the reservations. Does it exist and I am just not clicking the right area?

25 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

But as an overall, general opionon MCS has the better product. Examples:

1. Food overall was much better

2. Beautiful ship and design.  (You can go in/out of bathroom at night without waking everyone else in the cabin; restrooms around the ship are SO clean; cabins are very clean and cabin steward seems always present in hallways.)

3. Prices are less with status match to Royal, you get a leg up to higher status.

4. Staff are all smiling and happy to assist. Any request we had was met with "of course."

What did we miss? 5 free drinks daily. We don't drink much but use our leftover free drinks at night for water. Paying for water adds up. There are some tricks to get free water on MSC but Royal is easy.

These are just our experiences and opinions. Your mileage might vary.

 

51 minutes ago, wayne_trisha said:

Ouch!

I was entirely focused on the min-bar. I am over the moon excited for our cruise in just 32 days. We are the couple you see randonly walking behind the people having the time of their life, reading their kindles and people watching, and normally finding the uncrowded spaces. We cruise to be together, chill ,relax, and escape from normal life. Your review was great and excites me for our cruise11

32 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Final night buffet was a miss. Only 1/2 of it open and staff not interested in refilling anything but pizza. Their pizza is great but we were looking for lighter options. We skip the MDR the last night as a rule and opt for lighter options the night before traveling. 

Shows the last 2 nights were excellent. Peter Punk and another which I cant remember the name of. MSC works the acrobats, magicians, jugglers, etc into each show. They were all superior to Royals shows or entertainment. 

Ouch!

41 minutes ago, publicpersona said:

 

That was meant to be an illustration. I was not asserting any specific price was available. That said, WOTS is $1123 for a balcony in the distant future. Also, inside for $1281 this summer (8/27).

 

But don't get me wrong .. I'm with you. My threshold for booking is somewhere between $75/$100 nt. So no Royal cruises currently on the books.

 

 

Living near and driving by Port Canaveral 2X every day for work this is Definitely my preferred port. It really seems like it is becoming the premier port in Florida. I expect to pay a bit more, and I mean a bit, but NCL is leaving for the summer/fall, Disney is doing Disney (love our 2 cruises on Fanaasy), and Royal and Carnival have completely jacked prices so much that we have decided to skip a cruise for our anniversary in September (middle of hurricane season which has NEVER stopped us) and travel elsewhere. Not paying $500 per couple per night to visit destinations we have been to multiple times. 

14 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Usually it's $10 minimums but they occasionally have a happy hour with $5 minimums. If the tables are busy all the time,then they won't have it.

Thanks! Been on Divina twice and LOVED the experience. Lived in Europe for 8 years so it was a super nice way to reminisce about those years and the food/service aspect. Hate being rushed to get in/eat/get out. 

23 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I am at Ocean Cay on the Seaside today.  Slots have been open all day, table games opened at 1 p.m.

 

What are the table mins? hoping for some $5-10 tables to have some fun and not go bankrupt playing a bit.

On 5/9/2023 at 3:00 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

A little sarcastic on your part but...Thanks for the correction...I meant light show...

Sorry but I read zero sarcasm in their post. They were unaware of the fireworks show you mentioned but did not correct you.

9 hours ago, publicpersona said:

 

First let me stipulate that MSC is far and away a better value in mass market cruising. I am also someone with 60+ Royal/Celebrity cruises who is now taking the occasional cruise on MSC just because of that value.

 

But there's something else at work here with cruise pricing. Royal uses dynamic pricing with very intelligent retail optimization for hospitality software. This can result is very bizarre pricing. Wonder inside today is $2481 but it could be $1200 next week, or $3800.

 

MSC does the same, though. I booked MSC Seaside 6/8 balcony 3 nt for $550 (w. drinks and wifi) a few days ago, then watched it go up to about $1000, and then back down to $679. Hmmm .. was it the CDC health inspection impact on demand? Maybe.

 

Bottom line is that it pays to watch pricing trends over time before booking.

While I agree RCCL uses dynamic prcing, Wonder OTS has NEVER been $1200. Go look at ANY ship out of Florida this summer and you can rarely find a cruise that is less then $200 per person per night for any cabin. RCCl has jacked their prices and based on the dynamical models can still keep raising prices due to supply/demand. F that. $8K for an inside cabin on wonder when you add drinks and wi-fi. Royal is not getting any of my new money (or old money that took forever to get back) any time soon.

Add the drink package and wi-fi and I can easily see this hitting $8K.

Excited to see Princess come to my home port but really wish it was a ship over 20 years old when it arrives.

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I will be on seaside with my DM in a few weeks. Your review is so timely. Thank you! We have sailed MSC before which is why we keep going back but I wonder what it is that is driving seasoned cruisers such as yourself on RCL and others to try MSc. Is it the price on RCL, diminished food quality, going from 2 times to 1 time daily cabin service?  What was your tipping point…if you don’t mind sharing?

We are a month out from our Seaside cruise. Diamond on RCCl and their prices are ridiculous. Looks like the June 11th sailing has no insides so i cannot get the prices but the June 4th is currently listed at $3060 PP plus taxes/fess for an inside on Wonder OTS. We're on Seaside for less than $2700 total in a balcony with drinks, wi-fi, and $225 OBC. RIDICULOUS! Don't care that it is the newest Oasis class. Been on 10 or so Oasis class cruises and the upgrades/changes have little value to us.

17 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Yeah, my favorite is NCL and the "Free at Sea offers" that expire TODAY. And then tomorrow, as if by magic, they're back again. (But only for a day, remember...) 😆

It's been "free" at sea for years now. I think the gratuities on it are now about $350. Going to be interesting if they ever get rid of it.

Just now, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Oh - we noticed. It just didn't rain on our parade (smooth embarkation, prior to rain).

 

Tom

Glad to hear that.

5 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

It was a breeze - dropped off our luggage at about 10:30, then literally as we were about to sit in the YC waiting area in the terminal, they started boarding. Stepped onboard at 11.

 

Lots of phones could be heard going off (weather alerts) though the afternoon.

 

We were the only ship in port, scheduled to leave at 6, but ended up leaving closer to 6:30.

 

Tom

WOW! The weather was very severe. I am surprised you didn't notice.