Giantfan13

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

Assume you’re joking but RCI has plenty of trivia and similar parlor games during the day and high quality nighttime showroom entertainment, at least one show per sailing is what I might call cirque-lite, plus typical song and dance revues, they have temporary acts onboard each voyage (for example we saw a good magician and a very good Journey tribute band). 
 

The usual suspects, some kind of love and marriage/newlywed type game show, liquor /wine sampling or cocktail making or sushi making classes, ask-the-CD-and-Captain session. We plan to ride around on the North Star at least once. 
 

What else would you be looking for if this is a more specific and serious inquiry?

It was said tongue in cheek, as so many answers were about teens and how they need to be entertained.

Cheers

Len

We have booked the Odyssey for a TA next year. Forget the teenager stuff, is there enough to do for us seniors?😁

Cheers

Len

My eldest granddaughter will be 12, so thanks for the great advice on this. I'm sure she will not want to be around a bunch of 6-7-year-olds most of the cruise.

Cheers

Len

10 hours ago, scottraveller said:

On Explorer in May and had booked MTD for the seven of us (4 adults and 3 kids). Tried to change this to the 6pm main dining room slot but couldn’t. Presumably fully booked.  Question is can you just turn up at 6pm for MTD or is it a requirement to pre book. What if the 6pm time isn’t available could someone advise what happens then please 

You have a couple of options. Go see the maitre'D right after boarding, as they are there to try and handle seating problems that arise. He should be able to get you what you want,

 Without making a reservation for MTD, just show up when you want to eat and hopefully, they will be able to seat you. Since you require a large table that could be more difficult than say 2 people wanting a table without a reservation. 

Again, talk to the maitre'd and see what he can do for you.

Cheers

Len

7 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Yes...

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/on-board/cruise-for-kids/clubs

 

 

...but what will be open/available on a particular ship can vary, 

Thanks that is exactly what I was asking about. Instead of getting snide comments, I got a real answer. Thanks.

Cheers

Len

We are looking to do an MSC cruise from NYC next summer with our grandkids who are under 12 years old. Does MSC have programs for kids like many of the other cruise lines? I guess like a camp or recreation type of thing?

Cheers

Len

6 hours ago, davekathy said:

Until MTD really became popular and if you wanted early (6:00PM) you needed reservations. That's when RC had two lines for MTD. One for those with reservations and one for no reservations. We stopped doing MTD on our March 2022 B2B cruise on the Explorer. At that time early MTD started at 7:15. We switch to early TD (6:00 PM) prior to our sail date. We saw long lines stretching back to studio B every night (both legs) for MTD when we were leaving the MDR. We'll continue with early TD. 

We have done some form of MTD on every cruise we have ever been on, dating back some 25 years when NCL first started with their Free Style Dining. I understand what you are saying, but what I said was I just showed up a bit earlier than my reservation and I explained it to the person assigning seating that we cannot start eating at 7:00 and they always took us whenever we showed up. We weren't trying to be cute and get ahead of everyone else. There is always seating available at 6:30 and we have never had any problems getting seated within 5 minutes of arriving.

We did consider a regular early dining time, but on our last couple of cruises it was 5:30 and that is just way too early.

Cheers

Len

23 hours ago, Happy Cruiser Girl said:

Our experience with MTD on the Jewel a couple of weeks ago:

 

I had reserved 6:45 pm every night since that was the earliest time. We tried just showing up earlier, but they said to come back. We ended up liking the table (by a window) so we asked to be seated there every night and we either got the window seat or the one next to it. Although I thought 6:45 pm would be a bit too late since we usually eat dinner earlier at home, it turned out just fine. We only had a long line to wait in 2 nights, but the line moved quickly.

We also do MTD and always prefer a 6:30 slot which is no more. But, unlike your experience, we showed up when we wanted and we were always seated earlier. We have done this for our last 3 cruises and never have been told to come back later. It's like you don't have a reservation and show up to eat as what MTD is about. 

Cheers

Len

We just booked an MSC cruise in mid-October. We have sailed MSC a couple of times before, but overall we are Diamond on RCCL, so does that get us the Gold membership and whatever privileges that come with it?

When I booked, the gentleman looked up my account and he gave me the 5% discount, but I have another question. I am ex-military and I was told that MSC also offers a military discount--would I be eligible for that also?

Cheers

Len

Thanks for the much-needed advice. I think I will heed the intelligent suggestions and book something by the airport for the night and head out in the AM.

Cheers

Len

 Maybe a different type of question on this topic.

We are doing a cruise out of Civi in October 2023. I am looking to book a flight to Rome that would arrive late into Rome, maybe 8-9 PM. Is there transportation to Civi at that time of night (not by train)? It would be so much easier to go to Civi once we arrive and spend the night there instead of spending the night in Rome and getting to Civi first thing in the AM.

Cheers

Len

21 hours ago, queen_kathy1 said:

I've never heard of Toms Port Guides and found the one for Kristiansand terrific - thanks Len!

We also used that guide for Kristiansand excellent. 

Cheers

Len

Has anyone done the HoHo bus in Marseille?

Is it worth the day? and does it have a stop at the cruise terminal?

Cheers

Len

For us, it is not about whose food is better or drunken sailors. we are seniors and we just seem to think most of Carnival's activities are geared toward a younger crowd, whether they are there or not. Singing and dancing waiters are fine but maybe I am showing my age, I sort of like it a bit more refined if anyone knows what I mean. Yes, cruisers are there to have fun, but CCL just seems to throw more things in 5th gear, toward a younger crowd-type atmosphere. 

Cheers

Len

On our last B2B in September on the Voyager, we also had 2 different rooms on 2 different decks. We were told that all we needed to do was pack our stuff and the stewards will move everything for us. We did decide to move the hanging items ourselves. 

We went down to leave and reboard, and then lunch, whatever we needed to be moved was already in our new cabin. They will also move the hanging items if you wish, but we felt more comfortable moving them ourselves.

Cheers

Len

2 hours ago, lisabdh1 said:

Hi Len, if you take a tour that does multiple stops she should be okay but take Dramamine or equivalent. Try to sit up front if possible. I have terrible motion sickness and am afraid of heights but it was totally worth it and I did not get sick. Road to Hana just about did me in and this was so much better. Just don't look out the windows when bus is by the edge.

Thanks for the advice. 

When a person wants to try and overcome it, there is hope, my DW just believes she will get sick and she usually does. We will probably opt for something a bit more level.

Cheers

Len

Does anyone know what the show is on the Sympathy?

Cheers

Len

Does it pay to do the  HoHo bus there? 

Cheers

Len

We are on the Enchantment stopping in Madeira for a day. We have never been here before and I notice most of the tours have one going high to a certain viewing point to see the city and ocean. But that is not my question, my DW tends to get car sick when riding up winding mountain roads. Would this be what we would expect if we book a tour that would take you up the mountains? She is fine if it is sort of a straight climb, but we have done several tours in the Carribean and she always gets car sick on some of those roads. We have done the Road to Hana in Maui and the same thing. How are the roads in Madeira?

Cheers

Len

We also sailed the Anthem, but in January, for the first time. Since we are from NY, it was great sailing out of Bayonne, but overall, and this is just us, we really didn't care for the Anthem as so many others have.

First, we had an inside cabin and we like to find some quiet place outdoors to just sit and chill out, which is basically impossible on the Anthem. The outside chairs are on the upper decks which are usually crowded. We also never partook in many of the high features of the Anthem, the bumper cars, North Star, etc, etc. We also aren't huge fans of Queen so we didn't like the main show. So overall, we paid a premium for many of the elements that this ship has to offer, but it just wasn't for us. 

It is a beautiful ship and I can see why many do like her, but for us, we still prefer the smaller, quiet ships, and again, that's just us.

Cheers

Len

We were on the Anthem in January and we also had the first time slot which was 11-11:30. We printed out papers to show but no one even bothered to look at them. You got there and you went in and no one said BOO. In fact right after we finished our check-in we were able to board, with no waiting at all. We were on the ship at 11:30 and too early for the buffet.

Seems Bayonne doesn't really care what time you have.

Get there early and go for it

Cheers

Len

On 3/15/2023 at 7:38 PM, taglovestocruise said:

You can email Royal two weeks before your cruise to request a specific dining room and table location. Check out the dining rooms on YouTube to see what they look like. Some could not care less about where they eat, some like my wife are only happy in the Grande at a large table. 

Is there a specific email address for this?

Cheers

Len

On 3/13/2023 at 1:16 PM, davekrnavek said:

Hi everyone, we'll be on our first cruise this June and chose MTD because the early dining time would have been too tight for us (lots of ports and we'll definitely be running around). I found on the Trip Planner that you could reserve times for the various days, but all they had was starting at 7:45pm. I was hoping to check and see if there were any earlier times available after making those selections, but it would only let me make one dinner reservation per day and wouldn't let me look at what's available unless I cancelled my current reservations (which I did for one day, and had to grab a later 8pm time which was the earliest available). 

 

Are we just stuck with these times, or is there a better system when we're on the boat that will at least allow us to see what times are available without dropping our current reservation times?

As several have said, if you don't like what the times are left for reservations, just go down at the time you would like to dine, and if you have to wait a few minutes, you wait. No one said you must have a reservation to dine, it just makes things a bit easier. If you have a large party, then you must speak to some one as soon as you board to make sure they will have a tale that accommodates everyone. Or else, just show up and you will be seated.

Cheers

Len

We have been cruising for well over 25 years and have always done dining when we want to eat, on whatever cruise lines offer it.

In all those years, and lately the last 5-6 with RCCL, we have never waited 45 minutes for a table. We now do the reservation thing but we also monitor the nonreservation lines and at times they may be a bit long, the wait is usually, at the most 15-20 minutes and even that is not usual.

I really don't know where the stories of 45-minute waits are coming from unless you want a specific table with a specific waiter, then I can understand a bit longer wait.

MY Time Dining is still dining when you want and not being made to dine either early or late. If you want to dine at 7 then go there at 7, even without a reservation. You may have a line but things move along and you will be seated as soon as they can get you in. 

Years ago, pre-pandemic, sharing made it easier to get a table, now people don't really want to share a table anymore, so more tables for 2 and 4.

Cheers

Len

 This has been our experience on our last 2 cruises. We always opt for MTD and usually try to book a reservation for about 6:30. We are just a party of 2 and always ask if we could share but, it seems sharing is out of fashion these days. So we also ask for a possible window table and are usually told that none are available right at that time. They then take us to a table 'close' to a window where we see several window tables for 2 that are empty. When I inquired as to why we can't sit there, I was told they are 'reserved', I question the waiter and then the maitre'd as I thought you could not reserve a table for MTD, then the 'light-bulb' sort of went off, if you want one of those tables for the entire cruise, slip the person who assigns the tables something extra and you will get any table you like and they will hold it for you.

We have noticed this constantly lately as we see the same people sitting at the same exact window table every night and we are usually there before them.

 Has anyone else experienced something like this, where reservations can't be made for a specific table, but with a few extra dollars, it is done regularly?

Cheers

Len