Bigmaan

Hi All

I have placed a deposit on the new Costa SMERALDA for a cruise departing Savona on 16th November, 2019.    We are actually doing a MSC Cruise 3/11 to 10/11/2018 from Venice.   Decided to try our luck with this brand new ship and never been on a Costa ship.    We have been 4-5 times on various Royal Carribean ships, couple of times on both Carnival ad MSC..... so hard to work out what this will be like. I figured a brand new 6000 passenger ship might be worth trying and the price was fantastic. We like nightly shows, decent food but not overly concerned but like good coffee and plenty of on board activities for the kids ( teengagers ) and love a good beer. 

Concerned about the weather mid to late November, 2019 ?  We are visiting Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, La Spezia ..... Not that fussed about swimming and sunbaking but hoping to capture the sights in the days and not being blown away by rain....Hard to predict weather but are we being crazy fools booking a cruise this close to winter ? 

Finally, we are looking at booking our flights back to Australia out of Milan  so any advice on  options etc greatly appreciated.   Undecided what we will be doing from venice on 10/11 to Savona on 16th November, 2019.....  Like to be adventurous and hire a car and drive but Italian roads freak me out...

Kind Regards

Bigmaan

Sydney

Australia   

Hi All

All the way from Australia planning Europe 2019. We are looking at doing 12 days on MSC POESIA from Italy . It takes in Barcelona, Valletta ( malta ), Corfu, Katakolon, Heraklion, Piraeus and Rome.

There are other similar cruises in late October early November that takes in the big Greek islands etc.

I am hearing that Greek Islands is a not that great after early October. Weather turns and the entertainment and activities close up after the holiday season ends in September.

Long Long way to go. October to early November is my window of opportunity. Is it best to do the Greek islands, Malta another time when it is warmer maybe September or May ? ...

Anyone who has travelled this cruise or the area in early November who can comment on weather, value for money etc ...

Kind Regards

Hi

Great Blog. Sums up lots of my feelings. I leave for USA from Australia on Tuesday. Spending week in Tennessee before arriving in Miami on 23/9/2017 for 14 days cruising ( B2B). I have full travel insurance. I can cancel the cruise and associated travel now or hold my nerve and see if by 23/9/2017 there is a alternative route which will be ok to travel. The big question remains whether Miami is affected as bad as expected and that flights into Fort lauderdale and Miami are even possible. Who to say that the Port of Miami is funcationable either.

Never any good at poker .... Holding my nerve is not my strong point......

Hi

Just spoke to the Australian Reps of MSC Cruises. They told me nothing has been decided. All ports as planned. Even though St Maartans was basically destroyed and others on that eastern route devastated. Cant give any indication of alternative plans or routing and basically " just wait to you hear from us in a week ".... You would think all these cruise liners would have Plan B to roll out. Still , it is early as the hurricane is still passing through.

Suck it up what will be will be...... this is truely a mystery tour from Australia. Not knowing what I am heading to and where... LOL

Take care everyone.

Hi all

We leave Australia on Tuesday bound for USA. Week in Tennessee and then Miami for back to back cruises from 23/9/2017 on divina . I see the cruise for this week has been cancelled . Looking at our cruises , the second one departing 23/9/2017 is going to need big changes .

St maartans is under water and suffered massive damage .

San Juan is copping it now and Nassau next . Those three ports are all going to be impacted .

What will they likely do for this one ? Where do they usually re route to ? Unfortunately I have excursions booked independent of the ship at all those locations .

I have travel insurance but they don't pay out until it registers as do not travel on safe traveller .

I know a holiday is trivial compared to what these poor people are facing but we are 14000km away and trying to get some answers.

Kind regards

Thank you everyone. I have travel insurance but also booked every excursion and activity already ( all not with MSC ) ... Sounds like it can be hit and miss. Looking forward to the trip.

hello

Coming from Australia for two week Carribean Cruise Late september /october. Reading on web that they expect to have greater number of more serious hurricanes this September/October ? Higher water temps etc creating the problem etc.

I know it is almost impossible to say but based on peoples experience, anything to be really concerned about ? Ships navigating systems are brillant and I have all the travel insurances. Just dont want to have a bad two weeks......

Joys of travel.

Hi

We will be doing back to back cruises departing Miami on Divina 23 September and returning 7th October. From Australia and have the two kids aged 16 & 13. I know that USA schools are back in but I am hoping the kids have some numbers to mix with. If they are happy, mum and dad can get some down time. Anyone know or had experience travelling this time of the year...

Thank You.....

Hi SG1812

Thank you for the reply. Really Appreciated.

We arrive in Miami the night before but wont have any time to explore before the Cruise. I am looking at trying to do something for 6-8 days on the changeover day...... ANY SUGGESTIONS please ? Red Bus Tour or short tours ? Open to your thoughts. Definately dont want to do the dangerous areas with the kids.

Thank you guys - brillant assistance.

Hi Everyone

Thank you great advice and reassurance. My kids are 13 & 16 and cant occupy themselves unless they have an IPHONE in their hand. Hoping they can meet some nice kids in their club and the wife and I can catch up a bit... Feel lot better now with the back to back process...... will plan a day trip in MIAMI between disembarking and re boarding ........ make the most of it.

.

Drink packages still up in the air.....

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE....... take care and cant wait to join the Cruise and experience the sights.

Hi All,

We are an Australian family traveling to USA for a month holiday which includes two back to back cruises departing Miami on 23rd September to Jamaica, cayman islands, Cozumel, Nassau and back to Miami. We then go again same ship to Philipsburg, San Juan and Nassua before completing the two weeks again in Miami. We bought our cruise from Australia and booked balcony on Fantastica. Unfortunately, we haven't got the great drink packages that USA Residents have when they bought there packages. I have a few questions hoping people can help me :

Drink Packages : I am two beer a day man and I dont mind a soft drink once a day but LOVE LOVE my coffee and would have 3 a day. Wife doesnt drink alcohol, happy to drink water mostly , occasional soft drink. Teenage Kids are both soft drinkers and would be at least 2 a day, a few hot chocolates and smoothies. Looking at the website, I was shocked to read that WATER is not available and not FREE.

Looking at purchasing $125 all inclusive drink package ( 18 drinks for me ) , 3 x $69 all inclusive drink packages for the family. IF we are doing BACK TO BACK cruises and dont use our vouchers on the first week can we use them on the second cruise ? Any other suggestions for our situation ?

If you are doing back to back Cruises and you have the same cabin, after cruise 1, do we have take all our bags etc off and re board as if we were a new customer ? Or do we just leave it all in there, alight for the day and walk back on at appropriate time ?

Schedule & Timings :

Are the timings given for each port locked in ? Do you get much variance with them ? I understand in the event of a storm event things change but I booked an off shore excursion and the PORT had a different time to the booking schedule I have and it was out an hour both ways.

KIDS on Board :

My two kids 13 & 16 want to know roughly how many kids would be on board at any given time. Impossible I said, but based on some trip reports it appears that 700 is roughly the number.... I have tried to get that information out of MSC but no luck. Hope the kids club is good like Carnival & RCL..

Thank You ad sorry about the long winded questions.

Take care..:)

Hello All,

We are an Australian family of 4 consisting of mum/dad daughter 16 and son 13. We are in the process of booking the 14 night cruise that departs Miami on 23 Sept 2017. Just wanted to get some feedback before I hit the button and pay.

We have done 5 cruises on RCL and 2 on Carnival. We prefer Royal Carribean Cruises but decided on the MSC cruise because it covered everywhere we wanted to see in the area.

1. Sept is not USA school holidays I believe. Will there be sufficient teenagers on board for my kids to enjoy. Happy kids happy parents. They love the kids clubs and literally never see them once on board.

2. Is the 14 day cruise which is two 7 day cruises a really good value when you consider the multitude 7 day cruises out there. I am happy with the price but wondering about the drop in quality. Chasing Ports and variety of locations hence the 14 day cruise option was preferred.

3. We like activities during the days particularly when at sea. Not a lot of positive comments about activities.

We are worried about the Hurricane season as we will be cruising late Sept and early October. I will have substantial travel insurance and hope for best.

I suppose I am looking for some positive feedback , particularly those with teenage kids etc..... Not worried about the food comments too much, you can only eat so much on a cruise. More keeping the family happy and occupied.

Kind Regards.... take care.

Mick

Sydney

Australia

Hello All,

Australian Family of 4 ( mum/dad daughter 16 & son 13 ). About to book a 14 day cruise departing Miami in late September 2017. A few questions please to ease my mind :

1. We have done 4 long cruises on Royal carribean and 3 on carnival. Love them both probably more RCL as kids club and activities great.

2. Never done a MSC cruise before so first time and seeing mixed reviews.

3. I understand that September-October is Hurricane season.... big worry.

4. The price of this 14 day cruise is fantastic and appears great value. Covers both sides of carribean as well.

5. Is there any particular down side to all this ? I know they say language is an issue but be keen to get any feedback from parents of teenagers who have done this one. Happy KIDS happy parents.

6. We love the activities on board like trivia and games etc....

Kind Regards

Bigmaan

Sydney

Australia

I just spoke with Priceline Cruises and they said they do as long as you pay in USD dollars. I might give that a try. But with our AUD$ tanking all the real savings is going unfortunately.

Hi All

I will be holidaying in USA in April 2017. I am planning on doing a back to back Caribbean Cruise. I want to book them through Carnival Com as they are cheaper than booking through Australia or com.au. It asks for the US state.

Is this possible, or does anyone know how I can do this ? It terribly expensive from Australia to do this and I am sure I did this in 2012 when I was last in USA.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. If there is alternative websites that accept international visitors booking that would be great too.

Kind regards

Hi All

I will be holidaying in USA in April 2017. I am planning on doing a back to back Caribbean Cruise. I want to book them through Carnival Com as they are cheaper than booking through Australia or com.au. It asks for the US state.

Is this possible, or does anyone know how I can do this ? It terribly expensive from Australia to do this and I am sure I did this in 2012 when I was last in USA.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. If there is alternative websites that accept international visitors booking that would be great too.

Kind regards

Hi there,

We are visiting Lombok - lembar ( Indonesia ) in September on board the Carnival Spirit. We are only in port from 8am to 6pm. Looking at options do there. Really love to do some snorkelling and swimming, bit of lunch.

Does anyone have any first hand experience at the place, maybe an email contact for a suitable guide. I understand you can get fast speedboat, driver etc to take you to the Gili Islands.

Obviously time is the factor. Any feedback greatly appreciated.