Missbollinger

9 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

IGLU powder is made and sold by Lavazza.   Have never seen it sold in a retail outlet.  It is mostly flavoring and a thickener.

Thank you!  Whatever it’s made of it hit the spot!  

For the love, can anyone find out what and where I can get the IGLU powder from?  We recently returned from our first ever Celebrity cruise on the Summit and one of the highlights for everyone in our family was the Chocolate IGLU from Cafe El Bacio!  (Vanilla IGLU picture attached for reference)

2 hours ago, LiquidWu said:

I booked a Mediterranean cruise on the Splendida in experience "Aurea".

 

Without notification or further explanation, I suddenly find a changed cabin number in the online portal. (now 15008, Yacht Club Deluxe Suite). 
Obviously an unsolicited upgrade that I am very happy about 🙂 But experience still says "Aurea".

 

This leaves me with a lot of questions.

Can I really use all the amenities at the Yacht Club? Also the free minibar? 
In which restaurant will I have dinner? At L'Olivo? 

 

Thank you in advance
Mike  

 

In June we sailed on Seashore, we booked an Aurea 2 bedroom grand suite in August 2021, it had became unassigned in january and a month before we sailed they had upgraded us to two YC Deluxe Grand Suites.  After a phone call, I was assured that we would receive all the YC perks.  Which included upgrading our grandfathered Aurea drinks package to the Premium Plus (Packages is good throughout the ship and on Ocean Cay), added 2 device browse package per person, as well as access to all the other YC amenities, including priority embarkation and disembarkation.  Your YC card will even say Aurea still but rest assured you will be treated as a YC guest.  Wherever the YC dine onboard will be your assigned dining room.  They did say the reason why they are doing this is because they are still using certain decks and areas for COVID quarantine.  Enjoy it while it lasts!

On 6/24/2022 at 8:05 AM, Rossco01 said:

You have to be careful as others have said between an Upgrade you've paid for and one where you've simply been moved to a YC cabin. We had a similar situation on our booking recently where my sister in laws family were booked into a two bed suite (Aurea) and then received a new booking confirmation that their cabin had been changed to YC cabin as MSC wanted to retain the two bed suite for potential COVID situations. The booking was very clear Cabin Grade YC and Experience was still Aurea. 

 

So this happened to us but we were fully upgraded to YC even though our YC cruise cards stated Aurea.  We got the full YC experience throughout the ship.

12 hours ago, mafig said:

Would you suggest the farther back the better to avoid the Sun Deck noise?

I would choose 19040 too, you don't actually have the pool or a hot tub above you, it's located just behind the bar and grill area.  19046 is right by the Aurea sundeck area and they prop the access doors open a lot to let air circulate.

We were in 19030 and 19032, close to the bump out but far back enough that noise from the Sun deck was minimal.  They do start moving things around up there at 6-6:30 AM but we are early risers/hard sleepers so it wasn’t an issue for us.  

On 6/28/2022 at 11:44 AM, Vampiress88 said:

Only ever been with p&o- found a good deal so looking at jumping ship lol 

 

what’s the main differences anyone?

We've sailed P&O (Ventura 2012) and MSC (Meraviglia 2021 and Seashore 2022).  P&O is a more traditional cruise experience compared to MSC.  Personally we loved MSC, there has been marked improvements since we sailed in 2021.  We would sail with them again.  Back when we sailed on Ventura, they had self-service laundry which was helpful.  MSC like RCCL is all service washes only.  The ships are very glitzy but the dress is quite varied.  Personally we make an effort but we no longer pack the boys' tuxes.  Maybe because we haven't sailed recently on P&O but we felt like there were a lot more activities for kids on MSC.

11 hours ago, bac513 said:

The Yacht Club beach at Ocean Cay is too rocky for DW to enjoy. Will the YC tram take you to other locations, e.g. lagoon? Will YC members be able to get umbrellas at other beaches?

Wear water shoes or flip flops into the water, that's what we did.  When we were there in August, a couple in YC had a butler set them up on a lounger in the lagoon area.  This was in August 2021, and capacity was <40%.

13 minutes ago, scottamemnon said:

I keep seeing reviews of two check in lines at Miami, one for vaccinated, one for un-vaccinated.  Is this still the case?  I am sailing with my two kids on July 2 on the Seashore.  My wife, my 10 year old, and I will all be fully vaccinated.  My 15 month old son will not.  He does not need a test as far as I can tell.  So I am not sure which line I should go to, or if we need to do anything different.  Anyone who has sailed recently out of Miami have any insight?

I don't think they will separate you, however I can't tell you which line you would need to go in, I would ask when you get there because they will check for vaccination status before anything else.

4 minutes ago, mafig said:

Do you still get your choice of newspaper?  I used to love that.

 

What's the deal with the mini bar?

We were asked if we wanted one, we didn't get one but we didn't really need it so we didn't push it.  The minibar is restocked daily, we did not get snacks restocked but we also felt like between the meals, snacks, and night time treats; we did not need those either.

9 minutes ago, gooding12 said:

@Missbollinger We were also on the 6/4 sailing. We also got bumped from the 2 bedroom suite to 2 connecting YC suites. I wonder who was actually in that room!

That’s so bizarre, unless they were blocking off those rooms?  There are only 3 on the whole ship.

9 hours ago, frank808 said:

Hi there everyone. As title says, I will be rambling on our Seashore cruise foe the next 2 weeks.

 

Some background. It is myself, DW, DS and wife's mom. We are from Hawaii and flew East last week with a 6 night stop to visit the mouse house.

 

No problems and left Anaheim for our early morning flight to get into Miami on Friday evening. Made it to LAX with much time to spare. Rather uneventful flight, until we had to sit on the tarmac at EWR for almost 90 minutes waiting for gate to open. Obviously missed our connection to Miami. Scrambled to customer service counter to get rebooted. Checked and Sai we can standby on another flight. So we took that. Of course that flight eventually got cancelled. Back to United counter and got confirmed seats for the first flight to MIA Saturday morning. Now to get lodging for 6 hours which United graciously offered. Took hotel shuttle to hotel and got our rooms and confirmed first shuttle to EWR for 5am. Woke up at 430am to a text message from United that the first morning flight was cancelled due to flight crew timing out . That can happen but how ca. The first flight of that morning to MIA have a timed out flight crew?

 

Make matters worse went to lobby and was informed that shuttle does not leave at 5am but 10am. Front desk offered those of us in lobby to call and order a taxi for us.  We said sure since it would be quicker than waiting for Uber. Wait 15 minutes and instead of 3 taxis arriving just one arrived so I called for an Uber instead. Now all this time on hold with United trying to get a flight for us to MIA.

 

Uber gets there and we hop in. During the drive phone agent informs me there is no open seat to MIA from EWR at all and we can get in on Sunday instead. Not acceptable for me. So Uber dropped us off and son and I ran to customer service counter(thank god for TSA pre check and Clear membership). While wife got her mom through the regular security. Tom at the service counter was awesome and got us 2 confirmed seats to west palm beach and the other 2 on standby. At the airside gate, since we only had 2 confirmed seats,, gave wife here passport, cruise docs, negative tests and GPS system to make the drive south to cruise port with her mom so they could at least do the cruise. Told her I made a reservation for a vehicle to drive down to Hertz MIA cruise port location and return the car there. Hertz also provides shuttle to cruise port. Son and I would meet them next week Saturday for the second half if it came down to that.

 

Well we got lucky and there were 8 no shows and we both got on same flight! Can now start to feel relieved that we will be in PBI by 10am on Saturday. After an uneventful flight we got off and went to lugguage counter to see of our lugguage made it. Of course it did not and after filling out located form was told we would get an update personally from the United rep. Surprised to get a call (as pulling into Walmart parking lot) from same United rep that our luggage will be arriving to MIA Airport at 2:48 pm. United have luggage will sent to cruise dock.

 

Whirlwind 15 minutes at Walmart to buy clothing, toiletries and a suitcase. Drove the last 20 minutes to Hertz and returned vehicle. Then was informed that the shuttle was not running. Told us to order an Uber and he will rovide credit for the ride. Surprised there was an Uber within a block. Got to cruise port by 1:20pm and having a drink by 1:35 at the poolside grill. 

 

We have made it so that is great. Only negative is we only have what we had on our backs and what we bought at Walmart to wear for this week.

 

Will be updating this post when I am able to. 

 

If you have any Seashore questions, post away and I will try to answer.

 

If you made it this far, thanks for following along.

This sounds like our nightmare from Spring Break!  Hopefully your cruise will be smooth from here on out!

YC1 is a Deluxe Suite, YCP is a Deluxe Grand Suite.  The difference is a walk in wardrobe.  Not sure about the balcony, we were in two YCP suites recently.

4 hours ago, ddlb said:

What about that 19 that’s what I booked 19038 on the seashore. 

3 hours ago, cherylnj said:

All of the laundry I had done on the ship came back with absolutely no scent. Be aware that they seem to wash the clothes in blazing hot water, so shrinkage is an issue. 

I had heard this too but always requested warm wash and not a hot wash.  Everything comes back clean and no shrinkage for us!

On 6/12/2022 at 1:42 PM, doones2 said:

Once on board the ship can I order a birthday cake to be delivered to a cabin?  Or maybe something similar.

We were just on Seashore and we preordered a cake for our daughter’s birthday.  Since we celebrated on a night we had a reservation at Butcher’s Cut, it was delivered there and they sang happy birthday to her there.  (They also sang Happy Birthday to her at Kaito Teppanyaki because it was technically her birthday cruise).  We stayed in the Yacht Club so our butler conspired with our room attendant to decorate it for her while we were in port for the day.

18 hours ago, 3StarfishKids said:

First sea day- 

We slept in a little and then ate at the buffet. They probably had half the buffet closed and still it never felt crowded- there were always plenty of tables available and servers hovering about to take drink orders. We ate breakfast at the buffet every day except our last day. We like to go to one of the restaurants on the disembarkation day because it’s usually closer to the deck you leave from and, in my mind, less carrying your hand luggage. 
The breakfast buffet had all the typical American breakfast items you might expect, plus a variety of items that seem more typical in other countries. Every day there were: eggs (boiled, scrambled, over easy, poached), omelettes, bacon, sausage, some kind of breakfast casserole, fresh fruit (bananas, kiwi, apples, melon, plums, pineapple), grits, hot oatmeal, all kinds of toast and pastries, doughnuts, pancakes, waffles (plus all kinds of toppings), home fries, hash browns, biscuits and sausage gravy. There was always some kind of carved meat-like ham, as well as smoked salmon. There were also things I’m not accustomed to eating like hot tomato halves, beans (like baked beans), and pickled herring. There was also yogurt and toppings, as well as cereal daily. My kids were excited about Froot Loops one day- so maybe they didn’t have them daily. That’s about all I can think of- as far as what they had for the breakfast buffet, but if there is something specific you want to know if they had, let me know and maybe it’ll spark a memory. 
 

We spent most of the first sea day in chairs relaxing close to the water slides as our kids were all about those. At that point, we hadn’t figured out that the Aurea package gave you access to the Top 19 Solarium (where it was much quieter and had its own bar, but also still close to the water slides). The kids checked out the kids and teen clubs and my husband & I enjoyed the thermal spa. 
 

I think dinner the first night was prime rib and I can’t recall what the second nights dinner was, but I took pictures of the fantastic salmon appetizers we had. The kids are adventurous eaters so they enjoyed as well. 
 

I finally was able to get photos to upload so here’s some of the room/balcony and the salmon appetizer. 

The room looks nice and big!  I didn’t realize how deep it was, the 2 bedroom grand suite is also deep and has two bathrooms; I would try to book it again you decide to sail again with MSC.

On 6/12/2022 at 12:58 PM, spinnaker2 said:

I looked thru the topics and couldn’t see this addressed. Apologies if it has been!

Does anyone know the charges for laundry over item as opposed to the packages?

Going on a 14 day cruise we will need laundry done more than once. The 40 piece package seems too much, and its only a single time. Likewise the 20 piece seems to be too little. 

Any thoughts or prices for laundry done out of the packages? Is that even possible?

thanks much!

 

We purchased 3 of the 40 piece take home clean packages and only used two of them on our 7 night, for a family of 6.  It’s still cheaper than paying a la cart, the reason being is it’s almost $5 per T-shirt.  I have the price list here somewhere, I will post it when I find it.

Great review, we were on the same sailing; booked in August 2021, after we got off the Meraviglia (Second sailing out of Miami) We are a family of 6, so we had booked the Aurea 2 bedroom grand suite at the forward of the ship.  Unfortunately, they cancelled our suite after final payment and put us in a ‘guaranteed suite’ category.  We found out the month before we sailed they had upgraded us into two Yacht Club suites.  It was a great sailing IMO, the reduced capacity and level of service was a perfect balance.  

2 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

When someone pay to upgrade they can expect to get the full experience unless they are told otherwise, I think.

 

When someone is upgraded for free they can't expect to get everything but from what is reported here, most of the time the full experience is included.

For our upgrade, we were bumped to YC and lost our grandfathered Aurea benefits, the CS I spoke to assured me because this was done by MSC and no fault of our own we would enjoy all YC privileges.  In short, if you were bumped and did not request it, MSC will honor all YC privileges.

1 hour ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

It's a difference between a paid for upgrade and a free upgrade.

We were upgraded by MSC and assured we will get all the YC benefits.  

2 hours ago, RC Dancers said:

Our friend from the UK would like to cruise on the Divina. She cannot book from the US website so she has to book through the US website. She would like to share a cabin with her friend who is a US Citizen. Does anybody know if this combo is possible to book? 

I am a British citizen, but reside in the US.  I can book and add the correct information with my US address.  Her friend should be able to book and add her information. 

This was on our most recent cruise, Spring break long weekend so we went summer dresses.  Girls and I are wearing Old Navy dresses, I actually was able to get a petite dress.

If you have a TA have the TA do it, otherwise call MSC, eventually they can put your address in there and it will stay.  Also they can send you your cruise docs by email.  Request it when you call.  Hope that helps!

Updating again.  I was contacted by phone by a gentleman named Jeffery, who was able to give us our photo package for both staterooms for the single stateroom price.  We may not get our massages but at this point I am just relieved that we know where we stand and just want to look forward to our vacation, this year has been a bit stressful and I need to destress before starting classes (I am a teacher and going back to school during the summer). 

On 4/28/2022 at 9:31 AM, Paphillyguy said:

I have posted on here a couple of times about my frustration in getting points for my December trip add to my account.   As a point of background my husband and I traveled on the Seashore in December.  It was a fantastic trip and we loved the ship.  We did have an issue at check in as they did not have our room keys or any information on us when we got to check in.  They said we were marked as no shows.  This was odd because I had checked in online and had all of the required paperwork and tickets from checking in online.  Luckily we were in the Yacht Club and after an hour we were on board and able to get in our room.  It did take a day to get everything sorted out.  

 

So, in Early January I realized that our points for our trip were never added.  I called and was told to email which I did several times over the next month and only received the automated message.  Then I saw on here someone recommended emailing every day which I started to do in mid march.  WE finally received a reply yesterday from my email on 4/26/22 the day prior.  Where all of the other emails went who knows.  Their response was "after a thorough review it is determined that no points are due as you were a NO SHOW for your cruise"  They went on to say since we did not sail, we do not get points.  I am not very irate.  I even explained in my original email that we had issues at the port.  They did no research.  They said if I had any issues to call.  Which I did and it was again the basic customer service who said they could not help me I would have to email.   

 

I loved the ship and the service on board but the land based customer service is absolutely horrid.  As most already know.

 

So I replied to the email with scans of the final bills we received on board and even the note from the concierge apologizing for the issues at embarkation. 

 

I know that missing points aren't the end of the world but it is now a matter of principal.    

If it helps, we only recently got our points from our August sailing and everyone that we can log in and see (audits) did anyway.  Not sure if the kiddos did but we are all Classic now which I assume means we did.  I made a lot of phone calls and sent a lot of emails and messages!