Giskard

On 10/26/2023 at 11:03 AM, yellow-submarine said:

We could not figurate it out either. Here is the thread:

 

Thank you for the link to the thread. Based on our Austrailia experience I'm thinking it will be US from Port Canveral to Martinque and then EU once we reach Martinque

On 10/25/2023 at 10:09 PM, 8420PR said:

My guess - the onboard currency will change on the 25th November in Fort-de-France, as I think that is the start of first "official" Southern Caribbean cruise.

 

 

 

 

This is my assumption as well given our experience last October in Australia alibet with another cruise line but MSC is European to begin with so I'm thinking it will be EU

Following, as we are exploring options for our day in St Vincent. Can I ask what you did on your other trips at this port?

We will be on a back to back with the first leg leaving from Port Canaveral Florida and ending in Martinque and the second leg round trip from Martinque. Will the currency in the casino change from US to EU when the cruise becomes stationed in the Caribbean? I ask because last year we did two (not connected) trips on the same boat one in Alaska and then one from Sydney. According to those that were on our cruise in Australia that had just taken the transatlantic from Alaska to Sydney the currency was changed to AU 1/2 way through their trip. And stayed AU while the boat remained in Australia.

Thanks, trying to determine how much EU we need to take for excursions, casino etc.

@pirate4me2 loving your live review with pictures! Getting excited to experience Seaside in YC in November!

4 hours ago, WhiteOptima said:

We did this on the Vista.  The Havana area was great!  The ship was packed but the Havana area was quiet and some days maybe 10-20 people.  We had the Cabana room and found it was not worth it.  You’re basically sitting on a lounger with a little fence between you and your neighbor.  No privacy, no quiet conversation.  2 cabins were traveling together and were out there late at night and were noisy.  Made it so we rarely sat out there.

When we went on Horizon and saved our $ and did an interior.  Way better.  Went in the bar, grabbed some coffee and breakfast and went and sat out back.  So peaceful.

Didn’t mean to hijack but don’t want you to be disappointed.  

@ninjacat123 I agree with all these Havana responses you've gotten. We love the Havana area on the Vista Class ships but we've always had a balcony not a Cabana. The Cabana "deck" is just too public and the view of the water obstructed. I would end up out at the pool area which I love so don't think its worth the cost for the Cabana, a balcony though..yes.   We've been getting great CCL offers from the casino so when planning our November trip I was surprised that I could get YC balcony for less than a Havana room on Celebration. I did the whole cost comparison for both, even with free drinks in the Casino for both of us the YC  on Seaside was the better deal. This will  be our 2nd YC experience, excited to try it on Seaside on a back to back in November!

On 8/15/2023 at 7:21 AM, pirate4me2 said:

Thank you so much for this tip! I will go do that now for sure....I can just see me running into a mirrored wall. 😂

And thanks for the live review, I am following along!

If I had read this PRIOR to our first MSC cruise I would have skimmed it thinking haha ... not really. But both hubby and I literally almost ran into glass walls on separate occasions on our Divina cruise in April!

8 hours ago, stp_mmh5 said:

Also on our bucket list are the small luxury/boutique lines. We're considering Paul Gauguin if time and budget allow for it for a future anniversary.

It was our first "luxury" and small ship experience for our 25yr wedding anniversary and my 45bday 🙂 we were actually pretty worried about the ship being too small and too many "older" people but it turned out there were a lot of young couples honeymooning or like us doing an anniversary trip. It ended up being perfect. I must say though that we waited a few more years before we did the next small ship and then more years before we tried YC in April of this year. It has definitely been a progression for us. In between we've enjoyed our Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity cruises each had their own pluses and minuses as well as lots of land based trips as well. We love to travel and really aren't tied to one cruise line, one place, etc. Just want to keep experiencing the world.

We did Divina in April for 10 nights South America, it was our first MSC cruise and our first YC. We didn't know what to expect. We enjoyed the size of the ship and our YC seemed pretty empty to tell you the truth. We almost booked a Europe trip on Virtuosa  for September 2023 but really don't know that I want to do a ship with 6000+ passengers. We had a great experience on Divina and learned the ship very quickly. We have booked a back to back Seaside southern Caribbean for November. Since part is a repositioning we have an issue getting a YC on the second leg. Weird timing thing, the ship gets into Martinique but the "real" 7 day starts the next day from Guadeloupe. We were so impressed with the YC experience instead of settling for an Auruea for the next 7 days i think we are going to get off the reposition in Martinique enjoy an afternoon then do a puddle jumper flight to Guadeloupe and reboard there for the next 7 days 🙂 At this point in our cruising it has become finding itinerary's which offer new ports and a 40 min flight and a night on an island won't be a big hiccup in my book!

Great review thanks! We have just booked an back to back repositioning cruise on Seaside to the deep Southern Caribbean so excited, 6d to get to Martinque and then a 7 day exotic from Guadelope!

Our only YC experience was Divina in April, we have cruised a lot including 3 small specialty cruises and would say while it didn't necessarily surpass our best experience it did hold it's own (Paul Gauguin in French Polynesia is really hard to beat)

Does anyone know if Starlink has been rolled out to WindSurf or will be by the end of summer?

I'm following because we LOVE the Havana area on the Vista class ships and will make sure we get a room in that area. Looking at booking Celebration and was not going to pay the extra based on previous review of Mardi Gras. 

On the Vista class Havana Club we love the private pools and getting to know the staff. I will say that on the Splendor in August to Alaska the adults only AFT Serenity pool had the a very similar atmosphere which we really enjoyed. 

Tetleytea - what tour company did you use to do the B2B tours. That sounds like something we might be interested in

We've had an Aft Deck 6 Havana cabin on Vista, Horizon and Panorama. There can be issues with soot even down on the pool deck. But truthfully I don't remember it being an issue on any of our sailings until Panorama. On that boat our deck was covered in soot and there were issues down on the pool deck. Would this convince me NOT to book an aft cabin in Havana? Absolutely NOT! These have been my favorite cabins. I love the Havana area and vibe, staff and Deck 6 is the perfect location once you know where the "secret" stairway is. 

5 hours ago, californiatripman said:

The Panorama disembarkation was delayed because a loud mouth women got physical with staff for not letting her off with first ones off instead of waiting her turn.  Police called, arrested her and took her off the ship but it delayed everything over an hour

OMG So that is why port security was going up the ramp as we were going off!!! So glad we were ahead of that mayhem!

We got off the boat this last Saturday and we had a great time. However, compared to others we've been on we "noticed/experienced" issues we haven't had in  the past. I even had my own complaint i had to take to guest services and ended up having to cancel an excursion in PV so I could use my own data to resolve a work issue. It was not the "best" cruise but we had fun and made the most of it.

We found out a lot of the crew were on their first cruises and some were still in their first month. They are understaffed and being trained. However, everyone is trying their best. They work really hard to make your floating hotel/restaurant/spa/pools a wonderful place. 

This is not the Pre Covid world, everyone is adapting and trying to catch up. I feel for the OP because she gave up other stuff to go on the cruise, I will reiterate previous advice, make the most of it and have a great time. It doesn't take long to learn to the ship and the routines. That's part of what i like about the non mega ships. 

We've been to Croatia 4 times as land vacations. On our last trip in 2019, our land trip included a 7 night cruise on a small 19 cabin yacht. Our family made up 1/3 of the cabins. It was an amazing experience which I would do again in a heart beat. We used Unforgettable Croatia to book our cruise. Every night we were rafted next to about 10 other yachts presumably from Sail Croatia and Katrina. Our ship and crew were amazing. 

We are needing the same information, thanks in advance.

Thank you mini donuts85 thats exactly what I was wondering. Seems like a somewhat weird back track. I’m torn because we haven’t been to Tortola so we are considering either a morning at Brewers Bay or the Norman Caves.

I would also be interested in what happens at the Norman Island stop. Does the ship get out the water toys? Can you go to the caves? Is it just a beach day?

We seem to have lost all excursion information on our My Windstar login.

Thank you for the link and the information!

Any idea how the tenders will work for our over night stay for New Years Eve on Jost Van Dyke? We dock at 8:00pm and stay over. Would like to experience some of the party but look forward to retreating to our “yacht” just not sure how that will be set up

I've sent him a message. Thanks for the lead,

Are you on the New Years eve Wind surf trip? If so, did you end up booking this or another charter?

We are on the New Years eve trip and would be interested in the Indians and getting to Norman Island earlier.

Ages ago, DH and I spent 3 1/2 weeks on GC as part of a winter term college class. We got to know the island pretty well. We’ve decided to rent a jeep and just explore the island again. Your kids would enjoy a visit to “Hell” where they can send post cards home to their friends stamped from Hell. Other stops include Blow Holes, Calico Jacks, Rum Point where you can snorkel from shore and/or do a drift snorkel all for free. The starfish in shallow water are in this area as well. There is a restaurant and facilities at Rum Point.

Maybe explore the driving/snorkel tips on this site “Cayman off the beaten track” http://caymansnorkelblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you for taking the time to do this review. We will be on the Dream June 24. It’s our 2nd time on the Dream but first time to NOLA so looking forward to a few days there as well

Not quite. Gift cards either have to be loaded at guest services onto your account once onboard. Or you can use them to buy cruise cash online prior to your cruise and that credit will already be on your account when you board.

 

Either way, if you need cash from your s&s account and it's been funded with gift cards directly or cruise cash, go to the casino, set up your players account, transfer what you want to take out to your bank, play the machine a few times, then cash out. You can't take the physical gift card to the casino and ask to cash it in.

 

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Thank you that is exactly the information I needed