JT1962

People either love or hate MSC. I was on the Meraviglia in January and the Divina in October and loved it. I thought the food, entertainment and service were equivalent to or better than Royal Caribbean and Carnival. Others think the food and entertainment are terrible. The ships are the nicest I’ve been on and Ocean Cay is the best private island I have been to. If you are expecting a carbon copy of Carnival or Royal Caribbean, or need an amusement park onboard or waterpark at the private island, you may be disappointed. If you want a more traditional cruise at a great price, I recommend giving them a try. You may find it’s not for you or you may find a new cruise line option. One warning - Their website and customer service prior to boarding can be frustrating, at best. Research what you want to book, make the booking and leave it alone, if possible. Once you get onboard, the experience is very good.

Most don’t consider $ 600 negligible, especially if the price is per person. If they do, they probably are looking at cruise lines other than Carnival.

Cheaper price is the main reason most book an inside instead of a balcony cabin.

I’ve only been on 7 night or longer cruises with MSC, but I have read that they have one Elegant Night on the 3 & 4 night sailings. Hopefully others who have been on a 3 night sailing will reply.

There should be an orange button to click on that says Complete Payment under the cruise description when you log in and go up that cruise. If you booked through a travel agency, the option probably won’t be there and you will need to contact the agency to make payment.

Thanks for the detailed review. I was on Meraviglia in January and Divina in October and would agree with most of your comments. As far as lines at the restaurant on Ocean Cay, if you get there as soon as they open the 2nd side, it usually moves a little faster. On Divina last month they gave away prizes at trivia. I got a bandana and a nice excursion backpack for two wins.

Based on my experience, the only way to guarantee a better location is to call MSC and see what the price will be for a different cabin location. You will likely be locked into the rate structure you originally booked, not any current promotions.

I think they are limiting passengers on Divina. On the Divina last month, the Cruise Director said there were 2,250 on the sailing, but there was a sign at Customer Service that said “No upgrades available. This sailing is fully booked.” I tried to book an additional week on the Divina to add to my May 2023 sailing and the website will not let me book, even though multiple cabins still show as available. The MSC reps and my travel agent all show it as closed for booking any additional cabins.

1. The only requirement is no swimwear in the dining room for any meal and no shorts, flip flops or tank tops on Elegant night. Otherwise shorts / t-shirts are allowed at dinner (at least on Meraviglia & Divina). https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/before-you-go/what-to-wear 2. I saw the bowling was $ 8 on Divina, which seemed expensive. I’m not sure about movies or other options or the Unlimited Pass. 3. Don’t expect a carbon copy of Carnival or Royal Caribbean. I found the food good to excellent, but there are less choices on the menu than other lines. You can order multiple items from each section of the menu. Entertainment is unique in that there will usually be an acrobat, juggler, etc. incorporated into the music performances in the main theater. The new muster drill is not as efficient as other lines. You watch a video on the TV, dial a number on your phone, then go to have your card scanned at your muster station. They do this for everyone at once, rather than letting people do it throughout the day prior to sailing as other lines do. You don’t have to stand in a group like pre-Covid, but the hallways and stairwells get crowded because they don’t allow the use of elevators for most people during the drill. TIP: As soon as the video is over, dial the number on the screen and head for your muster station to scan your card. You will best most of the crowd.

I was on the Divina repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami last month and departure was a disaster. Departure started at around 9:00 instead of 7:30 as listed in the documents provided in our room. There were only 2 agents working at Customs and no facial recognition system, so it was about 10:15 when I got outside and I was in the first group after self assist. I flew out of Ft Lauderdale and had a 2:30 flight, so it didn’t cause a problem for my flight, but others had issues. I saw on the social media group for the cruise that it was after Noon before some were out of the terminal. I was told by the shuttle driver the delays were due to the fact that the ship was repositioning from another port, had a large number of International Passengers (70%) and there were many Customs agents off attending the funeral of an agent killed in a training accident. However, I have seen recent reports that there were still only 2 Customs agents working at that terminal, so there may just be a shortage of Customs agents.

Just be aware that Ft Lauderdale is 180+ miles, approx 3 hours with traffic, from Port Canaveral. There are several airports that are closer that you could check if flights from Orlando (MCO) are too expensive or sold out. Melbourne, Sanford, Tampa and Jacksonville are all closer to Port Canaveral than Ft Lauderdale.

I believe that will be accessible 20 days prior to sailing. I actually received my check in documents with the printed health questionnaire for my May cruise by just clicking the button that said email it to me during web check-in. Others said they could not receive those documents until 20 days prior to sailing, so it could’ve been a typical MSC website glitch, lol.

My bank blocks all foreign countries and some US states for debit card purchases, unless I notify them I will be making a purchase from one of the locations. They recently started blocking transactions on Airbnb and a few other sites also if you don’t notify them ahead of time to expect it. They said there is a massive amount of fraud currently. I did find it interesting that MSC could not charge the deposit to my room when I booked onboard last month. I had to go back to my room and get my credit card, which was the same card attached to charges for my room.

I was able to complete online check in immediately after I booked. You will be assigned a boarding time. Based on my prior MSC Cruises, they don’t seem to pay attention to the morning time when checking in.

Carnival has reinstated the mask mandate for all passengers on ships cruising from Australia. https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-reintroduces-masks-for-some-sailings/88147

If the original payment was on a credit card, they say it can take up to 2 billing cycles for the credit to show up. I booked an excursion in September for my upcoming cruise in January, then canceled it a few hours later. The charge was made on the card, immediately, but it took 3-4 weeks for the credit to be posted. I had a similar experience on my May cruise with Carnival, so it’s not just MSC that takes a while to post the credit. It’s also possible the credit was applied to your folio while on the cruise. Check your final printout from the cruise and make sure it is not shown there.

Yes, they got the email. They were unable to provide a table for two.

5.75% per the article at the link below. https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/carnival-stock-dives-after-private-sale-of-1-billion-in-convertible-debt-11668611848

Thanks. I didn’t expect it would be easy, lol.

I am interested in how to exchange the champagne for another type of beverage. I rarely drink alcohol and don’t care for champagne. Soft drinks or beer would be great. Did you ask for this prior to boarding or just tell the cabin steward? Thanks.

I was there last month on MSC. The zoo is still at the port. There were a few shops, but I did not go in any of them and aren’t sure what they were. I did an independent tour with Dora the Explorer that was good and included the old city. The local & street vendors are VERY aggressive (made Jamaica vendors look shy), and the tour guide helped to fend of some of them.

I was looking last night at a repositioning cruise in May, but didn’t book because I wanted to check airfares this morning. I went back to MSC to book and now they aren’t allowing solo bookings for that sailing. I called MSC because I thought it was a website issue and the agent said a minimum of 2 per cabin was required to book that sailing now. I’ve never seen this before.

https://www.cruisehive.com/more-changes-at-the-top-of-carnival-corporation/87869

They have some tough times over the next few years with all of the debt they took on. Unless they are using the new debt to pay down previous debt coming due or at higher rates, more debt isn’t good.

Glad you got at least one of them resolved.