JT1962

Glad you enjoyed. I have had a great experience with MSC, although it’s not for everyone. If you are open to things not being a carbon copy of the other mainstream cruise line, then it’s a great option at usually a better price.

As a solo cruiser, I can relate. I only cruised with MSC post-Covid, so I don’t know what their solo rates were previously. They definitely offered the best solo rates since Covid, but may just be going back to their previous policies. Norwegian Cruise Lines may be a good alternative since they are adding almost 1,000 solo cabins fleet wide. https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/10/07/norwegian-cruise-line-solo-cabins/71057035007/

I have noticed recently when looking at solo rates that they are now charging a substantial supplement for the solo rates that include drinks & wifi vs the cruise only rates and double occupancy rates with Drinks & WiFi. The Feb 1 Seashore 3 day cruise booked double occupancy as cruise only is $ 169 pp and with Drinks / WiFi is $ 379 pp. When the same cruise is booked solo, the price is $ 278 cruise only, but jumps to $ 698 with the Drinks / WiFi package.

The website and app always seem to have issues. However, I have gotten the “Server 500 error” on several other websites in the past week and have rarely seen those before. It makes me wonder if there is a more widespread issue affecting multiple sites.

I used the 20 piece laundry package in May on the Divina with no issues. The items were returned on hangars or folded, as requested.

You must call or cancel once you board. No option to cancel online that I have found.

If it is officially issued by your state, then it should be good, regardless of whether the seal is raised or not. The actual documents issued over time can and do change in appearance.

It could be a website glitch, which happen often. You should be able to call and book, if it isn’t sold out, up to 48 hours prior to your cruise.

I would book the room now. The perks for booking onboard aren’t that great - I got an extra $ 25 OBC vs booking online when I booked onboard in October 2022 for a cruise in October 2023. I believe you do get additional Voyagers Club points, but they aren’t of additional value if you were able to status match to Diamond (or already reached Diamond). You can always check with the future cruise desk once onboard to see if any additional cabins have opened or if they can offer you anything extra for the booking you made online.

I’m not sure about the inputs for attaching a DVD player or any external device, but here are the channels I recall from my MSC cruises in the past year: CNN or CBSN, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, ESPN Caribbean, and sometimes a second ESPN channel that also showed some NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA games at times. All of the TVs I had automatically shut off after a certain amount of time after no input from the remote (change the channel, volume, etc.). I didn’t time it, but it seemed to be 2 or 3 hours. So if you sleep with the tv on, you will likely have to turn it on again once or twice during the night if you wake up when it goes off.

Basic iMessages worked for me on Meraviglia and Seaside MOST of the time without the WiFi Package when connected to the MSC Wifi to use the MSC for Me App. I could not send photos and larger text messages did not always go through. This only works on the newer smart ships that use the MSC for Me app.

Were they possibly in a Specialty Restaurant with a package or ordered the tasting menu? With that option you get one appetizer, one entree, one side and one dessert at the Steakhouse and Seafood restaurant. Or the waiter was normally assigned to a Specialty Restaurant and was not aware things are different in the MDR.

Your experience is similar to mine. I have been on 6 MSC cruises since January of 2022 and have noticed Butcher’s Cut is rarely close to half full, yet they usually say they are fully booked when you try to get a reservation. I was matched to Diamond and assumed they only allowed a small number of the free Diamond meals per night and just said they were booked. Maybe it is due to limited staffing? Also, I have never found anywhere online to book reservations for Specialty restaurants. Do you have to call? On my October trans-Atlantic sailing on the Seashore, there are no options to even purchase Specialty Dining available online.

For the US market - Update their IT / website, customer service, policies / procedures on making changes to your cruise so it isn’t a huge ordeal to make a simple change without causing a price increase or other problem. Until they get those things right, more ships won’t be needed in the US market. If they can get those things resolved, I would like to see: - Better Eastern Caribbean itineraries from Miami & Port Canaveral to include a mix of St Martin / St Maarten, St Thomas, St Croix, Tortola, etc. - A ship to homeport in San Juan for Southern / Far Eastern Caribbean itineraries. San Juan is easier and cheaper to get to than Martinique or Guadalupe for most Americans. - Two ships in Alaska in the summer - one Roundtrip from Seattle and one sailing one-way between Vancouver & Seward or Whittier. Explora will be sailing to Alaska, but they are priced above the average MSC cruiser. - A second ship in the Northeast during the summer & fall for Canada / New England cruises. Meraviglia is doing a few itineraries and maybe will add more of the demand is there.

Thank you.

People discuss and complain about lots of businesses besides cruise lines - hotels, airlines, restaurants, grocery stores, retail stores, etc. Some are loyal and will defend their favorite no matter what and others who feel slighted by the company at some point will always put them down. The main issue I see with many of the complaints against all companies is unrealistic expectations. Former customers expect everything to stay the same, including the price, while new customers do little, if any, research beforehand and are surprised by things that are normal in that industry. Longtime cruisers complain about menu changes, cutbacks on cabin service, price increases on gratuities or drink packages, etc. First time cruisers complain they were “never told” that gratuities would be added, alcohol and soft drinks aren’t usually included, they had to provide specific documents to board, etc.

Where are you boarding and departing the ship? I am boarding in Genoa and booked to Port Canaveral (before they added Miami). Do you see Excursions for Genoa, Barcelona and Santa Cruz de Tenerife? I see no excursions for those ports and only 3-4 for each of the other ports.

I am on the Seashore in October from Genoa to Port Canaveral and have similar issues. I haven’t checked Spa options, but there are no Specialty Dining Options available and limited excursion options in a few ports, with no excursions listed for 3 ports. I have called and emailed MSC several times in the last few months and have gotten a different answer each time (as usual for MSC). Replies included “They are fully booked”, “They will be posted as you get closer to your sailing date”, “You can’t book until you board the ship”, etc. My guess is it is a typical MSC IT issue and may be related to the fact that people can board the sailing at multiple ports (Rome, Genoa, Marseille, Barcelona, etc) and that they have different websites for each country. Others in the social media group for the cruise in other countries and / or boarding at different ports are able to book dining, excursions, etc.

It’s great. The line moves almost continuously and I’ve never had to stop more than 5 seconds at the screen before they wave me through.

Calling MSC customer service and making any type of change (or sometimes just asking a question) never goes unpunished. Their system seems to re-price everything to the current rate, since apparently they consider that a change in your original cruise. There are many threads on this board of similar issues. Some are able to get it resolved and go back to the original price, but many are stuck with the new price.

Looks great. Something for everyone.

My guess would be that they are still finalizing itineraries and possibly even ships for late 2024 and early 2025. I’ve been waiting for the fall 2024 Grand Voyages / Repositioning cruises to be posted. So far only one ship, the Magnifica from Miami to Europe in Nov 2024, has been listed.

I have canceled two pre-booked excursions prior to sailing in the past year by calling and it was very easy. They will probably tell you that it will take up to two billing cycles to see the refund post to your card. My experience was about 3 weeks each time.

Royal Caribbean is my favorite cruise line, but I have primarily cruised with MSC since Covid due to the price, especially for solos. I can cruise with MSC for 1/3 of the cost of Royal Caribbean for a solo fare on a similar itinerary. If you are expecting MSC to be similar to your experience on Royal Caribbean (or any other mainstream line), you will likely disappointed. If you go with an open mind, and embrace the differences, then you should have a good time. The only way you will ever know if MSC is for you is to take the cruise and see.

It seems they are strictly enforcing Shareholder OBC more now than in the past. If they give $ 250 for two 7 Day B2B, even with different booking numbers, giving only $ 100 for a 6 & 7 day B2B would seem to be consistent with their chart.