Jaco5NC

Thank you for your live review!  Following along and getting excited for our May sailing.  It will be our first time on Princess...Have a fabulous time!!

Port Canaveral has limited things to do but it does have restaurants right at the port overlooking the water.  There is also the Exploration Tower.  There are several hotels and many are new.  Like someone else said, I would avoid the Raddison.  It is currently under renovation so in the future, once complete, it will hopefully be nicer.  Cocoa Beach (just south of the port) has many things to do and many chain hotels that are nice.  Lots of things are walkable and there is a huge Ron Jon Surf Shop that is fun to visit. Staying in Orlando is a great option also just be aware that there can be traffic issues on the highway (528) from Orlando to Port Canaveral.  If it shuts down for any reason you can be stuck for a while as there is no alternate route.  It takes less than an hour from the airport to Port Canaveral though so very easy.

I also vote Paradise Beach for your needs.  My kids have loved it for years!  They are now older teenagers and are still requesting to go there (25 days but whose counting!?) versus doing other things.  

I am sure the crew has a lot of tales to share about the Salsa cruise😄! 

We were supposed to be on that sailing but cancelled and went on RCI instead.  We wont be on Divina until May.

Glad to hear you had a great time and enjoyed delicious food!

We cruise Friday (YAY!!!).  Did our tests at home today (using cell phones) at approximately 1:00PM Eastern time.  Waited about 10 seconds to be connected.  It was extremely easy and we just propped our phone against a stack of books.  From start to finish about 20 minutes.

6 hours ago, herr40 said:

Has anyone that opted for the Cancellation with full refund that was on this 10/24/21 - 4 day cruise received a refund yet? Its been  few weeks and we have not received anything although my TA says they issued it. In addition MSC keeps sending me upgrade offers on this sailing.  What a joke.  This was supposed to be our first try at an MSC cruise, but will never do that again.  Probably the worst cruise company I have ever dealt with. 

Not yet.  Last time I cancelled with them it took about 60 days or so to be refunded. 

We also got another offer to upgrade to YC (which is not available) yesterday.

Is there a charge for the flow rider?

@LadySpoiltGlad you got it resolved eventually.  I was booked on this same cruise and cancelled.  No way was I interested in a Salsa Charter even with all the "benefits". 

Small doses of Salsa (I like to dance) absolutely.  24/7 no way!   

I had a very good agent when I called who explained the cancellation fees were automatic but would be removed, which they were.  Like you though, now on to wait for the refund.  Which seems to take forever!

We cancelled yesterday for a full refund.  We were originally booked on the 3 night.  We considered doing the 7 night salsa charter since we are fortunate that we are not retired but have tons of vacation time and it was a great deal fare-wise.  We also live within 30 minutes of the port so very easy.  However, we do not feel like we received a “free cruise” considering it was a week long salsa charter.  All salsa, all the time…no thank you.  We wanted relaxation and the MSC experience we have enjoyed in the past.  We have another MSC cruise booked for January on the Meraviglia.  Hoping that goes smoother.  We ended up booking Royal Caribbean to replace this sailing and we are going to look forward to that and put this one behind us.  Good luck to everyone still dealing with the situation & trying to get things straightened out.

Happy Cruising!

Thanks Speasda!  I just jumped back on to post the letter.

Letter was sent out this afternoon…check your email.

2 minutes ago, mlbdude said:

 

Busted down to floor 8.  At least its a Fantastica room?  Butler will have to walk a bit.... I noticed my room has changed too.  Dropped from floor 12 to floor 9.

Mine has changed again also...from deck 10 down to 9.

22 minutes ago, mlbdude said:

I hope they give us an offer for another date.  This sounds a bit too crowded for my family at this time to social distance and all.  Plus all the horror stories coming out of MSC ships in Europe being so lack on the safety protocols.

I have been reading very positive reviews coming from people who just sailed Meraviglia.  They have said they have felt very safe and that MSC was doing a great job.  Reading through the comments have made me feel a little better about the situation.  Of course, they stated they only had around 800 passengers on the recent sailing.  This sailing will have many many more I suspect.

I also just saw that the Salsa Charter's webpage updated the itinerary which now lists the Georgetown port as TBD instead.  MSC still has Georgetown listed but that is not happening.

I just saw on the FB page that someone just booked this cruise today (7 day itinerary).  I just logged in to my MSC account and it immediately showed up under my bookings and I was assigned a cabin #.  Not the one I originally selected with a larger balcony but it is located pretty close one deck higher.  The itinerary still has Georgetown listed and from what I understand the Cayman Islands are not accepting cruise ships until 2022 so that will change.  I have been on the lookout for the cancellation letter but maybe it is still sailing for us regular passengers not attending the Salsa Charter?  What do you guys think?  I originally booked a 3 night so this is a pretty big change.

Wow!  Thank you for your review.  It sounds like your family had quite an adventure!  We are doing a land-based vacation in Curaçao and I am interested in the Blue Room.  Sounds like it can be quite intimidating.

18 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

was the ropes course free?

We have only sailed on Seaside so far.  The lip line was $20.00 per cabin.  We are on the Meraviglia next and from what I understand there is not a charge for the ropes course.  You do need to sign a waiver for this activity as well as the waterslides in advance.  Someone please correct me if I am wrong about the fee.

We were just having the same exact discussion as OP.  We sailed Seaside last year and loved most things about it.  Decided to book Meraviglia for a different ship.  We’ve read lots of reviews and people seem to love the Meraviglia.  We've done both itineraries so that wasn’t a consideration.  One thing to note for the OP, the Seaside offers a zipline (which our family loved) and the Meraviglia offers a ropes course.  Also, Seaside has an outdoor basketball court versus an indoor court on Meraviglia.  Just in case those things matter to you as it does our family.  I don’t think you can go wrong.  We’ve sailed NCL, RCCL, Carnival and truly enjoyed MSC as well.  Not in the YC by the way!

44 minutes ago, Ocean Cat said:

Would I be sorry if I picked a cruise leaving March 13 2020? I’m thinking since MSC has a prevalence of European travelers,that there may not be an abundance of children on board at this time. 

We are not sailing on Divina, however, we are sailing on Meraviglia March 15th for Spring Break from Miami with our kids.  We live in Florida and that lines up with their vacation dates.  Just for your reference.

I was thinking/guessing it would be similar to the Seaside drink menus?  I have no idea though.🤷🏻‍♀️

I know the exact bartender she is referring to at the Deck 19 bar.  We utilized that bar frequently and I (as a woman) was never ignored nor was my husband.  In fact, he went out of his way to make special drinks for my picky 12 year old daughter.  

Not saying that what the OP stated wasn’t her true experience, just that my experience was vastly different, thankfully.

With that being said, we enjoyed our Seaside Cruise last summer.  It wasn’t perfect but none of our cruises on the different lines have been.  

We are on vacation and laid back so every cruise is a good cruise.  We try to teach our children to let little things go.

Just a quick note about the zip line:

when we sailed last June on Seaside it was $10 per person or $20 per cabin for the duration of the cruise.  Not sure if this has changed though.

Our experience was that the slides and zip line was open while in port.  We stayed on the ship in Nassau and it felt like we had the ship to ourselves until the early afternoon when people started returning.  It was fantastic!

I do not remember any outlets in the bathroom.  I had to blow dry (I recommend bringing your own if you have long or thick hair) and flat iron my hair at the vanity table outside of the bathroom.  We had a balcony cabin.  I could definitely be wrong though.  American style outlets in the cabin though for charging, no adapter required.

We’ve sailed many of the mainstream cruise lines (NCL, RCCL & CCL) and have found MSC to be more similar then different.  We are American and a family of four. We always go in with an open mind and always enjoy ourselves tremendously.  We haven’t been on a cruise that has been 100% perfect but they have all come very close.  I’ve read reviews and have asked myself if the reviewer was talking about the same ship!  Their opinion differed so much from ours.  

Have a wonderful vacation!!  

15 hours ago, abbflex said:

Agree, love the Cafè Promenade / Sorrentos at RCCL to just grab a quick snack instead of having to go all the way up to the buffet. 

We also agree.  We would love to see MSC offer a quick serve type option.  We loved getting a quick bite at Sorrentos on our last RCCL sailing.  We’ve also sailed NCL and have grabbed light meals in O’Sheehans.  Our family personally prefers that over the buffets.