UPNYGuy

3 minutes ago, toad455 said:

 

Paradise and Elation will be 30 years old in 2028. I wonder if any of the Costa ships might bounce over to Carnival by then. Costa seems to be slowly disappearing.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see more costs ships move over, and Carnival to become “Cosnival” so to speak. 

This is highly speculative, but this does not bode well for the future of the fantasy class. Those are the smallest ships in the fleet. I can see carnival repurposing two spirit class ships to fill the void. 
 

Plus, those that like the fantasy class really love them. The flipside is those that hate them absolutely despise them. It seems those ships are extremely polarizing because of the lack of features, and the age. 

On 6/14/2023 at 10:57 AM, jimbo5544 said:

If I had to guess, I would expect a new ship for Carnival for 2028 and it would be a modified Excel class,  We shall see,., 

This post was bang on. They announced a 4th Excel for 2027.

Divina, Magnifica, Preziosia, Seaside, Seascape, Meraviglia for me. Some are more than 1 or two times. We had Poesia and Armonia booked during COVID, and those got cancelled. 

On 2/28/2024 at 8:51 AM, quattrohead said:

Meraviglia 2022. Incredible looking ship but only 3 day. Need to go back for a 7 day.
Seaside 2023. Hated this ship, public area's way too small for the size. Won't go on this class of ship ever again.

Most feel the exact opposite

20 hours ago, ChrisCJR said:

 

Interesting, I didn't realize Icon was that much more. That's absolutely the reason then.

I paid almost $3800 for an inside gty on icon, the least expensive cabin category. The suites can top out at almost $100,000 for a week.

21 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Whether prices drop on older Oasis ships will ultimately be determined by the demand for these ships. When Icon bookings were first available, prices were very reasonable. Prices went thru the roof because of the demand to cruise on Icon. For people complaining about the high prices for RCI cruises they days, the blame is ultimately with passengers, not RCI. 

correct. I put off booking on Icon, and am happy I paid less than $3800 to book on it.  Would've paid less, but I waited too long

On 2/17/2024 at 9:12 AM, villager70 said:

Posted on Pinnacle members site that Wonder will start 3,4 rotation when star get to Canaveral and Utopia will go to Miami

this makes sense, looking out, looks like Freedom is positioning to FLL and doing more standard range/type cruises again. 

On 2/4/2024 at 11:18 AM, graphicguy said:

Side note, Adrian Bica (sp?) is generally considered the best Concierge at sea!  Lyster was trained by him, and it shows!

 

Adrian left NCL but last I heard he’s either with Windstar or Oceania..can’t remember which!

 

Lyster has been with NCL for 17 years. 

Adrian is with Oceania 

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

The big MSC ships are very nice but the crowds outside Yacht Club are insane. Booking Yacht Club does not make sense for me because for this money I can go on a real luxury ship. An inside cabin in that area does not count for me as a reasonable option.

to each their own I guess. My wife and I actually like the area outside of the yacht club, and like the big ship features when we want them, but small ship ambiance and service inside the YC. 

On 11/16/2023 at 4:47 PM, neverbeenhere said:

I'm happy to see that MSC has a "salesperson" visiting the Royal forum.

 

I'm not a food photographer, but your photos did the job.

not an MSC salesperson. I’ve cruised on Royal, MSC, HAL, Oceania, Carnival, and NCL. DW and I find Royal to offer consistency in *being* inconsistent. We also find the food to be dreck, and find the experience on board to not be to our liking. Why would we do that when we can and most always do sail other lines? 
 

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

most folks who like MSC do so by going yacht club.

Now I wonder what it would be like if I did not go yacht club.

DW and I have plenty of non yacht club cruises on MSC. We like them just fine, especially on the Fantasia and Musica classes. We just prefer the Yacht Club on the Meraviglia and Seaside classes. Our two favorite cruises on MSC were not in the yacht club. 
 

But we also don’t like feeling like we are vacationing with 5,000 other people. Which is we go Y/C when we get a chance. 

31 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Will do thanks

you can get into an interior yacht club cabin for about $1600 per person for a week give or take a few $$. When all the inclusions are taken into consideration, it is a good value. Especially being I’ve seen Royal price some ocean views around $1000 for a week, with nothing included. 

3 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

One of these days I might get brave and try MSC

look at the prices of an interior yacht club cabin on the Meraviglia class and Seaside class. And remember that Yacht club is a ship-within-a-ship, with Butler service, concierge service, private lounge, private restaurant, private pool, room service included, and upper level beverage package with minibar even included. Plus, you board from a separate concierge lounge, and are escorted past lines at ports. 
 

Much superior experience. 

2 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 Like you, UPNYGuy, we aren't really going to be eager to sail RC again after this experience. I won't rule it out -- the cruise wasn't that bad and we did have a good time -- but it won't necessarily be at the top of our list. 

that is really how I feel about RC. We have a sailing that goes to Labadee (can take or leave) and a decent Alaskan itinerary out of Vancouver for our liking. But it typically has to be an itinerary we like before we consider them. Even when booking these current cruises, I was looking at alternatives because we have had issues with them in the past. I booked, and had a major issue (RC cancelled the booking on my TA and lost the deposit and wasted her time).  

It is also worth noting that my wife and I can book a yacht club cabin on MSC for roughly the same price as a balcony cabin on Royal Caribbean for the sailings that we prefer. Yacht club is a ship-within-a-ship, with Butler service, concierge service, private lounge, private restaurant, private pool, room service included, and upper level beverage package with minibar even included. I can book a yacht club interior cabin (which are ok sized) with all of these inclusions, for not too far off of what Royal Caribbean charges for just a balcony cabin with nothing.

10 hours ago, peder said:

I don't think they'll be any bigger

and I am totally fine if they are the same size as the world class gen 1. The seaside class and original Meraviglia class are about as large as I like. I’m still on the fence about the world class. I did some brief research and it looks the cabins have lower square footage vs the other ships for a given cabin category. 

Royal Caribbean just isn’t worth the ‘experience’ any longer. My travel agent spent six hours on the phone with them after they canceled the reservation and lost my deposit. I have really not found the food or service all that spectacular, unless staying in a GS or above (for service). 
 

my wife and I have two more cruises booked on Royal Caribbean, and after that it is back to MSC. 

DW and I have sailed in a Havana cabin several times on Panorama and Horizon, so we aren’t unaware of how the Havana cabins are. However, we won’t sail on the Venezia or Firenze unless the aft area is totally private at all times, like the aft Havana area is. 
 

That is why I was wondering. 

5 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Hi - what exactly are you looking to learn about the Venezia Terrazza area? I was in an aft corner wrap B2B in Sept so may be able to answer.

if it is in fact now private or they plan on making it private.

On 11/2/2023 at 5:56 PM, Valpacino said:

Afraid it wasn't a miss off on our tray.  There was no jam served anywhere in the lounge at High Tea.  I saw other people asking for it & then saw a butler bring a tray out with about 4 pots on it.  It was only available upon request toda.

 

Which arcs us over in to 'Snackgate'!  Previous posters have mentioned the lack of available snacks in the Top Sail Lounge.  It seems they were typically laid out in the designated area for selection but this seems to have ceased.  I can confirm there has been no 'snacks on display' during the late afternoon or in the evening.  You have to request them & they are then bought to the table.  I get it in terms of reducing waste but I guess if previous guests were used to a selection being displayed for personal selection a la The Retreat, that seems to have stopped for now.  We have requested snacks & been given a selection on a 2 tier cake stand + a separate stand for nuts & chips.  Last night we dropped by for a post dinner night cap.  Without prompting our regular server brought over a lovely dish with a very nice selection of at least 7-9 Venchi chocolates which we enjoyed.

 

Whilst addressing what is/is not available this cruise. We were issued with YC watch bands to wear if we didn't want to carry the room card around.  Previous posters had mentioned they were not issued on at least 1 previous voyage.  We did not experience any issues regarding availability of YC watch bands.

DW and I were just in the Y/C last month. No wristbands, and the snacks were not laid out in the top sail lounge. They were brought to you. 

Have there been any reports? DW and I had multiple Venezia cruises booked in the Terrazza area, but cancelled them all when I found out that it wasn’t totally private (like the Havana / Haven / Yacht Club)

one is likely going to Galveston. I’m thinking they keep one in the Med, keep one in Miami, and the last wouldn’t surprise me to see going out of Port Canaveral, to go head to head with Royal and the Oasis class. 

On 2/23/2016 at 10:54 PM, Birdnutty said:

Just back from a 14 day Haven Southern Caribbean trip on the Breakaway. Long review with pix and lots of details (and a boring title) is here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2318054 Comments and questions are welcome.

My biggest, (and actually, only real) gripe is that this is the loudest ship I have ever been on. Sound levels are way beyond what they should be, to the point where I was very uncomfortable. We own a sound company, so we know our stuff concerning safe levels of noise. Our phones have apps to measure db’s (since it's our business) and the venues consistently pegged the meter at the dangerously loud level. I felt the need to wear earplugs a great deal and carried them with me everywhere. All the larger entertainment venues were ear splitting, and some of the machines in the casino around my favorite poker machines were crazy loud when they hit. (not mine - it never hit :rolleyes: ) Yet I never heard anyone else complain. Are people already going deaf enough to not realize how loud these places are? Am I just super-sensitive? What are your thoughts?

 

Hearing is a precious sense, and is easily damaged by noise levels, especially sustained ones, that are too high. By the time you realize you're losing it, it's pretty far gone. And you can't ever get it back.

I know that I am replying to an old thread, but the BA and GA are seriously overpowered in the theaters. If you are familiar with the equipment used for live sound reinforcement, they use a JBL Vertec line array (I believe VT4887 boxes) on both sides of the stage, with 8 cabinets each side. These have enough throw and output to be used in a small hockey arena (4000 to 5000ish seats). I saw Sarah Brightman in a 10,000 seat venue, and they were using cabients the same size. Granted, Sarah Brightman is low impact, but the point is that these ships have very overpowered and over-spec'd speakers for the size of the venues. 

1 minute ago, JAGR said:

I'm sorry.  You wanted to avoid mentioning that these were kids from private schools, but didn't want to single them out; yet you had no qualms about mentioning a religious affiliation.  SMH!

no I meant I was trying to avoid mentioning the religious affiliation and realized how it sounded after I posted that. I mentioned that simply due to the fact that they chartered out LeBisteo for dietary needs, but it was never utilized.  I don’t care if it was a religious institution or not, the groups onboard were terrible.