UPNYGuy

Im also Diamond, so perhaps that plays a part, but I have never had late dining with bella.

and look how quickly they abandoned TPA.

They had Alaska in mind when the Meraviglia and Bellissima were built. There was a blurb from the shipbuilder at the time that they were deliberately shorter than the Fantasia class so they could fit into the existing docks up there. I would personally rather a Seaside class get sent up there, with all that outdoor space.

def. go for the interior y/c on the Meraviglia in this case, much less hectic. You can feel that the ship has as many people on it as it does.

unless you pre-request dinner at the early seating. DW and I have done bella and have never had 9:30 dinner seating.

If you are used to flexible dining time, this is only offered with Aurea level bookings. Or (as it has been mentioned) forgo the balcony if you can, and book in the Yacht Club in an inside cabin. You will be surprised at the level of service.

years ago, MSC had a ship based at Port Everglades (think it was Magnifica), They moved to Miami with Divina to compete with Royal and Carnival.

in what way? I’ll admit I haven’t been following NCL as much as I used to.

sorry to revive a 10 year old thread, but has Adrian left NCL? I havent seen anything about him pop up since the restart.

DW and I did a bella balcony on Seaside in 2019 and were put in an Aurea hot tub cabin. Someone realized they are leaving quite a bit of revenue on the table doing that.

Thing is, seaside feels more like a ship (tons of outside space), whereas the oasis class feels much more like a land based vacation. Keep that in mind as well. Many people do not like the oasis class because they are so large, and do not feel like ships, but floating 'vacation factories' . YMMV, but they are two totally different experiences. Even within the Royal communities, there are certain pax that will not sail on anything larger than the Radiance and Vision classes.

we are in the Eataly (was a bit ago 🤣) quite a bit.

worst charter group I have ever wound up with was the 'Holistic Holiday at Sea' group on Divina. It was a group of holier than thou vegans that thought they ran the ship, and overtook EVERYTHING. Good luck getting any fresh fruit or veggies, or even salad. They vacuumed it up as fast as it came out. Now, I actively look to avoid that group when I book.

I agree, but short booze cruises tend to attract that type of clientele.

looked at the timeframe you booked. This appears to have been a 4 day cruise. All I can say is DUHHHHH. You were on what is called a booze cruise. I usually avoid cruises shorter than 7 days on any cruise line for this very reason.

I think that was how they ended up with a top-heavy loyalty program. Lots of people booking cheap weekend cruises with the 4x points to get to platinum, and they realized it. You could have ended up platinum just by booking 8 weekend cruises with the old system of booking in advance, double points, and a suite.

you should if you are curious, especially if you like the Fantasia class. It is like a smaller Fantasia class.

MSC has been offering lower matches to hotel chains vs what they would if it were a cruise operator at the same level?

This is spot on. Longer cruises of a week or more avoid this clientele, as you experienced on the first leg of your sailing. You could take a 4 day cruise on Holland America and run into this as well. It isnt so much as 'the party crowd has found MSC" as much as it is MSC doing short cruises.

That is really what the 'upgrade' offer is, what you would have paid to book it originally.

it has usually been the most forward starbord one right off the theatre

I did notice that the tubs look a bit different.

If you are referring to “Aurea suite with whirlpool bath” on the exact corners where the ship narrows, this entire cabin set-up has flaws. It is long and narrow, and reminds me of a hallway. The balcony is somewhat narrow to have a decent sized jacuzzi tub on it. The ones that are out there are not actual hot tubs, but bathtub types. And, if you are in the aft facing cabins, the pool deck can look directly into your balcony. You get plenty of gawkers going “omg they have a hot tub” , and stuff like that. DW and I got “upgraded” into one shortly before the bid process started, and I would have rather had my aurea balcony.

kind of like when NCL re-did the loyalty tiers back in the late 2010's. I have platinum, which (at the time) was the highest tier on the NCL loyalty totem. You could get 4x points per day by booking certain cabins, certain destination offers, enough time in advance, and something else I am forgetting. NCL ended up with a very top-heavy loyalty program, so they made platinum the mid point. I matched in (I think) 2017, and got black (now diamond). Two years later, a woman next to me on seaside was being insistent about her match not being done properly while I was trying to book another sailing with the FCC. She was platinum on NCL and was matched to gold. I kept my mouth shut, but started wondering if MSC was doing the same thing and re-evaluating the matches.

I myeslf have accidently stepped in the elevator with y/c guests when I havent been staying in, and I have also had the reverse happen. I have had people step in and disrupt the priority service for me as well. There have been times I have gone up the glass elevators midships and walked across the deck to avoid this.