Questions about the Opera

[jimbug]

Okay, I'm getting way too excited about our cruise next March, but I do have a few questions hopefully someone can answer for me.

 

1. Is the buffet open for dinner? I've read conflicting reports about this - we may not want to go to the dining room every single night.

 

2. Room service - from what I can tell it looks like all room service except breakfast is for a fee. Is this true, or was this only on a Med. sailing that I read about?

 

3. Does the Opera do "express" disembarkation in FLL where you can carry your own luggage off and be in the first group off the ship?

 

4. If you choose to book a ship's shore excursion (I read on here that MSC can fax me the choices closer to sailing date), when do you book them? Onboard? Or is there a way to book pre-cruise?

 

5. How do you notify the cruiseline of your immigration info before the cruise? We are US Citizens, but I thought it was required that they have passenger info (citizenship status, passport #, etc.) at least 14 days prior to the cruise. My TA only asked for date of birth and if we were using a passport or birth certificate.

 

Thanks for all your help in advance! I look forward to reading more Caribbean reviews of the Opera next winter!

[czechmate]

Hope this will be of some help to you. Aplogies that it is not in order you listed.

 

The situation between the Caribbean and the Med is different.

 

It would seem that the USA management are trying to make major changes in the Caribbean to satisfy the complaints of some passengers but these changes are going down badly with Europeans and especially Italian passengers. At this stage it is difficult to be definite as there may well be changes in 2006 seasaon.

 

On Opera transatlantic April 2006

 

1)the buffet was open from 6 till 8 in the evening until we reached European ports and then it no longer opened during the evenings.

 

The room service was FREE. 24 hours a day - but the choice was not large and you could not have meals served in the cabin other than a continental breakfast.

 

Shore Excursions in the past have always been booked onboard. MSC publish a full list of tours in their pre cruise information but then onboard do not offer all these cruises..

 

I think you will find that nearer sailing date your T.A. will ask for additional information from you regarding immigration facilties. This is certaonly what happened with us - and information we provided at time of reservation had to be re-submitted.

 

Disembarkation - I have not come across "Express" disembarkation. You can certainly request at the reception desk to be in the first group of disembarking passengers and within reason they will try to accommodate. I believe that if your baggage can be termed "hand baggage" then you will be allowed to carry off with you - but not large suitcases. To endeavour to take large cases you would only hinder, obstruct and upset all your fellow passengers.

[boten]

1) On our recent Med cruise (4/23 to 4/30, Venice round trip) the buffet was closed for dinner.

For breakfast & lunch the L'Approdo was closed.

 

2) Free room service: Continental breakfast only (from 7:45 AM) and coffee (at any time). Everything else was for a fee, not a wide selection.

 

3) Shore excursions are booked onboard until the day before the excursion.

 

Hope this helps

[czechmate]

Very important to remember - what happens in the Med is different to what happens in the Caribbean.

 

Marxh 2006 will be Caribbean.

[Spudd]

1. Is the buffet open for dinner? I've read conflicting reports about this - we may not want to go to the dining room every single night.

* Yes, in the Caribbean it was open for dinner every night except for the last night (our guess on this is that it was to prevent people from skipping out on the restaurant to avoid tipping - but we were annoyed because we had eaten at the buffet every night and didn't realize it was closed until after we had already missed our restaurant time!)

 

2. Room service - from what I can tell it looks like all room service except breakfast is for a fee. Is this true, or was this only on a Med. sailing that I read about?

* It was all free.

 

3. Does the Opera do "express" disembarkation in FLL where you can carry your own luggage off and be in the first group off the ship?

* No express disembarkation. They asked everyone to leave their luggage outside their cabin, and grouped people to wait in various public areas and wait for their group to be called.

 

4. If you choose to book a ship's shore excursion (I read on here that MSC can fax me the choices closer to sailing date), when do you book them? Onboard? Or is there a way to book pre-cruise?

* When we went you had to book on board. We weren't that impressed with the selection so we didn't take any ship's excursions.

 

5. How do you notify the cruiseline of your immigration info before the cruise? We are US Citizens, but I thought it was required that they have passenger info (citizenship status, passport #, etc.) at least 14 days prior to the cruise. My TA only asked for date of birth and if we were using a passport or birth certificate.

* I don't recall. You can probably phone them and give them the information if you're worried about it.