Tips for a First Timer on MSC and in Europe?

[Future_SLP]

Hi,

 

Just booked a cruise on the MSC Grandiosa for next year in an interior yacht club. We decided to upgrade to yacht club after seeing the positive reviews here on the boards. We know that things will be different as it is our first time on MSC and our first time ever in Europe (we have done 10+ cruises on Royal Caribbean/Carnival/Holland America in the Caribbean), so I was wondering if anyone had tips/advice that will make our cruise even more enjoyable?

 

For reference, we are boarding in Civitavecchia and going to Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa.

[Hlitner]

Hi,

 

Just booked a cruise on the MSC Grandiosa for next year in an interior yacht club. We decided to upgrade to yacht club after seeing the positive reviews here on the boards. We know that things will be different as it is our first time on MSC and our first time ever in Europe (we have done 10+ cruises on Royal Caribbean/Carnival/Holland America in the Caribbean), so I was wondering if anyone had tips/advice that will make our cruise even more enjoyable?

 

For reference, we are boarding in Civitavecchia and going to Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa.

 

We can offer some advice based on an awful lot of European cruises and trips. Fly-in several days early. In fact, if you can spare the time and money consider flying into Europe a week (or longer) early. Italy is a fabulous country and your cruise will not give you much time to experience the country. Planning some land time (pre or post cruise or both) will take advantage of the fact that you are already going to be in Europe. We could write a book about what to do and where to go in Italy but there are already a few of those books :).

 

The other tip is not good news. European cruises cost a lot more in ports then typical Caribbean or Alaskan cruises. You can spend a small fortune on excursions, tours, etc. Most or all of your ports can be done DIY if you are interested in doing the pre trip homework and you have some "travel sense" as well as a spirit of adventure.

 

Hank

[Skier52]

Hi,

 

Just booked a cruise on the MSC Grandiosa for next year in an interior yacht club. We decided to upgrade to yacht club after seeing the positive reviews here on the boards. We know that things will be different as it is our first time on MSC and our first time ever in Europe (we have done 10+ cruises on Royal Caribbean/Carnival/Holland America in the Caribbean), so I was wondering if anyone had tips/advice that will make our cruise even more enjoyable?

 

For reference, we are boarding in Civitavecchia and going to Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa.

Do the status match and you should get black card which gives some nice perks and you can also gert a 5% discount.

you have done the best thing by going in the yacht club

[Future_SLP]

We can offer some advice based on an awful lot of European cruises and trips. Fly-in several days early. In fact, if you can spare the time and money consider flying into Europe a week (or longer) early. Italy is a fabulous country and your cruise will not give you much time to experience the country. Planning some land time (pre or post cruise or both) will take advantage of the fact that you are already going to be in Europe. We could write a book about what to do and where to go in Italy but there are already a few of those books :).

 

The other tip is not good news. European cruises cost a lot more in ports then typical Caribbean or Alaskan cruises. You can spend a small fortune on excursions, tours, etc. Most or all of your ports can be done DIY if you are interested in doing the pre trip homework and you have some "travel sense" as well as a spirit of adventure.

 

Hank

 

Thanks, we do plan on getting to Rome a few days beforehand to adjust to the time difference and explore the city before we cruise. After all, we can't go over there and not explore Rome!

[Future_SLP]

Do the status match and you should get black card which gives some nice perks and you can also gert a 5% discount.

you have done the best thing by going in the yacht club

 

 

Thanks, the person on the phone I booked with mentioned this so I have submitted for us to have a status match. They said we would probably get matched to silver as we have been on many cruises but with more than one cruise line.

 

Are there any yacht club perks that we shouldn't miss? We usually just do interior cabins for our Caribbean cruises so I am sure we will feel spoiled.

[Future_SLP]

Two questions we just thought of about out cruise:

 

1. We are cruising over America's Thanksgiving holiday. I know it isn't a holiday over there but will there be any acknowledgment of the holiday on board?

 

2. When tipping on board, I assume it is customary to tip in Euros and not American dollars? Can we exchange our money on board or would we have to do that before boarding?

[Skier52]

Two questions we just thought of about out cruise:

 

1. We are cruising over America's Thanksgiving holiday. I know it isn't a holiday over there but will there be any acknowledgment of the holiday on board?

 

2. When tipping on board, I assume it is customary to tip in Euros and not American dollars? Can we exchange our money on board or would we have to do that before boarding?

1) Never sailed on thanksgiving so can't say

2) It is customary to tip in Euros on European cruises, and yes you can exchange currencies on board.

I have done it myself. I'm not sure which currencies they have but I would be surprised if they did not have USD as that is one of the two currencies they use on MSC ships depending on Itinerary. Can't say if they give a reasonable exchange rate but they do have live(ish) rates when you enquire.

[DipBrat]

1) Never sailed on thanksgiving so can't say

2) It is customary to tip in Euros on European cruises, and yes you can exchange currencies on board.

I have done it myself. I'm not sure which currencies they have but I would be surprised if they did not have USD as that is one of the two currencies they use on MSC ships depending on Itinerary. Can't say if they give a reasonable exchange rate but they do have live(ish) rates when you enquire.

 

I find it a hassle to tip in Euros. The smallest bill being worth $6. Tips are a bonus so a slight hassle for the European based staff but the Asians and Eastern Europeans probably prefer dollars anyway. Would the exchange even have rolls of 1 Euro coins?

[skt4cruise]

We just returned from Meraviglia Yacht Club where I used a wheelchair to board and a walker throughout the 14 day cruise in Norway. Europeans are not respectful to the disabled, for the most part. I was pushed, stepped over and jumped in front of many times where ever we went outside the YC. Even the disabled designated seats in the theater were not respected. There were very few Americans on this sailing.

The YC was perfect! Well worth any extra outside the area problems.

Btw we are Americans, living in Europe 25 yrs.

[Giantfan13]

We just returned from Meraviglia Yacht Club where I used a wheelchair to board and a walker throughout the 14 day cruise in Norway. Europeans are not respectful to the disabled, for the most part. I was pushed, stepped over and jumped in front of many times where ever we went outside the YC. Even the disabled designated seats in the theater were not respected. There were very few Americans on this sailing.

The YC was perfect! Well worth any extra outside the area problems.

Btw we are Americans, living in Europe 25 yrs.

 

I am troubled to hear that. We are booked on the Sinfonia in November and I don't need a wheel chair but I do walk with a cane. But rudeness is not limited to any one class of people. On many cruises from the USA, I find Orientals seem to feel it's their right to cut lines, jump in front of anyone not looking. Now I am not putting down any race or class of people, there sure are many Americans who could use a lesson in manners, but as I get older, I just see more and more inconsiderate people roaming this earth.

 

Cheers

Len

[perakcruiser]

1. We are cruising over America's Thanksgiving holiday. I know it isn't a holiday over there but will there be any acknowledgment of the holiday on board?

 

No. First the date is different in Europe and second also this date is ignored.

 

2. When tipping on board, I assume it is customary to tip in Euros and not American dollars? Can we exchange our money on board or would we have to do that before boarding?

As far as I know MSC is not offering money exchange, but it seems that others say they do. Anyway the staff you probably intend to tip is not from Europe, for them Euros or Dollars makes no difference if they are so dishonest to keep tips for themselves :cool:

[Beamafar]

As far as I know MSC is not offering money exchange ...

 

I've never experienced a cruise where MSC had currency exchange onboard.

[MommytoAsquared]

RE: tipping - I thought Europeans did not regularly practice tipping. Is this not correct? I was just planning to do standard tips.

[Beamafar]

RE: tipping - I thought Europeans did not regularly practice tipping. Is this not correct? I was just planning to do standard tips.

 

You mean ALL Europeans? Wow ... what a generalisation about people from a continent made up of many different countries with many different cultures. :rolleyes:

[jody75]

RE: tipping - I thought Europeans did not regularly practice tipping. Is this not correct? I was just planning to do standard tips.

You are correct, it is generally frowned upon by the majority. Thats why P&O recently announced the end of automatic tipping leaving it up to the individual.

[Beamafar]

P&O - the 'Europeans' choice LOL

[Nunagoras]

As some said, I advise you to come a few days prior to the cruise. So for you to understand why, if you want to see the Vatican City in all its glory including the museum be prepared to have a good, and I can say a long good day just for that. Purchase your tickets online to avoid just one of the many lines you'll find...

 

 

If you don't feel quite comfortable to do the cities by yourself, book the excursions from ship. They usually have a quite reasonably priced package that will give you a basic excursion on all ports but main embarkation port (in your case Genoa which is quite easy to do yourself, IMHO).

 

 

 

I don't personally know about exchange in the ship, but generally all ports of call will have such an exchange office working there. Rates might be higher than what you have at your local bank though. Apart a few "pocket money" for the odd eventual taxi you might need, almost all the commercial places will accept your credit card.

 

 

Officially MSC hardly discourages extra tipping from passengers. If by the way you want to tip anyone extra, do it in a very discreet fashion so that doesn't put in cause those poor employees contracts in risk...

 

 

Asking for coffee here is quite different from what it is there in the US. If you want an American style coffee just ask the bartender for an Americano. They will be more than happy to provide!

 

 

 

Have a nice sailing and be welcome to wonderful Europe!

[Future_SLP]

We just returned from Meraviglia Yacht Club where I used a wheelchair to board and a walker throughout the 14 day cruise in Norway. Europeans are not respectful to the disabled, for the most part. I was pushed, stepped over and jumped in front of many times where ever we went outside the YC. Even the disabled designated seats in the theater were not respected. There were very few Americans on this sailing.

The YC was perfect! Well worth any extra outside the area problems.

Btw we are Americans, living in Europe 25 yrs.

 

As others have said, this seems to be becoming a problem across the board. I was on a caribbean cruise once and a large Deaf travel group was also on board. They required priority seating at the shows to see the interpreter and every night people would disregard the reserved signs and then argue with the staff when asked to move.

 

I am glad the YC area was very nice though!

[Future_SLP]

Is tipping really frowned upon over there? I am talking about the extra money that you give to the server and etc. at the end of your cruise to show gratitude towards them. I know when I asked about the service charges per day I was told that it is included in the YC cruise fare but could adjust it up if needed. The cruises I have been on in the past seemed to always encourage giving more on top of that daily charge, with Disney even putting envelopes in our staterooms labeled for different people to put cash in.

[SirWolf]

I know when I asked about the service charges per day I was told that it is included in the YC cruise fare but could adjust it up if needed.

The Daily Service Charge (DSC) is not included in the YC cruise fare or in any other Experience on MSC ships. The DSC is 10 Euro per person/night on Med & Northern Europe cruises and the charge will be added to the onboard account. You can not adjust the DSC up but certainly you can tip individual crew members.

[ollienbertsmum]

Is tipping really frowned upon over there? I am talking about the extra money that you give to the server and etc. at the end of your cruise to show gratitude towards them. .

 

Tipping is not "frowned upon" in many of the continental European countries I have visited. It is just not expected automatically. I often leave up to 10% when I have a meal. If I have a coffee I leave the loose change up to the nearest whole number - more sometimes.

 

In England I do also leave tips in restaurants but it seems to be less expected. People assume that the staff are paid at least the minimum wage and so their services have been factored in to the price of the food. Fair enough. We certainly do not get told by the waiters how much we should leave - and this has happened to us in US, even before we have actually paid the bill. That sort of talk encourages me to leave less rather than more!!

 

If you were on a tour bus in Europe you might leave a couple of pounds at the end of the trip. If it is a bus of 40+ people with any more you would wonder how much the staff are making and how they square it with the tax man.

 

 

You were talking about leaving tips to the staff on the cruise though. That is something different. The last cruise I have booked was through UK and the autogratuities are included in the cruise fare along with the drink package. This is the way the English like to pay for their cruise I think - everything upfront and no hidden surprises.

[Beamafar]

Very well said!