Onboard Meraviglia now 1/24 ..my observations..

[wayne_trisha]

12 minutes ago, FrostyJoe said:

I didn't know it was the Harmony.  I was wondering if it was the Meraviglia. What caused Harmony to to be in the hot zone?

 

I thought KSC and especially the bus tour was fascinating!  But once maybe twice will be enough--unless I'm rocket guy or a Musk fan.  Yea, I've wondered the same what else as PC as a port of call. 

I'm turning into a space buff and loving my job helping the launch providers get their rockets into space. So much to see on CCSFS and KSC that a tour will never show you. Years ago I got to do some off roading in a Humvee. It was great and the things I learned! WOW. 

[wayne_trisha]

15 minutes ago, brilliantseas said:

 

My guess is that it allows NCL and Royal to restock the ship at much lower cost than NYC. I'm sure the longshoreman and teamsters in NYC and Bayonne really increase the cost of provisioning in the Metro area, so they do the bulk of their provisioning at PC mid-week instead, at least for the Bahamas cruises. Carnival did the same when I sailed from Baltimore and had a stop in PC. They've since replaced that stop with either HMC or Princess Cay and seem to be getting better yields. 
 

I think you might be confused by the wording. A rocket launch was scrubbed due to Harmony of the Seas being in the "hot" or hazard area. Additionally nearly all the cruise ships who make a stop at Port Canaveral are home ported here. I do see random ships every so often but as an avid cruise fan I can typically tell myself what ship is in port before I cross that last bridge and having a great view of the port.

[FrostyJoe]

1 minute ago, wayne_trisha said:

I'm turning into a space buff and loving my job helping the launch providers get their rockets into space. So much to see on CCSFS and KSC that a tour will never show you. Years ago I got to do some off roading in a Humvee. It was great and the things I learned! WOW. 

Woohoo we got a fellow rocket-man on these boards 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 😁

 

I’m sure there’s really cool stuff that insiders get to see. But as a non-rocket layman, I was just amazed by the simple things. The size of the place with vast open and flat areas. The size of the shuttle or rocket maintenance buildings (if I recall correctly one star of the American flag painted outside is larger than the average car).

 

Lastly, the sense of human accomplishment, yet at the same time realization that we are a nothing in this universe. I read that there are likely more stars in the universe than grains of sand on earth. Just absolutely incomprehensible for my little human brain to comprehend. It’ll be like an ant trying to think about what it’ll be like to cruise with MSC. 

[wayne_trisha]

1 minute ago, FrostyJoe said:

Woohoo we got a fellow rocket-man on these boards 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 😁

 

I’m sure there’s really cool stuff that insiders get to see. But as a non-rocket layman, I was just amazed by the simple things. The size of the place with vast open and flat areas. The size of the shuttle or rocket maintenance buildings (if I recall correctly one star of the American flag painted outside is larger than the average car).

 

Lastly, the sense of human accomplishment, yet at the same time realization that we are a nothing in this universe. I read that there are likely more stars in the universe than grains of sand on earth. Just absolutely incomprehensible for my little human brain to comprehend. It’ll be like an ant trying to think about what it’ll be like to cruise with MSC. 

It really is cool stuff.

 

If you can get your hands on a pair of night vision goggles and look at the sky, you will never see it the same again. The whole sky is lit with stars. It is amazing.

[FrostyJoe]

1 minute ago, wayne_trisha said:

It really is cool stuff.

 

If you can get your hands on a pair of night vision goggles and look at the sky, you will never see it the same again. The whole sky is lit with stars. It is amazing.

Absolutely. I’ve never done night goggles, but one of my absolute fondest memory is being on some remote island (Heron Island) on the Great Barrier Reef star gazing.  By far the most stars I’ve ever seen in my life.  We were there for a week and every night we would spend literally hours just laying on the beach and watching for stars, satellites, shooting stars.  And that’s just within our galaxy…I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

 

Sadly there’s way too much light pollution our ways and pretty much the entire eastern US except for a few exceptions.  Many parts of western US and Alaska seems to be really blessed in this regards though. 

[dexddd]

11 hours ago, wayne_trisha said:

I live close to PC and drive around it to work on Cape Canaveral SFS. PC is becoming the premiere port in Florida. Carnival, RCCl ,NCL, Disney are porting their brand-new ships here. I think because it is a fabulous port to go out, easy enough to get here from Orlando (so days spent in Orlando), the surrounding area is a nice small-town community. I'm excited about having all the new ships here. Less driving and anxiety of getting to the port on time. 

Prior to current situation, PC on a weekend was over taxed and inadequate infrastructure for the number of ships and passengers.  Used to love sailing out of there, but it got out of hand.  Cars and shuttles could not get into terminals.  Then push to get into actual terminal.

 

Outside, rental car businesses ridiculously over burdened.  Gas stations out of gas.

 

As pointed out, some ships like NCL restock there.  As far as ships stopping there, I can only speak to NCL.  Several years back they moved most arrival times to noon or one to save fuel.  Screws your options for excursions.  Done KSC several times and always great.

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, dexddd said:

Prior to current situation, PC on a weekend was over taxed and inadequate infrastructure for the number of ships and passengers.  Used to love sailing out of there, but it got out of hand.  Cars and shuttles could not get into terminals.  Then push to get into actual terminal.

 

Outside, rental car businesses ridiculously over burdened.  Gas stations out of gas.

 

As pointed out, some ships like NCL restock there.  As far as ships stopping there, I can only speak to NCL.  Several years back they moved most arrival times to noon or one to save fuel.  Screws your options for excursions.  Done KSC several times and always great.

They made some improvements but the issue is the more they improve, the bigger ships that come, the more traffic and congestion.

I think having fixed time slots would be a partial solution.

 Actually this could be a revenue generator.

Want an early time slot, pay for it.

Otherwise suites board first with inside cabins boarding last.

 No different than an airplane.

 Everyone wants that 11am time.

As a local, we need to get everyone out before we let people in. What is worse than both pick and drop off at the same time?

Then those who wait there for whoever they are picking up.

 

This eliminates the parking mess. Those showing up at 9am cause more problems.

 

 There is enough land there to make people wait until their assigned time.

 

 

[Cruising to Retirement]

Going on the Meraviglia for a short three night cruise on 2/17 after getting off Mariner of the Seas from a five night-  Never cruised MSC- Any suggestions, tips, Activities, all are appreciated. 

 

We are Diamond on Royal- is there some type of Match status or reciprocity with that status on MSC Cruises?  Thanks.   Stayt Safe All

[shipgeeks]

We were just watching Mera at Nassau.  Looks like she was delayed leaving.  Lots of Men in Suits on the pier.  Something going on?

[Fla Mike]

2 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

Lots of Men in Suits on the pier. 

 

Business Suits or Hazmat Suits???

[no1talks]

2 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

"Lots of Men in Suits on the pier.  Something going on?"

That depends whether one has taken the red pill or the blue...

[shipgeeks]

Yes, like that.  Dark suits, white shirts.  No hazmat suits.

[no1talks]

6 minutes ago, shipgeeks said:

"Yes, like that.  Dark suits, white shirts."

Well, now we know why the IT at MSC sucks. It's been Agent Smith all along!

[jamon]

Do Diamond members get to embark first on first day of cruise????

[jamon]

In the main dining rooms, do they have a night when lobster is on the menu as one of the choices??

[dexddd]

8 hours ago, jamon said:

Do Diamond members get to embark first on first day of cruise????

With MSC, who knows.  On NCL, they stick to a tier structure for boarding.  On MSC, even with YC, we've seen no real coordination of who boards first. 

[momrox1]

9 hours ago, jamon said:

In the main dining rooms, do they have a night when lobster is on the menu as one of the choices??

I was on a b2b in Jan..a 3 day and 7 day and no lobster.  In fact, we found the food in the MDR to be pretty bland and not very good.  Some days we couldn't find one thing we liked for lunch at the buffet which is really cut back.  No biggie cause we never went hungry but we were expecting better.

[momrox1]

On 2/4/2022 at 6:43 PM, Cruising to Retirement said:

Going on the Meraviglia for a short three night cruise on 2/17 after getting off Mariner of the Seas from a five night-  Never cruised MSC- Any suggestions, tips, Activities, all are appreciated. 

 

We are Diamond on Royal- is there some type of Match status or reciprocity with that status on MSC Cruises?  Thanks.   Stayt Safe All

They matched my platinum Princess to their highest tier but good luck getting it done.  The website is the worst I've ever encountered...mine came through in hours..my friend and husbands still have not come through..and it's been months of me repeatedly trying.  Agent via phone does not help as there is no dept. for that ...frustrating because the perks are great!