So much for the 'kids sail free" promotion

[earthfaries]

We are currently booked on Royal Caribbean - Vision of the Sea (July 13, 2008) and have booked a Category J inside cabins and we have been allowed to book all 5 of us in the same cabin as our youngest will be under 2 years old at the time of sailing. Our travel agent told us we had to request a crib for the baby, but we intend to have it removed from the room when we get there and have the baby sleep with us with our other kids (ages 9 and 10) sleeping on the upper bunks.

 

We have also just booked the January 3, 2009 Caribbean sailing on the MSC Orchestra for a family reunion with 10 adults and 10 kids. This worked out perfectly as we put 2 adults and 2 kids in each room to make sure that all the kids are going free. Again, once we get aboard, we will have the baby sleep with us and our older kids will get the upper bunks.

 

I think it's wonderful they offer children for free...these days it's hard to find anything for free!!

That's really amazing that half of your party on the Orchestra was free! That would be thousands of dollars with any other line out there:)

[PurpleRain76]

How in the world did you get a quote that cheap for a family of 5??? We are sailing on August 2nd, 7-day, MSC Poesia, E. Med with a family of 4 (2 kids free) in a Quad category 11 balcony stateroom... And we are paying almost 4 grand.

 

Hmmmm... Confused.

[sea-explorer]

How in the world did you get a quote that cheap for a family of 5??? We are sailing on August 2nd, 7-day, MSC Poesia, E. Med with a family of 4 (2 kids free) in a Quad category 11 balcony stateroom... And we are paying almost 4 grand.

 

Hmmmm... Confused.

 

Sorry purplerain, I seem to be following you. I can tell you. US prices are so much lower than ours....for exactly the same packages, I do not really know why, it's not just the exchange rate, it has always been that way. What's more, they can pay a deposit & have it fully refunded if they change their plans before payment is due, not lose it into a black hole like we do.

 

You need to find yourself an American TA. I did this year after paying full UK prices last time. We have to pay for our eldest as he is over 18 but still saved well in excess of £1000. I probably didn't get the cheapest deal either as it is more difficult to shop around from here.

 

Edit: We will actually pay $3899 for a category 11 quad balcony cabin, one child free (14) & 3 paying adults, (our eldest is 20)

[PurpleRain76]

Yikes...

 

I did buy mine from a stateside agency. I checked around too and got a cheaper price than was quoted to me from cruise.com (supposedly unbeatable by reviews). I wondering why I am paying so much more ($3900 for the same cat with 2 adults and 2 free kids).

 

So confused.

[sea-explorer]

Phew! I thought when you said 4 grand & you were based in Germany that you meant 4000 euros. We sail on 23rd which falls into a cheaper category, so that may explain it, & although we pay for our eldest & he doesn't go free, 3rd adult prices are much lower than the first 2.

 

If I had booked this cruise in the UK I would have paid £3572, roughly $7144, & that was an early booking price too. I actually did book in the UK before I realized I could use an American TA & of course lost $800 deposit..but it was still worth it to cancel & of course I'll know for next time.

 

I think I must have missed something as I haven't seen anyone give a price here, so am not sure who you are referring to. I'll have to scroll through again. maybe they'll come back & tell us who they've used.

 

Edit: Ah, now I think I see. I think that poster was referring to a Carribbean cruise which are always a lot cheaper. Ridiculously cheap to us of course, we couldn't rent an old caravan for that...but alas, the airfares for us put it out of reach.

[AmoMondo]

Phew! I thought when you said 4 grand & you were based in Germany that you meant 4000 euros. We sail on 23rd which falls into a cheaper category, so that may explain it, & although we pay for our eldest & he doesn't go free, 3rd adult prices are much lower than the first 2.

 

If I had booked this cruise in the UK I would have paid £3572, roughly $7144, & that was an early booking price too. I actually did book in the UK before I realized I could use an American TA & of course lost $800 deposit..but it was still worth it to cancel & of course I'll know for next time.

 

I think I must have missed something as I haven't seen anyone give a price here, so am not sure who you are referring to. I'll have to scroll through again. maybe they'll come back & tell us who they've used.

 

Edit: Ah, now I think I see. I think that poster was referring to a Carribbean cruise which are always a lot cheaper. Ridiculously cheap to us of course, we couldn't rent an old caravan for that...but alas, the airfares for us put it out of reach.

 

Being from the UK too I'm really interested in what you have to say hear. I get really fed up at having to pay so much more. I did try booking through a US agent once as it was almost half the price but when it got to the bit about me giving my address, they refused to take my booking. I also once read a post on a UK website where someone said that they nearly were refused to embark on the ship (Not MSC another line) because they didn't have a US passport and that it took hours to sort out. Guess I shouldn't have given up so easily and tried another one. I've no problems with making my own arrangements for flights and transport to/from the port

[sea-explorer]

I must admit that deep down I am still a little nervous about this & dreading that the paperwork won't be in order & we'll be left standing at the port.

 

As I said, we sail in August so I will be able to report back then. What I can tell you though is that in the US you have to fill in a declaration form, you can see it if you log on to MSC US site..it is on the top links labelled form.

 

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/

 

This is the form:

 

http://www.msccruisesgetforms.com/GuestDeclaration.aspx

 

This is apparantly in force for all cruise lines in the US & as I booked with a US agent, I had to fill it in too. Maybe, just a thought, this might be where the confusion was in the case you mentionned, I nearly didn't fill it in as I didn't think it applied to me. I asked however & ws told I definately needed to fill it in.

 

If you email me at yahoo dot com I can let you know the agent I am using, & also the name of another agent I was given by a fellow CC member, who may also be able to do something for you. I haven't tried him yet though as I was already booked at the time.

 

The agent I am using is well aware I live in the UK & am a UK citizen. As you say, flights are easy enough to book, & cheaper than MSC if you book early. I booked my flights to Venice with BA the day the bookings opened last September and paid a total of £317 for four return flights from Gatwick to Venice. I think MSC charge £199 per person for flight & transfer.

 

Hope this helps.:)

[PurpleRain76]

Did you try to find the price for flights with Ryan Air? We used them last year to fly to Rome and Milan, but when I checked the price for roundtrip flights to and from Venice, I could tell the prices went up drastically... Not because of an increase in the actual flight costs (7.99 Euros per person per flight for the flights I found), but because of the taxes!!! The taxes and fees ended up costing almost triple the flight cost!

 

We have decided to drive to Aviano Air Base and stay at a TLF (rooms for military people on the base) for two nights before the cruise for 45 USD a night. The base is about 45 minutes to an hour from Venice and we can take the train in. We have friends stationed at Aviano, so it will also be convenient for seeing them. Plus... Driving allows us to take in the countryside and to see a little bit of Austria. It is an 8-hour drive for us because we are in Southern Germany.

 

Good luck with your cruise and with getting on board the ship! I was so relieved when I found that I could book through the states because we get paid in Dollars and converting to Euros at .61 was going to KILL us for this trip... financially. We all have US Passports and a US address, so we had no problems. I wonder how we get away with such prices. It does not really seem fair, but I am still thankful because like I said... We get paid in Dollars.

[sea-explorer]

Ryanair can be useful can't they? Funnily enough we flew to Dublin with them last week for a total cost of £6.06 for 3 of us & that was because they charged us £2 a head for paying on a debit card. I wouldn't use them for a 'proper' holiday though, lots of reasons. Taxes & fees can be very high, charges for checking in, charges for each piece of luggage, max weight of 15Kg per person, out of the way airports etc etc. Easyjet can also offer good prices, but it can be pot luck and they are usually for flights in very unsociable hours. I've discovered if I book with BA about a year in advance, as soon as the flights open I can get a return European flight for about £80 return per person, all in. I'm waiting to book return flights to Rome at the end of April as I've now booked an Easter cruise calling at Egypt. With Costa this time though, MSC haven't published theirs yet. I was hoping I might be able to find an itinerery on Fantasia but they have nothing as yet.

 

Two things on this..strangely Costa UK & US prices are about the same, at least for this cruise. It departs from Rome and Savona, same price for both in the UK, but in the US, the Rome departure is almost double the Savona one. I just cannot understand it..As I prefer the Rome departure I booked directly with Costa UK on this one.

 

Secondly, I've discovered the Fantasia is running a one off cruise in December, 20th-28th, Genoa, Rhodes, Alexandria, Messina, Naples, Genoa. I was quoted $3400 dollars, for a quad balcony for this, bearing in mind we pay extra for the 3rd adult. I think this is a fantastic price & would love to do it but don't think I could. Not only would we find it difficult financially to squeeze another cruise in but my 82 year old mother would be devastated if the family were away for Christmas. I'm just mentionning this in case anyone here is interested.

[carisella]

We are also a family of five. We booked the Lirica but luckily my mom is going with us so I just have to pay for 3 people and 2 of the kids were free. My mom is paying her share as the other adult.

 

If she hadn't have gone, we would have gotten two insides, and had to pay for a total of 4 passengers, still giving us one free, which is still a great deal!

 

It does work out well if you can get a couple of adult relatives in a second cabin.

 

We're a family of six (four kids). We should be able to get a couple of adult relatives to going on the cruise with us and have reserved two quad cabins. As two of our kids would be in the other room, I'm planning to pay for half the second cabin. It's win-win and still a great deal as the relatives pay half of what they would have otherwise paid and our family of six pays for only three people.

[AmoMondo]

I must admit that deep down I am still a little nervous about this & dreading that the paperwork won't be in order & we'll be left standing at the port.

 

As I said, we sail in August so I will be able to report back then. What I can tell you though is that in the US you have to fill in a declaration form, you can see it if you log on to MSC US site..it is on the top links labelled form.

 

http://www.msccruisesusa.com/

 

This is the form:

 

http://www.msccruisesgetforms.com/GuestDeclaration.aspx

 

This is apparantly in force for all cruise lines in the US & as I booked with a US agent, I had to fill it in too. Maybe, just a thought, this might be where the confusion was in the case you mentionned, I nearly didn't fill it in as I didn't think it applied to me. I asked however & ws told I definately needed to fill it in.

 

If you email me at yahoo dot com I can let you know the agent I am using, & also the name of another agent I was given by a fellow CC member, who may also be able to do something for you. I haven't tried him yet though as I was already booked at the time.

 

The agent I am using is well aware I live in the UK & am a UK citizen. As you say, flights are easy enough to book, & cheaper than MSC if you book early. I booked my flights to Venice with BA the day the bookings opened last September and paid a total of £317 for four return flights from Gatwick to Venice. I think MSC charge £199 per person for flight & transfer.

 

Hope this helps.:)

yes it does help. thank you very much. I will definitely take you up on your offer and send you an email

[sea-explorer]

yes it does help. thank you very much. I will definitely take you up on your offer and send you an email

 

 

Received and replied.:)

[Dawniepoo]

The no 5 to a cabin predicament is exactly why we stopped having kids!:D

[nklpikl]

I too understand the frustration of 3 kids cruising. Not only is it very hard to find a room that allows 5. But they are either on older Carnial ships or they are a suite that costs so much more.

 

My biggest frustration is that when you decide to do 2 cabins instead. It is very hard to get adjoining. Many ships do not have interiors that connect. So you end up going to ocean view. More money again. The spirit for example you have to go up to a balcony to get adjoining. I just want to take my kids cruising. It is hard to take advantage of any good deals when you have 3 kids. :(

[golf4food]

Sounds like someone had to many kids.

 

Well our youngest two are twins so who do you suggest we send back?

[monicajay]

MSC sent me an e-mail for "family specials" that was with a connecting balcony cabin. Seemed like a fair deal and space wise it would be a better deal than 5 in one cabin.

[nklpikl]

MSC sent me an e-mail for "family specials" that was with a connecting balcony cabin. Seemed like a fair deal and space wise it would be a better deal than 5 in one cabin.

 

Did you ever find out about this? I have called twice with very scetchy answers. What I did figure out is that it is 2 adjoining balcony cabins. That it is on the Orchestra only. It is a bulk price for 4 adults, which is less than if you booked 2 cabin seperately with 2 adults in them. What I can not get a straight answer about is what exactly is the saving and can I have a fifth person.

[sea-explorer]

On some, but not all sailings shown on the UK website...and I also think I have seen it in the brochure, it refers to a family fare of 2 interconnecting cabins. It will probably depend on what is available but I suspect it will be on the newer ships.

 

I think perhaps you can look at the deck plans and see what you can find.

 

Having a "squint" at this one on the Orchestra there appears to be several interconnected cabins. They also appear to have a 3rd sofa bed each so in theory a family of 6 could be accommodated in these.

 

http://www.msccruises.co.uk/flotta/pianinave.asp?ship_id=142&page_id=2035

 

If you go your TA armed with the cabin numbers you might be able to find something.

Can't help with the savings, sorry.

 

Edit..just noticed my link takes you to the main deck page. I got the information above by looking at lira deck.

[monicajay]

Sorry, I didn't, it was in an e-mail I received from MSC but as I was already booked I just deleted it. Your right it was for the Orchestra only and was for an ajoining balcony. There was a price.... Starting at and I really don't remember but think it was around $3200.

 

If I see anything again I will certainly post it.

 

Can't see why the child (5th) wouldn't be free if this is always their policy.

[sea-explorer]

Just a quick note to add the Poesia also has this offer (adjoining balcony family fare), but is sailing in the Eastern Med. Maybe it will come to the Caribbean in the future. :)

 

Perhaps it's a feature they are planning to have on their newer ships too.

[captaincrash]

MSC does have at least two cabins on the Lirica that can accomdate 5. I checked for our Christmas cruise. The rep that I talked to from customer service told me they were already booked for that cruise. They are suites and I was quoted a price of $1906 for all 5 of us for Christmas. I would assume that the bigger ships would have at least the same number on them.

 

That's a great price for 5!

[cruise-addict]

RCCLRULES- What an extremely rude comment to make. The number of children a family decides to have is really none of your business. Since you obviously aren't looking for guidance on having an extra child for the promotion, please stay off this thread. By the way... you should at least learn to spell properly before you attempt to insult other members.

[thekidscometoo]

We were planning on taking one of these cruises but they can't accommodate a family of 5 in any cabin. They have a few cabins that are for 4 but if we book a second cabin we have to pay double occupancy rate at the adult price. They are going to have a tough time with attracting the US market if this is their policy.

 

:) I am a travel agent and there is something I know about all of the cruise lines...... with permission of the staff in inventory control of each cruise line you can force the occupancy of any cabin as long as you are willing to sign a waiver releasing the cruise line of any liabilitiy.

 

I have done it with many lines for many of my families that travel with 5. I know it is crazy to pay full tilt for the kids.

 

Call MSC and ask to have the occupancy of a cabin forced to 5. See what happens I know I can do it as an agent.;) ;)

[thekidscometoo]

MSC lirica suites are not designed for 5 thier occupancy maximum is 3 The rooms are very small on the Lirica beware the suites are the same as many cruise line regular balcony rooms very small. The term suite is decieving I experienced this at New Years.

[captaincrash]

RCCLRULES- What an extremely rude comment to make. The number of children a family decides to have is really none of your business. Since you obviously aren't looking for guidance on having an extra child for the promotion, please stay off this thread. By the way... you should at least learn to spell properly before you attempt to insult other members.

 

 

Looks like this posting was edited out by the moderators (cheers to the MOD staff for helping us maintain a cordial and productive thread).