MSC Opera sailing on Dec 28th

[rak]

Can you tell me how early you can board the ship. Also, we are traveling with a group and may not have our tables set up properly. Who do you see and when, to get that taken care of? How easy is it to make the changes? Any other hints? Thanks.

[Claire O'Brien]

I heard they get you on a.s.a.p. if possible you will be sitting down for lunch, don't know how true that may turn out to be.

As far as any changes are concerned as long as you speak fluent Italian you should not have a problem. (LOL)

I'm off tomorrow on Lirica for 17 days, c u l8r

[ready set go]

We are traveling with a group and someone in the group insists on being at the terminal by 1:00 in the afternoon when the ship sails at 8:00 that evening. Some in our group think he is nuts for wanting to be there that early. He feels that we can get our seating assignments worked out on a first-come first-serve basis. Does anyone else think he is "wacko" for wanting to be there so early? We, personally don't have a problem with it.

[rak]

Thanks for the info. I am brushing up on my Italian. As to ready set- You never take anything for granted- like where you will be sitting. Does any one who has sailed in the last few weeks know what time early and late seatings are? We keep getting conflicting information.

[Oakville]

We arrived at FLL airport around ten a.m. on December 11 and due to cruise ship congestion at Port Everglades were taken on a free 1 hour bus tour around Fort Lauderdale, including beach and downtown. Everyone was in a holiday mood and we all had fun. After check in around 11 a.m., we then went to our cabin where there was a card with our dining room and table # on it. We had previously advised our travel agent of our dining preference and this had obviously been relayed to MSC. Off to the buffet for lunch and then to explore the ship while awaiting delivery of our luggage to the cabin. At that point we saw a very very long line of people making or changing their dining reservations. Not a pleasant sight! If possible, I would recommend making dining arrangements in advance. Why wait to start enjoyong your holiday by waiting to check in until later in the day?

[antcindee]

I am on this sailing and have been told we will be able to board by 12noon, I for one plan on being there around 11:30 so that I can get thru security and be on board within the hour and be having lunch by 1pm, why not start your vacation as early as possible???

Hopefully your travel agent made the proper arrangements for your dining concerns however I have seen those lines to change dinner reservations get quite long in the late afternoon on some ships, so I suggest you get there as early as possible in case you need to make some changes.

Just a reminder for those sailing the Opera on Dec 28th, we have planned a Cruisecritics meet and greet in the Sotto Lounge between 4:30-5pm on the 28th so hope to see you all there!!!!

[antcindee]

Rak,

 

To answer your question regarding early and late seating times, I was told by 2 MSC customer service reps that main dining was 6pm and late is 8pm however if you look at the little info book they give you with your docs, it says early is 1900 and late is 2100 which is 7pm and 9pm. The customer service reps I spoke reassured me the book is incorrect so I am going to go with what she told me, however, dont hold me responsible if the times are wrong LOL

 

By the way, are you from Weston, Florida??? Coral Springs here

[rak]

Thanks for the info to you all. Indeed we are from Weston. We are 12 people- 6 from Weston and 6 from NY. See you on the ship. We will be the noisy ones.

[antcindee]

Hey Rak,

 

We are 4 pretty noisy Floridians but then again, we are all originally from New York so that would make sense(the noisy part) but then again who in Florida is not originally from NY???

 

Looking forward to meeting you and your friends, sounds like you guys will fit right in with the rest of us, we are just wanting to have a GREAT time no matter what!!!!

[rak]

Where in Ny are u from? We are from LI ,Roslyn, Plainview

[antcindee]

I am from Flushing, most of my family still lives there!!!!

Well, off to finish packing. Heading out around 11:30, its so nice living so close to the port isnt it???

Hopefully I will see you on the ship at 4:30 this afternoon in the Sotto lounge, bring all your "loud" friends, cant wait to meet everyone

[mgiven]

Hi folks -

 

I was on the 12/11 sailing and we also chose the Sotto lounge for our meeting spot. We quickly moved it because it doesn't open until 5PM and was pretty dark and dead. The Aroma coffee bar (up one floor in the middle of deck 6) was a better spot and was already open. It is bright and always has activity because it is a main cut-through spot on the most active deck and right above the reception desk.

 

Not sure if the bar being open is important to your gathering, but if so, you might want to move elsewhere

 

Michael