mackfam

Trying to decide between these ships for a South American cruise in 2026. The Oosterdam goes from Santiago to BA (or reverse) while the Sapphire Princess is round trip from BA with a few days cruising the Antarctic peninsula. I originally was looking at the Sapphire Princess as I had followed a live thread from someone who did the itinerary this year from BA to Santiago (or reverse), but it looks like that Princess is not offering that itinerary in 2026, hence my consideration of HAL. The Oosterdam cruise is about $1000 cheaper (14 days vs 16 for Princess). Looking for opinions on either option. TIA

I don’t think that noise will be a problem. We were recently in 16002 on the Meraviglia which was right next to the Top Sail lounge and never heard any noise even when there was entertainment in the lounge.

I didn’t realize they added a service charge to excursions.

Guess I missed the “up to” part 😢

I’m sure the MSC website claims that pre booking excursions on the website saves you 20% over prices on board. I’m now on board and the excursion I paid $85 is only $89. Definitely not 20% cheaper!

Same here!

Thanks for the info!

I’m trying to find a private or semi private tour for our stop in St Maarten next month. Did you have any input on where they took you or how long you stayed at each stop? I had been in touch with Coral Transportation but they wanted $400 for a 5 hour tour which was $100 more than quoted on their website and an hour shorter, so I was not impressed with their bait and switch tactics.

Thanks for the info Ken. Oh no regarding the itinerary change. Hope I’ve not literally “missed the boat”.

I’ve just read through @KenTheCruiser’s awesome review of his recent cruise on the Sapphire Princess. I would like to do a similar South American cruise late in 2025 or early 2026 and it seems like Princess has the best itineraries. Looks like they are only offered between December and March each year so I’m wondering if one month is better than another weather wise? Also when are the itineraries for 2026 likely to be released for this region?

I agree about the noise levels. Nowadays every entertainment venue or live music act seems to think louder=better. We’ve been on the Mera three times and just got off the Seascape a week ago. Everywhere was LOUD. Theater shows, live bands, DJs. Hard to have a conversation in any of the bars (except YC) in the evening because of the volume. Even on the YC pool deck-constant bombardment with music. I don’t mind background music but the volume got to be so loud on one day that I had to ask the bar staff to turn it down. Also you can not have a peaceful walk around Ocean Cay as every 20ft there’s a speaker pumping out music. Is this really necessary? I love a good party, but I also value been able to relax in peace and quiet.

If anyone is interested in a great snorkeling excursion in Cozumel, I highly recommend Mystic Snorkel. We booked with this company after reading a previous review by @jean87510There were only 6 of us on the boat and we were taken to 4 different locations. We saw stingrays, turtles, nurse sharks and loads of fish and interesting coral formations.

Currently on board Seascape. I booked this cruise a year ago and I haven’t received the $50 voyagers OBC. I plan on asking about it today but just wondering if anybody has had any luck getting it added once on board?

Also on this cruise, so far everything’s been great!

I’m sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but my search did not pull up any results. On our last cruise on the Mera we used our free Diamond meal at Butchers Cut ( which seems to be the most popular option). I’m wondering if there are any sample menus of what is on offer for the Diamond meal in the other restaurants on board.