Momto3girlsintheCarolinas

I have attempted to keep this trip as inexpensive as possible. We booked a Bella experience with an inside cabin. We were given a free upgrade to a balcony, which makes us very happy. We're still Bella, though and we very much have a budget for this trip. I'll write a review for the "regular folks when I get back. Our favorite line is NCL, with Royal as second. This is the first trip on MSC.

This is an excellent point. Thank you. I was trying to stay humble, but I agree. We are doing this cruise "on the cheap" because we are helping with our daughter's wedding, and we have two more expensive cruises coming up - Alaska and South America. My husband of 27 years told me we could onlytake a cruise this year if I met a certain number for the budget. You'd think he'd have known better than to issue me a challenge like that. lol My father loves to walk into a place where salespeople work on commission in his "farmer clothes" and be completely ignored until someone finally comes over and realizes he can, in fact, afford to be there. We call it his "Julia Roberts move," but he did it long before Julia made it legendary.

That was my point. Thank you.

We are sailing MSC for the first time in a few days, so I have been stalking the MSC boards for months. It has been a terrific source of information, and I am grateful. There are lots of wonderful and very helpful folks here. However, it seems like there are a lot of very affluent posters here. Much more so than on other cruise line boards. There are so many posts about the YC and people mentioning suites that they have spent thousands to enjoy. Don't get me wrong - I am happy for you. If you can afford it, go for it. However, where are all the "regular folks"? The people who travel on a budget. The people who are glad to just be on a ship, even if they can "only afford" an inside stateroom? I am feeling like I might be a social outcast on this ship in not dining in the "private dining room" or having access to the spa. I am worried that the class differences will be as obvious as they were for Leo and Kate in 1997. That's not a feeling I want while on vacation. All experiences and perspectives are welcomed. Please play nice.

We had a guaranteed inside stateroom, but it had not been assigned. I got an email that we'd been assigned to a balcony. They gave us a room number and that room number is on all the paperwork (We leave in a week). I have not seen an upgrade charge on my credit card. I don't expect one, since I never "accepted" or "confirmed" anything. They just assigned our stateroom as a balcony with a specific room number. I hope that helps.

Well, this is interesting. After we received the free upgrade to a balcony, I got the standard request to bid on an upgrade. The cheapest upgrade was to a balcony on Aurea for $600 per person. We declined and "took the win," as my husband quipped. I am also curious about MSC's decision-making process.

I am in shock. We are sailing MSC in 2 weeks, and we just received a free upgrade from an inside to a balcony on a Bella experience. As @maclover said, I was mildly hopeful but aware that the odds were low. The ship must not be full so why not upgrade guests and impress them? There is no additional cost to the company. I wonder if it is random or they select passengers based on data. We're new to MSC, but our status match transfer says we are frequent cruisers. This upgrade certainly is "points in the column" for cruising MSC again. My husband is a data manager, so I have to believe there's a process here in decision-making. ....or maybe we just got lucky. Whatever. We're excited.

@JamieLogical Thanks! We have under a month until we sail, so we'll see. I always enjoy your posts because they are kind, Must be a Yankee thing. 😉

I feel like I need to leave this here:

*SIGH* I have no words. My husband has pizza at an outdoor cafe in Trieste. He did as the locals and ate it with a knife and fork. It was phenomenal. It made all the pizza I had had before whither away and die by comparison. Also, as you know, the food there is so fresh, unlike the salt, sugar, and preservative-laden stuff we sell here. My family immigrated from the Azores in about 1915. I grew up on my grandmothers' cooking. They both came to the United States as children and ended up in a city in Massachusetts with a large Portuguese population. When we went to the Azores in 2016, I got to taste what all those dishes are really supposed to taste like. lol

OMG! I LOVE IT!! I have been trying forever to find New England Gray Corned Beef, and there is no such thing here in North Carolina! Thank you!

I love the different perspective. Thank you. We have actually been to a few countries in Europe, including Italy, and we had a wonderful time. Yes, it was different from the "American Experience", but that made it awesome.

I hope not. We are from New England. lol I try not to be ethnocentric and I am excited to try an Italian cruise line for the differences. And I agree that some people are curmudgeons and just want to find something to be upset about.

This post will stir up trouble, but I am curious about what people think. My partner and I will take our first MSC cruise in about a month. We've sailed other lines, but not MSC. I want to keep an open mind and remember that being unhappy on a cruise should be tough. I understand that MSC is cheap and that one should keep their expectations realistic, given the low-cost fare. Rarely can one enjoy Kobe beef at a cheeseburger price. However, it occurs to me that there should be some minimum standard that guests can expect. Otherwise, it seems like gaslighting guests and justifying poor food and service. I think it is important to have reasonable expectations for the price one pays, but when I read reviews that talk about inedible food and rude crew, that seems to go beyond the pale. If MSC sells cruises even with awful food and service, what motivates them to improve? There is none, I guess. It seems unfair that people should be able to get reasonable service at a fair price. Like, even the cheeseburger should be edible. What if a family can't afford other lines? Shouldn't they get a quality experience, too? Or should they not cruise at all or put up with this standard of food and service? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so please play nice. I am interested in what others think.

Okay, I am not trying to be a jerk, but this was my first thought. And there are several pier runners in Ketchikan on YouTube. We nearly missed a ship in 2009 because we foolishly decided to fly the day we sailed. We always stay overnight before the cruise now and have had several flight delays that meant we "used up" our safety net and our flight didn't land until the next morning - the day the ship left. We lost the hotel but made the cruise. Yes, excursions not with the cruise line are cheaper. But in Alaska? Too rich for my blood. After spending all that money, I am playing it safe. **Edited to add: We love NCL. We have Alaska booked on NCL in 2025.