LMaxwell

Sorry but I don't believe this claim at all. Where would you get this information? MSC did nothing to keep 5500 waiting to embark guests up to date on anything; silence from 330PM-9PM. We finally got onboard about 1:30AM. Not so much as a bottle of water and every vending machine at the terminal was empty. Where is your information coming from that they tried 15-20 companies??

You weren't there that day to see how poorly MSC handled it, so you don't get to whitewash it.

We heard the midnight muster but were still waiting at the terminal with another 1000 people behind us.

Doing the hard work!

Would you volunteer to have your room ready at 430PM in that case? There is a lot of extreme hyperbole going on in this thread. I don't know how anyone thinks this would be OK in anything but a one off situation

What a strange way to interact with others. I thought when both people get what they want, it's a win. Your way is a bit more miserable. I don't want anything taken from your enjoyment, but you dance on gravestones of others. Not worth debating with that sort.

Isnt that what the daily says

930 is too early to end breakfast on vacation

Agreed

What other job tasks are hotel staff doing during the USCG inspection?

Are they? Most FCC's are going to run out of sail by date, some amount of people will *never* redeem them for any reason, and prices are up so high compared to pre-covid that the FCC's are more of a coupon than any sort of freebie from the cruise line. My entire point was that individuals are charged *more* per day for services, receive less services because the staff is overloaded, and fellow guests make pleas of understanding and acceptance. No one on this forum has blamed a single front line worker because their management overloaded them and did not provide the resources needed to meet the expectations set by the company. The mere suggestion to attempt to hold management accountable is met by a literal arm-locked army of future gold medal olympians who are able to contort and twist themselves with alacrity to defend the indefensible. I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect access to a clean room by 1-2pm on boarding day of a ship. For years we were told that cruise ship jobs were amazing opportunities for those who were there. Now that there are less, ships are bigger, and daily charges higher, shouldn't these employees be making significantly more money? Wouldn't that attract more talent? Who ultimately decides how much resources to hire, train, and deploy? Management Lol. Nope.

Tell companies when I don't like how they run things Spend money at competitors We all have choices.

Pay more for daily services Less staff; more guests Raking in money But the services aren't done in a timely manner Needs to be a bit more of a balance in there Guests allow company to get away with it by being "understanding" No one says you need to be mean about it, or get upset with the front line worker that doesn't make the decisions But stop giving cruise lines free passes to continue reducing service levels and standards. 3:30-4:30 for rooms to be available is pretty late, in my opinion. If you keep allowing this, 4PM will become standard and you can pay an additional fee for 1 or 2pm. Watch and see...

So...will adequate repairs be done in order to set sail today?

Fabulous suggestion, definitely will look into this

Nothing in Miami is done on schedule. Ever.

We have dining plans with friends in near future at Rusty Pelican so nice treat reading about it here

I forgot to mention, one MSC cruise refused entry at lunch time because we had towels with us. Dry towels to go to the pool AFTER lunch. No towels allowed in their dining rooms. So I guess they are not going to have Roman Toga night either, which is a shame.

Sounds like a good ship for the canal, but am concerned about new locks versus old. Where would I confirm which ones the ship goes to?

They will always move the goal posts and change what is or is not included. Permanence and loyalty are ridiculous. These are expensive ways to travel/vacation. Pays for whats you want, and continue sleeping around.

Planning / considering booking 10 day to Panama Canal. We book a variety of lines. Live in south Florida so am used to golf shorts or hybrid shorts, and a polo or button up short sleeve. Boat shoes or nice sneakers. On cruise ship I bring golf pants for a few nights, and shorts for the rest; don't fret, the gym shorts are just for the gym at 8am. I haven't had much of an issue since Covid cruise-era restart and 7 cruises on 6 lines. I know the policies; I've read them all. The only ship that said anything was 1 Holland America ship that said no shorts on gala night; no problem. On a 7 night caribbean cruise I probably wear golf or hybrid shorts 3 or 4 nights. On a 10 night cruise to a hotter climate in Central/South America region, honestly, on casual nights I'm probably going to wear shorts 4 or 5 times. Cruise ship dining rooms aren't "all that" and haven't been for years in terms of food or service, and it's not because there's 10 inches of fabric cut from the leg of my trousers. I am fully aware people will be quick to respond that it is forbidden and not allowed, and others will say they see it all the time. My question is; once I walk for 20 seconds into the dining room, one of several onboard, at my dining time that is likely different than yours, and sit down at a table, under a table cloth...why do you care one way or another? Like I said no real issue over the past year and a half on RCL, Disney, Celebrity, Holland America, Virgin Voyages, and MSC. If Princess wants to attract multi-generational families, and their money, I think they're just going to have to relax on some of these hot weather cruises and turn a side eye on casual nights like they and their contemporaries have been, or else have complete blanket enforcement 100%, both sexes, all ages, no exceptions. And that's not practical or realistic.

Repairs from this weeks incident aside, what work is being planned to be done in September and what constitutes Major refurbishment? We are considering booking for December and curious what might change or be renovated

No issue. Enjoy your cruise

Considering booking Ruby to Panama Canal partial transit from Fort Lauderdale; I was watching Tips for Travelers videos and they made a good point about picking a ship with a good forward view. How does Ruby rank for viewing spots in Panama canal? Do they open the bow up? Is there a forward facing lounge or observation area that can be accessed? How about the Promenade deck? How much offers a view vs how much is obstructed. The rear sea pool looks like a promising area also. We are unsure if we will book a balcony or minisuite; so would have some sort of view, but wondering about public viewing locations.

Amazing city; I hope those that traveled in take advantage of the opportunity to explore SF this weekend.