Nunagoras

3 hours ago, sidari said:

Since our first MSC cruise way back in 2012 we have sailed in Inside, outside, balcony and Suite cabins long before MSC brought in their so called experiences (Bella,Fantastica,Aurea and YC) when cabins were Inside (I) 1and 2, Outside (O) 1 and 2 and Balcony (B) 1,2 and 3 and YC.

Like others we chose not to sail in the YC because we were sailing sometimes 2, 3 or 4 times a year with land holidays in-between when we only sailed twice, had we done so then we would likely have sailed somewhat less than we have done and not been to as many countries as we have done. Instead in the later years we have sailed in Aurea cabins and Suites for the private sun deck (Especially the Seaside class twice, which has the best Top 19 of all the Newer ships) Anytime dining, free massage and drink package of which those last two are alas no more. We were given the chance of a YC sailing on Seascape later this year and have decided to try it out although we won't need a Butler to unpack our cases or to take us to the Theatre. Many years ago we sailed on a R.C ship in the Med and were seated with a couple from the USA who owned a lock making business and were as we would say "well heeled" and very well dressed, in fact the guy looked like Burt Reynolds.

This couple were two of the best people we have ever met on a cruise with no airs and graces and were very easy going, I think they were in the Royal suite or whatever RC call them these days, not everyone who sails in the YC or the high end cabins on other lines are snobs.

Very well stated, Sid, congrats!...

No; not all the ones on the higher cabins are snobs, they're actually on the minority side. Sometimes you have the opposite: Snobs on the baseline insides... Oh, well... Just another subject not for today...

Meanwhile as for MSC and why they're the less frequented of the CC boards and mostly by YC folks, it is worth to remember that MSC is an Italian line with a very international clientele and a very multilingual environment, out of which only the YC segment seems very prone to attract a very high native English speaking clientele percentage. That doesn't mean only YC is great. All the ship can be great. Otherwise I wouldn't have 7 happy cruises with them, and I'm in hope I can to do a few more before I retire from the high seas!...

46 minutes ago, ajoneen said:

just know the short sailings are generally a younger crowd that enjoys drinking

Yeah, those shorter cruises are prone to party ship environment, but at least one can watch all the other aspects of the product itself, plus ship and most of the times the private island which in MSC's case is one of the best in the whole industry, JIMHO.

Count me in another one slightly surprised with an O7.

On one hand; in the immediate, an I4 would make far more commercial sense than exactly an O7, but as said above, they'd to receive an O7 far earlier than an I4 right now. I've no doubt an I4 will be contracted ASAP, maybe by the end of the year, but for now what we have is exactly an O7. And TBHH; I can absolutely to see why they'll have the O7 now. O is the most successful ship class ever built in the market and the unique one with really no price degradation across the ships ageing... Surely there are a relatively limited number of ports that can receive those ships and that won't drastically change on the foreseeable future, but a new problem arises: By the time O7 enters the fleet, original O will be near 20 years old! My best bet is that they will to use O7-12 as replacement successors for O1-6 as the ships age, and use O1-6 for short-haul cruises, training academies for new crew members, or to create an alternative floating hotel accommodation industry for example in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, China, Australia or Japan. That way they'd to retain their current 6 redeployed O ships as usual and even to create an opportunity to create a secondary low risk market for the ageing ones!...

On 1/29/2024 at 6:57 PM, Morgsmom said:

Groups reservations are linked (or should be) which will put them in the same seating time. Why should groups get preferential dining slots or choice thereof is my question?  

That depends on what kind of group you're referring to: Is it a few different cabins purchased from different TA's and linked just for MDR purposes, or are you talking about a small charter group, no matter if open or closed in their individuals constituency? If you're talking about the first kind of group, then no they shouldn't be granted same time and location, and they should be dealt with at a first come first served depending on availability. Now the small charters are historically dealt by MSC on a separate way, with some priority. All my MSC cruises were as part of a small charter group with a tour leader, very common here in Europe, and we, the group's participants, have no say on what our dinning time will actually to be, being that almost solved by the tour company that organizes our trip. There will be so a "roped off" area on the MDR with our tables assigned for the whole group and that is managed directly between the w companies.

Regarding the OP, I believe this as being once more, one of those never ending MSC's IT problems.

On 1/6/2024 at 8:01 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm also following Atlas Ocean Voyages.  Based on our wonderful trips to Portugal last year, a Portuguese-owned cruise line has a built-in advantage for me!

Yeah!... Atlas seems to be doing such a great job! And as EJ, they're not such a simple newcomer. They've come from the owners of "Douro Azul" such a small Portuguese Douro river operator with some 50 years if not more. They're now on the very small exploration or adventure cruise niche. I believe they're doing very well! If it wasn't for the pandemic, I'd bet Atlas would to become one of the biggies in such a relatively small amount of time. They're extremely successful among the German market where they own a tour operator and cruise line (they share the ships among the trademarks)... But the pandemic seems to have changed their mind at least to an en extent. Now; I believe they want to solidly consolidate the Exploration and river cruising departments till they eventually try to go on to the luxe or mid luxe market, and they forgot the idea to grow till they become one of the biggies for the foreseeable future... Thanks and congrats to the preference!...

20 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

OK, yes – if you want "fancy" coffee drinks, Starbucks was the pioneer.  But here's why I don't go there:

(1) the pretentious cup names – I would stand at the counter until they agree to make me a 'medium,' which is probably never

(2) in her aspiring actress days, my daughter was a Starbucks barista.  During the training program at 'Starbucks University' they admitted that they deliberately burn the beans.  In other words, they know how to make good espresso but they choose not to – so you will be forced to add lots of caramel syrup etc. to make it palatable.

(3) the only coffee drink I order is café au lait (or I will settle for a latte, which isn't quite the same) – and that's not something that Starbucks does very well.

 

As to Explora Journeys – I have read every post in this forum [I'm a somewhat OCD host...].  I see that many people really love the onboard experience – and I trust @uktog's judgment from the Azamara forum.  But aside from the excellent food, I resonate more with the complaints – and I will admit, I just can't get the pretentious naming out of my craw.  And I'm not comfortable with all the changes and broken promises.

 

Maybe if I saw a really killer itinerary I would give them a try, but so far I'm booked up through January 2026.  By that point they should have settled on business plan 2.0

Ah, yes! That I can see. Really "simple" coffee is not their thing, on that I'm with you and they sometimes go more for marketing than efficiency, on that I can see. Problem is... On the "fancy drinks" department here they, basically speaking, have no competition from where I live!...

As regarding EJ: I was "dating" an itinerary that was cancelled. I still consider them on the "crazy" list, but I believe they'll not only to get there, than they'll also to become the normative one in the segment. Time will tell...

Thanks and have a wonderful year!

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Starbuckspeak.  Exploraspeak.  I don't think of Starbucks as mass market, I think of it as pretentious.  And the Exploraspeak gives me the same vibe.  So no, I haven't sailed on EJ.  And I haven't overpaid for a misnamed coffee at Starbucks.

Hi! Starbucks, pretentious?... I know, off topic, but, well, maybe that would be from where you live, not from here in Portugal where I live.

Let us to face it like it is: Here we rarely have places provided with very knowledgeable coffee baristas like generally Starbucks places. In most places they'll just to make you the basic coffee drinks... But for such a coffee lover whom wants those "fancy" coffee drinks like me, there are here very few places where you can to splurge on those "fancy" coffee drinks. Of course, most of those few places that provide beat Starbucks by KO on the first second of the first round with no possible appeal instance... But, then: How many Starbucks against those places? In Lisbon, Portugal's capital we have some 5-10 premium location Starbucks places against 2-4 on similar locations of the other adequate places, other than Hotel bars. Starbucks is also the cheapest of those coffee lover adequate places. Choice here is then quite clear. So now: Is Starbucks a luxury coffee house like EJ is a luxury cruise line? Surely not by any means. But they're not pretentious by any means. Surely there are far better bean trademarks here... But on the "fancy" drinks department they have basically little to no competition here. No surprise I'm anxious that mid month comes till I go again from my small village to the capital City and, time permitting, I'll to splurge on one of those Frapuccinos out there, or maybe a strong hot mocaccino once we're on a heavy cold winter here!... And while for me EJ may be somewhat "crazy" from time to time, from what I'm reading here and elsewhere, they're for a far higher standards than anything Starbucks has to offer...

Agree. Bigger changes for EJ3 onward only. I believe the most notable of them will be more top suites and less baseline ones to make those ships to become more akin to the ~750 guests more common on the other true luxe lines. For EJ2, there will be only "cosmetic" changes. I believe there will be more tables to Med YC, some minor tweaks to the lobby bar, and some tweaks to the main pool, other than other minor bug fixes. Otherwise, only a slightly different color scheme, and the likes.

22 hours ago, tango9 said:

Disembarked Explora Journeys last week to find my credit card charged ten percent higher than my final bill. Does Explora add a final tax on things? No one ever mentioned that the bill would be higher

Don't know for EJ specifically, but mainstream MSC uses a French bank for their accounting and your cabin charge will be in Euros. You'll pay your banks exchange fee, plus a possible international transaction fee, depending on from where you are.

No bells & whistles, but structurally all those older MSC ships are good ships. Personally I wouldn't go on a Lirica class one, once very few balcony cabins compared the newer ships, but that is personal.

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

We just booked an ocean facing balcony Aurea experience for November 1-8, 2024, round trip Barcelona.  Here are a couple questions I have.

 

1.  With Aurea experience (not an Aurea suite) do we have complimentary access to thermal area? - It depends on when you booked the cruise and the market from where you purchased it. Currently from where I live: No it doesn't.

2.  Is the Les Dune MDR separate from other MDR or is it just a separate area of one of the other MDRs (I’ve read conflicting info)? - Never gone on World class, but as far as I know, Aurea non suite guests dine on a roped off area of one of the dining rooms, only the suites do have their dedicated dining room.

3.  Once on board can the Butchers Cut Dining Experience be purchased alone for the price shown on the menu, or do you have to buy the package of 2 or more? - You can purchase a meal experience at their set price or packages of 2 or more. Note that packages of 2 or more are to be had on different restaurants, not 2 on the same one.
4.  Since temperatures will be in the high 50s-60s, will the Top 20 Solarium be warm enough to enjoy? - In November it is highly difficult to predict what weather will look like. Sometimes nice enough to go outside, sometimes rainy.

5.  On other MSC ships you could get lattes and other specialty coffees at many bars as part of the Easy Plus package…is this also true onthe World Europa (except the Starbucks like coffee shop)? - Yes, other than for the 2 "Starbucks like" shops onboard.

6. Here’s a very American question for my husband:  Do they have Coors Light beer? - Don't know.

 

Thanks in advance for any insight you can share.

17 hours ago, Roel94 said:

Interesting read. I heard there is entertainment problems. Glad the food is good.

on the new Ritz find the music lacking and no special entertainment coming on weekly  but one  guy at 9 pm who needed to tender home.

Ritz dinner menu changes every three days so you know it is somewhat different every three days. 
 

Seems both lines have the common problem of music.

Those new luxury lines are competing with a same, declining, talent base against the established luxury lines, plus the new extremely luxurious hotel base in Saudi Arabia. They'll need time to adjust. I hope one day they can have their own established talent base, trained as such on western schools, but while this doesn't happen, those lines will live with what they have for the foreseeable future. EJ does adds to the cart that longer learning curve due to it being a southern Mediterranean business.

1 hour ago, Lord Haw Haw said:

I struggle to see how they will manage to obtain enough bookings on Explora 1 to justify four months in the middle east from November 2025 to February 2026, maybe I'm wrong but I think in the current climate many travellers would be hesitant. 

It is for the 2025-26 winter season with tons of Russians still with access to the UAE. They'll perhaps to do great with that client base. If things would be set to degrade at the region they'll likely to redeploy again.

19 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

That increased discounts a bad thing?

Sadly YES, increased discounts are a bad thing, and everyone knows why...

Included Moet? Gone with the discounts.

Included wines? One red, one white, one rose... Whatever minimally adequate on the Azamara/Viking level they can find.

Sakura and Marble? It will be a pay for.

SPA? It will be included for residences and a pay for everyone else.

Internet? A pay for.

And so on...

Sadly, like I would to expect MSC has, and will have, no say on the RSS/SB/SS/HL/NC level, because that is a very close, small niche market that is very well served out of a very well established number of competitors. If both RCI, CCL and NCL groups manage to remain as stable as they were before the pandemic, recovering their businesses, and chances are that yes, then MSC will need to scale down EJ to the level they have ever been on.

There are no miracles. And at least here in CC, they were advised far in advance!...

Regarding the over changing itineraries: Does the Israeli war have any say on that this time? If yes, that is not their fault to say the least. Otherwise, they're returning to my crazy cruise lines list in a minute...

As stated above, they still have those simple "always available" menus and a very minimal kids menu. Note though that, at least before the pandemic, those "always available" items weren't available on gala nights, at least on the European sailings. They might have changed that though.

Those monsters of the seas are profitable and sort of beautiful, but of course they have their own negatives as well, and the largest one appointed on the article itself is that with a relatively small number of them, there will be limitations on where one can go with them. Of course there are all the usual suspects in the Caribbean, plus China and the Middle East... And some half a dozen ports in the EU and the UK, but that is it. As times go along, some of those ports will impose environmental and ecological limitations on ship numbers and full capacities.

For now all those RCI Oasis, RCI Icon and MSC World class ships are the unique ones filling a category that may very well be reaching its end point sooner rather than later. There is no place for a third operator at the size segment, and there might not be that much more place for the 2 current segment operators to operate a larger number of ships in the segment. The very recently announced MSC World 5 ship may be the last "A380" of the seas we will ever have. Those ships are profitable for the times being.... But I believe they'll also to be a nightmare for the current operators in a not so long future...

My best advice? Enjoy till there is.

Icon? Not for me, but nice to know!

Let me to be as simple as it may be: If Holland America is really your sort of thing, on the MSC world, the nearest possible outfit for you would to be the Yacht Club, perhaps at an even lower fare with more inclusions than whatever else HAL has on offer for you. And with YC you'll have the best of 2 worlds: A small ship experience inside a big ship.

That said; big ships are... Big ships! Expect crowds at embarkation day or whenever a show finishes. And if you're travelling on school break times, chances are you'll find tons of kids aboard.

On 11/19/2023 at 4:10 PM, cflips7 said:

We have cruised many times before and looking to try MSC Seashore have some questions. What are the hours of the buffet (any late night hours) since they do not have any other food choices except dining room and specialty restaurants. - Basically 20 hours a day, even though only some stations are actually open that long. Pizza from mid day to late in night, possible little late night snacks, but nothing to write home about.

My wife saw somewhere that there are charges to get in some shows is this true? - Yes, but only for the Meraviglia class ships, where there is a circus show that is a pay for with a drink. All other shows fleet wide are included on your base fare.

Does the buffet change every day or is it the same? - It partially changes by the day. Before taking your food, carefully watch all the offerings round the buffet so you have an idea of what is there. Usually on the back part they have an ethnic section that changes daily. On European sailings, dinner buffet used to be by design poorer than on competition lines, once generally once on holidays, Europeans like to enjoy a table served meal.

How late are the bars open at night. - It depends on your actual sailing's demographics that nobody can actually to predict. On my European experience I'd say that most bars would close nearly at midnight, casino and the adult disco bar later at 2 in the morning or so and the atrium bar has a 24 hours a day section.

 

11 hours ago, peder said:

I don't think they'll be any bigger, but I think they'll continue to make small changes. Specifically the promenade toward the aft of the World Europa seems so plain that I think we'll see quite a few changes back there.

Back to when World Europa and World America were ordered it was clear here in the European media that Word 3-4 were set to be larger than World E and A to basically RCI's Oasis class size. It was even speculated on whether Mr. Aponte and his family would wish for largest in the world. Maybe they won't build largest in the world, but World 5 which was totally out of question then!... So, yes; they'll quite likely to be Oasis class size or some 20k gross tons larger than the current generation ones!...

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere on the boards. Just in case it hasn't; MSC just confirmed Word Class 3 and 4, and for my surprise they added an option (likely to be confirmed on the next years to come) for World class 5!... 5 "A380" of the seas for MSC when I thought the huge behemoths would be at their end line!... Where will MSC to redeploy those so many monsters?... 3 will likely go to China/Far eastern markets. 4 likely to Miami if 2 reveals to be a success... And 5?... One more in the Med? I seriously doubt! One more for China? Maybe... One in Australia?... Quite unlikely but who know?...

MSC Cruises Confirms Two More Cruise Ship Orders - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Officially now, but they may to sell it that way with medical proof.

As someone has said, if only one actually drinks better to go with no drinks packages and pay a la carte per item, or both purchase the non alcoholic package and pay a la carte for alcohol, if both appreciate the fancy coffees, mocktails, sodas, bottled water, and the likes.

3 minutes ago, Whipsnade said:

Appalling. 

If true, that is totally appalling, really. Ok, I concede that with the current flight luggage restrictions and the general societal trend to informality, one would do well with less formal clothes. It's a fact of life, and I'm partaking on the trend from where I live. But now: One wouldn't go on a Casino like one goes to the beach... And one wouldn't go to the beach like one would go on a Casino. There are societal basics one should to follow. Those on Tees an Jeans would have been politely asked to change and return. A prime venue that should to be honored as that.

As far as I know, this is just done for US sailings.

On 10/28/2023 at 7:45 PM, Winnym00n said:

It may just be for UK bookings 

Yes, it may! MSC works differently by the market. For example: In the US or UK most promotional offerings give you the Easy Plus drinks package and WiFi included with your booking. Here in Portugal you hardly get a promotion with baseline Easy on selected sailings only, or small charter groups. Similar with the seniors...

31 minutes ago, perakcruiser said:

Arrived in Athens, ready to take over the Musica.

 

As this Review contains basically all the valuable informations, there is no use to start another one. If @Beamafar is OK with it, I just will add a few points (no photos, no menus, all here already) from my side in the next days to reward all readers who made it to page 6 😄 

 

Our cruise is a little bit different than Beas, it is a big family cruise with family members aged 1 to 77 meet up in Athens today and we go tomorrow morning on the boat. But first a big rest now, after a flight with Scoot you envy the ones who are coming with Ryanair 😛

Yeah! It is a great ship despite her age and those Greece itineraries are usually great. Hope the weather to be better there than here in Portugal where it is extremely rainy these days!!!... Have a wonderful sailing!...