frank808

In June on Europa and Divina just passport and e ticket. Much smoother check in on Europa in Genoa than Divina in Rome. Was surprising to me as I would figure the opposite as Divina was the smaller ship. But had a lot of staff that we knew from Seashore the previous year on Divina.

Aulani is a great place with the grandkids. They will have a blast there doing all the activities. If just you and your wife I would suggest the Marriott Ko Olina beach club for your stay. Much more relaxed and not as loud. Wife and I are doing our first trans Pacific. In about 3 weeks we are taking Brilliance on her last Alaska sailing of this year. Then staying on for the trans Pacific and getting off in Honolulu. Great to only have to fly one way! In 2024 we are thinking of doing the same Alaska to Honolulu but stay on all the way to Oz and then cruising and touring Oz and New Zealand before flying home. See you two on a future cruise.

We are doing fine as we live on Oahu. Prayers to all those that are on Maui. Just found out or trans pacific stop is no longer going to Lahaina Maui. I wish RCL would stop in Kihei. The stores and people for the rest of the island need visitors and their spending. Just not in Lahaina.

OK it is not the same Gusti then. I was chit chatting with him and asked him if he wanted to become head butler since he has so many years with MSC. He mentioned that he has been asked a few times to become head butler but he has turned it down. He went on to say that he likes the personal interaction immensely and would be sad to give it up. Also said that he does not like to do all the paperwork and what not in the back of the house. The head butler on Davina was a Russian woman that was on Seaview last year in June. I think her name was Yanni.

12 sailings with MSC in YC and we have only experienced group escorts off the ship. Our past 2 cruises last month in YC on Divina and Europa, we have finally experienced the personal escort to your bus/car. I thought butlers only did personal service in Europe till your post.

MSC solved this problem on Europa. No other entrances to YC from the outside pool deck. Seems like YC has taken what used to be Aurea areas. No problem of interlopers anymore.

Is this the same Gusti that is a skinny gentleman from Indonesia with a big smile? Just saw him on Divina in Europe a month ago in June. Met him for the first time on Seaside and then he was on Seaview last year.

So true, that is how MSC got their start. Hauling containers around the world on their cargo ships. Unfortunately for us, those containers never complain and do not care where they are put on the ship!

We have MSC Euriba for 3 weeks in Oct 2024 out of Hamburg. Have MSC America booked 5/24/25 to 6/21/25 in Miami if you are looking at booking a MSC cruise 🙂. We will be boarding Brilliance on Sept 17 in Vancouver for her last Alaskan cruise and then stay on for our first trans pacific to home to Hawaii.

We were on Divina for a week this past June 9th. Were you onboard then? Wife and I prefer the Seaside class YC. Divina was a little to small and not many snacks in YC. We sailed Europa the next week and while the ship is large, the YC pool deck and hot tub is laughable for a ship with that many YC passengers. Divina did not have a nice spa like Seaside class ships, so that was a disappointment to us. While the Europa had a nice Spa, you had to make a reservation for a 1 hour slot in advance. I liked the Seaside class where I could walk in anytime it was open and enjoy.

HI Mac! How are you and the wife doing? I see you have more celebrity cruises booked. Starting to do that more than Royal? Wife and I love Royal but the price for CLS are starting to be more money than we think it is worth. We are planning to cruise more in late 2024 and forward when wife retires. Hopefully we get to meet up again. I sure miss those cruise critic meet n greets and MSC had the best one. Are you planning to try MSC YC or have you sailed on them? The price and inclusions of YC compared to Sky on Royal cant be beat. That has made the road to P longer with Royal. I love RCCL for the camaraderie and meeting other cruisers in the D lounge and on long sailings. It is great in the Top Sail Lounge but most wont be as ardent cruisers (we have only run into one couple that we have cruised with before on MSC). Have wonderful time on your sailings and cant wait till our cruising paths cross again.

I look at the first 100 shares bought at $19.50 as cruise OBC. We have already gotten back out initial 100 share purchase in cruise OBC with the 20+ sailings. The credit we receive for our future RCL cruises is just free money. I don't know of another investment that I enjoy so much which rewards me at least 5% ROI for each cruise.

I am surprised Jose likes the larger ships. One thing I miss with the larger ships is the shaded sea views from the different decks. Also the larger ships feel more like a shopping mall but there is a lot more to do on those ships (lot more crowded also). I have liked every ship that we have been on. The smaller ships I like because of the nice cruisers we meet. Did you guys sail on Seashore last June/July? See you two onboard.

How are you two doing? Have you gone back and cruised RCL? We will be boarding Divina and World Europa in Italy next month. We have been cruising on Navigator out of LA last year and early this year. Missed you on Seashore last June, I think you boarded a two cruises after we got off Seashore. Hope to see you two on a Royal or MSC cruise again. Stay safe and happy cruising.

We will be on the same ship and sailing. I will be onboard with my wife. Want to meet up in the top sail lounge or on pool deck for sail away? First sailing on this ship but have sailed seaside, seashore, meraviglia and divina.

Was hoping to see him on Seashore and Meraviglia out of Miami but I believe he was in Europe on a smaller ship. Will be sailing Europa next month and I guess we will not see him then. Hope to see you two the next time we cruise out of Miami or Port Canaveral.

I would also like to know where Arthur is. We will be sailing in June out of Civitavecchia (Divina) and Genoa (Europa) and hope to see him again. If he is on Seascape will miss him again. Thank you

This was in Denali. Maybe the shuttle was paid for by the town merchants? Just that there was a pretty regular shuttle on a small school type bus from hotel into town.

There was a shuttle provided by the hotel that did roundtrips to town and back until a certain hour. The hotel that Royal uses also has a restaurant. Across the highway from the hotel, there were some lunch trucks you could buy food from.

Yes we were not able to book any of the extra excursions until we met our guide. Son, wife and I did two different UTV tours, Zip Line and White water rafting during our 6 night land cruise tour with Royal. Our bush plane excursion to the North Pole got cancelled because of the forest fires. So that night, we rented a truck and drove to Chena Hot springs and spent two nights there at the lodge. It was a nice drive back and forth from Fairbanks. Saw more wild life on that drive than our Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali. Most we spent to eat was in, Denali, where we spent 2 nights. Royal does not include any meals (except for the box lunch included in Tundra tour) so we ate in town instead of the lodge that royal uses. Fairbanks and Anchorage was not that bad to find places to eat. The train ride dining came out to a little over $100 each meal for the 3 of us. We had 2 meals on the train.

Hmm I have only ever left $250 per cabin on all our MSC cruises. Wonder if they hold more on CC than with cash?

Just did it this past June/July on the Seashore with the concierge in YC. I tried leaving $1000 for our two cabins for a B2B but the concierge said I would need to come and settle out the first week. Then leave a deposit again. Sailing in YC there are not many things to cover besides the DSC. Luckily we do not purchase much on board.

We just leave $250 cash as the deposit and settle it that way. Have never had a problem with credit cards on MSC. This coming June will be leaving 250 euros as a deposit for our cruise out of Rome and then get whatever is left after the DSC is taken out. Then will repeat it a couple days later for our cruise out of Genoa. I have stopped leaving credit cards with cruise lines after our second cruise. Royal added mysterious charges, like being billed for mini bar items or missing pool towels. I would call back and they would remove the charges but it was a waste of my time. Now I just use cash and have everything settled the night before disembarkation. No more mysterious charges to deal with.

No chocolate peanuts on our last 2 cruises on Seashore this past June/July. There was one small can of pringle, toberlone and something else stocked once. Also no more mini bottles of spirits like before. You will be restocked on beers and non alcoholic drinks daily. No more crepes and gelato at the ice cream bar. I think you were able to order cappucinos from venchi but we did not try. Others can chime in on this.

Never had a problem getting 2 drinks at a time on any of the 56 nights sailing MSC.