Lisichka

I booked a cruise leaving from Warnemunde.  I do not see a port transfer option yet under the excursions tab.  Is this something MSC offers there or should I just plan on taking the train?. 😃

Just now, Biker19 said:

That site is run by an RCI follower, not RCI itself.

Well then I guess I am booking for spring 2025.  😞

30 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Anthem has a sailing October 2 for 12 days, so the earliest she can leave Southampton is October 14. It takes at least three weeks (more likely 4+) to get to Asia.

Weird that royals own blog wouldnt know that......

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

The earliest Anthem would arrive in Asia is middle of Nov 2024.

The link says October.

Ok, so it is true that the Anthem will start sailing from Singapore starting October 2023.  Itineraries will be released and bookable later this month.

Phew, so glad!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/05/15/royal-caribbean-anthem-of-the-seas-asia

8 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Even if more cruises released it will be Asian

That is what I want though…A cruise that goes to Japan.  Right now there is nothing for next fall except for the ones leaving from China that are all in Mandarin.

42 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Current rumor has Anthem headed to Asia for fall of 2024.

Fingers crossed! I am hoping for a Tokyo to Singapore itinerary.

2 hours ago, Joseph2018Baltic said:

I'm confused.  If you are traveling to Asia, why would you think the cruise would not have a huge amount Asian on it, and why would you think that it wouldn't be culturally enriched?  Any cruise in Asia will not be like the Caribbean or like Europe.  It is completely different.  (And quite fun)

Yes, and I do a lot of cruises across the world.  The difference here is that comedy shows, announcements, etc will only be in Mandarin.  As a solo cruiser I like to meet and communicate with others, and my Mandarin is a little rusty.  Royal tells me about 90% of the people on the cruise I had originally booked will only speak Mandarin.  Likewise they have replaced all staff for this particular cruise with Mandariin speaking staff.

My question really wasn’t if this will be a good or bad cruise but rather if more cruises will be released for next year.  That’s it. 

5 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Huh? Who said anything about a travel advisory. And how is Singapore and China apples to oranges? They go to the same Asian ports.

 

If by "travel advisory" you mean the notice about it being an immersive cruise and 90% Asian etc, I did get that same email for my Singapore cruise. Other than that I don't know what you're referring to, or why you think my cruise around Asia doesn't count as Asian. 

They don’t go to the same ports at all….

45 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

I'll be on an Asian cruise out of Singapore at the end of the month and they gave us the same disclaimer, but the announcements (as far as I know) will be in both English and Mandarin.
 

I've watched a few videos from the ship and you can hear announcements in the background in English. Signs are also in both English and Chinese characters.
 

I'm excited to experience  the cultural differences. It's the whole reason I'm taking this cruise. Traveling to Asian countries seem more intimidating to me because of the language barrier, and a cruise is a great way to do it while still having an English speaking home base. 
 

I certainly don't want to pay $30,000 and spend 20 hours on a plane to get a carbon copy of the same old Caribbean cruise I could get out of Florida. 

The cruises from Singapore I wouldnt have an issue with.  I have had friends and family take that one, and there are lots of people from Australia, Europe and the US on board on that one. The one from Shanghai apparently is very different. When you travel solo it is a lot more difficult to find people to do things with when you dont speak the same language.  I just came off a cruise to Saudi Arabia and it was an immersive cruise too, but there were many people from all around the world, and many who spoke English (or Dutch, like I do).

Not sure why/how you spent $30K though....

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Somewhere I asked the same question. I was very disappointed and was hoping for a Singapore -Shanghai or vice versa. We've done that itinerary before with RCI and loved the ports which certainly didn't include Japan which I'm not interested in at all. 

I was ok with the ports but after I booked it I received an email from Royal saying all entertainment/announcements will be in Mandarin and that 90% of the passengers will be Chinese.  I am not sure I would like that as much.

I thought they were going to release Asia cruises the week of July 24th, but they released quite a few last week. All of them are cultural immersion cruises, which I am not interested in.  Are they going to release more or was this it?  Anyone know?

I think this has to do with Covid testing requirements.  All world and grand voyage cruise passengers are required to have a Covid test done up to 48 hours before sailing.  Some

GV cruises have had those requirement changed, while others still have that requirement in place.  To distinguish between what your requirements are, those GV that no

longer have the testing requirement are no

longer labeled as a grand voyage cruise.

5 hours ago, sidari said:

Depending on when you booked and when it was changed means you will have it included, we have it included for the Europa booking we made a long time ago.

This is the trouble with MSC they change things and do not tell people, and only when you get onboard the ship do you find out what you thought you were getting is no longer available leaving guest services to clean up the mess.

My reservation was recent and is included.

On my reservation it says it is included

If you have Covid they would tell you to stay home and move your cruise.  Any other reason without insurance you are SOL.

Weird times we live in.

42 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

We had the 25 Euro visas and get the refound between 12 hours. You have to give a copy of the paymentinfos from your visas to the concierge or the customer service.

Did you ever actually receive the visa or had you just paid for it?  People are saying you are supposedly getting the Visa 3 days before scheduled visit, so if that is the case (and the visa worked) you must have received it by email?

2 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

We recived an email 8 days before the sailing starts about the change to bahrain. We recived a full refund of all our visa costs from MSC in a day.

The $150 visa or the $20 one?

17 minutes ago, transientoftheseas said:

I booked 13 staterooms for my family and have been watching this thread for any indications of changed to the Damman stop for their Jan 22 sailing. Should I expect an email from MSC a week before the sail date or sooner? I am not sailing myself but I am planning their excursions so any information would be helpful.

 

Does any know if a travel medical insurance is required to enter the UAE? They are flying from the USA to Abu Dhabi.

 

Also, I applied for the MSC UAE cruise visas for the travelers that are not US citizens through Sharaf Tours. I sent in the documents and applications before Christmas but have not received any confirmation or responses. Is anyone else having this issue as well?

 

Thank you.

You may not hear until the day before you are supposed to hit the port.  I have absolutely zero faith in MSC notifying passengers in advance.  And dont count on calling and getting a correct answer either.

Check and see if the credit card you used offers any protection

How did you get a visa for Jeddah? Did the cruise ship arrange it?  How much was it?

9 hours ago, little britain said:

Bought full year visa for DH 2 days ago. Issued immediately - literally within a minute.

Cost was £115 as fx rate has come down a bit. 

534.98 SAR is $142.66

 

If they are, as reported today, pulling Damman and replacing it with Bahrain, and you have already bought your Saudi visa they are issuing a refund of $22 as refundable obc onboard. 

Yeah, that full price visa wasn’t the issue.  But nobody needs that Visa plus it is expensive.

11 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

From where do you have this email.
Also my TA don't know something about the saudistop and on the homepage from MSC is nothing!

The email is from MSC.

I have no doubt your TA knows nothing.  Even CS on the ship “knows nothing”.  That is MSC for you.

1 hour ago, Noncon said:

After talking to the folks at the Excursion desk, they appeared to be very careful not to verbally say what the plans might be. Instead they appear to still waiting for written confirmation.  I specifically asked about Bahrain replacing the Saudi Arabia stop but didn't get a positive answer yes or no. Just they were still working the issue. 

Did you see the email sent to passengers?  I posted it a few posts above this one.