jcollin

We had printed all the docs for check in but did not need them. I had our boarding passes in my apple wallet and that's all we needed. We also added a credit card during online check-in and did not need to visit the kiosk while on board. In past MSC cruises we did.

First time for us as well. It was open on other MSC cruises we've been on. But it was not open on any of the port days this time.

We didn't get the wrist bands but I did see them on a few people. Getting drinks never seemed to work for the people that had them. They have a card reader that you put the wristband up to but it seemed to be an issue the few times I saw people using it.

Correct Hola is open on embarkation day. We choose to eat there at dinner. For those that don't get off the ship having a dinner room open for lunch would have been nice. We knew no dining room on day 1 but surprise no dining room on port days. The other days they have a brunch from 8-1:30 so i don't they ever offer a true lunch only in the dining room. Seems odd to me.

Just off the Seashore. What we thought (4 of us) were the good and not so good things. Good: Embarkation - We had Aurea so we went through the priority line about noon time, Didn't really need it as the lines were small at that time. Total time from arriving to on the ship was less than a 1/2 hour. The room keys are in a little envelope hanging on your door. Dining room - We ate in the Manhattan room. The service each night was great. The food was good as well. We always sat in the same area each night. Room - we were on the 15th floor. Our room was cleaned pretty quickly in the morning, and we also had turndown service each night. Cocktail bar on deck 8. The best drinks we had. Some we had to pay extra for as our package only covered up to $10. The jungle bar was fun too but humid. We also liked the sports bar. The Spa - It's nice and not crowded. We enjoyed the saunas and steam rooms. We made reservations the first day but just walked in at other times with no issue. Hola Tacos - specialty restaurant - we did the all you can eat. It was $42 for two and the food is outstanding, great service too. Top 19 - Great place to relax. Hardly anyone up there and tons of room. It did get really hot as there is little to no shade. The two hot tubs are a good size and were empty most of the time. The rectangle shaped hot tuns on 8. They are on both sides of the ship so one is in the sun and the other shade. They aren't super-hot but they were the best tubs on the ship. They are right against the glass overlooking the ocean. It was fun to sit there and look out over the ocean. La Cabaret Rouge - Fun spot we stopped into before the 9:30 shows. Disembarkation - They do want you out of your room at 7 which seems early, but the process was smooth. We ate breakfast, went to Cabaret lounge and about 15 mins later our number was called. We walked off grabbed our luggage with no issues. Not so good The buffet - The food is fine, but this is your only option on embarkation day as well as port days. The area for the buffet is big but trying to shove 5000+ people in there doesn't work. Why no dining room for lunch? One of the enjoyable parts of cruising is having someone wait on you for meals. Lunch felt like we were back in school visiting the cafeteria. Breakfast service, or lack of - Breakfast was served in Central Park. It was complete confusion each day. I think we had 10 different people from that start to end of breakfast one day. None of them knew what the other was doing. One day we had already ordered and yet we got menus again. Coffee refills were hard to get. Orders were usually missing something. They had plenty of wait staff but couldn't seem to figure out a process that works. Muster - It's bad. We went to our room to watch the video, that never came up on the TV. Then we joined the mad rush, on the stairs, to our muster station to have our cards scanned. Here's a tip - Only 1 person needs to make the trip. Just bring both cards and they will scan them. The elevators - We actually had no issue with them. Just select the floor you want for the number of people, in our case 4 for 15. We heard lots of other people complaining about them. I think it would help if MSC stationed a few of their team near the elevators on day 1 to tell people how they work. It was close to the last day and someone jumped on our elevator and asked is this going to 16. Someone said did you select 16 and they seemed confused by the question. Overall, it's hard to have a bad time on a cruise. This was our 3rd on MSC and we would do another. We heard lots of people talking about how nice the Meraviglia was so maybe we'll try that next.

Me too, There are 4 of us going out on Sunday as well.

Thanks, I heard that only 1 person needs to go and can bring both cards. Did you see or hear of anyone doing that?

Hello, How does the Aurea skip the line work? We have that for our upcoming cruise. Also would like to know if the muster has changed like it has on other ships. Thanks

Awesome, thanks. We will give it a try soon.

Hello Nattie, Did you say only 1 person needs to check in for the muster? Is that a YC thing or does that apply to everyone? We are on Seashore 4/21 and that's a great tip if it applies to everyobe. Thanks

Nice review, 4 of us are on the April 21st so this is helpful. Did you try any of the specialty dining? How about the Spa?

What are the hours for breakfast in the MDR?

Awesome, hopefully we see you on there. We usually go to the meet and greet

We were notified by MSC that our 4/21 Seashore has been switched to Montego Bay

Thanks, can the couple with gold status drag along the couple from the other room who don't have it?