RudiRatlos

57 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I believe the gray ones have a solid metal balcony railing while the white ones are clear and you can see through them.

Exactly.

Light grey - like here - indicates stell hull balconies on MSC´s deck plans (dark grey indicates obstructed view).

European menus and bar list have been posted recently by @taylordg

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2962623-world-europa-menu-examples-by-not-yc/#elControls_66354387_menu

5 hours ago, RudiRatlos said:

Scholl holidays (autumn) are now over in all parts of germany.

Maybe I should also go back to school... to improve my spelling...

14 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

Large  passenger turnover today as well and most of the children are now gone. The ships feels as if there are fewer people onboard, lots of free tables when we went for a walk in the Gallaria. Perhaps people are just tired after their journeys and having an early night, we will se tomorrow. The YC is certainly quieter tonight.

Scholl holidays (autumn) are now over in all parts of germany.

17 hours ago, kerota said:

I'm looking at a cruise on Poesia in May 2024. It lists two stops at the same port (Ronne, Denmark) three days apart. Seems unusual.

This is because MSC Poesia is based in Warnemuende for summer 2024, so the main embarkation port for the baltic cruises is Warnemuende:

there is an 11-day baltic cruise from Warnemunede beginning May, 15th and, following that cruise, a 7-day baltic cruise beginning May 26th.

As usual in europe, MSC also sells cruises with embarkation at other than home ports, so the cruise you are looking at basically consists of parts of two other itineraries (with both of them containing Ronne).

On 9/21/2023 at 7:48 PM, iwtobek said:

Not sure about how the menus are fleet-wide

There is a region-code on one page of the menus: in the menus you posted it is "MED NOR" - I think it´s safe to assume this indicaties Mediterranean and Northern Europe, so menus for cruises from America may be slightly different. From what I see here, menus are not too different (haven´t been on sailings outside Europe so far). There are bigger differences in bar lists, not only in prices - € vs. $ - also different beverage selection.

I saw a breakfast menu with code "FLEET" - this should be fleet-wide.

53 minutes ago, actuarian said:

The circled rooms have balconies that are shaded grey. That means that those balconies have a metal balustrade, rather than the normal glass balustrade.

Balconies with metal balustrade are marked light grey in the current deck plans.

The dark grey we see here indicates balconies with side view or shadow.

37 minutes ago, Stockjock said:

No, it is a very large block of cabins on deck 12.  They classify all of them as obstructed.  

You can clearly see the larger overhang in this picture:

20 hours ago, CruisingFox27 said:

You were going to ask your wife anyway, right? So, they've just cut out the middle man... straight to executive level for a decision, as my DH would say 😂

Happy wife, happy life...

Worked perfectly this week on Fantasia - got newspaper, pillows and bottle of wine as requested.

Of course, in order to avoid the impression of MSC having a fully functional IT department, the e-mail asking for preferences was not sent to me (who booked and paid the cruise), but to my wife...

39 minutes ago, Nautical way said:

Do MSC take reservations before getting on board ship????

No. You can pre-book and pay, but reservations can only be made on board.

The app is fully functional only with the newer ships (Meraviglia was first).

https://www.msccruises.co.uk/on-board/internet-apps/msc-for-me

*Available for guests travelling on MSC Seascape, MSC World Europa, MSC Seashore, MSC Virtuosa, MSC Bellissima, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview. The MSC for Me programme is also available on MSC Splendida and on MSC Magnifica, however it has reduced programme features.
Coming soon on MSC Euribia.
The MSC for Me app functionality may vary from ship to ship and across different countries.

1. There is no Keito restaurant on Divina, but Galaxy: also a sushi place. You may find a menu (which is different from Keito) using the forum´s search function for "Galaxy restaurant" (there is another Galaxy restaurant on MSC Preziosa).

2. Le Muse is the YC restaurant, Black Crab and Villa Rossa are the MDRs. You will be assigned to one of these.

3. No

4. Never heard of this.

4 minutes ago, RBrowny said:

I really don't understand why it's so difficult, every few weeks it seems to change. Is it included, are the prices we paid now not valid, do we get to go to speciality places, etc. Seems so strange

Obviously it is not MSC´s best idea to do bar list and drink package changes over a period of time rather than from a fixed date...

Nevertheless, exclusions for specialty restaurants and signature venues remain unchanged - third-party managed signature venues (like Venchi or Jean Philippe) are excluded from all packages, MSC´s specialty restaurants (like Butchers Cut) included in Easy Plus and Premium extra). However, "Coffee Emporium" is not mentioned in the drink packages T&C, so we don´t know for sure wether it is considered a normal bar or a signature venue.

After all, MSC cannot deny its italian origins...

"Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians."

21 hours ago, Beamafar said:

Just heard a story from a passenger - will be interested to hear if it’s true.   
 

He was having coffee in the Emporium and a waiter there told him that, when the ship begins its Med sailings, drinks packages will no longer cover the coffees.  This is (apparently) because so many Italians - who drink a lot of coffee - are expected to be onboard.  What he was told was that only YC guests will be covered.  

Drink package descriptions for summer 2023 do not exclude coffee in general (just posted them in another thread), but "Lavazza Coffee Shops" - is Coffee Emporium a "Lavazza Coffee Shop"?

2 hours ago, cublet said:

Now only the Easy, Alcohol Free and Minors' packages that may not be used in specialty restaurants.

It the other group/family members booked Easy Plus or Premium Extra, then the Minor´s package can be used in specialty restaurants.

Descriptions of the summer 2023 drink packages are given on other MSC websites, too, for example on msccruisesusa.com

Please note that All-Inclusive Beverage packages for Summer 2023 up to Summer 2024 cruises are detailed here below. To know the details of Beverage packages for Winter 2022/23 cruises, please login to your personal area.

EASY PACKAGE

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price! Including:

• Selected classic or international cocktails
• Non-alcoholic cocktails and mixed drinks
• Spirits (whisky, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, brandy - one brand per type)
• House wines (red, white, sparkling, rosè)
• Draft beer Heineken and bottled beer Heineken*
• Soft drinks from the fountain, canned soft drinks, fruit juices by the glass and bottled
• Bottled Mineral Water
• Classic hot drinks (espresso, cappuccino, caffèlatte, hot tea, hot chocolate) 

• Beverage gratuities included

*The brand of beer may vary overtime. The Easy Package covers all the above served in our bars, buffet and main restaurant. What’s more, it also includes private islands, but does not cover the specialty restaurants and signature venues. 

EASY PLUS Package

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price!  Includes all beverages priced up to €9 / $10!*

• Variety of frozen and classic cocktails
• Fresh fruit cocktails and protein shakes
• Well spirits, liqueurs and cordials
• Variety of draught and bottled beers
• Non-alcoholic cocktails and all non alcoholic drinks 
• Bottled Mineral Water
• Wide range of hot drinks
• 10% discount on bottles of wine purchased on board
• Selection of wines by the glass
• Beverage gratuities included

*The Easy Plus Package covers all the above served at our bars, buffet, main restaurant and specialty restaurants. What’s more, it also includes private islands, but does not cover the signature venues.

PREMIUM EXTRA PACKAGE

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price! Includes all beverages priced up to €14 / $16!*

• Wide Selection of Premium and International cocktails
• Non-alcoholic cocktails and all non-alcoholic drinks
• Fresh fruit and protein cocktails
• Premium brand spirits, liqueurs and cordials
• Wide selection of fine wine by glass
• Champagne by glass
• Wide variety of draft and bottled beer
• Bottled Mineral Water
• Wide selection of classic and specialty hot drinks
• 25% discount on purchased of bottled wine and champagne
• Beverage gratuities included

*The Premium Extra Package can be enjoyed in our bars, buffet, main restaurant and specialty restaurants as well as on private islands, but does not cover our signature venues.

ALCOHOL-FREE PACKAGE

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price*! Including:

• Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Fresh fruit and protein cocktails
• Energy drinks
• Sodas
• Energy drinks
• Flavored water
• Soda by glass and bottle
• Wide range of hot drinks
• Soft serve ice cream
• Beverage gratuities included

*The Alcoholic Free Package can be used in our bars, self-service buffet, main restaurant and on private islands, but not in the specialty restaurants and signature venues. 

MINORS PACKAGE

Book now online your drink package at the lowest price compared to the onboard price*! Including:

• Non-alcoholic cocktails
• Fresh fruit and protein cocktails
• Energy drinks
• Flavored water
• Soda by glass and bottle
• Wide range of hot drinks
• Soft serve ice cream
• Beverage gratuities included

*The Minors Package can be used in our bars, self-service buffet, main restaurant and on private islands, but not in the specialty restaurants and signature venues.

MSC published an overview of starting dates for the new drink packages at their german website msccruises.de - this may help to clarify some questions.

The new "summer 2023" drink packages with higher price limits should be applied from the following dates (day/month/year).

Until this dates, there may be some confusion here and there, which of course is not uncommon to the experienced MSC cruiser.

@JamieLogical posted a bar list from MSC Meraviglia some hours ago (link), so this should be the new summer 2023 bar list for the carribean (with the pleasant innovation of paying just the difference for a drink over the price limit of one´s drink package - I would expect this to be the case also on other ships from the given dates on).

My experience (mediterranean and baltics with MSC) is that excursions do not show up at once - some will show up quite early, others may follow later (up to a few weeks before cruise).

47 minutes ago, Raj.K said:

Since Virtuosa was deployed to Southampton, was the stretching of a Fantasia class ship abandoned?

There has been no stretching of any Fantasia class ship.

There isn't much more to find about it other than the cc article from 2019, so we really don't know if this was about a Fantasia class ship at all - furthermore MSC may have changed their plans more than once since then...

1 hour ago, phissy said:

It was a Cruise Critic article dated January 2019.  It mentioned an UK based MSC ship and although MSC had not disclosed the exact ship, they surmised it would be the Preziosa.

This article was before covid, I think what plans MSC had were put on back burner until they could see how the pandemic played out.

Thanks for the hint!

Covid for sure has thwarted all plans, though actually "El Sombrero" Tex-Mex was transformed to Butcher's Cut.

Should be this article about a rather vague announcement (for me it would be very surprising if MSC plans on stretching a fantasia-class ship, as these are still amongst the longest cruise ships on sea):

MSC Cruises will likely stretch and "massively enhance" one of its existing ships ahead of a 2021 deployment in the UK.

While the line would not reveal the name of the ship, it is likely to be the one currently serving the UK market, MSC Preziosa

(...)

"So we will have 14-nighters, 12-nighters, 10-nighters, seven-nighters catering for different types of customers."

The ship will not be a new vessel, but will be "subject to a 'massive enhancement' which could potentially include a stretching," he added.

It could include a number of the new features introduced on Meraviglia- and Seaside-class ships such as restaurants, as well as new-to-the-fleet features, Mr Paradiso said.

1 minute ago, Raj.K said:

Was your cruise to Norway?

 

Were you ever told that certain drinks were out of stock in the Top Sail Lounge?

 

Was there more than English Breakfast and Earl Grey tea (other than green/flavoured) during High Tea in the afternoon?

It was a baltic cruise (Preziosa did Norway and baltics every other week last summer). Nothing out of stock in YC or elsewhere on the ship. We did not join any afternoon tea, therefore I cannot answer that question.

3 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

I was on the Preziosa in Fall 2021. YC is like before covid, but no more reserved seats in the theater (is also not necessary I think).

There were reserved YC-only seats in Preziosa's theatre in June 2022 (maybe it depends on the number of pax -summer 2022 sailings were not at capacity, but probably more pax than 2021).

Since this was our first cruise in YC, I cannot compare to pre-covid.

29 minutes ago, phissy said:

Correction.

Looks like in 2019, MSC was going to “stretch” and refurbish the Preziosa. 

Are you sure about this? Never heard of it, or of any plan to "stretch" a Fantasia-class ship (of which Preziosa is the newest, built 2013).

Lirica-class ships have been lengthened some years before.

12 minutes ago, ConnieTact said:

Not at all FamilyCruiserUK - it’s a pleasure to help! Here is the screenshot of the pin I dropped when we disembarked the shuttle bus. I hope this is helpful. It’s Baiilndamm. 
it was only five minutes walk to our Arts museum - very handy- and open on Sunday too! 

Miniatur-Wunderland is a 20-30 minutes walk from there.

In the meantime, since this thread started some years ago (last posting was nearly 6 years ago), MSC changed their deck plans to include this information: steel balconies are shown in light gray on current deck plans.