Noncon

I think you missed the period [.] between pay and Nothing. ...you apply and pay, then nothing happens until...

Good point. Also just as an FYI, if you are taking this cruise you will be required to surrender your passport at some point. For us since we boarded in Qatar we surrender our inside the terminal at the first UAE port (Dubai). Not sure when they will ask for your passport if you board in the UAE. Either way, you will get them back the night before the Bahrain port. The cabin stewards will deliver them to your room.

Yes the visa issue is still a problem and negotiations between SA and MSC appears to be at a stalemate, and IMO the issue isn't likely to be solved over the next few weeks. Bahrain was a great stop, just wish we had more time to plan excursions, but the schedule change was short notice.

I thought the food tour was great. He took us to three really great 'off the beaten path' restaurants and he also provided some history of that old town area of Bahrain. It was a Viator tour that can be found under title 'Manama Souq Cultural Food Walking Tour'

Currently docked in Bahrain, and did a Viator food and walking tour around the Bab Al Bahrain area. I talked to a guy who lives in Damman, he said Bahrain is a much much better stop. I hope MSC will offer more excursions here, but today it was buses shuttling passengers between ship to the city center for 19 euros (billed to your room) and back. MSC did a good job organizing here in Bahrain, buses were plenty, they had excursion personnel waiting with signs once you arrived at city center to answer questions. A few had to be local, they knew where certain places in the Souq were located.

I hope the Wi-Fi works better when you get on board. Currently it's really unusable. Lucky for us we have been close to shore and our phones work very well with the cell network. It's not a problem with the ship. I hear it has something to do with the "overloaded" satellite network.

Captain: going from memory, Marco Marseille. As for YC, well they turned down my bid to move up there so I'm not sure. 😀

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.

Ok thanks! I haven't seen that information yet. I checked with the excursion desk this morning and they were offering no excursion to Damman due to visa issue, so its probably in the process of being replaced.

Hi LB, on 12/28.

Ours has been on the"processing" state since 11/29. Currently on W.E. and dropped by the Excursion desk. Asked about Damman but they didn't have any information about the Visa. Also we were supposed to push off an hour ago, but we still here (Doha). There's got to be a thousand people lined up on the shore, waiting to see the ship off. Oh well, just one of those things. We still expect to be in Dubai at the schedule time.

You can do a mock booking, which shows which rooms are still available.

Re: visa.mofa.gov.sa Which visa on visa.mofa.gov.sa site is for Transit by Sea? I see a Visitor's tab, but none of the options refer to visit by sea.

Agree. Also I do not believe MSC requires the specific TIME of the test, only the DATE of the test.

Also on the Dec Doha cruise, so I'm glad I saw this thread. As an FYI, there is a e-visa specifically for cruise passengers. https://www.saudiarabiaonlinevisas.com/e-maritime-visa-cruise-tourists/