CruisingFox27

On 5/28/2024 at 1:33 AM, Anastas617 said:

It was, but due to unrest following 10/07 La Goulette was cancelled and replaced with Palma de Mallorca. Marseille port was isolated, though not really far from the city just not somewhere you walk from. Genoa, Palermo and Naples were right at the cities (I took a ship excursion to Pompeii from Naples, so not sure if you can walk right off into the city like at Genoa and Palermo).

Thank you for confirming regarding walking into Palermo and Naples. We're on Grandiosa in 2 weeks and hoping to explore both of those after our excursions and then walk back to the ship. 

8 hours ago, lion1956 said:

Has anyone been on MSC Poesia recently, trying to book speciality restaurants but all I can find is a sushi speciality restaurant listed, that can't be right? I know MSC brand has speciality restaurants but I am looking at MSC Poesia only..  Any info would be great.

It is probably correct. The smaller ships do not have multiple speciality restaurants. I've not sailed on Poesia but have on her sister ship, Orchestra, which only had one. Likewise, I was on Lirica last year and she also only has one speciality restaurant. 

Whenever we've had a YIN the things I find most useful are,  magnetic hooks, you can use on the ceiling for long items and we always use on the walls for hats and bags etc. I always take space extending coat hanger attachments. And,I always pack a few thin wire or plastic hangers. The hangers in the cabin are quite large, you can fit lots more in the closet using smaller hangers. A night light, great help if you get up in the night. 

Another very useful tip, have the outside view from the webcam on the TV. 

We were on a cold climate cruise so had lots of jumpers, but used one of our suitcases under the bed as extra storage for those. 

With a bit a planning a YIN has plenty of space. I'm just staying to prepare for my next in two weeks. 

To answer No 2, yes, smart pants and a shirt will be fine, as will nice dresses for the girls.

The Diamond priority boarding relates to your check in after arrival at the port not priority embarkation time. That said, they're relaxed about boarding times and I'm not sure anyone checks these days. 

I think the free mineral water is a bottle with meals in the MDR, I've read that's the UK version, anyway.

7 hours ago, Bgwest said:

Not our experience at all. Each filet I received in YC was superb. 

Absolutely. I ordered it several times on our last time. Far nicer than any I've ever had in Butchers Cut.

Hi @DublinFC, we're doing your exact itinerary in June 2024. I was just reviewing our itinerary and plans and thought yours looked familiar 😁 I do wish we were sailing on Seaside though! 

I can confirm there's a shuttle bus for Marseille, and it is needed as the port is quite a way out of the City, 15 - 20 minutes on said bus, if memory serves. We used it last year on our Med cruise. 

I believe in Naples the ship docks near enough to the City that a shuttle isn't required. I hope so, as we plan to explore after our excursion to Sorrento. I also believe this is true of Palermo, again, hopefully, as we plan to just explore on our own. 

Florence and Pisa are not close to Livorno, 90 minutes and 60 minutes by coach, if you're looking to visit those, you'd need an excursion or arrange your own independent trip. 

Our La Goulette excursion states it's 40 minutes to Tunis, although, Google states 20 minutes by car, so it's possible that there will be a shuttle bus. 

My main tip for your cruise would be have a great time 😊

ETA:  although people will embark and disembark at multiple ports on this itinerary, if you're off the ship exploring, you'll have no impact of this happening. Unless you happen to return during a muster do when the lifts/ bars are closed. 

It would be useful to know your ports but if there is a shuttle,  as there is for Barcelona, Marseille,  it is a paid service. The tickets are left in your cabin and you just hand them in when boarding the bus. The charge is then applied to your cabin account. 

I see that Princess has rerouted their two world cruises for 2025 already, both will go via the West coast of Africa instead.

Every sailing I've been on has had the 15% gratuity added to individually purchased drinks, Europe, USA, Asia and Middle East. The only location I've not sailed from is the UK but I don't see why it would be any different, if you don't have a package. 

I'd just add that to my reasons for having a low opinion of BC. The worst dining experience I've ever had on a ship was BC on Meraviglia. Ive been to a couple of other BC on other ships, there's just nothing special about it for me.

We were forced to eat in BC one evening on our last sailing due to the YC restaurant being closed, the second worst dining experience I've had on a ship. People singing would just exacerbate the experience. 

18 hours ago, memoak said:

On the Ruby now showed up at 8:15 in Reserve dining was given a menu and pushed to order right away. Dining staff running all over the dining room frantically. Pushed out in 30 minutes will never eat there again will forgo reserve class and just eat in Botticelli

Gosh, I hope this is an anomaly rather than the standard. I'm going to dinner in a restaurant, I don't expect it to be a 30 minute rushed affair. It's meant to be a relaxed, enjoyable experience.

On 4/15/2024 at 12:02 AM, mscdivina2016 said:

Doubtful as bidding is not implemented especially for YC.

On 4/15/2024 at 12:42 AM, cellfree said:

We had a Yacht Club Interior booked and several times received an email offering to bid for an upgrade to various balcony types. 

I have two YIN bookings and have also been receiving emails offering upgrades.

I'm expecting our Euribia repositioning in April '25 to be cancelled but haven't had any notification yet. 

11 minutes ago, 555 said:

Typical early seating is usually around 5:30 PM and late seating around 7:30 PM. 

7 minutes ago, 555 said:

Yea I know what you mean but there are still many who like it so they still give them a choice. 

We sometimes return to the DR after the early show for coffee & desert and I'm surprised at the number of people just getting their main course at 8:45 PM. 

Gosh, those times are too early for me. I would be the opposite and struggle to go to dinner anything before 8pm.

6 minutes ago, negn said:

Exactly.  Specific dining rooms depending on which option you choose.  You can not make reservations until June 17. 

So, unless I'm being quite dim, it's not really a significant change. Instead of reservation and anytime dining in each restaurant they've separated each format to different restaurants. We like the freedom to choose our dining time on the day and just go whenever we're ready, that will still be available but only in one MDR.

We're new to Princess so I was only just beginning to understand the options, we sail in September. I thought that currently you could reserve a time on the app or attend at anytime and just wait to be seated? Do the changes mean this is still the case but depending on your preference, that will determine which restaurant to dine in?

Yes, you'll need to get off to zero count the ship and clear immigration.

You can disembark early and go on a trip or you're asked to wait in a lounge, do the off/on after every one else has disembarked. 

On 4/11/2024 at 12:04 AM, bruce85 said:

We sail Sunday on Seashore. We are aurea, which is anytime dining. My question is, since we like a two top, should we still go to the dining reservation table when we board and request a table for two.Or should this not be an issue if we are aurea.

Not an issue for Aurea dining. Just arrive at your restaurant whenever you wish to dine and you'll have a two top. Very occasionally, I can think twice in 100 nights, we were offered a shared table or to wait a few minutes before we could be seated. 

We had excursions on our last cruise which were well over 20% more expensive when purchased onboard. So, yes some are only up to 20% lower but it may be that they are far more onboard. 

21 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

No slippers. But yours shouldn’t take up much room in your luggage. 

Gosh, well I am confused not not now as the poster above said yes but ill fitting 😂

I'll just take my MSC ones, they're handy on the plane for long haul flights and I've a box full to use up 😂

3 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Slippers?  Also one size fits some!  DW could put both feet in one slipper and my much larger feet would need a slipper extender.  LOL 

We bring a pair of beach sandals 

So you do get them?

Usually, on our other cruises or in hotels, they aren't large enough for DH but are just fine (ish) for me. DH will just wear flip-flops but as I much prefer soft slippers, it's ideal when relaxing in the cabin.

Do you receive slippers along with a robe? Our cabin description states robe but no mention of slippers. We are booked on our first Princess cruise and our normal cruise line provides slippers and a robe, if you are eligible. I'll take a pair of thoses, if not.

Our TA has confirmed that our FCC has been applied to our Euribia summer 2024 cruise 🙂   It hasn't resulted in any issues with the booking. 

It eradicates any issues with needing to rebook or worrying about any expiry of the FCC. The chances of our Grandiosa repo actually sailing in April 2025 are rapidly diminishing by the day. 

The Preziosa YC is identical to the YC on all of the Divina class ships. Cabins, TSL and pool at the front and the restaurant at the aft. Preziosa is a lovely ship. 

5 hours ago, Beamafar said:

We’ve done several MSC cruises which had many sea days included (one had 7 in a row - so funny to see passengers almost killing themselves to get off at the first port after that! 🙈), so that wouldn’t be an issue for us.

 

As for the casino being closed - that would be a Plus for me (I can resist anything but temptation 🙄😆). 
 

 

That's funny and reminds me of our last repo. We had 8 straight sea days when our 2 stops in Egypt and 1 in Jordan were cancelled. I'd settled nicely into a relaxed sea day routine and was actually a little put out that i had to disembark and undertake an excursion on arrival in Oman 😂

Fortunately, after that 'interruption' there were then another 5 sea days before Mauritius. Sun, pool, book and a butler with drinks and snacks. Perfect 😁