Best Cat Mom

When we booked our cruise, it asked for my name as it appeared on our passport. I have a first name, a middle name and a last name. But, for some reason, it took my first name AND middle name and came up with that as just my first name. I tried to sign in for hours using my first name and it never worked. Took me that long to see they had my first name as 2 names. OK so I maneuvered around that, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to change that to reflect just my first name. Nothing major, just a pain.

I called them direct to book our first cruise and they wanted our middle names since our passports have middle names included. They said that since they did not have a field for middle name, we'd always use our first and middle names in the field they call 'first name.' Guess their IT can't figure out how to add a middle name field (or maybe they don't consider it a priority to make that change). Similarly, my husband's suffix -- he's a "III" -- is part of his 'last name' field. Once we signed into everything -- MSC website, MSC for Me app, etc. -- for the first time, we allowed our logins to be memorized and then it was not as much of an issue. It did confuse us a few times in the beginning as well. :(

We used only our passports to board the Jade in April in Miami. They did make sure that we knew our cabin number before they let us up to the security lines, however.

Thanks Huntingdon and KPRH -- what a relief that the spa is still there. When they do the drydock, maybe they'll add a small Haven area too. We liked the intimacy of the Haven on the Jade.

 

There's no spa, if that's important to you.

 

We sailed on the Spirit in April of 2016 and had an absolutely wonderful couples massage in the spa.

(They end it by putting your hands together and ringing a little bell. When they did that this past April at the end of our massage on the Jade, we laughed remembering it from the last time.)

Did they close the spa since we were on the Spirit in 2016? I've been looking at Mediterranean cruises on the Spirit for next year but will look at a different ship if they no longer have a spa. :(

Hi Gate Guardian,

I saw that you are also Marriott Platinum and Hilton Diamond. I am Hilton Diamond too -- but not lifetime, at least not yet. :) Did you think that the SPG Gold might match differently to Marriott? I know that they were not as precise in their descriptions as I would have liked. After all, isn't this automated and not a human's opinion of how it should match?

This thread has been so helpful for me. We are relatively new to cruising and never considered that the cruise line would need to cancel except for weather issues. When I was initially booking our next cruise which departs out of NYC, I was considering using an airline credit that I have on file from a previously cancelled flight. Once I found out from all of you that NCL does not cover all charges associated with a cancelled flight (I know that I erred by not reading all the T&Cs), I knew that I only wanted to use points since (for me) they are fully refundable up to 72 hours in advance of my flight. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this thread. This advice has been invaluable to us !!!!

You can also use your loyalty programs with hotels -- that will be better if your hotel status is higher than your cruise line status. I did not realize that MSC matched with hotel status until the rep with MSC mentioned it when I was on the phone with them. Go with whatever you have that is highest. I used my Marriott Lifetime Platinum and received MSC Black.

Marriott is the source. I'm Lifetime Platinum with Marriott and am an Amex Platinum account holder. Marriott informed me of the program changes coming after August 1st when the Marriott Rewards program merges with SPG. After August 1st, SPG Gold will only "translate" to Marriott Silver. My husband is an additional cardholder on my Amex Platinum account today and that grants him SPG Gold status. I requested and received a SPG/Starwood Gold account for my husband based on his Amex Platinum card as that is one of the benefits of Amex Platinum. Then I requested Marriott to grant him reciprocal status in Marriott Rewards. Marriott Rewards granted him Gold status. Then I requested MSC to Status Match him to Marriott Rewards Gold. MSC give him Gold status. If I had only asked MSC to Status Match him to SPG Gold, based on the boards here, he would have only received MSC Silver. After August 1st, Marriott Rewards will translate SPG Gold to Marriott Silver when the programs merge.

I'm trying to help others achieve Gold instead of Silver on MSC if they meet the same criteria.

Bummer! I guess I have (at least) one reason to be happy that we haven't retired yet and that I have to fly every week (YUCK) for work -- I still have the status that makes this much less painful for us. Someday, this will make us very unhappy but for now, I will be okay. Thanks for the info!

Wow -- I've never seen $500. I am lucky because I am Delta Diamond and when I use points, I have no change fees at all. But wow, $500 is rough. NCL should cover actual change fees in that case. I can see that that it would be reasonable for them to ask for proof -- but they should still cover actual charges. Does some trip insurance cover that? We never get insurance for the flights because my status covers it, but I would hope that some insurance does cover it.

Marriott bought Starwood a few years ago and the loyalty programs are (finally) combining on 1 August 2018. If you have Starwood Gold status now and you're interested in an MSC Status Match, you'll get a better match before August 1.

Starwood Gold today gives you Marriott Gold. Marriott Gold has been known to match MSC Gold. After August 1, Starwood Gold will only give Marriott Silver as a match. Marriott Silver has been known to match to MSC Silver. Match before August 1 and get MSC Gold instead of MSC Silver,

Posting in case some have not heard of the Marriott/SPG changes effective 1 August 2018...

Not a good deal to book Delta Basic Economy, I guess! (And you won't get frequent flyer points for your next flight either, I would think.)

Correct -- the change fee is always separate from the fare difference. $200 is the change fee that we "agree" to when we book an airline fare. The actual fare price is completely separate and at our own risk.

It also shows up if you search for "European Cruises" -- I guessed that after we booked and saw the name listed as "Portugal, Spain, France & Italy: Transatlantic Treasures."

I must agree that the OBC of $25/$50 is quite an insult for our "inconvenience" but $300 per person for an airline change fee is 50% more than I'd expect. I normally fly Delta and their change fee is only $200 per ticket. Which airlines charge more than that? I recall when it was $75 for domestic changes and $150 for international changes. When Delta went to $200 for any change, it was a big difference. $300 seems way too expensive to me.

We just booked this cruise over the weekend. When I was looking for one-way flights, I saw that that they are much more reasonable in cost if you spend points/miles instead of cash -- at least on Delta, our preferred airline. If you don't already have a Delta Skymiles account, there's still plenty of time to save up the miles for the flights. You could probably find a credit card that has a sign up bonus with a first 3- or 6-month minimum spend that might potentially cover all the points needed for a flight. We booked upgraded seats from Rome to home for only 45K points each vs. the ~2,500 Euro price. I know that I've seen American Express sign up offers for 60,000 miles recently -- that could cover both flights, depending on your home airports. Amex lets you transfer your points into a Delta Skymiles account and there are other airlines available too if you don't want Delta. Our first class flights to LGA were only 18,500 points each. 60,000 points is enough for both. Don't cave and spend cash that is better to have to spend on board and for excursions if you can help it!

I'm not sure about reservations in general since we've been in the Haven lately. As Haven guests, we have been given a dedicated phone number to call to make reservations at specialty restaurants. They told me that take only a small percentage of the reservations in advance (I think they told me 10%) but once Haven guests board, the Haven concierge took our requests and make all the reservations exactly as we asked.

So the main dining rooms are free and you can just show up for dinner, correct?

Correct. If you have a special request -- for example, table by the window -- or arrive at a busy time, you may have a wait. If you're not picky, you should easily be seated when you "just show up." Regular dinner is free, though sometimes there may be items on the regular menu that have an upcharge.

You don't even need cruise docs. As long as you completed your online check-in and you have your US passport, you have all you need to show them. We skip the paper and have no issues. Of course, if that makes you nervous, take pix of your paper docs and have them on your phone. And always have a picture of the name page of your passport in case you lose it -- makes it easier for the embassy to help you.

We waited until we boarded because I had read on one of the boards that your butler 'might' be able to get you a bottle not on the official list of choices. We met the butler on embarkation day and told him our choices for the 3 and they were in the cabin that afternoon. I don't recall that we wound up asking for something not on the list -- but the point was that the bottles appeared right away even though we waited until after boarding to make the request. My husband and I were still debating on our selections until that day, trying to judge our moods. We wound up requesting Baileys Irish Cream, Amaretto and Jameson Irish Whiskey. The Baileys was all gone by Day 6 -- great instead of cream in morning coffee. :) We brought the other 2 bottles home, both about half empty.

Enjoy!

Finally found the post I (almost) recalled correctly about 'clothing optional.' It referred to the spa, not the regular pool, and was for a European cruise. It is the the thread entitled "Bravo! Orchestra! Review with pictures of Med Cruise April 18-29, 2018." One of the dailies posted had listed 7am to 9am as the time allowed in the spa without a swimsuit (sorry but I have not figured out how to insert an image yet so I've attached it instead):

"Access to the Thermal Area without a swimming suit is allowed from 7:00 to 9:00 in the morning. You are highly recommended to use a towel."

But other European cruise dailies posted had no such comment added. Maybe it was just a one off. Sorry to interject something in the discussion that can't be proven either way (and sorry to get anyone's hopes up).

Also if you want couples massage book on embarkation day. It was explained to me that there are only 2 couples rooms available.

Looks like we are headed to the spa before lunch on our embarkation day. Thanks!!

This leads to another question we had about a couples massage in the spa. We only want a couples massage but the spa treatment that is available to pre-buy on the website is a couples massage with full access to the Thermal area for the entire cruise. We already have access because we're in YC. The price for two 30 minute massages plus full access to the area is $312 per person. There is nothing listed that is just a couples massage. Since everyone says it costs more to buy when already on board, I'm wondering how much it will cost. We'd prefer a 90-minute couples massage -- does anyone have any idea how much that will cost per person?

Interesting. I thought I read in another thread about an MSC cruise where the "main" ship pool had clothing optional times. I wonder how they handle that? Maybe it is in the Terms and Conditions and everybody signs waivers as part of the purchase process...

I did see some shore excursion descriptions where beaches are clothing optional, but there was not an age restriction for those excursions.

Whatever occurs, it is not a big deal to us. I was just trying to find out what to expect and was kind of surprised to not find the question already in a thread somewhere.

46 days to go to find out everything about our MSC cruise! :)

We had an Owner's Suite on the Jade in mid-April. Our concierge was Carlos and our butler was Rizaldi. We booked the cabin for the extra space, including 2 balconies and 2 bathrooms. We spend much time in the cabin so having space is important to us. We had discovered from our last cruise on the Spirit that the cabins with more space come with a butler and a concierge so we make use of them occasionally. My husband's birthday was the day after sailing and we had reservations for a nice steak dinner at Cagney's. That morning, while Rizaldi was refilling our coffee station, we came back to the room after breakfast. He took me aside to ask me what time our reservations were for dinner and said that they'd "set up" the room while we were away. I never asked. I never told Rizaldi that it was my husband's birthday. Of course, it is there for anyone to notice on our passports/itinerary/Latitudes program/etc. We came back to a cabin decorated with streamers, balloons and confetti with a white tablecloth on our dining table and lots of cake, candy, etc.and a second bottle of Moet Chandon champagne in the chilling bucket. My husband was so surprised and delighted -- and so was I since I did not request it and did not know to expect it to be so elaborate. Keep in mind that this was only the day after sailing so our butler did not know us very well by then. I was impressed that he took the initiative to help us celebrate in such a nice way. Our concierge also stopped by our table to wish my husband Happy Birthday at dinner. I remember when he gave me a sly smile at lunch and that was when I realized that he was in on it as well.

I'm sorry to hear that some people have not had such a good experience. I don't know if we were one of the lucky ones but I feel that the service met our expectations.