JamieLogical

The one time I canceled, I had my refund in under 48 hours.

14 hours ago, NYcruzzer said:

Another question. If we decide NOT to purchase a dining package could we still order the "Dining Experience Menu for $59.00 PP ?

Yes, you don't need a dining package to book Specialty Restaurants. You will have a choice to pay for the dining experience menu or pay a la carte. If you get a free specialty dinner for being Diamond, that will be the dining experience menu.

14 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

Perhaps I don't understand how that part works. Does that mean if you book through a big box TA then you can't bid even doing it yourself? My TA wouldn't know whether I'm bidding or not - but I get what you mean.

Yes, when TAs (typically big box or large-scale online TAs) don't participate in the Upgrade program, anyone who books through them simply is not eligible to bid, even on their own through the cruise planner.

8 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

I book through a TA but don't bother them in the bidding for an upgrade and I just do it myself via the Personalizer. My bids are always processed and I receive the unsuccessful advices if I miss out.

That means your TA participates then. Those who book through big box TAs that don't participate in the Upgrade program will not be able to bid at all.

This is the area where you wait for Ubers/Lyfts. It extends quite a ways past the left of this photo... all the way to the end of the sidewalk:

Yes, but it is just a covered walkway and can get a bit crowded. I was there waiting for an Uber in the pouring rain and managed not to get too wet. As you walk out of the terminal and across the crosswalk, there will be no shelter, but there should be shelter as you wait.

48 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I'm also a newbie MSC cruiser (all previous cruises have been on NCL), and I'm taking a 10 day cruise in June.  It's actually B2B cruises, a 3 day and a 7 day.  With everyone saying the short cruises are the party cruises, I guess I'll try to party hard with the kids for 3 days then take the next 7 to recover 🙂

That sounds like an excellent philosophy!

This link will give you a sense of the drink prices:

https://profcruise.com/princess-bar-menus-and-drink-prices-2024/

As others have said, if you order a drink over $15, you just pay the difference, plus the gratuity on the difference.

Also, the Magnifica is an older ship. The newer ships have far more bells and whistles, as well as more modern staterooms with shower doors vs. curtains in the bathrooms.

7 minutes ago, shipndip60 said:

$$$ Cognac $$$ Does anybody know the price they charge for a shot or two of Cognac, that's all that I drink so I was wondering if I need to get the Premier or the Plus Package to make it worth it for me on a 16day cruise

This link shows Cognacs between $10 and $16.

https://profcruise.com/princess-bar-menus-and-drink-prices-2024/

I just checked the app. I don't even have a room assignment for my May 4 sailing on the Enchanted Princess and it too is showing the Captain's Circle desk as my muster station. So, I am assuming that is just a default until the app populates with your actual station.

I haven't done an overnight in OC, but I will warn that when I was docked there until about 9:30 in the evening, all the bars and food trucks were closed by about 4:00pm.

@Momto3girlsintheCarolinas I hope you are feeling better overall about sailing MSC. There are certainly mixed reviews, but I think it's best to keep an open mind and judge for yourself. The worst cruise I ever sailed on was on Princess, and that's supposed to be a higher-quality line. The food, service, entertainment and ship's maintenance were truly TERRIBLE. But even there, I have decided to give Princess another try in a few weeks, because I know that those things can vary from ship-to-ship and sailing-to-sailing even on the same line. Now, if I have a second bad cruise (I mean "bad" in comparison to other cruises... it's still a cruise!) on Princess in May, then I may write the line off completely, but we will see. I have a third Princess cruise booked for August and final payment for that one is due the day after I come back from my May sailing.

2 hours ago, ReligBookFreak said:

We do a LOT of transatlantic cruises where we are in the ocean for 7 days straight. This, waiting until we are on port to make a call does NOT work for us.

Alan

For sure, on an itinerary with a lot of sea days, I can't imagine not having a wifi plan!

1 hour ago, ReligBookFreak said:

For me, gratuities and Wifi are an absolute must. Regarding Wifi, if you are sailing in Europe, Africa, or Asia and need to remain in contact with family, then purchasing Wifi is NOT an option but mandatory. Wifi Calling and Mobile Hotspots can be VERY useful if you don't want to purchase an international plan from your cell phone provider.

Alan

Depends on your cell service. I have Google Fi and international text and data rates are the same as in the US. Only change for me is the cents per minute with cell calls (not wifi calls). So it I am comfortable just having Internet and and contacting loved ones in port, then I have no need for the wifi plan. However I do like being able to surf the Internet while at sea and have to check in with work frequently, so for me, wifi is worthwhile.

We are on the Enchanted May 6, so really looking forward to following along!

19 minutes ago, exm said:

LI, NY has spring break on 4/22-4/26. Yes, we'll be on the cruise. Let kids be kids. I'll be having my drinks and enjoy the break. Cheers.

Wow, that is crazy late for a spring break.

I have sailed both MSC and Celebrity several times since the restart. Increased pricing on Celebrity drove me to MSC. I have mostly sailed in Balcony cabins on both lines (did one sailing in Retreat on Celebrity). For me, the main differences are assigned dining times, more crowded ships, and more children onboard. Some things that are better about MSC are clearly the pricing, the fact that Bailey's is included in the Easy Plus package (have never found a need to upgrade to the premium drink package on MSC), and the ships are generally newer (I never sailed on any of the Edge class ships).

I have heard there have been cuts on Celebrity since I last sailed with them in September 2022, so I don't know how it would stack up now, but I would say that if pricing were equal, I would probably sail Celebrity over MSC. However, the pricing is nowhere even close to equal so MSC is a MUCH MUCH MUCH better value for my dollar these days.

Another thing I really dislike about Celebrity is the non-refundable deposits. In the first year or so post-restart, Celebrity's deposits were still non-refundable, but you could transfer them to a different sailing if you needed to without penalty. Now that is no longer an option and I find the non-refundable deposits to be a real deterrent for us.

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

So true but as someone who lives just up the beach from Fort Lauderdale, here in south Florida spring break season is the entire month of March with the highest number in the middle of the month. 

 

We will not drive anywhere near the beach in March.  We learned that during our first year here when it took forever to get down A1A (the beach road that separates the beach from the hotels and restaurants) because of jaywalking beach goers.  Once they got to the beach, in some areas it was standing room only!

Right, college spring breaks can be pretty much the entire month of March and into early April. It the public grade school breaks that are a little more consistent and predictable.

10 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

So should I also ignore on my booking confirmation where it says early dining requested?  I found this funny because I never spoke about dining with the agent doing the booking so I personally didn't request anything 

Yep!

Well you can completely ignore whatever it says on the website. You will not be assigned a dining time until you check in and receive your key card.

24 minutes ago, TYMZ2973 said:

My time says 13-15??????

Where are you seeing this?

3 hours ago, peder said:

 

School districts stagger breaks throughout the entire Jan-Apr period.
 

And also, more and more parents will take their kids out of school without worrying about missed days.

While it's true that a lot of schools have a February Break, usually around Presidents' Day, you can definitely count on more concentration of breaks around Easter for grade schools at least. Now, if you are trying to avoid college Spring breaks, that is much more challenging as those are all over the place!

1 hour ago, kernie968 said:

I guess on the ships we have ever sailed the buffet always opened at 5 or 530. Also on all the other ships there was always a food option somewhere in the ship. We always had an early buffet dinner to avoid the crowds. Openings at 6 makes avoiding the crowds even harder.

Looking at the Dailies from my last Meraviglia sailing, it looks like lunch went until 4:00 and dinner starter at 6:00, but grab-and-go items were supposed to be available between 4:00 and 6:00 at the grill and pizza stations.

I am sorry for your health situation and that the effective treatment for it is not currently legal in many places. The issue here will be crossing international borders. Neither the US nor Canada allow for the transport of THC into our out of the country, even if it is legal within those countries. Because of the varying international laws, to my knowledge, ALL cruise lines ban it from being brought onboard.