BHBillH

Will report on 3/26/2022 Sinfonia out of Venice 

Anyone going on Sinfonia 3/26/2022 Venice /Greece cruise?  If so see ya on board! 

hasn't changed for Mediterranean still have to on board

did you get your Etickets? My room number for 3/26 was on the tickets 

5 hours ago, cruzeluver said:

It is simply not true that all cruises on all itineraries with MSC are requiring vaccinated guests to book excursions through the ship in order to go ashore. Those determinations are made by the individual  ports and can change frequently. There are plenty of reviews on here from cruisers touring independently.

it says quote

"SHORE EXCURSIONS:
 

• If you wish to go ashore during your cruise, you will be required to participate in an MSC shore excursion to ensure the same high standards of health and safety ashore as on board. Select excursions will require an official COVID-19 certificate to access certain venues (i.e.. museums, churches, etc.) or to participate in an event. Please read all the details of the excursion, when making a reservation for a shore excursion.
• From April 2022, guests who are fully vaccinated may be allowed to ashore independently and will need to follow the requirements of going ashore according to the countries they will visit."

from MSC health and safety copy paste 3/13/2022

this is true for all Mediterranean cruises, I wish it wasn't 

right now if you had the booster your good, second booster not approved for general public yet..... 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html%23:~:text%3DIf%20you%20receive%20a%20vaccine,than%20the%20recommended%20interval.&ved=2ahUKEwj-l9CessH2AhWblGoFHQ5FBZIQFnoECD0QBQ&usg=AOvVaw1hot91sih7Qjc9SVpFxWUV

give it time if no varients pop up this will go back to some new normal without masks or testing 

for the vaxed

many countries and cruise lines have ended mandatory mask wearing will MSC do same? 

I'm a physician and feel testing should be limited to exposure and or symptoms not just because. 

you can leave starting April

based on health and safety MSC 

choose where your sailing 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/health-and-safety-measures

3 hours ago, Morgsmom said:

There are 3 packages - 10/20/40 items.  Those are per cruise, not per day.

A pair of socks = 1 item.  I pair of boxer shorts = 1 item.  One pair of heavy jeans = 1 item.  You get the idea. Small items are inefficient to send out while shirts/pants/dresses/etc make more economic sense.

 

Technically you have to send all 10/20/40 items out at the same time, though onboard reports vary as to splitting the 40 item over 2 different times.  

 

Seeing as how you will be coming off 20 days on another line (lucky you!) you could look into their laundry rates.  It might be beneficial to have laundry done at the end of that cruise and have everything ready to go for your next one.  Alternately, if there is a day or two in between the cruises you could have your laundry done "on land."  There are plenty of drop off laundromats in Europe.  

Due to our trip, 3 days Venice and 8 days MSC we bought the 40 package due to having enough clothes for 6 to 7 days, seemed to be the best. Should be enough to have clean clothes rest of trip and to home. 

Per cruise, for a 7 day I purchased a 40 item for wife and I 

If I was you I would get one 40 for each of you then you can wash once each week 

I'm a bit tired of MSC already
Booked last year Aurea
They downgraded the easy drink refused to add the current offered easy drink plus, we had to pay.

No free excursion

Had to buy additional insurance current policy not good enough

Tried to charge reticking fee after paying for upgrades 

Answers are hard to come by when I call and wait long cues 

This my first and may be last time. 

we have vaccine plus booster and we meet criteria for every port of now. 

since we cruise 3/26/2022 we cannot leave the ship without MSC excusion

MSC lifts this in April 2022

no other cruise line is requiring this anymore but MSC still is

We feel like it's a money making thing more than safety at this point. 

I bought three excusions since there are stories of MSC refusing to allow people off or back on the ship without excursion 

3 hours ago, bng804 said:

Does anyone have any insight on how long it will take to receive the FCC? I submitted the request today and have seen some info saying 14 days from submittal and some still saying 14 days after your sail date. We were on an April 25th sailing and would like to quickly rebook an early May sailing. Obviously that would be very difficult to do if I have to wait until 14 days past April 25th to try to rebook...

I'm on a May 3rd cruise out of Venice but hold little hope at this time, maybe? but a Big Maybe? We were to fly on May 1st to Venice............ Crickets from everyone because we have to wait I guess 

4 hours ago, Addict said:

 

 

I agree that would be useful. Getting fed up with people giving advice that is totally not relevant to the specific poster. The world doesn't revolve around the .U.S. There are other countries out there in the big wide world. And before anyone suggests that Cruise Critic is a U.S. site, I'm currently on boards.cruisecritic.co.uk. Rant over.

Problem is the admins here do not want several threads on each major subject, the title of this thread is general in its wording so to be American or British posting is appropriate. I wish people could calm down over Corona Virus, their extreme anxiety and panic is causing me fatigue  

18 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Wish you luck, have a plan B.

We do 😊

20 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

So much gloom. Here's some good news.

 

New daily cases in China now down to 100 plus. Korea's new cases falling to 300+. Now just 3% of tests, down from 5% last week.

 

China will be taking a victory lap soon, after 3 months. Korea saw a surge in cases after Feb 17^th, and I hope that they have good news in April.

 

Europe is beginning their outbreak, and their job is to prevent the various outbreaks from cascading into a continental epidemic. Total confirmed infections now 11k. Dead 366 in Italy, only 44 dead Rest Of Europe. Why such a high death rate in Italy? Can they declare Victory in Europe by May?

 

The USA is problematic. No one knows how many are really infected. They should be able to do 10k tests a day 'soon'. Will they need to do 100k tests daily? Personally, I'm staying clear of USA till at least June. COVID19 should become dormant in summer.

 

Yes, cruise and airline companies are in trouble. Yes, decisive action could restore cruising by autumn. The eyes of the world are now on Europe and USA.

We are waiting but by the end of March we may just book a different trip to Scotland on the ground no cruise we have a May 3rd trip now

I'll go to Venice May 3rd if quarantine lifted. Wash hands we are healthy

I have to wait and see for everything May 3rd cruise from Venice 🥶

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

I agree, but I don't think they made the policy based on science - intentionally so. The problem is, even when their own docs say it's the Flu, the ports don't believe it. This causes huge financial problems and passengers get angry.

 

So I think the policy was made because of the situation they've been put into. I don't think they believe those symptoms mean CV. And I *do* believe they think ports will not trust the ship doctors.

Oh yes, because Society has become so reliant on Social Media for opinions and facts as well as the News media has blasted us with Corona Virus, while there is a danger to a portion of people,  its not the plague and the world is acting as if it is. I agree nothing wrong with precautions, nothing wrong with quarantine when Positive, in fact people should stay home when fever chills and sick all the time anyway.  

26 minutes ago, antiq said:

I've just read MSC cancellation policy.  MSC USA is different from MSC Australia. 

On Australian MSC webpage cancel 119 to 90 days will lose deposit only and  89 days to 45 days -  25% penalty on Australia MSC website.  

On MSC USA website 60- 46 days - 50% penalty and 59 days to 15 days will lose 75%. 

It is inconsistent for the same company.

What about the new Cruise assurance policy?

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I asked about passengers who have no fever. Seasonal allergies or asthma, for example. Or heavy smokers.

I'm a Physician and this policy is insane, it has no medical basis just "Facebook" social approved measures. People really need to calm down. I dont want COVID 19 but also this denied boarding is crazy. If you have symptoms and screen positive they should have a medical professional (Every ship has a Physician) check that passenger and give the OK or NO GO, it would take minutes to decide. 

We are cruising from Venice May 3rd flying in May 1st, Cruise already paid for months ago, we have trip insurance for both cruise and airfare, we hope Venice will have the quarantine lifted by then.  So far not even a update email from MSC nothing, I'm finding out from the web whats going on. May be my last booked cruise from them.

On 2/26/2020 at 12:06 PM, floridian1 said:

We sail in two weeks out of Rome (civita) and we have 2 school age kids. Watching all the updates and trying my best to keep all of us healthy with vitamin c, elderberry, frequent hand washing and sanitizer.

 

We decided we will NOT cancel unless we are forced to by MSC or the airline. The only port i forsee may deny a ship is Malta. However the Worst case scenario for us is quarantine as we have jobs and school to get back to.

 

In regards to msc or gov officials quarantining a med cruise - i'm not sure what good that would even do anyone since the cruise embarks and disembarks new passengers at every port (except malta).

 

the good news is no big news or big changes today out of italy in regards to coronavirus.

MSC has stopped allowing anyone in Italy from boarding............yet the cruises can still be bought? Strange times