garrob

Thank you everyone. Skoobdo, great info so many thanks for that. We live in Scotland so the weather will be like a summers day for us!!.

Hopefully we will get boarded as you say and we can get a chance to find our bearings.

I think we might leave exploring Dubai until the last day of the cruise as we arrive early morning and don't leave until the following day.

Regards.

14 hours ago, mef_57 said:

I see you haven't a lot of posts, so perhaps you aren't aware there is a Ports forum.  One for Africa & the Middle East. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/19-africa-amp-middle-east/

There is a member, Skoobdo who had been doing a few MSC sailings these past weeks and she has been on the Bellisima recently. As a solo non tour passenger, she may not have quite what you are looking for but read some of the details for your ports and if you post again there, she may have some insights.

Recent post on the Port forum mentioned above for Sir Bani Ya Island.

Burj Khalifa is pretty much a 'must', but know that you can also get reduced tickets through 'GroupOn'.  Check there for other discounts.  

With 4 including teens, I would be looking at non cruise bookings.  You can most likely get private tours for less than ship tours; but they still seem expensive when you have to consider the family plan.

Recently, Bahrain was removed from a similar itinerary with an extra day in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi.  Not sure how your itinerary will stand. 

For Abu Dhabi, a taxi to Ferrari World, or the Mosque, or whatever interests you would most likely be more cost effective than a tour. All the cities have tourism websites, so checking there will define what is available now. Dubai is building like crazy because they are hosting the World Expo in November, so plenty that is new. Taxi or metro or combo will get you to Dubai Mall, Dancing Waters (night fountain - the largest in the world) and the Burj Khalifa.  Dubai also has Global Village with weekend music festivals (website to check what is current). There is also Magic Garden which is another night light entertainment activity.  Camel Market, dune buggy.

Depending on the teens' ages, would you set them to arrange day's tours via internet with set budget in mind?  I realize it could open up a mess, or tailor something they will like at an inexpensive cost.  Great start at learning how to plan travel and do a budget too.

 

Many thanks for your reply, I will check out all the info you provided. Many thanks it is greatly appreciated.

Hello, many thanks for getting back to me, I really appreciate it.

I will look up all those suggestions and hopefully we will find something.

I know what you mean about people expecting so much.

You said you are on the Bellissima as we speak.

What is the weather like at the moment? we sail on 15th Feb.

We are booked on the Aurea package, do you know what the private sundeck for Aurea guests is like? is it large?

Is the check in process quick?

We arrive at Dubai Airport at 06.30am on the day we sail, would you have any idea if we will get boarded soon after that?

We have a fly/cruise package.

Hello folks,

We are sailing on the MSC Bellissima on the 15th February from Dubai. I have been looking for some trips to do from the ports we arrive at, but I am struggling to find anything. They all seem quite expensive.

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers.

Also, I have been reading a lot of negative reviews of the ship, is it really that bad?

We sailed on the Seaside from Miami in October 2019 and really enjoyed it.

Any tips/hints would be grateful.

Hello folks, we are sailing on the Bellissima on Feb 2020 from Dubai.

We have booked an Aurea package as we had that on the Seaside in October 2019.

My question is, does anyone know if the Aurea sundeck is the same as the Seaside? Is it as big? does it have a bar?

Any info would be greatly recieved.

Thank you for all your replies. I will contact Msc a few weeks before to try and book our seats. And that's great we get on the ship instead of hanging around. 

Many thanks. 

Many thanks for your replies. I will keep trying to find out. I have phoned MSC but I keep getting different answers.

Hopefully the 4 of us will be able to sit together.

Regards

Hello folks, I am looking for some information regarding my upcoming fly/cruise from Dubai on the MSC Bellissima.

We are travelling from Edinburgh to Dubai on Friday 14th arriving in Dubai at 06.30am on the 15th. We sail on the 15th and was wondering what time we would get on the ship as transfers are included from the Airport.

Also, we are flying with Emirates and as we booked through MSC can we resreve seats on the plane?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for the info. I wonder if anyone can advise please. We are cruising from Dubai in February 2020 on the Bellissima. We have a cruise and fly package from Edinburgh. Does anyone know if at some point you can pick your seats on the plane? Also we land in Dubai at 06.30 am, can we board the ship that early? 

Kind regards. 

Don't know if anyone has had any experience on this. I tried to upgrade my room on the Seaside sailing 19/10/19 from an Aurea balcony to an Aurea grand suite - only 2 weeks ago. I did a dummy booking on MSC website for the 4 of us on the grand suite which came out at £300 more than what we paid. So I asked my TA to enquire for me and he came back with a price of £800 to upgrade. I was dissapointed and asked them the reason why - they said MSC go with the price the grand suite was when I booked my balcony.

I told them no thank you but I thought they would have wanted the extra money from me to upgrade for £300. Maybe the ship is sold out anyway now.

Beamafar that looks a fantastic cruise. I hope you have a great time. We watched a TV programme with a lady called Jane Mcdonald who cruised on different ships. The one we watched was on the Meraviglia - such a beautiful ship. 

Wow 23rd cruise, that's brilliant. So glad you got back to me as you have a wealth of MSC experience.

Have you been on the Seaside before? if you have, did you enjoy it?

Do you have any experience of the Aurea package?

This is our first time with MSC as we sailed on the NCL Getaway last year for the Eastern Carribean which we enjoyed.

The Seaside looks more modern than the Getaway so we are all really excited.

Where are you cruising to?

Thank you.

It totally makes sense what you have explained to me, why would you pay more on top of a drinks package !!

We definately knew about the daily service charge for which we are quite willing to pay.

Looking forward to our cruise and the first time we will have had a minibar and looking forward to the Gelato.

This is our first time with MSC so hopefully it will be good. We sailed with NCL Getaway last year from Miami and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Many thanks for your quick response.

I asked the same question to my travel agent yesterday and he came back with that he was just off the phone with MSC and they said because I booked the drinks package before they introduced the service charges being included, so technically I would pay the service charge on the drinks I order.

I just called MSC and they said I don't pay the 15% as I booked the package before I board. I am going to stop using travel agents!!. I just called MSC a second time and I got a different person and they said the same as the first person.

Hi folks, this is my first time posting so hopefully I am on the correct area.

We are cruising on MSC Seaside on 19/10/2019 from Miami to the western Carribean.

We are a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers aged 17 and 15 we booked the Aurea package.

I booked this through my travel agent in the UK before MSC changed there drinks packages.

We upgraded to the Deluxe drink package which gives you unlimited drinks and use of the mini bar in your cabin.

Can someone tell me what service charges I have to pay please, as I booked this last year before they changed, do I pay 15% charge on every drink I order? even though I have paid for a drink package. Do I have to pay the same for the kids drinks? Do I pay 15% on the drinks from my mini bar?

Also do I have to pay a daily service charge as well as the 15% on drinks. It's all so confusing. Travel agent has been hopeless.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.