Oceans 818

Absolutely, keep an eye on the .ca site as occassionally, MSC makes offers on one site but not both. Anything MSC offers on their site, should be no problem booking through a TA, if they don't offer it, you should always ask them about it. I've found some TA's don't always offer the best price for trips upfront, unless asked. US cruisers should be looking at the .ca site as with the dollar exchange it may save them hundreds as well. But I've found Canadian TA's aren't ususally offering any extra's for booking a MSC cruise with them, unlike their US counterparts. Most people aren't interested in comparing as they feel it isn't worth their time. We're retired on a fixed income and can only spend the money once, so when I save a few hundred, I'm happy! Our upcoming Dec. cruise was hundreds less to book through an American TA back in February. It was 46% higer in CAD and the exchange rate was 34%, making it 12% cheaper to purchase in US. The cruise has price increased by 58% US and the CAD price is only 33% higher, which is better than the current exchange rate of 36.5% making it 3.5% less to purchase in CAD, which would be more than a $120 + in pocket on the cheapest booking available. But each cruise is different and savings will vary. How are you enjoying the Meraviglia? They were offering some really amazing deals ont he NY sailngs. Is MSC comparing well with your other experiences?

Your photos are very nice and make the tour look very interesting. I've been having doubts, only because a couple people we know went through on the ship and said it was boring. Plus we live in an area with canals and locks, so perhaps that makes them a bit jaded towards them. I know if the bridge is up, it's looked at as an inconvienance and not something of interest, here. I for one, will still stop on the bridge when walking and look at the old canal and am still impressed with them. If caught by the bridge, I still like to get out of the car and watch the ships pass. I think had I already done this tour, I would be looking at seeing old Panama city or may just stay on the ship. We are docking at Colon, and many excursions require going to Panama City, which is a long bus ride anyway. I don't plan on telling my husband, how long this day is going to be, until we are on the ship. While writing this, I'm wondering why I've never travelled our canal system by boat! Maybe I should be looking into that!!

Just to note, should you choose MSC, prior to booking your cruise, go online and register for a status match on their website. Use whichever company you have the highesst status at. It's simple and will give you a discount and depending on which level they match you to, an OBC as well. You can look at it on their website, it's called Voyager's Club and lists all the companies that they'll match, but many are not Canadian, but many are included that have Canadian affiliates. Some complain that MSC you have to pay extra for the zip line on Seaside or the formula simutators or arcade games that RCL may include, but when the cost is thousands less sometimes per person, you can buy a lot of simutlator time with the savings and still come out ahead. Carnival has a roller coaster on a ship but it'll set you back about $15-$20 a ride that lasts about a minute. MSC as another poster mentioned has an All In package for drinks and wi-fi, that is much less expensive than any other that I've looked at. Yacht Club is a great way to travel if you can.

Hi, we booked the Panama Canal excursion on our upcoming December cruise after reading a great review from another poster who gives much detail and some wonderful photos. Here's a link to the review :Cartagena/Colon/Limon: Detailed Port Reviews Here by Elbodans Colon Port Day (Panama Canal by Ferry excursion): http://www.suitcasescholar.com/2023/01/10/transiting-the-panama-canal-by-ferry-an-msc-cruise-ship-excursion/ She posted with the links and some here on cruise critic admonished for it not being posted in the proper place, but I for one, am happy as I wouldn't have found it buried in with all the other postings & replies. Still learning to navigate the forums...

I'm a little (or alot!) OCD when I get interested in something! Good to know. I knew if booked onboard you could transfer, but didn't know about this one. Love to learn new stuff!!

I don't know how Princess works but if you can find an invoice or something that shows elite status? I know they mail you offers from time to time, maybe that would have something on it or if you can log into their website? Is there a # you can call and ask them to email you something? I wouldn't tell them why, but I would try. Not sure which TA you are thinking of using. I used Expedia Cruises both US and Canada and both times I had to contact them and tell them what I wanted and worse how to go about it. The US site was totally unhelpful when trying to access the booking for check in. The Canadian Expedia TA was near our home. He ended up telling me if I wished to travel MSC in the future to book directly with them as it was not worth his time! There had been a few price reductions by hundreds of dollars both before and after final payment. Prior to final payment I told him to cancel the cruise and I would forfeit the deposit and book it myself at the lower rate. It was worth losing the $400 deposit in savings. After final deposit it dropped another $400 and I asked him to get MSC to either give me OBC or a cabin upgrade. He said they refused and I told him that had I booked with them they would have. I asked him to contact them again and he came back with the upgrade we wanted. The website prices show the different $ choices. One thing to consider when looking at them is the included OBC for MSC's special offers is usually the same as the price PP difference. Sometimes it is even priced higher than if you only chose the All In with drinks and Wi fi. With the 4/28 sailing it shows the offer with the OBC is $50 more PP than without, so you are not really gaining anything by selecting that one. If you plan on having 5 drinks PP per day the All in drinks and Wi fi pays for itself. By drinks that includes bottles of water ($4 + tx + grat), cappuccino's or take out tea/coffee/pop from the bars. Or a Spanish coffee after dinner etc. As this also includes the add on gratuities and taxes you'd be paying by the drink without a package. It is also, much less expensive than purchasing the drink package separate. If you have Voyager's club you will get the 5% base fare discount from MSC and may have to ask you TA for it, if not offered by them. They will have to ask MSC, but you will get it. As to additional discount or OBC from MSC, it will depend on how far out your booking is and you will still need Voyager's Club. MSC is different from other cruise lines in that you must cancel and make a new booking for changes or upgrades. If the new price is higher than what you originally booked at, you pay more, even if it's to change from Bella to Fantastica category MSC will only status match you once. All people in the same cabin will get the discount and OBC if valid, so it's worth it. Especially if you are Diamond status. As to deposits, you can refund with no penalty from MSC up until 90 days and then it varies until payment in full, which is non refundable. Except for Yacht club. the terms are different. Go to the MSC site and read the terms and conditions. You can look at the cabin locations on the ship in the booking without completing the booking on all the different levels available. We've never had an aft balcony, so not sure on that at all, but they are listed under the Premium Balcony category. You have about a week to figure out the Voyager's club to qualify for 5%+5% disc + $50 OBC PP for Silver, Gold or Diamond status, for booking 9 months prior. Hope this helps.

Hi, just checked the .ca site and tried a few different scenarios for the 6 night cruise and there were selections to be made. The only thing I can think of is if you are choosing Bella instead of Fantastica you do not get to choose a cabin. It would be assigned by MSC later, prior to cruising. Have you already done the status match for your elite on Princess with MSC? From what I've found that could/should get you Diamond level on MSC, which comes with some additional perks. Have you considered booking through an American cruise travel site? We use Direct Line . com as they give us extra OBC and if you book around a holiday they usually have other perks included. Trip Advisor . com select cruises and it will give you a list of providers with different or the same offers as MSC and you can compare to see what works for you. We booked 2 through Expedia both US and Can and didn't get anything except Expedia points. \ If you plan on booking direct with MSC, you could just call and find out which cabins are available and book by phone with them, we've done that as well and it's not any better than booking through a 3rd party and can be at times more frustrating. Good Luck and enjoy the Meraviglia, she's a beautiful ship!

When you called MSC did you call the casino department both to book and when there was an issue? I know that if you book through the casino department, it's a whole different ballgame than than their regular system. We had a voucher for a free casino cruise once and could only book what it was for and the upgrades were more than booking the cruise without the voucher. Drinks were only free at the casino bar and we ended up buying the drink package. We put out $1000 for our free 7 night cruise plus gratuities. Could have booked the same cruise for $200 more and had wi-fi included. This was just after they started sailing again and prices were down. The Meraviglia is a beautiful ship, enjoy.

It should explain the terms on the upgrade offer. For us as a couple it was always whatever the bid was times 2, but I'm not sure if it's different for 3. If the 3rd is a child it most likely is different as MSC usually has children sail free.

@c-leg5 Hi, Hollie from Maya Key got back to me today and assured me the ferry shuttle will run every 30 minutes back to the docks and gave me the name and location of a taxi driver in Port that they use. Thank you for pointing out the potential pitfalls that I'd overlooked.

Until you mentioned the ferry schedule, I hadn't realized that I hadn't taken into consideration they were cruise line tour shuttles back to the port. I have messaged Maya Key again to verify the return time as the confirmation only shows a departure time. I did tell them we need to be back on board the ship by 2pm. So hopefully, she responds as quickly tomorrow as she did today. We are doing the 3+11 sailing as we decided to add the extra 3 nights after booking the 11 nights. I agree the itinerary looked interesting to us. I visited Cartagena when I was in high school and always wanted to go back and see if the walled city still held the magic it had back then. We've never been to Panama, Costa Rica or Honduras, so are looking forward to them. Ocean Cay is a beautiful, not much for young kids to do, but perfect for us, plenty of beautiful beach and crystal water. We have family sailing Royal over Xmas, which is how we ended up booking a cruise for Xmas. We looked at their itinerary and ended up booking the 11 day with MSC. My BIL will only sail Royal as he likes it and isn't interested in trying another, which is fine, but we really like MSC. We're still fairly new to cruising but are learning fast! We are retired so not that young! I like to research and figure out what we are doing well in advance as to avoid making a big mistake. Which without your advice I almost missed. My brain isn't firing on all cylinders these days. LOL If the ferry back to the dock doesn't work with the All Aboard that would be a disaster to figure out on the island. Hopefully they have a return that will work as I'm looking forward to Maya Key.

We were given a ferry pick up time of 9am. Our ship is docking about 7am so plenty of time to get to the ferry dock. I did not think about the return times to the ferry dock as the reviews I've read said every 1/2 hour. But that is most likely for cruise ships. I will contact them again for clarification. Thanks, for pointing that out to me. The only other ship in port will be NCL arriving about 10am. So shouldn't be too busy. Haven't booked a taxi as I haven't figured out which zones are what and the couple I've found want you to book port to zone A,B, C etc. There is a taxi service listed near the ferry dock, that I've messaged to see if they are available for walk up service, as we may end up at Mahogany Bay dock. With it being only a 20 minute walk from the cruise dock, we will probably walk to the ferry pick up but most likely taxi back to the ship. If NCL is running a ferry to Maya Key, we'll see if we can bribe our way on one back to port! This is our first Xmas away. I've always wanted to spend Xmas on a beach with the ocean. Also, the animal rescue is a big draw as I think it will be very interesting. West bay sounds nice but very touristy and most likely will be like a thousand other beaches. Maya Key seemed to offer something a little different and our next port will be Ocean Cay and for beach lounging, it's very high up there. Thank you for your help and I'll post back after either I cancel the trip or we return from our cruise.

They must be getting more booking from ships that don't offer the excursion perhaps and put in another dock. A family member who sails RCL suggested Maya Key, but they booked through the ship.

I contacted Anthony's Key Resort and they sent a new confirmation with a get directions link and it is: Maya Key Parking and Ferry, 8F79+M2J, Main St, Coxen Hole, Honduras The link directions are what I came across in a search that just said parking. It will be a 20 minute walk from Coxen Hole or definite taxi if the ship docks at Mahogany Bay. I don't mind paying $40 for a taxi if needed, but think it's excessive for something I can walk to in 20 minutes. Found some offering the excursion with transport, but they want more than double what we paid and the $40 taxi ride would still be less expensive. Your right though to taxi to Anthony's Key would make no sense

Yes, thank you. I wasn't sure if the older thread was still being monitored and I had asked on it prior to finding this one! I appreciate your help. 🙂

Thank you. MSC doesn't offer Maya Key so we booked directly. I did find walking directions to Maya Key Parking, 20 minutes, but wasn't sure if this is where we need to be. Don't wish to walk all the way there and find out we should be back at the start! LOL Our instructions just state that we need to find our own transportation to the Maya Key dock, but doesn't say where it is located. So I'm trying to figure this out. As to taxi's, all I've been able to find is a chart that list how much for 1 or 2 people from port to different zones, but no map of where a zone is.

Hi, we're going to Maya Key in December with MSC. I've booked it already but we have to find our own way to the ferry dock. Does anyone know where this might be located? We're docking in Coxen Hole according to the cruise ship docking schedule for Roatan. Thanks

Hi, We're sailing MSC in December and have booked Maya Key through their website (Anthony's). MSC doesn't offer this. I've been trying to figure out how to get to the Maya Key docks as I've found some confusing info. I believe we are docking in Coxen Hole as that's what their cruise ship schedule says. I've read that we can get the transport to the island in port, but aren't sure which is being referred to. When I look at maps it show a 20 minute walk to Maya Keys Parking and yet people mention the ferry right by the ship. Can anyone help? Thank you!

We've only used a Canadian TA once. He kept trying to steer us towards other cruise companies but we wanted MSC as we'd sailed with them and liked them. I had to specifically ask him to contact MSC for our Voyagers discount and OBC's. He didn't offer anything over and above what I found online and when the price dropped by over $400, I had to threaten to cancel the booking for him to contact MSC for the upgrade we wanted due to the price drop. After that, I looked into booking through the US. MSC won't let us book through their US site and the Canadian site is about 10% higher than the going exchange rates. We've been using Direct Line Cruises. So far we've always been give OBC and for booking during a special we were given a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries for our upcoming cruise. They also have a loyalty club and you can accrue points to exchange for various things, depending on which cruise line, what is offered. I found them through Trip Advisor cruises. They show several companies with links.

Easiest way with the drink package is to multiply # of days by $61 as it's usually the plus that is included in offers. Of course on less than 6 nights it's $64 per day. The wifi was okay on the ship but I've yet to get it to work on Ocean Cay. We aren't heavy drinkers but do like cappuccino's after dinner and maybe a tea back to the room or a couple bottles of water to take while wandering a port of call. Not to mention the bottle of water in the MDR being incl. with the packages. Also, on occasion we've had a cocktail that isn't to our liking and don't hesitate to not drink it as it isn't costing us $15 to leave it behind. I am not sure on the cost of wifi but think it starts about $30 on a short cruise and goes up from there, if bought separately. Our first cruise we paid the base price and waited till a few days before sailing and it was quite a bit more than it would have been packaged and that was without wifi. The All In package price has been the best deal so far. My only suggestion would be to book through a travel agent when they have a special on, as you'll get what MSC offers and then some. As you are from Ontario, check out US sites and do the math to see if you'd be better paying in US$ as I find the exchange rate with MSC is not in my favour. I've been basing the final payment being at 1.40 and still come out ahead. The rate lately has been 1.36 so it's even more savings. We book through a company that gives us extra OBC and occasionally other perks. Most US travel agents put on a special for every holiday. The Meraviglia is a very nice ship and I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Hi, I've found that MSC's customer service is hit or miss prior to sailing. You have probably already found an answer. My solution is if I get someone who can't give a clear answer to any inquiry is to thank them, hang up and call again and hope to get a different agent. Once you get an agent who knows their business it's much easier. I've always found the CS onboard to be very good. I would call and speak to someone about the voyager's club email issue, and don't forget to status match your level from whichever cruise line you have the highest loyalty with. Happy sailings!

Thank you for the interesting take on your excursions. Very informative and not boring at all! We're looking into doing this cruise in Dec/23 and appreciate your taking the time to post your beautiful pics and give helpful information.

Just a little update. In May 2022 we paid $69 pp for the thermal spa and were greatly disappointed as it was just a sauna and a steam room. Both of which my husband did not enjoy. I was expecting at least a whirlpool. Wouldn't spend the money again.

Lansdowne/Landsdowne fairly certain those who are interested, could figure it out. My appologies to you for offending you with the spelling error. Here I thought I'd been mis-pronouncing it after reading the article.

Thank you. This article explains all the questions regarding Nexus appointments at the Landsdown, ON location. As it seemed odd they were booking appointments when none others were.