buckeye25osu

Hello All-  Back of course from our cruise and just have to say it was amazing.  With the holidays and now a closing and move into a new house things have been a whilrwind but I will come back here an post a longer update.  In short, we had only 600 or so passengers.  We had a great time and could not be happier with our first cruise.  The staff was amazing and we both thought the food rocked.  I do have a pending negative balance (due to the 5+15% retroactively applied) that @FrostyJoe  and @slei15 were discussing above.  I was told 2x it would be refunded to my CC after the cruise.  We'll see about that.  But anyways, amazing trip and we will definitely cruise MSC again!

1 hour ago, kelleherdl said:

Yes. Ironically, when you think about it, in the COVID procedures era the quicker passengers are moved through the terminal the better.   

Well great!  Don't have anything better to do so we'll line up as early as we can!

On 12/9/2021 at 11:45 AM, missalexandra said:

Just got another email. I've now been moved to a balcony on deck 14 which is also listed as "partial view."  More central location though. I bet the ship is going to be really empty.

Well, my wife and I will be on that boat with you so there will be at least 3 of us! 🙂

4 minutes ago, CruiseIreland said:

Hi OP. Many congratulations on your marriage and wishing you many happy years together. We've sailed 8 times with MSC and our best cruises have been on Meraviglia in a balcony Fantastica experience. You will enjoy the ship. It is beautiful. Chachobben tour is excellent. We went with Native Choice Tours in Costa Maya. Very good. Small bus. Onboard, we prebooked the Tryptic dining package. Butcher's Cut suited me best as I'm more a red meat eater than my wife, Sushi restaurant was a revelation!  I ate raw tuna and hamacha(sp?). I enjoyed it.  Disappointed with the Ocean Cay restaurant but the fish was nice.

 

You will have to great honeymoon and create great memories. In 8 cruises, only one rude crew member and, looking back, she was right!

Enjoy, Ken 

Thanks Ken!  We are both quite ready.  We went straight from wedding to house buying (we close in January!) so it's been a stressful few months/years (with Covid!) haha.  I've heard native choice is great, however I have a ton of chase points so booked through them and its another local tour company that I'm sure will still be nice.  Looking forward to it so thank you for the tips!

1 crew member in 8 trips... i'd say that's as good as any customer support you'll find anywhere.  They are after all human and you're always bound to either run into a bad apple or just someone with a really shitty day!

Just now, Morgsmom said:

That's a great time to arrive.  You will be onboard by noon and enjoy lunch and a cocktail

6pm departure.  They will let us board that early?

Just now, Morgsmom said:

YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM checking in!!! It will take a few more minutes than if you pre-checked but I promise that it will all go well.  Best advice is to get there as early as possible.

Thank you so much.  How early is too early?  We get into Orlando at 8:50am and plan on being on the first GoPort shuttle at 10:00AM which gets us to the port by 11:00AM I think.

Thanks again all.  Hit a snag and need some help in not panicking.  I was unable to do the web check-in.  I was awaiting to see if my renewed passport would arrive in the mail before checking in.  It came yesterday.  First thing this morning I tried checking in and it said web check in is now closed.  Cruise is still well beyond more than 48 hours from now so I don't get that.  I called MSC and she said you could just check in at the port no problem.  Can i get some re-assurance that is the case?  I do not want to be turned away at the port.

1 hour ago, slei15 said:

When you get on the ship, you can go the the maitre'd to change your dining to late. They will usually be standing outside of the dining room on boarding day for this purpose. Realize that late dining on MSC means 9:00 PM, not 8:00 like most....Way too late for us!  They do have a 7:30PM option under "early".  

 

Deck 11 is perfect...cabins above and below you, so minimal noise.  We had the same feelings on the specialty dining...the menus just didn't do it for us.  I have read that the Hola Tacos for lunch is amazing and reasonable. I am excited for that one over Xmas. Also, being an Italian line, the pasta dishes are generally very good.  Try the fresh pastas on the buffet at lunch that they cook in huge paella type skillets on the buffet line...

Awesome, we'll do 7:30 if that's "early".  Wife would kill me if I had us eating at 9 every night!

1 minute ago, Fogfog said:

OP

Congrats on the marriage. Best wishes for a long life together.

 

Balcony would be lovely-- you see things in the ports etc and having coffee in the early am is so nice.

Specialty dining will be wonderful and offer a variety from the main dining.

Be sure to tell the waiter at your table in main dining, the waiters at each specialty dinner  that you are on your honeymoon.

An option in Cozumel could be an all inclusive day-beach club with wave runners. 

 

best wishes

fog

 

Thanks for such kind wishes.  This forum amazes me with so much kindness and without the toxicity you see in other places (ie. Reddit, etc.).  Perhaps cruisers, especially those on MSC have a little more respect and class! 🙂

Yes we already snagged a balcony.  In Cozumel we decided to rent a scooter and snorkel at some various hot spots.  In Costa Maya I have the Chacchoben and Baccalar Lagoon trip booked.  I don't want to do specialty as I think the steak restaurant I'd love but not the Sushi or seafood as much.  Might use the credit for jet skis on Ocean Cay!  I won't be shy letting them know we're honey-mooning.  Thanks again!

1 hour ago, slei15 said:

And, I would not bother moving the room unless it is in a really bad location (ie right under the pool deck).  A lot of times MSC will mess up the reservation when doing something simple like a room move.

Thanks for all of the awesome info-  Our flight gets in early to Orlando so we're planning on getting on the first bus (pre-booked)to PC and getting in line.

A lot of people said the pizza is great, as it should be for an Italian line!  I love pizza so I'm excited to eat that multiple times.

It's too bad they didn't use the credit on the balcony upgrade.  Thought of doing the triple dining experience but I just don't think i'd like 2/3 of the options too much (Kaito and Ocean Cay).  Maybe I'll see about renting jet skis at Ocean Cay.

Our Balcony is a Fantastica on 11.  Reservation was already updated once to add the Voyager number and apply the discount.  Showing Early Dining when I wanted late.  Should I call?

Thanks again!

11 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

A half dozen negative reviews and MSC newbies freak out.  What about the other 1,000 or so pax who had a great time but did not write a review?  How many times have we seen negative reviews on a particular sailing and then read other positive reviews from pax on the same sailing.  We were on MSC in 2017, before I got sick, and we had one of the greatest cruises we ever had in over 50 years of crossing and cruising.  Stop agonizing and just go with the flow and enjoy yourselves…then let us know the details.  

I'm the original OP.  We've never cruised and looking forward to it very much!  I've mostly ignored the negatives... why stress over stuff when you can experience it yourself?  People must be picky eaters.  I've been to all-inclusives in Cancun, DR, and Jamaica and some food was great while others were not the best but I don't think I ever had a bad meal.  We're not picky and if I don't like something I'll order something else or head to the buffet!  Of course if I had a bad customer support experience that would stand out to me so hopefully we won't encounter anything like that, but again most things like that can be settled with a little understanding and patience.  As with all things in life, control what you can, but don't worry about what you can't and just enjoy yourself!  Having a positive attitude is 50% of it!

Couple questions for anyone still following-  I got upgraded to balcony by bidding the minimum (90 pp).  They assigned it automatically.  Can I get the room switched by calling if another is available?  There's nothing wrong with my room, but a very nice youtuber pointed out some balconies that have some extra room.

Also, I was able to apply the 5+15% discount!  My account now shows a negative.  Where is this money?  It has not been refunded to my CC so is it ship credit or is it something i can get refunded?

Thanks again all!  Cruise in 5 days!

Hey All-  I bid the minimum for balcony upgrade and got it.  $90 pp coming from Fantastica Ocean View.  It was basically almost free because I got 172 back from the 5+15% deal.

19 minutes ago, JT1962 said:

HiltonHonors Diamond 

Baller alert! 🙂

On 12/3/2021 at 1:46 PM, JT1962 said:

I am booked on MSC in January for the first time and applied for the match last week, but had not received a reply. I resubmitted last night after reading about many having issues.  I got an email this morning that I was approved for Diamond. I will monitor my booking and see if any discount / onboard credit are applied.

Diamond, nice! What did you match to?

Chase Sapphire card is the answer.  They include a boat load of travel insurance that covers everything to do with a trip.  No brainer if you travel.  I think they have a ridiculous amount of points available right now too after spending so much that you can then turnaround and redeem for airfare or even shore excursions.  

18 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

This is a nice deal if you are interested in a last minute sailing on Meraviglia. A rack rate balcony cabin is $294 pp. You can get a bit of a discount off that also if you call around. Hope someone can take advantage of this......

 

Wow would love to see if that includes drinks or that is a different offer?  I'm on that sailing and I got drinks for +$90 over the Oceanview (329 I think) which was the way to go.  I coulda got free Balcony upgrade but drinks obviously much better value.  I have put in for a balcony upgrade at the minimum of $90 a person too and waiting to hear back.  From the looks of it I think i should be successful!  Safe to say this won't be a full ship!

On 12/1/2021 at 7:18 PM, cheeseheads4ever said:

DW wife got her status match today. Not sure why it never went through the first time when we did it a month ago.

Will the 5+15% and the $50 OBC come at some point? Still shows original price on booking reservation.

Hey, I called yesterday and got through in 5 minutes to a very nice agent.  She applied it to the cruise and I got $172 back!  I'm guessing I'll have the $50 waiting for me as well. But you do have to have it applied!  Call!

On 11/27/2021 at 8:58 AM, Fighterone said:

We selected 19002 on  MSC Seashore for the March sailing  20 months ago but MSC's incompetent staff moved us to 19003 which is port side and with no view of Ocean Cay at all unless they dock backwards. This cabin, 19002,  is between 2 grand suites and cannot be subject to be a  part of a block of cabins to quarantine anyone. 

 

When they decided to move everyone to GUAs when they reformulated their cabin design on November 15th, they showed a total lack of care for customers by reassigning cabins without even checking which ones had previously been selected by their loyal customers. There are 4 of us (8 couples and 2 kids) on this sailing that I know of who have been moved. 

 

We understand it's their right to do this but their customer service, their website, their phone wait times have finally done us in despite the wonderful experience in YC. Customers have their limits. 

 

Pure incompetence and lack of care for their customers!

 

It's the third time (2 pre-pandemic) out of 7 sailings MSC switches our cabin and the only cruise line out of 15 cruise lines we have sailed on to EVER have done this.

 

I'd love to read your post but the 2001 Geocities font makes my eyes bleed.

21 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

No, another company has taken this business on MSC from Cirque du Soleil. Heard they are quite good and the prices went down also. 10 € incl. a Cocktail. They are bookable for our January cruise on Virtuosa, the names of the shows are AJEDREZ and ARKYMEA. 

In the Caribbean too (Meraviglia)?

4 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

It is Ocean Cay (the restaurant), Butcher's Cut, and Kaito Teppanyaki.

The website is famous for being complete crap.  Eataly is long gone...so is Cirque du Soleil

Oh no!  Cirque du Soleil is gone?  Was looking forward to that.  Saw that one on pretty recent Youtube reviews.  Do you think its just temporary due to low passenger numbers?

14 hours ago, WoodyWindy said:

It is a temporary promotion for Voyagers Club members, offering an additional 15% from the normal 5% (Hence 5+15), and adding $50 OBC per member to select sailings. Look on this page...

MSC Voyagers Club - Membership Benefits | MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com)

 

Thank you. And i can maybe get this retroactively? What is the best way to do this?

3 minutes ago, WoodyWindy said:

I wasn't even paying attention to that, but when I called to get DW's number added, the agent automatically applied the 5+15 to our fully-paid reservation! (our standard OBC have also already been added).

Can someone explain 5+15? And does gold come with obc?

Thanks

On 8/30/2021 at 4:03 PM, JAGR said:

I would think since it is a three night cruise, most likely any special night would be the middle night.  That would allow for luggage problems on night one, and having to pack and leave bags out on night three.  It is so much easier on the seven night sailings when you usually have the two sea days.

On 8/30/2021 at 1:05 PM, MonsterJoe said:

I just noticed that both package descriptions include Ocean Cay, but neither of them have it as part of the actual package.  It's replaced by Eataly  They even use a seafood dish as the package picture. 😕

Do we know which restaurants are in the packages?

 

Hello!  Did anyone find out what is actually offered?  JAGR, like you I want to book the trilogy package but see the Italian instead of seafood.  I'm maybe fine with that but I'd like to see the menu.  I believe the MDR has Italian night and buffet also has pasta so am I just going to end up with something I could have gotten for free?  Now, for $77 it includes Butcher's so maybe just worth it, but I'm not one to take gambles with my money on something like this.

The Trilogy package for $77 seems like a steal.  Butcher's Cut, Kaito Sushi, and even though it says Ocean Kay at the summary, when you go to book (MSC Meraviglia) it has Italian instead of Ocean Kay.  Comes out to $25.67 pp/per meal.

Does anyone know what the Italian choices are with the package?

First time cruising, so I don't know when we'll eat- can I book times now and change them later?  I was thinking we could do Butcher's and Italian for 2 dinners, and do the sushi for a lunch.