greymoon95

Thank you so much! Super helpful! Any recs on specific speciality restaurants onboard that are terrific? Or ones to avoid? MSC doesn’t allow any actual pre-boarding bookings for reservations, right? And thank you on the room reccos- we have two Balcony Suites, which ought to provide for more space, but still honestly makes me so nervous. But EXCELLENT rec on the inflatable! Wow! Never thought of that! Largely cuz we’ve cruised out of Florida and also without kids but I always thought about how much stuff to get into a suitcase on top of into a stateroom! 🤣 genius! anyone have any good experiences with magnetic curtains across? One time when we went to Hawaii, we had a lovely suite and we were able to put our oldest’s crib in one of the bathrooms and turn off the lights for him. It was the best vacation I’d had since he was born. We tell him now about the “vacation he slept in the bathroom,” and he thinks it’s hilarious. I’m like “I do too, cuz it’s funny, but wait til you have your own kids and you’ll see how genius it really was.” 🤣🤣🤣

Thank you! Super appreciated. Okay so I "lied"- one more question! Anyone have great ideas/mechanisms to recommend for how to divide up a stateroom with two kiddos and two adults? And/or what to request from concierge? Bedding wise. We have a kids who are about to turn 8 and 3 (the 2-year-old turning 3 ON the cruise, as I mentioned but y'all are busy, I don't expect you to scroll back up and read my whole history here!). There was some mention of "bunk beds" which I think is a bad idea on a "hotel" moving ON WATER frankly, but also I don't think exists. Has anyone done this? Turn the "couch" into a "cot" sleeping area for the 7 year old and then also get a pack-and-play/crib requested? Is there enough space? Am I delusional to think this is doable? I just don't know what other options there are besides my telling my husband "good luck!" and leaving him with both of the kids to sit in darkness and allowing myself to sleep quietly and comfortably in my very own stateroom. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I'm sure any moms out there will say "DO THAT THING!" But that none of us actually could bring ourselves to do it. But I'll appreciate the mommy power in solidarity!

Thanks for this response! I really didn't want to go crazy with my response - I'm sure folks are trying to be helpful but we aren't first-time cruisers - we're just really busy (my husband and I have our own business TOGETHER) and worn out (we also share these two children of ours -- major time and energy suck, these kids are! 😂) and trying to do too many things at the same time. Also I'm an attorney so I don't take "small print" non-seriously. I just am looking for help to right this! No solution found yet, frankly. Think we're just gonna ride it out. Have found some good folks responding on roll call groups on FB who have adjacent rooms willing to help out and be flexible. One (and only one!) question: anyone have any real idea of the reality of flexibility on ability to purchase YC day passes for others traveling with us? I think we can just get it together with hopefully some accommodations that allow for this. I've seen varying commentary from folks from "no WAY! never ever allowed!" to "totally doable!" to "depends on your butler and how you handle it." I'm really just trying to not upset the other three adults on this cruise with us (one of the rooms is a partial gift from us -- feels terrible to be in this situation).

Thanks to all who replied with helpful and thoughtful things here.

Hi all, ANYONE WILLING TO SWAP ROOMS/FREE UPGRADE???? I booked 4 rooms on the MSC MERAVIGLIA for the December 30, 2023 - January 6, 2024 itinerary. We originally had standard staterooms that are connected for myself, my husband and our two children (we additionally had two other standard staterooms for my in-laws and husband's aunt, but that's not of too much consequence here). When we booked, there were no Yacht Club or Aurea Experience staterooms available. We worked very closely with the booking agent who was terrific and she was able to make it work for us to get these two rooms together. A few days later I got an email inviting me to apply for the plusgrade upgrade thing and I figured we were being offered the experience without the room change, or that the rooms would be comparable and certainly connecting. I was accepted and while this seemed great at first it's actually turning into an absolute nightmare. We currently have two UNCONNECTED Yacht Club staterooms as well as the original 2 standard Fantastica staterooms (not connecting either). We've been told there's nothing we can do since there is no availability anywhere. Has anyone ever tried to swap with someone prior to a cruise like on a forum here like this? And/or would anybody who's sailing on this itinerary be open to swapping rooms even to get the Yacht Club benefits at no cost to you (we'll cover that)? Just need ANY two staterooms OR alternatively any 2 room or duplex suite that would accommodate the four of us (our children are 2 and 7). It's really at this point a safety thing since we can't have our children in a non-connecting separate room from us at those ages. Please feel free to reach out here or if there's another place I could post this, I'm all ears! Desperate to fix this since I have no idea how we will if we can't get this taken care of and we'll sooner just end up missing the cruise and losing all the money!!!! I'm devastated over this. Not only is this a New Year's Cruise with all 7 of us, but it's also to celebrate our little one's 3rd birthday on January 5th. Anyone??? Thank you. Jenn