lolalow

14 hours ago, no1talks said:

Unless you are swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the Alabama coast. If so, Tide season is September through November. (Plus preseason/postseason, as applicable.)
 

oh no!! So do they close down the beach?  

21 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

March to August is sea lice/ jellyfish season.

May to October is seaweed season

February March and August September is red tide season.

So it appears the best time to swim in the Ocean is November December and January.

looks like we are lucking out then we are going in November!!

any problems with jellyfish or sea lice on ocean cay?  Is the water warm?  Is there a shuttle from cruise ship to beach?

Hi - we are getting off msc seaside and staying the day in Orlando so we can go to Disney Christmas party.  We want a hotel that will allow for early check in like noon so we can sleep, need to get up at 6m to leave for our 20 hour trip back home so we want to get good rest day before after we get off ship.  If anyone knows of a hotel brand near Disney that allows early check in for a fee please let me know.

Hi - I'm new to MSC, First cruise coming up in November on the Seaside.  for years been wanting to go but the reviews always made me book elsewhere.  I finally got a price I couldn't walk away from.  I have sailed Disney Carnival and RCCL for comparison's sake.

What drinks are available for free at buffet?  At Dining room.  We are big water drinkers and I hear there are to packaged water deliveries.  Is this true?  We also cant bring it on the ship correct?  Sort of stinks we have to run back and forth to buffet to get water.  

Is there a hot cocoa machine on board at buffet?

We booked 2 rooms the second being for my 21 year old son.  They said I had to put his name twice on room because no single occupancy.  Are we going to have problems when we board that he has two tickets for his room with both being him?  It seems so odd that you can't just put one name and be charged more as other cruise lines do it.

Are we able to get a table for two for the dining room?

Is there a show equivalent to love and marriage show?

Do the beds seperate?

Which terminal do we sail from and what time can we start boarding?  What time is busiest at port?  We want to avoid long lines at port my son has ankle contractures, and we will be requesting wheelchair assistance because he can't stand for long periods of time.  I will have a scooter for myself as I have very bad fibromyalgia which makes standing for long periods of time very difficult.  Is there a separate line or do we hop in line with everyone else?  Still would like to arrive when least amount of waiting as my son has autism and waits are difficult for him.

What do I need to know about safety drill?  do they do the loud alarms?  That usually freaks out my son, on other cruises he is allowed to stay in room and watch briefing to avoid the loud sounds and mass chaos of everyone going where they need to get.  

Pool towels available by the pools or take one from room?

Anything else I need to know about first time on msc?  

We were looking at cabins available deck 2 aft on liberty.  They look bigger than typical which sounds great.   I know some of the ships you can feel the vibration pretty bad down there.  How about liberty?  Also worried about Sea Sickness.  We typically never had a problem with Sea sickness except one time all the way forward top deck but the waters were super choppy.

Hi all, typically we sail the newer carnival ships have done some RCCL and Disney.   We love Carnival for the food options.   Have always been intrigued by MSC but I always see negative review of the foods.  My son with autism is pretty picky and doesn't like complicate foods.  Is there just plain peperoni pizza?  Is the sauce thin or lumpy?  He doesn't like chunky tomatoes.  For the pasta do they have some with just alfredo or butter sauce?  I hear the burgers and hot dogs are not good, what about chicken tenders or mac and cheese?  Is there room service, is it free?  The main comp places to eat are just buffet or main dining rooms, correct?  There are no quick grill places on pool deck?  Any place that sells crepes?  

Any other big differences I should know about?

When trying to book online how do you do multiple rooms?  We will need 3 and I can't find the option.  We are looking for ships out of Port Canaveral Oct 2023 which would be Seaside.  Not sure if Meragvilia will be there still then, it does not list it as being so at that point.

We usually do trivia, shows, comedians - all these offered.

Which side of ship for good view of lighthouse port or starboard or front or aft?

What is cancellation policy?

What is current vax or testing requirements - I don't need all the details I will look more into it just wondering if they have lifted vax requirements as daughter to vaxxed.

On 2/28/2022 at 12:00 AM, TravelBluebird said:

Oops left off the prime rib photo—here it is plus one of Marcus Allen and a few from Ringmaster Rhapsodies:

 

 

 

What day is the ringmaster rhapsodies on?

On 2/27/2022 at 8:20 AM, TravelBluebird said:

 

We intend to! Gotta try the beignets. We did Street Eats the first day (steamed buns) and will be back again! Ocean Suites do NOT have access to the separate cabana area.

I looked at the menu at Emrils and did not see beignets on it.  Is it only certain time or day?

does anyone know if you can get the melting cake in cucina or pig and anchor for dessert?

Where is the gelato located?

20 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

Yep, just check in a little before the time you want to eat.  Our longest wait was 20 minutes at "peak time" (around 6:30 or 7 pm) on Cruise Elegant night in the MDR.   Otherwise it was ten minutes tops...basically just enough time for us (three groups in three staterooms) to saunter downstairs and meet up.  

I don't think you can specify a that-evening dining time way in advance on the app, but I could be misremembering.

 

 

That is something I hope they can continue, and one of the few "good" results of the pandemic. 

 

It's a far cry from my last muster experience on Royal in early 2020 (pre-COVID), where a crew member would meet you when you arrived, look up your stateroom in a sheaf of papers, and cross you off.  I couldn't believe it.  

 

 

While some people have complained about the Lido buffet, we thought it looked fine, although some "sides" of the buffet were closed, no doubt due to the pandemic and reduced passenger numbers.  

 

We dont plan on eating main dining room - mainly Cucina, Pig and anchor and Chi bang.  Maybe steakhouse we never tried it.   We have done mdr for all cruises and thought we would try something different with so many food options.  So wait time usually 10 min for those places also?

I was wondering about lido because for dinner as I thought it was closed for the time being I read couple months back.  I could have that confused with RCCL ship though.  

21 hours ago, icft said:

Go to the Carnival site and pull up the Cruise Manager for your booking. There will be a "My to-do List." If you are all good there will be a check mark next to "Vaccination Survey" on that list.

There is a green checkmark and also a line through the to do statement.  Is the line through it ok or does that mean something?

12 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Yes, strongly recommend a travel agent or PVP if OP is the kind of person that wants to talk to someone on the phone for everything. Nothing wrong with that, that's why these kinds of jobs exist. Waiting on hold for hours to talk on the standard 1-800 customer service line would quickly become a drag.

I dont want to talk on phone for everything but getting my non refundable cruise canceled is a big deal.

just booked cruise yesterday and also yesterday filled out survey where I had to say if I was vaccinated yes or no.  I clicked yes and then submitted for each member of family.  Today I get a letter that says immediate action required - vaccine attestation.  It says if I don't do within 48 hours they will cancel my cruise.  I assumed it was what I filled out yesterday.  I went in again - everything was blank that I submitted.  I filled out again and clicked send.  Now how do I know if it was really sent or not working because I know I did it correctly the first time, so sort of alarming was blank when I went back into it.  Obviously carnival did not get it or I wouldn't have gotten email.  Or is there a totally different form that I am supposed to be doing that I am not aware of?    I just don't want to have to get on line with Carnival for 3 hours like I did to book.  

6 hours ago, Pellaz said:

Please DO tip them in cash.  Gratuities for room-service are not part of pre-paid gratuities. 

 

You'll have pool towels in your room to start with.  You can easily exchange them at towel huts, or if needed, sign out extras.   But bring those back.  

 

This depends on whether you have YTD or set-time dining.  

For YTD, the Cucina and Chibang are officially part of your evening dining experience and you can make reservations beginning at 5:30 each evening (also for MDR).  

For set-time dining you have to wait until around 7:30 each evening to make reservations.  

Guy's Pig and Anchor BBQ does not require reservations for evening dining.  

All of the above are currently "free" (included), but that may eventually change.  

Note that Chibang and Cucina are NOT open for lunch on embark day.  Their equivalents on other ships are.  

We tipped extra in the Cucina as well as the MDR because we had great service, but it's a personal choice.

 

You reserve a slot through the app.  Do so for early in the cruise because weather can affect it.

It's $15, you get two full laps.  You have a throttle and also a 15-second "boost" mode.  I liked it, even though I got stuck on it.  (They gave me an additional ride because of that. 🙂 )  

 

 

Thank you for all the info yes we are doing my time dining.  So each day at 5:30pm I go on my phone to reserve a table or do I go to the resteraunt?  Can I just do all reservations for the entire week on app when I get on board?

Do you have any idea how muster drill is being handled currently?

Is the lido do buffet dinner still or not anymore?  

Hello  - Have some questions for anyone who can answer?

Is room service free during the day?  My son likes chicken fingers and fries specifically.  Can we tip cash?

Do you need to check out pool towels or is there a towel hut to just grab when need?

Movies still shown outside?  I have not seen this talked about?  Popcorn?

Self serve hot chocolate still at lido?

Do they have all the cakes at the sweet spot like some of the other ships?

Do they still do chocolate buffet?

Do I need to make reservations for BBQ, Cucina, Chi bang or is it walk up?  If I do need to reserve is it before I leave?  Do I need to pay gratuities?

Do I need to reserve shows and activities?

How much is bolt? Do I reserve or just wait in line?   

On 1/18/2022 at 7:09 PM, weezal said:

tips for the mardi gras:

embarkation day offers on-site covid testing for $100/per, inside of check-in area, if your results don't come in on time for whatever reason.

on 1st 2 nights, rudi's and steakhouse both offer 50% off any bottle of wine.

last 2 sea days, bolt roller coaster fills up. go early if you're interested.

closed toe shoes required for bolt and ropes course (can't miss mini zip line, and walk the plank).

earn 1500 pts in the casino, for comped drinks from server (can't get directly from casino bar).

deck 17 spa cabins have direct/separate elevator access to spa on deck 5.

street eats menu changes daily, but it may be closed on port days or limited hours.

don't sleep on the shawarma and seadogs stations inside lido buffet.

my favorite vantage point for center stage, is from deck 7.

family feud is a great addition to the entertainment lineup.

what is shawarma?

I know on other ships they have a whole bunch of cakes at sweet spot.  Do they still do this?  Is there still the chocolate buffet?

This happened to us in October but I was not prepared at all.  I booked a family inside since my son has autism/ADHD  it is easier to not be on top of each other and then my husband went into interior right next door.  This way we could switch off and have breaks if need be.   When we were embarking they told me that our paper scans did not match what computer said.  I started to panic and asked what they had down.  She said 2 interior rooms on 2 different decks.  I said no, we did not change our rooms.   She said we would need to go to guest services.  It was all a blur for a while after that because I was panicing.  The thought that I would be on a deck seperated from husband, I just knew I was going to be not having any breaks or easy walk next door.   And now my son and I in a much smaller room.  What was this purpose of me planning this all out.    Guest services did not tell me why it happened and I explained situation and that we had to be near each other.  Long story short - took about an hour but we ended up getting two rooms across from each other - an interior and a balcony.  Worked out fine but not a great start to vacation.  Also luggage came super late because of the room switch.  When I was talking to stateroom host she said hardly anyone booked on the floor I was originally on - I think the ice rink floor.  She said maybe they moved everyone on that floor that way they could skip cleaning 1 fooor because cleaning was taking very very long now.    

I have a cruise booked for December.  I am vaxxed but we will not be getting boosters.  Carnival is saying that if cdc changed definition of fully vaxxed meaning booster also they will change that also.  So can i wait and see if that actually happens before cancelling for example in July definition changes therefore I want to cancel. Or must I do it before the Feb 15 date?  I really dont want to cancel and then no booster is required for my cruise that would suck but on other hand we will def not be getting a booster so dont want cancellation fees later..        

I called and asked and the team member said there his a veranda and there is a roll in shower.  I asked her why on all the deck plans all the rooms were highlighted when you click on it along with the veranda except the two corner aft rooms on deck 7 and 9  - rooms would highlight but not veranda part.  She did not know.   I was really worried so I changed to deck 8.   

anyone

We have booked a room on the wish for room 9180.....    Just out of curiousity I was looking to see what accessible rooms were still available and noticed that other side of aft room 9680 room is highlighted by deck is not.  The room right next to it the deck is highlighted.  Just for comparison I looked at deck 8 - both corner aft accessible rooms that are still available have room and deck highlighted.  Makes me wonder about the deck 9 corner accesible rooms and why the decks are not highlighted.  I cant bring mine up to look at since it is booked to see if deck is highlighted or not.   Could there be a last minute change where they are not putting verandas on these rooms?  If not highlighted does it mean that wheelchair can't get out on veranda in those rooms?  Its just weird that some rooms deck is highlighted and others they are not.  Also deck 7 aft same thing with the corner aft rooms deck is not highlighted.  also anyone know if they doors are automated from hall to room - if not I have to make sure Im with my son when he is coming back to room.

just returned from Indy - we had a check in time for 1:30pm  we arrived at 11:00am - nobody inquired our check in time