xriva

A freighter cruise is on my bucket list because I've never been on a working ship. While a cruise ship is a working ship, the workers are serving me (and the other passengers.)  

The advantages I see to a freighter / container ship: 

• No schedule or entertainment. You are truly left to your own devices. 
• Bridge access - in many cases, you are allowed on the bridge (this may have changed.) 
• Random ports, not the standard cruise ports.
• Lots of sea days. 

These "advantages" are, of course, in the eye of the beholder. 

I love cruise ships but they are more floating hotels than ships. I have been on a couple where you can forget that you are actually at sea. My hope is that a freighter journey would be a sailing trip.  

6 hours ago, perakcruiser said:

They need the Americans to fill the Yacht Clubs. I know a lot of Europeans that could easily afford like Americans, but they would never book it. 

 

And I think their stategy to throw away free Black Cards, free drinks vouchers and all this stuff to the Americans was successful. See this board and how crazy the Americans are about the YC. See other countries MSC discussion boards, almost no topics about the YC at all 😄

There was a mix of nationalities at Christmas on Divina. While they may get Americans into YC, the service will not retain them. We status-matched to Black (now Diamond) and the YC service on Divina was worse than the regular cabin on the Seaside. 

We sailed the Seaside to protect our status-match - we were coming up on three years without an MSC cruise, so we would have reverted to entry-level. We booked a cheap Seaside cruise to keep our Black status.

After the Seaside cruise, my wife (a rabid Norwegian fan) was actually anticipating the YC experience, but after it, will probably never sail MSC again. So, they got us on the ships twice, but that’s it, as opposed to Norwegian who annoy me with their sky-high fares but we’ve earned Platinum Plus.

It’s possible enough Americans aren’t turned off by the service to keep sailing YC, but the two other families we talked with onboard were as unhappy as we were.

1 minute ago, diesel1973 said:

It also boggles my mind on what "European Feel" is. If bad food. bad service. lack of CS, and being called a liar  and being lied to is what you are looking for, knock yourself out! Have done plenty of travel in Europe and have never been subjected to this! This is not my definition of a vacation.

That was my issue at Christmas. I spent a LOT of time in Europe for work and pleasure, and I have never had the low level of service we were subjected to in the Yacht Club at Christmas. I would avoid the Divina.

Many Europeans seem to be very defensive about MSC because it is a European line. So, any complaints from the US tend to be dismissed as “Americans need too much hand-holding.” No, Americans want to get what we paid to receive.

7 minutes ago, Ajdar said:

Will be first time on MSC (Meriviglia) and have been reading thru these posts.  I see a lot of people saying the ships have a "european feel".  I'm not quite sure what this means.  Can someone help?

MSC is an Italian company. They have a huge presence in Europe and are just now getting serious about the US. There will be a lot of Europeans on your cruise, more than on any other line. Because the ships have a multitude of Europeans onboard, MSC sees no reason to actually cater to Americans.
 

If you don’t deal with multiple languages spoken all around you, you won’t be happy. If you don’t deal with people that have a completely different idea of personal space, you won’t be happy. 

I enjoyed our cruise on the Seaside in May. There was plenty to do, lots to eat. I was happy. On the Divina for Christmas, we were in the Yacht Club, and after multiple days of “meat with sauce, fish with sauce or vegetables” twice a day, we went to the buffet. At that point, I understood the food complaints. 

1 minute ago, Bossa Nova said:

I wish her the best if she had a painful experience to deal with on the phone. Otherwise, that seems totally unprofessional. Did you discuss this experience with the YC director? I'll be on Divina in two weeks, so very interested in your experience. Thanks!

We were getting ready to disembark and I agree that if it were an emergency, it would make sense, but the part of it I overheard sounded like a personal phone call. 
 

I didn’t speak with the YC director because we had spoken with him about another issue earlier in the week and he was useless. 

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

One of the big differences between Yacht Club and regular MSC is that the YC Concierge replaces the Customer Service desk – so you get terrific service.  That's something that doesn't figure in the cost comparisons, but based on how upset people are about poor customer service I have to think it is 'priceless.'

 The YC concierge is great until the day you’re trying to ask a question and she gets a phone call on her mobile, wanders off into the office, closes the door, and doesn’t come back - and there’s no backup. That was quite possibly the worst service I have had anywhere.

MSC is unpredictable which is why we probably won’t sail with them again. Based on our Seaside cruise in May, it was a good cruise line. Based on the Divina in the Yacht Club over Christmas, it was one of the worst cruises our of the 21 we’ve been on. So, you roll the dice. 
 

Others have said each ship is its own line of business and runs basically independently, so we had people tell us “Yacht Club on Seaside is much better than on Divina.” If I’m paying extra for extra services, I don’t want to find out later I picked the wrong ship.

I enjoyed Seaside. Divina is a beautiful ship but the service in YC sucked - the service outside was better.

Europeans are very defensive about MSC and say Americans expect handholding and constant attention not like Europeans. So, if you expect decent service and don’t like rolling the dice, avoid MSC.

This was discussed on another board. All the major mass-market cruise lines were at the bottom, very small, exclusive cruise lines were at the top. So, they only interviewed people whose yachts were in the shop and had to take a ship. As I recall, the survey size was laughably small, as well. 

Don't ***** about my numbers, they are examples. I don't drink enough to justify even the "free" UBP. 

My assumption is that someone in marketing assumes passengers are forgetful.

You pay for your cruise and the UBP "free perk" and it's due 120 days before sailing. So, you've paid $120 or so for "free drinks." You paid $120 and thought, "Wow. This is a good deal because the real price is $900." 

You get on the ship, and order a drink. The bartender says, "That's $9.00, please." You don't think, "*****? I already paid $120 for this - and they said it really costs $900!", you think, "Wow $9 for Patron is not bad." If you forgot you already paid for drinks once, then paying for a drink seems reasonable. I think marketing may have underestimated the intelligence of their customers. 

I use Patron as an example because we're traveling with someone who drinks Patron. Only Patron. Between the time we all booked and the time we sail, the three types of Patron available onboard went from within the "free" price range to an upcharge for each drink - assuming the new pricing is on the Bliss in a few weeks. 

We got the UBP for the Bliss because we're traveling with friends who will frequent the bar, so it's easier to get ripped off a bit beforehand than to try to pay for each individual drink. I did the math based on our last cruise when we were with family (which should have caused more drinking) and our bar tab was close to the "free" cost of the UBP. My wife really doesn't drink much, but we're in the same cabin, so we had to get it for both. 

We're in the Yacht Club for Christmas because it really wasn't much more than a balcony on Norwegian which finally got my wife (the ultimate Norwegian cheerleader) to stop and think about pricing and gouging. 

We canceled our Alaska cruise on the Joy because the free items drove the price above the unreasonable base rate to the point of intolerance. We went to Alaska on the Bliss last year and it was magical, but it was also expensive. Really expensive. I didn't think Alaska was a "once in a lifetime" cruise, but on Norwegian, it is. 

I'm disappointed that Norwegian seems to think so little of their passengers, but it's the trend across industries. 

We'll be shopping across brands now, not just across ships. 

1 minute ago, Gampy1967 said:

I am quite aware of that.  The OP also asked if any of the specialty restaurants are open for lunch. If you are in a suite and/or Haven (which she is), one of them is.

 

No, she asked if you can use a dining credit for lunch. Look at the subject line and her post. The answer is "No" because the specialties are not open at lunch for the masses. If you are in the Haven or a suite on a smaller ship, there may be a restaurant open, but it is complimentary and not open to the public - it doesn't required dining credits. She is also on the Epic so there is a separate dining room for the Haven. 

18 hours ago, Gampy1967 said:

If you are staying in a suite on a ship without the Haven (think Dawn) one of the specialty restaurants (usually Cagney's or Moderno) is open for suite passengers only for breakfast and lunch.

However, that's just for suites and Haven guests and is part of the fare. It doesn't require SDP credits. 

All of the people who advocate sending letters to the media or protesting and the like because companies only see money and profits are missing one major point - Where do you draw the line?

My wife’s aunt died two days before we were supposed to leave on a cruise and my wife assumed that “aunt” was “family”. She is not, by insurance’s definition. Much consternation followed (we went on the cruise.)

Insurance is about risk, not about righteousness. You purchase insurance to have someone else assume some of the risk that things may go wrong. If you don’t purchase insurance, you are assuming the risk yourself.

If you then have something happen that affects your vacation, you can’t go back and have someone else assume the risk for you.

Where do you draw the line?

I’ve seen:

Cancer

Random family members expiring

Random injuries

A gay couple rerouted to a “gay-unfriendly” port

Bad weather

Various Reroutings that were not “pleasant”

All of these people bitched and whined here and elsewhere until the company buckled, to some extent.

It’s not just Norwegian. There are similar stories on all the cruise line boards.

So, the next time you think cruises are more expensive, this is part of the reason.

Companies have to make a profit. Part of that is assigning the risk that someone won’t show up to the traveler. If the companies are constantly bludgeoned into assuming the risk because of bad press, then the prices rise for everyone else.

Read the contract before you sign it. Understand what risks you assume. Determine which risks you are willing to take, and insure against the rest. It’s called being a grownup.

If you take a risk and lose, don’t go back and make it someone else’s fault.

I do feel for the OP but I have cancer survivors in my extended family, and I am assuming a good ending, given treatment.

If the OP then says she knows she should have had insurance, then the title of the post is incorrect.

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Thanks everyone for your feedback!! Ironically, I always purchased insurance but didn't do it this time. Believe me, I know where my priorities are and where to direct my energy. I just needed to vent!!! Thanks again!

I’m sorry for your condition. I know a number of survivors so there is hope.

That said, if you had the foresight to purchase insurance previously and didn’t this time, then you know it is not the cruise line’s issue. It is your issue. Norwegian is not heartless just because this is the one time you didn’t plan for contingencies.

Don’t escalate - it’s not their problem. It was your decision to not purchase insurance this time, so stop expecting a company that provided optional insurance to insure you after the fact.

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If you remember enough to ask the question, then, no, you didn’t get drunker than you had to.

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Norwegian has always hosted a Meet & Greet when someone on our Roll Call asked for one. On our one Carnival Cruise (admittedly a small sample), we did our own because the M&G coordinator never heard from anyone at Carnival about it being scheduled.

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They charged your shipboard account. Which may have been tied to your credit card but it was originally charged to your shipboard account just like all other onboard charges are.

 

 

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No, the first time (which was about ten years ago), they asked for a credit card. I remember being surprised, since it was our first cruise and we hadn’t used money all week, except on shore.

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The first time I heard the pitch (which was a long time ago), it was "You get two certificates for the price of one." <PAUSE> "You get $250 OBC." That sounded like two separate transactions.

It's in the presentation - and that's the CruiseNext consultant and some of them have been less than forthright.

"You buy two certificates for the price of one" is clear. "Half-price certificates" is clear.

There are so many people here that think you get an ADDITIONAL $250 OBC that obviously the presentation is misleading in some cases.

I'm pretty sure the first time we bought CruiseNext certificates, they charged my CREDIT CARD full price and gave me half the costs back as OBC. At that point, the OBC could be used for anything else I wanted to do, because the cost of the certificates came out of a different source.

Now, they charge full price to an account and put half the cost back into the account. Some people who are math-challenged still think they can spend the money on other things. You can. You just have to pay the half cost that has been charged to your room in addition.

The program is not misleading although it could be stated more clearly (this is true of all sales pitches.) However, the cruise consultant presenting the program can be very misleading at times.

Are we really in the minority for actually being out of pocket a few hundred $ at the end of the cruise? To us, the $250 back is a good deal since between gratuities, spa pass, photos, maybe a bingo game or 2... it adds up! We aren't extravagant by any means but we want to enjoy ourselves on the cruise.

 

I don't think it's slimy at all.

 

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The point most people are making is that it’s not $250 back. It’s a $250 discount. “$250 back” to most people means a $250 gain.

You do not pay $250 and get $500 in certificates AND $250 OBC. You pay $500, get $500 in certificates and a $250 credit. So, you net pay $250 and you owe it because it is on your statement. You’re not making money. You don’t have more OBC to spend on other things. It’s been spent on the certificates.

Your statement will be $250 higher after the transactions. It is not $250 lower.

The one advantage people miss is that one certificate is a deposit for a cabin. Usually, there is a deposit per person.

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We did the inaugural crossing on the Norwegian Breakaway from Southampton to New York. Not very exotic, but every vessel only sails an inaugural once.

We learned there is a class of passenger who wants to sail Transatlantics and then a subclass of that group that sails inaugural Transatlantics.

No ports, just seven days straight across the North Atlantic.

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Not really. Maybe an hour or so at most. The excursion is really about the cooking lesson and since it’s hands on, it takes a while. You are right by the beach, so you could get a little time, but it’s not a beach excursion.

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The fundamental problem with reviews is that they are written by people - paid or otherwise. You can read two reviews of the same cruise here, and one person had the finest cruise of their lives, and the other was forced to row the ship for bread and water. Opinions are just that - there is some level of fact, but it is heavily covered by prejudices, stereotypes and expectations.

I read the reviews because I find the negative ones amusing. I don't really put much weight into them.

After seeing people pick over items and put them back on my first experience, I don’t miss it.

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Really?

Too soon.

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Just go to Key West. Ports are never guaranteed, so you could be on a ship to Key West, and then skip the port and have a day at sea for any number of reasons.

Plus, port times are rarely conducive to successful fishing. After catching nothing for an hour and a half on a deep-sea fishing excursion, I asked the Captain when he went out if he really wanted fish, and he said first thing in the morning. We did not leave first thing in the morning, because the ship didn’t get in that early.

If you have a week-long cruise and you only care about one port, just go to that port.

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I would say that if you’re considering “going steady”, then looking at the perks is a good idea. Just because you may never use them doesn’t mean having them isn’t potentially important.

Also, look at what ports and regions they sail. You might be surprised at the limited number of destinations after a few cruises.

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