Splendida 13031

Booked Bella Guarantee and day after making final payment got assigned an interior room. Question: On the deck plan map, our room is a different shape than the others on that level. It is more square than long and narrow. Anyone know what that room arrangement looks like?

We are also on the Splendida for the Greece and Turkey itinerary so I too am interested in this issue. We like to be off the ship as early as we can to maximize our time in port and would like to schedule a couple independent tours so knowing approximate timing is important.

Yes, but nobody else has for our May 2024 Mediterranean cruise. I like the roll call because we like to invite others to join us on excursions that we plan.

3 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Some ships have a special venue (not the main theater) where there are additional shows for an upcharge. I am not sure of all of them, but I know on the Meraviglia, there are two shows in the Carousel Lounge that can be booked for a fee. When I was on in April, the fee was as follows: $12pp if booked online prior to sailing, $18pp if booked onboard, and $5pp if booked on board you had the Specialty Dining package (though no food is served at the show, so not really sure what it has to do with dining). The two shows were House of Houdini and Rock Circus. They were both sort of cirque du soleil style shows. The venue has a round stage that has lots of moving parts... screens that come down from the ceiling, stairs that open up in the back... that sort of thing. I only saw Rock Circus, but it was really really good.

 

There is normal entertainment in the main theatre every night that is not an additional charge, but does require a reservation, as seating can be limited.

Thank you for the clarification. We will be on the Splendida next May and I assume if something like this exists on our sailing we will be informed ahead of time. Is that true?

1 hour ago, Brighton Line said:

The app really only works when on board and connected to the ship's intranet. Though it does have a countdown clock 😉 You also have to log out of each booking if you have multiple bookings to access them separately 

You can pay for shows, dining packages, and Spa services before you board but you cannot schedule them to a specific date and time until onboard the ship. 

pay for shows? do you mean reserve a seat?

When I was there 13 years ago, we did not get a guide and I regretted it. Maybe the signage is better now, but we will get a guide or use a Rick Steves Audio tour.

On 8/20/2023 at 8:15 PM, Senga said:

Greek Evil Eye (Mati)

 

I hang mine on my Christmas tree every year!

We have scheduled our first MSC cruise and will be travelling on the Splendida to the Mediterranean out of Trieste May 30, 2024. We are in Bella and I just noticed that we will not be able to schedule which dinner seating we want. Does anyone know what the standard dining times are and which is more popular? We are early to bed, early to rise people so if it is more likely that we will be assigned a late seating in the MDR, we will just have to prepare ourselves for a buffet only dinner experience which is unfortunate since we really enjoy the MDR.

On 5/24/2023 at 2:34 PM, fredmdcruisers said:

We are considering losing $900 in deposits for same old 3 weeks on Explorer January to move to 21 nights on Divina. The $s saved on having to eat in specialty restaurants on RCL make it a wash.

Your problem might be water. If I remember you like a specific brand. You can't carry any on and it's not free with Bella.

Imagine this: use the bathroom at night without waking everyone in adjoining cabins because of those rr doors that sound like a garage door opening. MSC ships are beautiful, clean and so well maintained. 

We are booked on Splendida May 2024 in Bella. We mostly drink tap water and diet coke. We do bring a water bottle to take on shore each day. Will we need to use that onboard as well? And, can you bring any soft drinks onboard like on Royal?

Am I understanding it correctly that on MSC (we will be on our first MSC cruise: the Splendida next May) serves no tap water (iced or not) anywhere but the buffet? We are not drinkers and enjoy ice water with dinner in the MDR. I hope we don't have to fill water bottles in the buffet and carry them to the MDR.

Dominica was beautiful but we did not have Levi. The tour was great anyway. 

4 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

 

Sweetfield Manor offer day passes.  A short drive from the port and Airport and close to the beach.

Check/call direct for availability.  a nice, clean and a very reasonable price for Barbados.

 

https://sweetfieldmanor.com

 

 

Thank you but I am interested in something more than lying on the beach. Is there even a place in Bridgetown or the cruise port to store luggage so we can do a walking tour of historic Bridgetown?

Does anyone know why Royal is not offering any shore excursions with airport transfer on the Sunday we return from our Island Hop cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas? Our morning flight was cancelled and we were put on a late afternoon flight and now we need a solution for our luggage and ourselves that day.

14 hours ago, Ruth said:

Does anyone know if Hawksbill Adventures -Capt Mango is OK -I booked with him in July for a November tour but can't reach him now.

I wanted to confirm pickup location and time for our November 13th tour, so I emailed him multi times this past week. He has either had something bad happen to him or he is a poor communicator. Not sure which. But now I guess I need to book something else, since I am not receiving a reply. Any suggestions?

I emailed him last week about a possible tour for Dec. 2 and have not heard from him either.

On 9/19/2022 at 2:42 AM, Teodor said:

What is the current Covid restrictions?

In RCL App i see 'Guests may visit most ports freely with the exception of St. Vincent which requires tours for all guests...'

Any update on this? Is it still valid?

Yes, an update would be nice!

We are sailing out of Bridgetown in November and noticed Royal is saying you have to take their excursions or government approved excursions in Barbados and St. Lucia. Has anyone experienced this? We are planning to arrive 2 days early to drive around Barbados. Are we going to be in trouble with the covid police?

I highly recommend Hunte's garden. Andromeda is beautiful too, but on the east coast. Hunte's is in the center of the island and Anthony Hunte lives there and is a wonderful host.

On 3/15/2022 at 2:09 PM, Super Curly said:

Thanks for the advice. We are due there on a Tuesday. I'm wondering traffic direction-wise whether to start at Baddek or Louisbourg.

After all the recommendations and further review, we are just going to go to Baddek first. If we have extra time, we'll go to Highland Village via the long way back. I don't want to rush at a place that sounds so great.

Another option is connecting with others on your ship through these boards who might want to tour similar areas. I reserved cars in both Charlottetown and Sydney several months ago for our June 25th Zaandam cruise and have offered to include another couple on our adventures. So far no takers!

We booked with Captain Mango for last December but ended up switching trips. We have re-booked that trip and hope to sign up with him again for the end of November this year. He was going to take us to a short hike up to the view between the Pitons, to the mud baths, and to snorkel beneath the Pitons plus a beach stop. Would love to share this excursion with others since there will only be two of us now.

I think maybe he is working for Shore Excursions Group. There is a tour that sounds like his and reviewers refer to their great tour guide, Levi. I am going to try to book that tour for this December.

Does HAL periodically offer discounts on shore excursions booked ahead of the cruise like RCL?

Based on this website: https://crew-center.com/cruise-ship-ports-schedules , all the times listed on the itinerary are local time.  This was certainly not the case on Royal in the Caribbean. Guess it depends on the area and on the cruise line. Good information to verify before scheduling private tours or rental cars or any other activities.

Does anyone know if the arrival and departure times listed for HAL Zaandam are ship's time or local time?

This will be very important to us as we are renting cars and going on our own in most ports.

We start in Boston which is Eastern but Nova Scotia is on Atlantic time.