Janet&Carl

9 hours ago, JT1962 said:

Splendor was in Australia for 2 years during the Covid shutdown, but not cruising with passengers. It arrived in Seattle in late April for the Alaska cruise season. I was on the May 2 sailing, which was the first cruise with passengers in over 2 years for Splendor. 
 

https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-splendor-heading-to-north-america-more-australia-sailings-canceled/65352

actually Australia had NO ships at all for two years NOne, Nada, Zero.  I don't know where Carnival Splendor was but it wasnt Australia. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-18/first-cruise-ship-for-two-years-docks-in-sydney/100996860

13 hours ago, Goldshep said:

Interesting for sure. This makes sense too since the Splendor had recently arrived in the states from Australia specifically for the Alaskan season. I think Carnival was trying to capitalize and put all their ships back in service  while the Australian ports were still closed to cruises. 

Splendor has not been in Australia recently at all - you are wrong there.  We have not had any ships here at all since Covid close down until very recently and Splendor was not one of the ones that restarted.

Has anyone sought clarification on this ? Are we now allowed to take our own rapid antigen test without proctoring.  This timeline now makes my testing 1. more expensive and 2. harder to get before travel given that it takes me two days to get to Seattle for my cruise.

All new guidelines are effective for cruises departing on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 or later, and include: 

• Vaccinated guests must continue to provide evidence of their vaccination status, either through VeriFLY or at embarkation. Pre cruise testing is no longer required, except for the following destination regulations: 
  • Canada: a PCR test can be taken 3 days before sailing or an antigen test can be taken 2 days before sailing
  • Bermuda: a PCR test can be taken 4 days before sailing or an antigen test can be taken 2 days before sailing
  • Greece: a PCR or antigen test can be taken 2 days before sailing
  • Australia: a PCR test 3 days before sailing or a self-administered antigen test 1 day before sailing

On 7/27/2022 at 7:49 PM, Raj.K said:

Any comparison of Suites on Costa versus Yacht Club on MSC?

 

Also, MSC now include gratuities in the fare whilst Costa charges additional EUR 11 per night per passenger. How does Suite cabin and privileges compare with Yacht Club? 

We have done both several times.  Like chalk and cheese.  MSC Yacht club they cant do enough for you - the perfect cruise for us.  Costa suites the first time we didn't even see our butler - not once.  The second time we did but he was the laziest butler ever.  Didn't do anything and referred us on every time.  Couldn't serve us drinks from the bar couldn't show us how to use the unfamiliar coffee machine.  Could not provide tea bags instead of coffee pods etc... All he did was bring us the provided pre dinner snack and the next days diary d'bordo.   You do get on the first tender onshore and you may or may not get to eat in the Club restaurant, that depends on which ship you are on.  And that is just about the only perk of being in a suite. The third Costa cruise coming up and we don't expect any different. 

Msc I came out of my suite to go to the bar for a pre dinner G&T and heard my butler say "no, no, no madame I will do it for you.  We were escorted to dinner.  We were boarded priority at every port, no queues.  You will always get a special restaurant.  You will always have access to the Top Sail Lounge.  You will have access to the spa area and a seperate pool deck. And the staff will bend over backwards to make your holiday special.

I always book direct.  I like to negotiate my own terms and not have someone do that for me.  I find it easier to have the cruise I want that way than be told "it can't be done" by someone who may have never cruised with the line themselves.

18 hours ago, Noo said:

We are considering our first cruise with Costa in October but I'm finding it quite hard to find much information compared to other lines I've sailed with!  We would have the "My Drinks Plus" package, but I'm curious about the wine.  The information I've found states that you can get white, red or rose with meals, but it doesn't mention it elsewhere.  It does say that you can get unlimited cocktails, beers and spirits, but we don't drink too many of those.  Would a glass of wine by the glass from a bar be included in this package?  I wouldn't be interested in buying a bottle when I already have a drinks package.

 

I've seen other posts about drinks packages but they seem to have different names than the one that I'm seeing.  I'm not sure if this is a recent change or if they title it differently in the UK.  🙂

 

Thanks very much

Yes wine is included in the package.  There are several "brands" of white, red, rose and sparkling such as prosecco or brut that you can choose from.    The restaurants only serve soft drinks, wines and beers and do not have spirits which might explain why they mention that.  All of the Costa ships we have been on so far have had a "Wine Bar" as one of their lounges. They also serve wine in other bars but may not have the whole selection.

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

Which port? 

There were independent tour operators just off the wharf when we last visited Lautoka, but that was a few years back now.

We are Suva on a Saturday and Port Denarau on a Sunday 

3 hours ago, blag said:

You say that there are only 105 guests booked. Please, where exactly did you find this information in your planner? (Was this the desktop version or mobile?) 

Not guests, staterooms.  Its not in the planner.  I do a dummy booking and add up all the empty cabins in each category then take it away from the total number of cabins on the ship (which I counted on the deck plan). I have been doing this every week.  We did get to 110 staterooms booked but that dropped after final payment due day. Interestingly, it was the top end suites that seemed to become vacant.

Question about Fiji- When we dock, will there be people at pier offering tours? 

Since Carnival is not listing any on our cruise I have decided to try to book with someone when we dock.  would like to do beach at one stop and cultural tour at other.  Any suggestions?

3 hours ago, DS said:

I'm assuming that your cruise in on the Pursuit starting in Rome on Nov 19th ???   If so, while there are no AzAmazing Evenings or Destination Celebrations ( on board) listed, the only possilbe days are the late stay in Barcelone on 21 Nov, and the two nights in Seville ( 26 and 27 Nov)

Yes, you assume correctly. Thank you thats my problem the only concert on land we can go to while travelling is Barcelona on the 21xt.  Of course we want to experience Azamara as well and don't want to miss the Destination Celebration.

Therein lies the dilemma. 🙂 

On 7/31/2022 at 12:08 PM, CupKayke said:

Yikes.  It's just so strange that a ship charges for WATER.   That is a steep price for one bottle of water.   I've seen TV shows on cruise ships built even 10 years ago and their water quality far exceeds any water you can get on land or in a bottle... so it's so odd that Costa's water isn't drinkable? or is it?  

We travel in a suite so always get the premium drinks included.  I don't like to use plastic so apart from sparkly water from a bottle I drink water out of the tap.  I have never had a problem on any cruise line including costa drinking water from the tap.

1 minute ago, andrcan said:

AzAmazing evening is posted well in advance on the cruise shore excursion list in your online planner. For example, my upcoming cruise is in December but AzAmazing evening was posted online a month ago.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I thought I had read that somewhere then couldnt find it again.  I have looked at our planner - it has very small passenger numbers with only 105 cabins booked so far.  The cruise is Spain intensive in November.  I can't see the Azamazing evening posted.  All excursions have a cost against them and I was looking for one that didnt.  Am I looking in the right direction ?

On 8/7/2022 at 11:09 PM, Beamafar said:

While not a tip, rather an observation from an Az newbie - everything (positive) I’ve read on here matches our experience onboard.  From the food, to the service, to the friendly passengers.  We’re just 24 hours onboard and are blown away. 

So good to hear - we are MSC fans from way back but also think we will be a good fit for Azamara.  I'm so looking forward to trying something new.  We tried Princess, Costa (a few times) RCCL, and Genting, another company that is now bust and havent found our fit yet.

I'm sure this has been asked before and I'm sorry if I'm asking again - I'm going googly eyed trolling through the previous comments.  We want to plan a visit to a music hall in Barcelona but don't want to book for the night that might be the azamazing evening.  How do you know which evening it will be ? 

22 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I've heard, but never confirmed, that MSC will match your status with other cruise lines.  I wonder if that would apply to a WC and what the perks would be?

yes it is easily done and can be done before you book - so that would make it applicable 🙂 all you need to do is contact them by email and show proof of your status on another line/hotel chain and you will be matched to an applicable loyalty status.  You will then receive all the benefits of that status level.

On 5/3/2022 at 7:46 AM, Heidi13 said:

Just stumbled onto my most recent list, so thought I would cut and paste. This is just a summary, the actual document was more comprehensive.

 

I developed an extensive "Statement of Requirements" listing everything that was a must have and others that were optional/preferences. Some of our requirements that we included:

• # pax - looking for 750 - 1250. Too small restricts entertainment options
• Pax space ratio (GT/pax) - prefer > 50, but no less than 40
• Pax/crew ratio - prefer 2:1, or better
• Meals (MDR) - quality meals, with options for destination menus
• Alternative restaurants - couple of options, with preference to no additional fees
• Cabin service - must be available 24/7, with preference to costs being included in fare
• Entertainment - not interested in wacky pool games, marriage games, etc. Prefer small group of singers/dancers supplemented with guest entertainers.
• Lectures - focus on destination
• Spa suite - preference if included
• Laundry - since we do longer cruises, must have pax laundry. Preference if included
• Wifi - preference if included
• Kids - preference if none
• Casino - never use, so preference if none
• Art Auctions, Photogs, Shops expanding into public spaces - not interested
• Port/sea day ratio - I did develop a minimum ratio, but don't recall the numbers
• Hours in port - again, I developed a minimum number of average hours in port, but don't recall the numbers

List similar to mine and I came out with Azamara - we havent tried them yet or booked a WC but we are trying a 12 night on them in November to see what they are like first.

On 12/14/2021 at 5:01 AM, JanR said:

 

 

And yes, we are going in to this with eyes wide open.  We have heard both horror stories and praise for MSC.  We'll find out soon enough for ourselves.

MSC is my favourite line - best pizza at sea - don't do burgers and fries very well but if you like seafood you will love MSC.

from what I have seen of cruise ships the dance floors are very small - I have seen pictures of Cunard but never been on one - they seem to have decent dance floors

On 8/5/2022 at 6:36 AM, cxr133 said:

mmmmm....... at Xcaret  i liked the Street Tacos way  better than i liked the fine dining.

and they were open later than the restaurants 

  but how much did you pay to stay at Xcaret ??? 

Bet is was 10 x what you pay carnival - the prices I looked at ran at nearly $2000 AUD per night !!

On 6/30/2022 at 10:04 PM, seagypsea said:

FYI to the OP - you will not be given your shareholder benefit on a discounted cruise.  It's clearly stated on the corporate benefit page.  I tested that statement by asking for it on a discounted cruise and got a letter instead saying we love you but sorry...

I got a deeply discounted cruise on the 23 day transpacific and was successful in getting shareholder OBC.

On 7/24/2022 at 1:14 PM, frito58 said:

You want a deal , go spend some time in the casino. Use your card . Just sayin. They are offering deals galore for casino players and I mean fantastic deals . Don’t think I have to break the bank either. 

This is what a Carnival agent told me to do 🙂 recently 

What are the benefits to booking your next cruise while you are onboard ?

On 7/12/2022 at 12:33 PM, 1912 said:

The Alaska B2B2B on the Splendor that I booked over the weekend I submitted my request this morning and Voila! within 20 minutes all 3 cruises showed the shareholder benefit as having been applied, so does the booking summary page of each cruise. I think this was the quickest ever it was done from my 70 odd cruises.

Thanks for your post - can I ask how did you attach your shareholder statement ? was it a jpg file or a pdf file ?

Heard from Azamara today that they no longer require pre cruise testing unless the country you are leaving from requires it.  We leave from Italy so will no longer have to find a testing site before boarding. A bit of a relief really.

On 6/3/2022 at 11:59 AM, travelberlin said:

My travel agent found from Azamara that the excursions onboard credit is to be used in excursions only.

Ivi

There was a specific promotion of 500 USD excursion credit.  I imagine it will only be able to be used for excursions as opposed to On Board Credit which can be used anywhere.  It was a month after I booked.  The promotion when I booked was $1000 OBC so I expect that I'll be able to use that as I see fit with excursions and on board spends.