ready2cruzagain

He didn't care for MSC either, complained a lot. I am thinking maybe Viking or Seabourne might be a better fit.

I remember those days! Back in the late 90s and early 2000's I remember they would wheel out several large round kettle charcoal grills by the pool area and have a big party. It was fun to watch and delicious. I think the last time I seen it was in 2005 on the Dream.

I completely agree with you! I much prefer a good band in a bar, atrium, anywhere over the production shows but it is getting hard to find a band on NCL ships. Yes, there is a band on the Epic which we will be on but plays in the Cavern and I am not going to get in line an hour early for a tiny venue.

You have such high hopes. Given past experiences I find that most thinking it will replace the evening entertainment to be more accurate. But time will tell, we are all guessing.

Same here! I take my phone and it goes straight into the safe. It does not come back out until we are getting off the ship on the last day. Being glued to a phone is no vacation! No, I do not use the NCL app or any other cruise line app as I find them to be annoying. It is bad enough watching people all the time who can't put their phones down but now NCL is encouraging it!🤦

I actually like MSC's entertainment shows in the main theater. Lots of things going on in one show, opera to acrobats. I definitely liked it better than Priscilla which I have seen too many times. We will probably see Burn the Floor again even though we have seen it 5 times.

Just a guess here but Epic has only one show, Burn the Floor, since they got rid of Priscilla. My guess is that they will not be getting another production show to replace Priscilla and will use Wheel of Fortune in its place.

Haven't sailed them since 2015. When they started having the passengers be the entertainment we left.

This is just horrible! I see they are going the way of Carnival. Carnival went with Hasbro game shows for entertainment. We quit sailing Carnival due to the lack of entertainment and the pathetic menus of Golden Corral. We have been sailing MSC and NCL the last 8 years. Have not sailed NCL since the pandemic and when the Epic came back to PC we booked 6 cruises. I thought Deal or No Deal was bad but this is worse. So, instead of entertainment, I get to go on a cruise and watch other passengers as if it were a game show. No thanks, I can watch Wheel of Fortune at home. Guess we will be going back to MSC after our next 6 cruises.

MSC doesn't pay back port fees at least not on the cruises we have sailed with them (12).

I can do a mock booking on NCL when I am signed in and right before you pay it shows you the total 10% off. I think you are including taxes and port fees maybe? If the cruise is $499 each plus taxes and port charges, your 10% would be taken off of the $499 for each of you making your discount a total of $98.

It is a great deal but we currently have 6 cruises booked with NCL and never received 20%. We received 10% of the base price of each cruise.

Also on the Epic...Shanghai's

Could be either International Pier or Punta Langosta Pier. Last 2 times we were there we were at the International Pier.

Great for you but...and I know I will get blasted for this, I will NOT leave an extra tip on the first day when gratuities were raised and service was cut. Especially after reading how many are not even getting their cabins cleaned at all on some days.

Yes, some medicare advantage does cover out of the country, ours does. It is in our handbook and I have called several times to make sure. But, we also buy insurance when traveling just as a backup measure and for peace of mind.

I am like you and love MSC's shows. Have a feeling I will be disappointed with NCL's entertainment in January with only Burn the Floor in theater which we have seen I think 5 times. Took us years to book MSC because of the bad reviews but we have now sailed 12 times on them. I just wish they would change the itineraries some.

There is another part to that menu ... here it is

I did find the new menus for the Seaside they are trying and that they did change the comfort classics sections which you are showing. At least the rest of the menu looks good. They still have the surf and turf from what I have read. Here is the rest of that menu for that day.

I went back to look at our menus from last February and they are the new menus, the exact ones being offered now. I did find the fried chicken and the meatloaf and included some of the menus below to show you how their menus are not inferior IMO. On Carnival, that was all they were serving was Golden Corral food, as you can see below, MSC has a wide variety of food.

Oh great, I really would be happy with that. Guess I will have to go and check those menus. Not to worry though, I have 6 NCL cruises booked right now.

Yes, Suites at 130 days, Platinum and above at 125 days and all others at 120 days out at 12am EST.

I have sailed 12 times on MSC and their food is awesome. MSC's food is quite better than NCL's IMO but we have not sailed NCL since right when the pandemic (Breakaway for 3 weeks). Getting ready to hit Sapphire on NCL in January when we have 3 weeks booked on the Epic. We quit sailing Carnival years ago due to their food going to meatloaf, fried chicken, etc. On our last MSC cruise this past Feb. in the MDR we had Lobster, Prime Rib, Steak Dianne, Rack of Lamb, Veal, Coq Au Vin, Fillet Mignon, and Grouper to name a few items that we enjoyed in the MDR. We do not sail Haven or YC as we usually sail 3 to 4 weeks at a time and can do that amount of days for the price of 1 week in either YC or Haven. CS on MSC, now that leaves a lot to be desired on land. I usually make a reservation and do not have a need to call and change things though. I do agree with you, I am loyal to no brand. We sail for ship, itinerary and price.

I would not send anything delicate or that may shrink. We send out undergarments, socks, jeans and things like that. Send a pair of dh's pants once and they came back so small he couldn't get them on. I sent out a couple of my tshirts once and the dryers were so hot the shirts melted and you could see through them. I take some travel size detergent for our delicates and wash them myself.

No, not transferable and he would need to be 18 or older, he is too young for the thermal spa