doob

Can any one tell me what facilities are available on the Top 16 deck (we are Aurea)?

I have read on some ships there is drinks service and even a pop up bar.

We cruised on Musica last Easter and granted there were very few passengers using this deck but there was no service at all, the two deck attendants just chatted to each other, check your cruise card and handed out towels. Often the sun beds were packed away by 4pm!

In fact we had an unfortunate incident - we were lying in one of the two person pods and one of the attendants,who hands out the towels at the bottom of the deck stairs by the rope, came up and said we had to vacate the pod as we hadn't paid. We explained again that we were Aurea Suite guests and as such thought these facilities were available free to us. Not the case it would seem!

DH queried this at reception and even Aurea guests have to pay to lie in a pod!! Sun beds are free. There was only one other person using this deck at the time (so certainly no demand for any of the pods) & we had only been in the pod for 5 minutes! Reception said the display card at the bottom of the stairs to deck 16 would be amended to show that Aurea guests also have to pay for pods (alongside non Aurea guests) but this was never amended.

The whole incident left a rather nasty feeling.

We are due to cruise 16th of this month and would welcome any info about this deck to hopefully avoid further misunderstandings.

We were on Musica this Easter and the MDR was open everyday inc port days - often a good respite from the oh so busy buffet :D

Sorry typo error - Butler Packing!!!

Hi, we have cruised several times with MSC but in October we are taking our first cruise in Yacht Club - Splendida in October-super excited!!

I would like the butler to unpack but here is my question if you ask the butler to repack at the end of the cruise does he/she handle your dirty clothes?? A strange question I know but by the end of the cruise most of our clothes will have been worn.

How does this work timing wise as I am aware one butler services a few cabins? Also has any body tipped extra for this service?

Last question - am I correct in thinking that you don't have to put your luggage outside your door on the last night - it's taken off the ship just before you depart?

Many thanks for any info you can give me!

Thanks Pete

We are going with 16035 on Splendida (we are a group of 3). Many thanks for your info!

Hi Skier 52

I'm thinking of booking Yacht Club cabin 16035 on Splendida - the balcony looks bigger but I'm wondering how much is enclosed by metal and there appears to be a pole on the balcony! Do you have any info? My alternative is the cabin next door 16033.

Many thanks.

We returned from an MSC cruise two days ago & noticed your post whilst browsing through P & O message boards as we are sailing on Britannnia this August thankfully from Southampton.

We normally fly from Manchester but MSC only offered flights from Gatwick with BA. We travelled the night before & stayed at the Hampton by Hilton hotel which was fine.

We parked at the long term car park which unlike Manchester can only be accessed by bus ( this appeared to be the only car park where they didn't take your car keys in case your car needed to be moved!) unfortunately on return after our cruise we had to wait 45 minutes for the bus - several staff buses & local buses passed during this time but only one bus for the car park. Not all the people who were queuing managed to fit on the bus & were left waiting for the next bus. This was the least of our problems...

We checked in our luggage the night before the flight which took nearly half an hour because B A had accepted a group booking of 99 seats from MSC without asking for names so the computer was unable to locate us & allow check in. The following day this was compounded 96 times as the other 96 passengers checked in, the flight left 2 hours late.

On return from Genoa no one could be checked in again, after waiting over an hour the staff decided to write check in slips & tick off seats on an aircaft plan. We were allocated row 13 which didn't exist when we boarded the plane!!!

We had to wait with other passengers with the same problem at the rear of the plane while the crew searched for seats. Take off was delayed for 90 minutes & eventually the Captain came out of the cockpit to argue with the crew that he needed to get the plane off the tarmac!! Seats were available in Club World but they would allow passengers to use these seats.

We were told at check in on the outward journey that BA had just changed their computer system which compounded the problem. We later learned that BA had actually made these changes 4 weeks earlier but had still not sorted the computer issues.

When we booked we were pleased to be flying with BA but never again, especially through a group booking.

Let's hope things are resolved before your flight.

I saw the tuk tuks being used as a taxi service on a video as part of a cruise review posted on the MSC message board.

The reviewer walked the distance and so cannot give an idea of cost so I had hoped some one on this forum may have the answer.

Thank you for your replies so far - keeping fingers crossed!

We've read that it takes about 45 mins to walk from the port terminal to the Old Town. As an alternative we (3 adults) were considering taking a tuk tuk to the old area & walking back to the ship. Does any one know how much a tuk tuk would be?

Many thanks :)

Have recently booked a cruise and realised we will be in Civitavecchia on Easter Monday.

We had planned to visit Rome (areas away from the Vatican) but now believe that many restaurants will be closed as well as shops.

Our question is - is it worth making the long return journey?

We would consider other towns/villages, even Civitavecchia. It seems a shame to stay on the ship!

Any ideas welcome thanks!

Posted on P&O message board as well as we cruise regularly with all three cruise lines & value any help!

Haven't seen Italian Ports board so will post there as well thank you.

Just booked a Med cruise & realised we will be in Rome on Easter Monday! We know the city will be extremely busy & plan to visit areas away from the Vatican however we are worried that most restaurants will be closed along with shops.

Our question is - is it worth the long journey to & from Rome?? We have visited Rome a couple times on other cruises.

We assume that other towns closer to the port will also be closed

Perhaps we would be best visiting Civitavecchia it seems a shame to stay on board....

Any ideas welcome thanks!

Just booked a Med cruise & realised we will be in Rome on Easter Monday! We know the city will be extremely busy & plan to visit areas away from the Vatican however we are worried that most restaurants will be closed along with shops.

Our question is - is it worth the long journey to & from Rome?? We have visited Rome a couple times on other cruises.

We assume that other towns closer to the port will also be closed :(

Perhaps we would be best visiting Civitavecchia it seems a shame to stay on board....

Any ideas welcome thanks!

Just booked a Med cruise on Presziosa & realised we will be in Rome on Easter Monday! We know the city will be extremely busy & plan to visit areas away from the Vatican however we are worried that most restaurants will be closed along with shops.

Our question is - is it worth the long journey to & from Rome?? We have visited Rome a couple times on other cruises.

We assume that other towns closer to the port will also be closed :(

Perhaps we would be best visiting Civitavecchia it seems a shame to stay on board....

Any ideas welcome thanks!

Kevinyork

In the end it was no more difficult than dealing with a UK agent. I of course cannot name the agent but you are welcome to email me contact dot me at virgin dot me

I have attempted to email you a couple of times using different variations of your email address but to no avail. Could you please post email address again?

Many thanks

Our UK agents rarely offer anything at all other than passing on the cruise line's own offers. Commission rates for agents are lower in the UK so they have less flexibility to provide extras.

 

How about trying a US agent? We did so for our two X cruises and got OBC and lower cruise fares.

 

 

That thought had crossed our minds but we always assumed you had to be resident in the States or at least have an address in the US?

Looks like you now great some great deals!

Is it a difficult process to find & use a US TA?

We can only cruise in the school holidays so pay a high price £6100 this summer & our travel agent gives us nothing!! We are very independent, choose the cruise & cabin etc before we see her. Time to change!!!

Hi we booked our next cruise, Venice Overnight August 2014 on Equinox, in February. We asked our TA about the 1 grade upgrade offered as part of the new Captain's Club perks -we are Select. She seemed rather vague & said it may happen closer to sail date but not very often. So we booked a C3 cabin & received the 123 Go offers- bev package & gratuities.

Right hol booked so began my favourite pastime - reading reviews etc on CC!

I found a couple of threads saying that people had received upgrades on booking & this was part of the new Captain's Club entitlement not a perk!

One thread said that you can book a c2 but pay for a C3

Can any one enlighten me please?