UPNYGuy

these elevators are NOT that complicated to use. I do not understand why people moan about them. It simply assigns you the elevator that is most direct to your deck. Carnival has these installed on the Horizon and Panorama, and I vastly prefer them. I also had *zero* issues with them on the Seaside.  

It is when you get hordes of people that dont follow the directions that get impatient.

32 minutes ago, lcpagejr said:

Divina used to cruise out of Ft Lauderdale....I believe it was in the  early 2010's when MSC first entered the US market. I recall seeing the gorgeous ship across the port from the other ships.

Divina did as well? I seem to recall Magnifica also did, but I may be mistaken.

Just now, ray98 said:

 

There were plenty on the Seaside in May including some who were Fantastica that didn't get their preferred early choice.

hmm. That’s interesting. 

30 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Couple of observations….

 

1.  The shows that have contracts that are expiring are being replaced by internally developed shows vs paying for Broadway/Vegas shows.  I’ve seen some of NCL’s newer shows (Syd Norman’s shows comes to mind).  They’re excellent!  Anxious to see the big theater productions they’re bringing to their stages.

 

2.  True, room stewards have more cabins to take care of, but they’re only cleaning them once/day instead of twice per day.

 

Just thought I’d add some perspective!

that makes sense. That’s really no different than what other cruise lines are doing now anyway. I’m assuming suite/Haven still get 2x service if requested?

4 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

The most visible impact has been cabin stewards and entertainment, the stewards are now servicing about double the amount of cabins and the entertainment casts are being cut down as contracts come up for renewal. 

I did see that most of the broadway type shows seem to be axed.

7 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You are lucky! I was Fantastica on my last sailing and initially assigned an 8:30 dining time despite requesting early. Even with Fantastica, there are no guarantees that you will get your requested time, you are just allegedly given priority for your desired time. I was able to get my time changed to 6:00 once onboard by being willing to do a sharing table.

Im also Diamond, so perhaps that plays a part, but I have never had late dining with bella.

13 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I agree that the brand new terminal in Miami makes it less likely we will see MSC sailings out of other FL ports any time soon. They seem intent on expanding to other US regions right now, having just started sailing out of NYC, soon to be sailing out of Galveston, and looking towards Alaska sailings next.

and look how quickly they abandoned TPA. 

6 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

and looking towards Alaska sailings next.

They had Alaska in mind when the Meraviglia and Bellissima were built. There was a blurb from the shipbuilder at the time that they were deliberately shorter than the Fantasia class so they could fit into the existing docks up there. I would personally rather a Seaside class get sent up there, with all that outdoor space. 

On 8/25/2023 at 7:19 PM, VernRDH said:

we do enjoy relaxing at the adults pool preferably in the shade on sea days

def. go for the interior y/c on the Meraviglia in this case, much less hectic. You can feel that the ship has as many people on it as it does.

1 hour ago, ray98 said:

 

No....Aurea only.  The rest get the chaos of MSC assigned times.  Book Bella and there is a good chance dinner is the 9:30pm seating.

unless you pre-request dinner at the early seating. DW and I have done bella and have never had 9:30 dinner seating. 

On 8/26/2023 at 8:09 PM, VernRDH said:

Thanks for the replies! I think we may just go Fantastica this time and see how we like the overall experience. 

If you are used to flexible dining time, this is only offered with Aurea level bookings. Or (as it has been mentioned) forgo the balcony if you can, and book in the Yacht Club in an inside cabin. You will be surprised at the level of service. 

years ago, MSC had a ship based at Port Everglades (think it was Magnifica), They moved to Miami with Divina to compete with Royal and Carnival.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

they are cutting their staff on big ships in half. 

in what way? I’ll admit I haven’t been following NCL as much as I used to. 

sorry to revive a 10 year old thread, but has Adrian left NCL? I havent seen anything about him pop up since the restart. 

On 8/21/2023 at 9:43 PM, wikoffclan said:

Thank you for this. I went right back in and changed my No to Yes. On my first MSC (Seaside) cruise I had an Inside guarantee and was assigned to a Balcony. Fingers crossed that happens again. If not, at least with this I might have a chance at an upgrade offer

DW and I did a bella balcony on Seaside in 2019 and were put in an Aurea hot tub cabin. Someone realized they are leaving quite a bit of revenue on the table doing that.

Thing is, seaside feels more like a ship (tons of outside space), whereas the oasis class feels much more like a land based vacation. Keep that in mind as well. Many people do not like the oasis class because they are so large, and do not feel like ships, but floating 'vacation factories' . YMMV, but they are two totally different experiences. Even within the Royal communities, there are certain pax that will not sail on anything larger than the Radiance and Vision classes. 

4 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

... no shortage of steak and lobster though I guess? 🙂

we are in the Eataly (was a bit ago 🤣) quite a bit.

worst charter group I have ever wound up with was the 'Holistic Holiday at Sea' group on Divina. It was a group of holier than thou vegans that thought they ran the ship, and overtook EVERYTHING. Good luck getting any fresh fruit or veggies, or even salad. They vacuumed it up as fast as it came out.  Now, I actively look to avoid that group when I book.

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Just because it’s considered a booze cruise doesn’t mean that there should be weed on it.

I agree, but short booze cruises tend

 to attract that type of clientele. 

On 8/2/2023 at 9:42 AM, PompeySailor said:

Yacht club Drugs WEED (Skunk) 🌳

Tuesday night 11:30pm

Weed (Skunk) coming through AC vents into cabin, very strong and pronounced (Fresh)

 

Reported to night shift at. YC desk,

Temp Concierge staff called Engine room.

Technician arrived within 5 minutes, they confirmed WEED smell in the hallway outside our cabin and once in room also confirmed WEED coming through AC vents 

Deck 18

 

Technician said he had to confirm it was drugs (WEED) and not anything else.

Probably for safety that is not a fire or something else burning 🔥 

Which we totally understand 

 

We will await to see if anyone today mentions it to us or has an explanation 

I’m not expecting the world to become a better place overnight ☮️ or looking for a free cruise.

 

Yes (Weed) Skunk is in the Yacht Club 🌳 and the Pro users can sugar coat it all they  like, but it’s a safety Hazzard and not allowed anywhere on the ship.

And is illegal 

 

Maybe MSC need to do what Carnival are doing and have the K9 drug dogs onboard 🐶 💊 

Carnival PAX are coming to MSC YC to avoid getting busted on Carnival

 

Will update if we get approached from anyone and informed of if they were able to locate where the source of the WEED was coming from .

Maybe the YC Director or a senior staff member will have a chat with us 😉

Would be nice after 3 days to meet them 🤣

 

We slept much better last night as well and have awoke chill and mellow 🌳

The AC is currently pumping out normal air 👍🏻

looked at the timeframe you booked. This appears to have been a 4 day cruise. All I can say is DUHHHHH. You were on what is called a booze cruise. I usually avoid cruises shorter than 7 days on any cruise line for this very reason. 

On 8/26/2023 at 6:19 AM, cruise_mojo said:

the other or one other NCL thing was lattitudes cruises with double points so that was a way to get the 4x points but when they took all our early cruises away of less than a certain amount of days away it ticked us off - that took status away from us, - then they gave it back - then they took it away again a couple years later - then we quit sailing ncl but never say never we may one day sail them again ....

I think that was how they ended up with a top-heavy loyalty program. Lots of people booking cheap weekend cruises with the 4x points to get to platinum, and they realized it.  You could have ended up platinum just by booking 8 weekend cruises with the old system of booking in advance, double points, and a suite.  

On 8/26/2023 at 5:31 AM, 3StepDam44 said:

Thank you UPNYGuy.

 

Given this Ship offers World Cruises, I assumed it would wrap aound.

 

Still may book though.

x

you should if you are curious, especially if you like the Fantasia class. It is like a smaller Fantasia class. 

11 hours ago, mowogo said:

And in general they have been trying to lower the hotel status matches. I was happy when last year I was able to match Hilton Diamond to MSC.  

MSC has been offering lower matches to hotel chains vs what they would if it were a cruise operator at the same level?

On 6/13/2023 at 8:02 AM, LMaxwell said:

 Unfortunately, the 4 day experience is pretty typical across all cruise lines because it doesn't take a lot of time or money, and for 4 days people aren't looking for adventurous travel but just a fun getaway.

This is spot on. Longer cruises of a week or more avoid this clientele, as you experienced on the first leg of your sailing. You could take a 4 day cruise on Holland America and run into this as well. It isnt so much as 'the party crowd has found MSC" as much as it is MSC doing short cruises.

1 hour ago, Hutcha said:

 Are people really regularly paying face value for an upgrade bid??

That is really what the 'upgrade' offer is, what you would have paid to book it originally.