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Tea, coffee and water.

amajaa

By amajaa,
in MSC Cruises

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

Posted
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I've just texted my wonderful friend (and neighbour, who's French) what she thinks. Personally, I haven't a clue. Not a fan of France and tend not to get off in Marseille. However, on our cruise last month, we took a ship's tour to Aix and, while I'm glad we did, I was a little underwhelmed. IMHO, it's over-rated. There were a lot of market stalls set up which were nice to browse around. Soap and nougat were the 2 main regional products that our tour guide drew our attention to (though, of course, the region is famous for lavender, too, but we have a lavender farm about 50 minutes north of here, so no big deal to us). I learned that you have to look for the number 72 (I think) on the blocks of soap to ensure that you're getting the quality one and not the one made from palm oil!

 

Just got a reply saying that it's a Bank Holiday and 10 or even 5 years ago everything would have been closed but things are changing and now you would have shops open in the big cities. My friend says she would assume monuments and museums will be open but all public offices and schools would be closed (which they would be, anyway, as it's a Saturday!).

 

Don't know if that's of any help. Whatever you decide, I hope you keep safe and that there are no terror-related incidences on the day.

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canny_cruiser

canny_cruiser

Posted
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TY, Bea. I don't have a French contact to ask so your reply is a big help. Unlike you I am a Francophile and an Italianophobe (if there's such a word). It took Mussolini to get the trains to run on time and they strung him from a lamppost, didn't they?

 

If you were underwhelmed with Aiix, where do you suggest? Avignon and Arles were two of my other possibilities. But I did fancy doing the Cezanne Walk in Aix.

 

I'm not going back into Marseille again. As my cruise buddy in Dundee says "There's more Arabs here than in Arabia". I'm not a xenophobe, by the way.

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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Arles looks very interesting, though it's a bit of a distance and public transport may not be as frequent on account of it being a holiday.

 

Have you checked the Ports of Call forum?

 

I think we've de-railed this thread, enough, LOL. Sincerest apologies to the OP! :o

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marc_b2001

marc_b2001

Posted
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Hi jkrislc, i also have booked my mediterranean cruise through MSC-USA, do i have to call and book this complimentary bottled water package or will this be given to me automatically?

 

This is what I was able to book for no cost for a cruise out of Europe:

 

Complimentary bottled mineral water during lunch and dinner in main dining room. RESERVED ONLY FOR THE GUESTS WHO HAVE BOOKED THE CRUISE THROUGH MSC-USA. VALID FOR ALL NON-CARIBBEAN CANVAS.

I have also read some trade magazines saying the same held true for UK passengers, but perhaps this has changed.

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jkrislc

jkrislc

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Hi jkrislc, i also have booked my mediterranean cruise through MSC-USA, do i have to call and book this complimentary bottled water package or will this be given to me automatically?

It showed online as $0.00, but the site wouldn't let me book it, so I ended up calling and they took care of it. I think the website didn't know how to process a zero dollar charge. I think it may have worked had I purchased something else with a cost, though.

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gatlinburg

gatlinburg

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what is the deal with limited water/ice machines working in the Buffet, and many machines claiming to be out of order? Also, why do they only offer juice in the morning? And no coffee or tea with dinner, or after dinner in the MDR? Just sounds like they are trying to get people to pay for add-ons that are usually included in most Cruise Lines bookings. We already signed up for the free water package for US cruisers at dinner time, and pre-ordered the other 14 liter bottles of water that we had to pay for. I don't want our Family of four having to hunt down water machines in the Buffet. Just can't understand how MSC expects to break into the US Market when simple things like a cup of coffee after Dinner is not even offered. Shame. Anyway, we cruise in March, and will enjoy our trip no matter what.

No, water isnt free on sailings from the UK . I think I have read it is only on cruises departing/ booked from the US and tap water is not available in the MDR.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

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canny_cruiser

canny_cruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)
It's not just UK sailings, we were recently on Fantasia in the Med. We were charged for water in MDR and there was no tea or coffee served in the MDR.

I first came across it on Fantasia in Nov 2012.

 

Can clearly remember the stand up row I had with the Maitre'd about it! I went over to his desk. When i went back to my table, all my tablemates were thinking I was complaining about my table. Hahahaha!

 

There never was tea/coffee in MDR after lunch/dinner on MSC, right back to my first cruise in 2006.

Edited by canny_cruiser
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amajaa

amajaa

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So the conclusion is then no water in the MDR when sailing out of Southampton? I find that very odd when even the smallest of restaurants in the UK and possibly most of Europe give you tap water with your meal. What about children? If a family of 4 are eating they would go through an awful lot of bottled water. How can they expect to break into the British market?

 

 

Can you take water in with you from the buffet or in a bottle?

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Beamafar Great Review Rare

Beamafar

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So the conclusion is then no water in the MDR when sailing out of Southampton? I find that very odd when even the smallest of restaurants in the UK and possibly most of Europe give you tap water with your meal. What about children? If a family of 4 are eating they would go through an awful lot of bottled water. How can they expect to break into the British market?

Can you take water in with you from the buffet or in a bottle?

 

I can't see any reason why not.

 

Funny thing is, when MSC announced that they were homeporting in Southampton and would be offering a more "British" experience onboard, they also said that those sailing from that port would receive the all-inclusive drinks package according to the following article:

 

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/shipping/15226860.PHOTOS__New_2_500_person_cruise_ship_to_make_Southampton_its_home/

 

"The 22 sailing dates will also be all inclusive on drinks and wi-fi on-board!"

 

"Antonio Paradiso, MD of MSC Cruises for the UK & Ireland, said “We have carefully considered all the feedback from the UK market and have created a cruise package to suit the needs of British guests. In addition I have personally handpicked the itineraries based on my conversations with agents and hope that the bespoke itineraries, coupled with the fabulous all-inclusive beverage and Wi-Fi offer will create the perfect holiday experience for the British market.”

From reports I've read on here, that is no longer the case. It'll be interesting to read the first reviews about just how "British" the experience actually will be and if they change the policy of not serving tap water at lunch and dinner. After all, Divina has a few policy differences to other ships due to the American market demands.

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finzup-kt

finzup-kt

Posted
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I'm pretty sure that you can sign up for a free water package for meal time dining since you're from the UK. I was able to do this for our upcoming sailing on the Meraviglia as we booked via the US.

 

you're saying UK residents get free water package for mealtimes? Why is it for UK and nobody else?

Just curious.

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  • 2 months later...
gatlinburg

gatlinburg

Posted
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:DThank you!!!

By the way there us nothing stopping you from bringing your own drink in to the water (water bottle) we have often bought in cocktails or previously open bottle of water. You can also take your water bottle away with you if you haven't finished it.

 

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Forums mobile app

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kerryincork

kerryincork

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:DThank you!!!

I just noticed all the grammatical and spelling mistakes in my post😣 I'm blaming my phone and new glasses 😉

 

I was trying to say that we brought our bottle water with us to the MDR as we could never finish a full bottle.

 

You could buy one bottle and just refill it.

 

Sent from my SM-N910F using Forums mobile app

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