MSC Americans only on US cruises? How full have sailings been?

[dmccadden]

Are MSC cruise out of US for Americans only?  If so they must be sailing at less than 50%.  Does any know how this is working or been on Meravilgia  lately with any first hand news?

 

thank you

[alyssamma]

30 minutes ago, dmccadden said:

Are MSC cruise out of US for Americans only?  If so they must be sailing at less than 50%.  Does any know how this is working or been on Meravilgia  lately with any first hand news?

 

thank you

The 3 day cruises were very empty...look back here you can see reports of how full they were. I was on the 8/20 and there were like 800 people or so.

[kelleherdl]

We were on the Meraviglia just two days ago.  Approximately 700 guests.  We seriously walked the entire length of the Galleria one time and only passed crew.  But that was a 3-day right after the Labor Day 4-day which had twice that number of passengers on board.

[9876]

I was on the four day departing 30 August and there were only between 600 and 700 passengers.

[jules815]

I wonder if they'll be more crowded once the 7-days begin?  A lot of people wouldn't fly from out of state to do a 3 or 4 day cruise. But when do they start up again at full capacity?

[alyssamma]

53 minutes ago, jules815 said:

I wonder if they'll be more crowded once the 7-days begin?  A lot of people wouldn't fly from out of state to do a 3 or 4 day cruise. But when do they start up again at full capacity?

I believe it will be...we will know in a few days 🙂

 

[kelikea]

I would love to hear about 7-day sailings. I’m on the October 16 sailing on the Meraviglia and wondering how busy (or not) it will be. I was on the Seaside with my husband and in-laws back in March 2020 right before the world shut down. It was so packed. You could never find a pool lounger. 

[CampNCruise74]

57 minutes ago, kelikea said:

I would love to hear about 7-day sailings. I’m on the October 16 sailing on the Meraviglia and wondering how busy (or not) it will be. I was on the Seaside with my husband and in-laws back in March 2020 right before the world shut down. It was so packed. You could never find a pool lounger. 

I will try to remember to post back here when I head out

this coming Saturday on the Mera for a week.   I'm hoping that I can get all the stars to line up so I can actually get on the boat, because I don't think I'll believe it until I actually am.  I'm anticipating my 7-year-old being confined to the ship and only getting to enjoy the Ocean Cay with us all together.  I do think I'm going to try to get off the ship and go to Goldie's in Nassau or the Rum Cake Factory with my 13 year old though and leave my wife with the young one.

[kilkoyne]

8 hours ago, CampNCruise74 said:

I will try to remember to post back here when I head out

this coming Saturday on the Mera for a week.   I'm hoping that I can get all the stars to line up so I can actually get on the boat, because I don't think I'll believe it until I actually am.  I'm anticipating my 7-year-old being confined to the ship and only getting to enjoy the Ocean Cay with us all together.  I do think I'm going to try to get off the ship and go to Goldie's in Nassau or the Rum Cake Factory with my 13 year old though and leave my wife with the young one.

 

Im on Mera the 25th so if can post before you end your cruise it would be great. 

[dexddd]

9/18 first 7 day since shutting down.

[jules815]

16 hours ago, kelikea said:

I would love to hear about 7-day sailings. I’m on the October 16 sailing on the Meraviglia and wondering how busy (or not) it will be. I was on the Seaside with my husband and in-laws back in March 2020 right before the world shut down. It was so packed. You could never find a pool lounger. 

That's when we sail, too!  😄

[jules815]

7 hours ago, kilkoyne said:

 

Im on Mera the 25th so if can post before you end your cruise it would be great. 

 

Was there something in their agreement with the CDC or whatever that they wouldn't be at full capacity until a certain date? Is that where the November 1 date is coming from? Something changes after October 31. Am I right? 

[kilkoyne]

20 hours ago, jules815 said:

 

Was there something in their agreement with the CDC or whatever that they wouldn't be at full capacity until a certain date? Is that where the November 1 date is coming from? Something changes after October 31. Am I right? 

 

There have been so many changes over the past 3 months I can't remember. 

[jules815]

4 hours ago, kilkoyne said:

 

There have been so many changes over the past 3 months I can't remember. 

True!

[maureencruiser]

I'm on Divina Sept 19 for seven days, thinking about doing a live review.  I'll post how many people are there.

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

We were on the Meraviglia 3 night Labor Day cruise and the captain said there were 2061 passengers on board.  He said that was the most they have had since starting, 

[maureencruiser]

On 9/12/2021 at 9:48 PM, CampNCruise74 said:

I will try to remember to post back here when I head out

this coming Saturday on the Mera for a week.  I'm anticipating my 7-year-old being confined to the ship and only getting to enjoy the Ocean Cay with us all together.  I do think I'm going to try to get off the ship and go to Goldie's in Nassau or the Rum Cake Factory with my 13 year old though and leave my wife with the young one.

 

According to MSC policy, your whole party is considered not vaccinated because of the 7 year old,    

• PLEASE NOTE: Fully vaccinated guests in the same traveling party with a not fully vaccinated guest or a child 11 years old or younger are considered not fully vaccinated for the purposes of shore excursions.
• Then, because of that, these are your options for going ashore- 
• On our exclusive private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, you can spend the day as you wish or you may purchase one of our many offered shore excursions.
   
• On all other ports of call, you will not be allowed to go ashore unless you purchase a shore excursion through MSC Cruises. This is to help ensure everyone is following the same health and safety protocol

You can still cancel if this is unacceptable to you.  Sorry.

 

 

7 minutes ago, OneParticularHarbour 71 said:

We were on the Meraviglia 3 night Labor Day cruise and the captain said there were 2061 passengers on board.  He said that was the most they have had since starting, 

 

Yes, the current sailing is reporting 670 passengers. 

 

[CampNCruise74]

Yes, that makes sense, when looked at through that lens.  I wonder if they've been catching that, but I won't be cancelling.  Thanks for the heads up!  

[CampNCruise74]

5 hours ago, maureencruiser said:

 

According to MSC policy, your whole party is considered not vaccinated because of the 7 year old,    

• PLEASE NOTE: Fully vaccinated guests in the same traveling party with a not fully vaccinated guest or a child 11 years old or younger are considered not fully vaccinated for the purposes of shore excursions.
• Then, because of that, these are your options for going ashore- 
• On our exclusive private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, you can spend the day as you wish or you may purchase one of our many offered shore excursions.
   
• On all other ports of call, you will not be allowed to go ashore unless you purchase a shore excursion through MSC Cruises. This is to help ensure everyone is following the same health and safety protocol

You can still cancel if this is unacceptable to you.  Sorry.

Actually, I am not sure about this.  I could not find this bolded phrase in the page.  I do know that I don't pay to do excursions, and don't see where going ashore as a vaccinated person automatically disqualifies me from doing that because I stay with an unvaccinated minor on board.  Let me know what you find?

 

5 hours ago, maureencruiser said:

 

 

Yes, the current sailing is reporting 670 passengers. 

 

 

[Tapi]

23 hours ago, OneParticularHarbour 71 said:

We were on the Meraviglia 3 night Labor Day cruise and the captain said there were 2061 passengers on board.  He said that was the most they have had since starting, 

We were on that sailing too. I enjoyed sailing with that amount of guests. Not too few to make it feel like a ghost town and not too many to create lines and congestion. 

The only times when I saw any crowds or lines (and they were not that long) was during the busier breakfast hours at the Marketplace, at the main pool on our sea day, and in the evening at the lounge next to the entrance to the main theater. Otherwise it was a very pleasant experience to sail with limited capacity. 
 

As a side note, we originally booked a balcony on deck 9 aft. Two days before departure we were moved to deck 11 forward. Only explanation given to us was that they were trying to keep occupied cabins contained in limited sections of the ship for staffing purposes. 
 

We did ask for a different cabin once we got onboard (we wanted to be on the starboard side facing ocean cay) and they did reassign us to a midship cabin on deck 12 which apparently was for someone who “no showed” or canceled at the last minute. There were excursion tickets and a bottle of wine for someone else in that cabin (we returned the tickets to guest services but they told us that we could keep the wine 😀). 

 

[styles27]

On 9/15/2021 at 2:48 PM, CampNCruise74 said:

Actually, I am not sure about this.  I could not find this bolded phrase in the page.  I do know that I don't pay to do excursions, and don't see where going ashore as a vaccinated person automatically disqualifies me from doing that because I stay with an unvaccinated minor on board.  Let me know what you find?

 

 

Our vaccinated BIL & SIL cruised with their young unvaccinated children and the way MSC enforced their policy that “if you cruise with an unvaccinated family member or child under 11 yrs of age in your stateroom you will all be considered unvaccinated and you have to book a shore excursion to get off the ship” is they were not given the white wrist band that they give out to vaccinated guests.

Therefore when they tried to get off the ship on their own they were stopped by MSC security who checks for a wristband. 
It sucked for them but MSC clearly states this on their website. 
Just a heads up if you want to get off you need to book excursions through MSC in every port except Ocean Cay. 
So this screen shot shows the requirements for going ashore and it states you will have to follow the requirements for non vaccinated guests. I’ll post that requirement next

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by styles27

[styles27]

I think Maureen may have added that extra bullet point about “because of that etc” because I don’t see it either however it’s pretty clear that you can’t get off the ship on your own other than Ocean Cay. 
 

Our family members said had

they known this ahead of time they would have taken a FCC and rebooked because they didn’t want to have to spend hundreds of dollars on shore excursions just to be able to go ashore. They felt trapped all week except for Ocean Cay day  

[CampNCruise74]

Just following up on this like I promised, and both styles and Maureen were both wrong on what was mentioned in this thread. 

 

There were no dual color bands there was only one kind and even though I was traveling with my unvaxinated 6 year old I walked right off the ship by myself in Nassau and then when I got back my wife and daughter 

also got off while I watched my 6 year old.  No problemo.  So as a result I went and got my conch fritters, my guava Duff, and then also my rum cakes!  Woohoo.  

 

 

[Virga]

On 9/16/2021 at 4:14 PM, styles27 said:

Our vaccinated BIL & SIL cruised with their young unvaccinated children and the way MSC enforced their policy that “if you cruise with an unvaccinated family member or child under 11 yrs of age in your stateroom you will all be considered unvaccinated and you have to book a shore excursion to get off the ship” is they were not given the white wrist band that they give out to vaccinated guests.

Therefore when they tried to get off the ship on their own they were stopped by MSC security who checks for a wristband. 
It sucked for them but MSC clearly states this on their website. 
Just a heads up if you want to get off you need to book excursions through MSC in every port except Ocean Cay. 
So this screen shot shows the requirements for going ashore and it states you will have to follow the requirements for non vaccinated guests. I’ll post that requirement next

 

 

So wait, if you're vaccinated, do you have to wear the wristband the whole trip?  Or is that only if you want to get off the ship?  I'd gladly stay on the ship if I didn't have to wear a wristband, but I don't want to be limited in what I do onboard.  I hate wristbands!!  I totally understand why it has to be the vaxxed folks and not the unvaxxed, but...  What would I give up if I skipped the wristband?

[styles27]

7 hours ago, CampNCruise74 said:

Just following up on this like I promised, and both styles and Maureen were both wrong on what was mentioned in this thread. 

 

There were no dual color bands there was only one kind and even though I was traveling with my unvaxinated 6 year old I walked right off the ship by myself in Nassau and then when I got back my wife and daughter 

also got off while I watched my 6 year old.  No problemo.  So as a result I went and got my conch fritters, my guava Duff, and then also my rum cakes!  Woohoo.  

 

 

Dual color bands? Never said that.
 

Our BIL and SIL weren’t given ANY wristband even though they were both vaccinated. Their small kids were not vaccinated obviously they can’t be. They’re under 12
 

Consider yourself lucky that you were able to get off the ship on your own because that is not what MSC’s current policy is and not what happened on my BIL’s cruise (and what I’ve read on CC has happened to other families)

Sounds like the security on your cruise was lax. 

So what you’re telling us is that MSC didn’t enforce their own Covid policy I posted above. Not exactly comforting because now it makes me question what other safety practices they’re letting slide.