New to MSC - Disembarkation question

[angelsil]

Longtime RCL and Celebrity cruisers giving MSC a try this Fall. We're sailing on Grandiosa out of Genoa in late November. We chose this ship for the itinerary and I honestly didn't do a ton of research beyond that 😆

 

I understand MSC does embarkation and disembarkation differently. We'll be taking a train from Genoa down to Florence at the end of the cruise and would love to know what time people are usually allowed off the ship. With not every passenger getting on/off at the same time, is it usually less hectic? It looks like the train station is close to the port, so we're hoping to be able to make a 10am (or close) train.

 

Any other tips or tricks for MSC are welcome. We booked a balcony cabin in the Fantastica area on deck 14. Already applied for status match which should get us gold level. That's really cool of them. 

[wcook]

Much, much simpler than traditional cruising. It’s a normal day on the ship, you just have to leave. They do a nice gesture that I’ll leave as a surprise. Assuming no issues with your luggage, should be a piece of cake to catch a 10:00 train. 

[carlmm]

Genoa will probably the largest share of people disembarking but it is still rather simple with staggered times like on other shops. 10 am should be no problem at all.  

[texangal39]

24 minutes ago, wcook said:

Much, much simpler than traditional cruising. It’s a normal day on the ship, you just have to leave. They do a nice gesture that I’ll leave as a surprise. Assuming no issues with your luggage, should be a piece of cake to catch a 10:00 train. 

Is the disembarkation the same across the entire fleet; even USA cruises? Asking because I don’t like to be rushed off the ship, which I feel RCI does. I like to have a nice breakfast in the dining room at 8am, take my final “departure photos”, and then get off no later than 10am. RCI made me feel like I had to get off at the crack of dawn; as if they’re saying “Folks you don’t have go home, but you can’t stay here. So get off this ship because we’re done with you!” 🤣 Completely different from my experience on NCL and Celebrity.

[emmas gran]

texangal39  Things are a lot different with Covid many lines want you off to clean and sanitize for the next passengers so don't bank on staying aboard. You want to board early and can't have it both ways.

Edited June 21, 2022 by emmas gran

[JAGR]

15 hours ago, texangal39 said:

Is the disembarkation the same across the entire fleet; even USA cruises? Asking because I don’t like to be rushed off the ship, which I feel RCI does. I like to have a nice breakfast in the dining room at 8am, take my final “departure photos”, and then get off no later than 10am. RCI made me feel like I had to get off at the crack of dawn; as if they’re saying “Folks you don’t have go home, but you can’t stay here. So get off this ship because we’re done with you!” 🤣 Completely different from my experience on NCL and Celebrity.

To add to to what Emmas Gran wrote, US-base cruises are closed loop.  You sail from your port and return to that port (rare exception may be a relocation cruise, like leaving Miami and switching Port Canaveral as a new home port).  To that end, the ship has to do a complete turnaround.  As Emmas Gran says, the ship must be cleared before they can board the next cruise.  With MCS, from the US, you are typically asked to vacate your cabin by 8:00 and be off the ship no later than 9:45 or 10:00, so your preference should be okay.  For European cruises, that are mostly open loop, with passengers embarking and disembarking at any ports of call.  With that, they still would like you off early, but are likely to be inclined to give you some flexibility.

[texangal39]

2 hours ago, emmas gran said:

texangal39  Things are a lot different with Covid many lines want you off to clean and sanitize for the next passengers so don't bank on staying aboard. You want to board early and can't have it both ways.

Thank you for the COVID sanitizing reminder! I didn’t think of that. My RCI experience was pre-COVID so I guess that’s just how it was on their ships and it’s probably the same or more strict now that they have to sanitize.

[CruisingFox27]

9 hours ago, JAGR said:

To add to to what Emmas Gran wrote, US-base cruises are closed loop.  You sail from your port and return to that port (rare exception may be a relocation cruise, like leaving Miami and switching Port Canaveral as a new home port).  To that end, the ship has to do a complete turnaround.  As Emmas Gran says, the ship must be cleared before they can board the next cruise.  With MCS, from the US, you are typically asked to vacate your cabin by 8:00 and be off the ship no later than 9:45 or 10:00, so your preference should be okay.  For European cruises, that are mostly open loop, with passengers embarking and disembarking at any ports of call.  With that, they still would like you off early, but are likely to be inclined to give you some flexibility.

Additionally with US cruises they have to do a zero count for the ship, so they like all passengers disembarked as early as possible. Definitely no loitering around. 

[sverigecruiser]

On 6/17/2022 at 2:44 PM, angelsil said:

It looks like the train station is close to the port, so we're hoping to be able to make a 10am (or close) train.

 

 

I don't know your exact date but when I look at Grandiosa in November the arrival time in Genoa is listad as 10. I know they may be earlier than that but don't expect to be able to make a 10am train but maybe close.

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I don't know your exact date but when I look at Grandiosa in November the arrival time in Genoa is listad as 10. I know they may be earlier than that but don't expect to be able to make a 10am train but maybe close.

That was my thought also reading this thread, and another complication could be weather as November is notorious for fog in the Med!

[texangal39]

Thank you all for the helpful info! Can anyone advise how long it takes for MSC to process your credit card at the end of the cruise? I was planning to use a particular card that doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee, but don’t want the charge to post right at statement close because I try to keep my utilization low on my credit reports and I also pay in full before month end to avoid interest. So, if MSC is slow to put charges through I may have to eat the fees and use a different credit card.

[JAGR]

57 minutes ago, texangal39 said:

Thank you all for the helpful info! Can anyone advise how long it takes for MSC to process your credit card at the end of the cruise? I was planning to use a particular card that doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee, but don’t want the charge to post right at statement close because I try to keep my utilization low on my credit reports and I also pay in full before month end to avoid interest. So, if MSC is slow to put charges through I may have to eat the fees and use a different credit card.

My CC statements typically show on the 20th of the month. Our last cruise was a B2B out of Miami that ended on March 12th.  My MSC charges hit the March 20th statement.

[texangal39]

1 hour ago, JAGR said:

My CC statements typically show on the 20th of the month. Our last cruise was a B2B out of Miami that ended on March 12th.  My MSC charges hit the March 20th statement.

Thank you for the info! Sounds like MSC may post charges within or right at a week from disembarkation which works for me to be able to use my credit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.

[sealynx]

The quickest way to disembark in my experience is a self disembark. Don't use the labels given to you the night before and don't put your luggage outside your door, but carry it yourself from the ship. That way you can leave as soon as the ship is docked. Otherwise, your luggage must leave the ship before you do, so you have to wait before that (I was told this is a rule or a law, I don't know by whom or what the idea behind it is though).

[angelsil]

11 hours ago, sealynx said:

The quickest way to disembark in my experience is a self disembark. Don't use the labels given to you the night before and don't put your luggage outside your door, but carry it yourself from the ship. That way you can leave as soon as the ship is docked. Otherwise, your luggage must leave the ship before you do, so you have to wait before that (I was told this is a rule or a law, I don't know by whom or what the idea behind it is though).

That's what I'm planning on doing if MSC offers it! We're not packing heavy.

[sealynx]

We've done it several times on MSC (and we don't travel light, but we are strong, and we have suitcases with little wheels). It's not that they actively offer it, or communicate the option (but what does MSC communicate properly?), but we just did it and no one made a comment about it at any time.