New to MSC I have questions!

[smokeykat]

I just booked MSC Meraviglia out of NY in a Fantastica balcony cabin with the Easy Plus package for a week at the end of May 2023. The price was just to good to pass up when compared to Royal Caribbean or Norwegian prices. We have done this cruise itinerary before but I am looking forward to their private island. Our last cruise was on Oasis of the Seas and it went to Labadee Haiti RCL's private area off the coast of Haiti. It was nice but getting loungers was difficult if you were not off the ship early enough. Will this be the same on MSC private Island?   

 

Since we are new to MSC I have a few more questions:

 

Is anyone familiar with the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal? I know MSC is first starting to cruise from here in April. We usually go out of NJ or Manhattan and have never sailed from Brooklyn. Any info would be appreciated 😀

 

Does anyone have any menus from the main dinning room? I have searched and can't seem to find any. Is lunch served in the dining room every day including port days?

Is there fresh squeezed orange juice available at breakfast? If I want a Vanilla Latte and I see lattes are included in the easy plus package do they charge extra for the vanilla syrup?

 

When are the speciality restaurant packages usually available for online purchase?  Right now since I am so far out nothing is showing up. 

 

What is the gratuity charge per day? Do they add this onto your account to pay at the end or can this be pre paid?

 

Does MSC do a Black Friday Sale?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

[3poundpuppies]

Following! I just booked for July 23rd. First time on MSC also!

[CTGirl74]

I'm following, too. We're booked for October 2023 out of Brooklyn and I'm interested in hearing anyone's experience with that, as well as the ship in general.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

It may be different on cruises out of the US,  but for our upcoming MSC cruise all gratuities are included in the cruise fare  and seemingly MSC discourage further tipping. 

[HipHipOnAShip]

26 minutes ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

It may be different on cruises out of the US,  but for our upcoming MSC cruise all gratuities are included in the cruise fare  and seemingly MSC discourage further tipping. 

Cruises out of the US do not already include the daily hotel service charges.

[perakcruiser]

13 hours ago, smokeykat said:

What is the gratuity charge per day? Do they add this onto your account to pay at the end or can this be pre paid?

If you are not forced to or can opt to include this during the booking it will be added onto your account on a daily basis. Only in this case you can change or remove.

 

The charge depends on the route and age. 

[perakcruiser]

2 minutes ago, HipHipOnAShip said:

Cruises out of the US do not already include the daily hotel service charges.

Oh yes, they do. And it is higher than other cruises for 7 nights, €84 instead of €70.

[shipgeeks]

Cruises out of US and booked in the US do not include service charge in the base fare.  

 

[Nunagoras]

15 hours ago, smokeykat said:

I just booked MSC Meraviglia out of NY in a Fantastica balcony cabin with the Easy Plus package for a week at the end of May 2023. The price was just to good to pass up when compared to Royal Caribbean or Norwegian prices. We have done this cruise itinerary before but I am looking forward to their private island. Our last cruise was on Oasis of the Seas and it went to Labadee Haiti RCL's private area off the coast of Haiti. It was nice but getting loungers was difficult if you were not off the ship early enough. Will this be the same on MSC private Island?   Never gone there, so can't help on it.

 

Since we are new to MSC I have a few more questions:

 

Is anyone familiar with the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal? I know MSC is first starting to cruise from here in April. We usually go out of NJ or Manhattan and have never sailed from Brooklyn. Any info would be appreciated 😀 If your itinerary is among the first ones handled on that terminal, expect some delays on embarkation process while they work out the kinks.

 

Does anyone have any menus from the main dinning room? No I don't. I have searched and can't seem to find any. Is lunch served in the dining room every day including port days? Usually they'll have the MDR open all days except for embarkation one.

Is there fresh squeezed orange juice available at breakfast? Yes, for a fee, included on Easy Plus and Premium Xtra. If I want a Vanilla Latte and I see lattes are included in the easy plus package do they charge extra for the vanilla syrup? No, but the packages aren't good on the 3rd party coffee vendors aboard like Jean Phillipe in the Meraviglia. You'll only to find those "exotic" coffee drinks at a small bar near the atrium at most. Otherwise they'll only to be able to do a regular latte.

 

When are the speciality restaurant packages usually available for online purchase?  Right now since I am so far out nothing is showing up. Don't know. Good to search regularly or call them.

 

What is the gratuity charge per day? Do they add this onto your account to pay at the end or can this be pre paid? It depends on from where you purchase your cruise. In many places it is becoming a bundled part of your basic fare. Even if you purchased without it added you'll may be able to add it at any moment.

 

Does MSC do a Black Friday Sale? Yes, even on places like where I live where that's not a huge tradition, but they haven't been something to write home about from where I live, so, either way; the best times to book MSC are; very early bird when cruises are open to book, early to mid May when most holiday booking decisions are already made, or very "last minute", if your cruise is not at peak season.

 

Thanks in advance! You're welcome. Have a nice day!

 

 

 

[LatinaInTexas]

  I was on MSC for the the first time in August, 7 nights on Seashore. I have some menus, I'm going to guess they will be the same for your sailing. We also had Fantastica and easy plus drink package. 

  Fresh squeezed orange juice was offered in both the buffet and the dining room with the drink package, just ask for it. We weren't charged anything extra when ordering specialty coffees, spiked coffees were also included with the package.

You can't take/have a drink in the pool area or in the hot tubs. Also no drink service at the main evening shows so bring one in with you. We also had to make a reservation each day on the app for the nightly show.

  The private island is big and divided into different areas, you won't have any problem finding a spot. We did have issues getting drinks. My whole cruise I only saw 2 people tip extra for drinks.

  When I booked I wasn't asked to pay gratuities, I think they showed up on my account a few days into the cruise.

When you get your room key it will show your assigned dinner time. If you don't like it you can go to the dining room after boarding and try to get it changed. Our time was 5:15 and even though I tried they weren't able to change it, we had a full ship. Also they had us assigned to sit at a table for 6 and we wanted to sit alone, that I was able to get changed.

  Our room was serviced twice a day, no towel animals. Muster drill is at the same time for everybody. At a set time you go to your cabin and watch a video then you go to your actual station and get scanned in.

  If you haven't already done so check into the MSC loyalty program Voyagers Club. They do status match from other cruise lines loyalty programs and from travel loyalty programs.

[smokeykat]

Thank you everyone! Thank you for answering my questions and for the menus and the coffee menu too! 

The main dinning room choices all look great. Any favorites you can recommend?

 

How are the speciality restaurants? Suggestions please 🙂

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[smokeykat]

 I got a call from my MSC cruise concierge! Didn't know they had them or that I had one lol

 

I asked what the daily gratuity charge was. It is $14 per person per day . Less than RCL which is now $16 per person per day. This could have been prepaid if I booked through him but now I need to call MSC customer service if I want to prepay the gratuities.

 

Also he said I can pick a main dinning room time because I booked the Fantastica package. Anytime between 5:30 and 7:30 Didn't know that was part of the package! Have to visit the dining room when you get onboard.

 

 

[Best Cat Mom]

1 hour ago, smokeykat said:

I got a call from my MSC cruise concierge! Didn't know they had them or that I had one lol

I was surprised to find out about the cruise concierge service too. I was on the website and wanted to call with a question but remembered that the wait times can be quite long. On the screen was a little "Call me" icon. I clicked it and received a call back from a Cruise Concierge in around 15 minutes. I asked him about this service and he said it is new and has only been in existence for a little over 6 months. The concierge who called me said he had been a concierge with NCL and his former manager was now with MSC and implemented a similar service to what had been at NCL and hired a few former NCL people for the startup at MSC. Let's hope that it gets better and better over time! 🙂

[LatinaInTexas]

6 hours ago, smokeykat said:

 I got a call from my MSC cruise concierge! Didn't know they had them or that I had one lol

 

I asked what the daily gratuity charge was. It is $14 per person per day . Less than RCL which is now $16 per person per day. This could have been prepaid if I booked through him but now I need to call MSC customer service if I want to prepay the gratuities.

 

Also he said I can pick a main dinning room time because I booked the Fantastica package. Anytime between 5:30 and 7:30 Didn't know that was part of the package! Have to visit the dining room when you get onboard.

 

 

When I called to book I was basically told I could pick my dining time also. I was told 5:15, 6:15, and 7:15 were the options. I wasn't told how I would ultimately pick my time but reading on here I figured out to visit the dining room.

After boarding I visited the dining room and was told to come back 15 minutes before my dinner time to speak to the maitre d then she changed her mind and said 30 minutes. My dining time was assigned at 5:15.

Around 3:30 I decided not to wait and went again to the dining room. This time the maitre d was called over but he told me he couldn't help me because it was going to be safety drill time soon so come back after that. Safety drill was still 30 minutes away.

After safety drill I went back a 3rd time and the dining room doors were closed and there was a long line of people wanting to make changes.

This time I didn't get to speak with the maitre d until almost 5:30 and he told me and numerous people before me there was nothing he could do, no other times were available and he had pages of people on a waiting list.

Other people have posted that it's no big deal, very easy to get your time changed but I can say that doesn't always happen.

My advice is don't let them give you the run around, don't budge until you get what you want. Hopefully your ship isnt so full and it isn't an issue for you🙂

[rigs32]

Just because the safety drill started in 30 minutes for passengers doesn't mean that staff (including the maître d) don't have duties that start before the passenger notification.

[LatinaInTexas]

2 hours ago, rigs32 said:

Just because the safety drill started in 30 minutes for passengers doesn't mean that staff (including the maître d) don't have duties that start before the passenger notification.

That is possibly true and when I went the first time the person there told me the maitre d wasn't available and to come back later. But the second time I went she told me to wait, she went and got him and he did speak to me. I would have thought if he was busy she would have told me he wasn't available again🤔

[mawvkysc]

When I booked online (Fantastica) I got to choose a preference of early or late dining. It is not guaranteed   

[EllieinNJ]

I booked through a TA.  On my confirmation it says late dining.  No exact time.  Does this mean they can change it to early dining?