Live from the Grandiosa October 21-28, YC Duplex with children 5 and 2

[raino144]

Dear all,

 

We followed through on our promise to rebook MSC!

 

Please let me know any commentary requests. We will be driving to Genoa the day before and then boarding! Main reason for choosing the duplex was to be in YC (non negotiable) and to have full height glass on the balcony so we don’t panic 100 times a day keeping the kids safe!

[raino144]

So a few more details….

 

We will be driving Geneva to Genoa on Saturday morning (via Grand St.Bernard tunnel, as the Mont Blanc is closed for 3 months), staying in the Holiday Inn in Genoa Port on points.

 

Sunday morning we will board 11am ish - parking at Autosiloport in the terminal itself. 
 

Apart from meeting up with friends in Barcelona, no real plans to do any tours, mainly plan to enjoy the ship and everything it has to offer…

 

Our 5 year old is already really excited for Kids Club, not sure how to explain to our 2 3/4 year old she’s just a bit too small to go in! That will have to wait for World Europa next Easter…

 

Our 5 year old is also highly excited for unlimited Pepsi Max and Groks (baked Parmesan crisps) :)

[raino144]

We’re almost packed!
 

Realised got the dates in the title wrong: we drive to Genoa tomorrow for a night in the Holiday Inn and then embark Sunday.

 

MSC Voyagers club have inexplicably credited me another 700 points pre-cruise so I set off with 9000 and guarantees Diamond at the end of the cruise, nice surprise! They have also granted my 5 year old Gold status inexplicably (my IHG Diamond status match after having had a post kids cruise hiatus).

 

Does anyone know if MSC are strict on the ages for kids club? Little one is 2 and 10 months and plays like a 4 year old… robust as well! Or are there any other (including paid) childcare options for her now? Last YC was on the Covid rules - so much reduced offering.

 

5 hour drive tomorrow and I can almost taste the first beer!

[Captain-John]

Hope you have a great time!  We are on a similar itinerary (only difference is Malta instead of La Goulette and Civitavecchia instead of Naples) on World Europa in a few weeks. Slight apprehension is the weather at this time of year so keen to see how you find it.

[raino144]

We’ve had 50mm rain over the last 2 days in Switzerland. Winter tyres are on the car as the St Bernard tunnel is 1900m up and possibly snowing up there in the morning.

 

Weather forecast to be 22-28 degrees with possible rain in Barcelona and Naples. It’s October, it is what it is!

 

Malta (Valletta) is a fantastic port of call. Civitavecchia not so much unless you want to visit Rome (2h by coach).

 

9 hours to departure… should try and sleep a bit now 🙂

[raino144]

We’re safely down in Genoa!
 

Seashore, Fantasia and Sinfonia were all in port today.

 

Had a nice lunch out at a cafe - 2 pizzas, 4 soft drinks and 2 big beers for €22! Great value. We are now tucked up in the hotel room for the night as sadly it seems that there are quite a few undesirable characters around Genoa Port, the character of the place started to change as evening came and the light started to fade. Not a place for young children for sure. Looking forward to a leisurely breakfast and then lunchtime boarding!

Edited October 21, 2023 by raino144

[raino144]

Greetings from a very dark Marseille!

 

Boarding yesterday was straightforward, arrived 11.15, parked the car and through the usual YC boarding process.

 

Duplex is amazing, plenty of space for our family! Photos to follow when on better wifi, MSC wifi doesn’t like uploading them.

 

Info with the kids:

2y10 month old has to go in baby club with no option to go up a club. There are 3 slots on port days (9-10, 13-15 and 18-20) of which you can book 2 to leave them with the kids club staff, the day before. Remainder of the time it’s open but parent/kid time.

5 year old can go in all day 09-23(!) - he was in there 13-17 yesterday and loved it.

 

Today’s plan is more baby / kids club and a general explore of the ship - and to ask the butler to fill up the hot tub! 🙂

[8420PR]

On 10/20/2023 at 1:17 PM, raino144 said:

MSC Voyagers club have inexplicably credited me another 700 points pre-cruise so I set off with 9000 and guarantees Diamond at the end of the cruise, nice surprise! They have also granted my 5 year old Gold status inexplicably (my IHG Diamond status match after having had a post kids cruise hiatus).

 

There is a current promo this winter where you get 700 points before the cruise:  

https://www.msccruises.ch/buchung-verwalten/msc-voyagers-club/winter-promo-mitglieder

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[raino144]

The gallery is very impressive!

[raino144]

LA GOULETTE CANCELLED due to issues in Tunisia.

 

Replaced by Palma on Weds. Not the end of the world for us.

 

Quite a bit of weather departing Marseille right now!

[raino144]

Force 9 (Edit #2 - 10, 53-55kt) winds reported tonight by the on ship TV. Really quite ‘sporting’. Kids flat out, we continue to Barcelona. Drop of Rum anyone?

Edited October 23, 2023 by raino144
More Wind!

[raino144]

[kelly94942]

Wow!  We are having better weather in the Caribbean, indeed!  Looking forward to seeing your cabin pictures.

[raino144]

3 minutes ago, kelly94942 said:

Wow!  We are having better weather in the Caribbean, indeed!  Looking forward to seeing your cabin pictures.

Grandiosa is surprisingly stable in these conditions. A bit of movement, sure, but if the TV didn’t tell me what the wind was doing I’d have guessed at a much lower number. 
 

As we have 2 small kids who relentlessly trash the cabin I’ll have to find that small window after the butler has been in and the kids are still in kids club to sort that out! Needless to say we love the Duplex, best cabin we have had on MSC!

[raino144]

Hola Barcelona! The morning after the night before. Many people looking a bit green this morning 😂

 

Kids are once again in kids club, will hop off for a few hours in Barcelona and then back on in the afternoon and kids back in to the club!

[raino144]

Departure from Barcelona. Top Sail amazing in this light.

[raino144]

Meet MSC’s youngest Gold cruiser 😎

Edited October 24, 2023 by raino144

[raino144]

Palma!

 

A rocky night last night with force 9 winds side on to the ship. Glad the itinerary has been switched and no longer a day at sea today! Hoping for the weather to calm down by tonight.

 

 

[raino144]

Today we are at sea, hoping to see World Europa as it passes by doing the opposite loop.

 

Visited the casino last night, lasted about 20 minutes as the cards weren’t friendly, also too much smoke in there 😂

 

This morning we had the meet and greet with the Captain in YC, he was great having his photo taken with my 5 year old, went and sat down on the YC stairs with him and took a really nice snap.

 

In fact all the staff on here are amazing with the kids, we feel so welcome.

 

This afternoon we will mainly relax on the balcony / in the jacuzzi, before being invited to the Diamond cocktail later (I qualify this cruise!) and gala dinner. 
 

We are already looking to rebook for next October but are seeing steep price increases; this week was £5,950 but for next year we are seeing £8,000 for similar bookings, ouch!

[raino144]

Gala dinner menus attached, from the MSC&Me app.

 

We have only had fantastic service in the YC restaurant- they know the kids love the Chicken Milanese and the butlers proactively requested it for them even on the nights it was off menu. 

[raino144]

[awatt]

Great picture🙂

[raino144]

Palermo!

 

Today’s agenda is fairly quiet… kids club, short port visit and more kids club 🙂 the cruise has gone by so fast, can’t believe tomorrow is the last full day already!

[raino144]

News!!!!

 

We have rebooked Grandiosa next year in October out of Marseille.

 

After massive haggling with travel agents we have minimised the increase to 25pc. Still mega ouch.

 

Ouch!

[Captain-John]

1 hour ago, raino144 said:

News!!!!

 

We have rebooked Grandiosa next year in October out of Marseille.

 

After massive haggling with travel agents we have minimised the increase to 25pc. Still mega ouch.

 

Ouch!

 

You must really have enjoyed it! It's a shame we don't have the same flexibility as our stateside cousins who can adjust pricing after booking without losing deposits etc. 

 

It's a shame booking onboard doesn't offer any advantage either.