Any experienced cruisers on here?

[Publius Ovidius]

I have been on 20 cruises. Am actually in the states right now awaiting my flight home from my New Years cruise.

Never been on MSc but all I have been on offer free tea/coffee 24/7 self served via the buffet and other locations.

Most offer a free ice cream or frozen yogurt close to the pool. Some also have an optional premium ice cream at a charge like Ben and Jerry's on royal Caribbean.

Juices are offered free at breakfast and water or ice tea or American lemonade ( basically lemon squash ) are also available free at all other times.

Most will then offer a soda package at a cost of about $7 a day. This includes unlimited fizzys. If you drink more than 3 a day then this will be good value for you.

I would reiterate the excellent advice about booking with a USA agent after arranging your eon flights to Florida. The best value cruises all leave from Florida as there is so much more capacity here.

You have no worries about your USA travel agent going skint as they never hold your money. The moment the booking is made you will have a confirmation number for your cruise lines website and they will have confirmed your payment.

Always go via a travel agent rather than go direct as you will be able to negotiate an on board credit.

Consider buying 100 shares in either carnival or royal Caribbean. These two cruise lines own just about every cruise ship on the planet (apart from Disney. Incidentally Disney offer free soda and are very good but have no casino).

I find a great website called cruise compete. Once you know the sailing you want, enter your details snd you will be emailed by travel agents of their best offers.

USA travel agents will not discount. All charge the same but the amount of on board credit will vary.

If you are not confident enough to use a USA travel agent then iglu in the uk will offer a discount.

Don't forget tips. They can reach $8 per person per day and are often charged to your account on board the ship. However, you are free to remove part or all of these if you think they are not deserved. You can also do this and pay in cash.

If you have not cruised before the first few hours at the cruise terminal and on the ship can seem stressful.

Lines at Check in. Waiting to board. Not having access to your cabin for a while. Lifeboat drill. Stick with it. You will have a blast.

Cruising holidays are great fun and great value and suit a very diverse group of people.

Good advice.

There are some great experiences and dreadful ones on various web sites re booking in the USA.

Certainly the shares advice is a good one!

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Fixt.......LOL

Totally agree...he is a top man

to busy chatting up the old dears and talking about fire hoses
regards
DR

 

[smudge]

to busy chatting up the old dears and talking about fire hoses
regards
DR

Aye Aye, my good name being taken in vain!

Sat here in the office on Norwegian Sky having transferred from the Sun last week. We're doing 3 & 4 day cruises out of Miami & full every cruise, mostly with latino party people, not old dears!
I've changed jobs as well, now Environmental instead of Safety.
To be honest, the best advice I've seen here is to check cruise critic when it comes to drink packages.
I would add that shares in Norwegian seem to be worth a look after we went public last year. Another new ship, Norwegian Getaway, coming to Miami next month, with 2 more new builds, the Escape & the Bliss coming probably in a couple of years. Carnival & RCL are looking over their shoulder at the strides Norwegian are making.
Fomal dining here if you want it, but pretty much the selling point on Norwegian is "eat where you want, when you want". They love to call it Freestyle Cruising.
Like others have said, different companies offer different things; it depends on your budget.
Last week were in St Maarten & the Queen Mary 2 was next to us & I went across to speak to the Safety Officer, who was a former colleague in the RN. Even he said that Cunard seemed to be stuck in the days of the empire! I wouldn't know though.
Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy. Me, I'm dreaming of a pie & a pint & hopefully some play off's to look forward to. Home early March, can't wait.
Up the Albion!

 

[rool]

I did an MSC cruise on Armonia in August and the drinks package was well worth it. I had two adult Allegrissimo (alcohol) and two kids (soft drinks etc) and it cost me approx £450 in total but when I got home I added up all the receipts and they came to almost €800 for a seven day cruise.
The soft drinks package did include ice cream, virgin cocktails and bottled water/premium coffees. I went for the cheaper packages as I didn't think I would make use of the premuim brands and the waiters gave a bottle of wine at the dining table instead of a glass at a time which the package states. The only odd thing was that no coffee is served by the waiters after a meal so you either have to leave the dining room and go to a bar or the buffet if you want one.
The food portions are tiny compared to Royal/Celebrity but you can order as many items as you want and the waiter will bring it to you.
Re formal nights, I was a little disappointed that there was a lot less people dressed up in evening suits compared to Royal/Celebrity and there was even one English diner in jeans and a round neck T-Shirt. If I cruise MSC again I probably wouldn't bother and just take a nice Jacket and tie instead as I really did feel overdressed.

 

[Garage_Doors]

I did an MSC cruise on Armonia in August and the drinks package was well worth it. I had two adult Allegrissimo (alcohol) and two kids (soft drinks etc) and it cost me approx £450 in total but when I got home I added up all the receipts and they came to almost €800 for a seven day cruise.
The soft drinks package did include ice cream, virgin cocktails and bottled water/premium coffees. I went for the cheaper packages as I didn't think I would make use of the premuim brands and the waiters gave a bottle of wine at the dining table instead of a glass at a time which the package states. The only odd thing was that no coffee is served by the waiters after a meal so you either have to leave the dining room and go to a bar or the buffet if you want one.
The food portions are tiny compared to Royal/Celebrity but you can order as many items as you want and the waiter will bring it to you.
Re formal nights, I was a little disappointed that there was a lot less people dressed up in evening suits compared to Royal/Celebrity and there was even one English diner in jeans and a round neck T-Shirt. If I cruise MSC again I probably wouldn't bother and just take a nice Jacket and tie instead as I really did feel overdressed.

It's the armonia we are going on. £450 / 4 / 7 works out at £16 per person per day.

As we will be off the boat all day it's only the evenings, so probably 3 teas, couple of ice creams and maybe couple of cokes a day is all we want.
Can you remember how much the non alcoholic packages were?

 

[Garage_Doors]

Re formal nights, I was a little disappointed that there was a lot less people dressed up in evening suits compared to Royal/Celebrity and there was even one English diner in jeans and a round neck T-Shirt. If I cruise MSC again I probably wouldn't bother and just take a nice Jacket and tie instead as I really did feel overdressed.

Was the €800 just for drinks?

I'm doing a med hop which is going a sunshine break, shorts & t shirts all day.
I certainly not intending wearing jacket & tie on holiday, do enough of that during work.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Aye Aye, my good name being taken in vain!

Sat here in the office on Norwegian Sky having transferred from the Sun last week. We're doing 3 & 4 day cruises out of Miami & full every cruise, mostly with latino party people, not old dears!
I've changed jobs as well, now Environmental instead of Safety.
To be honest, the best advice I've seen here is to check cruise critic when it comes to drink packages.
I would add that shares in Norwegian seem to be worth a look after we went public last year. Another new ship, Norwegian Getaway, coming to Miami next month, with 2 more new builds, the Escape & the Bliss coming probably in a couple of years. Carnival & RCL are looking over their shoulder at the strides Norwegian are making.
Fomal dining here if you want it, but pretty much the selling point on Norwegian is "eat where you want, when you want". They love to call it Freestyle Cruising.
Like others have said, different companies offer different things; it depends on your budget.
Last week were in St Maarten & the Queen Mary 2 was next to us & I went across to speak to the Safety Officer, who was a former colleague in the RN. Even he said that Cunard seemed to be stuck in the days of the empire! I wouldn't know though.
Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy. Me, I'm dreaming of a pie & a pint & hopefully some play off's to look forward to. Home early March, can't wait.
Up the Albion!

nice one smudge ,got your floral party shirt ironed , see you around
regards
DR

 

[BN9 BHA]

Was the €800 just for drinks?

I'm doing a med hop which is going a sunshine break, shorts & t shirts all day.
I certainly not intending wearing jacket & tie on holiday, do enough of that during work.

You wear a jacket and tie to work?
I was under the impression you was a builder, apologies if I am wrong, must have misread one of your old posts.

 

[Garage_Doors]

You wear a jacket and tie to work?
I was under the impression you was a builder, apologies if I am wrong, must have misread one of your old posts.

No worries or apology necessary, one side of my business is importing electrical assemblies to OEM's. So have to visit these companies from board level down to assembly workers.
But whilst this is very profitable it does not take up all my working week so the rest is Supplying, fitting / repairing garage doors and when not doing that general building work.

 

[BN9 BHA]

No worries or apology necessary, one side of my business is importing electrical assemblies to OEM's. So have to visit these companies from board level down to assembly workers.
But whilst this is very profitable it does not take up all my working week so the rest is Supplying, fitting / repairing garage doors and when not doing that general building work.

Ok thanks
I will make a note of that if my garage door goes wrong.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Ok thanks
I will make a note of that if my garage door goes wrong.

Appreciate that.
Got to pay for the cruise somehow

 

[Seagull on the wing]

If you did indeed serve on that fine vessel you have my utmost respect.

Thank you kind sir....but must admit she was in the Reserve fleet then and I was only on board for 3 months...did serve on the last British battleship for 2 years (HMS Vanguard)....

 

[rool]

Was the €800 just for drinks?

I'm doing a med hop which is going a sunshine break, shorts & t shirts all day.
I certainly not intending wearing jacket & tie on holiday, do enough of that during work.

Yes, a couple of cocktails before dinner, couple bottles of wine at dinner, drinks after, beers at lunch and by the pool, it soon mounts up and we probably had a little more seeing as we prepaid but why not? I didn't have to drive anywhere
Just one tip on the prepaid packages. If you book online before you travel you avoid the extra 15% gratuity that gets added to all drinks.

I'm not getting into the dress code debate at formal nights on here, it's been done to death on other forums.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Yes, a couple of cocktails before dinner, couple bottles of wine at dinner, drinks after, beers at lunch and by the pool, it soon mounts up and we probably had a little more seeing as we prepaid but why not? I didn't have to drive anywhere
Just one tip on the prepaid packages. If you book online before you travel you avoid the extra 15% gratuity that gets added to all drinks.

I'm not getting into the dress code debate at formal nights on here, it's been done to death on other forums.

If I drank that much each day I would be comatosed !
What's the difference between a formal night as opposed to a normal night? As I said I'm new to it so have no experiance
What was your impression of the Armonia?

 

[rool]

If I drank that much each day I would be comatosed !
What's the difference between a formal night as opposed to a normal night? As I said I'm new to it so have no experiance
What was your impression of the Armonia?

Normally on a 7 night cruise there will be two formal nights. MSC call them Gala nights. When your cabin attendant makes up your beds in the evening they will leave a newsletter for all the events the next day and it will have a suggested dress code for the evening for the dining room.
There will be usually casual, smart casual and formal. Casual can be pretty much anything other than shorts and flipflops etc, smart casual probably shirt and trousers and formal would be black tie or ordinary suit. On the formal nights a lot of the women will dress up beautifully in long dresses and they have professional photographers taking pictures and I think it is nice to join in with the spirit of the evening especially if your partner has made an effort too.
They also had a white night party by the pool where most dressed in white (durrr) and a red, white and green night in one of the bars.
I liked the Armonia but I prefer the smaller ships as they feel like a ship as opposed to a floating hotel/shopping mall if you know what I mean. It has the one main dining room, which is on two levels, and buffet dining which most will use for breakfast & lunches. This ship doesn't have any speciality restaurants where you pay an extra premium to eat. There are several bar areas, a small casino, a cigar bar and a nightclub oh and a spa/sauna area. You had to pay to use the spa facilities. There are also some shops but wait until the last couple days for bargains and cigarettes and perfume are very good value.
We did an itinerary out of Venice to Croatia/Greece/Montenegro and had a great time.
They will give you a suggested check in time of 2pm but you can get on board from about 11-11.30 and start using the buffet and bars, especially if you have a prepaid drink package.
I kept all the daily newsletters so I can scan an example if you like?

 

[Garage_Doors]

Normally on a 7 night cruise there will be two formal nights. MSC call them Gala nights. When your cabin attendant makes up your beds in the evening they will leave a newsletter for all the events the next day and it will have a suggested dress code for the evening for the dining room.
There will be usually casual, smart casual and formal. Casual can be pretty much anything other than shorts and flipflops etc, smart casual probably shirt and trousers and formal would be black tie or ordinary suit. On the formal nights a lot of the women will dress up beautifully in long dresses and they have professional photographers taking pictures and I think it is nice to join in with the spirit of the evening especially if your partner has made an effort too.
They also had a white night party by the pool where most dressed in white (durrr) and a red, white and green night in one of the bars.
I liked the Armonia but I prefer the smaller ships as they feel like a ship as opposed to a floating hotel/shopping mall if you know what I mean. It has the one main dining room, which is on two levels, and buffet dining which most will use for breakfast & lunches. This ship doesn't have any speciality restaurants where you pay an extra premium to eat. There are several bar areas, a small casino, a cigar bar and a nightclub oh and a spa/sauna area. You had to pay to use the spa facilities. There are also some shops but wait until the last couple days for bargains and cigarettes and perfume are very good value.
We did an itinerary out of Venice to Croatia/Greece/Montenegro and had a great time.
They will give you a suggested check in time of 2pm but you can get on board from about 11-11.30 and start using the buffet and bars, especially if you have a prepaid drink package.
I kept all the daily newsletters so I can scan an example if you like?

Thanks for that comprehensive information. A scan of the newsletter would be great thank you.
I will pm you my email address

 

[timbha]

Normally on a 7 night cruise there will be two formal nights. MSC call them Gala nights. When your cabin attendant makes up your beds in the evening they will leave a newsletter for all the events the next day and it will have a suggested dress code for the evening for the dining room.
There will be usually casual, smart casual and formal. Casual can be pretty much anything other than shorts and flipflops etc, smart casual probably shirt and trousers and formal would be black tie or ordinary suit. On the formal nights a lot of the women will dress up beautifully in long dresses and they have professional photographers taking pictures and I think it is nice to join in with the spirit of the evening especially if your partner has made an effort too.
They also had a white night party by the pool where most dressed in white (durrr) and a red, white and green night in one of the bars.


I liked the Armonia but I prefer the smaller ships as they feel like a ship as opposed to a floating hotel/shopping mall if you know what I mean. It has the one main dining room, which is on two levels, and buffet dining which most will use for breakfast & lunches. This ship doesn't have any speciality restaurants where you pay an extra premium to eat. There are several bar areas, a small casino, a cigar bar and a nightclub oh and a spa/sauna area. You had to pay to use the spa facilities. There are also some shops but wait until the last couple days for bargains and cigarettes and perfume are very good value.
We did an itinerary out of Venice to Croatia/Greece/Montenegro and had a great time.
They will give you a suggested check in time of 2pm but you can get on board from about 11-11.30 and start using the buffet and bars, especially if you have a prepaid drink package.
I kept all the daily newsletters so I can scan an example if you like?

that's a great summary. Princess Cruises are very similar. One thing to point out though is that on the formal nights people dress very smartly, hang around the atrium, get free champagne, then, well.....not much. People go to the restaurant then the show but then do what they would on any other night. We were expecting a dance with a band (a la Poseidon Adventure), etc but there was nothing. Its nice to dress smartly though. People who choose not to dress up usually use the buffet for their evening meal then have an early night.
The initial scramble to buy bargain watches, cuff links and perfume is hard to resist but experienced cruisers know to wait until the last few nights.