First time Cruise

Hellrazer

Need a bit of help. Booked a Carribean cruise for my wifes 50th. Ive never been on a cruise before.

Booked 7 days embarking Miami, got the food, drinks , gratuities package on the MSC Seascape.

Has anyone any hints / tips for a first timer?

Anything I need to be wary of?

Also travelling with Aer Lingus Dublin - Miami direct. Going economy unfortunately - anyone recommend the best seats to book on the A330 in economy? Any seats to avoid?

I know its not going to be that comfortable in Economy for almost 10 hours but business class was over the budget.

Also what is ESTA? Travel agent says I need to submit this before travelling...Ive only been to the states once before but I dont think this ESTA thing was in place back then. How long before travelling do I need to apply?

Lastly how long needs to be left on a passport for the US - Im expiring in July 24 but read somewhere there needs to be 6+ months left on the passport to travel.

Thanks.

In this case google is your best friend:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

seatguru.com

all the answers are here

coffeeteame

Hey Hey!

Been on MSC a few times.

For ESTA sooner is better. It lasts 2 years so you dont want to run the risk of being issues closer to the date of travel as embassy visits if etc take time. Very unusual you'd need that.

Your passport for the US only needs to be valid for your stay to my knowledge but worth verifying. Remembering that when your passport expires so will your esta.

Onboard, MSC are know for their upcharges aka seems like nothing is included but it is.

To start, check in is basically like for a flight, they'll take all your details and assign you a sea pass - Once onboard you can link your sea pass to your credit or debit card. Everything you do is by this card, room door, paying, when you leave the ship and return is all through this card. It'll also include your dining room, time and table.

When boarding they'll take your big suitcases once you arrive at the dock so keep important things in a backpack etc as you wont see it again until your room which could be several hours later. Dock workers/porters will expect a tip in US!

There is no expectation or request for tipping onboard. You can ask to do so but I've never been asked unless I bought something out of my package. I did tip my cabin attendant in cash although MSC say you dont need to because it's already covered.

All food is included except speciality dining - meaning the buffet (open almost 24/7) and the dining room is included. The dining room will assign you a time and table when you check in. Basically it's just like a restaunt, you can order a-la-carte from menus for earch meal - sometime breakfast or lunch isnt offered when in port but dinner always is. You can order as much as you want so if you want 3 starters and 4 mains, they dont care. Your drinks package will also carry over to the restaurant so if its easy, easy plus or premium you can order drinks to that price with dinner. One thing to note with MCS drinks packages, the package will give you a total price like $13 per drink but if you order a drink thats $14 they'll charge you $14 not $1. I found the staff super helpful at telling you whats included in your package.

For speciality dining, for something special I love both the teppanyaki and the butchers cut - the steak house. The butchers cut does a menu for $39 or $49 which is delicious. The teppanyaki is based on what you order and is a fun night. You'll need to pre-book all these. Once you board you'll be harassed to book these btw. One trick I've learned is ask for the sales persons card (its usually the waiters from the speciality dining restaurant) and then leave it out on the table whereever you are, it'll cut down on you being asked to book by others.

If you like spa/massages, these are much cheaper to book in advance. You dont get into the spa area for free unless you book Yacht club. A pass for the whole cruise in advance costs about $130 vs $60 per visit if you want to try and book on board. This can get very busy so you have to book the slots (1 hour at a time) as soon as you board.

Some MSC nights are very dressed up, some other cruise lines are shorts and t-shrts the whole cruise but MSC usually has a "White Night" and some other more dressed up evening so I know most women pack a few dresses.

If you've pre-paid the gratuities then there should be nothing owed - if not it's about $17 a day which is billed via your room card.

Finally be prepared to gain about a 1lb in weight a day! ;-)

deisemum

I've done 3 Mediterranean cruises with MSC on different ships and earlier this year I did a cruise with Princess from LA to Vancouver.

I applied for my ESTA on the official site, think it was $21 and got it within 30 mins. It's linked to your passport and lasts two years or until your passport expires if less than two years.

My tip is to avoid the excursions organised by the ship, local ones are usually a lot cheaper.

This site has all sorts of invaluable information plus you can ask questions

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/456-caribbean/

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forum/2577-msc-seascape-roll-calls/

Make sure you bring headphones as Aer Lingus didn't have them for economy passengers when I flew from Seattle to Dublin earlier this year though had them when we flew to LA.

Hellrazer

Thanks for all the replies. Really looking forward to it now. I havent booked the speciality dining but will probably try one or two out and just pay as I go. Two teenagers (16 / 14) coming with us so it`ll probably be burgers and chips / pizza for the week for them :)

Good to hear about the "white night" and dressed up nights - Is it a suit and tie type thing?

I did get the premium drinks package - Im Irish after all but reckoned that it would be cheaper than paying as I go.

Gratuities are included.

Just the flight - Im a fairly anxious flyer and 10 hours in the air has me already worked up!!!

ibFoxer

Hi mate,

Funnily enough we did almost the same for our honeymoon back in March. I didn't know what to expect from a cruise but I'd definitely recommend it to everyone to try at least once.

I think you have been covered for everything in the tips above- what islands are ye stopping at?

Hellrazer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121112224#Comment_121112224

We`re doing Nassau, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and then MSCs private island on the return.

ibFoxer

San Juan is really nice, we were off in the evening into night and I got some really good shots of the streets and wall art.

There's a nice beach to the right of the square as you get off the ship, took about 15 minutes to get to.

Phil.x

Can you feel the ship rock, what about sleeping in the ship is up and down.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121111631#Comment_121111631

im always confused why this isnt the first port of call (great pun) for this type of thing

finbarrk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121115034#Comment_121115034

Have enough cocktails inside you.

deisemum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121115034#Comment_121115034

The ships don't go very fast and have stabilisers so you wouldn't really notice much movement. The only times I noticed a slight bit of rocking was going round one part of Sicily and when we hit a choppy patch between LA and San Francisco which only lasted about an hour but it wasn't bad. We were still able to walk without having to hold on to anything. Much smoother than getting the ferry to the UK.

We had a balcony cabin on our first three cruises and an inside one on our last cruise. We slept much better in the inside cabin.

lynchie

While others have said your passport needs only be valid for the duration of your trip to the US, you need to check the requirements for the other countries you will be visiting, e.g Dominican republic requires 6 months remaining.

Hellrazer

Another probably stupid question - since youre at sea do the mobile networks work? Since we have 2 teenagers who cant be away from their phones for more than 30 miliseconds Ill need either a world sim or wifi access on the ship - what would people recommend?

BENDYBINN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121145947#Comment_121145947

Need to pay for the wiffey on board

spurious

On board wifi very expensive unles they give you some deal. Make sure the teens are not trying to access the interwebs on their phone plans.

If they absolutely HAVE to send messages, get them to write them in advance and send when in port in as short a tyime as possible.

Don't pay for any of the day trips sold on the boat. Check cruise critic's port guides and arrange your own.

deisemum

Free wifi was included in my last cruise earlier this year. From memory you'll be given instructions how to access it, make sure to switch to airplane mode. The wifi was very good even when we were out at sea.

Hellrazer

Sorry for bumping an old thread but Im heading off in 3 weeks on the cruise. Any one have a recommendation for a US sim card that I can use for a couple of days either side of the cruise? Seems to be a lot of options out there.

Ive gotten the wifi for the teens - was 90 each for the 7 days - extortionate but its better than having to watch internet withdrawal!!!!

Nigel Fairservice

If your phone is esim capable get an esim from Airalo. I have used it in Chicago and Los Angeles without problems. My partner didn't bother getting an esim when we were in Chicago. We called in to a few places but local sims were extortionate and very poor value.

Hellrazer

Thanks for all the help - Had an amazing time and would highly recommend everyone try at least one cruise.

Couple of tips - I bought T-Mobile sim on amazon uk before I left - It was a godsend.100gb data for 36 euros. It worked in Miami, Puerto Rico and partly in the Dominican Republic.

Some of the port days were a bit short and we didnt get much done — probably because we were in the night club till 5.00am and not the cruises fault - damn drinks package!!!! - well some of the days were only 4 or 5 hours. If you go to the Dominican Republic - dont do the Ocean world excursion - not enough time to see it all in the time allowed - very rushed.

Nassau despite what reports say was 100% safe - safer than walking around Dublin city centre anyway!!

Puerto Rico was probably the highlight - we didnt do any excursions and walking around doing touristy things was much better than planned excursions.

Miami is a rip off - everything is over priced - maybe because we stayed in South Beach but we found it very expensive even for drinks and meals.

If you have teenagers - BUY THE WIFI PACKAGE -They cannot cope without being connected and it was great for them as they met a lot of friends and kept in touch through snap chat etc. And left us to our own holiday.

The Seascape is an amazing ship and had everything - excellent staff - except one who kept saying Ireland was part of the UK and got on my nerves - gas thing he was from the UK so should have known better.

But yeah overall a brilliant experience and highly recommended.