MSC Preziosa

[Cloverlady]

Lovely photos Squish! Thanks for posting.

Crowds look heavy but to be fair and give balance, getting off a ship can be hectic whatever the cruiseline. For example, we were on Royal Caribbean this April on Mariner of the Seas from Singapore to Dubai, and disembarkation at Dubai was extremely hectic and fraught with huge lines everywhere too
In fact, on excursion days everyone in the show lounge waiting for groups to be sorted was equally stressful it has to be said!

But I hope MSC do get disembarkation working more smoothly Thanks for the photos and at least we are forewarned and prepared for a wait if it hasn't improved!

[arielrocks]

Disembarkation coming off of p and o Britannia a few weeks ago was a joke. Told to go to the theatre for a set time, got there and there was a woman at the front with a microphone calling out seat row numbers who could leave. The problem was there was no order to this at all so people were just wandering in and then being told to go in seconds, while others at the front sat waiting for 20 mins. The only smooth way I’ve dismebarked was celebrity, got given a group, called to the foyer and then let off.

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by JudeB

It does look like a beautiful ship but the disembarkation nightmare is making me very nervous. We are also on the Meraviglia in January, boarding in Barcelona. We have private transfers arranged but with our flight at 10.30am it looks like we could be in trouble 😬

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They allocated disembarkation time by deck- being on deck 13 gave us 11.20. I think I have a photo at home of all the different times, I'll check for it. The earliest they would give me was 9.30, the times earlier than that were all blocked out for tour groups. Although our time waa 9.30 it was easily 10.30 by the time we got off and 30 mins after that to get our luggage.

Obviously this will vary by cruise so you might be fine- but if not I'd make a big fuss at guest services, bring your flight confirmation and insist they change you.

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by arielrocks

Disembarkation coming off of p and o Britannia a few weeks ago was a joke. Told to go to the theatre for a set time, got there and there was a woman at the front with a microphone calling out seat row numbers who could leave. The problem was there was no order to this at all so people were just wandering in and then being told to go in seconds, while others at the front sat waiting for 20 mins. The only smooth way I’ve dismebarked was celebrity, got given a group, called to the foyer and then let off.

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That sounds like such a random and disorganised way to do it! Both times we've sailed NCL we have just walked off when we were ready, no queues and through in 5 minutes. Why on earth can they all not do that?

[arielrocks]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

That sounds like such a random and disorganised way to do it! Both times we've sailed NCL we have just walked off when we were ready, no queues and through in 5 minutes. Why on earth can they all not do that?

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I have no idea, it was a nightmare. My little boy started having a paddy (he’s only 1) so I walked to the back to keep him quiet and the man at the door said just go. So I waved to my husband to join us and the woman with the mic told him to sit down.

Ridiculous

[JudeB]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

They allocated disembarkation time by deck- being on deck 13 gave us 11.20. I think I have a photo at home of all the different times, I'll check for it. The earliest they would give me was 9.30, the times earlier than that were all blocked out for tour groups. Although our time waa 9.30 it was easily 10.30 by the time we got off and 30 mins after that to get our luggage.

Obviously this will vary by cruise so you might be fine- but if not I'd make a big fuss at guest services, bring your flight confirmation and insist they change you.

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I think I’ll mention it to the travel agent who booked the flights as part of the package. It always felt a bit tight for time to me, but based on your experience I am even more anxious.

On a different note, can you remember if you prepaid the gratuities? We were able to do this on our RCI cruise and it worked well.

[SquishTheWhale]

Originally Posted by JudeB

I think I’ll mention it to the travel agent who booked the flights as part of the package. It always felt a bit tight for time to me, but based on your experience I am even more anxious.

On a different note, can you remember if you prepaid the gratuities? We were able to do this on our RCI cruise and it worked well.

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Found the pictures

So the disembarkation times up until 10.15am were basically reserved for tour groups and excursions. The earliest one for independent guests was 9.35 for deck 5 which they transfered us onto. Then it goes by deck. We were on deck 10 (not 13 as I originally said, no wonder I can never find my cabin lol) and had 11am ish originally.

Obviously this might vary dramatically by cruise depending on how many tour groups etc they have on board! So don't take this as gospel for your cruise. But I would be a little concerned about that early flight departure. If MSC give you a later time and refuse to budge you could be in trouble.

Re pre paying gratuities, I'm pretty sure this wasn't an option or I'd have done it. They have little kiosks in the atrium where you can set up your card onto your onboard account. I normally use my credit card but it asked for the PIN and I didn't know it! So I had to use my debit but it was fine. They pre authorise an amount (€100 or more) and then you can use the kiosk on the last day to pay off the remaining. Gratuities etc just got charged to my onboard account daily.

[JudeB]

Originally Posted by SquishTheWhale

Found the pictures

So the disembarkation times up until 10.15am were basically reserved for tour groups and excursions. The earliest one for independent guests was 9.35 for deck 5 which they transfered us onto. Then it goes by deck. We were on deck 10 (not 13 as I originally said, no wonder I can never find my cabin lol) and had 11am ish originally.

Obviously this might vary dramatically by cruise depending on how many tour groups etc they have on board! So don't take this as gospel for your cruise. But I would be a little concerned about that early flight departure. If MSC give you a later time and refuse to budge you could be in trouble.

Re pre paying gratuities, I'm pretty sure this wasn't an option or I'd have done it. They have little kiosks in the atrium where you can set up your card onto your onboard account. I normally use my credit card but it asked for the PIN and I didn't know it! So I had to use my debit but it was fine. They pre authorise an amount (€100 or more) and then you can use the kiosk on the last day to pay off the remaining. Gratuities etc just got charged to my onboard account daily.

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That it very helpful, thank you. I’ll show your photos to our travel agent and see what they say.

[lisa12000___]

Originally Posted by arielrocks

Your experience sounds identical to one I’ve just read on cruise critic!

Oh well, it was cheap so probably worth a try. With a baby and toddler we won’t be eating at the nicer restaurants or watching the evening entertainment. So let’s hope the buffet isn’t too awful!

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I feel bad being so negative but I’m my mind if you are aware then you know how to deal with it more if It arises

Tbh we said that we would never go on a rolling cruise again as that caused most of the issues - everything else we could deal with

I think the main issue arises when weather causes you to miss a port - as you can imagine then there is mass chaos trying to get those embarking at that port over to where the ship is - we missed Amsterdam and so stopped in Zeebrugge another day (fine by us we went to ghent on the train and it was wonderful) but we left 3 hours late from there due to people getting over from Amsterdam - we then couldn’t go to Le Havre and ended up in Rotterdam (wonderful place) and so the same happened - not the ships fault but one of the flaws of rolling cruises

[arielrocks]

Originally Posted by lisa12000___

I feel bad being so negative but I’m my mind if you are aware then you know how to deal with it more if It arises

Tbh we said that we would never go on a rolling cruise again as that caused most of the issues - everything else we could deal with

I think the main issue arises when weather causes you to miss a port - as you can imagine then there is mass chaos trying to get those embarking at that port over to where the ship is - we missed Amsterdam and so stopped in Zeebrugge another day (fine by us we went to ghent on the train and it was wonderful) but we left 3 hours late from there due to people getting over from Amsterdam - we then couldn’t go to Le Havre and ended up in Rotterdam (wonderful place) and so the same happened - not the ships fault but one of the flaws of rolling cruises

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Sorry to sound silly but how do I know if I’m on a rolling cruise? Are all MSC like this?

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