If you know these cruise lines, how would you sort them? I know there are soooo many variables but, I'm looking for the basics: customer service, cleanliness, food quality, room/suite condition. I know there are many other things likes ports of call, pricing, deals, etc.

Thanks...

Explora

Regent - Seven Seas Cruises

Viking

Windstar

My husband has always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise, so I’m going to surprise him with one for his 40th birthday. It will be just he and I. Looking for excellent views, good food, great drinks and fun couples entertainment. Planning to hit Glacier Bay for sure. Any recommendations beyond that? Best cruise lines? Best ships? Best time to go? I don’t have a specific budget. Maybe $15,000? Definitely want to make it a once in a lifetime trip. He deserves it.

Hotel recommendation - Ft. Lauderdale/Port Everglades

Can someone recommend an affordable (i.e. cheap but clean and safe) hotel in proximity of the Port Everglades, as we will be departing from this port for a cruise. Do any hotels offer shuttle buses to the port and/or from FLL airport? That would be a bonus. TIA

We haven't an extraordinary budget, wanted to give a cruise a go and wondered if there was a general consensus on if there was any particular ones best for beginners.

Also, is it particularly hard to get used to sleeping inside, i.e not sea view with no windows etc?

We are visiting Mazatlan for our upcoming cruise. Previously on a cruise that visited Costa Maya, we secured our own transportation to a hotel. We bought a day pass, ate delicious food, had drinks and all got beach massages. It was such a great day. Does anyone have a recommendation for a resort day pass in Mazatlan that also offers beach massages?

I want to order a bottle of Veuve Clicquot yellow label to have on our anniversary during the Viking Rhone river cruise. Any suggestions on how I do this will be appreciated.

Hello, I wanted to ask if anyone else had recently submitted an offer to MSC and was told that the offer was a “complementary interior for two” “taxes included” but then when it got down to it had to pay a $400 casino supplemental cruise fee that is also not refundable or transferred to casino credit?
Every time I looked it up everyone said and even their own website says it will be refundable to casino credit
I’m pretty upset about this since the offer itself is not good at all compared to other lines. Total I am saving $190 when not too long ago I signed up with Wynn Casino and sent it to MSc and got 30% off any sailing so I would save the same amount. I don’t understand how the offer is worse for a full “comped” cruise and how it’s also not comped at all. Has anyone else had this experience and what did you do about it?

Hello everyone Solo male here 54 looking to do a quick 3day 4 day adult fun weekend any recommendations, i have done NCL but is there specific ships or companies that would host these? I also would enjoy meet new people.

I cannot find any info on this pool! Has anyone used it? Anyone have any info on this pool? Seems like a fun little spot with lounge chairs and bars/restaurants all around it...

Hello all! Though we're still a few years out, im in the early stages of planning a cruise for my wife and I's 10 year anniversary, which will be our FIRST time cruising. We'll be 33 at the time of the cruise. We are much more traditional in how we are and the things we enjoy, but we are definitely still sociable. We are not drinkers but we are definitely foodies! I'm between Celebrity Cruises on either a Solstice or Edge class ship, and Virgin. I know the vibes are different on both, im just looking for any thoughts or opinions about them so I know which way to go! T.I.A!

I'm on a solo cruise and was seated with another solo party for dinner last night. He introduced himself and then we went about doing our own thing on our phones as we ate our appetizers.

I finally asked him if he was cruising solo like me or just dining solo and he said he was an entertainer who had just boarded a few hours earlier at our most recent port of call. Not just an entertainer, but he IS the entertainment.

We ended up having a really nice conversation and I got to learn about his life bouncing between gigs. I had previously thought that all entertainers spent months at a time on one ship, but he generally flies in, does a couple of shows, debarks at the next port of call and flies off to his next ship or other gig. I'll refrain from sharing his name out of respect for him, but it was an interesting experience and a totally unexpected surprise. You never know what will happen or who you might meet out here.

It’s my first cruise and I’ve already paid for gratuities upfront but will obvs leave something for our dedicated cabin steward.

When should we give it to them: I see a lot of people saying they give it towards the end of the trip, second to last day (day 6 on a 7 day cruise), but surely it’s best to give it at the beginning of the cruise?

Edit: do you have the same steward for the length of the cruise?

hi all! I am going to be purchasing cruise tickets for my mother and I to the Bahamas, first time cruise trip for us both, what are some essentials I should bring? and I would love ideas for a gift basket to make her with some necessities and fun things while traveling

I went on a cruise recently. I did not really want to go, just not really the cruise type of guy, but my gf won it through work, and we went on a 4 day cruise from Miami, Key West, and Bimini. This was a virgin voyages cruise on the resilient lady.

One of the reasons I didn’t want to go is I am very sensitive to motion sickness. I get car sick if I’m not driving, and boats are pretty much torture unless I have a patch and zofran.

Before leaving, I made a post either here or somewhere else on Reddit, and asked everyone I knew personally who has been on a cruise if the boat moves a lot, and whether they thought I would be in for a bad trip.

Literally every single person I talked to and comment I saw said that you CANNOT FEEL THE BOAT MOVE. This is a blatant lie. You can feel it nearly constantly. I was sea sick the entire second day. I took the zofran and put on the patch, and it was tolerable, but I was pretty surprised because it’s the opposite of what everyone said. It may have been a little windy, but it didn’t rain and the weather didn’t seem to be bad.

It’s impressive how little the boat moves considering its floating on water and its massive, but the stabilizer, while impressive, simply does not mean the boat doesn’t rock.

I am 2 1/2 days removed and today is the worst day of nausea I have maybe ever had in my life. I still feel like I’m on a boat. I feel worse now than I did on the worst day on the boat. Nobody said anything about this shit lol.

I am writing this in case there is another person who unfortunately got the bad luck gene of motion sickness, and has also been reading about the miraculous lack of rocking on cruises.

The boat moves. It moves a lot. If you are sensitive, you will feel sick. I am on land right now still motion sick somehow. It blows. The end.

Looking to book a simple cruise for my fiancés 30th birthday! It would be 4 adults in total. I’m completely new to planning/booking anything. Any suggestions or tips would be helpful! Thank you.

Photo from our floatplane excursion in Ketchikan last month

Hi all,
My wife and I just got back from a HAL Alaska cruise last month and we LOVED it! This was my first cruise and I can’t wait to go back. My wife grew up going on Carnival and Disney cruises as a kid. I think I want to try some of the other cruise lines like Princess, Virgin, Celebrity, etc to see if there’s anything that we like more. My wife thinks we found a good thing and should stick with it.

We’re millennials and we were on the younger end of the spectrum in Alaska but that was ok, we really enjoyed the slower relaxed pace and not feeling crowded and we finished the trip feeling very refreshed. Our only real complaint was we wished there was a little more in the evenings ie slightly bigger shows, more trivia, etc.

We are ok with kids, but don’t necessarily love having screaming children overrun the lido pool and buffet.

Our budget is pretty open - we’re willing to pay for a good time, but we don’t make enough yet to swing the more premium bookings like Silversea, Windstar, Viking, etc.

I was hoping for input on how the other lines compare to Holland America.

Thanks in advance!

I (M19) am trying to visit my GF (F18) in Rome, but the flights there are very expensive. I'm having trouble looking for alternatives.

Wondering if anybody here has some advice for me. Any would be appreciated.

Just got off the MSC World America on Saturday and wanted to share my thoughts. Sorry for the length and some rambling, but I wanted to get all my thoughts out.

---

Overview TLDR

Sailed on the MSC World America with a group of 8 (ages 11 to 70s) in an Aurea Infinite Ocean View cabin. Coming from 12+ Carnival cruises along with experience on Royal Caribbean and Disney, and this as one of our top cruises ever, strongly recommending it over Carnival and Royal.

The Good

• Embarkation & Debarkation: Flawless, highly organized, and strictly enforced by boarding groups—a massive upgrade over Carnival.
• Ship & Layout: Ultra-modern, beautiful, and sleek design. The Thermal Spa was fantastic, elevators were spacious and fast, and the hidden Deck 7 promenade was great for uncrowded ocean views.
• Cabin: The Infinite Ocean View room was a highlight for its extra floor space, giant opening window, and charging options.
• Food & Variety: Far exceeded low expectations. Standouts included Pizza & Burger (open late, excellent quality), fresh grab-and-go spots, extensive fruit options, and fast 1-hour service in the main dining room.
• Service & Vibe: Onboard staff and guest services were friendly and attentive (just below Disney, above Carnival/Royal). Noticeably fewer annoying intercom announcements throughout the day.
• Activities & Ocean Cay: Endless options for kids and families (ropes course, zip lines, 11 PM kids club cutoff, LEGO partnership). Ocean Cay was a stunning private island highlight with incredible snorkeling.

The Bad & Drawbacks

• Inconsistent Stateroom Steward: Refused simple requests (extra pillows/blankets) and cleaned at awkward times, even throwing away the daughter's kids-club creations.
• Cabin Beds: Very firm and uncomfortable.
• Small Specific Venues & Chokepoints: The comedy club (The Loft) and dueling piano bar are too small for a ship this size. The main buffet design suffers from lines and layout bottlenecks.
• Ocean Cay Seating: A shortage of free beach chairs on the island felt like a money grab.
• App Performance: Glitchy messaging and a hard-to-navigate deck map (though free iMessage worked fine over Wi-Fi).

FULL DETAIL FOR THOSE WHO WANT IT

Background: Went with 8 people including myself (m44), wife (f42), and 2 children (11 and 19) as well as in-laws and my parents. For context, we have been on 12 Carnival cruises so status matched Platinum to Gold on MSC, my parents are top status at Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and matched Diamond with MSC. In-laws matched Carnival gold to MSC Silver. We've also traveled Disney and recently on Oasis of the Seas with Royal Caribbean.

All our groups booked into the Aurea category. We had an Infinite Ocean View and so did my parents. My in-laws booked a balcony.

Embarkation/Debarkation: REMARKABLE. We had Aurea so had priority boarding after Yacht Club/assistance guests. I had a rental so dropped off all of my group around 9am and they were in the terminal within 10 minutes and in a nice seating area. I returned my rental downtown and ubered back and I was through the touchless security within 5 minutes and inside the incredibly beautiful, HUGE, and modern terminal. Boarding went just as smooth. It was clearly called out what boarding groups were boarding and ENFORCED (looking at you, Carnival). The whole process was as smooth as we've ever encountered. They also had waters available in the seating area. Debarkation was also just as easy. I always dread disembarkation, especially on Carnival since it just feels like a free-for-all. Nope. SO EASY. We grabbed breakfast in the buffet, yes very busy but since the buffet is open on 2 decks, there WAS seating. Groups were being called very early and, again, groups were being ENFORCED (they were checking that you were either self-assist or your group had been called and turning away people, whose number was still pending - much to some of their annoyance it seemed). I had to get my rental and come back to pick everyone up, so again I got off during self-assist though my group (Aurea) had already been called as well. There was maybe a line of 10 people ahead of me to get off, and I was in the terminal calling for an uber within 10 minutes. Carnival is ALWAYS a shit-show when getting off, with lines all the way down hallways and people cutting at the last minute. Absolute win for MSC.

Ship: Wow. Just wow. This ship is absolutely beautiful! The decor is ultra-modern but with some European charm. This is the most modern ship we've sailed on, and you can absolutely tell they put thought into the design. It felt definitely more premium in most areas versus all other ships we've been on (including Disney). For comparison, we've sailed all the Vista class ships on Carnival and the upgraded/amplified Oasis of the Seas and Disney Wonder. The flow and layout is fantastic and really seems to manage crowding quite well (with the exception of the buffet, but we can discuss that shortly). The ship was at a capacity of about ~5600 so not completely full but over standard capacity. There were a few times you could feel the crowd (lunch in the buffet, pool deck at 12, and after some shows) but there were times in the middle of the day where the ship felt completely empty in places when I didn't expect it. The space seemed well thought out and very little "dead" or wasted space (unlike the Oasis of the Seas which, while nice on its own, had a lot of dead areas IMHO).

Not only that but the number of showrooms and event spaces are endless between the Panorama Lounge (incredible space), the World Theater, and Luna Park plus all the entertainment spaces on the promenade. Only major drawback is that some spaces are woefully small, such as the comedy club/dueling Piano and the buffet design is REALLY not optimal with a lot of chokepoints and lines versus stations and more open walkways like on Royal or more recent Carnival ships. The World Promenade at the back is beautiful and never too crowded. I will still say that my all-time favorite place on a ship is Central Park on Oasis class (and Icon) so I definitely missed that but otherwise this ship is my overall winner for design and functionality/useability.

The ship also just looks like a sleek Italian sports car from the outside compared to the other monstrosities out there from Royal (Oasis class is fine, but Icon class just looks off).

The ship at night is also spectacular. Just beautiful and you can tell a lot of effort and thought was put into making the ship look amazing at night just as much as during the day. I am a sucker for lighting but not everyone may like it, so maybe I am biased.

Thermal SPA was AMAZING. Best we've used on any ship prior. We went everyday as part of our Aurea package and only encountered crowds during the afternoon on a sea day. Otherwise, go in the evening (we most often went around 730pm) and there's almost no one in the spa. They say you only get 1 hour a day, but we easily stayed until closing as they ushered us out. Well worth the relaxation. I could listen to the waterfall all day long. We know not all ships offer this level of thermal spa so will be on the lookout for that on our next ship.

These are also the BEST elevators we've encountered on our ships in recent years. There's a TON of elevators, they are HUGE (most of them) and the destination system works MUCH better than on Carnival. I do wish there was much better signage at the elevators telling people to select the floor multiple times for each member of their party, but that's a problem every cruise line has had that uses these destination elevators. The Carnival Panorama/Firenze/Vista were AWFUL and almost made walking the ship impossible without using the stairs for everything. Also, MSC doesn't block elevators during embarkation/debarkation so that roadblock is never present.

TIP: I've seen complaints that there is no walking track or wrap-around deck on this ship. THAT IS NOT TRUE. You can exit to a VERY under-used and very not-well-known full-length deck outside on deck 7. You can enter at either the forward elevator bank, the after elevator bank, or from the aft Panorama lounge and walk the full length of the ship on both sides. There were very few people the entire cruise on this deck, maybe some occasional staff. You go behind the lifeboats and in some places you have unblocked clear ocean views as close to the water as you can get on this ship. It also served as a great option to traverse the ship during busy times.

Cabin: FANTASTIC. As mentioned, we had an Infinite Ocean View Aurea cabin on deck 12. We can't recommend this cabin enough!! We have never had one of these cabins before but we're a convert. It's the perfect blend between ocean view and balcony. We rarely spent enough time on our balcony to make it worth it, but the window cabins on most ships were always your standard large window. This had floor to ceiling glass with a window that could open. But, you also got the added square footage that would have been the balcony in the room. So we had an added vanity area, more plugs, and nicer decor. The AC does turn off when you open the window, so we only opened it when pulling into ports, at sea, or when we wanted to just take a look outside. Otherwise it was amazing just sitting on the bed and having an endless view of the ocean. We will ALWAYS seek out this type of room on every ship we sail that has them. There are 2 universal outlets, 1 USB C and 1 USB, and 2 European (2 round prongs) at the desk by the window. There is 1 USB C outlet at each side of the bed, and 2 more European (2 round prongs) at the vanity. If you NEED more than the 2 universal plus/USB ports, bring either adapter plugs or something like the Anker universal plug (which has multiple adapters built in that allows plugging a US plug into). I had adapters and the plug, plus the usual extension plug (cruise allowed) and had ample charging options. Additionally, in these particular rooms there is a WIFI charger built into the desk.

Oh, the bed is NOT great. It's very much on the firm side so if you like a soft, cushy bed, these aren't it. I was fine enough, but my wife hated the bed. We did ask for some additional comforters which helped but it could use more. Though, see my section on service on how this could have been better.

TIP: You CAN connect to the TVs on the MSC World America if you are so inclined. I connected using the following methods:

1. USB-C to HDMI. I carry a universal remote and USB-C to HDMI cable in my backpack for use in hotels/ships as needed. However, the included remotes on MSC World America (I verified this across all 3 of the rooms we had) have a SOURCE button so the universal remote was not needed. Since the TVs are on a swivel mount, accessing the HDMI on the back was super easy. Clicking SOURCE then allowed me to easily switch over to the newly plugged in HDMI device and watch. I connected a laptop and my Samsung tablet, but this did also work with an iPad and Macbook.
2. You can stream wirelessly from a PC and from an Android device using miracast/smartview (on Samsung). If you go to the inputs and go to "Workspace" (or something similar, I forget the exact name) it gives you a few options to cast to the screen. This worked great on my Galaxy s24u and Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. There was no option to cast directly from an Apple iPhone (no support for AirPlay or Chromecast).

FOOD: This is the most common area I see with complaints for MSC. While I can't vouch for OLDER/non-World Class ships, I can say that I was BLOWN away by the food on this ship since my expectations were so low. I won't lie, I love a good Guy's burger, Blue Iguana burrito, or some chicken tenders at Shaq's on Carnival. But those are literally just a burger/fry, burrito, chicken/fries and nothing else. The MSC World America has multiple grab-and-go options that easily filled that itch. Harbour bites, Promenade bites, and the grab and go by the pool for wraps, pizza, french fries, burgers, hot dogs, etc. Then you had the game changer which is PIZZA & BURGER. This blows away anything on Carnival or Royal Caribbean IMHO. One side has the best pizza at sea in multiple varieties (a few changed daily plus your regular Pepp/Cheese) and by the slice plus some side dishes like focaccia bread, garlic bread, and some salads. The other side is the burger side with it's own buffet line containing your comfort foods like wings, hot dogs, different premade burgers that changed daily, chicken sandwiches, BBQ, various green salads and like pasta salads, and some fruit/dessert options. There were also drink stations here. This was a super convenient place to grab an alternative from the buffet and was open from 1230-2am every day. This hands-down beats Carnival and Royal for late night options.

The buffet options were comparable to Royal and made Carnival feel like a an old-buffet you'd see in Vegas in the 80s. There were SO MANY OPTIONS if you wanted them. Obviously, pizza, but they always had indian options, vegan options, tons of build your own salad options (the most I've ever seenon any of our cruises), meats, various themed dishes like italian, caribbean, etc. Lunch and breakfast didn't have a ton of variety day to day, but they had all the necessities including bacon every day (for those concerned) and a great omlet station where you place your order and then have a waiting area as they make them fresh to order. I will also say that the fruit selection on the ship was OUTSTANDING. Every single day there were tons of cut-up options of everything from apples, oranges, bananas, dragonfruit, mangos, pears, cantaloupe, pineapple, melons, etc. Not only that, they always had full size fruits ready to grab at anytime - ate my money's worth in full sized pears, apples, and bananas all week. I've never seen that on any prior cruise. On Carnival, I was lucky to ever find just apples available to grab, let alone the sheer variety. And as the cruise went on, the selection got thinner and thinner on Carnival, but it felt like MSC must have restocked in San Juan at some point, the fruit was still fresh and ripe the last day as it was the first day. HUGE win for me since I've lost 100lbs in the last year and tried to eat as healthy as possible. They always had grilled salmon fillets on the buffet at night so I got my fill of that for my protein as well as other meat cuts. Lots of veggies as well. For breakfast and lunch, there are 2 buffets available on deck 18 and smaller on 19. The buffet on 19 was much nicer (as it turns into a yacht club restaurant at night) but only does brunch instead of breakfast and lunch but has different options than the main buffet.

TIP: Pizza and Burger also served breakfast every morning (more limited options). So hit that up as it was always less crowded.

We only did the "Gala" dinner in the dining room. Our last few experiences in the dining room on both Royal and Carnival ended up being a 2+ hour ordeal and just wasn't enjoyable. We were once again pleasantly surprised. Since we all had Aurea, we had anytime dining in the Bubbles dining room. We went down promptly at 530 when the dining room opened and got a table for 8 within minutes. There was an additional line, but that was for the diners on fixed dining that also use Bubbles so just keep that in mind. Go to the left and not the right when entering the dining room for anytime dining. The food was good. Nothing spectacular. I had salmon, in-laws had the lobster which were your typical cruise lobster. I don't remeber what everyone else had. Food was perfectly fine for cruise food. I had no complaints at all! I am not expecting 5-star dining. If you like Carnival/Royal dining, the food is on par or better IMHO. What surprised us most was the SPEED. The dining room was about 70% full for GALA night but we had our starters, entrees, and dessert completed within 1 hour. It never felt rushed and they got everything spot on. We did enjoy that they had beverage options that did not just include water for those without a drink package. My daughter ordered juice with dinner and that was delivered quickly. The servers were attentive and very helpful. Overall, very good experience. We did not go back as we still don't like the time commitment to sit down dining, but we'd have no issues if we wanted to go back and sit down based on that experience.

That is another plus for MSC, options for drinks when not on the drink package. At all times on the buffet there were multiple drink options for free. This was usually varied juices, water, teas, and coffee (lots of coffee was available). This included rotating between cranberry, fruit punch, apple, as well as the standard lemonade and water (only options on Carnival and pretty sure on Royal). This was a nice bonus. My parents had the full drink package, and there were a couple of the coke freestyle machines in the buffet, in the harbour area, and at Pizza & burger with a good variety of options. Though, some of the machines never had the mix right so we stuck to just a couple of machines throughout the cruise (we did inform them, but it never got fixed).

Was the included food SPECTACULAR? No. Was it comparable to other lines? In quality, YES. Variety? WAY better. Though, after 7 days there was only so much variety but they do theme dinners to different things each night but it's up to individual people to be more adventurous and try some foods. I am a meat and potatoes person and was content eating salmon, green beans, broccoli, and a slice of pizza each day for dinner and generally don't get bored (we eat the same 7 rotating meals at home, so who am I to complain about "variety"? lol)

We only did HOLA TACOS for 1 dinner. We generally don't do speciality dining on any of our cruises. We have great access to restaurants where we live (I live in Reno, NV but our casinos have Gordon Ramsey and other celebrity chef restaurants) and visit Vegas often, so we just don't need the upcharges. Honestly? It was ok. I've had better Mexican food in Reno and other places. I would not go back but the price was reasonable. If that's your thing, go for it. The only place we wanted to try was EATALY because we like those on land, but the menu options for the price didn't entice my family so we skipped. It did look incredibly high quality. We did NOT feel the need at any time that specialty dining was necessary.

At the end of the day, IGNORE the reviews saying MSC had bad food. Sure, this is subjective, but I was more pleased with the dining on MSC World America than I have been on any previous cruise, ever. IMHO Food is NOT an issue on the World America in variety and general quality. Was there some not good food? Yes. Serving food for 5600 passengers makes that inevitable. But I was always able to find something else!

SERVICE: Another area MSC has gotten bad reviews. My experience was also outstanding here. We had some pre-cruise things to resolve. One was a price adjustment that MSC quickly resolved and another was a technical issue on the app. I was able to get right through on the phone (make sure you get the LEGIT phone number from their website, apparently there's a lot of scam numbers out there). Never an issue.

In fact, onboard service was OUTSTANDING for a ship this size. Having sailed Disney and them setting the bar for service, the general experience we had was just a step down from Disney. We rarely encountered anyone who wouldn't try to answer our questions (we didn't have many), there were always people wanting to help. We engaged guest services multiple times and issues were resolved promptly and efficiently. Our Aurea status did make us feel like we were more VIP guests than just a standard passenger, though you definitely noted the Yacht Club passengers (they can override your elevator, for example). There was also very good staffing levels everywhere we went. We don't order drinks on deck but there were always bar servers walking around. They would even cheer people on ropes courses, or high five when seeing familiar staff around the ship. I was very happy overall. It's not Disney level service, but I was very pleasantly surprised and rank it as better than Carnival/Royal overall. And NOTHING compared to reviews I have read about.

Dr. E was an amazing cruise director. He has grown a ton since his Carnival days and was a presence to be reckoned with. He was funny and knew how to banter with everyone.

Another thing I also noticed, the lack of announcements. On Carnival (especially since Covid), they've been RELENTLESS with announcements. Sales, activities, CDs just chiming in and the one thing that bothers me most was constantly reminding you that your cruise was ending 2-3 days before you disembark. MSC maybe had 1 announcement per hour about upcoming activities and that was it per day. They also never bothered once to mention that the cruise was ending except maybe the night before and covering the disembarkation the next day (resolve your folio, tag reminders, etc). Very happy overall.

ENTERTAINMENT: I only went to the Cinesonic show. It was better than expected (various movie songs/pop movie hits like Barbie, Top Gun, etc) but I am generally not a show person on ships. It definitely seems "better" than the reviews imply. Singers were good, theater/venue is amazing (Panorama Lounge), and the lighting/performance was good. All I can really say on that. It was better than the few playlist productions we've seen on Carnival overall. However, the sheer qty of entertainment definitely is the standout. Multiple full production shows in both Panorama Lounge and World Theater (Full movie length dirty dancing with live music, a matinee abridged version, Queen tribute, and even a production show of the Odyssey with moving ships!).

What wasd the standout for me was the wide variety of entertainment around the ship. Music in multiple venues on the World Galleria, and then random performance acts on the back Promenade from dance groups to acrobatic artists. There was steel drum music almost every night. The palm tree show light up the large palm trees a few times a night. Coming from Reno/Las Vegas where Cirque is the standard, I wouldn't say the acrobats were the best we've ever seen, but if you haven't had that level of exposure to those types of performers, then it was amazing, and I appreciate the efforts put into entertainment. One thing to note is that shows need to be booked to guarantee a seat. Good news is that you can grab seats for shows using your phone on the app, your in-room tv, or on various screens throughout the ship. The bad things is they filled up pretty quick, but good news is that they only have them listed for 1-2 days out so there is a chance to get seats at a later showing when it becomes available, but recommend doing it quick. Another pro is that standby seating is available, though limited. My parents rarely booked in advance and got seats to almost every show when walking up last minute, but not always the best seats. Keep that in mind. I did not see any of the "generic shows for 7 languages that are hard to understand" that reviews keep talking about.

I will say that the best show I've ever seen on a ship OR at sea was the Aqua 80s show on the Oasis of the Seas. That set the standard for entertainment on a ship and nothing on World America compares to THAT, but that's the exception (the ice shows were neat on Royal, but one and done for me) and there's still VERY GOOD entertainment on board and enough to fill a week no problem.

Comedy was interesting. The "comedy club" (the loft) was WAY TO SMALL for this size of ship and was filled immediately each day. That said, they DID do a couple comedy shows in the World Theater where there's more than 1000 seats. Keep an eye out for that.

ACTIVITIES: One word: FOMO. Wow this ship is probably the first REAL ship I have truly experienced FOMO. There's SO MANY ACTIVITIES to do in 7 days you feel like you are always missing some activity you might want to do, and I've been on 15+ cruises and rarely need to do anything. I wanted to check out trivia, but we were so busy doing other things around the ship with our kids. We did the ropes course (which is huge on this ship, with 3 FREE zip lines - looking at you ICON of the seas,), cliffhanger, arcade games, waterslides, nice fun kids splashpark, bumper cars, chocolate and gelato actrivities, arts and crafts, etc. I do wish there was more trivia as mentioned above, but they definitely had a few sessions a day that looked pretty solid. I had the same problem on Royal and Carnival since covid where the trivia sessions seems less often and less niche specific (like no specific star wars trivia, etc). There's even sessions to get ship models signed by the captain! If you have status you can get your first purchase discounted in the store per person so I picked up a ship model and some souvenirs at a decent discount. Keep that in mind!

Kids activites: My 11 year old said it was almost as good as her disney kids club and much better than Carnival/Royal. The junios club was for 7-11 and had foosball, mini pool tables, huge gaming TVs, and a huge media room where they had numerous games and activities. The audio and video system in this space rivals high-end night clubs, they really spared no expenses here (channeling my inner John Hammond here). The best part as a parent and made my 11 year old happy is that the kids club was open until 11PM, not 10pm like Carnival and Royal. We're also huge lego fans (my prized possession is my Lego Titanic on my mantle) so the lego partnership was a nice win!

Ports: Taino Bayt and San Juan. Standard stuff. Nothing really specific to MSC. Enjoyed both ports. Did the Monkey Island at Taino Bay. Pools were so busy with NCL Luna already in port so didn't stay long and ended up back on the ship since it was so hot.

Ocean Cay is the game changer. Absolutely stunning. Great snorkeling right off the ship at the lighthouse beach. Tons of fish swimming all around by the rocks. Beautiful sand and nice souvenirs. Would recommend a cruise just for Ocean Cay.

That said, the biggest issues we had were:

1. Our room steward was really not good. We only had a few pillows and needed a few more but he said he could not bring us more when we boarded the first day. We asked for additional comforters on the bed to soften the mattress, but he said he wasn't allowed. Additionally, he would be very inconsistent in room cleaning. With Aurea you get 2 services a day, in morning and evening. But despite us regularly leaving the room from 10-1 everyday he often wouldn't get to our room until around 1pm meaning we often had to skip the morning service because we would be going back to the room to freshen up/shower/change. Then he would come back right around the time we finished dinner each night. We told him we were going to watch the Ocean Cay lighthouse light show from our room at 730pm and said he would come a little earlier. Then he still ended up cleaning the room RIGHT AT 730 and we had to have him leave since we had 8 people watching from our room (we were the only ones on the starboard side)! My daughter would pay tro do some the kids master chef classes where she made a donut, or candy sushi and would bring it back to the room only to have the room steward throw them both away but leave empty milk cartons or plates of food on the dresser. We should have gone to guest services but it's one of those things where we just managed and worked around it. They have hard jobs and don't want to make it worse. I know that's not indicative of all stewards on MSC, my parents and in-laws both had stewards who were like ninjas, always seeming to anticipate their needs, got my parents 3 duvet covers and like 5 more pillows for their room (which they ended up giving us a couple of them).
2. The app needs more tweaking. It's not bad, but very inconsistent and a but confusing to find things. Ship map was hard to use/locate/use. We ended up with internet packages for our room so we just chatted with everyone via text on wifi. iMessage does work for texting for those who don't want to get internet but does not work to Android users. Built in messaging with the app never worked well, and keep in mind children under 16 can't even use the messaging built into the app.
3. More free chairs needed at Ocean Cay. There are pretty much no free chairs. Seems a little bit of a money grab.

Overall, this was a FANTASTIC experience. I would HIGHLY recommend MSC World America to ANYONE who wants to jump ship from Carnival/Royal or have never cruised before. I have even more comments but I am tired of writing at this point so if any further clarification is needed, I am happy to answer as I get time. This would rate in the top of all of our cruises.

LAST PRO TIP: There is a way to bypass the hotspot restrictions to share internet on MSC if you have an Android phone. I had the 4 package browse and stream but still had some other devices with this large of a group that needed occasional internet access.

We are doing Nassau on the third day of our itinerary in late November and we want to spend the day at Atlantis Edge Beach. The access pass is 50 dollars per person (3 people) and taxis seem to be quoted around 50 dollars return. Has anyone had any experience with this trip good or bad? Did you book it directly with the cruise line? Any recommendations on beach clubs where we can enjoy a nice beach day ideally with loungers and toilets away from the crowds but not that far from the terminal?

Got an email this morning that our 7 night out of Galveston is dropping Cozumel and replacing it with a sea day, something about dock availability. They gave us $65 per cabin in onboard credit. Cozumel was honestly the whole reason my sister picked this sailing, she had a snorkel trip booked independently and now shes out the deposit on that too (around $85, nonrefundable because it was inside two weeks).

I get that the contract says they can change ports whenever, i read it, but $65 feels kind of insulting for losing a port day tbh. My sister wants to call and push for more or at least ask them to cover her excursion deposit, I think that call is going nowhere and we should just book a spa thing with the credit and move on. Has anyone actually gotten more than the initial offer by calling? Or is this just how it goes

Leaving on Allure in a couple days and want to do karaoke but what’s everyone’s song that the crowd sings with you or what song do you enjoy listening to others perform off key/tuneless? Looking to embarrass my kids too.

Hi all - I realize this is a good problem to have! My family and I (9 of us altogether across a few cabins) are sailing on the Star of the Seas in April of next year. I have been on a few cruises in my life, but it's been a long time since I've sailed RC and I've NEVER stayed in a suite before. We decided to splurge on it this time, mainly because my mom is 81 and wants extra space and I'll be staying with her to help with her mobility issues.

I understand there are lots of perks that come with staying in a suite. What should I know about how best to take advantage of those perks? Like - can I use those services to book dining early, or is that not needed since we'll be able to book dining once on the ship? Same question about booking seats at shows? I don't drink alcohol but love mocktails, is it worth getting a drink package?

Any insights you can offer for ways to maximize the suite experience would be appreciated.

I’m on an NCL cruise and I’ve been wanting to at least try to make some friends my age. I’m 18 so I’m too old for the teen club but NCL supposedly does a 18-25 meet and greet every night. I went to the first one at a lounge and saw nobody my age. The next two were supposed to be on the Pool Deck but an hour before there was an announcement that some events on the Pool Deck were canceled. Went anyway to check and didn’t see anybody there. The one tonight will be on the Pool Deck again and I might try to go but I feel like I should try other ways as well. Any advice would be welcomed, sorry for the long type.