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I thought the shows were on a par with RCI, but shorter. The theater is small, so they do 3 30/40 min shows per evening to give more people a chance to see the performance. There were not any headliners that we saw. In the YC, there was no noise problems at all, can't speak for the rest of the ship. Lots of things to do, but at additional cost. The crew was at times clueless when asked questions. I know at times it was a language problem, other times, they just had no idea what to say as they did not know the answer. Never had a surly response from anyone.

I think it was well worth trying, you will love it. The inside YC was about $2600 all in for 2. But we got $400 OBC from MSC.

Seaside was very good. We were in a Yacht Club cabin and enjoyed the experience, was our first time trying the Yacht Club. The private dining room was great with many higher end offerings. The pool grill had prime rib, lamb chops, lobster, filet mignon, shrimp, etc, grilled for lunch. Free drinks, gelato, etc. ship wide.......Interior cabin was tight, but doable with storage. Great private lounge at the front with panoramic views. We did "snoop" the buffets to compare the items available. We tried to compare the MDR menus with the YC, but we could not find where the dinner menus were posted like RCI does daily. The rest of the ship was very nice , but the UBER MODERN decor was not particularly my cup of tea.

This is a letter that was in our room upon arrival.

Just did a 5 night Feb 3 - 8 on Empress. There is no CL or DL. There was a sail away party for Diamond and up on the patio behind Bolero's. The Viking Crown was open for D+ and P from 5 - 8:30 PM daily. Had the regular 3 drinks loaded to the sea pass card daily. That is the MSC Seaside in the background, had just gotten off that one and crossed the street for this one. Pic is sail away from Miami at Bolers's

Have done RCI Air2Sea several times. It is the reason we are able to do the transatlantic sailings. A couple months ago, New Orleans to London.....$313 PP Venice to NO......$500 PP Barcelona to NO......$340 PP New Orleans to Amsterdam.....$340 PP One exception was a flight on Iceland Air that was about $300PP Boston to Copenhagen, just had to get a cheap SW flight to Boston.

Will be on the Empress in a couple weeks for the game. Looking forward to seeing how RCI compares to Princess for the game. Saw the 2013 game on the Golden Princess, it was jammed full on the pool deck for the big screen.

16 or RCI, 9 for MSC

No, RCI won't price match with travel agents. You can however still get any price drops until final payment. You just call and have your T/A call and get the reduction for you. Once booked with a T/A, RCI will not deal with YOU directly, even if you try to call them for a price drop. There are times on shorter cruises or booking an interior cabin that the OBC given by a T/A is not worth it.

Just weighed it at 2.5# with box...................

Same here, locked in the safe.

So far, it's been money well spent. I know we would do it again.

Also, they are ship specific. Meaning that you will get your 140 block on the cruise(and supposedly the day) you make 140, and get an "Allure"(or whatever ship you are on) block. Same goes for subsequent blocks at 210, etc.

I have been keeping up with the discussions you mention on CC. On Divina , dinner was VERY similar to RCI in terms of quality and time for dinner. We never had a 2 hour dinner, more like 1 - 1.5 hr. Just about what RCI averages. The gripe I hear and can understand is when the main buffet on deck 8 is turned into the dining room for Bella class passengers in the evening(dinner only). Anyone wanting to have dinner in the buffet have to go to the other buffet on deck 16. Problem being, there is a very limited selection. Burgers, dogs, pizza and as I read "few other items". This in no way compares to RCI or any other cruise line I have been on. Not pointing this out as fact, just relaying what is being said by those onboard.

What resting birds is saying is that he prepaid his grats recently(on a booked cruise) because the tip price has just gone up $1.00 per day/per person. He had a chance to get grandfathered in at the existing price on a booked cruise, so he prepaid. I thought about it for a while(have a couple on the books), decided that because we generally have OBC from RCI and T/A(as opposed to free grats), it would be in my best interest to use OBC for grats. On longer sailings, grats can well exceed the $400 mark. I think this "grandfather" window is past now though.

Yes they can, done this several times recently. Just don't "prepay" your grats, let them charge the tips daily to your folio account.

Agree, OK for booking longer sailings or a B2B.

They did give us the 5% discount, it is legit. However, everybody from almost the lowest level and up get the 5% discount. So, while worth something, not exclusive to black card holders. From what I have read, they at one time gave 20% to black card members.

The Divina was our little taste(so to speak) last January. My problem, as well as others, is trying to compare apples to apples. With the D+ perks, you have to figure out a way to put a value on that. If not for those perks, we would do a lot more with MSC. While not a direct comparison, we are trying the Seaside in a Yacht Club cabin in a couple weeks. To be honest, the Black Card(status match)for us was not anything to brag about. No comparison to D+(RCI), but a few nice offerings here and there. At the moment we are still making future bookings with RCI.

I would go so far as to say that cruising with several thousand folks in close quarters may not be for everyone. When the germaphobe nazis take over, I will choose other travel. You are aware that those hand sanitizers do NOT kill or stop the spread of Norovirus? Right?????? You are aware that EVERYBODY onboard touches and handles that dispenser??????? Best advise I have gotten....wash your hands before entering and skip the hand sanitizer. You are perfectly welcome to look down your nose and raise a brow at me when I walk by and tell the girl NO, thank you. You are going to resanitize your hands after pulling your chair back? Right???? You do realize that your utensils will need to be sanitized(who knows who has handled them in the kitchen) You are not going to touch the tongs at the buffet, are you? You didn't touch that railing around the Windjammer, did you????? You didn't pick up that drink glass, did you?????? I chose not to get involved in this craziness and rather enjoy the sailing. Each can make up their own mind.

You also get to a point where all the trouble(self sterilization) is not worth it and takes a great deal away from your trip. I guess we all have our lines in the sand where the cleaning/worrying meets enjoying the sailing. Till then, enjoy the cruise you paid for. I know I will, and not think twice about Noro, or any other illness. I don't mind washing my hands a couple extra times a day than I would at home, but that's about it. Oh, by the way.....95% is not a select group. It is the overwhelming majority.

I seem to be in agreement with a post I saw on another forum. It said....If you're gonna do all that and more, just douse yourself with bleach, and roll yourself with bubble wrap. Another poster said she noticed that the wait staff in the MDR that picked up all the dirty and handled plates and silverware, were the same folks who put YOUR plates and silverware down on your table a minute later. There is NO way to insulate yourself from germs and viruses on a ship with 4000 of your closest friends from all over the world.

We booked several onboard over the last year or so. We did our homework prior to boarding so the pricing was in hand. The only thing it got you was some OBC, but when booking a T/A, that was $250. I would then do some WIFI calling to the travel agent and transfer the booking for what perks they were giving on that sailing like free gratuities(grats on T/A are over $400) or some OBC. We could (and did) end up with over $600 OBC for the longer sailings and would only have to put down the $250 for the reservation. It doesn't amount to a whole lot on short cruises though, as little as $50 for a 5 day we just booked on our last sailing.

Thanks for the heads up. Just went on and redid both for DW and I. Did't take long.

We had been sailing with Princess for a few years before we started with RCI. I was the opposite of other posters, I called the Windjammer the Horizon Court for a while. Also went looking for the Lido deck. We did the MSC Divina this past Jan., it was about half what RCI wanted for a New Years sailing. Were satisfied enough to book the Seaside next month(Jan27) and try a YC cabin. I will probably be in search of the Windjammer or Schooner Bar... and of course the Viking Crown for the evening drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Oh wait, can't do that ! Just have to wait a bit and see how this plays out.