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Look what arrived for me in the mail yesterday... nice that celebrity still will physically send you luggage tags upon request. Reminds me of the "old days"!

This trip report is all about new. New for me that is. New user on the CruiseHabit message board. New to MSC. First revenue cruise of my new cruise restart. For those that haven't heard MSC has some really attractive rates at the moment so with exactly 14 days until the sail date I decided to jump on board. MSC has a status match program that I exercised a few years ago. My status match was expiring so this opportunity will also keep my MSC status alive and well. It's always good to try new things and I'm looking forward to trying not only a new cruise lines but also a new class of ship, for me at least. With many cruise lines operating at reduced capacity as they restart operations I see this as a great time to try new cruise experiences. For this cruise I've booked a Fantastica balcony on deck 9. I haven't fully discovered what Fantasica means but it was a small per cruise upgrade over the base rate so why not? I've heard great things about Yacht Club but I'm going to save that for another occasion. It's just 3 nights and I look forward to more of an apples to apples comparison with the balcony cruises I've done on other cruise lines. I've added a wifi streaming package and an excursion climbing the Ocean Cay lighthouse. Other than that my plan is just to explore Ocean Cay, MSC's private destination and enjoy the salt air of a sea day on our way back to Miami. Here is the cruise itinerary: With that it's time to let the countdown commence...

After 21 years of sailing exclusively with Royal Caribbean, I'll be giving MSC a try in September.

First of all thanks to @CruiseHabit Bill for the nice compliment during his recent live broadcasts of my Celebrity Equinox Live blog post on the RCB message board. That compliment inspired a cruise recap for this Disney cruise. We booked this cruise over one year ago. The motivation was a few factors. It was originally scheduled to be on my kids Spring Break which has since been pushed back a week from the prior school year so they will miss a week of school and after returning have another week off school for their actual Spring Break. Another reason for picking this was it included a themed sea day with Star Wars activities. Additionally we had a desire to try out a Disney Cruise since we live in the Orlando area and are Disney World passholders, despite the cost of the cruise. My son's Birthday, February 29 was a great excuse to select this cruise since this will be his second legitimate birthday even though he will be eight years old. Since all of this is new I will take lots of pictures and do a recap after I return. There is not an onboard internet plan that is unlimited unless you stay in a suite (concierge class) room. You must purchase a plan with different amounts of data with larger packages being cheaper by the MB but it's a use it or lose it plan and the prices are not good and there are rumors of poor internet speeds. My Equinox blog was all done via my iPhone 7 so hopefully I will do as good or better since I recently upgraded to the iPhone 11. I look forward to sharing it with all of you. The itinerary is a Western Caribbean cruise out of Port Canaveral. It visits Cozumel, Mexico, George Town, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Jamaica and Castaway Cay which is Disney's private island in the Bahamas with the ports in that order. We have plans to go to El Cozumeleno resort for the day in Cozumel. In George Town we are going to the Turtle Farm. In Jamaica we have an excursion to take a raft down the Martha Brae River. No plans at Castaway Cay other than the 5K race and enjoying the island. We booked a verandah room. My Niece who is in her mid 20s and didn't pay for the cruise is with my kids ages 8 on cruise day and 10 for my daughter in a large interior room with a virtual porthole. Her parents (my brother in law and sister in law) are in a verandah that adjoins to our room. We originally booked specific rooms but a month before the final payment deadline a verandah guarantee with restrictions became available that saved almost $1000 for each of the verandah rooms. We got our room assignments about 10 days before the cruise and we got rooms comparable to what we originally booked. Originally we did not have adjoining rooms but we were assigned a room on the same deck as the inside room with my niece and kids that was not too far away. If you have any questions before I go I can try to find out onboard and report back. The only day I expect to have internet is the Cozumel day but I probably won't post much until I get back.

I neglected to mention at check in they gave me a white wrist band to denote my vaccinated status. Upon walking on the ship there was a table setup where they provided an MSC smart device that serves as door key, allows drink purchases but also does contact tracing since it is a tracker that knows where you have been. Next I walked into a lounge and was immediately greeted by a drink package salesmen. For 3 night cruise MSC doesn't offer drink packages for pre-purchase and I wasn't sure I was going to bite but in the heat of the excitement of being back on a ship I caved and bought the easy package for $32 per day plus 15% service fee. This next picture was my first glimpse of the ship and where I signed up for the drink package. Cabins were ready so I didn't grab a beverage just yet but I did grab a picture of the next area that the lounge led me into:

T-1 day. PCR test: Negative! Woohoo! In full disclosure i didn't need to a do a test prior to this cruise. MSC didn't ask me to get tested in advance. I'll be tested again at the terminal TOMORROW! Yay! I chose to get a test done within the 3 day window for two reasons: 1. I love to cruise and want to do my part to protect the cruise industry. If I was an asymptomatic carrier and brought the virus to the terminal that wouldn't be good. 2. I have more cruises in the coming weeks that do have a requirement for the cruise lines involved to have a negative test with results in hand before arriving to check in. This was an opportunity to confirm how quickly results came back for future reference. This was a practice run for me. So now I'm fully vaccinated, tested negative and ready to cruise safely!

As we're always remote/home-based, that part isn't too different here. Most just worried about friends and family, and wishing we could take a vacation! For us, and many others I suspect, the weird part of this is the global nature of things. When a hurricane is coming we think, "oh, we could go to North Carolina." When tourist season makes things too busy for us to want to venture out, we think, "let's book a cruise" - but in this case, there isn't the same escape mechansim. On the upside, we're getting SO many home project done!

New podcast episodes are very much on the to-do list (long list of topics ready to go). Look for more videos (of a different style) dropping as well.

Earlier tonight just after the sun had set I was out and about with my camera. Did I mention this is a beautiful ship? If you are twenty one and older you have to check out this Serenity deck. It's pretty amazing.

Daily Programs scanned along with the Welcome Aboard and Departure letters. Meraviglia Daily Program 8-6-21 3 Nights OC.PDF

Pandemic protocols on board. This post is to provide insight to the protocols on board. I kindly ask you to avoid debating protocols or providing opinions about protocols here in this thread. I am posting this so that people can decide if the protocols on board are acceptable based on their personal preferences. MSC tested everyone that boarded. That was a quick and easy nasal swab without going deep to "tickle the brain". Masks were required at all phases. This includes everywhere on board except the cabin. That included outdoors when you weren't actively drinking, eating or in a pool. I knew that boarding the ship and the drink package helped to keep a drink nearby much of the time. Most bars block off the bar seating. The Horizon bar did not, the Sky Lounge and the Pub did not block bar seating. At these venues people had a drink in hand and were not masking between sips. Some venues like the pub are a designated vaccinated area but there were often children with their parents inside the pub. This seemed to be allowed. With reduced capacity it was never an issue keeping distant so it worked. The casino was also a designated vaccinated area. I did spend time in there but didn't really focus on the protocols. It just seemed to work. Not sure if smoking is permitted because it wasn't smoky at all while I was there. For the most part social distancing worked but at times such as when there was a queue people quickly forgot to distance. The daily temperature checks were also almost not worth mentioning.

Cruise Summary Since this was my first time sailing with MSC my approach for this cruise was to basically forget everything I knew about cruising. It's too easy to fall into the trap of comparing everything to a cruise line you may have sailed last or more frequently. Walking onto a ship with a "I've never sailed before" mentality lets you relive that special first time you walked onto a cruise ship and it helps to remove any preconceived notions you may have about a different cruise line. I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise and for the price it was outstanding value. Ocean Cay is beautiful. While fairly young as a cruise line private destination it checks all the boxes for this type of "port of call". With the drink package covering Ocean Cay it does perform better than some other cruise lines that don't allow their drink packages at their private destinations. Meraviglia is a modern beautiful ship and it's a shame to see so many areas underutilized with reduced capacity at the moment. Clearly she has space to handle more guests while keeping everyone happy. The Marketplace Buffet did lack some diversity at dinner but it's not fair to compare a ship on it's second voyage after restarting during a pandemic operating at dramatically reduced capacity to a cruise experience before the pandemic. The status match loyalty program is very much appreciated. Every loyalty program is different and the perks were really nice. The included dining experience was great. I did bring a bunch of single bills and tipped every drink above the included service charges included in the drink package I bought. These folks have been out of work for 16 months so a few extra bucks is well worth it. I didn't see anyone else tipping above the included gratuity and I could tell the bar staff really appreciated the gesture. At the end of the day the most important question... would I sail them again? Absolutely! In a heartbeat. In fact the MSC Divina is moving to Port Canaveral for a few months this fall and I am looking over her dates to see if I can make it work. I am also eyeing some more Meraviglia itineraries that are a little longer. I feel like there is so much left to explore on the ship including the main dining room for dinner. I was worried that some cruise acquaintances declared that you only enjoy MSC is you sail in Yacht Club. That may be the case for them but I was very pleasantly surprised I had no YC envy. If you've got the money, sure why not YC but I'll have no problem sailing MSC with the Fantastica experience again. I also like the budget friendly "Easy" drink package. While it only includes well drinks and not any top shelf liquor that was good enough for me on this cruise. Meraviglia is a great ship and I'll have no issues booking her again. It may not be the same experience compared to my "regular" cruise line but that's a good thing as not everything that line does is perfect either. I hope this helps you decide if Meraviglia is the right ship for you and I thank you for viewing.

With all that was going on and sailing away late I chose dinner in the buffet. After dinner it was around the ship collecting bar menus. That ended in the pub with some pub music. Then it was off to bed for an early morning to watch our arrival into Ocean Cay.

Cabin tour! Deck 9, starboard, somewhat midship. Waiting for me were... Closet: Balcony: View down into the deck 8 extended balconies. View aft: View forward: The balcony is "efficient". With the curtains open: Desk area with two euro power ports, two North American 110v outlets and 1 USB. Nicely laid out bathroom with shower door. There is a panoramic elevator not far from my cabin which is one of the reasons I picked this location. Back down to the Galleria. Four guests per elevator.

Since you asked beverage packages... Every bar has a paper menu but more common are these signs with QR codes: The bottom QR code links to the beverage packages available on board. PDF: MSC Meraviglia Drink Packages.pdf Here are some menus I've collected so far... Meraviglia Pub.pdf Meraviglia Pool Bar.pdfMeraviglia Bar.pdf Come to think of it this is like a challenge game... collect all the bar menus 🙂 Here is one of the physical menus I've seen: Also note MSC does charge local taxes while in port. Interesting to note they will post the beverage package purchase to my account later tonight so that it isn't subject to local taxes.

I guess MSC is just used to carrying cargo that doesn't care where it is stored for the trip! I wonder when Maersk is going to start a cruse line... perhaps they can just convert some shipping containers into cabins...

Also brand new to the CruiseHabit board and we're also first-time MSC cruisers taking our first cruise since the pandemic on Meraviglia on August 13. The price was certainly right, but we keep losing our stateroom assignment. Excited to get back to cruising though, and looking forward to hearing about your experience. --Mike

Maybe because I am solo. Virtually all of the additional cabins that are options now can accommodate 3 or 4 guests. I've been Fantasica from the start, but the original cabins offered were for two guests only. On a positive note I was able to book this cruise as a solo. In the past MSC required 2 guests, at least when I searched for bookings from Florida before the shutdown.

You're sailing before we do, so we're looking forward to your full report - but make sure you leave us some whisky onboard 🙂

We recently published an article and a video that goes over this and other procedures, rules, etc. Celebrity Edge COVID Rules: Masks, Buffets, Testing & More (article): https://www.cruisehabit.com/celebrity-edge-covid-rules-masks-buffets-testing-more Video:

So in summary, it was a great experience to be able to enjoy a new cruise line and ship. As a Disney annual pass holder I appreciated the characters and the entertainment and theming and attention to detail. i thought the food in the main dining room was excellent and was well above the average of other cruise lines. The kids club was outstanding and the kids appreciated the activities plus the ability to just go to any themed area whenever they wanted. Entertainment put on by the crew was amazing especially the full production shows and the guest entertainers were above average too. My biggest missed opportunities were not having enough time in the adult areas. I was nearly always trying to do as much as possible with the kids and trying to experience as much as possible so I missed out on some adult areas of the ship and island and some relaxation time. I also missed out on having enough time on Castaway Cay. Trying to do the 5K followed by the early afternoon bad weather limited my time there and the opportunity to experience more of the island. So, would I go on another Disney Cruise despite the price premium? Probably, but it might need to be a good price or only on rare occasion and would not be a regular cruise option. It was an amazing experience and I was glad I did it. I hope everyone enjoyed my cruise recap even if it took me some time to get it all out. When I returned from the cruise I worked two days Then was at Disney World at Hollywood Studios for a day and then became quarantined for the remaining 14 days post cruise due to the newly enacted CDC pandemic guidelines. Since then, I have returned to working full time as a CT scan technologist at an Orlando area hospital and have become a home school teacher and cook three meals a day on my days off. So, this explains a little bit as to why it took me an extended amount of time to complete my recap. Anyway, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them.

Just thought of an unexpected perk of the work from home thing: at 5:30 PM, the lock comes off the beer fridge and I can enjoy one while I wrap up my day. Heard an urban legend that’s standard policy in any Australian office, figured I’d make it a reality here at home. ??

We're doing OK here in northern NJ as well. I've already been working home for 5 months because of a slow-healing wound I'm dealing with, and my wife just got work-from-home setup with her employer. Both kids (one HS, one college) had their schools closed last week and are now on distance learning for the rest of the school year / semester. Actually took advantage of some people canceling their booking on my August 2 cruise to upgrade from a pair of inside cabins to a pair of OV cabins. Summit's OV have good-sized windows, about 4 feet across in the rooms we booked, so that will be a nice step up; keeping an eye for an adjoining pair of the aft deck 3 OVs to open up, will move there if possible for the 6-foot windows they have. And being on deck 3 should feel more stable than up on deck 7 if we run into any rough waters in the north Atlantic.

Line? For me, I’m going to be selfish and suggest Celebrity. Selfish because I have been primarily Royal but am planning to check out X anyways. And a big part of me selecting X is the coverage by Bill and Cruise Habit. Where? I vote Caribbean. Done it enough that I know how to enjoy but feel free to spend more time with the group activities. Activities? Maybe group takeovers of ship specific venues, like the Lawn Club or Sunset Bar. Opportunities to mingle and meet and talk ship. That’s what Cruise Habiteers do, right? How different? I think skip some of the more traditional group activities like pub/cabin crawl, maybe arrange a session with performers or other staff/crew. Just my random thoughts as I flatten the curve. BobJ

I have to speak selfishly on this one -- Would love a group cruise that leaves out of NJ or NYC. I'm not really able to cruise from anywhere else for the time being, just because flights to FL are so darn expensive that they can easily equal the cruise fare and I'd rather have that money for a better cruise. And of course, that also means more limited choice of lines and itineraries. Between those two ports, I think we've got Royal, NCL, Celebrity, maybe HAL and I know MSC does one or two sailings a year for fall foliage. One thought I had that would distinguish a Billy Group's (gruff!) Cruise could be a deliberate focus on smaller ships and more "boutique" itineraries that go to less-frequented ports. Prime example would be the Empress open-jaw sailing from NJ to Montreal or back (and yes, that's Royal but we all know that's a ship Matt's never gonna book a GC on). I'm thinking here Billy of your lifelong experience with cruising and experience with all the various levels of service over the years, on board and maybe on excursions. Maybe the way you distinguish from Matt or other GC organizers is by finding ways to "bring back" some of the (more desirable) classic cruising elements that seem to have gone out of favor; ideally without the expense of booking a super-luxury line! ? Not really sure how something like that would be done, or if it's even feasible on today's cruise lines. But you asked, so I'm answering. ?

Yeah, that brunch at Palo is amazing, we've done that several times. The first time I booked it was because I wanted to try out Palo but didn't want to miss dinner in the MDR. All the other times where because it's so much fun. Lunch at Remy is also very nice. In some ways, it's the exact opposite. Set menu, no real choices (vs the infinite choice at Palo). But the food is amazing. They change the menu from time to time, but years ago when I dined there one of the courses was some sort of fish on a bed of scrambled eggs. I don't really like eggs. I never order eggs. When I looked at the menu I figured I would just eat the fish and leave the eggs. I'm on a cruise, it' s not like i'm going to starve. The dish came, tried the fish and I thought it was cooked perfectly. So then I figured, what the hell, the chef intended the two to go together, maybe I should give it a try. I put a little of the egg on my fish.... wo, it was really good.... By the end I was just eating the scrambled eggs by itself, didn't leave a bit. You know the chef knows what he is doing when they can make a food that you don't even care for taste amazing...

We've just "turned on" the CruiseHabit Message Boards, so make sure to share the good news about this new way to talk ship, ask/answer questions, and more! Post it on Facebook or Twitter, email your friends, or write our address (CruiseHabit.com/boards) on a banana and mail it to your friends! The more people that show up, the more we can discuss cruising and learn from each other. To post, you'll just need to sign up - but it takes seconds. Please keep in mind the three basic rules: Speak to people like you would if you were face to face. Please no direct selling. Have another site with helpful information or even products? As long as it's pertinent, post it! No random posts promoting stuff though and no self-promotion of travel agents. Have fun. We're all here to have a good time, and every user can help make that happen by looking back at rule #1. We'll certainly be making adjustments as time goes on, so if you have suggestions, let us know!

congratulations Kathy on the new job and the upcoming college graduation. seems 2020 is going to be a great year for you and your family. time to YOLO book some cruises for 2021............maybe a MSC or Celebrity sailing is in your future or both...................

From what I recall from the “Behind the Scenes” tour on Explorer of the Seas years ago, they go through all the trash and recycle what they can. Here are some photos from the recycling room onboard. I would assume other lines have a similar process.

it seems MSC is still trying to work out some glitches within the american market. they do definitely try to overwhelm us with their complicating packages on which experience and drink package or if you want to do their all in one option which includes easy drink package. looking at the easy package drink list there is quite a variety of options of wines and spirits for price and even for frozen cocktails although non alcoholic, order the rum on side and mix it in to cocktail to have a nice lava flow or pina colada. another thing is having to set up your onboard account at the kiosk and register for shows onboard. comparing it to Royal or Celebrity its a totally different perspective when it comes to pre planning onboard experiences. MSC has the app which is helpful while on board. plus remember passengers are embarking and disembarking at ports so flow of suitcases in hallway. very diversified array of passengers so announcements in many languages just like on European sailings. MSC does offer some great rates and itineraries for the price compared to Royal/Celebrity. heck at times can find cruises so reasonable for MSC that could book many more cruises on them for what other cruise lines charge for ONE sailing. fortunately for me, my travel agent did a sailing for "research" purposes on the Meraviglia so that gave me the information and insight if MSC was a good fit for me. their new private island is up and coming but compared to Coco Cay is very nice with more of a laid back vibe having more cultural experiences where Coco Cay has waterpark etc. plus you are more luckily docked there up til late at night so can experience night on the beach with so many activities going on from parade, music, star gazing,etc. Plus remember Kathy they match status from Royal so that is another perk. sometimes its hard for us being loyal to one cruise line to sway over to others but its all about what the ship offers and itineraries. for me Meraviglia offered so much to do on the ship comparing it to Royal Oasis class that felt it was best option for me to YOLO book it.

Thanks Billy.....and yes we're waiting for that next podcast!

Cruise ships definitely recycle! I remember seeing a video once on my stateroom tv all about it, detailing the process. A quick google search brought me this recent article, it's mostly about Carnival not doing what it's supposed to do, but if you quickly skim that and get down to the lower part of the article, it mentions other cruise lines. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article235874997.html

Hi Billy. Just got word about the new forums and signed up. Like @KathyC and @Jedi Jason, will be looking forward to discussion of Celebrity here. Oh, and I suppose other cruise lines as well. ?

I think the drink packages and 'experiences' are two of the big things that MSC overcomplicates - potentially putting some people off. We sailed Seaside with Fantastica, and next time, I'd be inclined to select Aurea for one simple reason: on Seaside (and some other ships) there is a seperate outdoor area and bar just for Aurea (and YC) guests. Is it necessary? Certainly not, at least on Seaside the design was such that even though the pool itself would get crowded, there was a ton of space to lounge. Still, on any contemporary line, the option of having a slightly less crowded area for sea days is interesting - depending on the cost of course. I'd not pay hundreds more, but I'd pay something, and the actual costs varies by sailing. We've been eyeing another MSC, so we'll see what's available when we figure that out.

Well, if you somehow don’t get on her before me I’ll do a write up for you. BobJ

For us, Royal is for group cruises, Celebrity is for couple cruises. Of course, most of our friends only cruise Royal...so that is part of it. ?

So first, what's not changing (in any material way): The physical ship. The build is the same. There have been tweaks to account for things like the bartenders getting drenched on the Magic Carpet and at the Sunset Bar whenever it rains. Things like that, the materials used on stairs in the Grand Plaza (the current materials scratch and were already changed in some places on Edge). I'm sure there are others, but these are minor and more about operational enhancements. For entertainment, Celebrity will continue to offer a combination of the more contemporary shows like Hype, Hot Summer Night's Dream, Elysium, etc (links to live blogs talking about each of those shows), as well as some more traditional mash-up type shows. This really isn't about Edge though, as Celebrity started producing these new-style shows several years ago. I first saw one (blanking on which) on Constellation over three years ago. Elysium we saw on Equinox in September. In other words, Edge got a lot of attention - even when it was for things Celebrity has been doing for a bit. I will say that the first batch of performances on Edge did leverage much of the technology in the theater a bit more than they do now - and I think that was a matter of trying out new stuff to see what works for a given show. Ric recently sailed Sky Princess, which has a VERY high-tech stage and actually said he found the use of tech distracting - but conceded it's likely a matter of "play with new stuff, see what works" as that ship had been sailing just a short time when he boarded. Entertainment in Eden will change, and while I can't share too much about how, when Celebrity says each night will be a different show, they mean it (they aren't just saying each is different as in it's a dynamic performance). They'll still have that Edge quality, but in the first year Edge sailed we saw MANY adjustments to Eden (some which we liked, others which we saw as them having to water things down a bit). I really like some of the new shows I've heard about coming to Apex, and as someone who LOVES Eden, I'm looking forward to this more than I am fearing change. I've actually not got any insight into cuisine changes themselves. I know the feedback on the multiple MDR setup has been extremely positive, and Edge has had good guest responses all around cuisine. Yes, some find the cuisine in Eden Restaurant too "exotic", and if I am being honest, it's hard for me to grasp how. I found the food well prepared, with flavors and textures that were thoughtfully combined. Presentation was unique (and has been tweaked in the first year), but aside from sea-urchin, I don't recall much on the menu that most people aren't accustomed to eating, just prepared differently. Don't like sea-urchin? Afraid to try something new? Don't order it. I think you see a lot of strong opinion shining through here ? Celebrity, I am confident, is not going to "over correct". Yes, people like things that companies do, and they don't like when those things go away or change. The good news is that Edge offers a wide variety of entertainment and dining options, so it's not as if anyone is being forced into audience-participation during Eden or force-fed any given menu item. If they go back, they don't innovate, and if they don't innovate, they only keep those happy who don't want change, the current customers who welcome it, and the millions of potential cruisers that haven't tried the product yet, those are the people they're eyeing. To wrap up my thoughts for now, a lot of this is in messaging. When a traditional cruiser who isn't interested in trying new stuff sees an ad that touts the innovative things happening in Eden, they decide it's not for them. Ask that same person if they're interested in seeing aerialists, eating XYZ foods, etc, and they just might be. Every line learns and tweaks second builds (which is one of the things I love), but messaging will be tweaked too - making sure the right message gets to the right people, even when that means different messages going to different folks who are all about to enjoy the same ship.

Thanks for starting this Bill. I hope we get some good Celebrity Cruise discussion going. I enjoy Royal Caribbean for family cruises but my wife and have discovered that we really enjoy cruising Celebrity as a couple.

More 360° photos. In some of these I dropped a logo on the bottom since the tool I use to remove myself was messing up the floor and I didn't want people to think the ship's decking was that way in real life. Ignore the globe in the nadir (bottom of 360 sphere) or any artifacts from my touch up tool. Mardi Gras Serenity Predawn 360 Mardi Gras Serenity Seaday 360 Mardi Gras Water Park 360 Mardi Gras Bolt in Action 360 Mardi Gras Bolt in Action #2 360 Mardi Gras Bolt Funnel 360 Mardi Gras Deck 8 Hot Tubs Starboard Side 360

There are times where some venues are busy. The Alchemy Bar for example has a prime time where it's busy and the down side of hand crafted cocktails is that they take longer to make. The pools have been pretty busy. Serenity has lots of space though.

After dropping off luggage It was over to the queue for the terminal check in. First step was up the escalator. It doesn't look so bad. From here we walked left and down the ramp. Wait, what? We went up to walk down? Yep. Have you ever seen one of those photos where the stairs are endless but seemingly end where they start? After walking down the ramp on the right, turning the corner and walking down the ramp on the left then doing a u-turn and walking back up the same ramp, turning the corner and walking back up the ramp I just walked down I was well on my way back to the level ground where the escalator brought us 30 minutes earlier but still 15 minutes from that point. Wait. Where did all these people come from? It was seemingly empty when we went up the escalator. From the comments I've heard we are about 50-60% capacity on this sailing. I am not sure how this will work at 100% capacity. The good news is once you reach the entrance to the terminal there are signs based on if you are vaccinated and within your appointment window or "other". The weird news is that at this point staff were directing people into any queue. Signs didn't matter. If one queue was getting full go in another queue. The great news is the terminal has air conditioning! PHEW. After a while inching along inside the terminal I was able to look outside and see even more people in the maze outside. Looking around me at this point people had check in appointments an hour before me and an hour after me. I was within my 30 minute window. Whatever. Get in line. How you doin'? Eventually you will divide into one of three zig-zag queues. Some are longer than others but some have more check in people than others. Some lines appear to move faster and everyone was now second guessing their choice of queue. Honestly I don't think it really mattered. It's like a grocery store and picking the wrong check out lane. Finally I made it to a check in agent who looked at my paperwork and passed me onto another check in agent who took my photo. Success! Next up security. You know the drill. After security the ship was already boarding so onward and away I went. It seemed a little confusing and chaotic but only took 45 minutes from stepping out of the car to reaching the point where I was going up the ramp and almost on the ship where I took this picture. It felt a lot longer but the timestamps on my photos don't allow me to lie.

The showtimes for the vaccinated sessions didn't align with my plans. The descriptions certainly didn't sound opera centric. I plan to go back and will have more time on a longer cruise.

Looks like I forgot the gym... and forgot to go to the gym.

I am experimenting with a 360 camera that can also take wide angle pictures so bear with me as I post some here just to see how they look on the internet.

@Jedi Jason, I'm actually now booked on a slightly different 14-night Med sailing with Princess. Instead of Rome to Barcelona, we're sailing from Athens to Rome. Princess offers three different 7-night "legs" for the Med on a 3-week rotation: Athens to Barcelona Barcelona to Rome Rome to Athens Originally I was thinking the family would most want to do the 3rd and 1st leg B2B, because that gave the doubled stops I had mentioned. But they actually wanted the combination of legs 1 and 2, so I was outvoted. ? The good part about this is that now we will fly in to Athens a couple of days early, and have time to explore there without rushing. And instead of doing our Rome touring before the cruise, we'll just fly out the day after we disembark and get our touring in that Saturday (and hopefully have some time Sunday before flying home, since we can leverage the time change to fly out later in the day).

@KathyC, that's an interesting take on that kind of cruise. I was looking at Princess' just-released Med sailings for '22 today and talking about it with my travel agent. The one I'm most-interested in is a 14-night sailing from Rome to Barcelona, which includes a double-stop in Naples. I was saying to her how that was great, because it meant we could go to Capri one time, and Pompeii the other (or just enjoy Napoli on its own in the first or second half of the trip). And because it starts in Rome, we can arrive a couple of days early and use the time to explore / see the sights, without the rush of a standard port day. Then just board the ship late in the day after seeing whatever last-minute bits we want to catch, and be off on our adventure. I'm not sure I could sell my family on doing the kind of itinerary you planned out, but I definitely see the merits of repeat stops at ports where the main points of interest are quite a ways away from the actual port.

We contemplated something similar when planning our May 2020 Med cruise. This would likely be our only time getting to that part of Europe. The sailing was on the newly re-vamped Allure and our boys had never been on an Oasis class before. It would also be the last time all four of us would travel together. Our itinerary had 6 ports in 7 days, and I think 3 of the 6 required long bus rides inland to reach the "destination." Aka Rome is 90 mins from the port. Each way. And many ports offered more than one "nearby" destination and it was a very long day to take an excursion that brought you everywhere while giving you a tiny bit of time in each. We figured we'd be exhausted by the end of the trip, and would need another one afterwards. What we decided to look at was a B2B of the SAME itinerary. This way we could take our time in each port, knowing we'd be back again. So first stop in La Spezia let us go to Pisa. The second stop allowed us to explore Florence. Both are about an hour away from the port, in different directions. First stop in Naples allowed us to go to Capri and explore the Amalfi Coast, second allowed us to tour Naples. Two stops in Civitavecchia allowed us two trips into Rome; visit Vatican one day, see Colosseum another day. Walk the streets, enjoy the local food and shops, without rushing from one place to another. The stops in France and Palma de Mallorca allowed us to visit those ports on the first or second leg of the trip, depending on how tired we were. Visit one the first week, the other the second. Or do a half day excursion each time, and walk the town the rest of the day. A much more relaxed experience that let us feel like we were not missing out if we weren't on the go from arrival to all aboard, knowing we wouldn't go back in the near future. We ended up canceling it before final payment, but when we do reschedule this cruise, we will plan the same thing.

Kids club is so intriguing that I wanted to go spend some time there. Fortunately, you can do just that. There is a daily open house for about an hour in which the non kids can come check out some of the cool activities. The Small World nursery Is for the ages 6 months old through up to 3 years old. The Oceaneers Club and Lab are two separate entrances that are an adjoining space. They welcome 3 year olds through age 12. Older ages go to a teen or youth area. I am only able to discuss the Oceaneers area since that is the age of my kids. When you register them initially they place a Magic Band arm band onto your child’s wrist like they use in the parks. There is a $12.95 fee for the armband but If it is returned by the end of the last night the money is credited back to your account. They have entrance points like a Disney World park or attraction Fast Pass entrance. The band allows you to be checked in or out and also be located in the expansive kids club space. My kids 8 & 10 were allowed to check themselves in and out if I allowed it. I also got notifications from the app when they checked in or out. Unlike some cruise lines you must go retrieve your child instead of them being sent out but the bands help them locate where they are at so they can tell you where to find them. The kids club has several different areas with different activities. The kids may choose to do any of these at any time or there is normally one or more staff led activities happening at any given time. Activities or themed rooms include Toy Story which is toddler oriented and shows movies, Star Wars flight simulators, Marvel super hero area featuring Doctor Strange, crafts, drawing, video games, interactive video floor board and more. The kids and adults entering are required to clean their hands. They offer either a hand wipe or the super cool washing stations pictured which automatically spray your hands with soap and water for about 20 seconds when you insert your hands into the illuminated holes. This made my kids want to wash their hands. The hours started anywhere from before port time to as late as mid morning and were continuous until midnight.

Day four brought us the Grand Cayman which is a port that you tender into since their is not a pier that can accommodate the cruise ships due to shallow water or a reef that prevents the ships from getting to the island. Disney partners with a local company that provides the tendering service which has dedicated tender boats specifically for Disney guests and not the other ships also. There are boats that take a few or several hundred people at a time ashore. There were some windy conditions that caused our ship to arrive about an hour or more later than scheduled with an already mid to late morning scheduled time. This resulted in everyone trying to exit the ship at the same time and wait times of up to an hour. This impacted our plans for the day. Earlier in the morning we had a scheduled and reserved princess meet and greet with Cinderella, Belle Ariel and Tiana. Between my wife’s headache and the late arrival time we canceled our planned outing. We had not booked an excursion but planned on getting a taxi and going to the Turtle farm attraction. So, instead I took the kids ashore and we wandered around a little and found some souvenirs. We made it back in time for a late lunch being careful to not eat too much because my wife and I had a reservation at Remy which is the premier specialty dining option.

Oh, the benefits of living in the Sunshine State!