We booked this cruise ‘The best of the Caribbean’ in 2020. A 14 night cruise on MSC Seaview with a different island to visit each day including return visits to Martinique and Guadeloupe. Twelve different islands, six of which we had not visited before.
We paid the balance in November 2021 but then 4 days later received an email saying that two of the islands to be visited had not met the Covid inoculation standard required and had been removed from the itinerary. All very disappointing and no mention of which islands they were. Several days later we received the full, revised itinerary only to find that in fact five of the original islands had been removed, four of which were islands we had not previously visited. At this point we were neither given the opportunity to cancel nor were we given the opportunity to change the date to a cruise that may have been closer to the one we had originally selected. We were not impressed either by the suggestion that ‘The best of the Caribbean just got better!’ Somehow the now-included five days at sea, a mid-cruise visit to Barbados and a return visit to St Maarten did not make up for what we had lost. Covid regulations presented us with numerous hoops to jump through before even getting on the plane, however we really needed a break so we decided to proceed.
The only way we could get to enjoy the anytime dining option in the restaurant, which we prefer, was to pay more for the Aurea Experience which gave us a cabin on Deck 9 – 9046. The cabin was quite small with limited hanging space in the wardrobe inside which was a safe, two shelves and two small drawers. Consequently a lot of items remained in our suitcases under the bed. We found the cabin to be quite dark which meant at all times a light was required. The balcony was spacious with room for two sun loungers, two arm chairs and a small table. We were also provided with slippers and dressing gowns. If only it could have stayed like that!