amygutman

We had a blast. Treated ourselves to a cabana (cut rate as no one was buying), and enjoyed essentially a private beach right buy one of the restaurants. The water features are lovely, and the zip line looked fun - but required closed toed shoes and we only brought sandals. Perhaps we are geeky, but we enjoyed the nature reserve, butterfly farm and animal rehab most of all. All of the tips go directly towards rehabilitation, care and hopefully release of injured animals. Plus, great education on local plants, insects and animal residents. I am attaching some photos below including a recent map of the island. Hope that's helpful! Warmest, Amy

@Two Wheels Only Agree wholeheartedly. The 2 bed / 2 bath family villas on NCL are, IMHO, the best configured staterooms on cruiseships. Warmest, Amy

@Sigyn Harr videos are super high quality, very humorous, and I love that he uses his head as the measurement of how roomy a shower is. We love our TA so would never change, but even he recommends these videos to show off particular rooms / ships.

@Daniel A. OH MY G-D!!! I was looking at the situation all wrong. Clearly we are being profiled as clumsy and nearsighted. Thank you! Very insightful and I will stop my whining! 🤣

Arcade unlimited passes for kiddo (and husband). They usually play thrice what we pay for the passes so worth every penny. We sometimes order an bottle of wine at supper if we have ~25$ left and ask the maître d' to bring it anonymously to someone who is celebrating that night. Having the drinks package means we don't need to purchase any bottles of wine, but it usually makes someone really happy. Random acts of kindness! Warmest, Amy

@dobiemom and @azappraiser Booked our DOS Alaskan cruise >600 days out as well. Wanted that room specifically and only 2 on the ship. Prices actually went up for the remaining room which was also booked approximately 450 days out. I checked the prices of that remaining DOS every week for a half a year to check for prices drops and never regretted it. However, other room classes actually went down a bit - interiors / ocean-views dropping the most (literally hundreds of dollars). We book most of our cruises 1-2 years in advance to accommodate my work schedule plus looking for specific experiences / itineraries, ships, and rooms. 95% of the time it's in a Haven or cruise line with a "ship-within-a-ship" experience. If they don't have a room we like, or the Haven / suite area is sold out we don't book. It's that important to us therefore requires early booking. However, our TA is always on the lookout for deals, and if we happen to notice a significant price drop, he contacts the company and we will often get OBC or other perks (premium wifi, 2nd person free, etc). Because of the type of room we book, there are rarely significant price drops but that is a very different experience depending on your original room / package / booking agent. We hit the jackpot with our TA who we've used for almost a decade. Warmest, Amy

@MacGuffin3 Oh Steve Perry...Not THAT is a singer!

@Jetswdo Cagney's: Mine - Steelhead trout. Husband - filet. Kiddo - mac and cheese Le Bistro: Mine - nada. Not my favorite restaurant. Husband - escargot Ocean Blue: Mine - poached salmon (off menu). Husband - seafood "for two" plate, Kiddo - mac and cheese Desserts: Mine - lemon sorbet / meringue (I think it's only in the Haven) or grilled pineapple (Moderno). Husband - Cagney's 9 layer chocolate cake. Kiddo - mac and...just kidding. Chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream in all restaurants Warmest, Amy

Re: adults-only. We love cruising as a family especially in "ship-within-a-ship" suites. Not having an "adults only" space can certainly be frustrating especially when the little ones take over the pools or are screaming at the top of their lungs during meals. I don't think MSC has an adults-only retreat like NCL's Vibe, so again, I understand this complaint. We generally contend with more adults behaving badly than children. My kiddo is not perfectly behaved, but we keep our hands on his collar and haul him back to the stateroom should he get rowdy - but that is good parenting vs poor "kid-ding". We've been to >20 countries on cruises and as a 14 yo he's had cooler experiences than adults three times his age. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything. As for things to improve otherwise? Does anyone really eat plates of picked onions as lounge snacks? 😉 Warmest, Amy

@CDR Benson Will do. Brief thoughts - It will be our third YC: Seashore (April '22), Meraviglia (April '23) and now Seaside. Have had an accessible penthouse (assigned, not requested), Duplex penthouse (loved the 2 bathrooms, hated the treacherous staircase and the crazy "cannot get there from here" location outside of the YC proper that required an elevator, 2 staircases, and 2 very long hallways from the room to the YC lounge), and in one week will have a deluxe penthouse in the YC proper. Love the "ship-within-a-ship" concept which MSC does almost as well as NCL's Haven. Service is good, the restaurant is wonderful (rotating menus are lovely - have to admit I love the lunch menus in the YC > Haven), the afternoon snacks are strange (pickled plated olives and onions are staples), and the pool buffet for breakfast and lunch is amazing. The overall "feel" of the ships is too "shiny". Literally - crystals and mirrors and more mirrors. I've said on other forums that my husband, son and I have all gotten bruised from smacking into the shiny walls. Clearly cleanliness is not a huge issue (fingerprints and smudges on those mirrored halls would have saved us from looking like we had been mugged). The entertainment outside the YC is also weirdly shiny, but in the YC is lovely (afternoon tea and supper with piano and violin performances are wonderful). As opposed to the Haven where the butlers and concierges are helpful but not intrusive, YC butlers are hyper-vigilant about escorting you EVERYWHERE. We found ourselves many-a-time peeking out of the room to duck the butler just so we could walk ourselves to dinner. Will happily write a trip report on the MSC boards after the trip. Honestly...any day on a cruise is more fun than a day at work, and I do love living the YC or Haven life though Haven has always been our perfect match. It's worth every hour in overtime! Warmest, Amy

@Cruising Lynne and @UKstages I must be an old soul then, because I would rather hear big band or "crooner" music than anything from the "2000s". Now...you give me some Journey, Queen or Toto and I am a happy girl! Warmest, Amy

@bluestar1 and @SteveGill I agree 100%. The closer I get to a cruise, the more I am on this thread. I stumbled upon it years ago when @Sthrngary had originally started it, then re-discovered it after the cruising re-start post Covid was on the horizon. The Haven is pricey and choosing the right room / ship / experience is, as with every pricey purchase research-requiring. Yes, opinions are like you know what and sure, there are a few rudely opinionated persons on this thread. But the majority of the posts wherein are useful, inciteful or thought-provoking. Even better when one of the thread denizens (i'm looking at you @CDR Benson) can offer personal information. Honestly - with real life being stressful, offering a little nugget to someone looking for assistance personally makes me smile. I'm in the MSC YC in 8 days which we love as well (maybe a 7/10 on the "Haven Cruising Scale") then 62 days and 22.5 hours until our Alaskan Haven. Enjoy the obsession! Warmest, Amy

Out of curiosity, went to the MSC website, CruisePlum and my TA's website for listing of current inventory for our July 30th sailing. The cruise is not listed at all which I suspect is due to the short length of time until the cruise. Is there any site to look at to see how many "open" cabins there are when cruises are less <10 days away? I suspect that like most Canaveral sailings, this Seaside cruise is packed to the brims plus Florida kids go back to school in 2-3 weeks so preparing mentally for thousands of kiddos. Warmest, Amy

@morpheusofthesea🥰 That makes me so happy to hear. I love your response of generally being on a cruise, or on cruise critic (or both as it seems). I think we miss you by a week (we are boarding on July 30th) but it would have been a pleasure to meet you in person. Your posts are informative, witty, helpful and never derogatory. Yes, warmly as always, Amy

@markf a great resource is cruisedeckplans.com. There are member and non-member sites that shows rooms, photos, videos searchable by specific ships. The member site is very cheap for a life-time membership and we find it invaluable for choosing rooms, scoping out deck plans, etc. I am not sure if it is a "deal-breaker" for you, but if we are paying a lot more money for a room, it has to have something very special - a view, a thermal spa pass, a huge balcony and the holy grail of cruise rooms...2 BATHROOMS! On the Seaside July 30th and have had 3-4 emails in the past month to bid to upgrade to the RS from our YC penthouse for $1400 pp (kiddo would be free) on our 4 night Bahamas. That's a hard no as 3K for more space without a 2nd bathroom is not worth it (even with a 2nd bathroom we can happily keep the 3K for another cruise). The hot tub looks awesome, but not 3K awesome. It's so odd to only have one YC room category with 2 bathrooms (the duplex suite) across most of the MSC YC areas. @morpheusofthesea I'd love your opinion of the room. Heck - if we get a free upgrade we would not say no! Warmest, Amy

@davencl THIS!!!! 100% 😇

@scott8815 Many thanks to you!!! I'm rather devouring this and the other posters of similar dailies. 68 days and 23 hours until our Encore trip ... not that i'm counting the days or anything! 😁 Warmest, Amy

@complawyer the benefit of older ships is usually the price, but it's interesting; we actually chose the Viva Haven over the Star Suite. Star suite for a 9 day cruise in Northern Europe was about the same as a Viva Haven 8 day Middle East. It's a matter of timing and desirability I suppose. The 2 bedroom is our favorite room set-up. I hope if you book it you love it as much as we do! The Gem remains my favorite ship...smaller, older, lovely. Less bells and whistles, but often cannot beat the price. And certainly preferred over monstrosities like Icon of the Sea!

Just remember your CC friend Amy when you hit those numbers!!!!! 😁

This 100%%%%%

@goldmom after we disembark, we are spending a day and night there. Believe it or not, it's literally 1/2 price to fly to London, enjoy a day there, then back to Orlando then to fly from Venice to Orlando (with 2 stops!). But, after we win Powerball this week, we may be able to fly first class!!! 🤑

@complawyer Thank you so much!!! I did not see this posting in June - my apologies for the late reply. Am very excited to have booked the Viva for the Haifa - Jerusalem - Egypt - Athens itinerary (way, way more than the Viva itself but happy to give it a go). Would LOVE to do the B2B, but instead going a few days earlier to Israel to see family who live on a kibbutz, then finishing up with 2 days in Athens visiting the sites. And we love to go on each and every NCL - like children, we love them all (but have our favorites, don't we). 🤣 Warmest, Amy

Can't wait to hear...we board on July 30th!! 😁

So excited about Venice - we go next year. I'll bet pictures do not tell half the story of that city's beauty.

@dexddd and @david_sobe Loved the staff of the Getaway Haven but 100% agree re: disliking the open Haven deckplan. There is something magical about sailing out of NYC in the winter with the snow hitting the roof of the Haven's enclosed pool-deck. Plus - enjoying the pool for the 1st two days on the Caribbean sailings out of NYC in the winter that the rest of the ship misses. Winter in Bermuda is wonderful - but the Atlantic is rocky and having a covered area is perfect for those cold, rainy, windy sea days. And guessing from @JIMESOPUS CC name, as a former resident of Kingston NY, we can happily both do without snow on a warm cruise ship! Warmest, Amy