amygutman

POST-CRUISE DEEP THOUGHTS Off the ship quickly and home by 0900 - even before most cruisers disembarked from the chaos of 5000+ cranky persons in a very small space. More on that below. Had to go to work the past few nights, so just getting to this post-live review summary. Thank you everyone for the kind comments and I hope that I answered questions rapidly and appropriately. This forum has been so helpful for us in particular so it's a way of giving back a little bit. General Pondering: This cruise more than any we've ever taken was an example of how different cruisers with the same high suite expectations can have diametrically opposed experiences. Without naming any names (it's inappropriate to speak on their behalf), a lovely fellow CC'er and his wife had what seems to have been very unpleasant overall experience. I will not put words in his or his wife's mouth but whereas we had a fantastic butler Arnold, his butler was "meh". We had a wonderful experience with Raj the Concierge and Eduardo his junior. Both solved any questions we had immediately and Eduardo fixed my kiddo's ipad internet connection in under a minute. We had a leaky faucet in the bathroom fixed and a broken safe unlocked within hours of asking, whereas our fellow cruiser had no resolution on his multiple complaints including a weed infestation in his room. Our room service: perfect and on time. His: not perfect at all and not only not on time but not up to any acceptable standards. Our access to the head of the YC and all of the officers was constant, and his only interaction was at disembarkation. Every one of his complaints and concerns was valid and appropriate and yet apparently unrecognized nor corrected. Honestly, if his experience had been ours, I would be very hesitant about booking our next MSC cruise. As it is, we are looking forward to the Euribia February 2024 for Eastern Europe (Yes, I know it's going to be ugly weather but hey... at least it fits in with kiddo's WWII syllabus). Entertainment: A good summary of the weirdness of MSC theater offerings would be "Pirates, Bendy People, Pole Dancers, and Velociraptors". Perhaps it's just me being old-fashioned but MSC stage shows are just odd. Not unenjoyable, but they do have just the strangest flair. I would rate them on the level of a college theater show for production values though filled with talented people. The Michael Jackson show was decent but predictable. Peter Punk was crazily wonderful. Michael Buble tribute... ugh. So painful that I walked out and promptly lost $200 in the casino and still felt better than if I had sat in the show for the entire production. Yes, the singers are talented but oy... 5/10. Compared to Royal, Disney, and Norwegian, definitely not on the same level. I know Norwegian has had some recent cuts so it will be interesting experience coming up on the Encore (49 days and 6 hours!!!!!). Activities: Best daily trivia ever! And I'm not just saying that because our team won twice but Patrice from South Africa (with an Ed Sheeran fetish) had an incredible presence and a huge fan following for the entire cruise. Won a dance off as well. Cool prizes were had as well but no pens (Patrice at one point threated to slit our throats if we took her precious MSC "click pens". I do not think she was kidding. We even tried bribing her with cookies - no luck). MasterChef at Sea was a hoot. Have never seen the show, and what we though was "easy" food trivia smacked us in the face. Guess what? Green peppers are NOT an ingredient in pesto, just sayin.... Lighthouse show was short but awesome. Watching the beach party from the balcony and dancing along was also pretty cool. A little "techno" for my 80's and 90's "oldies" taste, but still very fun in my PJs on the balcony. Food: AH-MAZ-ING. I shared the menus and photos in previous posts and have to say - why anyone would venture out of the YC for specialty dining is beyond me. The food and service was fantastic in the restaurant and by the pool. The snacks - in between the strange fermented and oniony snacks, the little sandwiches and plates of cookies and treats were fabulous including all of Arnold's afternoon and nightly offerings. Only one clunker the entire trip: like any old Jewish lady, my GI tract got in a bit of a bind so I ordered some stewed prunes for breakfast. I am so sad I did not take a photo of the large soup basin of hot, steaming, cooked in molasses bowl of "fruity colon blow". Holy crap (literally). There was no where to hide the evidence that I did not touch much of that monstrous meal and I am pretty sure my waiter was giggling the entire time watching me try and choke down the nasty concoction. Ship: Seashore class ships are not our favorite design. Very pretty, very shiny, lots of sharp edges. There is no space to walk laps which is our favorite thing to do in the morning (we hate ship gym treadmills - very vomit inducing). We spent the first day of the cruise trying to find any area outside or inside that we could do walk uninterrupted for more than 1/4 mile and were unsuccessful. The inside of the ship is designed so poorly that we had a very hard time trying to actually get from the inside to outside from floors 5 to 16. Claustrophobic shades of Poseidon Adventure because if we had been inside and there had been a ship emergency I don't know how we would have gotten to the outside of the ship. The lack of a large gathering space or walking area was even more evident on disembarkation. We were fortunate to be in the YC so our Butler escorted us directly down the elevator and to the gangway in under 5 minutes but there were literally hordes of people packed in all the hallways and tiny atrium - pure chaos. This is a very inward facing ship and despite all the outdoor spaces for sitting and eating (yes...there are many of these), is not a very outdoor friendly ship for walkers or good for large gatherings. Kid's Club: as mentioned previously in this post, this was a bust. Very few fellow 14 year olds and many of the teens that were there did not speak English. Because kiddo is socially awkward he did not want to stay for more than a few hours and I agree. They were some other kids in the kids club but we did not have too much interaction as they were mostly family groups. We've had much better experiences and other cruise lines but I suspect that part of that is just having kiddo at an awkward age. I will send from looking at the activities list for the club it seemed very full and varied and catered to lots of different interests including drawing computers games and sports. Apologies for not being able to post the daily activities as I did not take pictures. Cabin / YC Facilities: The YC Pool deck is one of the few places where there is a large amount of outdoor space and it is quite beautiful. The near complete lack of shade is something many CC'ers have commented on before. If you have a cabana you have shade but all the cabanas are facing outward not the pool which makes it difficult if you have kiddos who want to swim (and you want to keep them in your sightline). The outdoor dining areas are covered which is a plus. The upside of having a very deep pool is you can be completely covered from shoulders down in water, but you still get direct, very hot sunlight and extremely hot pool decking. Our cabin was lovely and spacious with an extremely large balcony which was a surprise Even after looking at the dimensions on cruise deck plans.com. The bathroom was also spacious but we did miss having a second bathroom like we do on NCL. As I've stated before, having only one type of room with two bathrooms (duplex suites) is a shame and I do believe a design flaw. Summary: Did we have lower expectations? Yes. Did we end up having a wonderful cruise? Yes! We live for family vacations and we enjoy the time together. Having a "ship-within-a-ship" is outstanding for being pampered but also for not waiting in lines and having a very stress-free time. Vacation is what you make of it but we were very lucky as opposed to some other folks who did not have such a great time. Definitely not our favorite ship, but would still highly recommend for anyone interested in a suite experience comparably well priced vs the NCL Haven or more the more luxury lines. If anyone has any further questions I'd be happy to answer as best I can and happy cruising to you! Warmest Amy (and Mike and Ronan)!

Nope... actual pickled onions. @Daniel A says these are a "European Thing" so I will say this is a more cultural offering than tasty!

@PompeySailor I am so glad to hear that there was at least some resolution. I'm going to give my final trip assessment shortly. Home ourselves shortly after 9 and then had to nap before heading right back to work for night shifts. You and your wife are an absolute pleasure to meet and we hope that your next cruising experience are more fun filled and less weed filled! 🥰 Warmest Amy

Had a lot of fun at the show last night. It was Starwalker - the Michael Jackson tribute. OK, but not awesome (and no velociraptor, which was super disappointing 🤣). The dancing however was really good and the pole dancing was unexpectedly awesome. Yes, pole dancing. Kiddo yelled out “whoooo!!! Strippers!!!” Oy, parenting. As good as the dancing was, essentially all singing was lip-synched. Comparing it to NCL’s million Dollar Quartet where all the actors not only played their own instruments but sang and danced AND did amazing impersonations, I felt this was very college production production grade. Still, very entertaining by very a talented cast. Came back to the room to find once again Arnold laid out a ton of treats including really awesome special gifts from him. Chocolates and bracelets for the entire family. He spoiled us entire trip and I can see why he was voted MSC’s crew member of the year. Posted photos of last night YC menu and my husband’s incredible appetizer plus my latte. He said the mozzarella was some of the best he’s ever had. The eggplant Parm is one of his favorite meals on any cruise ship ever so ending the night with this Italian feast was pretty awesome. Only tripped once yesterday. Sharp mirrored stairedge actually marked as a trip hazard but the warning tape is UNDER the mirrored edge. Spilled my coffee hence the annoyed look on my face. I’ll post some final thoughts tomorrow, including the breakdown of the pros and cons of this particular ship in addition to observations. But first, coffee. This saddest part of any cruise is the disembarkation letter. 😢 Warmest Amy

Agree with @PompeySailor sailor here. There’s actual drug dogs living on ships. Government funded, cruise-ship approved. According to StCroix and Bermudian port authority (one US, one British), these dogs are the only animals allowed from ship to shore without any type of quarantine from overseas. Have not seen them myself, but it does make sense. It’s low tech, high sensitivity. Warmest Amy

@PompeySailor you rock!!! Apparently not as much as your skunky neighbors, but still! So nice to meet you in person. Poor husband was like, “I’m sorry, but how exactly has he seen me in the shower?” 🤣🤣🤣 Well my love …. What happens on CC doesn’t always stay on CC!!! BTW… confirmation today that INTERLOPERS are most definitely tossed out of the YC. FOUR security guards escorted three interlopers out of the YC pool bar today. They took their drinks and snacks also to add insult to their injury. The butler actually just took a angry couple out of the reserved theater seating area too. Sh-t just got real here on the Seaside. Warmest Amy

Proofreading is important. According to “Arnold“ not “Animals”, there is no seafood buffet. However, I will happily report that there has been no animalistic behavior seen at any of the buffets or bars. Really quite astonishing, considering how full they ship is. Plus, they’ve taken the failed health and safety score to heart because tables were almost immediately clean. When people sit up to leave, the face themselves were spotless, and they were white shredded officers all around the Buffet areas. Make sure the stations were manned and used plates and utensils for immediately take it away. Honestly, this is probably the cleanest ship. I’ve been on in a very long time. And yes, we’ve witnessed much smacking of elbows and faces in the walls. Busy day yesterday! Quote of the day goes to a young man, Mike at the yacht club lunch pool buffet yesterday. “It’s so amazing here! They do everything but chew your food for you!” 🤣 Speaking of food….look at this glorious dinner seafood appetizer! We did the lunch buffet at the YC because the island restaurant was really busy. The YC restaurant is beautiful, but way too small with the number of passengers on a ship. Plus, no mac & cheese for Kiddo. Sidebar: Kiddo has expanded his pallet to grill chicken, mashed potatoes in a pound of bread at every meal. This is thanks to Joshui and her wonderful staff in the Uncle restaurant could not be nicer and more attentive and she and her husband who works at the YC pool bar are headed back to Mauritius for two months to try and start a family on the break. They leave Sunday after 7 months on ship and we are so happy for them. Ocean Cay was beautiful, but we were all upset we thought a very large turtle stuck inside the protective netting (video below). Like a “person sized” sea turtle. Both our Concierge Raj and the lighthouse tour guide Jen say that the turtle can get in and out anytime she wants but often comes in as we are a good food source. There is an area on the beach marked off for laid turtle eggs which is quite exciting. Even better, beach-goers left this area alone (faith in humanity!). MSC as a cruise line states they are dedicated to marine preservation and it does appear that this at least in this aspect it is true. For those interested in the kids club, it was a bit of a bust again. As I mentioned, we love cruising with Kiddo but with him being on the spectrum he has difficulty connecting with other people. He walked into the teens club after we spent a day convincing him to try, and it was filled with very much older and much underdressed teens. Like, belly-pierced and tiny tank tops. He gave it a try for literally 5 mins then asked to go back to the room. It’s a very awkward age to start with, but a team club with an age range of 14 to 17 is a difficult thing in general. Add in terrifying girl cliques and it was not going to happen on this trip. There are some super-nice kids and parents in the YC but much younger than Kiddo so we’ve mostly done family activities. The other thing that didn’t happen was the ship zip line. I was very excited to try it although terrified. It has been closed the entire trip without explanation. it’s not going to ruin my vacation but little disappointing as I have a great light loins sense April, when I did a small one on the NCL Getaway. I am a former fire fighter who is oddly terrified of heights, so I thought this would be a good way of pushing myself. Instead, I did the lighthouse climb. $17 well spent. Fantastic views from above, 165 steps up including Bimini, which I didn’t realize you could see from here. Look… floating upside down ship on the horizon!!! The best part was the history of “sand island” lesson from Jen. Jen is from Nassau, and lives here with 129 other local Bahamians, who along with the ship crew, staff the island. They work 5-6 days a week and stay on the island for 2-3 months at a time, then return home for two weeks. Says the island is 85-90% run on the solar energy, and essentially everything is recyclable, except for one small furnace burn weekly for other trash. The view from the top is at the end of the post. For today’s other activities, we have not tried any of the specialty restaurants, but noticed overall they’ve been pretty empty when we walked by. The only exception appears to be the Teppanyaki restaurant which has been full for reservations the entire sailing. pickled onions made their appearance once again at the top sail lounge. Plus salmon mousse ice cream cones. Ugh. Just.. so… strange. We win again in general trivia!!!! Trivia by the way, has been freaking packed. Old, young, bachelor parties, families, kids… It’s crazy. Never seen anything like it on any prior cruise. So much fun and incredibly varied topics. Justine from South Africa is freaking hilarious and runs a very tight ship. She will threaten to cut you if you take one of her MSC pens. The parties ran past midnight last night, including the electronic dance party at the beach along with the lighthouse show. Our family had our own dance party at our balcony in our PJs while enjoying the music. For those who ask, yes, we are on the “right” side of the ship. The decks below us and front of the ship were also filled with people enjoying the music from the beach party. Last thought for the evening. If you’re a very careful when you coming off the deck 18 elevators into the YC. The tile floor is super slippery went to the humidity for the jungle pool which is right outside of the elevator doors. They have warning signs out but we’ve never seen two or three kids take a temple and hubby went down once. He’s 275 pounds and so it made quite the impressive thud. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt but all joking aside about our clumsiness, it is a dangerous area. Sea Day today!!! Daily planner below… for my walk because I ate way too much yesterday. Glorious sun-rise…. 🙌🏻 Warmest Amy IMG_1676.mov

@xcell I am so excited for you as well! According to Animals, unless three and four day cruises, there is unfortunately not a seafood buffet. I am trying to find out when one is downstairs in the regular Buffet but so far I’m hearing that’s a negative as well. Yacht club as well as the entire shift is full to the brim. On your embarkation day, there were a few people arguing with me know who his desk because they wanted their cabin locations changed. They were told there are no cabins to be changed to and the signs are at the desk that the ship is “at full capacity”. In Florida many of the schools start next Monday so I suspect that’s why it’s quite full with families this week. Hope that helps! Warmest Amy

@mica178 and @JAGR hello from Arnold!!!! he was so touched by you’re kind postings. He and mahatma our stateroom attendant truly have gone above and beyond. Our service on this trip has been extraordinary from the pool deck to the wait staff in the yacht club, and honestly, throughout the entire ship. Tonight after supper (I’ll post menus below) we came into a room to find that Arnold and Mahatma left us a wonderful treat. No… it’s not on the ceiling, it just looks that way! It was an amazing gesture. No, not our anniversary or anything like that. Arnold also has kept the mini fridge super stocked and today also big bowls of watermelon as it looked so good on the lunch Buffet. The big excitement today was winning at trivia. We took the top prize in “divas category”. As we initially tied the other winning team, I had to have a dance off for the prize, which was a inflatable MSC ship. I think they felt pity for us both since they gave both teams prizes 🏆. The show tonight is a comedian who Kiddo is not interested in. So I do believe I’m going to make another donation to the casino. We also are going to try the arcade. We got the package on discount from our TA and Kiddo does enjoy playing. Tomorrow at Ocean Cay I’m going to try the big zip line on the ship if possible. White night party tonight starts at 22:30. Everyone is dressed really beautifully, but chances are we will all be in bed as we are old fogeys. Started off the day with a wet tushie and a bruised forehead and ended with chocolate and swans. I’m a happy girl! warmest Amy

Beans AND toast. Years of living in British Colony Bermuda so I can confirm the absolute love of white bread. Unsure why they toast it before dumping on the sickly sweet Heinz beans because it turns soggy in a heartbeat. warmest Amy

Helpful cruising tip. When docked next to another ship remember your cabin windows are not one-way nor is your balcony covered by a magical invisibly cloak. To whomever currently on the Marci Gras with a pink bathing suit on their balcony chair, please close your curtains. Just sayin’ (and no, there’s no nakedness in my photo. I’m cheeky, not rude). Warmest Amy

On the “Gutman” scale of clumsiness, I’m definitely scoring six out of 10 today. One of the boys did not put the toilet seat down last night, so I found myself sitting tush deep inside the toilet bowl at approximately 3 o’clock this morning. I was unamused to say the least. However, the bathroom itself is super nice. Very roomy, lots of storage, and has an awesome rain shower. If anyone follows Danny from Harr travel on YouTube, I feel that his 6’7” height would fit nicely in the shower. I have used my 5’10.5” husband for scale to demonstrate. Rather than walk face first into a mirrored hallway, I did slam my head into the shiny bits of the outdoor shower on the pool deck. No one’s fault but my own, as I didn’t see that it was partially enclosed by glass. No blood was shed. Did freak out the pool attendants though as apparently it made quite the resonating thud. Hubby did smash his elbow on the mirrored YC hall outcropping, and I found my former nemesis mirrored sharp edge in the hallway. Lastly I managed to input the wrong code into the safe three times which locked us out. Had to get security to help with that one. Of course, the second they left, I immediately put the wrong code in again, but thank goodness for my husband, who shooed me away and refused to let me touch anything until I put my old lady glasses back on. Rethinking salsa class for this afternoon as I do believe that would be poking my nose at the injury G-ds. @Motegi confirming white night is tonight and formal light is tomorrow. On the shorter cruise those are the only two official “theme nights”. Apparently there is also a 70s themed disco party but I think that is dependent on the itinerary. Sadly, Arnold confirms there is no seafood extravaganza in the yacht club on three or four night cruises. One cool video for the day that I’m having a difficult time uploading, but will try later. I took a little time lapse of our ship spinning as we entered Nassau alongside the Carnival Marci Gras. It’s a good thing there’s no sound because our neighbors below us were apparently involved in some vigorous physical activity this morning. Or perhaps at a very loud prayer meeting. Let’s just say the Lord’s name was called out numerous times. 😇 Warmest Amy

@pirate4me2 I echo @mica178 that “casual” is fine. The wait staff is definitely dressed classier than we are! However, Arnold says no flip-flops (tevas are fine) and although baseball caps are ok at lunch, they are not allowed at supper. Other than “no swimsuits” it’s pretty much casual. The “theme” seems to be lots of very tight outfits with, ahem, lots of “bits” hanging out. The 14 yo is getting quite the anatomy lesson! 🤣🤣🤣 Here are the boy’s lunch outfits if that helps … plus lunch! Warmest Amy

I feel my punctuation gets worse as Arnold continues to bring us more vodka. My sentences certainly get more run-on. Considering it would be rude to not drink what he brings to the cabin, it could be a very interesting review the next few days. 🤣 Trying to make this a bit light as I’m having a blast. If I can humor in pickled onions, crystal stair cases, and dinosaurs in a pirate show that involves jugglers and Eastern European bodybuilders then hopefully someone else can as well! Warmest Amy

I will look and see if I can figure out what theme nights there are. I know there is a white night party which I understand is tomorrow night. There is also a more formal night which I think is night three. Will confirm and get back to you. Warmest Amy

DAY ONE PART TWO Managed to briefly win some money at the casino then back to 0$. Oh, well… There’s always tomorrow. There were lots of shouts and cheering from other machines so at least somebody was winning. The staircases are as terrifying as I remember. I made it through the day without falling down, but that’s only because I was semi-sober. Service at the pool bar and the Top Sail bar was outstanding. Once again, as on prior cruises, super strange snacks at the Top Sail lounge including the infamous pickled onions. One forum member says this is a very European thing, but I’m not sure what one does with them. Do you pair them with the raisins and the hazelnuts? There is European and then there’s just plain gnarly. They also had what I can best described as fish mousse ice cream cones. It says hummus, but it is most definitely not. Very pretty though. Perhaps would be tastier with pickled onions. 🤣 Oh darn - upside down food. Lunch at the pool and Dinner at the YC restaurant were wonderful. I don’t have any photos right now, but the dinner menu is below. Off to bed. Nassau is tomorrow, but having been there many times before I think we’re going to stay in the ship and enjoy some trivia and dancing. Oh good lord… Arnold just brought us more vodka, sodas and a Shirley Temple for Kiddo. note to self never mention alcohol request to a butler, or else you will drown in vodka. Granted, there are worse ways to go, but still… I know… Definitely a first world problem. After all that alcohol, I am most definitely warm, 💕 Warmest Amy

DAY ONE PART ONE So much music everywhere today!!!! It’s such a treat having the different performers in the YC specifically. Pianist, singers, saxophonist. Such a nice relaxing touch. We have Arnold as our butler - A human smiling dynamo. Such a warm and happy guy. Brought us literally two tumblers of straight vodka plus our suite bottle “so you can take the bottle home and not have to run to the bar every five minutes”. Primus is also on board who we had on the Seashore and gave us a big hug. How they remember specific guests after literally thousands of encounters is beyond me but I saw more crew hugging guests and greeting them warmly by name that I have ever seen on any other cruise ship. The cruise director told some very salty jokes pre-show. Very funny and personable. The show was Peter Punk - it was fantastically weird. Like … pirates, acrobats, bendy people, magicians and a dinosaur. Yes. A dinosaur. Unclear why, but somehow it made perfect sense. It’s rather reminiscent of the dancing giant nose from a Meraviglia show. Here are the dailies from today and for tomorrow. Apologies in advance if upside down.

Morning started with a quick treadmill and coffee (ok… maybe 2 coffees) and this view from our hotel: Wonder of the Seas (apparently sailing upside down). One of the huge hurts is quick and easy embarkation. Literally 10 minutes from getting off the shuttle, quick escort through security to sitting in the lounge. Please forgive the upside down family. We just had our orientation today YC and headed upstairs to the pool for some snacks. Super efficient, and Raj no that Concierge is absolutely lovely. Let the fun begin! Warmest Amy

Am so glad you had a great time. Loved following along. Have a safe journey home! Warmest Amy

Evening descends on Springhill Suites Marriott. Nicest staff here - Kim at the desk remembers us from our last two cruises (not sure if that’s a good or bad thing) and checked us right in. When you do the cruise parking package you get assigned a shuttle time with your car and trip pass. Hotel location rocks. Are you close to the cruise port? Well… here’s the map (we are st the pink bed marker) and the view from our hotel window. There’s also a great park about a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. Manatee Park. Great playground for kids, and gorgeous views for the adults. Not quite sure why it’s upside down (my 14 yo IT support kiddo is currently watching SpongeBob and cannot be disturbed). Car is parked safely in the security-monitored lot, and headed to supper. We love FishLips for the water views but we opted for amazing Italian at a family-owned non-chain restaurant Zarella’s 5 mins walk from the hotel. Dinner and a show, and kiddo ventured away from mac and cheese to … angel hair pasta with cheese. And of course Oreo cake. Because, ya know, carbs. Off to bed. But first … a little something from the bar. 🥃 I mean … it’s vacation, right? Warmest Amy

@AmeliaIslandVoyager so nice to meet you!!!! I’ll take rowdy kids > rowdy adults any day. And I’ll be happily with drink in hand as well! See you in those mirrored hallways tomorrow (hopefully less bruised than on my last trip). 🤣 Warmest Amy

BTW, I’m now adopting “Warmest Amy”, no comma. ❤️

Bring on the time change!!!!! ☕️

ABOUT US, THE "NOT GOING ON MSC AGAIN" CRUISERS T-Minus 21 hours 30 minutes to our 4 night, 5 day Seaside out of Port Canaveral. Have never tried a Live Review, so will aim for a Semi-Live with a nod of appreciation to @mica178 who is currently on the ship. I'm punch-drunk from night shift and staying awake to switch to "normal human schedule" so will ramble a bit about cruise prep et al. But first...coffee ☕ A little about us: I'm a often night-shift working menopausal mom of a 14 yo boy Ronan (in the eye-rolling stage of adolescence) and wife to a Celtic Viking of a husband, Mike. If you've cruised with us we are easily recognizable due to his beard and collection of "Sipowitz" shirts. Kiddo is awesome, loves cruising, hoping for other teens on this sailing. He's autistic but we have found that cruisers more than any other segment of society accept his eccentricities - unfortunately not in cruise teen clubs as of late. Took a bit of prodding to get him excited for today as our last foray into a teen club found this newly-minted 14 yo in a club with 16 and 17 yo girls with pierced belly-rings in full "girl-clique mode". Ladies...you know what I mean. Hell, I'm in my 50's and these roaming girl-packs STILL terrify me. Where was I? Oh...You'll find kiddo on his phone, in the pool, eating mac-and-cheese or any other carbohydrate. Don't judge. He also eats his weight in broccoli so I'll take what I can get. If he splashes in the pool he means no harm, just gets very happy when swimming. If you see him, ask him about animation - he will talk your ear off (and by "talk your ear off", I mean 2 sentences in a row. Small victories indeed). Any day on a ship is our happy place, preferring NCL's Haven > the Yacht Club. In fact we were of the avowed "nope...never going to cruise again on MSC". Too bougie, and I kept smashing my face into the darned mirrored hallways. Mirrors, and more mirrors interspersed with shiny crystals on mirrored staircases. I spent a lot of time on MSC ships walking in the center of the hallway and gripping staircase handrails for dear life. Butlers whom we have to dodge to avoid being escorted one flight up to the pool deck. Weird entertainment (the stage show with a man in a giant nose costume on the Meraviglia still gives me nightmares). The service is almost TOO much, if that makes sense. Did we love the Seashore and Meraviglia? Sure. Who doesn't love being spoiled? But we generally prefer the Haven. About 6 months ago my TA calls me to remind me I have MSC cruise refund money from Covid cancellations I need to use pronto or lose. Checked what was out of Canaveral and so - MSC we are back again. 4 Nights, 5 Days in a deluxe YC penthouse that with my cruise credit and perks from my TA's company cost only $50 over my credited funds for a total of a bit over 3K. Pricey, but it was last minute-ish. Haven't spent time with kiddo all summer a good excuse for family time before school starts in 2 weeks. CRUISE PREP Night shift dragged last night. Friday night ER complaints fall into six main categories: 1) "Hold My Beer And Watch This", 2) People Caught In The Path of the "Hold My Beer" Folks (drunk drivers should be castrated in my personal opinion, but I digress), 3) Gravity Is A ***** (AKA "Fell Out of Bed and Go Boom On Floor", 4) "My Kid Has a Fever But I Didn't Give Him Acetaminophen Because I Wanted You To See Him Have a Fever So Now He's Having A Seizure", 5) "I'm Having The Big One" (oy....yes you are - let's save a life!), and 6) "My 'Insert Vague Complaint' That I've Had For 2 Years But I Haven't Seen A Doctor For, But I Need You To Get Me A STAT MRI Because Google Says So And I Need A Work Note". Stayed late, did my paperwork, walked 5 miles to wake up, and now ready to relax! We have packing down to a science. Literally have packing lists for every occasion and will attach our "5 Night / 6 Day With Hotel And No Flight" checksheet to this post. Why "5 Nights"?. Because even though we live in Orlando, a 45 minute drive to Port Canaveral, we love to go a night before the cruise and hang out at Springhill Marriot for a pre-cruise stay-cation, go to Kennedy Space Center, see manatees, etc. The Marriot has a "Park-N-Cruise" special: hotel + breakfast buffet (which rocks, BTW - photos tomorrow) + cruise parking + shuttle. Different rates depending on the day of the week, but it's usually $300-$350ish. Considering that parking alone is $20-$40 / day depending on the lot, this is money well spent to us. TIPS, LETTERS, ETC We attached our Butler letter, adapted from the template from the wise @Sthrngary on the NCL Boards. Differences between NCL Haven and MSC Yacht Club - the concierge on the YC is stationed at a desk vs the Haven where they roam the ship and go to every room on embarkation (in our experience). Haven: we have a concierge letter as well as butler letter. Both in envelopes with a "pre-tip". MSC: only Butler letter as we only tip the concierge as we go - meaning, if we have to set up a tender, etc. There are many threads with the "pros-and-cons" of this practice, but we find that the letter + pre-tip (<5 day cruises = $50, >5 day cruises = $100) make for a nice sailing. We give the "tip handshake" to the stateroom attendant + assistant as they do most of the heavy lifting. We also pre-tip the restaurant hostess $20 - they really spoil kiddo. For MSC meals, we leave $2-5 / waiter / meal (all restaurants, not just the YC). Because we don't always sit at the same table in the YC (or specialty restaurants if we are repeat customers), this is most efficient. Same for the bar and the pool deck. I was a horrible waitress at Howard Johnson on overnights and LIVED on crappy tips (if you were Wilkes-Barre PA in the late '90s and left me change in your milkshake slurry debris for my tip, I hated you then, and still hate you now, just sayin'). Life has blessed us with good fortune backed by hard work so we like to spread that good karma. AND WITH THAT... Shower, shave my night-shift legs (TMI?), kiddo finishing animation class, (plug here: https://eliteanimationacademy.com/ These are the most amazing live and zoom classes for any one interested in drawing, character design and animation. Based in Orlando and have special education programs for children and adults on the Spectrum interested in animation careers. Highly recommend), and then off to the Marriot!!! Suns Out, Funs Out! Warmest, Amy Cruise Packing List 6 Day 5 Night Pre-Night Hotel No Flight.docx Gutman-Enright Butler Letter_General.docx

Out of curiosity, the trivia at the bar was it only for the yacht club members? Our 14 year old is our “ringer” as he knows everything about pop-culture that his old parents do not. However, I feel that we would absolutely secure a win if we had limited participants! We love trivia, and we’re sad as our last few MSC Cruises did not have any good quizzes. Sounds like you’re having a wonderful time. Enjoy the last day of your cruise and we will look forward to taking over your space come Sunday! Warmest, Amy