Best Cat Mom

We also did a Divina live thread, just a few weeks before @DaKahuna. We were pleased to serve as his advance team. There is a link in my signature to our live thread from our transatlantic on her last year and a Caribbean on her this past April. She's a cozy ship and the crew always talk about how much they like that the YC is a bit smaller. They say it allows them to get to know everyone better.

It was our pleasure spending some time with you. We look forward to closing TSL with you again this week. 😁

Day 5 continues… We arrived at the wine pairing at 4pm to find a small group of 8 already assembled outside of the wine cellar. Our host, Dragan, poured us each some Prosecco and spoke a bit about the background of it and how it differs from Champagne. Then he refilled our glasses and added freshly squeezed orange juice and discussed that combination. Next, we moved into the Wine Cellar to high top tables that were set up with five glasses arranged on a paper mat with the names of the wines and some small bites of cheese, fruit and chocolate. He proceeded to have his assistant pour us one wine at a time and he talked the group through tasting each of the 5 red wines. Before we moved to the next wine, he encouraged us to have a taste of the small bites with a sip of wine to discover how the taste of the wine might change and discover which combination each of us preferred with the different wines. It was a slow progression and allowed for an in depth tasting. The two hours passed quickly and we even ran over by about 20 minutes. At the end, he also offered 20% off any purchase of bottles in the cellar. For the $125 per person price, we felt we had a very enjoyable time. I left to return to the cabin and BCD followed shortly after. When he arrived back, he told me that he had passed by the Cocktail Bar that serves all the alcohol for the special restaurants and had seen Frederick behind the bar. We had met Frederick on Seaside at its same bar servicing the specialty restaurants. On Seaside, the bar and specialty restaurants are right outside of the YC enclave. We had spent many a post-dinner evening with Frederick on that cruise. This is where I had discovered what I believe is one of @DaKahuna's favorite drinks, the New Fashioned. We decided to return -- once again -- to the same area on Deck 8 to have a round of drinks at Frederick's bar before our dinner. Day 5 concludes next…

The programs are not out yet. The crew is walking around saying that we lose an hour tonight. Once the program is released, I guess we'll know if the crew is wrong. 🙂

Day 5 - Sea Day We enjoyed our coffee and Baileys in the cabin and then proceeded to breakfast in the TS restaurant. Today we ordered our 2 cappuccini and 2 mimosas but "needed" another round of mimosas to face this busy sea day. BCD ordered an omelette with ham, cheese, mushroom and onion accompanied by apple pastry. I again had two 6-minute soft boiled eggs with ham and mixed berries on the side. Today was the first day we've left the sanctuary of the YC except for when we went on our Puerto Plata excursion. That day, the butler escorted us to our excursion so we really did not see much of the ship. Today we had a lunch reservation for our Diamond meal at Butcher's Cut (BC) at 1:30pm and a wine pairing event in the Wine Cellar at 4pm. We try to always use our Diamond meal for a lunch since we really don't want to miss a YC dinner. Today was our second sea day and we have two more next week. We booked this B2B under one reservation so we only get the 1 free specialty meal. We had the YC concierge reserve our meal just this morning, as it was a last minute decision. We weren't sure if anything would be available, but we knew we had a wine pairing at 4pm and thought a big lunch would be a good foundation for all that wine later. We asked for 1pm or later and settled on 1:30pm, figuring we'd be there until around 3pm or so, with plenty of time between that and the wine pairing. At just before 1:30pm, we stopped by the concierge desk to ask where BC was on this ship. She directed us to Deck 8 and to walk aft when we exited the elevators just outside of YC. We arrived there for our reservation and it was surprisingly lively for so late in the day. One table was even seated after us at 2pm. For our wine, we chose the Argentinian Malbec, a favorite of ours: We are familiar with the menu but took a cursory look through it nonetheless: We both ordered the House Chop Salad, mine without walnuts to make it GF: For his main, BCD chose the filet with a side of Brussels sprouts: I chose the lamb chops (what else?) with a side of cauliflower: BCD had gladly accepted the bread "bag" and two flavors of butter, smoked and paprika. The entrées come with 4 sauces -- chimichurri, forest mushroom, peppercorn and bearnaise. The only one GF is the chimichurri. Here is the bread and sauces on the table: For dessert, I had grapes (I finished my glass of Malbec) and BCD ordered the banana date cake: As we left BC, we realized that the Wine Cellar where our wine pairing would be held was right across from it. We meandered back to our cabin for about an hour and then went right back to where we were for lunch. Day 5 continues...

Whilst we were in TSL this afternoon during sail away, the new Future Cruise Consultant came over and chatted with us. He said that the completion date for the new MSC terminal is now 12 April 2025. He also said that "they" internally announced the creation of a Voyagers Club status higher than Diamond about a month ago. Supposedly, the new highest status will be called Blue Diamond and will be awarded at 30,000 points. We've all heard the rumors of a new status and, in particular, from the FCCs since one of the benefits they tout is that when you book with them, you get double points. This has always led me to have a healthy distrust of FCCs in general. Also, we've always been led to believe that FCCs are not MSC employees so why would an internal announcement in their (whatever) company matter to us?

That's too bad. It was only the two of us and one other guest when we walked in. There were three port people there last week so one of them watched while our party of two were checked in by one and the other guest was checked in by another.

Exactly correct. Tonight we lose an hour.

This was not the case for us. I'm sure we are all looking forward to MSC's new terminal opening and providing us with more permanent arrangements than all these differing and borrowed terminals that MSC is now using.

Day 5 Daily Program...

We did attend the White Party after dinner, which @morpheusoftheseacovered very well. We arrived just as the party was winding down since we prefer to eat later, which we learned to enjoy during our many land-based holidays in Italy. We recorded a video of the staff dancing to YMCA, but it was nearly 400MB so it's a bit too big for here. A few images from our time there: Day 5, our second sea day, is next…

Day 4 - San Juan, Puerto Rico We started our day with coffee and Baileys in our room during sail in. This time we remembered to snap a picture of it: In the background are the treats from last night. Here is a close up: The treats overall are very similar to what we've had on past cruises. They are just a few small bites and usually BCD enjoys them with his morning coffee. We had our usual breakfasts and made our way to TSL for some adult beverages and car building. We have been to San Juan a few times and had no excursions planned today. Before we knew it, lunch time was upon us. We dropped our gadgets and supplies in the cabin and went to the TS restaurant. Champagne flowed and menus were perused: BCD started with the salmon: I started with pea soup: We switched to a chianti wine for our entrées. I ordered the pork and Chef Lisa made a GF hoisin sauce to accompany it: I've not ever been able to try this pork dish on other cruises because the sauce was not GF. Chef Lisa has been excellent at creating dishes with a GF sauce that I can try now but never could before. She will be a huge asset to the upcoming launching of World America for MSC! BCD opted for a chicken Caesar salad: We both ordered desserts today at lunch, out of our usual habits. BCD had the Dame Blanche sundae: I tried the floating island: We spent the afternoon in TSL and time flew. It was soon time for dinner so we changed and made our way to the host station for another wonderful dinner. Menus circulated along with champagne: We both had the beef tartare as starters -- one of our favorites -- with the Gamay that we'd had the night before with some extra of those oh-so-delicious quail eggs: For our mains, we both selected the short ribs though mine was without the traditional sauce. Chef Lisa again made me a GF sauce as an alternative. Here is 'regular' one: And here is my GF version: We switched to an excellent Bordeaux to accompany our short ribs:

I like to think that we complemented each other.

We are in the rearmost Starboard corner. BCD is working on a car and I am working on a champagne. 😁 If you feel like stopping by on the way to your cabin, we'll still be here.

Yet again 😞 I was just saying to one of the other B2Bers that maybe, just maybe, it would be done in time for our late March sailing.

In YC

On board 🙂

Just walked past your area

Cleared customs. Getting back on board now.

In line for customs now. They are waiting for 1 straggler to zero out now.

We are off the ship and waiting to go thru customs now.

We're now downstairs waiting to exit. Left TSL at 10:12am.

The fact that they are suggestions and not rules, and that they leave some discretion to staff seems appropriate. Just like in the corporate world, business casual in words vs. actions can be very different. I believe the overall impression is most important, not the precise description of the clothing. I will say that making a good impression on the first night will get you seated with one of their best servers and that can make a huge difference in your overall cruise experience. As long as you know this and make an informed decision, you are in the best position.

Glad to know that you are home safe and sound. It was a pleasure for BCD and me to meet you and your lovely wife. We enjoyed our conversations immensely, though they were too brief. Thanks again for your generous gifts. We can only hope for the opportunity to spend another holiday at sea with you both again.

We're in TSL waiting to go to customs so I don't have my PC to do this as precisely as I'd like. This image is a view from our balcony of the turn in. The taxi on the left is making the wide turn, that goes to the YC tent. You don't want to be in the lanes to the right of the island as they are turning to where the 'regular' porters take luggage.