GA Dave

Thanks. It sounds like you had an amazing adventure. And I know exactly what you mean about the PC to OC to Nassau ad naseum. Five of my last six cruises have been three days just like that! Unfortunately, with my current work situation, I can only do three-day weekend cruises, which really limits your port destinations!

I am dredging up this thread as it seems to be the closest existing thread to what I have to ask. I am looking at booking at least 90 - 120 days on an MSC ship out of the USA for when I first retire. Due to the length of time I am looking at, I obviously would not be looking at a YC stay (if I had that kind of money, I would charter!). Does anyone know if that is even feasible with MSC's systems? Would this be something you would try and do via the website, via their call center, or via a TA that usually handles MSC reservations? Still a ways off, but I am trying to get some preliminary plans started. Any previous experience with B2B2B2B2B2etc. planning is appreciated.

Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. Theoretically even Saturday would work. My last test was a Zoom meeting, test took ten minutes for the test and I had the pdf of my test report fifteen minutes after that.

MSC Health & Safety measures | MSC Cruises (msccruisesusa.com) Beginning August 8, 2022: For fully vaccinated guests sailing 5 nights or less from U.S. ports, COVID-19 testing within 3 days of embarkation is recommended, but not required. Fully vaccinated guests sailing 6 nights or longer from U.S. ports must show proof of a lab-administered negative COVID-19 viral test (NAAT or antigen) taken within 3 days of embarkation. MSC Cruises recommends vaccinated guests to test within 1 day of embarkation, when possible. Unvaccinated guests 2 years and older must show proof of a lab-administered negative COVID-19 viral test (NAAT or antigen) taken within 3 days of embarkation for all cruises from U.S. ports. MSC Cruises recommends unvaccinated guests to test within 1 day of departure, when possible. These guests may undergo an additional COVID-19 test at the terminal prior to embarkation provided by MSC Cruises, free of charge. The only exception is that no pre-embarkation or embarkation testing is required for guests under 2 years of age.

The ban on smoking is not really about bothering other cruisers, it is a safety rule put in place by SOLIS.

I go to the pool at sunrise when it's empty (see photo). I never attend the ship's sail away party, usually held at the main pool. I always find a place at the aft or forward end of the ship for this (see second photo).

Yes, it is. The only balcony cabins are on decks 9 and 10, and the balconies were added after the ship was built and floated in 1999. It originally started construction as the Costa Olympia, but the shipbuilder went bankrupt, and Costa walked away from the partially built ship. NCL bought the partial and had it completed as the Sky.

100% agree. For several years I virtually lived here on CC and never joined any cruise related groups on That Other Site. But, due to too many people being openly hostile to people expressing their opinions, and never having anything done about it when reporting it to the Site Administrators, I dropped off of here right before the pandemic hit. I am slowing starting to come back to CC, but the bulk of my cruise discussions are now on That Other Site.

There are a few small shelves on each side of the vanity mirror in the bathroom, as well as one or two small shelves below the vanity countertop. There was a food truck located right next to the cabana area that contained the foods noted on the menu pictured (post #14 above, photos 2 & 3). There was a large "picnic" pavilion located at the first large beach near the island entrance that had a more diverse menu, plus several more of the food trucks located around the island. I found the food to be very good. The Bahamian Rum Cake was excellent!

My son was with me on Divina last month and we had the internet package included with the Yacht Club, which I believe is just the basic, except we could each log in two devices. He was able to Facetime with his girlfriend in KC later in the evening. As with all publicly used systems, during busy times the speed slowed down quite a bit, but early in the day and after 9:00 PMish, it seemed pretty solid.

Just a word of warning. My disembarkation yesterday in Miami on another cruise line did not happen until well after 8:00 AM. I was the very first person in line to disembark around 7:00 AM. A man and his teenage daughter walked up at 7:15 and asked the Security person handling the line when they could leave. She told them she had no idea, as we had just tied up to the pier and now it was up to CBP. He seemed a bit upset so I asked "early flight?" and he said "yeah, 9:15". As I said, I was the first one off the ship and I was pulling out of the garage in my car at 8:17. I don't think he made his flight.

My M&G's have all been completely independent of the ship and CC. We just pick a nice spot with a bar and tell everyone to meet at a specific time. It's worked out great.

I may have wiped them out of Pina Coloda mix this past weekend on the Sky! Kept tipping and received bigger and bigger floats of dark rum! 😛 And the Rebellious Fish ingredients are probably a little light too!

I have been on CC for quite a while. Met some really nice people from here on cruises prior to the pandemic. Noticed the changes happening during the shutdown and started researching chat pages about cruising on That Other Site. Once I starting cruising after the restart, I noticed significantly more activity on That Other Site vs CC for specific sailings. I actually have held a few M&G's from both CC roll calls and specific pages on That Other Site the last few cruises. 98% of the people who attended were from That Other Site. Most I spoke with had never heard of CC. The last M&G I held was a rousing success, with 70-80 people participating and lasting well past sail away. Another I did not host but attended that was only advertised on That Other Site had a great M&G, slot pull, and cabin crawl. I will continue to promote anything I host on both sites, but just expect the majority of people to come from That Other Site.

The Great Outdoor Cafe, The Local, and a beautiful wake shot taken from the Outdoor.

Empty pool deck on Nassau morning and a variety of beverages. My favorites are the Rebellious Fish and the Pina Coloda with the dark rum float.

The current ugliness of the Port of Nassau.

My lunch at the cabana and other sites in the area.

My cabana, the empty beach and beautiful waters of GSC, and me trying to look relaxed. 😂

My MDR dinner, the empty MDR, entry onto GSC.

The theater and sailaway from Miami.

From boarding. My lunch at the buffet and the empty pool deck.

The Atrium and Sugarcane Mojito Bar.

A few photos. The NCL terminal and my balcony cabin 9042.

One more quick update. Woke up early (again), showered and packed the last of my things, and was at the buffet with my luggage by 6:30. Had an oat muffin, some fruit and two cups of coffee. Walked past the pools one more time 😢 and took the panoramic elevator down to the deck 6 atrium area. Asked a crew member where we would be disembarking and she pointed toward the forward staircase. When I went there, a very nice female Security crew member told me we were still in the process of docking but if I wanted to start the line I was welcome to. I found a cozy piece of floor at the corner and settled in to wait. At about 7:15 with just a few of us on line, a gentleman and his teenage daughter came along and asked to leave. The Security person explained that the ship had just docked and needed to be cleared by CBP. I asked the guy if they had an early flight and he said, “yeah, 9:15”. All I could think to say was Good Luck. This became the perfect example of why you never book early flights. By the time CBP cleared us, the line was halfway down the length of the ship. I was the third person off the ship and didn’t leave the parking garage until 8:17. I don’t think that guy and his daughter made their flight.