no1talks

"I'm not sayin' I went to a trashy high school, but that was the motto on the back of the cheerleaders' jackets."

Well, judging by that nice pair of spectators he is wearing in the picture, he clearly nose his shoes.

Wait... Cabaret? Master of ceremonies? I do believe I've seen this before.

Seems rather populous. Maximum passengers, per ships's specs, sits at 5877 and that means 91% of maximum on this cruise. YC suites total 131, so a 329 head count is rather brisk. YC's dining room, according to the specs, seats 180. I hope YC is adequately staffed, in both quantity and quality.

Morpheus, a dialed-in guy like you probably has one of these for the entries to both your townhouse and country chateau... But if I ever see one in the gift shop...

All their ships, going back ten years or more, have Yacht Club. In fact, each design change adds more Yacht Club capacity. Their earliest two ship classes are smaller and do not have Yacht Club.

By the time the proposed terminal would be ready, there may not be much European elegance left in MSC's U.S. operations.

"Party of four, if'n y'all would be so kind."

So, a Moscow Mewl, then?

When I was a youngster, I wanted Ginger. Then I grew up and realized Mary Ann was the better catch.

Fear not! Magnifica is listed for that route, too. 🙄

MSC's website has Carribean itineraries listed. Most are short Miami-KeyWest-OceanCay cruises, plus a few week-long routes.

Since you have some familiarity with Galveston cruises, what itineraries distinguish it from typical cruises departing Florida? What might MSC out of Galveston bring to the table, aside from saving Texas cruisers a trip to Florida?

We've been considering options for future "drive-to" cruises, after MSC's Florida and New York (Bermuda) itineraries are played-out. Frankly, most of the luxury lines don't have any appeal. Few of their cruises are a week or week-and-a-half and the nature of my job prevents me from being away more than 17 days or so. Of the few that do fit my time limit, I can count on one hand those which embark and disembark from the same drivable port. For me, hikes would be a feature and not a bug. I'm very much looking forward to our 2024 before-and-after-meal strolls on MSC's Divina. (For those unfamiliar with Divina, the Yacht Club suites are forward. The Yacht Club dining room is astern. Oy vey! From your mouth to... We're booked on Seascape for March and I hope the inevitable misfires are resolved. We enjoy live music as well and that's why we are considering HAL as an alternate to MSC when we've run out of MSC Caribbean itineraries. HAL's "Music Walk" looks very interesting. Speaking of HAL, Morpheus, what did you mean when you excepted Holland America on the topic of chair hogs? For me, the dream YC cruise would be on a Meraviglia Class ship (Or Mera-Plus) booked in a Yacht Club duplex. We would have cajoled a few friends to take the same cruise, in whatever accomodations seemed best to their circumstances. Then, since the duplex is well outside of the actual Yacht Club boundaries, YC staff couldn't really object to the lot of us having the nightly after-party in our duplex. 😆

Thanks very much, @peder, for the mentioning my analysis. 😄

Speaking of which, here is Prof. Morpheus covering some of the finer points of advanced tipping, for his his Gratuities 301 class... On a related topic, I'm amused when tipping questions are posted on boards for luxury cruise lines with "crew welfare funds" that accept passenger donations. It amazes me there are cruisers who will imply the only virtuous gestures are: 1) Donating to the crew fund. 2) Comment cards of praise. It's as if some people feel tipping on a luxury cruise is unseemly. A great many, if not the majority, of guest-service crew members are supporting their families back in their homeland. Helping the crew get more shared day-off bicycles from the fund is nice, but I prefer to tip extra cash, so crew members can wire it home if their personal situation requires it. Praise on the comment cards (or e-mail) costs nothing but a few minutes, and everyone should do that to support fine service.

Is this Alaska development appearing online for MSC ships, or are you referring to Alaska cruising with Explora Journeys, the MSC luxury spin-off brand?

I most certainly hope it remains so. If Ocean Cay becomes like the other cruise lines' islands, that will be a disincentive for us to stick with MSC.

Speaking of "relieved," if that dog has an accidental number-two, at least it can be used for fishing line sinkers.

Quite so. However, given Explora's three levels of amenities on the ship, I see no reason they couldn't keep OC a two-tier experience, just as MSC does. The YC portion of the island could be ceded to Residence and Penthouse cruisers when Explora I has the dock. According to ship data, that would be 89 cabins, which is comparable to the number of YC suites on Seaside. The Explora I Suites passengers (the majority of pax) would likely be given a much more lavish buffet lunch and the food trucks would probably be withdrawn. Alternately, Explora could treat everyone the same on OC and shutter Ocean House for the day, feeding all passengers from a big, fancy buffet. Either way, Explora will have to do something more luxurious for food & beverage service on OC. Anyone on OC with Explora I will be irked if the experience is the same as a prior OC visit with MSC. There is still time to sort it out, since Explora I isn't making an OC call until November of '23. The more pressing issue, I think, will be how MSC handles the growing number of YC passengers. Seaside, which began service around the time OC opened, has 86 YC suites. Seashore and Seascape have much larger YC capacities at 131 suites. In the not too distant future, World America will (presumably) be working the Caribbean. If it is a twin to World Europa, there will be 152 YC suites. That'll be a whole lotta lobster rolls. 😵

I'm unsure as to why you would feel everyone will be treated the same, Morpheus. Between the three room tiers (Suites, Penthouses, and Residences) there are numerous differences in perquisites. The only information I await is the loyalty program. If it has a connection to the Voyagers Club system, like a status match, then I'm in for sure. If Explora loyalty starts from scratch, then I will be disincentivized to keep our once-a-year cruises in Yacht Club. MSC will go to once every third year, to keep our status intact, and we'll start looking at Cunard, Oceania, and others.

Sooo... If I'm in the market for a '24 cruise, I'm looking at an extra-big plate of nothing?