morpheusofthesea

If you can, get to the Ocean House early and get a table on the veranda next to the ocean. They will start lunch at around 11:30 am because of the limited seating. As of my last count (8/23) there were 6 sofas on the veranda with 15 tables and 68 chairs, 36 plastic lawn tables with 4 chairs each and 4 (last cruise 3) tables inside the airconditioned Ocean House. I figured this allows about 168 guests at one time. We had 330 guests on our cruise, with 44 friends and family outside the YC with full access to YC venues, and then there are those in the YC that sneak their friends and family in as well. The lunch at OH can be a highlight of the cruise, it can also be a distressing situation with your fellow YCers hovering around waiting for your table. The gentleman in the red shirt got here really early and got the most pristine table on the veranda. IMG_1797.MOV

In that case, just let the maitre d' know or the chef of the YC and they will prepare for her a special meal that will be ready for her at Ocean House.

If you are in the YC, why eat in the Market Place Buffet ? MPB is a zoo embarkation day and every sea day as well. Enjoy the sublime YC Restaurant always open for 3 meals except lunch on Ocean Cay day or the OnePool Deck buffet every day for lunch or breakfast. Unless I misunderstood your post. Also OC Day and embarkation day Hola Taco is open "all you can eat" $18 pp. if you miss lunch hours in YC. (I still would not venture into the MPB at noon except maybe Ocean Cay day with most on the island).

It is not a sad event should one play it smart. Everyone shows up at 9:30 am, disregarding their allotted boarding times. Hence the need for YCers to butt in front of the lines. By noon, guests arrive and there is no longer a need to serpentine a line. Just go immediately through screening to check in to boarding. Boarding generally doesn't start til 11:30 waiting for the B2Bers to board first after clearing at 11:17 when the last stragglers (Zeros) are found hiding on the ship and escorted off by the Sheriff's department.

Also Yacht Club has a separate security line in the terminal. One will be escorted into the terminal in small groups of 10-20 into the terminal and through screening then to separate room for check in and pictures and keycards and wristbands. One time there was only one screening machine working and the MSC escorts stopped the steerage line to butt the next group of Yacht Club folks in front of them. We were part of this first group to butt in front of the hundreds serpentining in the terminal. It was a nice 'touch'.

Not many know this, but there are those passengers that get on at different Caribbean ports. Not many, but those that do must be the first to be rounded up to go through CBP before the ship can be cleared before any other passengers can get off. These passengers are called "Downliners", having got on the ship 'down the line'. Many times these "downliners" do not follow procedure and have to be hunted down delaying ship clearance. P.S. This is when the ship gets back to it's US port of departure.

Sometimes, even I, can stumble onto something helpful to someone reading. P.S. But I think I have to give credit to another poster who pointed this out to me when I complained I couldn't find it on the menu all week.

Just in case some of you missed my 5 minute 360 degree walk through of the Market Place Buffet at a typical 7 am morning. It starts getting crazy after 7:30 am. Also MPB is really quite nice noon times when it is in port and still open. 360MPB.m4v

I read your post earlier this morning and immediately went to CruiseCritic Reviews of the Seascape and found the most recent reviews were all from Nov/Dec 2022 when the ship just came out. So I took the time to write my review that I had in April 2024 on the Seascape. Most everyone here already knows from reading my posts that this last cruise in April was perhaps the best cruise we have ever taken. Perhaps not the most exotic, but from a purely luxury type cruise it was much better than our March 2024 Regent Seven Seas cruise in a Grand Suite for $30,000. Every cruise guru will advise never take a cruise on a new ship for at least several months. One of our veteran butlers told us it took them 3 months to become a "working crew". Will be on your cruise in June. Stop by and say hello. We will be hiding out again in the YC.

Like for example MSC's Explora Journeys allows guests to bring aboard wine, bottled mineral water as it is complimentary anyway. I wonder if it is easier for all Yacht Club guests checked luggage as well since it is dropped of at port at YC tent and loaded with gold labels ? It is mostly complimentary in YC as well?

They catch them when it is in 'carry on' luggage.

Or they are in the witness protection program ?

OK, maybe not 80 proof.

Just fortify any wine with 80 to 100 proof liquor will pass as kosher.

Just try packing a bottle in with your checked luggage and test it out. If it’s flagged you will get it back at end of cruise.

Something’s not right with this world.

Thanks. They cost me an arm and a leg to make. ( some want to break both).

Here the ship is docked with port side getting the island/lighthouse view. Compared with Starboardside photo

Just be aware of a remote possibility. https://travelnoire.com/popular-island-flesh-eating-bacteria

More like a re-knotting. cat-o'-nine-tails /ˌkadəˈnīnˌtālz/ noun HISTORICAL unpunctuated: cat-o-nine-tails; noun: cat-o'-nine-tails; plural noun: cat-o'-nine-tails a rope whip with nine knotted cords, formerly used (especially at sea) to flog offenders.

True. This where our Residence butler shined. He said to us he was a “genie”, so immediately put him to the test. Told him we were not adventurous diners. We picked out the restaurant that we felt most comfortable with its menu and told him we wanted our own table for two for breakfast and dinner. He said he will escort us to meet the maitre’d of the restaurant and facilitate setting this request up. When we met with Nicole he was already aware of our request and asked only for us to select which table.Told him we wanted the same best waiter he had for all meals. “Yes, of course “ was his reply and I showed him my appreciation. We never stood in line. So for us it was just like YCRestaurant. DW got her special order meal every evening.

Been looking over past posts and came across this pre covid use of my YC butler. If and when they ever start up the CC Meet & Greets again. One must get an invitation to get into the closed door event. We did not get our invitation and did not know where or when. (The cake was the best of the cruise). I mentioned this on the first day of the cruise to our personal butler and he said he would find out, escort us and get us in without an invitation. He did. We were stopped at the door for our invitation and our butler assured the receptionist that it was just a technicality that we were over-looked and that we belonged with the group, and she added our name and cabin number to her list. Still have the group picture hanging in my office.

Just like Moctezuma's thinking that Captain Cortez was the returning God Quetzalcoatl. P.S. A real long time.

Sounds like the hotel I stayed at Spring Break while in college. It was on the Colombian Island of San Andres and the hotel was called Hotel Las Vegas. Our room shower was a cistern on the roof with a pipe sticking out from the wall. No hot water. The cockroaches were humungous, and stood their ground and would attack instead of scurry and hide. For $12 a day it included a nice lunch of rice and beans and one could buy grilled skewers of meat from street venders for a peso each, they were called "speedies". The meat was delicious, to this day I have never eaten anything so tender and juicy. I wonder what kind of meat it was ? I really did not want to know. I had suspicions though.