Fogfog

Oh, bring the jar. Just put it in a baggie in case it leaks while bringing it on. Put it in carry on. YOLO right? And its your vacation. Cheers🍒

TYVM Who is the Maitre D and the Somm on Seashore? Counting the days

When we did B2B2B2B with some short legs, others were 6-7 we did not get the choc ships on some legs, and if I recall, they kind of rounded up, so 3 MSC gifts over 4 cruises. We did have the specialty dining every leg

Hey there! So related to card games for 2 What do you feel are the best--and then easiest (smallest) to carry for travel--and yet teachable-expandable to 4 etc but mostly played by 2 Phase 10? We used to travel with Uno decks and Phase 10 decks as a fam of 4. When I g00gle things like travel games-- Duet etc and things like Pass the Pigs comes up-- we bought PtP like 20+ years ago and our kids never used it--it went to goodwill. Just thinking about sea days and best options. Regular deck and rummy? Thoughts?

Regarding the Haven Lounge being desolate, can't I use my butler phone and get a snack/bev brought to me there while I read/play cards? Sounds like poor planning if it is missing snacks/coffee bar

Great pics. Enjoying your cruise 😉

True, we can't blame MSC for the pax sailing and their behavior- that can vary for week to week. We sailed a B2B on Celebrity and the one Officer told us to expect a big difference with the 6 day vs the 6 day--and yes he was very correct. Difference in tone, demographics etc. So length of sailing, time of year, port of embarkation all impact who may be sailing. Booze cruise vs longer sailing. Spring break, holidays, summer vs "in school", port intensive vs lots of sea days, does the ship have lots of "attractions" (surf-riders/race cars/arcade), is it a big casino draw etc

For 2025 NCL web site shows Gem sailing out of Miami in Jan and May. Feb-April is not avail at the moment

BTW, of the places you dive, where would you say is the best place if you were an instructor (all levels), to live-work? That's work permit-visa friendly and one can pay the bills in that field? Just curious as I am guessing you have some experience diving various places

Thank you for your travel log Happy Valentines Day

@cublet Amen We lived in Italy for a bit (Umbria) Yes, we realize it is very regional in cooking, accent in language etc And yes we had the opportunity to travel around the country a bit while living there. And so know exactly where you are coming from. You post made me smile--so true

TY Pete! About a doz years back we were told by Capt/officers that there was going to be a shortage worldwide of pilots. And they hoped more would move into the field. Many were aging out. It is a vital job. It is something we look forward to- watching them embark-debark

We have wondered about this--and actually I hope the whiners and skeptics stay away... It is THEM. MSC offers a different style of sailing and offers an a la carte experience -- and cruisers chose what they where want to spend $: room, experience, bev, specialty dining etc. What is a bit sad is that MSC changes the menus for sailings out of the US instead of keeping the menus that they use in the Mediterranean. Which IMHO loses some of what makes MSC special (the Italian/European flavor) Perhaps too people complain because they want to be living the "suite" life yet only want to pay $300 for a week. Clearly that won't happen. Also-- I think a lot of what is on social media/video etc. is just trolling for clicks.

You could ask the OPs? that each started similar threads Or ask the MODs to combine the threads Not certain why my response was quoted as I am neither OP nor MOD

I am a techno geek for this kind of stuff too Love the whole harbor pilots thing as well

check it out BTW-- its call THEFT

@DaKahuna Thank you for your service, and for your family's service We are grateful Best fog

We have sailed 6 times in YC in the US and have always been told that extra gratuities are discouraged-- and never have been told YC butler was excluded at MSC in the onboard grats program Mind you, in the US the daily grats are charged on the ship and yes, we leave them in place to cover general service. That said, our last day/night, we track down and always give out envelopes with hand written personal notes of thanks and with cash for servers, bar, pool attendant butler, steward etc ..about a dozen folks who made the sailings special.

Well there ya go! A fine day at sea is better than shoveling snow any day...as retired navy I am certain you agree. My DH is happy with decent red table wine. I drink more whites and they are harder to pin down as they can be flimsy, sugary ...

True I recall when all of this was being passed--and size of vessels etc restricted, number of vessels etc. We had been planning on trying to sail that region--then started looking at expeditions and the $$$$ for expedition style is shocking... Next thing you know the restrictions roll in Maybe due to that.

I'm wondering whats up as well.. Is there a mechanical issue they aren't discussing.. Lots of conflicting information here. Any updates beyond her?

MSC does have other wines that are not on the daily YC wine offerings-- and you can buy a better bottle We just found in '22 that the daily offerings weren't always as nice as they could have been - very grocery store-esq if you know what I mean. As opposed to feeling curated for meal pairing. Hoping they have some nicer options when we board YC in a few weeks

If the crew suspects the bev package is being shared based on consumption, they will deny service. See terms/conditions.

Thanks I'll take a look There was someone who took pix of pax on sail away--the ship and they'd be waving at the photog-- knowing where they were.. sailing of of NY. Don't know if those were drones, or big lenses, it could have been as far back as 2015 that I am thinking of..since 2020 seems a lifetime ago (ha) Wondering if anyone does that anymore Best fog Edited to add-- just love these-- the ships, the cherry blossoms--the skyline

IKR When we sailed NCL Sun to take our adult "kids" to Cuba several years ago, DH orders 2 fingers neat of one of the scotches. NCL refused to give him a scotch neat. Every time, they'd bring it over ice and he'd have to fish out the ice cubes. We don't know if it was because it was short sailing so they thought folk were on a booze cruise mentality, or just an NCL thing.. yet if you are a scotch "neat" person, or even some other things served that way.. NCL wouldn't do it. Now back to our regular programming. Sorry @DaKahuna cheers