ConnieTact

We have an early excursion today. The ship arrives at 8am and we meet at 8.20/8.30 to disembark to get on the coach. This is an organised MSC trip. the first ship organised shuttle also has the first leaving time at 8.30am today. If you have sailed with MSC before and have Gold or Diamond status you are said to be given priority status tio disembark at ports. The issue here, is that unless you’re in YC and getting escorted off with the butler, you would need to push in front of others in the queue and this may not be easy! I would say a sensible thing would be to allow up to an hour to be sure you were off. Are you thinking of booking things for certain times? we tend to have late starts and wander off the ship when crowds have gone so I dint have too much experience of the morning rushes! I’ll keep an eye open today and report back if anything is helpful to know. We also like to get back onboard an hour before the official ‘All Aboard’ time. We have watched ‘pier runners’ and it doesn’t look fun for them (although admittedly quite amusing to watch! 😜).

Sailing into Rotterdam as I write!

Lastly we went back to Sky lounge and enjoyed gentle piano music.

We enjoyed entertainment while having apéritifs in the Sky Lounge. Then after dinner we went to see Roberto musical offerings in the Master of the Seas pub. Despite it being packed, we found comfy seats to relax and enjoy a set.

Tonight’s dinner- we didn’t go for gala main course and stick with the old faithful ‘always available option!’ pasta! Perhaps too many desserts? Waiters always say it’s the ‘best part of the meal’ and I couldn’t disagree tonight! 😋

Thankyou @snoozecroozefor the encouraging and kind words!

We had a wonderful surprise of our own! When we got back to yacht club we saw these on every suites door! Beautiful!

Great Hiding session! We hid a few in lifts, around doorways, on tables and occasionally gave parents a nod to direct their children to one! One adult found one, and immediately her husband made my day to thank me on a dedicated Facebook page. We had actually seen them pick it up and her delight! All great fun! One little boy asked how many I hid as he wanted to find more! He had found four and was hoping to discover the other 44! We sat at a table in the French bar on the Galleria to watch the finds and it was fun to watch that unfold.

Off to hide our first batch of Christmas ducks for people to find!

We’ve not noticed any movement either- lucky as last week sounded a bit bumpy! Glad to see you’re enjoying the parties some good photos- say hello if you see us onboard! 👍

Lots of interest in the Giant darts. Lots of people enjoying themselves and lots of laughter too!

Insider scoop! Watch out for 20% off perfumes & cosmetics in the boutique on a Monday (sea day!) on this itinerary. You don’t have to buy three- just the one…..although at that discount you may want to buy more! 😜 Especially so close to Christmas! 🎁 (don’t tell anyone this spendy girl told you! 🤩)

I cannot praise last night’s show in the theatre enough! It was really brilliant from beginning to end. It was advertised as “songbook-Ed Sheeran”. I must admit although I am aware of his music, I don’t have any of it in my collection so, I was a bit apprehensive about what the show would be like and if I’d enjoy it. Well, the show started on a strong note with the aforementioned singer who I think is the best singer in the team. (I must find out his name!) taking lead vocals. The show’s sound was good and every song was done justice. The women singers, who previously sounded weak as soloists, when singing as a trio, came across well. I wonder if Ed knows about the show? If he doesn’t he really should! I can imagine this being a success on the West End or Broadway! The brilliant use of the picture wall behind was stunning with the start of the show being on a London Underground station-complete with a train on the screen! Another scene was an Irish bar, thatreminded me of the ‘Choir of Men’ production on NCL. That scene was excellent and really captured the spirit of a local Galway pub! Another great aerial performance which gave the show further interest although, for me the singing and dancing would suffice. This entertainment reaches very high standards and in the climate of NCL getting rid of their special shows, this kind of show would offer a real alternative for show loving cruise bookers! Well done MSC and the entertainment team for this fabulous show!

Yes Murat is still here! 👍

Another great sleep - beds so comfy. breakfast just arrived on time- efficient service. a sea day today! The sea is still calm. .

I’ll look into this tomorrow as it’s a sea day. Thanks for your kind comments.

Good food in YC restaurant although very slow service tonight. There were great views of sailor in the dark and we enjoyed the ‘live show’ unfold.

We just got back onboard and well, what an event that turned out to be! 🤪 I know the following may bit be of interest to non yacht club guests-so skip if you like! We have always enjoyed being escorted to the front of the line at security as this maximises out time onboard. Today, for the first time, I couldn’t see yacht club butlers waiting to welcome us. I had expected this for this port and the next. I asked around the staff and eventually a kind MSC manager from check in, took us to the front and we boarded but not without a man loudly complaining that he should get priority as he only had one leg. All embarrassing but we went ahead and got quickly through and onto the ship. As soon as we were onboard I asked our butler why there was nobody to welcome us through security and his answer surprised us both! Apparently in Southampton, Hamburg and Zeebrugge Port Security will not allow butlers that side of security so there is no priority for Yacht club guests in those ports! We really didn’t know that and I don’t think most people booking this cruise would know it either! Sometimes we wonder whether to bother getting off at a port and often decide to stay onboard and enjoy the facilities. This would sway our decision as the lines had hundreds if people as they only had one security check point for all those people! Le Havre port do allow butlers to offer this service.

Good question! Usually I use an app but today didn’t have access to that and organised my photos and used a screenshot, then cropped it.

Things for sale at the market.

Fab Christmas decorations around the market.

We stopped for kaiserschmarrn mit zwetschgenroster (sugared pancake to us! With toast plums!)

Lots of dogs enjoying the Christmas market!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! 🎄