luvseaside

Random thoughts before I forget: Bed is fine but there’s the “dip” in the middle. Definitely not as good as Princess beds. Cabin (dlx balcony suite) is awesome. Big bathroom. Love the refreshed minibar perk. TV channels are definitely lacking. I like to donate money to the casino typically but that place is very smokey. More than I anticipated. Husband paid for glass of wine at Wine Cellar and it dispensed white wine instead of the red he thought he chose. 🤷🏼‍♀️. Probably won’t go back there. Speaking of wines, the selection is just okay. But we’ve definitely not gone without! Typically drinking the rose (and I have had to send back a couple bc they brought me white Zinfandel-the horror!). Had delicious glass of Oberon last night with my steak (which was cooked properly -med rare-but zero flavor).

They moved the white party last night indoors for some reason. Weather was pleasant. It was well-attended. So much so we immediately headed back to YC. Had a drink and actually managed to stay awake until 11:30! Progress! it was my birthday yesterday so the Jr Butler (Michael) decorated the room. They also brought me a mousse cake at dinner last night. So sweet. Our Butler is Edur and he’s been attentive in the TSL and by the pool. He came by this morning in TSL to tell us there’s afternoon tea tomorrow since it’s the unplanned sea day. Have no plans for Nassau. It’s cloudy and there’s been passing showers this a.m.

DH is a doctor and it’s what he prescribed. ☺️. Having a drink in TSL & everyone is lively. MSC gave passengers free wifi today so they can make travel arrangements. Now staying in Nassau until 6 pm tomorrow instead of 3:00 pm

Currently drowning our sorrows for getting an extra cruise day in YC with a margarita and tacos at Hola Cantina. They honor the premium drink pkg btw. Wasn’t sure if they did. We asked our butler earlier in the day and he called to get us an early reservation and another butler showed up at our cabin 15 min before to take us down.

Weather update! Port Canaveral will be closed at some point tomorrow through Thursday so we get a free cruise day. Sorry for those scheduled to embark on 9/26. We’ve already rebooked flights for Friday afternoon 🤞🏻.

Please excuse my grammar and spelling-hard to see to type while wearing sunglasses 😎

Ocean Cay day one cont. After lunch, took shuttle back to boat. Got back off shortly, and we walked to Lighthouse Beach bar. Nice view and vibe. Meet nice folks from Florida and chatted football. Spent some time my pool late afternoon and DH talked me into water slides. Fun but fast! Came back to refresh for evening. Should’ve have probably napped bc (once again) didn’t make it to much past 8 pm dinner. Just not impressed with food at all so far. Not gross but not seasoned well and juts “meh”. I think we’ll do a specialty next time. We did order pizza delivery to our room which was prompt and delicious. Watched a little of the beach party but couldn’t make ourselves leave the ship. Sorry for the snooze fest. Try to do better today!

We were thankful we got such good advice on this board and brought water sandals. Saved our feet.

Ocean Cay day one; Awoke early because of early evening ☺️. Had some caffeine in room then wandered to TSL. DH grabbed a latte and I got a nibble from the lounge and we went outside to watch the captain dock. Headed to Deck 20 for breakfast. Not big breakfast people so grabbed a couple of snacks and then went to cabin to sunscreen ourselves. Went to concierge desk and he said a group was just leaving so we jumped on elevator with them. Butler took us all down through security and walked us all the way to YC tent. Waited all of 3 minutes for shuttle. Because we got there so early, they were still getting things ready. Headed to beach and got chairs. Rotated btwn chairs and water for a couple of hours. To be honest, beach bar service was lacking. But they had water, Coronas and towels nearby. Finally went to lunch @ 11:45 (wasn’t supposed to open until noon). My burger & Ocean Cay salad was delicious. Drink service was a little lacking but we didn’t do without. DH wasn’t impressed by lobster roll.

Embarkation day cont.: Spent afternoon at pool. Was hot but pool was refreshing. Met a nice couple at bar and chatted with them for bit. (There was another older couple sitting near the pool, however, that needed to excuse themselves. The man was loud and profane and they appeared to be having a domestic spat. After several minutes of her trying to shush him and looking miserable, she left. He stayed a bit longer but at least with no one to yell at, it was quieter. Told my husband, it’ll be our luck we’ll be seated next to them at dinner. We were .. but they were with others and quiet at least) Back to scheduled programming. Spent sailaway lounging outside with wine. So nice! Showered and had conversation and drinks at TSL. Went to dinner which was good. The best thing honestly was the tomato soup. It was during entrees that we saw the wall approaching. So we took our leave after dinner. I did grab a wine from TSL for nightcap. Still in our room untouched. We crashed hard about 8:30. Hoping to do better today. A nap may be involved. Haha!

Embarkation Day: To avoid craziness with the rental car shuttle, we had already decided to drop car @ 7:30 Sunday morning and take the one mile walk back to hotel. We did that and it was super easy to do. Any later than that though, it would’ve been too.🥵 Probably not an option for most but we enjoyed the exercise Breakfast at hotel was perfectly fine. Got an Uber who dropped us right in front of YC tent. Got in line @ 10:30. Security was a breeze and they sat us in the YC area. Sparkling wine and mimosas as well as coffee and water. Took a few minutes to get us checked in and get our cards/wristbands. Melania is our YC director and gave us the rundown and took us onboard. Went straight to muster station then elevator to Deck 16. Got to TSL @ 11:15. Our room was ready right away but we stayed to finish our drinks. Let server know we were ready and a butler came to take us there. Got dressed for pool & of course there was passing shower. But found a couple of seats at pool bar and had some salads and snacks with a glass of rose. Ran back to room and our bag was there so finished unpacking. Michael, our jr steward, showed up and gave him our minibar preference (Coke Zero and Coronas) Also asked for champagne for free bottle since I’m not a big liquor drinker.

Sorry for not updating last night. Took something for motion sickness (which we really don’t need-ocean is glass) and it wasn’t nondrowsy as advertised. We went down like darted animals after dinner. Good news is we’re refreshed this morning and on balcony watching approach to Ocean Cay.

I’ve loved reading your posts and have gotten great info from them so thank you! We’re currently sailing away in chair at front of ship with some rose’. Beautiful weather. La dolce vita!

Princess cruisers on our first MSC cruise. Wanted a birthday getaway but with a busy college football season, didn’t want to do a 7 day, so we decided on this 4 night out of Port Canaveral in Yacht Club. Pre-cruise: Rented a car from MCO. Flight got in on time at 1 pm. Headed straight to Cape Canaveral to hotel. Springhill Suites is very nice and staff was friendly & efficient. Room was clean and well appointed. Never cruised from this port and we love it. So many fun places to hang out. Started afternoon at Fishlips and got table outside to watch ships leave on Saturday. Great service. Had a progressive evening and went to Rising Tide for drink. Had their beet salad which was great. Back to hotel and walked to Preacher Bar. Sat at the bar (place wasn’t busy) and split a burger. Awesome beer selections and both Preacher Bar and Rising Tide. Will update on cruise embarkation later today. But Yacht Club so far lives up to the hype!