stp_mmh5

Both times we have done the upgrade bid into YC it has counted as pre-boarding spending and have gotten points added. This was for Seashore last year and Seaside this year. It still worked out to the $150 = 100 points conversion. The original fares were the travel agent special rates, so not sure if that had anything to do with it.

The rocks on the left side of Bimini Beach, the furthest from the ship, had a lot of sea life all around it. I saw probably half a dozen or so different species. It was a little choppy that day as the wind was coming in from that direction, but nothing too bad. As long as you don't try to swim into the channel into the lagoon, the jet ski lifeguard didn't seem to have a problem with me or anyone else snorkeling over there.

Glad you guys are having a great time! Can't wait to hear how day 3 goes, especially the rock show as we missed it on our trip. The upcoming shows that we would recommend are the Peter Punk (It's weird and the story makes no sense, but some of the side acts are incredible) and Starwalker, the Michael Jackson show. I am not a huge fan, but thought the show was very well done. Also be sure to ask Raj and/or your butler when they will do the seafood buffet as that is something you don't want to miss.

On 5 out of 6 trips so far, we have brought alcohol from whichever port we were at in the time onboard with zero issues. On the 6th trip we didn't buy any alcohol so no idea if that's the one where they would have started securing it for us. We didn't see any station setup post security to collect it, so I'd say it's safe to say they didn't.

You save the cost of the auto gratuity and that's about it. I found a picture of some of the prices onboard, so you can compare them and see if anything is discounted online. I didn't notice at the time that some of it is cut off, nor do I have any of the other services like nails/hair/etc.

The biggest difference in price is generally the 15% auto gratuity isn't applied for online bookings, but will be for onboard. Otherwise, the prices are about the same. The comment about flubbing up the reservation is more of a jab at MSC. The running theme in these boards is that their IT department leaves a lot to be desired and things have been known to not properly transfer. We experienced it ourselves for the first time with our upgrade bid from a balcony to the YC. It wasn't a serious issue in the end as the concierge made sure it was corrected in the first 24 hours. As long as you have any pre-purchased items (spa/drinks/dining/excursions) in the boarding documents pdf that becomes available about 10 days prior to the cruise, you should be good to go. As far as capacity during our cruise, I don't believe we were at capacity, at least, it never felt like it. I never got a solid number for the whole ship, but it was gathered from multiple sources that the YC was about 190 guests out of a capacity of 270. There are times that the ship felt fuller, but it is the usual hot times of boarding/debarking/end of show/lunch in the buffet.

Essentially your account gets a credit for the service you book. Once onboard, you go to the Spa desk (or YC concierge if you're in the YC) and then reserve the actual day/time you want. Pros to this are: 1. Leaving less chance for MSC's IT to flub up the reservation 2. You can get a better idea of what dinner/lunch/daily plans to schedule around. Con is that you may lose out on a preferred/prime time if you are not one of the first down to the desk. While we didn't pre-book anything for our cruise last week, it didn't seem like any of the services were fully booked out at any time. Even asking for a day of hot stones massage on the last sea day, I had multiple options to choose from.

It did seem odd to us as well, but I guess it makes sense if they were trying to minimize the crossing of incoming/outgoing passengers. It worked for us because the garage and lot were pretty empty, so choice of spots. When we left, we noticed how full at least the ground level was, even after we walked off around 9.

Only benefit I would say is prime choice of parking spaces. They didn't open the garage for incoming guests until 1020-ish. And by the time we parked and got checked in it was shortly after 1030. I noticed that shortly before boarding, the main holding area was quickly filling up, so I imagine the lines for baggage drop off, security and standard check-in started getting long close to 11.

The menu rotates daily, and I unfortunately did not capture any of them all week. What I do remember is that there is always a Caesar salad and a burger available. I believe for us last week there was pasta and a fish fillet. On the buffet, they had a carving station, fresh grilled steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, seafood (scallops were amazing) as well desserts and a salad bar.

Cruisers preference. We walked over as we only had one large wheeled duffle bag and a smaller shoulder duffle bag this go around. If you walk from either the flat lot or garage, there was smaller blue tent that was also YC. It was at the base of the escalator along side the building. I didn't thing to get pictures of it as we entered as my hands were full, but I grabbed a screenshot from Google Maps with where it is, sans YC tent and people in the way. It may be kind of hard to see, but the tent would be generally close to the white door near the center of the picture. They had two folks doing the initial check as well as a designated porter. They did attach additional gold YC tags to make them more visible for loading.

It was amazing. We had a great time and this was honestly the best of the three Seaside class ships and trips we have done. The only minor negative I think we had was that the service was mostly great. What I mean by that is that there were very few standout individuals who we felt like went above and beyond. But at no time did we ever feel like that anything was subpar. I am sure you'll have a great time on your upcoming trip.

We didn't get photos of the menus, but have noticed over the course of the last 3 MSC cruises more and more Indian dishes have been added to the regular menu. Many are vegetarian dishes and all smelled wonderful when ordered around us. Of course you can always ask for the chefs special too!

Just let them know in advance and they may be able to accommodate that. I don't believe j have seen cauliflower rice as a menu item before, but that doesn't mean they might not have some prepped somewhere on the ship or be able to make it for you. Or you can always request a different side of choice. As I overheard Manuel say to other groups "I won't tell you no, I will find a way to make you happy".

You are welcome. MSC has been great for us, both in and out of the YC. I have always been able to find something great to eat and something fun to do. Go in with a La Vita Dolce (The Sweet Life) mindset and its going to be a good time.

I had much time to think about this while driving today and the best answer I came up with was "Perfection in my mouth". However that really doesn't help so I thought more about it. It's harder to describe the dish from memory, but I'll give it a go. Starting with the rice. It's a nice white rice with some light seasoning in it. Basmati rice? Not sure the actual grains used. The toasted wedges are insanely thin and light to the touch with a satisfying crunch to them. They are super useful as an edible spoon for taking a bite of the rice with the sauce on it. The chicken is thin and super moist. Cuts pretty easily with a fork. The brown sauce/gravy over it is full of spices like yellow curry, maybe some combination of clove/cardamom/star anise/cinnamon and I'm sure a few other mild go-to Indian spices. I am not a huge of fan of spicy, burn the mouth types, and this definitely doesn't do any of that. Just straight flavors that blend together in a fantastic way. Also it's thicker like a chunky gravy, but not as heavy on the palate. Hope that helps set some sort of idea of what to expect. If it doesn't help at all, just ask your waiter for a better description. And I don't think I mentioned our waiters for the week, but Manuel, Frenkniel (spelling might be off) and Jean were an awesome team. They have the section by the windows on the left (port) side of the dining room. We made sure to sit with them all week.

I always love watching the rockets going up. I made a comment that while watching it from the port was awesome, the best view would've been from the bridge of sighs or the YC pool deck for sure. Thanks for reading along and enjoying it. I want their recipe for it because it is always awesome. I might honestly order that as a dish for every meal next time

That sounds like an awesome trip and I would love to try that super Southern route someday. Also on our bucket list are the small luxury/boutique lines. We're considering Paul Gauguin if time and budget allow for it for a future anniversary. But also are so many other seemingly great options, we're just not sure if we are in the targeted clientele. Maybe we'll be like a fine wine, we'll age a little then try the more posh lines.

Our first cruise on MSC we did receive a end of cruise bill the night before debarkation. This was during a winter Mediterranean cruise back in 2017. As for the weird charges, I've noticed that MSC tends to group all the daily charges by person routed to a card, then some portion of that gets closed out at the end of the night. What's mildly annoying as the primary account on this trip, on the MSC for Me app I could see the total that my wife had charged on any particular day, but not the actual breakdown of the spending. She could not see the total we spent together on the cruise, only her daily breakdowns. It's a very weird system, but the C in MSC means confusing policies. Ultimately the bill always balanced out correctly for us.

On all of our previous YC cruises, the Future Cruise representative was in there every day, usually between 5 and 8, as well as additional time in the mornings on sea days. They will have a schedule posted on the table they tend to use and/or the bar. Also concierge will let you know when they're coming if you ask. If you miss them in the lounge because of meals/shows/etc, you can always visit their main desk near the center atrium or request them to come at a different time. Our past experience with booking additional cruises onboard were OBC ($200 for a YC and $50 for VC per person), and the VC discount. Deposits tend to be $199pp, although we have seen $99 deposits in the past. At the end, the rep always verified that our email was right, as well as our agent's. Which in our case was one and the same. You'll get your booking confirmation email about 5 mins or so after your done, and then that night or the next day we always received a paper copy of the confirmation in the room in an envelope.

We just got off Seaside today. While we didn't get in the YC pool this time, it has two depths. About two inches straight to about 5, 5.5ft. I didn't catch a picture of the depth sign, so I can't confirm that. I did some people in it throughout the week who seemed to be just standing in it comfortably versus having to swim in it. Also sometimes they don't have it completely full. If not, the whirlpools up front are great for resting in. Hope that helps.

You are most welcome. Remember it'll be an adventure and to just go with the flow of it all. Enjoy the countryside as it zips by. It's one of the things we miss most from living over there.

They definitely responded that they felt it was better quality, service, and food for any suites they have sailed. They primarily sail Royal Caribbean suites and made it abundantly clear that Yacht Club has blown them away and made them converts.

In an effort to successfully conclude this today before life quickly gets in the way, I'll keep the sea day story as brief as I can, and for a bonus I'll throw in todays adventures as well. Sea Day 2. Another slow start for us. The usual run of coffee and light treats, followed by a pool deck breakfast. Macon had found the Veteran's Get-together in the Daily and she made sure we went. Not because I particularly wanted to go, but it's the best cake served on any MSC ship. For anyone who has served or is serving, it is a nice event. It's usually led by a senior member of the cruise staff who was prior military and they do a round the room quick introduction. Then drinks, snacks and cake is provided. Afterwards the room is open for mingling. Once we had our fill of cake and socialization, Macon stocked up on her guilty pleasure of the Valentino bags for sale since they were all on sale. From there we went back to the lounge for drinks. We asked Raj about the amazing seafood extravaganza as it hadn't happened yet nor have we heard anything. Raj said that it should be going on today, so he call the YC chef to confirm. He confirmed that it would be at 1200 sharp. Fantastic. Just another highlight we've been excited for all week and were a little jealous reading about the one on Seascape happening. Since we were at the concierge, I also inquired about a last minute lava stone massage since that was the special. Raj works some magic with the spa and gets one booked for 2:30. We walk around until extravaganza time and go to town. All the classics are there, oysters on the half shell, shrimp, salmon, lobster tails (even better than the other night) sooo much good stuff. After lunch we kill time until the spa, spend almost two hours there then get ready for dinner. During dinner, we sail mostly around a massive storm blowing off the coast near Miami. Makes for some great scenery and a major talking point amongst the tables and the staff. After dinner we go down to the Starwalker show. I am not the biggest MJ fan, but have always heard great things about the show. It did not disappoint at all, and was the best show by far we've seen on MSC. After dinner was a short spin the through the casino for some last minute fun. Neither us nor the casino came out ahead, so we consider that a success in its own right. We then went back to lounge for our final night caps with some of our onboard friends, put out our luggage and then called it a night. In the morning we leisurely took our time getting up, did our final idiot checks in the room, got one last round of coffees and then went up for our final breakfast. Everything was great and it's always sad to leave such awesome folks and food. Debarkation was a breeze at close to 9. We made one final stop at concierge to verify an incorrect charge was fixed, then off we went. All smiles from us, and hearing a lot of happy comments from the other guests walking down the gangway with us, which is always a wonderful thing to hear. We then spent the day around Cocoa Beach, staying at the 4 Points. Nice enough hotel, although it is showing a little wear and tear. Great mini-golf place a block over and a phenomenal Poké place a block the other direction. We then went beer hopping and rocket watching, and watched as the Seaside sailed on by without us. Now a massive thunderstorm is blowing through, giving us quite the light show and knocked out power up and down the street. Tomorrow we pick up the pups and hit the long, long road to Alaska. Final thoughts Like all MSC ships, Seaside is beautiful. The layout is a little more choppy on the upper decks, but we found the lower decks easier to navigate. Overall, the second best YC experience we have had. Our time Divina has still been the best, but we have also yet to have anything close to a bad experience. Seaside was probably the smoothest ship we've been on. Even during the heavy thunderstorm yesterday. I could tell the ship had a slight list to starboard, but steady as a rock otherwise. The only real rocking we felt was at dock in Costa Maya. Or during the bus Hop tour, but I'm pretty sure that was just tequila. One would think after however many years of cruise ship building and design, someone would figure out a good way to get some solid sound insulation between the pool deck and the cabins. Luckily we end up as earlyish risers (630), but hearing the deck chairs get reset every morning could be annoying for some. Bad side, light sleepers might get woken up early. Plus side, the lounge has the best coffee and that's a solid excuse to get some. Just one last touch on the temperature discussion: the places it seemed to vary the most include the YC lounge, restaurant, deck 19 stairwell to One Pool, and the casino. It would range from uncomfortable to unbearable depending on your sensitivity to heat and humidity. Thanks all for sticking with it to the end. We can't wait for our next MSC cruise, even though we're going to branch out and try Virgin Voyages later this year. Seas as smooth as glass. And as blinding in the sun. I can't believe anyone could ever tire of a view like this. I'm not a cake person, but this cake rocks. Do recommend for anyone who goes to these types of events. This view. Also the Zipline was a blast. I don't know why it's a called a wake. It's more like a lullaby. I always want to sleep peacefully in hammock to that view and sound. Rosato Mio in the YC. Macon converted at least 5 fellow passengers to this drink. She doesn't like sharing much, but figured the more people who drink, the more likely they'll keep it in stock. Suparta made them the best this week. A double of Ramazzotti Rosato, ice, top with only prosecco and garnish with mint. The cherry is an imposter, but I personally didn't mind it. Raw bar at the extravaganza Carving station today was turkey The offerings. Minus a few as they were bringing out fresh stuff. A very happy third plate Oceans, sunsets, and food are 98% of the photos I have on my phone. Afternoon tea was a single day event and I think just about all 190 guests came to it. Our favorite tea choice. Tasty Treat Tower Caprese. Quick crack of salt across the top for perfection. Mixed fried seafood. As if we didn't have enough at lunch. Beef carpaccio Minestrone. Top three soup of the week. During dinner the storm made this perfect cloud frame around the Miami skyline. Everyone was taking photos as we went by. Veal Ossobucco. Melt in the mouth perfection. Lasagna Bolognese. It's been a miss times past, but it was a hit tonight. Full of flavor and cooked excellently. Lemon Delight Cake. Goes great with limoncello. Although, I think the someone on the kitchen was trying to tell me something... Sunset overload. Followed by a sunrise trilogy. One last breakfast for good measure. Uhhh Raj?! Arnold!? You guys are leaving us!!! This rocket excursion is cool, but I can't believe the ship just left us like that. PXL_20230618_222203855.LS.mp4

We met another couple onboard this week who were frequent cruisers on Royal and Celebrity in suites. They loved the YC so much they booked two more onboard in the free space they had. They said it's no comparison. Alaska is going to be an adventure for sure. We're not cold weather people so that's going to be an adjustment. St Croix is a dream retirement for us and we're finally going to visit on the Virgin cruise later this year. And the Seashore review is good too. Better than the Seascape because I actually finished that one lol.