stp_mmh5

Glad you have enjoyed reading along. I will warn you that once you go suites, especially Yacht Club, it is incredibly hard to ever go back. The biggest thing I can think of with cancelling and what not is that recently YC can no longer be cancelled without penalty no matter how far out you cancel. Not sure about name changes though.

Pretty sure it's the same across all classes. Usually near the boarding doors on one end of the car or in the center of the car there will be a designated rack. Some Frecciabianca cars may not have it, so people tend to just put their bags in whatever freespace was available near the doors or their seats as long as it doesn't block the aisles or doors. Also the overhead bins are usually just a long bar all the way down. It's always a fun adventure on the trains, and was our primary means of long travel when we lived there. I just looked as I remembered that there was talk of expansion to Genoa. Look into Italo. We personally preferred the service on there and it was usually the same price as TrenItalia on the long runs, or cheaper if booked well enough in advance. Prima classe is worth the extra with roomier seats and included beverages.

Sorry I should've have clarified the train connection. Malpensa is an additional 45 mins by train from Milano Centrale. So, I would factor in about 3 hours total travel time if your connection in Milan is short. Three suitcases and two carry ones might by tight in the airport express train versus the Frecciabianco from Genoa to Milano, but being first on always gives one the best choice of luggage space in the dedicated luggage racks. I went looking for pictures of them, but sadly don't have any them anymore.

I think they call it butter chicken because it slides down like butter lol. Another table ordered more of it last night and I almost changed my entire dinner plans to have more. So the temperature in the TSL and the dining room was hit or miss. I asked Raj about it, and he said the there's some sensor or something that the engineers use to determine how much too cool any specific area of ship based on how busy it is. He did admit it was warmer than normal and immediately called to get it cooled down. I noticed usually about 6:30/7 ish when the mood lighting kicked on in the restaurant it would start cooling down considerably. The whole ship has random hot zones like that, especially near any doors that led outside. Stepping off into a shady corner or hallway helps until the A/C kicks on. For the tour, go to https://cozumelbarhop.com/ Transportation, one shot at each main stop and a t-shirt are all included. 11/10 recommend and we will absolutely do it again next time we are there.

In an effort to end my procrastinating, I've decided that I will pump out the last days quickly. So we shall start this off with our day in Cozumel. Once again, none of the ship sponsored tours sounded particularly appealing so we went with a recommendation from some friends to try the Cozumel Bar Hop tour. Because this was a do it ourselves tour and it didn't start until 11, we had plenty of time to kill in the morning. Because Norwegian Escape was also in port with us, we ended up docking at the International pier that Royal Caribbean tends to occupy. We had a very sluggish start and slowly went about our morning routine of coffee, snacks and finally breakfast. Around 10, we got off the ship and did a quick turn through the shops, half-heartedly looking for a request from a friend. We then hopped into a cab up to downtown for $8. We did the quick walk around the main shopping center there as well until we found our tour guide. We checked with Sergio who would be a hop guide and once all 5 of us were there, we went to a very comfortable 12 pax van. Sergio gave us all the quick once over what to expect with our four planned stops and then a little about the island and it's history. He was very comical about it, but also seemed to know a lot too. Our first stop had a decent beach to walk around, good food and tasty drinks and most importantly, the ability to take credit card. After our roughly 45 mins here were up, we all piled back into the can for the very short jaunt to stop 2, Coconuts. This was by far the most fun of the 4 stops and also the busiest. The Blue Margarita is probably the reason why we've gotten so far behind on this review and the conch ceviche was outstanding. The views are also great as it sits up high (40ish feet. High for Cozumel) above the water. From there we went to stop number 3 and enjoyed the next round of included shots as well as a mango margarita. Having ate at the last two stops, we missed out on the coconut shrimps, but we're going to use that as an excuse to go again. By the time we leave here, everything is quickly catching up to us. So much for practicing all week in the YC with our drinking. We make a impromptu stop because of our small group to get mojitos. Very tasty and so much mint in there the drink was legitimately green. At our final stop, I bee line for some hammocks (surprise surprise) and take a short nap. Few minutes later, I rejoin the group. Some shenanigans happen and I do a great job of scrapping up my knees. Tequila can do that to you folks. We then all pile back into the can shortly before 4 and get dropped off in front of the terminal area by 4:10. All aboard is 4:30, so a little tighter than we would've liked to arrive, but my shenanigans did delay us. Ultimately we make onboard before the all aboard time, and the ship leaves shortly after the scheduled departure at 5. We head up to the room to freshen up and take another nap. From there, we go straight to dinner. The sommelier swings by to see what kind of wine wanted, to which we said that all the tequila today unfortunately ruined our appetite for wine, but we would make up for it tomorrow. Dinner tonight had some of our absolute favorites, the assorted dumplings and the butter chicken. After dinner we go explore some of the ongoings in the ship. There was a jazz set playing in the Haven lounge so we went down to go see them play. When we first sat down, a waiter swung by to see if we wanted anything. We were still looking so we asked him to come back in minute. He never did and no one else walked by where we were, so we never did get a drink. We also didn't stay the whole time because the large groups near us kept talking louder over the music, which dampened the experience for us. So we went to finally go make our donations to the MSC Casino Foundation. The slot machines fed quite nicely on Macon's donation, but I made up for it on the electronic roulette machine. I found a combination of the black and red splits plus one of the hot numbers that ended up doubling what I put into it. Calling that a success, we went back to the lounge for our night caps and to close out the set of the evening saxist. The lounge was much busier tonight than the night prior, but the sea day the next day probably had much to do with it. On our way out, the evening butler reminded us to adjust our clocks back to eastern time. Our arrival into Cozumel. Our first time seeing the beaches in this side. Definitely less appealing for swimming, but love the sound of the crashing waves. The seaweed wasn't horrible and didn't smell. Coconuts is definitely a fun place full of innuendo. Also, careful which menu book you look through. The beach at the final stop. Rocks, shenanigans and tequila add up to scuffed knees and delayed departures. Dinner starts with the herbed salmon. Vegetable soup. Very soupy. Much vegetable. My second appetizer and Macon's main, the diver scallops. Great choice. Assorted dumplings. Easy top 3 of Macon's all time favorites. The butter chicken. So flavorful. I could probably eat this everyday on the ship it's that good. Finally our first tiramisu. Not as rich as the ones on Seashore and Seascape.

Yesterday we went from slow and sluggish to tequila so kept us quite occupied. With that, let's jump back to Costa Maya and seeing how today goes, Cozumel may come later. Costa Maya is a port we haven't been to since our first cruise together almost 10 years ago, so we were very excited to finally get back. We came real close last summer when we did a B2B on Carnival Mardi Gras, but some tropical remnants crossed over from the Pacific and kept us out at sea (NCL Breakaway made it in 10 mins later...yeah. Still mildly upset about that). Unfortunately our original plan decided to close for the summer hurricane season and none of the ship excursions appealed to us, so we figured we would do what we do best and just wing it. I don't know who was in charge of scheduling, but they for some unknown reason decided that bringing in 3 massive ships and the Grandeur of the Seas all at the exact same time was the best thing they could've done. So some 10,000+ people all spill out of their respective ships and clog the shopping area. It's so congested that the last minute tour sales folks can't get more than 2 feet from their booths. We shuffle our way around the port area, give a minimal effort look for something for friends back home and decided that it was entirely too people-y out there. We then salmoned our back to the ship. Along the way, an ambulance was trying to get off the pier but people just wouldn't move out of the way. Also, the Carnival Photo folks were everywhere trying to get pictures of everyone who walked by, whether they were Carnival guests or not. I almost broke character and went to pose for one of their photo opportunities, but decided against it. Upon reaching the Seaside, we were trying to figure out which gangway was allowing folks back on versus only letting folks off. We passed by one and the security guy made it seem like the forward most one was letting people back on, so we went to it. Which is fine, as that is the one we normally use for quickest access back to the YC. We walk across the gangway and up to the checkpoint where the security guy there said we were at the wrong one, and the we should've used the other one. Whoops. We let them know that guy indicated to use this one, and we walked back over. This time we walk up with no issues and find our way back to the lounge. We spend some time chatting up with fellow cruisers and the bar staff then decide to head up to the pool deck for lunch. After lunch, we head down to the thermal spa for some time. This time we just walked down like we normally do without asking for a time slot. The Spa reception desk asked us for our cabin number upon approach and then waved us through. I feel like they're definitely wanting to keep track of all who go in, both for capacity reasons and to make sure that only those with spa access make it through. With today being a pretty lazy ship day, we don't end up doing much before sailaway. We watch as the other ships slowly leave before us, and then we have a prompt departure at 6. Shortly afterwards, we head up to dinner, get some after dinner drinks then off to explore some more. We go to the 9:15 show, Peter Punk. This show reminded me more of the ones from Divina, where voiceovers cover what little dialogue there is, the story made little sense, but some of the acrobatics and other speciality performers were outstanding. After the show, we went back up to the lounge for chocolate martinis and to listen to the saxist. At the conclusion of his set, we called it a night. Our approach to Costa Maya. We're the last to arrive in the area, but not the last to dock. It's about to get stupid busy on these piers. Breakfast in the dining room was really good this morning, and this was the best eggs Benedict I have had on an MSC ship. So we almost sailed this week on the Escape. We've been wanting to try this ship ever since she launched, but just haven't been able to break ourselves away from MSC. Came back to the room to find our charging cables near the bed neatly bundled up with a Yacht Club branded cable tie. This is a first for us. So one thing not mentioned, but the waters around the pier were pretty rough. The ship was bobbing and swaying more docked here than any time at sea. We watched some pier runners trying to catch up with the Escape. I guess there was a group of about 8 or so that almost missed it. Wouldn't of been too bad of a catch up game, as Escape went to Cozumel next with us. Right before departure is the best time to go shopping if you don't mind missing the boat. Gilligan's AirBnB for those who choose to overnight here. And we are off. You can see how wet the pier is from the way the waves crash onto it. Fun fact, any salad can be a Cesar salad if you stab it enough times. The beef consomme was on point tonight with delicious tortellini in it. Shrimp cocktail was definitely more shrimp than cocktail. Sunset looked awesome as we sailed away. Truffle risotto was rich but tasty. Surf and Turf was also good, the second time. The first one the steak was cooked right, but there was no flavor at all and the texture wasn't of steak. I don't know how else to explain. Take two, and it was as awesome as every other steak we had onboard so far. More dinner sunsets to help set the mood. Vanilla Creme dessert. It was like the Crema Catalana dessert underneath a wild berry topping that one would get on the Panna Cottas we so love. So it was the best of both worlds. The ice cream pyramid. We are used to the ice cream inside usually being strawberry/chocolate/vanilla. This time it was chocolate and pistachio. Which was unfortunate for Macon as she can't stand pistachio anything. Also noticed this activity in the restaurant as we sat listening to the night sax. The head waiter was inspecting every table and every glass thoroughly before releasing the waiters from their sections. Any discrepancies were immediately polished out with a clean rag or replaced entirely. It is that level of attention to detail that really makes difference. At some point today I will hopefully find time to catch up with Cozumel, so that I only need to go over the sea day and debarking before life gets in the way and I have yet another unfinished thread. Thanks all for following along and we shall MSC you soon.

Having talked to various crew members both within and outside of the YC, a very similar sentiment comes up that compared to Royal, X, NCL, etc MSC seems to both pay better and treat their employees better. We have only ever met one openly disgruntled crew member who had no problem sharing his dislike for the company as he was signing off the next day. Everyone else we have talked to has said once they jumped ship from another line, they've never looked back on it. How much of that is honesty over saying the right thing in case we are secretly someone from higher is beyond me, but I feel that generally you can get a feel for the genuity of the crew members. I'm sure Morpheusoftheseas can speak to this as well with his experiences in chatting with the crew.

Thanks for following along all. If anyone else reading has anything they'd like to know, especially outside of the YC enclave, let us know as it gives a solid reason to explore the ship more with that, here are some other thoughts we've had in no particular order. There were a few reported issues of luggage delivery. At least one group onboard outside of the YC never received their bag the first day. It finally found its way to their cabin on the second evening. Others reported bags being delivered super late, including some folks in the YC. Speaking of luggage, one fellow passenger had to choose whether to have luggage or go on the cruise. She and her daughter chose the cruise and there were a bunch of folks getting together on one of the social media groups bringing them enough clothes to make it through the week. The YC lounge and restaurant have been abnormally warm so far. I mean, it is summer time in the Caribbean and there's a ton of windows everywhere so I'm sure that plays a part in it, but it is still almost uncomfortable with how warm it is. There are other spots throughout the ship that feel like the A/C could use an adjustment as well. That said, our room and other venues across the ship are perfectly comfortable. Also I find frozen drinks often help. There are certain things about the layout of the Seaside that we prefer over the Seashore/Seascape. The split buffets, separation of the specialty dining from the main pathways, the mini atrium between 6/7/8, and the aft haven lounge as examples. Things we don't like as much are some spaces or hallways feel more narrow, the weird dead ends passing through some areas, and the inability to pass through all of deck 16 easily. The ship doesn't feel nearly as busy as Seashore/Seascape. Granted our trip on Seascape was over New Year's Eve, but the staff we have talked to commented that it's relatively empty and that the 7 day trips tend to be less busy than the three and four day trips. Haven't heard total numbers for the cruise overall, but there are only about 190 people in YC this week, and a decent number were upgraded. The concierge's spreadsheet on boarding day listed everyone's OBC/prebooked items and in red was the word Plusgrade for those upgraded. Since we were upgraded and didn't initially have the wifi or drinks purchased, on the first day we had to essentially buy our wifi and drinks outside of the YC enclave. The concierge made a note of the Wi-Fi while he assisted us connecting to the internet and had it refunded that night, whereas our drink package took about 24 hours to kick in. Two bars on the ship and one on the island found a way to override it because they saw our YC key cards and wristbands. One drink we ordered in the sports bar they couldn't/wouldn't override and said that our package only works in the YC. We brought that up to concierge desk and they fixed it right away. The scheduling of the thermal area is the most minor of inconveniences and so far hasn't impacted us from going when we want. We usually ask the concierge about 10-15 mins before we want to go, he calls down and doesn't ask if there is availability, just that he's sending two down. Once the Spa desk tried to say let me check, but he wasn't about that. He said something along the lines of " Why do you have to check, you know you're going to tell me yes anyways" and then laughed after. There was some hubbub on the socials about the main dining rooms turning away men with shorts last night for the Gala night dinner. It's stated pretty clearly the dress code of the night, and if you can't follow the guidelines that's your issue. Most other nights it's not an issue, even in the YC. On tropical night they had no issues with the below the knee khaki shorts with sandals I was wearing. Didn't mean to do that, just realized it about halfway through the meal. In the sports bar, the large screen at the front is delayed a couple of seconds from all the other TVs. It was interesting to hear some of the bar react to the game that was on, then the others watching the main screen react a few seconds later. So if you come to watch a big game here and want to see the action first, watch the smaller TV's. That sums up our random thoughts and observations so far. We'll see how the last few days go and if there will be anything to add to this list.

For us on the current sailing, we arrived at Port Canaveral right around 10, were checking into the YC tent by 10:30 and around 10:50 they had started the boarding process. The 15 or so minutes in the waiting lounge we finished the actual check-in and sat in airport terminal seats enjoying drinks, snacks and some conversation with fellow cruisers, so the time went by very quickly. What usually holds up boarding is inspections or getting the zero count from the cruise prior. With the trip prior to ours being a three day, most people left the ship pretty promptly, so it's possible that you could experience the same time frame. Any arrival time after 11 should let you zip right through to the lounge.

Sea Day Today we just spent the day lounging, eating and drinking our way through the day. Highlights from the day were the YC cocktail party with the senior officers of the ship. Slightly different this time as the Captain, HD, YC Director and Cruise Director walked around introduced themselves to each and every group seated in the lounge while the pianist played. After their meet and greets, then they officially introduced the officers as well as other key staff of the YC. Afterwards we had our Diamond meal in the Pan Asian restaurant. An awesome meal with great views. What is great is that they have a sushi menu and a standard fare menu that are included in the Diamond meal. Highly recommend it as solid option. After a solid food coma, we get up and explore some of the activities on the ship. At 5, we go to the Diamond party. It didn't go as smoothly as the one on Seascape did. It started late, even for Italians and the officers were quickly brought up, cheers with drinks, then they all disappeared. We then went up to the room to get ready for dinner. Since we packed the house for our move to Alaska, we forgot a few things for the cruise and didn't realize until we were getting ready. So instead of dressing to the 7s as we usually do, I settled for the 4s. Gala dinner is always one of our favorites, but we decided to go lite on the meal because we were still full from lunch. After dinner, Macon went back down to the spa for an hour and when she came back, we went into the casino for a little bit. Nothing too crazy, just enough kill a little bit of time. Front there, we went to the Haven lounge for the jazz set. A waiter came by while we were still deciding on drinks and said he would be back shortly. He never did, and no one else came by in a roughly 10 min period we were there. We didn't stay long as the large groups in the lounge were talking loudly over the music, so it was harder to enjoy the music. So we went back up to the lounge for nightcaps and the saxist was playing a good set. We stayed until he was done and then called it a night. Our morning routine of cafe latte, a macchiato, chocolate twists and a fruit tart Always love the breakfast buffet options Our exploration of the ship brought us to this view Pan Asian starters. I had the crab cakes Macon had her choice of 3 pieces of sashimi or nigiri We also ordered the surf and turf roll. Worth the $19 for it. Our view from the table. The sea was like glass. I went with the Vietnamese Lamb Macon had the Spring Fever roll I had the Pineapple upside down cake with Coconut ice cream. Macon had the Malasalas with caramel sauce YC elevator override steps. Find this sign at the forward interior elevator. Scan your wristband or key card underneath. Once this screen pop ups, pick your floor, wait for you assigned elevator and zoom away. Champagne risotto. Probably the best risotto MSC offers hands down. We both got it as our appetizer. We also both had the lobster tail. These things were huge. And perfectly cooked. The fettuccine with porcini mushroom sauce. Honestly, I didn't like it this time. Could've been a miss on their end or maybe just my palette. Macon had an affogato for dessert And I had the coffee ice cream. And close out with the sunset

For the Ocean Cay specific treatments, the 50 min standard massage the total was $159.85 and the deep tissue massage was $171.35. For us, it was worth every penny.

Day 2 @ Ocean Cay This morning we woke up at a much more normal time and immediately wandered down into the lounge. We enjoyed our little routine of some cafe lattes, chocolate twists and fruit tarts while just slowly bringing ourselves into the world of consciousness. After the second round of coffees were done, we went up to the pool deck to check out the breakfast buffet up there. Arnold was up there and we had a quick chat with him as he did his rounds. Asked him more about his move from lounge duty to having a permanent section. He said starting the first week of July he'll know exactly what section he'll have, and that he's using the in between time to essentially practice the different tasks he will have so that he will be ready. He asked us about our plans and we just said we were winging it today. Unbeknownst to Macon, I had tried to secretly secure the Sunrise Mimosas excursion for our anniversary, but they sadly weren't running it today. Not sure why they cancelled it. After breakfast, we went back down to the room to gather our things for the island. As soon as we were done, the cruise director came over the PA and said the gangways were open and ready. I had thought they already were so great timing on our end. We bypassed the concierge desk and went straight off the ship without a butler escort because sometimes we like to live dangerously. We get up to the YC waiting tent and there are three carts ready to go, so we hop on and take off. As soon as we pull in, I start getting the hammock set up. Various staff members come by to check it out, all commenting on how different it is and some thinking possibly about getting a travel hammock for the crew beaches. We also get our first round of drinky drinks for the day, Macon starting with a tequila sunrise and I with a mimosa. Macon enjoyed her drink and the island enjoyed mine. So much so that it also conveniently tipped the second one over as well when I wasn't looking, so I gave up on anything but the water. About an hour after we arrived, I decided to head back to the ship to get more snorkeling gear. I said I was going to wait before the next cart of passengers came up, and it was a decent amount of time before one came. Guess everyone else was really taking their time this morning. I know I probably could have asked some one and they would've radioed for one, but I wasn't in any hurry to get back. I quickly shoot up to 18, grab the snorkel gear, and am back at the cart departure point in about 10 mins or less. There is a cart ready to go, but no one else is there. I tell our butler and the cart driver that I am absolutely fine with waiting in case anyone else comes up. We wait for about 10 mins or so and the driver decides to go. He's singing along with Backstreet Boys on the way to the other end, as it was his way of coping with his teams loss in the NBA finals the night before. It certainly made for a very entertaining ride and garnered a few looks from the others on the pathways as we went. Once back, I laid in the hammock just long enough to watch a little rain cloud sprinkle the beach and decided that was my cue to get into the water I first went to Bimini Beach as I hadn't yet been there. I think that this beach is nicer than the YC one, as the current doesn't seem to sweep away all the sand. There are still rocks and what not, but it is less punishing than the YC beach. I start snorkeling closest to the rocks and the YC cabanas, but the current there wanted to pull me around the rocks and along the cabanas. Not wanting the jet ski lifeguards to come flying up on me, I turned around and walked to the other end of the beach. Along the way I pick up pieces of glass that way no one accidentally steps on them and find two intact beer bottles down by the water. I pick those up and toss them into a trash can. Finally I get back into the water and follow the rocks around towards the entrance of the lagoon, but make sure I don't get too close to it. These rocks are much fuller than the ones under the cabana and it's a little clearer too. I see all different types and sizes of fish, a small barracuda and I watch each other closely, and one of the last things I saw was a huge snapper in the rocks. I walked over to the lagoon side with the intentions of checking out the swim platforms and the rocks closest to the bridge, but changed my mind and went back to the YC beach instead. The tide was low so there wasn't as much to see. After snorkeling it was about time for lunch. Our plan was to eat our way through the island, finishing up in the YC restaurant onboard. We started with the crab ceviche, only meat and chips. I also had a burger which means between our three trips there, we finally ate everything on the menu. We packed up all of our belongings and started the trek to the ship. When we made it to Seakeers, the lines were about average length and I secured a table. Macon walked up and looked at the offerings, but wasn't impressed with anything. She thinks that they were in the middle of changing everything out to some fresh stuff. So we decided to continue the hike back to the ship. We went to the ice cream place again, but they didn't have any flavors she wanted so we did a little shopping instead. After that, back to the ship for YC lunch. Except they were closed. Dang. We then hung out in the lounge and chatted up with some of fellow cruisers. Our hunger level was still high so Macon went to order a pizza. I can't remember if Seashore/Seascape had the same policy or not, but Seaside does not allow pizza to be delivered or eaten in the lounge. So once it arrived to the cabin, Macon came down to get me and we went up to the pool deck. The pizza was delicious as we knew it would be and we ate it entirely too fast. Now that we were quite content, we went back to the room for a little siesta. Siesta complete, it was time to get ready for dinner. We planned on going in early, in case we wanted to catch the rock n roll show before the hockey game in the sports bar. We sat in our favorite section and the team was quick with drinks and bread. As Manuel took our orders, I had to finally lift the veil on some scheming I had done on the first day. Being as vague as I could, I asked if he could check with the Maitre D about the special request. I had tried to find him myself earlier in the day, but he was probably working hard behind the scenes. The sommelier comes by and brings us a great Italian chardonnay to go with our starters. Macon is so anxious about this surprise dish that she ended up eating very little of anything else. Finally the moment comes and two plates of Beef Wellington are delivered. Macon is amazed by this as this her first time ever having it and the fact that I had even thought of trying to get it. It was absolutely amazing and totally worth it. Macon had apparently done some scheming as well, as afterwards a plate of chocolate covered strawberries arrived for dessert. Just like us, always trying to surprise each other with food on our anniversary. Rolling ourselves out of the restaurant because of how unbelievably stuffed we were, I went to our cabin to gather our team swag for the game while Macon went down the lounge to get us post meal macchiatos. We then head into the sports bar and get invited up to the front row with some other folks who were supporting the same team. After a disaster of game for our team, we head back up to the lounge for some night caps. The firat round was the strongest chocolate martinis ever, so much so that Macon opted to join in for a second one. We then had a great chat with butler on lounge duty then finally decided to call it a night. Just a little sprinkle to help keep things cool. I loved the reflection of the blue from the water into the cloud. If anyone else brings a hammock in the future, this is probably the best spot to put it. Perfectly clear water. What more could one ask for. Seakeers a little after 1230. I want to know the story behind this pylon. It's the only one damaged along the way and it looks as if it was hit from outside the channel first. The only problem I have with hammocks is that I am not in them often enough Spring rolls with a peanut sauce. Tasty, but the ones from the first night are our preferred ones The vegetable soup. One of Macon's favorite dishes Lobster Bauletti. Always love the fresh pasta onboard The surprise of the night. This one plate could easily have fed both of us. Nothing like a plate of strawberries to finish the meal. And of course, the sunset photos to close out the day. Sea day today has been mostly relaxed. The YC cocktail party with the staff was at 1030 and soon we're off to the Diamond party. I'll try to closeout today before long so that tomorrow is almost like a live thread. With that, we shall MSC you soon

We have done three turns around the Med hitting almost all of the ports on those itineraries. It would be hard for us to recommend one over the other, as both have one of our favorite ports each (Palma and Malta). If seeing Rome is a big must do, I would probably recommend Seaview starting there. Civitavecchia is about a 40 ish minute train ride away, followed by a short walk if the port shuttle isn't running. The boarding process there was exceptionally smooth too. Plus Roma Termini is a major hub for the regional trains, the state owned highspeed trains, as well the private Italo trains. If you take the extra time, Naples would only be about an hour by highspeed rail, and Venice is about three. We personally prefer Italo over TrenItalia, but both are great to get around the country with quickly. Genoa (Portofino) will the large turnaround day for both ships, as Genoa is the homeport for MSC. Genoa is also a roughly hour and half train from Milan proper, which is about 2 1/2 hours to Venice and 45 mins to Milano Malpensa, the major airport out there. As far as ships, if you end up liking the Seaside, Seaview will feel like home as they're practically identical sisters. Seaview is now the only Seaside class ship we haven't sailed, so it's on our radar to close out the class. World Europa being so new, I can't speak too much about it. From what I have seen though, it looks great and very Oasis like. Shows will mostly be visual spectacles, with very little spoken word due to the melting pot of languages onboard. Announcements, while generally few and far between compared to American/Caribbean cruises will seem longer due to the fact that they are repeated 6/7 times in different languages. Queuing is hit or miss for sure. Italians and some of the Eastern Europeans are awful at it and will fill in any gap they see, some Asian groups seem to bunch up in places and block pathways regularly and then the English speakers stand in lines like we do. Overall, if you just remember that you're on vacation and experiencing something far from your norm and just adapt to it, you'll have a great time. Don't try to do everything as you'll get overwhelmed real quick, just make a few highlights and build in enough time to relax as well.

Ocean Cay part (day) 1. Woke up early as it seems I do. The excitement of Ocean Cay just gets me up way earlier than I ever want. But I did get to see some great views of the moon over the water. I eventually fell asleep again briefly, and then woke up in time to watch our approach to the island. Waiting for us was Ocean Cay One, the tug sitting right in the middle of the channel. I imagine that the tug was asking us for the password and would only move out of the way when we got it right. As we did our turn around, we enjoyed some morning lattes and Macon was delighted to see the return of her chocolate twists. So far she is 2/2 of her favorite snacks making a return to the Top Sail Lounge. After what felt like a strangely long time, we started backing up and docking. I noticed at some point we did have a line tied to the tug and it seems to have helped guide us into the channel. Seashore and Seascape didn't use the tug, so not sure if the current/weather conditions necessitated the use of the tug or if they were just being extra careful. Eventually we made it alongside so we packed our bags and headed off to Ocean House. We got there early enough to have pick of the loungers, so we grabbed a pair right up front by the life guard. We both decided the ocean was super inviting but immediately regretted our decision to not pack/bring water shoes with us. Once we got past the rocks, the sand was nice and the water was like a nice warm bath. After sometime in the water and in the sun, we got a ride over to the spa area and had wonderful 50 min massages. Macon opted for the lighter one and I had the deep pressure one. Afterwards we took a slow stroll back to Ocean House so that we could get a drink and get ready for lunch. With the Ocean House menu being the same as our past experiences, we already knew what we were going to get. We both started with the crab ceviche, I had a lobster roll and Macon had the Mahi. While the menu may not change, the way it comes definitely does. The biggest difference was that lobster meat was less heavily basted in mayonnaise, so it was much more enjoyable to me. The crab ceviche was soooo good that Macon had a second one with no salad instead of dessert. After lunch I decided to hang up my other hammock near Ocean House, and we both just laid out and napped. A quick drizzle of rain rolled through, but not enough to pack up. If anything, the light drizzle cooled things off and was super refreshing. Eventually Macon decided to go look through the shops and I did a little snorkeling along Ocean House Beach. Lots of fish along the large rocks, and the smaller rocks along the length of the beach were full of snails, hermit crabs and an octopus. After about an hour, I pack up the last our stuff and meet Macon at the bar by the shops. She was a little sad the ice cream parlor didn't have any flavors she wanted, so we went back to the ship for drinks and to get ready for dinner. We went to dinner a little early so that we could catch the "Magic & Psychic" show. We were.... unimpressed. Some of the crowd seemed to really enjoy it, but it wasn't for us. Afterwards we went back down to the island to find good seats on the beach for the lighthouse show. Since the whole reason we went with this trip was for the overnight experience at the island, we wanted to make the most of it. Mother Nature has slightly different plans, as a short but strong rain storm blew through about 10 mins prior to the show. Most guests eventually returned to the ship, but we stuck it out for awhile. The light show eventually did kickoff and we got to experience it from the beach. Much better than our Seashore experience on the YC deck as the music was much clearer and the show more engaging to us. Afterwards we found our bean bag chairs we had abandoned during the rain and hung out enjoying the dark ocean sounds. We did a quick trip up to the lighthouse bar just to listen to waves crash on the rocks, but decided to head back because the rain seemed like it was ready for round two. As we boarded the ship, the second show kicked off promptly at 2200 (10pm) and watched a little of it on the gangway. After getting back onboard, it was off to the lounge for some night caps and then off to bed. It was a really good day and we knew another day of adventure was ahead, so figured catching some zzzs was the way to go Sometimes waking up in the middle of the night is worth the view Our first sighting of Ocean Cay Not sure what the password is, but I'll guess it was something super complicated like, Password We really like that Seaside has these extra loungers up front that Seashore and Seascape omitted Tug pulling us in or something. Not really sure as it danced around behind us for awhile, and by time we started backing in to the channel, it just hung out in the open water. Who was happier with our arrival, us or the birds? The blue ness of the water here never ceases to amaze us. Views from the hammock are the best Skipping way ahead to dinner, we have the vitello tonnato Oyster risotto. We keep ordering it and its always just so, meh. It's cooked right, but the flavor is just missing for us. I had the amberjack fillet and it was divine Macon went with one of her favorites, the Cioppino Another favorite, the paccheri pesto pasta. The pesto part was lackluster compared to other pestos, but still a solid dish. And we'll close up with mostly caption-less photos of the island at night Here you can kind of see the rain part 2 trying to come in And close off the night with the main entrance path at night void of people. Sometime tomorrow I'll get around to day 2, and maybe, just maybe, get all the way up to wherever it is during the sea day. Thanks for following along and we'll MSC you soon

I always find yours quite the source of great behind the curtain information. I joked with my wife that we will be missing those tidbits you post about the trip on this one. It should be interesting to see how our journeys will be similar because MSC and YC, yet different. If I may ask, since you seem to be able to get quite the wealth of info from the crew, if anyone knows the story behind this pylon?

Boarding day part 2. Stepping on board an MSC ship might as well as be like walking back into my own house. It's welcoming, there's great company, food I can't wait to eat and that ever present relaxing Med by MSC smell. After crossing the gangway we are immediately greeted by the next butler in the escort chain, this time a familiar face from the Seascape. Arnold takes the group of us up to the lounge where the concierge Raj had all of us sit close together and gives us the welcome aboard spiel. We notice that it is considerably warmer than what we remembered on Seashore/Seascape in the lounge, but I have a feeling the blazing Florida summer sun had much to do with it. Once we are finished with the brief, a couple of us grouped up in a shady area and have a round of drinks. Arnold breaks away from escort duty and says a warm hello and was happy to see familiar faces. Turns out he has only been onboard for three days himself, and recently earned a promotion from only working the lounge/pool deck to having a section of rooms. He then takes off again to help bring in the next group of guests and will chat with us more later. One of the other butlers comes by to let two of the three couples know their rooms were ready and escorted us to them. We get initial lay of the room, then head up to the pool deck for lunch. We finish our light lunch and drinks, then head back down to the room to find our larger bag waiting for us. Macon quickly begins to unpack and after we finish I decided to take a nap. At some point during the nap, the smaller bag arrives. Since this mainly only had snorkel gear and hammocks, it was very easy to unpack. Pull out one hammock for the balcony and place the bag by the door for easy grabbing. After a few minutes of finagling and testing of the questionable knots the hammock is all set and I just lounge until the muster drill. We may or may not have heard the number to dial in advance and had watched the safety video a dozen times, so shortly after the official start, we dialed 881, got our confirmation, waited a minute or two, then walked down to the casino to check into our muster station. Quick scan as usual and back up the elevators we went. We used this as an opportunity to try out the priority system. What's nice on Seaside, the elevators in the center of the banks have a little placard for YC guests. Scan that and when it registers one of two things seem to happen, it will either A. Let you pick any floor with a little green bar at the bottom saying Yacht Club B. Defaults to the floor your cabin is on We zip back up to 16 and head straight to the lounge before the cruise director begins the instructions of which decks should head down to their muster stations. We wait until the official end of the drill so that bar opens up and get our next round of drinks. We then do a little exploring of the ship to see the differences between Seaside and Seashore/Seascape. We notice quite a few design quirks as we go. There are some spaces that feel larger, others that are smaller, some that are very much the same but yet completely different. We almost decide at the same time that we prefer the way Seaside is set-up. I don't think we could explain it, but it just seems better to us. That said, Meraviglia is still the best layout in our opinions. After our jaunt around, I post up on the starboard bridge wing of exterior lounge and watch our departure from Port Canaveral. By the time we clear the jetty, we head back to the room and change for an early dinner. When we get to the restaurant, we ask if there is some seating near one of the window walls around the corner, versus our seemingly go to space along the railing looking into the lounge. We wanted to try sitting somewhere else, as while the people watching is great from there, we often found the music coming up from the lounge loud and distracting. We get a nice two top along the wall with views out of the windows, and meet our dining room team. Manuel is our waiter, and Ferninanz(spelling? I'll try to catch it tonight) is our assistant waiter. Also in the area rocking the bread on johnny on the spot with water refills is Jean. Dinner moves quickly and everything is amazing as always. After dinner we go explore more of the ship, focusing on the pool decks and parts we bypassed earlier in the day. We pass on the variety show and end up in the lounge for a few after dinner drinks and enjoy the pianist. Finally the day catches up to us and off to bed we go. That pretty much sums up the first day. Now the fun part for me, playing catch up when I can, while still enjoying this trip as it happens. Now the fun part for everyone else, pictures! The second ship I ever sailed on. Marella Discovery, or as I remember it, Splendor of the Seas. Back when having a 9 hole mini golf course was an impressive feature (at least to a 7 year old) Lunch! A great selection from the buffet. The winners were the scallops. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. Much like this somewhat possibly live thread, Oasis of the Seas decided better late than never. Granted this was only a port of call for her. I think Royal hired the Carnival cleaners, this is the roughest I have ever seen a Royal ship look. And it was like that all the way down. But an Aperol Spritz makes everything better Also in port was a Space X rocket As well as Wonder of the Seas and a cargo ship. For dinner we had the scallops And the amazing vegetable spring rolls Excellent pasta with asparagus Perfectly cooked halibut And the most mouth watering prime rib. Finally we both finished the night with Crema Catalana, one of our favorite desserts onboard. Now it's not one of my reviews without the obligatory sunset pictures We'll finish this up with a recommendation from a friend. The Aviation. Not really a gin drinker, but this went down nice and smooth and I might just get it again. On the next break, Ocean Cay part 1

Miami is.... certainly it's own adventure. There is no personal dislike to anything about sailing from Miami, but just a preference of how the YC check in experience is in Canaveral's Terminal 10 versus Miami's Terminal C. Neither terminal seems to have been designed with a suite lounge experience in mind. That said, it just seems to flow better up here without the little check-in room stop and doing the check-in with the waiting area. Once the new MSC terminals are completed in Miami, then the only issue remaining will be the Miami area traffic. Which is probably never going to improve.

I wasn't going to post anything until we got back from the trip, but seeing how the ever popular Morpheusoftheseas is doing a live from Seascape, I figured this would be a great opportunity to compare live the Seaside from the Seascape. Also, this was it's almost like sailing along with him, as our past two MSC cruises have been. A little background on this trip. We are starting our move from Tennessee/Kentucky to Alaska, and figured that the most direct route would be via a cruise to the Caribbean. Macon got another Travel Agent offer that happened to coincide with our travel period. We were really tempted to go on the Meraviglia out of NY because that is our favorite ship in the fleet but Seaside offered the overnight at Ocean Cay and that was the hands down winner in our book. So we booked a Bella Balcony and got assigned 12030. Great spot up towards the front and we'll be able to watch the lighthouse show from the balcony should we so choose. We had all the intentions of finally peeling ourselves away from the YC, just to see if the standard MSC product was as good as we remembered. But then the house sold early off market and the upgrade offer email came in, so we put in a bid for both a YC1 and a YIN. 5 days before, we received the email that congratulated us for our YC1 bid being accepted and into the YC we go. This time we are on 18 on port side. Our YC streak continues, whatever will we do lol. On our way to Florida, we decided that the most direct route to Port Canaveral would be Sunrise, Florida for a chance to watch game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We get up early (somehow as we didn't get back to the hotel until midnight) on Sunday and make the 3 hour trek back up to Canaveral. We made great time and pulled up to the parking garage before they even let folks start parking. Right around 10am, they open the gates and we paid upfront. ($17 a day for 8 days). We get a nice ground floor spot, drag our one large wheeled duffel bag and snorkel bag over to the YC tent. Almost missed it as I was looking for the white tent, but instead saw a blue one. We check in, quickly pass through security and right into the YC check-in area. I will say that I much prefer the way Port Canaveral 's setup is over Terminal C in Miami. Feels more like the one in Genoa, Italy minus the historical building. Then at approximately 10:50, the boarding begins and we start the shuffle onboard. Since it's currently lunch at Ocean House and our crab ceviche is on the way, I'll pause here and continue the catch up game when I can. There will be pictures eventually, mostly of food. Always welcome any/all questions and will do our best to answer them quickly. -Shane & Macon

The bar on deck 5 in the atrium is the main coffee bar on the Seascape, and to my knowledge only one with flavor syrups like vanilla/hazelnut/caramel/etc. The YC bar just has the standard espresso based coffees. They make great lattes and macchiatos there, always started my day with two or three and then usually one after dinner as well. Also just about every bar on MSC ships has an espresso machine, so you're never truly far from coffee.

Port Of Miami also has their daily docking report available online, and shows the expected pier/terminal. It's been pretty accurate in my experience in showing what terminal MSC will use. Also useful for forecasting whether you will return to the same terminal or not. https://wwwx.miamidade.gov/Apps/Seaport/dailydock/Default.aspx

We had Karina at the end of our New Years cruise and she was great. She's pretty straight to the point but she always had great recommendations and went well with our sense of humor. She was also pulling duties up on the pool deck during breakfast and lunch, so we made it a point to go see her up there. We also had Jerome at lunch on Ocean Cay, and he remembered us for the rest of the cruise despite us never getting to sit in his section again. He always greeted us by name and with a friendly smile, and wish we had gotten to know him better that trip. Hope that helps

When we were on the Seashore in October, the All-you-can-eat sushi was offered only on the last sea day. On Seascape, it was offered only on the sushi was offered on the first sea day and was $33 per person. We asked later in the cruise if it would be offered again on the second sea day, hoping, alas it was not. As for the Seafood Extravaganza buffet on the pool deck, it was offered on both sea days! That was really nice so we could enjoy it fully on the second sea day. I hope that continues, as on Seashore it was only on the last sea day. Seems to be a bit of hit and miss for how often each are offered on the varying ships.

All you can sea day Seems I have lost my notes and memory of the day, so knowing us it probably went something like this: Get up whenever and get coffee from the lounge. Hang out there until breakfast on the pool deck. From there, wander around the ship. At some point in time we went to the thermal spa. Today was the Officer meet and greet in the YC lounge, so we went to that. Following that event, it was all you can eat sushi down at the sushi bar. Definitely the highlight of the day, and even better than last time. We really appreciate the amount of nigiri and sashimi that is available during the service and how thick the slices of fish are. Really felt like we got our money's worth with it. Afterwards, we saw Ryan at the cocktail bar and was able to chat him up a little more as it was much quieter this time. He has been working as a bartender on ships for almost 20 years, and came to MSC from Royal. After our drinks and Ryan closing the bar for the lunch service, we went back up to the YC sundeck to soak up some of that good sunshine pouring down. At some point, I went through what was left of the first seafood extravaganza buffet. There wasn’t much seafood left, but they had some fresh shrimp put out and that was amazing. As was the carved beef they had out. We stayed up on deck for most of the afternoon just relaxing. As the evening started to roll around, we went down to the cabin and got ready for Gala night. On the way out of the cabin we bumped into Eder, who wanted to know how things were going and if there was anything else he could do to make our experience better. We said everything was great so far, but if we could have a few extra of the Acqua Panna waters, that would be great. We then went down to the bar and then I challenged Luciano with another drink card. At this point, a few of the other lounge staff were taking notice of the cards and became very intrigued by the concept of it and if Luciano could make it. Macon stuck to her usual and I enjoyed whatever random drink that I had of the night. Future me should remember to take pictures of the card with the drink. For dinner, we walked up to the dining room right around 7 and saw that they were already very busy. Not a problem for us, and again we sat near the railing, so we were able to watch the lounge activity and listen to the live music. Continuing with our seafood theme, we had the surf and turf for dinner. We skipped out on dessert, as we weren’t feeling sweets tonight. We also wanted to go explore the ship and see what all was going on. Once again, we ended up at the cocktail bar and spent a decent amount of time there. The way Ryan is able to run that bar by himself is impressive, he never stops but always has a smile and seems to love the chaos. We did leave a little early, as we decided to give one of the shows a shot. As we were finding the YC seating area, we ran into Agus for the first time since his introduction. He asked how we were and said that all has been great so far. We were unable to keep the conversation going as it was loud in the theater, but figured we would catch up with him later. The show, Dreamscape, was interesting, but we both had nature call about 10 mins or so before the ending. So we were those people and got up, but we were sitting next to the aisle and moved quickly so as not to be a distraction. Instead of walking back in to catch the ending, we decided to walk around the top decks for some fresh air. We then ended our walk in the lounge and grabbed a pair of chocolate martinis to close out the night. On the way out we swung by the concierge to see if the excursion desk had published the times for the behind the scenes tours, but they hadn’t yet. From there, it was off to bed to get ready for the next day in Puerto Plata. Pretty light on pictures of the day, so here are some random shots of deck 6. Even though it was about 9 am or so, it was super quiet across the atrium. Would be great spot to spend the day reading. The Atrium bar on deck 5 is the only place to get flavored coffee. Out of caramel syrup this cruise though... Love the way it all looks. Skipping to dinner, the out of focus bisque. Mushroom pasta, an excellent choice. Champagne risotto. The literal best risotto MSC makes, according to us. Surf and Turf. Steak was perfect and the lobster was very good. For those that just prefer the surf, they have that too, with plenty of heart attack juice to dip in. Our seats in the theater, great views And great deck views too... That sum up this brief day for us. Until next time, MSC you soon....

Here I go again with the long stretches between postings. I promise it is not intentional, I just tend to let life get in the way. Anyways, on to the review.. Rain, rain, rain, go away. It's Ocean Cay day… In a departure of my slumber habits on Seashore, I did not awaken at an ungodly hour but at the minor vibration of the bow thrusters kicking on. I knew that meant that we were on approach to Ocean Cay so I got up and headed on out to the Aurea deck to watch our arrival. Normally I would have gone up to deck 20 or the outside seating area on 16, but the Aurea area is right there by the cabin, so it made the most sense to my non-caffeinated mind. I decided that the better view would actually be all the way at the back at the Bridge of Sighs, so I made the trek back there. I took a second to check out the main pool area and the Robotron since it was all lit up and not another person on deck. I made it to the back in time to watch the longshoremen catch the first of the mooring lines and watched as we just slowly docked. Once the lines were tight, I figured now was a good time to get Macon out of bed and get some coffee. One of the minor issues I have with this class of ship is that I am not a fan of not having a continuous top deck. I know I could have zipped straight across and up two decks if I had taken 16 all the way, but the weather was still fair enough that I wanted to enjoy the fresh air, so I took the zigging (no zagging, as everything was at least up) stairs and path back to the Aurea Top 19 door. Here I tested my luck that the door would open for me, as on Seashore I was never able to get to the YC area through the Aurea sundeck. I had success this time, so thankfully no backtracking this time. As I was walking up to the hallway door, I saw a gentleman who was out exploring as well take the crew only stairs that led up to the YC sundeck. He was quickly rerouted by the YC deck attendants setting up all the loungers and watched him come back down and looked upset that he was turned around. Well, maybe he shouldn’t access areas he probably didn’t have access to by using stairs he wasn’t supposed to use. Once back in the cabin, Macon was patiently waiting for my return so we could get some nectar of the mind. We head into the lounge and secure one of the front window seats. I walk up to the snack bar to see what was out, and Luciano asks what coffee we would like. I asked for a pair of lattes and he said they will be brought over to us. I thank him and then grab some of the light breakfast treats. They had my favorites, the little fruit tarts, but they didn’t have any of the chocolate twists that Macon loves. We slowly finish up the first round of coffees and then we are offered a second one, which we accept. Fellow passengers start to trickle into the lounge, so we figured it’s probably a good time to get some breakfast in before the masses arrive. Normally we prefer to grab something to eat from the sun deck, but the weather today was clearly not going to cooperate. It had rained already and the temperature had dropped noticeably compared to when I was out on the Bridge of Sighs. Breakfast in the restaurant was good. Macon went with an omelet with some smoked salmon and toast and I had the express breakfast. It came out quickly and was very good. From there we decided to head down to the thermal spa when it opened, as we knew that there was no real reason to rush off the ship today. We spent about an hour or so there, mostly relaxing in the salt room. We then got changed in preparation for heading out towards Ocean House for lunch. With a little time to kill still and the weather not having vastly improved, we decided to just walk around the ship and see what was open. Overall, the ship felt very empty, with not much open and not many guests wandering around. Macon did stop at the specialty restaurant desk and asked about the all you can eat sushi special. They confirmed that they would be doing during the first sea day and she immediately signed us up for it. Since it was almost 11 now, we made our way off the ship and to the YC shuttle tent area. The rain had at least stopped, but the wind was still chilly. Seems that the winter weather was not ready to release us from its grip. We didn’t have to wait long before the shuttle arrived. Since there was a larger group all heading out, they commandeered a larger shuttle. It was a pretty quick ride out, and we were at Ocean House with still about 30ish mins to go before lunch would be ready. So we scouted out a table to sit, hoping to get the same one as last time. That table was already taken, as were all the others in the lanai area, so we grabbed one of the outside tables between two palms. Our junior waiter from dinner last night took our drink orders. As we were sitting there, the wind started to kick up and another light band of rain started to move across the island. We took cover in the lanai by the entrance. We made the mistake of going inside, where it was very crowded. So we just dropped off our empty glasses and went back outside. Luckily the rain passed quickly and lunch was starting to be delivered so we reclaimed our table in the palms. Another waiter, Jerome, came out to take our food orders, and we got the crab ceviche and the mahi mahi. After getting just about everything last time, we kept it easy and only got our favorites. Luckily the rain stayed away throughout the course of lunch, but the wind was still there. We skipped dessert and decided to time ourselves on a walk to the Lighthouse. Not an exact time, but it was about 17ish mins from Ocean House to the Lighthouse. I estimate that, as we stopped at the rocky outcrops/sunset beach near the lighthouse for pictures and were entertained by the way the waves would race through some of the channels. We took a look at the bar menus, hoping to see if they had any unique drink options. They didn’t have any from what we could tell, so we continued our walk along the paths back to the ship. This brings me to the only improvement that I hope MSC makes to Ocean Cay, and that is they find a way to redo the paths to better separate pedestrians from the carts. Not sure how they would be able to do it without tearing up everything they already have, but it certainly would be nice in my book. Getting back on the ship was easy enough, and we made a direct path to the lounge. We spent a majority of the afternoon here just reading. We got up around 4 to see if the ship was a little more lively yet and to go check out trivia in the Uptown lounge. We did better than expected in trivia, but not well enough to win ourselves a coveted lanyard and MSC pen. From there we continued our aimless explorations, stopping in the wine cellar. They had a special for the holidays, and on the list was a bottle of Cartizze Prosecco, which is the best of the best when it comes to prosecco, and something we haven’t seen available outside of the Valdobbiadene valley in Italy. A staff member came over to us and invited us to get a closer look of all the options behind the glass so we obliged. We saw a few familiar favorites and a few we might consider trying, but we didn’t see the Cartizze. We asked about it after we came out the otherside, and the gentleman explained that they had not received any in Miami. Well, that was a huge bummer to us, as we were planning on buying multiple bottles of it to enjoy on the cruise and to take some home afterwards. Disappointed, we decided not to get any of the other wines we saw, but would consider it later in the trip. From there we went to the sports bar to see if they had a schedule published of what games they would be showing, but there wasn’t one available. With that, we returned to our room to get ready for the evening. We started our evening in the lounge, choosing to sit up at the bar. Luciano was still on and asked what we would like. Macon wanted her backup as usual, an Aperol spritz as there was no Ramazzotti Rosato onboard to make her usual go to the Rosato Mio. I wanted something completely different, but wanted to be surprised. So I brought a deck of cards from home that have a bunch of different drink recipes on them, and had Luciano pick one. If he had the means to make it, that is what I would like. He seemed very intrigued by the challenge, and was able to make the first card no problem. I don’t remember which one I got, but it was very good. The two pre-dinner drinks went down super quick and we realized that we were super hungry, so we decided to head up to dinner early. We were on a streak of where we would sit, without really requesting it between Seashore and Seascape. We seem to always get seated along the railing overlooking the lounge just above the bar area, and tonight was no different. Dinner service was great, especially considering that shortly after our arrival, multiple large groups all arrived at the same time, filling up the restaurant quickly. Not too much on the menu appealed to us, but we both were craving the filet based on how good it was the night prior. It did not disappoint, nor did the pasta of the night. Macon also got the chocolate souffle, which was fantastic. Note to others, if the souffle is on the menu and you want it, it is best to order it when you order the main meal, so that they can submit it the order to the kitchen while your main course is finishing up, as it is freshly made and takes about 20 mins or so to bake. We finish up dinner with a pair of macchiatos and head off to see what is going on in the ship. We intended to make our way to Le Cabaret Rouge to see what the new entertainment was like, but got happily distracted along the way by our drink stop at the cocktail bar by the specialty restaurants. We recalled from the Seashore that this bar has the most unique menu onboard the entire ship, so we dropped in to see if we could find some new favorites. We first noticed that this bar is super busy, and the lone bartender is moving and grooving behind the bar. We snag some seats and take a look at the menu. After finally choosing, the bartender Ryan quickly whips them up. Again, I don’t remember exactly what we ordered, but it was so good that we stayed for another round. Even though he was working hard and busy, Ryan still made it a point to interact with everyone up at the bar and was super entertaining. Once we got comfortable we decided to stay until we noticed that one of the cocktail servers started to pull down bottles from the shelves. Apparently, the cocktail bar is only open until 10. So after closing down the bar and saying goodnight to Ryan and a group we made friends with, we decided to head back to the lounge, get a nightcap, and call it a night. Since we didn’t make it to La Cabaret that night, we figured we would just have to go another night. The first look at Ocean Cay with the reflection of the funnel I don't know if Seashore's slides were also lit up with colors or not, but thought it was cool. The lighthouse without the ships reflection. Robotron area lit up, but still covered. This seems like it could be fun, but the weather would not be ideal for it today. Slowing down so that we can dock Pretty sure I took a similar picture on Seashore, just at night proper. Not in the early-ish morning. The MSC express breakfast with sausage, bacon, hash browns, mushrooms and eggs Omelet and the smoked salmon appetizer. Not pictured is the toast we had. One of the holiday displays, this one was on the Atrium bar on deck 5. A more close up view. Macon loved all the penguins going down the waterfall. In an IT improvement, at least they have the right ship displayed on the screens. On Seashore they had the Virtuosa displayed. Love sitting in the rear facing row on the carts, I feel they provide the best views of the island as you drive around. Our view at lunch at Ocean House. Even though it was cooler and rainy, still beats the snowy view we had just days prior. Ocean Cay is very photographic and my phone is loaded with random island photos. Ocean Cay, with Ocean House, the YC Beach, and the Seascape off in the distance Crab ceviche. We could eat this as a meal in itself. Just make it with a salad of the corn chips. The Mahi was very good as expected. Love the color of the water here. This was by the Sunset beach/Lighthouse area. Just a little sandy spot between the rocks. Spent at least 10 mins here just watching the water race up and splash in this little channel. Or this channel. Very relaxing and splooosh! This was little one. Sometimes a bigger wave would come, making where I was standing a splash zone. Skipping way ahead to dinner, the Vitello Tonnato. The lemon scented creamy oyster risotto. Second best risotto we had this trip. Paccheri pasta in a pesto with cured speck. Excellent choice. We both had perfectly cooked filets. Arroz con leche. Refreshing and light. The chocolate soufflé. Amazing. Worth the wait if you forget to pre-order it. And that is all for our day at Ocean Cay. Not quite as fun as the last time we were here, but there is only so much you can do when the weather doesn’t want to cooperate most of the day. The sun eventually came out towards the end of the day, but by then it was too late to really enjoy it. Also to the best of my memory, there was not a lighthouse show this time, nor was one listed in the daily planner. Not a huge loss to us, but it was interesting. As always, MSC you in the next installment.....

We had been wanting to do a New Year cruise for quite a while, and the timing finally worked out for us. We also have a Yacht Club addiction, and we made sure that we were able to once again experience what is probably the best mass market suite life again. After our Seashore trip in October, I finally earned enough points to make Diamond status, so this will be the first trip to experience the new benefits that come with that. I did “cheat” a little bit by status matching into silver back when we first started cruising with MSC. Macon, on the other hand, should earn Diamond after this trip naturally, starting with 0 points all the way to 9999. Not bad for 5 cruises with MSC, 4 of which in Yacht Club. That said, here is a quick summary of the cruise, before we get into the novellas. Cons: -Terminal C boarding. Even with YC and arriving well after general boarding had begun, it’s still less efficient than it should be. - “Smart” elevators. Slow, inconsistent, and the “VIP/Priority” function is more of a miss than a hit. - Lack of night light in the cabin bathroom. I know this is something we can easily rectify ourselves, but we recall that on our Seashore cruise there was at least a very dim light that would be on in the bathroom when all other lights were off. - Buffet hours were not in line with what was published in the daily planner. Multiple times we would go up to the buffet to get pizza/dessert and the buffet would be slammed packed, but closing early. On NYE, the buffet was completely closed nearly an hour earlier than published. Many upset guests walked around up there. -Lack of certain food items that we generally associate with MSC. There was no Panna Cotta available except on two occasions, no chocolate twist pastries at breakfast, focaccia was rarely a bread option at dinner, and few other minor things. - Our Butler was invisible the first two or three days and by time we started to get to know him, it was the end of the cruise. Not that we feel we utilize all that the butler can do, but after an amazing experience with Nyoman on Seashore, we just felt that his presence was lackluster. -Communication from the butler staff about events in the YC. Oftentimes we would find out about deck events or other going-ons in the YC from fellow guests or just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The later events, such as the second seafood buffet and New Years party were better talked about, but still not as well informed as we were on the Seashore. -Inventory of bar items. Not necessarily items missing from the ship completely, but more so that some bars would be well stocked on some items, and other bars had none. An example would be the Cocktail bar on deck 8 and the YC pool deck had Woodford Reserve, but the YC lounge did not. Another one was that the Ocean Cay restaurant had bottles of Cartizze Prosecco, whereas the Wine Bar advertised, but had none on hand and was told there was none onboard at all. -Dining service was hit or miss. Not wholly on the staff, as it seemed that the larger groups cruising together all liked to arrive at the same time, but even when there weren't large groups there, it could be an odd delay between seating, greeting and ordering. It seemed as if everyone was still figuring out their sections, or that the sections would be fluid. I’m not sure that we ever truly knew who was in what section while sitting. Sure made requesting a particular individual more interesting. -Thermal Spa was not frequently looked after. Oftentimes there was standing water on the floor and numerous used towels left all over the place. Infrequently would a spa staff member come through to police up towels, the standing water, trash by the water point, etc. -A nitpick on the design of the spa itself is that there is a lack of towels available in the spa itself. Going back to the changing rooms to get fresh towels if needed is a minor inconvenience. Most other thermal spas we have been to always keep a stash of towels within the thermal area itself. -Disembarkation was unorganized, primarily in the terminal, (Not MSC’s fault) but also within the YC lounge. Whereas on Seashore there was always a butler organizing groups and facilitating escorts, that did not happen this time. We eventually just tagged along with another group that formed at concierge when we decided to just wing it ourselves. Observations: -Minor rearrangement of the Casino. Nothing big, but the coin pusher game got moved into a corner on the opposite side of where it was on Seashore, and a few different slot machine groupings. - Smokiness of the Casino. It never seemed like there was a huge amount of people in the casino actively smoking, but the smell of it was greater than what we recall on Seashore. -Design of the ship. There isn’t really a good flow to the movement around the ship. This is definitely just an opinion of ours, but seems to work for MSC and the shipyard, as it was good enough to build 4 of them. We aren’t big fans of winding interiors with random dead ends. Also an observation we had with both Seashore/Seascape and Carnival Mardi Gras earlier this year was the noticeable slopes in the decks, usually midship moving forward and aft. Clearly not a naval architect/engineer, but it just seems to us they could have designed it with more level decks in mind. -Overall YC service. This trip we never really felt that we were overlooked or missed, but that the interactions were more mechanical in a way. If I had to guess, it would be that with the number of passengers onboard this trip versus Seashore meant that getting some of the more personal or one-on-one interactions were few and far between. We also did not perceive any favoritism to any particular group of passengers this trip, although we did hear of a few instances of that. -The behind the scenes tour. Not well communicated as far as timeline for those doing the bridge and engine control room portions, but that was apparently a hold-up from those locations on their availability. Interesting that the tour is split over two days if you do the full ship, with the bridge and ECR conducted on a port day, and everything else at sea. Also a disappointment that photography is completely restricted. I completely understand not allowing photos of secure areas such as the bridge and ECR, but all the other stuff should be fine, right? -The volume of the elevator in the YC is pretty loud. It’s probably the same volume as the main elevators, but with the openness of the decks and the echo, it just seems a little louder than needed. Not a huge problem to us, but I feel for the concierge desk who has to listen to that all day, everyday. Pros: -Med By MSC. It would not be one of our reviews without any sort of mention of MSC’s signature scent. We aren’t the only ones, as a fellow passenger in the shops was also stockpiling on room diffusers when we went to get ours. -YC dining room. By far the food quality was much better than our experience on Seashore. This trip we had maybe two dishes that we found subpar. -Veterans meet and greet. Great for anyone who serves/served. Hosted this time by a member of the hotel department who was a Navy veteran. Best cake on the ship hands down. It is absolutely the reason why I keep getting volunteered to go. - The flavored chips available in the YC lounge were delicious. We meant to get the name of the brand used and forgot, but so worth it. Only downside was needing to specifically ask for chips, they were never placed out on the little snack bar. -Seafood buffets on the YC pool deck during the sea days. Great food and experience. A full YC meant having to wait a little longer when it first opened up, but worth it. -Afternoon tea in the YC. In a major change from our other experiences, afternoon tea was held as a special event in the dining room on the last sea day. It made it that much more special. -Ocean Cay seafood restaurant onboard was fantastic! We had that in Nassau as the Diamond free specialty restaurant meal. By far the best dessert onboard with the crème brulee. -Special shout-outs to some of the amazing crew we got to know and interact with throughout the trip. Ryan at the Cocktail Bar on 8. He was a one man show, running what seemed like the busiest bar on the ship with guests coming up and all of the specialty dining rooms. Also his bar has the most unique choice of drinks on the ship. Karina in the YC dining room. We got her one night by chance, and she did such a great job and was so much fun that we would purposefully seek her out for dinner, and go see her up on the pool deck for breakfast. Luciano at the YC lounge bar. He makes a mean macchiato and we had a blast challenging him with random drink recipes from a deck of cards. He has those cards now, so definitely go see him and ask him for a random drink card. Daniel and Arnold in the lounge were always welcoming and great to talk to. James, a butler we recognized from our trip on the Seashore, would always greet us and we would enjoy quick conversations with him anytime we ran into him. Finally, the YC Director Robbie Sheriffs. He was always present and very engaging. Despite a challenging couple of weeks, he still had a positive outlook and managed his team very well. That should be the quick summary of our lows and highs. Now onto the details for those that prefer the in depth stories. Pre-Cruise & Boarding Day: We had originally booked this trip much earlier in the year in the Yacht Club Interior room on deck 16. Around the time we did a last minute booking for Seashore in October, a potential third person was possibly wanting to join us for the holidays. Well since the YINs can only hold 2 people and a YC1 was well out of budget at this point, we changed our room back down to a Fantastica Balcony. Well wouldn’t you know it, our other guest had their plans changed and would be unable to make it this year. So now we were on the hunt for a Yacht Club room. The Upgrade program email came and we dropped our bids for the YIN and a YC1. While hopeful that we could be lucky with a second upgrade this year, we felt that the odds would be against us as it was looking to be a fully booked cruise, so we kept a watchful eye to see if any YINs would open up in the booking engine. Sure enough, two opened up and quickly snatched one of them, for about the same price difference as the upgrade offer was. Once we had our new confirmation showing Yacht Club, we started the happy countdown until school was out and the trip to Miami to enjoy another fabulous week. What we didn't catch at first was that our room assigned was the opposite of what we selected. The two rooms available at the time were one on deck 18 and the accessible cabin on 19. Looking over the documents a few days later, I noticed that it showed we would be in 19038, when we selected the room on deck 18. Since we would not need the extra space, we checked constantly to see if another YIN would open up so that we could free up that accessible room. One never did the entire time, so it looks like we get what we get. Fast forward to the day before cruise day. We had gone to Kansas to see family for Christmas, and had decided to take a later in the day flight on Christmas day to Miami so that we could maximize time with them and still get in with plenty of time to catch the ship. We factored in weather potentials, so even picked our flights to purposefully connect through locations less susceptible to winter weather. What we hadn’t factored in when booking the flights was the fiasco that became Southwest crew scheduling during the holidays. Our flight from Kansas City was already delayed when we arrived at the airport 3 hours early. We then stood in a 5 plus hour long line to get our flights updated. Luckily (?) our flight kept getting more and more delayed, but our connecting flight to Miami was no longer being delayed. By the time we got to the customer service agent, we would arrive in Atlanta approximately 2 hours after the Atlanta to Miami flight departed. There was also no way Southwest could guarantee our arrival anywhere in South Florida in time for the cruise. So we decided to terminate our trip in Atlanta, and rebooked with Delta to Melbourne, FL. We arrived in Atlanta at 2am. We had about 6 hours to kill, so we exited the terminal, rechecked our bags, went back through TSA, and then found a Minute Suites. We used our free hour from Priority Pass/AMEX Platinum, then went to our gate to wait for a flight to Melbourne. After a relatively uneventful flight, we picked up a rental car with Avis, then high-tailed it down I95 to the closest turn in point to the Miami port. We lucked out, as the shuttle to the port was just loading up as we pulled up. So we hopped in with a group going on Freedom of the Seas and then we were off. Turns out, there was a massive boarding delay for Seascape, so by the time we arrived at 130ish we didn’t feel like we were going to miss anything onboard. Embarkation at Terminal C just outright sucks. I don’t blame MSC or the shore staff specifically, but the overall design of the building makes me feel as if it was not designed with the expedient boarding of 5000+ passengers in mind, nor was a dedicated space for suite guests in the forefront of planning. When we arrived, there was only one porter at the white tents, working hard while enjoying his cigar. We left our two bags with him and then walked up to the terminal, where some of the shore staff escorted us to the little YC check-in room. Even at nearly 2pm, the room was still full of groups checking in, and only 2 people working through everyone. We found some seats close to the desk, and a third gentleman who was trying to organize everything took our names to find our room keys. Due to all the travel issues, we didn’t have our printed check in forms, which he said would not be an issue. So we sat down and waited, just glad to have made it to the port. And we waited, and waited some more, for almost an hour. By this time I realized some other groups had come after us had been whisked away to the ship already and we were still waiting. Eventually we asked someone what was going on and they realized that they kind of forgot about us. They quickly apologized and processed us on the spot. Before we knew it, we had key cards and wristbands. We didn’t know whose wristband was whose as both our key cards fell out of the sleeves at the table where they keep all of them, so we just winged it. The YC director was the one to pick us and another group up and escorted us all the way up to the YC holding area. We got a quick prosecco there, waited for another two families to join, and then all of us followed a butler onto the ship. With general boarding ongoing and only one gangway on to the ship, it was slow moving. The butler did his best to keep us moving and bypassing most of the line. At some point, another group joined us and the butler had counted them as part of his flock, so he was confused as to where they had gone once we got onboard. Well, turns out they weren’t YC guests, but had benefited from the speedy embarkation. We all got a laugh at that, then headed to the forward elevators to zip up to the YC enclave. I gave a quick test of the priority system here, and noticed it seemed to work differently than the one on Seashore, but that it did register the priority function. After arrival into the lounge, we sat down to get our welcome aboard drinks and finally shake off the last 36 hours of travel stress. At that time, our stomachs reminded us that we had not eaten anything substantial in that time as well, so we tried to go to the restaurant for lunch. However they already closed the service. Understandable, they have to stick to the schedule, but had been hopeful that may have adjusted for the delayed boarding. We planned on going to the pool deck then, but the restaurant crew informed us that the grill was also closed due to the rain and wind on the deck. Bummer. (And what gives, this is 3 for 4 cruises this year for us where it had rained on embarkation day.) So we decided to brave the masses and head to the buffet for lunch. What a cluster that is. To be expected though, it was the only food option available at close to 3 pm. We only skirt along the closest line to the Jungle pool, as the madhouse further aft just wasn’t worth it to us. We did get some great options though. Fresh pizza, Bigoli all'Anatra (a star shaped pasta with duck ragout, a fantastic dish in the Veneto region of Italy), some Hungarian beef stroganoff, mashed taters, fruit, etc. With two full plates and no tables available, we walk back to the YC lounge to grab a seat there. As we settle in, we meet Arnold, who is one the butlers assigned to lounge. He brings us two drinks, something sweet and something sour to go with the lunch we grabbed. With our lunch now complete, we decided to go up to our room. When we first boarded, there was someone asking guests to check in with him when they were ready to go to their rooms, so that 1. They could make sure the rooms were ready, 2. Call down their butler or junior butler to bring them up and introduce themselves. Well when we were ready, that person was no longer there, so we just ventured up to 19 and settled into our cabin, 19038. First impression of the room is that it is huge and looks great. The room itself felt as big as our YC1 balcony on Seashore, but without the obvious benefit of having a balcony. We then did the plop test on the bed, and…..it was a decent plop. It seemed firmer than the bed on Seashore, like it was of cushy foam block instead of feeling like clouds. Far more comfortable than some other beds I slept on this year, so no real complaints. One of our suitcases was already waiting for us when we arrived, so took advantage of that and started unpacking. As I finished that up and got refreshed, it was time to start the muster drill. Gene Young, the CD did his announcements over the intercom getting people to head back to their rooms. This was a nearly 10 min long process, as it seems some fellow guests just wanted to hang out in the closed bars. Whether that was the actual case or not, I’ll never know but that is what he was saying over the intercom. Eventually he gave the go-ahead to watch the video in the cabin and to call the number to register the call. He also mentioned that they would release by deck, and not to head down early, as not to create any bottlenecks in the stairways. Well, we heard that as we were already committed to the stairs. Whoops, but at least we beat the crowds. I gave the priority elevator a shot, and it wasn’t any faster coming than a standard elevator. But it did blast us back to 19 without any stops. When we got back to the cabin, our other bag had arrived. We brought that one in and unpacked it as well. We felt that somehow we had less storage space this time in the hanging closet and shelf space than we did in the Seashore room, despite the layout of it being nearly the same. Then again, we did have two hanging closets on Seashore, so that probably has a lot to do with it. Macon took the opportunity to get refreshed as well and we got ready for the evening activities. On our way out the door to get pre-dinner drinks, we met Agus, our butler for this trip. We did the introductions and had mentioned we had experienced the YC before. He asked us if we had any preferences for the mini bar, our usual preferred dinner time and what our plans for the evening were. We told him usually leave around 7 for dinner, but that we usually get pre-dinner drinks first, we aren’t really show people so no major plans for the evening, and we drink Acqua Panna water like it’s, well, water. Macon loves that particular brand of water like no other, and she will easily finish the little bottles and the big bottle before lunch. I also asked if they had any Pilsner Urquell available, if he could put some in the fridge. We also gave him the newspaper request, as we missed out on it last time. After Agus leaves, we head down to the lounge to get our pre-dinner drinks. It is busy down here, and it was the first time we realized that this would be a completely full YC experience. So we decided early on that we needed to make friends with the bartenders, so we pulled up some seats at the bar. We ordered some of our usual drinks and just took it all in, still trying to shake off all the travel stress. Finally our stomachs reminded us that it was dinner, so we headed upstairs before the masses did, only to find a dining room that was already quickly filling up. While service may be a little slower and a little less personal than previous experiences, we think that the food itself was much better than what it was on the Seashore. So we will take the wins where it matters. The only thing we did not enjoy tonight was the crema catalana dessert. Seemed like the base part of it wasn’t fully set and the caramel sauce on top was almost bitter. But everything else was amazing so we call that a win. After dinner, we went down to the lounge again for some post dinner drinks and to listen to the musician playing. Of note, we noticed that while we could hear the music coming up during dinner, it did not seem as loud as it had on Seashore. Either it’s better set on Seascape, or the overall volume in the dining room helped balance it out. After one or two drinks, all of the travel shenanigans and the lack of sleep that came with it was catching us very quickly. So we decided to do a quick detour to the sports bar in the search for Ramazzotti Rosato Aperitivo before we then headed up to the cabin and called it an early night. On the way into the room, we met the junior butler, Eder. He was still helping carry up the last of the bags and looked exhausted. He just wanted to introduce himself and asked about our schedule and whether we needed anything else in the room. We said so far everything is great, but would let him know if anything came up. From there, we bid him a goodnight and then got settled in and fell asleep hard. That sums up our first day onboard the new and shiny Seascape. Great first impressions and we are looking forward to everything this ship has to offer. Many hours late, but at least our chariot to Atlanta has arrived. Much better late than never in this case. On arrival into Melbourne we got ourselves a little cruise day jitter boost by seeing all these ships in port. Too bad Seascape wasn't up here. We finally make it on and the natural first stop is the snack bar to see what goodies are out. Might as well take a look around while we are here Still decorated for the holidays. Makes this day all that much more festive then. I swear every time I leave Miami it is always raining at some part of the day. Quick cabin tour of 19038. An accessible Yacht Club Interior stateroom. From the entryway. Now looking towards the entry way. All the storage space. The bathroom. With a flat entry to both the bathroom and shower, and an easy to lower bench for those that need it. Freedom of the Seas sailing off into the rain. We hope that our fellow Southwest passengers who were supposed to board her made it. Miami has a pretty picturesque downtown. Real close to the scheduled sail away time and we are still loading luggage. I cant remember how delayed our departure was. One last look at downtown before dinner. Speaking of, here was the menu for the night. Same menus as Seashore back in October, just a different order in which they came. Desserts for those who have a sweet tooth. Roasted tomato soup with the best bread at sea. Delicious scallops Very, very good dumplings. Nothing beats fresh pasta. Except this perfectly cooked filet. The tuna was a real close contender though. Put a little salt flake on there for texture and it's molto bene as the Italians would say. And here's where dinner lost us, dessert. I wasn't a fan of the coconut textures in this cake. And a very disappointing Crema Catalana. I know we could have asked for something else, but we were quite content from dinner and decided to let it be. From our very short foray into the action after dinner. A nicely decorated main atrium. And the top of the Times Square atrium. I like the subtle differences of decoration between Seashore and Seascape. And we'll end with a look down at the dueling pianos from deck 8.