TrinaLC

I did the same! My point total is correct at slightly north of 25,000 but the bar graph/progress line was way off (to the downside).

Any cruise that has Pepe will have the YC team at its best!

I agree, given that you do not get a refund of pre-paid items such as Wi-Fi in the event of a winning bid, strongly suggests the total of what you’ve paid will be taken into account. So if your original cabin cost $1,000, and you have added $200 for prepaid Wi-Fi, and you up your cost by bidding 1,000, your bid will be considered as $2,200. If you delete your wi-fi first, your bid will be considered as $2,000.

I won’t pay luxury prices on any cruise that is sailing the typical Caribbean routes. Been there, done that numerous times. Ditto 7 day cruises. Back to back does not equal a longer cruise to us. I think they are really missing the mark with their current strategy. We will continue to book repositioning cruises on E if priced right.

Is it 100% worthless if you are sailing in YC? I don’t see any benefit. They should have had at least a free bag of laundry for every 4-5 days.

Most ships have “trophy rooms” with plaques from first time calling into port, pictures of ceremonies etc. It may be a dated concept with the huge number of builds coming on line.

It’s not the maiden voyage, but maiden trip across the pond with first ever port visits. Will there be special welcoming ceremonies? Maybe in the final port Miami?

Is it one bottle of spirits in the room per cruise (like YC) or will they replenish?

Muzak is a deal breaker. I mean that!

Are you a paid YC cheerleader? 😃

Honestly, we have found the fare in the YC restaurants to be sub par. We love the staff and atmosphere (especially on Divina) but realistically the food is often below where it should be. Does anyone expedite plates and look at what they put on them before they send them out? And the lack of shade is a problem, and the fact that in the new Explora ships they have again ignored this is so shortsighted. But we love the YC overall and look forward to trying Explora in a few months. (At least in Divina the pool staff bring up shade tents, wind permitting. )

Honestly, you are better off boarding at 1:30 given your circumstances. The crowds will be vastly diminished. So maybe check out of your accommodations and then walk around Charleston? The waterfront park might be a great place to do that. If you let us know where you are staying we can suggest near by attractions. Once you board one of you should go straight to the Maitre D’ who will be on duty to arrange changes in dinner times. I can’t remember which dining room - hopefully someone will post that information. I would also try to see if the special needs phone line help can do that ahead of time. yes you can bring backpacks. There is no serious limit on bags - either number or type. Note that the very back/aft on the lido deck - the Havana Bar area - is much quieter for breakfast and lunch especially the first several days. You can also order included lunch pastas which might help make for a more peaceful meal - on the port/left side in the Havana area. That is where they also do eggs to order in the mornings.

Did the build a real “loo” for Ocean Cay YC?! 😁

We are from actual western NY! Chautauqua county.

Agreed! We were on one of the Seas and several officers had their families with young kids. They were taking up a great number of the few shady tables, and lingering basically all day.

Weird this happened on a TA. In our experience they sail at quite a bit below capacity. We completed a TA on MSC in about the same time frame and it was probably 25% below full.

Ask at the concierge desk when you’ve boarded and been escorted into YC. There are a few reports of success. Can’t hurt to ask.

Me too!

Really?

MSC matches.

Is the card equipped with a punch hole for a lanyard?

Is the water bottle double construction (like the yeti brand) so keeps contents cold?

As long as they add a lot of shade!

We tip only at the end, based on experiences during the week. Proabably $100 for the butler, and 50 to 70 for the assistant butler. We’ve tipped $30 or so for exceptional service from others, be they butlers (not ours), waiters we had regularly, servers form the pool/YC lounge, and $20-30 to several bar tenders and the often terrific pool guys. Also tipped the Maitre D’ from $50 to 75 but this was an exceptional guy. On other trips we have not tipped the MD. Haing said that, we are fairly big tippers, so evaluate the above in that perspective. We have never felt that a tip was expected and certainly not that the possibility of a tip changed the service level. Staff know that Europeans are generally not tippers and treat every one the same. So just leaving the auto tips in place and nothing more is certainly fine as well. And of course treating the staff with kindness and patience when they are busy.

Not sure the 7-14-21 day plan will work for us - each would represent a different 7 day cruise out of Miami (for example) but any 7 day cruise out of Miami is something we’ve done a million times (or so it seems). We will never again cruise the Jamaica loop. Seems like if we want longer cruises to places not normally within the 7 day radius we won’t be doing Explora. Shame, we already have two TAs booked but that may be it for us.