Seaside 3/23/19

[dexddd]

[dexddd]

So good question from DD for you experts.

 

We aren’t using anchors so they just using pods to stay in place?

[dexddd]

[dexddd]

Day one – WOW, just WOW!

 

Sound bites thus far.  DD Friday at hotel.  At least MSC lets everyone in YC have free drinks.   DS Saturday – MSC has the huge lounge in front which is nice.

I was going to take picture of white tent but forgot.  Got there at 10:40 and processed soon enough and off to YC waiting area – nice staff and drinks.  Boarding started at 11:48.  I’m sure we’ll only have a few areas of improvement and here is one.  All boarding started then so the butlers are trying to escort you on but you get sidetracked by everyone else boarding as you go through the main atrium – no fault of anyone else just trying to get on board but either have a separate embarkation point or let you go first like NCL.

As we got our card scanned to get on the ship we start to see some familiar faces.  I’m horrible with names but we see a line of butlers and a guy in a white outfit.  I immediately say “hi Robert” and we talk briefly.  I’m sure he doesn’t remember us but we remembered him!  He was the guy in charge of Le Muse on Divinia who managed to get me two chicken parms one night – I was thrilled and seemed like the old days of cruising.  I later find out he was promoted to YC Director.  What a great decision by MSC as Robert is one great guy.  I later that night ran into Robert and we talked again.  He was at the shipyard with Seaside and brought it out.  How exciting for him and I wished him the best in his well deserved promotion. 

 

Day Two – WOW, Just WOW again! More to come.  Same for Monday.,

 

Monday – I thought we were going to Jamaica but we apparently ended up at EWR.  How do I know this?  Well, when you see a whole place full of started but not completed construction, you know you are at a New York airport.  When you see anything mechanical thrown off to the side and not working, you know you are at EWR.  The odd thing, normally you see signs from the Port Authority of NJ taking pride in ownership all over the place but scrap prices must be at an all time high as the signs were not seen today.

[mking8288]

On 3/22/2019 at 5:13 PM, dexddd said:

MKing - even with all the needles you put into my voodoo doll, we made it on time to FLL and hope to make it to Miami fine tomorrow.  No last minute switcheroo by the airlines - kept our CRJ200 and A321.  Only glitch is they gave our son the wrong boarding pass 3 times.

 

Heeeeello, I swear and hereby proclaim my innocence !  Glad to hear that GA did NOT gave away the assigned seat and bumped your son off ...  Just stay clear of those newer 737's ...  

 

Been busy over the last few days to help put closure on SIL's (no need to say anything ... Mrs. M & I knew this 18 months ago & God gave us extra, extra quality time, so) & said our final goodbye - moving on & refocusing, on topic. 

 

Wow, lovely pictures - bookmarked & going to follow & digest all these images, info & follow along.  How are shrimp cocktails on MSC ... the latest buzz on NCL is that now @ Cagney's - a shrimp cocktail with 3 pc. has an upcharge of $4.99 + 20%, the uproar - but, the handful of cheerleaders are still doing their pom pom's

 

Checking the itinerary, how was tendering ashore today and did you opt to go to "Hell" and come back, LOL ??

 

How is the ship's satellite WiFi, included as part of the package ?  Unlimited & decent speed, I assume ?  Anyway, later ... 

[Aloha 1]

8 hours ago, dexddd said:

Went yesterday 

About 22 TVs all playing soccer 

That's an absolute disgrace. You'd think they would understand, as my son says, that this is "The most wonderful time of the year". So, second question would be can you stream video with the top internet package?

[graphicguy]

Great pics.  What YC cabin do you have?

[floridian1]

I also would love more info on the channels available in the sports bar. Hoping NBA playoffs/finals will be on when we sail.

[dexddd]

Ok

will answer some as on phone

 

 

[dexddd]

Internet about as good as their website 

[dexddd]

Ok

 

DW spotted this first day as it is from our floor down stairs to lounge.  She really likes it .

 

My guess $10,000.  Only $7,000 but I just got new car so I’m looking for you folks to go fund me but you need to be quick as we only have a couple more days here.

[dexddd]

I think this one squirts water at a price of $8000?

[TampaGambler]

great pics...

 

following along

[dexddd]

 I actually like this but don’t see name or title.

 

Im going to call it “Nesting Dolls”

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Great pics.  What YC cabin do you have?

18008 & 18031.

[dexddd]

Excuse typing 

 

Yes one cocktail thus far but wavy 

[dexddd]

GC tendering fine using port tender not lifeboat.

 

Rented car Kia picanto with wheels  smaller than a lawn tractor.  Maybe stolen from ncl go kart track?

 

went to turtle farm and did drive through hell but no stop this time.

 

[mking8288]

Great pictures - keep them coming, later on, when you get time (post-cruise) & don't just show dearest son's cabin, gotta see ya suite & balcony with the details.  

 

Cool, Oceanview Urinals - assumed those are one-way see-thru privacy glass, reminding me of the Garden Villa views on the Norwegian Dawn, saw them on our walk-thru tour back in, gosh ... 2003.  Think NCL had since modified or took them out during dry dock.  

 

As for the Kia, think of their high imported "petro" prices - like 2/3 higher than those in the USA, squeeze every last miles out of each gallon or liter of gasoline.  I'm surprised that they (and other Carib islands) aren't using more hybrid and/or Tesla.  

 

Did you catch any red roosters running wild around Hell, just like the ones we saw in Kauai, HI during our overnight POA stop 10 years ago.  Enjoy your remaining time in Cozumel today - if your legs get tired, catch a free ride back on the pier to the ship, for a nominal tip to the locals.  BTW, we had a solid 4G cellular signals for more than an hour after a beautiful evening sailaway.  

 

[dexddd]

Rumor the captain of the ship next to us is named Klink.

[dexddd]

So last night (Monday) was a special night.  Double chicken parmigiana!  Dinner was excellent.  Thank you Robert! Tuesday was Grand Cayman and we rented a car again and drove in the opposite lane on purpose.

So for some of the pictures.  The CC M&G was Sunday at 10 in Seaview.  Invites were in cabin night before.  A REALLY nice party.  We had 124 signed up and we had probably 80 there.  Wonderful drinks, you could order from bar, nice cake, optional group picture.  MSC really takes good care of the CC folks.

 

At 10:45 we had invite to Specialty Rest tasting.  Worked out great for timing.  Met by the bar between Teppanyaki and Butcher’s Cut for a brief intro.  Not sure if this was a new thing but with 7 Specialties MSC is trying to make sure they get full use.  Based on our first night at Teppanyaki where it was open at the other table (they have two 12 person tables).  We had a great dinner there – I’ll talk more about that later.  This was a nice event but they should have staggered the groups as really too many people for the places they took us.  Even the head chef had to call on the phone to the guy in Tepp. Who was literally 12 feet from him.  So they did a nice demo at Tepp, made some fried rice for everyone, then on to Ocean Cay (or Butcher’s Cut or Pan Asian, I don’t recall the order).  We ended up having sushi, and at Butcher’s Cut a great bunch of steak strips.  Overall a nice event other than crowd control.

 

Looking at the pictures you can see I was focused on the beef cuts in the cooler.  DW focused on the cute lights from the ceiling and on the wall.  The Specialties are open for lunch on sea days – this we did not know before going as it seem to be conflicting info. 

 

The young lad playing by the pool we first met at our muster station.  He was our muster guy.  I was thinking where does this 12 year old work and figured maybe in entertainment.  Sure enough, we caught him the first night by the main atrium and he was VERY good.  His name is Chris from South Africa.  I know he would not likely save us in a disaster but he might be able to keep us all calm in the life boat by singing.  DD found he was playing next day by pool and that is his pick.

 

So – here is time to poke some fun of MSC – hopefully they’ll understand.  The picture of the faucet is in our room.  Sometimes it will shut off, other times you have to find the sweet spot where it will actually turn off and not drip.  When Seaside came out there where talks about the sewage smell.  Well, reports have been positive that it has been eliminated – well, no, they just funneled to the area around and in our kids room on 18.  It has been every time we go there.  Inside the room, outside in the hall, but usually not in the bathroom so not likely drains there – we did pour water down drains but it is like a fog over certain parts of 18 port side.  Other thing, the showers in our rooms change water temperature to an extreme where you keep having to adjust up or down in temp.

[dexddd]

5 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Great pictures - keep them coming, later on, when you get time (post-cruise) & don't just show dearest son's cabin, gotta see ya suite & balcony with the details.  

 

Cool, Oceanview Urinals - assumed those are one-way see-thru privacy glass, reminding me of the Garden Villa views on the Norwegian Dawn, saw them on our walk-thru tour back in, gosh ... 2003.  Think NCL had since modified or took them out during dry dock.  

 

As for the Kia, think of their high imported "petro" prices - like 2/3 higher than those in the USA, squeeze every last miles out of each gallon or liter of gasoline.  I'm surprised that they (and other Carib islands) aren't using more hybrid and/or Tesla.  

 

Did you catch any red roosters running wild around Hell, just like the ones we saw in Kauai, HI during our overnight POA stop 10 years ago.  Enjoy your remaining time in Cozumel today - if your legs get tired, catch a free ride back on the pier to the ship, for a nominal tip to the locals.  BTW, we had a solid 4G cellular signals for more than an hour after a beautiful evening sailaway.  

 

 

Thanks for the info on 4G.  Will posts pics.  And is that true about Cagney's shrimp cocktails?  Haven't seen any here yet but maybe tomorrow as I think it is lobster night.  Food has been great.

 

Didn't use much gas at all with Piconto unlike van last time.  Roosters were everywhere.

[dexddd]

5 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Great pictures - keep them coming, later on, when you get time (post-cruise) & don't just show dearest son's cabin, gotta see ya suite & balcony with the details.  

 

Cool, Oceanview Urinals - assumed those are one-way see-thru privacy glass, reminding me of the Garden Villa views on the Norwegian Dawn, saw them on our walk-thru tour back in, gosh ... 2003.  Think NCL had since modified or took them out during dry dock.  

 

As for the Kia, think of their high imported "petro" prices - like 2/3 higher than those in the USA, squeeze every last miles out of each gallon or liter of gasoline.  I'm surprised that they (and other Carib islands) aren't using more hybrid and/or Tesla.  

 

Did you catch any red roosters running wild around Hell, just like the ones we saw in Kauai, HI during our overnight POA stop 10 years ago.  Enjoy your remaining time in Cozumel today - if your legs get tired, catch a free ride back on the pier to the ship, for a nominal tip to the locals.  BTW, we had a solid 4G cellular signals for more than an hour after a beautiful evening sailaway.  

 

 

Thanks for the info on 4G.  Will posts pics.  And is that true about Cagney's shrimp cocktails?  Haven't seen any here yet but maybe tomorrow as I think it is lobster night.  Food has been great.

 

Didn't use much gas at all with Piconto unlike van last time.  Roosters were everywhere.

[dexddd]

So turns out we have 3000 mb - but of what?  Internet did not work at all for any sites I tried and it was my understanding from looking at upcharge from current package only restriction should be streaming and the likes.  It did allow computer loaded Outlook email to work for work emails.  You may not be hearing much from me tomorrow if we don't get it to work.

 

I'll leave you with this from a previous co-worker - when the Carnies are in town, time to lock the doors.  We had two Carnies in town today!  Wasn't able to get a clear picture of their ships though as at other docks.

[mking8288]

@dexddd - Enjoy your evening & dinner ... don't worry about uploading pix if satellite WiFi is acting up, only seeing your text (could be everyone is posting once back on the ship)

 

From MarineTraffic, you got 4 cruise ships (3 RCL + Carnival) 15 nm ahead of the Seaside, spotting for rogue waves - Cancun, portside is about 20 nm away and you will be losing any decent 4G LTE signal (we pretty much had a solid usable Movistar while in direct sight of land as we sailed toward Cuba).  

 

What are plans for Nassau, weather is looking good - high of 79 degree, partly sunny & breezy, wind gusts to 25 mph ?  Amazing how a week goes quickly, usually DW begin to "protest" at this point, LOL.  

[dexddd]

15 hours ago, mking8288 said:

@dexddd - Enjoy your evening & dinner ... don't worry about uploading pix if satellite WiFi is acting up, only seeing your text (could be everyone is posting once back on the ship)

 

From MarineTraffic, you got 4 cruise ships (3 RCL + Carnival) 15 nm ahead of the Seaside, spotting for rogue waves - Cancun, portside is about 20 nm away and you will be losing any decent 4G LTE signal (we pretty much had a solid usable Movistar while in direct sight of land as we sailed toward Cuba).  

 

What are plans for Nassau, weather is looking good - high of 79 degree, partly sunny & breezy, wind gusts to 25 mph ?  Amazing how a week goes quickly, usually DW begin to "protest" at this point, LOL.  

Thanks for the weather.

 

Staying on tomorrow and do water slides.