My View: 14 Days of Chasing the Sun on Seaside

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

Peter Punk:

Tonight’s show was more focused on acrobatics and juggling. I missed the singers, but this was probably a good way to rest their voices. The show was again highly entertaining and definitely not to be missed!

15FF110E-7D61-4118-A136-D3A349490A54.jpeg.34a39105e28681f75923a5d80f16b194.jpeg

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

Welcome Back Party:

We attended the Welcome Back Party at 7:15. It was surprisingly empty in the Haven Lounge, but I heard that they had more than one scheduled. We attended with our new-found cruise friends, and they informed us we could order any drink. We ordered an Amaretto Sour, my favorite go to drink.

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

My View: End of day 6

Gene (who I think was born to be a cruise director) shared some of his life story and his singing career, which was fascinating and very touching.

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

17 hours ago, Dapjlp said:

Does your RC Crown and Anchor status apply to MSC?

8 hours ago, JoeFo44 said:

You have to do the status match on their website. You can only do it once.

Thank you @JoeFo44 !

Yes, that is what we did prior to this cruise. The great thing is, once you status match, you only have to cruise once every 3 years with MSC to keep your matched status. I had misunderstood that it is only for one cruise, but whichever status you match stays with you if you keep cruising MSC every 3 years.

Cruisergal1208 · June 7, 2019

Be sure to see the final show of the cruise. We think it's the best of all of them. I agree about a Gene Young. A great CD.

May I have permission to share your picture of Gene with him?

Edited June 7, 2019 by Cruisergal1208

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

1 hour ago, stephaniekleinn said:

Curious if you were able to fix your husbands status? I matched as Black but my husband matched as Gold, when I called I was told we did it at separate times, just wondering if you had any luck sweet talking anyone?

Also, I'm in 9205 and 9207, I'm hearing because those are extended balconies you can see into them from above, could you perhaps snap a photo of this?

Thanks! We leave in a couple of weeks. Great review!!!!

Stephanie

Hi, Stephanie!

I will gladly try to snap a picture tomorrow during turn over day. We did not approach anyone about the status match yet. DH did not really care, as he does not like to drink alcohol and the only thing he missed was the Diamond party. However, we will try to track someone down and let you know what they say. I hope they will allow him to be black card too.

Thank you for reading along! Enjoy planning your adventure on this beautiful ship!

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

18 minutes ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

Be sure to see the final show of the cruise. We think it's the best of all of them. I agree about a Gene Young. A great CD.

May I have permission to share your picture of Gene with him?

Yes, please do! If you ask at APDMOM@live.com, I will gladly send an original without the signature at the bottom too.

And we are booked for the Michael Jackson show tonight. I think we will be there when the doors open 🙂

Edited June 7, 2019 by APDMOM

APDMOM · June 7, 2019

Daily Program: Day 6 - At Sea:

stoneman56 · June 7, 2019

2 hours ago, APDMOM said:

My View: End of day 6

Gene (who I think was born to be a cruise director) shared some of his life story and his singing career, which was fascinating and very touching.

Ohhh he's putting on weight.

Cruisergal1208 · June 7, 2019

Not a very kind thing to say!!

CarolnLarry · June 8, 2019

45 minutes ago, Cruisergal1208 said:

Not a very kind thing to say!!

What was not a kind thing to say? If you don't quote the reference we have no idea what you are referring to.

Cruisergal1208 · June 8, 2019

1 hour ago, stoneman56 said:

Ohhh he's putting on weight.

This is the quote I was referring to. Did you know read the comments before mine??

Sancho_proudfoot · June 8, 2019

10 hours ago, stephaniekleinn said:

Curious if you were able to fix your husbands status? I matched as Black but my husband matched as Gold, when I called I was told we did it at separate times, just wondering if you had any luck sweet talking anyone?

Also, I'm in 9205 and 9207, I'm hearing because those are extended balconies you can see into them from above, could you perhaps snap a photo of this?

Thanks! We leave in a couple of weeks. Great review!!!!

Stephanie

We did the status match online. We are Diamond on RCL. It originally came back as MSC Gold. I queried it by email, they apologised, and basically said "Oops yes, you're Black".

Worth asking if they get it wrong.

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

Almost forgot to post dinner menu for day 6:

dorts · June 8, 2019

Look forward to hearing what happens today since you are staying on another 7 days! What's the procedure and do you get to keep everything like cards etc? Also the thermal pass - does it extend the full 14 days?

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

My View: Day 7 - Nassau

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

Morning sunrise from our balcony (The sun is somewhere there!):

Storm over the ocean:

Here comes the sun:

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

Views of Nassau:

The first, and only rain of the week, hit right when we were pulling out of Nassau. It was just the typical Caribbean/Florida storm that came and went quickly:

In 2012 when we got to Bahamas, this house had a helicopter landing and taking off. Today, it is falling apart:

Atlantis Copycat:

Edited June 8, 2019 by APDMOM

alicat58 · June 8, 2019

Thank you so much for continuing to entertain us with your review. The photos are beautiful.

I was also born in South Africa and make bobotie on occasion. Been in the UK for nearly 20 years. Going back end of September because daughter decided to get married there(to her Aussie man). Not a lot of family left there so most people travelling from all over the world.

I am so excited because in a week I will be sitting somewhere on the Seaview in Barcelona. My brother(from Pretoria) will be on the ship with wife and twin 16 year old daughters. I might also do a review but it will be nowhere near as great as following yours.

Looking forward to more!

Alicat

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

Since we have been to Nassau plenty of times, we spent the day on the ship, enjoying the slides and the jungle pool.

This has been an amazing day!

Zipline:

This following paragraph is a bit more of our personal experience and life, so skip ahead of you just want “the nitty gritty about the zipline... While at the slides, one of the staff members from the zipline talked to our son and my husband about trying the zipline. DS had tried to do the small zipline on Norwegian Escape before, but he became so fearful that he froze and could not let his feet leave the ground. So, he never did a zipline before. He is a very math-brained kid and not naturally social. Abel (the staff member), seemed to figure this out and told our son that he puts about 1,500 people on the zipline every week, and not a single one has fallen yet. He told our son that he has been doing this for 2 years. Math-brain DS caught on to that statistic and quickly did the math to let Abel know that he has not had a single person fall in about 150,000 rides. DS was still not convinced, but Abel took it a step further to offer us a “buy one, get one free” pass. He gave DS the free pass right away, trusting that we would purchase another pass. So, DH and DS were the assigned zipliners, while I was thankfully the designated photographer. While DS admitted that he was still scared, the staff members were incredibly supportive, encouraging him and understanding his fear.

The Nitty Gritty of the Zipline:

The good thing about this zipline is that it has the floor giving away below your feet. So, even if you freeze, you will just naturally start zipping along. You also do not have to master a braking system, as the zipline has that built in at the end. You can therefore just relax and let the zipline take you to the end, securely strapped into a harness. DH reports that the views are amazing - I will have to try the zipline next week!

APDMOM · June 8, 2019

Calm Seas and Perfect Weather Again:

For some cruisers, this is the bittersweet end of “chasing the sun”. For us, it is just. The close out of our first week’s ports... See you again next week, Nassau!

Coco Cay: See you in November:

Around 7:40, DH noticed a ‘lighthouse’. I grabbed my superzoom Nikon, and found it is not only a lighthouse, but Coco Cay. What my DH saw was the large slides structure. There is a lighthouse too, but the slides are much taller.

For the perfectionists among us: It is pronounced Coco Key (Local spelling CAY = pronounced KEY). Of course saying “cay” sounds a little more sophisticated for some reason. LOL!

Speaking of “Cay”. I can not wait until we get to visit Ocean Cay (New MSC private island in the Bahamas) next June and July!

A few ‘hazy’ views of Coco Cay in the distance: