Meraviglia New York-Canada-Miami Oct/Nov '19

[Beamafar]

Key lime pie 😍

 

Poor DH thought he was going to get to share it 😏🤣

 

[ssmea03]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

We've just arrived to the airport hotel now and finally have wifi.

When I went to use the last of my shipboard allowance this morning , the connection had been shut down!!!

Anyway  .... we stayed onboard in TSL til 11.30am, drinking champagne, til they told us it was time to leave.  There was nobody at immigration when we got there at 11.45.  All the crowds were gone!  We were on a shuttle bus by 12pm and arrived at the hotel at 12.30pm.  We had the room booked for 10am to 6pm.  They are allowing us to stay til 8pm.  Check in is at 7pm for our 10pm flight and we've been told we can come back to the room once we've done that! 😁

Good news, from your comment and those on FB it sounds like it was no where near as bad as they said it could be. Have a safe flight.

[Beamafar]

A very funny thing happened this morning.   Gene, the Cruise Director, was calling each colour code for disembarkation at various different times over the tannoy.  Well, when he got to 'Brown 2' he inadvertently called 'Brown poo'  🤣🤣🤣

Edited November 10, 2019 by Beamafar

[helen haywood]

What was the hotel you had for the day?  Thanks for your postings!

[Beamafar]

Just now, helen haywood said:

What was the hotel you had for the day?  Thanks for your postings!

 

It's Miami International Airport Hotel in Concourse E

[CruisinMaterial]

Bea... how is it so many in the Cruise Critic roll call met you but I never did?!?!?! Marco and Ignacio did and a few others said they saw you at the Cruise Critic gathering but I didn't see you there! I'll get caught up on your posts later on but glad you're sorted and safe travels home. The disembark today was a less than stellar ending to an ok voyage. They've got to do something with those express walk off folks who don't get off in their time. It is what clogged up the whole damn thing!

[Cruising89143]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

It's Miami International Airport Hotel in Concourse E

 By now you’re probably either in the air or close to it but thanks for the report. 🙂 Safe travels home.

[Beamafar]

We've just landed at Dublin airport and are taxi-ing in to the terminal.  It's a lovely, bright, sunny morning here but it's a cold one!

 

[citizenfrank]

46 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

We've just landed at Dublin airport and are taxi-ing in to the terminal.  It's a lovely, bright, sunny morning here but it's a cold one!

 

Welcome home! 

Was only able to follow your roving reporting whilst away in the States in part, dueto being so hectic, but it looked and sounded great👍

Hope the reality of home or more to the point the loss of the ship is not to shocking and the weather is going to get worse of course 😅

Great to know you both had fun.

[Beamafar]

21 hours ago, CruisinMaterial said:

Bea... how is it so many in the Cruise Critic roll call met you but I never did?!?!?! Marco and Ignacio did and a few others said they saw you at the Cruise Critic gathering but I didn't see you there! 

 

At least we met at the grill bar a few days ago, though I didn't see you around after that.

[vulcan1971]

On ‎11‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 2:28 PM, Beamafar said:

Key lime pie 😍

 

Poor DH thought he was going to get to share it 😏🤣

 

 

@Beamafar - The key lime pie looks amazing! I'm the person that asked for you to share your link to this thread in the thread about Yacht Club Changes. Thank you for so much for sharing the link and taking us with you on your adventures. I certainly enjoyed a good many laughs and learned a lot, too.  I hope I am blessed to cross paths with you on a future cruise.

[Beamafar]

9 minutes ago, vulcan1971 said:

 

@Beamafar - The key lime pie looks amazing! I'm the person that asked for you to share your link to this thread in the thread about Yacht Club Changes. Thank you for so much for sharing the link and taking us with you on your adventures. I certainly enjoyed a good many laughs and learned a lot, too.  I hope I am blessed to cross paths with you on a future cruise.

 

The key lime pie was good - but I prefer the one I make myself.  😛

 

Thank you for your lovely comments and it would be a pleasure to meet you some time if we do ever get to be on the same ship together.  I met some wonderful CCers on this trip which helped make it such a wonderful cruise.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Can’t wait for your next adventure Bea.

 

 

[citizenfrank]

10 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

The key lime pie was good - but I prefer the one I make myself.  😛

 

Thank you for your lovely comments and it would be a pleasure to meet you some time if we do ever get to be on the same ship together.  I met some wonderful CCers on this trip which helped make it such a wonderful cruise.

That's that sorted then ...next florida themed day, forget Kermits 🐸 it's all round to Bea's for a cruise critics gathering with the BEST key lime pie in the world.

DO NOT MISS OUT ...invites to follow 🎉🎤🎷

[Beamafar]

10 hours ago, citizenfrank said:

That's that sorted then ...next florida themed day, forget Kermits 🐸 it's all round to Bea's for a cruise critics gathering with the BEST key lime pie in the world.

DO NOT MISS OUT ...invites to follow 🎉🎤🎷

 

How was your trip, Frank?  (Seeing as how it's my thread, I have my permission to go off-topic  😜)

[citizenfrank]

On 11/19/2019 at 6:07 PM, Beamafar said:

 

How was your trip, Frank?  (Seeing as how it's my thread, I have my permission to go off-topic  😜)

Bea it was amazing....All that was missing was some days at sea and more drinking! 

Saw Meraviglia twice in Boston and NYC and she looked majestic.

Halloween in Salem was special and something to be glad you have ticked off.

Knowing both NYC and to a lesser extent Boston, the real star was Connecticut, a state we will revisit for sure!

 

Getting your thread back on track ...I followed your story all the way 😛

[Beamafar]

Delighted to hear you had a fantastic time, Frank - it sounded like an amazing trip, alright!

 

Never mind about this thread - I was going to add to it, but it dropped down a few pages and I decided it wasn't worth resurrecting!

[LAC2]

On 11/5/2019 at 9:45 AM, Beamafar said:

I brought a really warm sweater for our Canada leg of the cruise and I've ended up wearing it more in the Caribbean lol.  The air-conditioning is up too high for me in the restaurant.  I only needed a t-shirt on the NA part of the cruise 🙄

 

 

People were saying how hot it is on the pool deck today ... I thought it was lovely  😁

I love your sweater.  What kind is it and where did you acquire it?

 

[L2float]

Bea, we are onboard Meraviglia and are so excited to have Wayan and Marcos working with us! Thank you for sharing your journey. We are already having a wonderful time. I am sad about the lack of choice for wines in YC restaurant...  2 reds, 2 whites.They said they would substitute something tonight, but I really wanted to enjoy trying several new wines with meals. That’s why I upgraded to premium plus. Oh, well. Off to the champagne bar! 

[Beamafar]

19 minutes ago, L2float said:

Bea, we are onboard Meraviglia and are so excited to have Wayan and Marcos working with us! Thank you for sharing your journey. We are already having a wonderful time. I am sad about the lack of choice for wines in YC restaurant...  2 reds, 2 whites.They said they would substitute something tonight, but I really wanted to enjoy trying several new wines with meals. That’s why I upgraded to premium plus. Oh, well. Off to the champagne bar! 

 

Hi L.  Delighted to hear you're enjoying your time onboard.  Please say Hi to Wayan & Marcos from "Madam Beatrice" & hubby from cabin #16008 - they looked after us so well!

 

You really need to speak with the sommelier, Rudy!!!!!  Have the Connoisseur's wine list on the main YC bar menu available (that's where the list of wines by the glass is easily accessible) so you can indicate which wines you'd like to have over the course of the cruise and insist that you want to have these wines.  If needs be, tell him that you're prepared to speak to the Hotel Director if necessary!!!  You certainly don't have to settle for the 2 reds and 2 whites that they choose each evening - you've paid for Prem+ for a reason!!

 

No better place to hang out than in the Champagne Bar with "Bubbles" (that's our pet name for Oxana, the fantastic bartender).  Just say to her that you were told to say "Bubbles save the world"!!!

 

Hope your cruise continues to be a wonderful one!  If it's not too much trouble, please say from us Buon Giorno to Luciano and Bon Dia to Caio, the 2 wonderful concierges.  Gosh, we miss all these people so much!

 

I can't leave out Luis, the m'D, who did his utmost to try to get things improved in the kitchen and dining room during our cruise.  If you like lasagne, he'll arrange to have it available for you at dinner;  DH absolutely loves it on the ships and had it several times in place of an appetiser.  He just gave Luis 24 hours notice to give the chef a heads-up.

[Beamafar]

2 hours ago, LAC2 said:

I love your sweater.  What kind is it and where did you acquire it?

 

 

It's a typical simple 'Aran' knit (though, unfortunately, it's not a hand-knit and is handwash only 😏).  I bought it in Ireland.

 

Here's a real Aran sweater with a more complex pattern (which I hand-knit - with 100% wool - probably about 30 years ago and can throw in the washing machine, no problem.  It was too bulky to bring and a cardigan is more versatile, which is why I bought it).

 

 

 

These would be knit for fishermen, especially on the west coast of Ireland for the Atlantic seas, and the wool would be waxed to make them water-resistant and warmer to wear.  Different families would have their own particular 'stitch' (such as the diamond panel in this one) which would identify them.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Beamafar

[Dr. Cocktail]

2 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

Hi L.  Delighted to hear you're enjoying your time onboard.  Please say Hi to Wayan & Marcos from "Madam Beatrice" & hubby from cabin #16008 - they looked after us so well!

 

You really need to speak with the sommelier, Rudy!!!!!  Have the Connoisseur's wine list on the main YC bar menu available (that's where the list of wines by the glass is easily accessible) so you can indicate which wines you'd like to have over the course of the cruise and insist that you want to have these wines.  If needs be, tell him that you're prepared to speak to the Hotel Director if necessary!!!  You certainly don't have to settle for the 2 reds and 2 whites that they choose each evening - you've paid for Prem+ for a reason!!

 

No better place to hang out than in the Champagne Bar with "Bubbles" (that's our pet name for Oxana, the fantastic bartender).  Just say to her that you were told to say "Bubbles save the world"!!!

 

Hope your cruise continues to be a wonderful one!  If it's not too much trouble, please say from us Buon Giorno to Luciano and Bon Dia to Caio, the 2 wonderful concierges.  Gosh, we miss all these people so much!

 

I can't leave out Luis, the m'D, who did his utmost to try to get things improved in the kitchen and dining room during our cruise.  If you like lasagne, he'll arrange to have it available for you at dinner;  DH absolutely loves it on the ships and had it several times in place of an appetiser.  He just gave Luis 24 hours notice to give the chef a heads-up.

 

Thanks for all of your expert advice! I am sooooooooo not willing to deal with the MSC nonsense on my upcoming Meraviglia cruise and really hate getting into confrontational situations while on vacation.

 

We had similar problems on February with wine selections in the specialty restaurants on Seaside. I found that actions speak a hell of a lot louder than words. When the v*&%^(&^   (rhymes with "that pole") sommelier in Butcher's Cut refused to serve me anything but the $1.95 plonk that the menu allowed, I simply got up, walked to the Top Sail Lounge and requested four glasses of the red that I desired and walked back to the restaurant. I (thankfully!) passed Robert, the YC Director on the way who looked at me quizzically as to say: "OK, now what?".  We have followed Robert in each of our YC cruises as he ascended the management ladder. I told him what was going on and (literally), all hell broke loose. He and the Specialty Dining Manager and Sommelier got into a knock-down argument about what was the "standard".

 

I've told my partner, even though I remain THE master of spilling sauce on myself, it remains a marvel of how many glasses I can carry at high speed without causing a train wreck!  Ah, the curative and restorative powers of alcohol......

 

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Dr. Cocktail

[Beamafar]

I no longer see it as a confrontational situation - I know what I'm entitled to and I'm now more comfortable with being assertive (and not aggressive) when it comes to ensuring that I get it.  It comes from sailing regularly with MSC - I feel I'm home from home and I let the crew know that I know how things work onboard.

 

I did experience blow-back with some crew on Meraviglia when I was asserting myself, 'til we had a meeting with the Hotel Director due to a major issue we experienced with some YC guests.  After that, every other situation we encountered, we received the "Yes" answer as opposed to the "No" one!

 

We only went to the SRs (7 visits in total) on the second "leg" of our cruise (from NY to Miami).  The SR sommelier had only just embarked then and knew us from another cruise.  He really looked after us in terms of wine when we were dining in an SR - he brought bottles that weren't on the SR menus, but were available in the dispensers outside the Panorama restaurant and were included in the Prem+ package.

 

It's interesting that the Seaside YC director's name was Robert.  We had a Hotel Director named Robert on our Armonia cruise in January and he was very good, too!

[Dr. Cocktail]

23 minutes ago, Beamafar said:

I no longer see it as a confrontational situation - I know what I'm entitled to and I'm now more comfortable with being assertive (and not aggressive) when it comes to ensuring that I get it.  It comes from sailing regularly with MSC - I feel I'm home from home and I let the crew know that I know how things work onboard.

 

I did experience blow-back with some crew on Meraviglia when I was asserting myself, 'til we had a meeting with the Hotel Director due to a major issue we experienced with some YC guests.  After that, every other situation we encountered, we received the "Yes" answer as opposed to the "No" one!

 

We only went to the SRs (7 visits in total) on the second "leg" of our cruise (from NY to Miami).  The SR sommelier had only just embarked then and knew us from another cruise.  He really looked after us in terms of wine when we were dining in an SR - he brought bottles that weren't on the SR menus, but were available in the dispensers outside the Panorama restaurant and were included in the Prem+ package.

 

It's interesting that the Seaside YC director's name was Robert.  We had a Hotel Director named Robert on our Armonia cruise in January and he was very good, too!

 

Bea - I completely hear what you're saying! Perhaps using the word "confrontational" was incorrect - what I meant to say is that I'm getting to the age where after all my cruises and my having run my own business for about 30 years, I'm tired of having to push to  get what I actually paid for. That's why I go on vacation - to escape the nonsense!

 

Having said that - I still have another 4 YC's booked and still get excited with each one!

 

In the next year, I will also stray and return to The Haven, Oceania (great itinerary) and *gasp* Regent. I want to see what the fuss is about and it was only 20% more than the YC!

[LAC2]

3 hours ago, Beamafar said:

 

It's a typical simple 'Aran' knit (though, unfortunately, it's not a hand-knit and is handwash only 😏).  I bought it in Ireland.

 

Here's a real Aran sweater with a more complex pattern (which I hand-knit - with 100% wool - probably about 30 years ago and can throw in the washing machine, no problem.  It was too bulky to bring and a cardigan is more versatile, which is why I bought it).

 

 

 

These would be knit for fishermen, especially on the west coast of Ireland for the Atlantic seas, and the wool would be waxed to make them water-resistant and warmer to wear.  Different families would have their own particular 'stitch' (such as the diamond panel in this one) which would identify them.

Another beautiful sweater and the history to match.  You are sooooo informative and kind to take the time to explain it all.  Thank you very much.  

 

We have never sailed MSC, primarily Princess, and would love to know what your generally opinion of MSC.  

 

Thanks again.