Seaside Yacht Club Observations 'Revisited'

[rattanchair]

On board the beautiful Seaside for Thanksgiving. This week is also the 2nd anniversary cruise week of the Seaside with a ship board party on the 28th.

   Got to the white tent at 9:30 am, not staffed til 10:00. Gold YC tags were 'added' to the white tags already attached to our luggage (which were never removed) until we removed them both when they arrived to our cabin. YC staff are not permitted to load your tagged luggage onto any luggage trolley. That is the express job of a terminal porter, who arrived at 10:15 (10:30 our last vacation). We were escorted as a YC group into the terminal for our next queue, waiting for port authority to open carry-on and passenger screening at 10:45. Once escorted to our YC terminal lounge our waits and queues ended. The YC experience began.

   

 

[rattanchair]

Our cabin, we felt was very warm. So we proceeded to lower the thermostat to the maximum. After several hours of no improvement, we sought out our butler, Joel, pronounced Jo El, (like Superman's father on Krypton). He contacted engineering and we got 3 engineers dressed in white jump suits who removed thermostat housing, made some adjustments and apologized, explaining that the prior passengers, Italians, complained that the cabin was too cold. Today the AC is great. Hint: Bring an old cruise card with you to leave in the light receptacle to keep the lights and AC on when you leave the cabin.

     There were passengers that experienced luggage missing up until dinner. We were one of these treated to another experience. We contacted Joel again that we were missing a small duffle bag. During dinner Joel comes to our table with the good news, he found our duffle bag; but would I be so kind to meet him after dinner at the concierge station to escort me down to deck 4, that ship security wanted me to unlock and open and they wanted to  examine something suspicious that appeared on X-ray examination.  So now we can attest that all bags are screened.

     After dinner I was escorted by Joel down to deck 4, to a room with a trolley loaded with passenger and crew baggage. There was a line to get into this room. Joel butted us to the front of the line (YC has its privileges). The security agent ordered Joel and I out of the room, until he was finished quizzing and examining another passenger and his bag. I got the immediate feeling it was because the agent was afraid what he was examining might be dangerous, toxic or might explode  and he wanted to limit the damage to just those in the room at the time. Joel kept our place at the head of the queue outside the room.

[George C]

How was your dinner , we sail this Saturday also in YC room 16022

[mafig]

Well, what, if anything, was in your bag??????

[George C]

Was mini bar setup with free booze?

[rattanchair]

Every cabin is receiving $100 ship board credit regardless how many 'clowns' are stuffed into a cabin. Best of all, a 20% off every passengers cruise fare toward a future cruise, no time limit. We went directly to the future cruise desk, at opening 9:oo am, to see if we could find an available cabin. Of course our cabin is booked a year in advance for the vacation times we need. To all MSC enthusiasts, the future cruise desk has no, none, absolutely no future openings past March 2021 in the Carribean except Armonia. So we must stay vigilant. My computer stopped working on MSC's site, I check it so often every day.  Of course if you paid $499 for the fare your 20% is a jackpot doubling your fun in the sun.  And all this is for missing Ocean Cay ! I  plan on returning for Christmas,  barring some CC poster pushing me down the stunning, illuminated Swarovski staircases: hoping for another Ocean Cay delay and another 20% future credit.

    I read from some other poster's thread that her conception of the present small 'size' of Ocean Cay compared to her 'hacienda' or other cruise lines out islands, was not to her liking. How much acreage does this lady need to spread out upon and not 'rub elbows' with the passenger that might plop down next to her on Ocean Cay?

[cmdchiefthom]

YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION RATTAN CHAIR, SOUNDS LIKE THE BEGINNING OF A SHIP'S MYSTERY NOVEL😉

[rattanchair]

24 minutes ago, George C said:

How was your dinner , we sail this Saturday also in YC room 16022

Deasr GC,  You know from my past posts that the food is very subjective. Any meal I have away from my DW 's cooking, is a treat! As long as I do not get an upset stomach or worse, I am a happy camper. The veal chop was cooked the way I like, but was too fatty. Since my DW has never cooked me a veal chop in over 40 years, I figure maybe all veal chops are fatty. I fill up on desserts and I never leave a meal hungry.

 P.S. I am presently in #16024, I will peek in on your cabin, but I am afraid I am 'persona non grata' with the CC 'crowd'.  I will check in with Joel and see if he is your butler and tell him you are a friend of mine. (I plan on tipping him $200 at the end of the cruise unless he lives up to Vishnu Domah, then $400, heck I'll be back in 4 weeks)

[cyndyga]

Following! I'm getting on as you get off and will be in 16018 ...I can't wait! I love it that people take the time to post! I never get internet so Thank you! Hoping my luggage is not delayed as I am only bringing one suitcase lol...

[mickey89]

From my memory, the card slot inside the cabin isolates the power to the lights and power sockets but not the AC. Maybe I have a memory lapse but it is worth checking.  It also operates an indicator light above the door in the corridor which tells the butler when you are out to enable him/her to carry out their duties.

Edited November 24, 2019 by mickey89

[rattanchair]

45 minutes ago, mafig said:

Well, what, if anything, was in your bag??????

Dear Ma,   Yes, yes. Just seeing if you were listening.

 Well, after Joel  left our dinner table, DW started in with me. "I told you not to pack those items", etc, etc.The rest of the meal was what was going to happen to me. None of what was going to happen to me came into my imagination, only her imagination. She said they were going to throw me in the 'brig' (she used the word 'jail'). I corrected her terminology. They will throw you in the brig and put us off at the next port. I tried to make light of the event to come.  I said "I wonder if the Captain will allow YC passengers conjugal visits in the brig." Well, that went over like a 'lead balloon'. She stated that she was not going with me. She would wait for my 'iffy' return either in the Top Sail Lounge or the cabin. She finally decided cabin should they need to contact her.

  Now I know that many of you CC posters that have banished my 'nom de plume' are hoping for the worst in this matter. Let me just say that I am typing this account from my cabana and not the brig nor set adrift in a dingy with my suspect duffle bag.

   The Israeli mossad security agent beckoned me forward followed by a very interested butler Joel.  He asked which bag was mine on the trolley of a dozen more bags. He grabbed my bag and put it into his X-ray machine ( I guess to refresh his memory of my particular bag). The suspect items had a one inch blue oval on top of them on the screen. He placed it on the table next to the X-ray and asked me to open the combination lock and bag. Joel inched forward peering over my shoulder. Before I unzipped the bag, I said to the latex gloved security agent that what you are about to see happens to be manufactured in Israel, I got them on the internet. He replied that I now caught his attention. This bag was filled with expensive survival gear for when at sea.

[rattanchair]

1 hour ago, cmdchiefthom said:

YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION RATTAN CHAIR, SOUNDS LIKE THE BEGINNING OF A SHIP'S MYSTERY NOVEL😉

Dear Chief,  Your quote gave me the idea to break this thread up a bit.  Any way I proudly removed the two suspect items I knew were sealed in aluminum for one time use only. I opened the 4" X4" box that surround the foiled item. The box that housed the item showed pictorially what do do in the event of an emergency so that it could be sold around the world. Having been on a couple of ships in the past and experienced fires on board I felt these smoke hoods, pocket flash lights, $350 survival floatation jackets, might give me the edge to get to a life boat. The jackets in the event I relinquish my seat in the lifeboat for a child and jump in the water. Maybe that is why I hate so many kids at sea. I could not live with the guilt of denying these 'little brats' a full life ahead of them. DW drew the line at shark repelling magnets I saw on-line.  Boy, would those 'babies'  set off alarm bells.

   Oh, yes the security agent said I could go with my entire duffel bag. And Joel made sure I was the' talk of the town' among the YC  staff.

[Beachin2]

And I thought I was bad with my waterproof mini-mag light for the bedside table.

[Host Jazzbeau]

So, did you get to occupy the Royal Suite you booked or did someone win the upgrade lottery?

[Todd320]

I’m also curious if there are any changes to the mini bar set up and if the gelato is still a no extra cost item? I was told 3 weeks ago by the YC director that gelato will be gone by January from the YC privileges?  We will be back on board Saturday.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 minutes ago, Todd320 said:

I’m also curious if there are any changes to the mini bar set up and if the gelato is still a no extra cost item? I was told 3 weeks ago by the YC director that gelato will be gone by January from the YC privileges?  We will be back on board Saturday.

 

See you on board!  I lived in the cities many years.  Finally gave up on the snow.

[Todd320]

We will say Hi, looking forward to it.

[emmas gran]

2 hours ago, Todd320 said:

I’m also curious if there are any changes to the mini bar set up and if the gelato is still a no extra cost item? I was told 3 weeks ago by the YC director that gelato will be gone by January from the YC privileges?  We will be back on board Saturday.

 

I was told on Meraviglia -- No Venchi gelato on board  and you have to pay for the other one

[rattanchair]

15 hours ago, George C said:

Was mini bar setup with free booze?

Dear GC,   Our butler Joel Berthino questioned us how we wanted the mini bar stocked. We requested to have just small bottles of still water. I opened the mini bar as per your request and found it stocked with 4 different bottles of beer, pringles mini, several cans of salted nuts, 2 fruit drinks, mini Chivas, Absolute and Tangaray, 6 cans of assorted soda, and 2 bottles of water ( though he did bring 2 liter bottles of Aqua Penna and 6 more small waters. Tolle Dana champaign in a bucket of ice and bowl of fruit. Last night a plate of 5 chocolate strawberries.

   Last night was Gala night. Our waiter recommended course was Chef Freitz (2 Michelin star) Plume de Pork. DW got her standard grilled chicken breast and baked potato and I opted for the blackened Angus filet mignon, which I ordered not blackened. I do not recommend deviating from the set menu as my filet was not tenderized and I did a lot of extra chewing.

[George C]

1 hour ago, rattanchair said:

Dear GC,   Our butler Joel Berthino questioned us how we wanted the mini bar stocked. We requested to have just small bottles of still water. I opened the mini bar as per your request and found it stocked with 4 different bottles of beer, pringles mini, several cans of salted nuts, 2 fruit drinks, mini Chivas, Absolute and Tangaray, 6 cans of assorted soda, and 2 bottles of water ( though he did bring 2 liter bottles of Aqua Penna and 6 more small waters. Tolle Dana champaign in a bucket of ice and bowl of fruit. Last night a plate of 5 chocolate strawberries.

   Last night was Gala night. Our waiter recommended course was Chef Freitz (2 Michelin star) Plume de Pork. DW got her standard grilled chicken breast and baked potato and I opted for the blackened Angus filet mignon, which I ordered not blackened. I do not recommend deviating from the set menu as my filet was not tenderized and I did a lot of extra chewing.

Thank you , please keep posting. How is the entertainment in YC?

Edited November 25, 2019 by George C

[tcmagnum]

Love reading your reviews!!

Hope you and your DW have a wonderful Thanksgiving while on Seaside!!

We are getting closer to finally getting to try out MSC Seaside - 68 days...

[rattanchair]

3 hours ago, George C said:

Thank you , please keep posting. How is the entertainment in YC?

Your post reminded me to speak to Joel about you coming next week in #16022. He said he will be your butler and will take good care of you. I told him you were a CC poster friend of mine and to take good care of you. Joel is on par with Vishnu and DW said we will have to tip him the same as Vishnu, $400 for the week of service. Especially since I just told him we will be requesting him next month in Joel and Ron's Royal suite when we come back for Christmas, I will be expecting the same Royal service from him.

[rattanchair]

22 hours ago, George C said:

Was mini bar setup with free booze?

Dear GC,   Went to the YC concierge, when no else was present , to ask the embarrassing questions still being asked on this board. Yes and Yes.  I did not want to be over- heard asking the concierge if everything requested for the mini bars in all the YC cabins was free. As if I could not afford to pay for a second bottle of water staying in the Royal. DW walked quickly down the hall to the Top Sail Lounge so as not to be associated with me when I asked for you all these so vital 'make or break' questions. Yes, all mini bottles of booze are free and restocked daily, as are nuts,sodas, beers and 'precious' Pringles.

  Yes, all the Venchi gelato you can stuff down your YC gullets is free, with one caveat.... They will not deliver it to you, you have to take the elevator down to deck 6 (express if you are lucky) and get in line with everyone else who is paying. Questions like these are ruining my image in the YC; the MSC staff in the YC might think I am 'pixilated' with the "Irish Influence" (if you know what I mean).

[Todd320]

Great, thanks for posting that information.  Good chance it will still be available when we get on Saturday.

 

I will miss the gelato when it goes away. 

[JAGR]

15 minutes ago, rattanchair said:

Yes, all the Venchi gelato you can stuff down your YC gullets is free, with one caveat.... They will not deliver it to you, you have to take the elevator down to deck 6 (express if you are lucky) and get in line with everyone else who is paying. Questions like these are ruining my image in the YC; the MSC staff in the YC might think I am 'pixilated' with the "Irish Influence" (if you know what I mean).

I daresay GC would be better off going to the Gelato bar in the aft of deck 7.  Better selection and rarely a line, since they really only do gelato and crepes.