Seaside Yacht Club Observations 'Revisited'

[rattanchair]

Our "limo" driver explained that there are 125 MSC employees that live in housing provided on the island. They work 5 weeks on 1 week off. At night a construction crew lights up the work area and they continue constructing. The plantings are taking place nightly. They have satellite TV. Notice the towels set out to dry over the railing at the colorful workers villas.  It is a touch that makes one feel like they haven't left Nassau.

[rattanchair]

Our "limo" driver was kind enough to drive us back to the ship 'the scenic route' explaining things along the way, it felt like a private  tour, so I  tipped him $5. Maybe word might get around the island tonight that not all MSC guests are tightwads in the YC. Tonight is tip night and I am anxious to see the turnout in the YC restaurant and lounge. It is usually booked to capacity at the specialty venues on tip night. Why should Christmas be any different.

[rattanchair]

I will now attempt to end this thread with a quote from Plato " Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something". Here's your Royal Fool signing off. RC

[Bossa Nova]

23 minutes ago, rattanchair said:

I will now attempt to end this thread with a quote from Plato " Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something". Here's your Royal Fool signing off. RC

Thank you for one of the most entertaining and informative threads on the MSC forum!

[CGTNORMANDIE]

29 minutes ago, rattanchair said:

I will now attempt to end this thread with a quote from Plato " Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something". Here's your Royal Fool signing off. RC

Dear Rat,
Are you sure this isn’t like a Henny Youngman retirement performance???  

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Just as a point of information, the restrooms you showed a picture of are not in the YC area.  The single YC restroom is in that lovely pavilion.  What were they thinking?  They definitely need additional restrooms in the YC area.  Interesting that they are working at night.  I don't have another cruise scheduled on MSC until next fall, so it will be interesting to see the changes in a year.

[George C]

2 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Just as a point of information, the restrooms you showed a picture of are not in the YC area.  The single YC restroom is in that lovely pavilion.  What were they thinking?  They definitely need additional restrooms in the YC area.  Interesting that they are working at night.  I don't have another cruise scheduled on MSC until next fall, so it will be interesting to see the changes in a year.

Same here we have same week booked for seaside YC in 2020. Really loved the YC area and lunch on private island other than the one rest room. 

[rattanchair]

20 hours ago, Bossa Nova said:

Thank you for one of the most entertaining and informative threads on the MSC forum!

Dear BN,  You are most kind and I truly appreciate your kind words.  You also gave all of us some insight on toilets that I found very interesting.  I do not think I would subject myself, at my advanced age, to the rigors of train travel or space travel, I will stick to luxury cruise travel with 'private accommodations'. ( Even though I find I do not need to 'use' the facility until 3 to 4 days into a cruise ever increasing my intake of stewed prunes).

[rattanchair]

20 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Dear Rat,
Are you sure this isn’t like a Henny Youngman retirement performance???  

 

Dear CGT,  Uncle Henny always told us that the secret to his long marriage was to take several, romantic cruises every year. Aunt Sadie would only cruise the Caribbean and he would cruise everywhere else.

    Which reminds me ( CGT, you brought this upon yourself) of some years back,  Marty Allen ( of Allen & Rossi fame) was headling on a Pr...... cruise ship for a long while with his stunning wife, Kate Blackwell ( songstress and 'straight-man' replacement for Rossi).  When he quipped about his long cruise contract, asking if there were any attorneys in the audience to go over his contract and " get me off this 'tub'". I guess he experienced the same exasperation from fellow crew members and their plight and was making 'light' of this, that we as passengers hear from unhappy staff having to fulfill there contracts. Our waiter on the Thanksgiving cruise told us that should he not fulfill his contract the cruise line will not pay his return flights to the Phillipines.  Incentive, fulfill your contract and cruise line pays.

   I will have to post an addendum about last nights fantastic, but much too short, Ocean Cay Lighthouse light display and possible photos if they come out .

[Fogfog]

TY RC for this update on your thread re OC

We have B2B in early 2020 so will be at OC twice in those weeks

ONE? Did you really mean just ONE wc in YC?

SHOCKING. What were they thinking

 

I wonder if there are plans for a small restrooms/bath house in YC area of OC

 

The infrastructure work must be enormous. Being an island, I wonder what kind of septic system and water treatment they must build. 

 

 

[rattanchair]

The photo in post #167, I thought, looked like a latrine (in the YC area) but the "limo" driver said "Now this is our wedding pavilion" . Perhaps I was looking to my left while he was pointing to the right. Or the the pavilion is behind the latrine. Really I did not get out and walk around and DW wanted to get to the shops she passed on the way to the Ocean House YC area. Once she shopped out the limited available merchandise we high-tailed it back to the ship for lunch. Since most of the knowledgable YC staff was at Ocean House all giddy, a wait staffer at the pool deck buffet told us that the only offering for lunch that day was the same as that offered at Ocean House and all we wanted was burgers and fries and penne pasta.  After ordering room service and a delightful turkey club ( we ordered 2 turkey clubs and only one showed up, unless the two halves were considered 2 orders), we returned to our cabana on the pool deck and to our amazement they were serving hamburgers, fries, and penne pasta. The information you get on board is like the weather, it changes every few minutes.

  Here is another point of interest we discovered late last night. We checked our credit card statement on the TV and noticed we were not given our $100 pp ship board credit for missing our stop at Grand Cayman due to weather and tendering being denied by port authorities.  Now every passenger heard the announcement in 5 different languages that day.... Instead MSC gave each passenger $19.20 credit/refund of their share of the port tax.  Caveat Emptor,  Get it in writing ! Immediately..

[rattanchair]

This morning Julian redeemed himself in our eyes.  We told him last night we will not be eating breakfast this morning, that we wanted to be the first off the ship when it cleared. We tipped him $200 for his services that evening. We did this because DW has a Saturday morning hair appointment every other Saturday booked months in advance (since she still works to keep me in a manner to which I have become accustomed).  The problem is Port of Miami customs. Facial recognition is not working. The customs officials clear the ship at 7 am and the mad rush of passengers with only carry-on is like opening the Western US for free land in the 1800's and guess what? The customs only has 2 customs agents handling this onslaught until 8 am. The wait in line is the worst aspect of cruising. We docked at 6 am and all the gold tagged luggage was unloaded first in the terminal. Julian was waiting outside our cabin door at 6:45 am. He did not group us together with any other YC guest, he grabbed both our carry -ons and we went down the elevator to deck seven , over and carried our bags down one more flight,and to a sign directing all passengers to exit to the left, which I began to follow. He stopped me and we went to the right to shut door which he opened in front of an empty security gangway. We were the first off the ship. Before exiting I gave Julian another $50. He now ranks up there with Vishnu.

[rattanchair]

3 hours ago, Fogfog said:

We have B2B in early 2020 so will be at OC twice in those weeks

Dear FF,  As much as we love to cruise, we just have to 'break it up'. The same menu, (If baked potato is not on the menu in the YC the chef does not give it enough time to really cook), is boring. I understand guests complaining, so we chose French fries. The mashed potatoes tasted like flakes. DW gained 3 ibs and looks great to my 1/4 lb gain and always look like Shrek, so we did not suffer terribly.

Edited December 28, 2019 by rattanchair

[Fogfog]

2 hours ago, rattanchair said:

  The problem is Port of Miami customs. Facial recognition is not working. The customs officials clear the ship at 7 am and the mad rush of passengers with only carry-on is like opening the Western US for free land in the 1800's and guess what? The customs only has 2 customs agents handling this onslaught until 8 am. 

Does Miami have a Global Entry machine/options.

We have G.E...and it was outstanding when we flew back after a TA...well worth the price of admission

FWIW On recent cruise into FTL the facial recog was up and running... literally walking through in second... I realize a cruiseport is different from an overseas flt

[rattanchair]

The ship is docked so the 'best seats in the house' are the Yacht Club for viewing the Ocean Cay Lighthouse  extravaganza, from starboard balcony or better from the TopSail Lounge or above the YC pool deck. Bring a jacket, it is 9 pm and the weather changes in an instant and should you 'run' for one you will miss the show, it is that short. We spent more time waiting for the show than the show itself. We were the only 2 YC guests up along the railing, when we were accosted by a group of 2 dozen of the great 'unwashed' hoi polloi that actually broke into the YC pool deck from the Aurea section by physically forcing the key card locked door, breaking the lock. We were jostled once again, like at the Michael Jackson Starwalker show. By the time a butler and pool attendant showed up to 'herd' them out ,the show was over. They examined the lock and found it no longer worked, any slight push opened the door. The low prices on these cruises does not attract the highest caliber, which makes considering MSC's upcoming all YC cruise ships most appealing.

  The show is Disneyesque and I would describe as the lighthouse turning into a giant lava lamp, then an aquarium, spot lights on the clouds and water. The shortest 5 minute show (at least it felt like 5 minutes) we have ever experienced.

[rattanchair]

18 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

FWIW On recent cruise into FTL the facial recog was up and running... literally walking through in second... I realize a cruiseport is different from an overseas flt

Dear FF, You are correct. We had a breeze in the port of Ft. Lauderdale on the Equinox. There they told us to step up our pace, to get us out of the way and out of the terminal.

[rattanchair]

14 hours ago, Fogfog said:

Does Miami have a Global Entry machine/options.

Dear FF,  There was only one line for the entire ship, which they broke into 2 lines for the same 2 customs officials and to add insult to this injury, the second line consisted of everyone behind us allowing those to get off the ship first to wait even longer in our line. No "next in line" like at the 'Dollar Store'.

[mafig]

15 hours ago, rattanchair said:

 The low prices on these cruises does not attract the highest caliber, which makes considering MSC's upcoming all YC cruise ships most appealing.

 

 

 

Good point.  

 

 

 

 

15 hours ago, rattanchair said:

 

[jules815]

On 12/28/2019 at 9:45 AM, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

Just as a point of information, the restrooms you showed a picture of are not in the YC area.  The single YC restroom is in that lovely pavilion.  What were they thinking?  They definitely need additional restrooms in the YC area.  Interesting that they are working at night.  I don't have another cruise scheduled on MSC until next fall, so it will be interesting to see the changes in a year.

Are you saying there is ONE bathroom (one toilet) for the entire YC area??  

[Shippy]

On 12/28/2019 at 3:14 PM, rattanchair said:

Dear FF,  As much as we love to cruise, we just have to 'break it up'. The same menu, (If baked potato is not on the menu in the YC the chef does not give it enough time to really cook), is boring. I understand guests complaining, so we chose French fries. The mashed potatoes tasted like flakes. DW gained 3 ibs and looks great to my 1/4 lb gain and always look like Shrek, so we did not suffer terribly.

    We check out the menu in the main restaurants. They serve totally different than the YC one.

My favorite night for sure to go there is the Italian night. Husband loves the chicken parmesan & spaghetti & I love the fried calamari rings , etc.

They also play italian music there & the waiters parade around.

 

[rattanchair]

10 hours ago, jules815 said:

Is there a Sommelier now in the YC restaurant?  I don't recall there being one back in January. 

Dear jules,

  Nor was there a Sommelier in the YC in June 2019.  He appeared for our Thanksgiving cruise, a fine gentleman from Great Britain. We did not use his services on both occasions but still tipped him $20 each cruise (it wasn't his fault we did not drink). He would come over to our table on occasion to say "hello" and would ,on occasion, escort us to our table.  I found out he is as fond of crumpets as I am. I did not 'bother' the waiters to find out if the ship's galley had any crumpets (I did not think they knew what a crumpet was); so I asked him to find out. Alas, no crumpets.

[rikitikitavii]

On 12/28/2019 at 7:50 PM, Fogfog said:

Does Miami have a Global Entry machine/options.

We have G.E...and it was outstanding when we flew back after a TA...well worth the price of admission

FWIW On recent cruise into FTL the facial recog was up and running... literally walking through in second... I realize a cruiseport is different from an overseas flt

GE  was not available on our Dec 14 disembark.  The line at 7:15am was LONG!!!

[rikitikitavii]

11 hours ago, jules815 said:

Are you saying there is ONE bathroom (one toilet) for the entire YC area??  

Just a short 5 minute walk from YC area is a large multi stall restroom. How dare the common folk have better than YC guests!!  It even has a shower...

[jules815]

7 hours ago, rikitikitavii said:

Just a short 5 minute walk from YC area is a large multi stall restroom. How dare the common folk have better than YC guests!!  It even has a shower...

I didn't realize it was that close.  I've only seen pictures of the YC golf carts transporting people, so thought maybe it was farther away.  And nothing to do with having it better than the common folk, more like traveling with someone who is disabled.  

 

[rikitikitavii]

1 hour ago, jules815 said:

I didn't realize it was that close.  I've only seen pictures of the YC golf carts transporting people, so thought maybe it was farther away.  And nothing to do with having it better than the common folk, more like traveling with someone who is disabled.  

 

YC staff told us 15 minutes, which there was one near the buffet that was 15 minutes away. There was one (if heading back to ship) turn right where the YC entry was located.  Just over the the slight rise on the left.