IT'S TIME FOR MORE OBSERVATIONS FROM THE POOP DECK

[morpheusofthesea]

This morning it's OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD !  Put on 'Holiday Road'  (continuous loop) to give me stamina to load car with 11 suitcases. Been reading reports of slow service, slow elevators, crowded venues ? Quite different than last month. Will report.

[deliver42]

Good luck and enjoy.

[morpheusofthesea]

Got a parking spot on first floor of parking garage G. Took 5 minutes to walk back to white tent tops. Escorted into terminal as group of 10. NO TESTING of vaccinated . Crowded. Heard 3000 ? 270 in yacht club. 110 cabins in YC. Standing room only in terminal waiting area for both YC and general population.

[psmarkle]

Eagerly following this thread. April 9th YC.

[dexddd]

18 hours ago, Hobby3333 said:

Off topic a little but does anyone know where Arthur is now?  He was great on the Seaside in YC.  

Last saw him late September on Divinia.  Want to say he was hoping to get on Seashore.  Can't say I've heard any reports since.

[bigblue1952]

We are also on Seashore for April 9th.  Anxiously awaiting your report.

[Robkat]

20 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We needed a preccruise hotel and the Radisson was great and their rate included the parking. The shuttle experience was excellent.

Could you please provide the location of this Radisson? Also, was the shuttle service roundtrip (arranged by the hotel) for an additional cost?  Thanks.

[morpheusofthesea]

Update. Boarded 11:28 am. All YC and B2Bs at the same time, followed by everyone else. 2700 new number total from our butler and 290 in YC. Elevators so far have been express in the YC front of the ship up to 19 deck and down to muster drill at 4 pm in theatre for us. Have to dial 881 this time to register for having watched muster video then have key cards scanned in theatre. Butler said no reservations needed for shows for YC guests. Must dress for dinner now.

P.S. Sailing away at 5 right now. Passing the docked NCL Joy (propulsion problems?).

Edited March 19, 2022 by morpheusofthesea
P.S.

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, Robkat said:

Could you please provide the location of this Radisson? Also, was the shuttle service roundtrip (arranged by the hotel) for an additional cost?  Thanks.

We booked Radisson at the Port in Port Canaveral on Astronaut's Blvd. Very close to the port. It was the hotel and parking package for $307. (tax included.)  Very efficient.

[mscdivina2016]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We booked Radisson at the Port in Port Canaveral on Astronaut's Blvd. Very close to the port. It was the hotel and parking package for $307. (tax included.)  Very efficient.

Nice hotel, we drive by it all the time.

Book the shuttle ASAP if you want it.

Your so close a cab at your leisure may be better 

[cherylnj]

7 hours ago, dexddd said:

Last saw him late September on Divinia.  Want to say he was hoping to get on Seashore.  Can't say I've heard any reports since.

He was on Divina in October. Was on Seashore Feb 5th. No Arthur. I guess he's either on Divina, still, or went home for a break. Arthur's the best 😊

[morpheusofthesea]

Show times have changed. Last cruise 2400 passengers had 3 shows every evening in the Madison Theatre. This cruise 2900 passengers 2 shows every evening in the M Theatre, 7 and 8:30. At 7:45 there is a show in the Cabaret Rouge at 7:45 and a later show. We left the theatre show "Gravity" 15 minutes early to catch the Cabaret show and went back to the theatre during the late show to see the end. The acrobat with the silk ribbons from the ceiling was good as were the 2 contortionists, the 4 guys with a ladder was kind of lame, but I'm no food or show critic. The late show was a packed house. Passengers for the most part are wearing their masks.

  After the late packed show we walked to the elevators and there was a crowd on deck 7 waiting for elevators, so we walked up a flight to 8 and no one was waiting for an elevator. We pressed deck 19, a lettered elevator lite up, upon opening , it was empty, walked in, door closes and express to deck 19.

[morpheusofthesea]

Most everyone that was on before is gone. Many will be reassigned in the next 3 months to other ships. Day one and service has been great. Although the menus are the same in the YC, the chef must have changed as well. There are new versions of old favorites. We eat the same things and these versions are still great. Went to Venchi chocolate kiosk and learned a couple of things. First for the chocolate connoisseur, we ordered Venchi chocolate on line this past month and it averages around $100 for a kilo (2.2 lbs) plus sales tax. Here on board it is $77 for the same, but one must wait until the ship is 12 miles out at sea to save the 7% Miami sales tax. $7.70/100grams mix or match. 

[morpheusofthesea]

Passed Central Park Restaurant and next door 5th Avenue Restaurant on way to Cabaret Rouge and they still remain closed. Suppose still not enough passengers or staff?

[fish_guru]

We had no trouble boarding yesterday except for the fact that i left my phone in the car and had to walk back to garage G (doh, sorry family). The terminal was crowded but there was almost no line for YC once you got upstairs. 

 

Walked through the buffet at one point just to check it out. It was busy but didn't really notice any lines. They definitely had more than a 1/4 of it open.  This was probably about 2pm. The real test will be a sea day like today (Sunday).

 

The Cabaret Route is a phenomenal venue and is already our favorite part of the ship outside of YC. Live music and singing. Depending on where you sit you can literally be a few feet from the performers/dancers.  We arrived about 10 minutes before the early show (Women in Art) worried about getting decent seats but the lounge was almost empty. We saw the early show then promptly hauled booty back to the main theater (same deck thankfully) and caught the other show (Gravity). The main theater show was good but our family was in agreement, the Cabaret show was better, at least for us.

 

So if you notice on the deck plans there are approximately 6 (I think 2 per floor) regular balcony yacht club rooms that look extra wide...I booked one of those because of that reason. It did not disappoint. It's huge. Biggest room I've ever had on a ship. And of course the balcony is extra wide as well. It does lack the walk in closet that the other grand deluxe rooms supposedly have but what it lacks in additional storage it makes up for in roominess.

 

Ship is rocking a little bit this morning. I'm guessing the wind is cranking.  Doesn't bother me in the slightest but I grew up boating in South Florida. I'm sure some people don't care for it. 

 

Well the gym is about to open. My family is still asleep. I'm going to grab a workout and burn off today's calories...yeah, I'm that guy, the one that works out on vacation.

Edited March 20, 2022 by fish_guru
More info

[morpheusofthesea]

Noticed one difference in the Top Sail Lounge. No more pick out and we we will bring you your treat. Self service has returned. The glass in front of the small dishes is gone, just a sneeze shield over the top. Pianist began playing and singing at 6 pm in TSL.

[morpheusofthesea]

Another observation that would not be noticed by most of the passengers in the YC. First is we noticed that the condiments like tabasco sauce was brought to the table in small portioned bowls is back to bringing the entire bottle and placed on the table. Next there definitely has been a change in the YC kitchen. Food is very personal, and there is a difference. So always take  food critics' evaluations with a skepticism from one sailing to the next.

[morpheusofthesea]

These magnetic hooks really work on the walls of these cabins. But sometimes it can take more than one hook to hold some things.

[morpheusofthesea]

We really like some of the doors that open out to the deck (on deck 8). No touching. Most guests do not get up so early.

[morpheusofthesea]

Just our recap of muster drill. Did it yesterday on Seashore. While unpacking, video on tv, continuous loop. At 4 pm the video finally announces a special # to dial on cabin phone to confirm one watched video. Last month the code # was 811. Yesterday it was 881. One calls number and a recording tells you you're confirmed. Then you proceed to your muster station where a pink  (last cruise it was red cap) cap crew member scans your key card. Really great improvement over past boat drills. Do not need to bring any lifejackets and wait around waiting for captain to signal end to boat drill in the hot sun.

[JAGR]

4 hours ago, fish_guru said:

We had no trouble boarding yesterday except for the fact that i left my phone in the car and had to walk back to garage G (doh, sorry family). The terminal was crowded but there was almost no line for YC once you got upstairs. 

 

Walked through the buffet at one point just to check it out. It was busy but didn't really notice any lines. They definitely had more than a 1/4 of it open.  This was probably about 2pm. The real test will be a sea day like today (Sunday).

 

The Cabaret Route is a phenomenal venue and is already our favorite part of the ship outside of YC. Live music and singing. Depending on where you sit you can literally be a few feet from the performers/dancers.  We arrived about 10 minutes before the early show (Women in Art) worried about getting decent seats but the lounge was almost empty. We saw the early show then promptly hauled booty back to the main theater (same deck thankfully) and caught the other show (Gravity). The main theater show was good but our family was in agreement, the Cabaret show was better, at least for us.

 

So if you notice on the deck plans there are approximately 6 (I think 2 per floor) regular balcony yacht club rooms that look extra wide...I booked one of those because of that reason. It did not disappoint. It's huge. Biggest room I've ever had on a ship. And of course the balcony is extra wide as well. It does lack the walk in closet that the other grand deluxe rooms supposedly have but what it lacks in additional storage it makes up for in roominess.

 

Ship is rocking a little bit this morning. I'm guessing the wind is cranking.  Doesn't bother me in the slightest but I grew up boating in South Florida. I'm sure some people don't care for it. 

 

Well the gym is about to open. My family is still asleep. I'm going to grab a workout and burn off today's calories...yeah, I'm that guy, the one that works out on vacation.

If you can, hang around Le Cabaret Rouge after the show.  The young cast members come back out and go from table to table to chat with and thank guests.  They are very personable.  We chatted with them often over the two weeks we were on board.  They come from mostly Eastern schools like Penn State and Iona.

Edited March 20, 2022 by JAGR
punctuation

[JAGR]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Another observation that would not be noticed by most of the passengers in the YC. First is we noticed that the condiments like tabasco sauce was brought to the table in small portioned bowls is back to bringing the entire bottle and placed on the table. Next there definitely has been a change in the YC kitchen. Food is very personal, and there is a difference. So always take  food critics' evaluations with a skepticism from one sailing to the next.

You are correct about the food and chef.  We were on for two weeks (2/26 and 3/5).  New YC Director and new chef came onboard 3/5.  The new chef did 'play' with the dishes, which surprised me because Steve, the Corporate Executive Chef was on board for the two weeks, and he said they were striving for consistency.  For me, most of the changes were okay.  One exception was the hamachi ceviche and avocado (lunch menu item).  Loved it in Week One to the point I asked them make it for me for dinner (no problem with that from the kitchen, BTW).  Week two, the chef added finely diced jalapeno.  With my recovery from oral cancer, it caused a burning sensation.  Other than that (and a search all over the ship to find malt vinegar for the fish and chips lunch), the kitchen staff was very gracious in accommodating special dietary requests.

[morpheusofthesea]

Captain De Palma re-instituted the YC party in the TSL. mentioned his admiration of the 'ship within a ship' concept and the introduction of MSC's new Seascape and Explora Journeys Explora 1 with 720 YC passengers. We had a pianist for the party. I made a count of the increased number of butlers now presented, 16. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

[morpheusofthesea]

Took a walk around the ship to see how crowded. Plenty of space. Walked through the Market Place Buffet to notice everyone is back to using tongs and self-service. (must speed things up ?). Here on the YC pool deck there is still no self-service. plates are filled by staff behind the counters. Here is a stark difference between the YC and outside the YC. Please notice the discarded banana on this table around the Jungle Pool and the trash receptacle in the background just feet away. Close up of the trash shows an apple core on the left. I know, I know... apples are not bananas, not even close. (Also speaks to more staff allocated to clean up after YC guests than to those outside the YC).

[morpheusofthesea]

In order to get from one point,YC, to the aft part of the ship and general population pool areas one must go down to deck 8 (if one does not wish to use cabin corridors) and walk to the aft part of the ship and then take those elevators up to pool decks. Still having great success using forward elevators and pressing deck 19; in either direction, express.

Edited March 20, 2022 by morpheusofthesea