Kicking the tires on MSC, better than NCL in the winter out of NYC?

[MsTabbyKats]

8 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

I'll try to take a picture and post it.

A picture of what.....what guest services said?

 

As long as you confirm...that's good enuf for me!

 

Enjoy your last night on board.

[RD64]

6 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

No it was a passenger, seems to her thing. She also monitors the theater and chases the intruders away. The mix appears to be 60 % American / 40% International, you can pick them out at dinner. 

Because they are extremely well dressed? Even casually dressed Europeans make North Americans look like street urchins.

 

In August I spent two weeks on HAL’s Noordam - you could easily pick out the Europeans - Dutch, Belgians, Germans and those from the Emirates. Always dressed to a t - day or night.

Edited September 23, 2023 by RD64
Additional

[JIMESOPUS]

3 hours ago, RD64 said:

Because they are extremely well dressed? Even casually dressed Europeans make North Americans look like street urchins.

 

In August I spent two weeks on HAL’s Noordam - you could easily pick out the Europeans - Dutch, Belgians, Germans and those from the Emirates. Always dressed to a t - day or night.

Partially correct, but most North Americans go with the flow and don't need that additional pampering. Witness tonight a woman go into a fit because she couldn't sit at a certain table they did everything possible to make her happy and she still stormed out

[Mommapadraig]

7 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Partially correct, but most North Americans go with the flow and don't need that additional pampering. Witness tonight a woman go into a fit because she couldn't sit at a certain table they did everything possible to make her happy and she still stormed out

Seeing her backside going out the door was probably the highlight of the day for the wait staff! 

[insidecabin]

On 9/21/2023 at 3:17 PM, MsTabbyKats said:

I had some internet issues and the YC concierge desk was able to help.

 

Glad you're enjoying the cruise.

That the way in  YC for anything.

 

start at the YC desk, If they can't help(often can) they can hhave the pros that cover the area come up to help.

[JIMESOPUS]

The Sun just made an appearance and the internet has return. With the weather closing in the ship now feels packed for the first time. 

Time for a snack, the snack buffet at the lounge is rotated every 4 hours, so in the morning its more of a Continental breakfast, the afternoon lunch, ect

[mking8288]

@JIMESOPUS - How's that ride coming home thus far, rough but apparently not too bad at 4 m or 13 ft. +/- with the strong/gale wind on the tail.  The bridge team charted a good course deviation to "sneak" in as safely as they can.  CM showing, perhaps an early arrival for Red Hook, maybe around midnight - high tide is around 10 PM'ish - "watch" out for the Escape port side since it's foggy.  

 

Satellite WiFi usable again, good 👍 👍  Enjoy dinner.   Tunnel To The Tower Run & Walk tomorrow morning, Waze your way home live on alternate routing.   

[JIMESOPUS]

46 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

@JIMESOPUS - How's that ride coming home thus far, rough but apparently not too bad at 4 m or 13 ft. +/- with the strong/gale wind on the tail.  The bridge team charted a good course deviation to "sneak" in as safely as they can.  CM showing, perhaps an early arrival for Red Hook, maybe around midnight - high tide is around 10 PM'ish - "watch" out for the Escape port side since it's foggy.  

 

Satellite WiFi usable again, good 👍 👍  Enjoy dinner.   Tunnel To The Tower Run & Walk tomorrow morning, Waze your way home live on alternate routing.   

Speed has been slowly reduced to 13 knots, several photos taken over the past 2 hrs, have been in more challenging seas. Haven't seen any white gift bags out in public places, maybe not a MSC practice

[JIMESOPUS]

" Elegant Afternoon Tea ", not a tea person but who can turn down more snacks

[JIMESOPUS]

And just like that, the Sun is out. Making the turn towards NYC. 

[mking8288]

Two for your scrapbook - Emerald Princess heading out now, passing under the VZ Bridge after waiving at the Escape, with a FDNY fire/medical rescue boat action now in play, live ... unable to tender earlier due to sea state & conditions

 

 

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Woke up this morning and had a feeling someone was looking at us.

 

 

That same sound we heard getting aboard was there again this morning, swoosh. Met our Butler Meri at 0700, at the concierge desk on deck #16, and was off and in the car in under 15 minutes. Carol played the part of Mary Poppins in the Parking lot, again it was rainy and windy, is this something normal in Brooklyn? Was home by 0930, thanks to Waze. Never drove over the Brooklyn Bridge and a partially flooded FDR, riddled with potholes.

So I know this couldn't have been a worse week to sail out of Brooklyn but I don't think the local roads are designed for heavy traffic on embarkation days, no direct path to a major road, wonder how the roads are during the winter.  

[Mommapadraig]

7 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Woke up this morning and had a feeling someone was looking at us.

 

 

That same sound we heard getting aboard was there again this morning, swoosh. Met our Butler Meri at 0700, at the concierge desk on deck #16, and was off and in the car in under 15 minutes. Carol played the part of Mary Poppins in the Parking lot, again it was rainy and windy, is this something normal in Brooklyn? Was home by 0930, thanks to Waze. Never drove over the Brooklyn Bridge and a partially flooded FDR, riddled with potholes.

So I know this couldn't have been a worse week to sail out of Brooklyn but I don't think the local roads are designed for heavy traffic on embarkation days, no direct path to a major road, wonder how the roads are during the winter.  

She’s fabulous! Thanks for taking us along.

[JIMESOPUS]

Yesterday, well just say everything was a blur. Internet kept dropping out as we sailed through the heavy squalls, the ship felt very full and the " mall " was packed as we tried to navigate to the aft elevators.

Here are some random thoughts and pictures.

Our bid was for YC interior but they gave us a YC 1 cabin

Cabin 15037, adjoining to 15036 assisted / handicap, I believe this cabin was empty.

 

The cabin is slightly bigger than the H9 Haven cabin that we had on the Getaway. 

 

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

Food, Dining 99% of the time in the YC, we ventured out to the Buffet to get some pizza, thin and delicious, the best pizza we had on a ship. Pictured is the lone survivor.

 

 

Breakfast at YC, we had to ask to keep the servings smaller. Carol's first plate of scrambled eggs could have fed three people. Have to give O'Sheehans a win here for French Toast, must be the raisins that they have in their bread.

 

Lunch at the YC. 

They have an outdoor buffet on deck #19 for Breakfast and Lunch.

Lunch and Dinner menus rotate with specials, a more detailed post with download PDFs can be found on the MSC boards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by JIMESOPUS

[mking8288]

Welcome back and home sweet home, and you slept thru all that gentle rocking and rolling with 4 meters wave, wind and sea swells coming into NY harbor.  Sorry about our local city streets, especially around Red Hook area around the cruise terminal, prone to flash flooding & closure - by slowing down nearly everyone, you probably avoided many of the cleverly hidden red light and speed camera, haha 😳 😉 🤔 in the name of safety (and, revenue collections, regardless of who is behind the wheels - registered owner get the friendly "ticket/fines by mail" just like EZ-Pass toll-by-mail, for the convenience - credit/debit cards cheerfully accepted.

 

Nice, very nice photos of your YC cabin. Have a fun feeling that the tires that we are kicking in the 2nd half of 2024 aren't going to be NCL, less than 50:50 perhaps for our CAS friends - he just learn that his "sponsor" (land casinos) play are switching (??) to Celebrity and Royal, and the nieces with YC offers on MSC and Princess.  Dunno what NCL is doing to cut themselves away from these affinity partnerships, maybe they calculated the group chartering business has a better payout 😬  For the price of a typical oceanview, 7 nights to Bermuda - we can do a balcony on the Celebrity Summit or equivalent, more spacious, etc.  That afternoon high tea ... reminded me of being on Carnival years ago, nice ! 

[JIMESOPUS]

Still amazed that they rotate out the snack table every 4 hours and refill as necessary.

 

 

 

 

Saturday was Italian day, during lunch, they rolled around two carts and served you antipasto.

We just had one plate to share, they gave us a strange look. That fresh mozzarella cheese was a killer

With all the fresh bread and rolls, and very large portion sizes I'm afraid to get on the scale.

 

[JIMESOPUS]

With all the heavy pours in the YC, drinks at other venues felt water down. Every imaginable brand was available. 

 

 

Here is our favorite Bartender, he taught me to make a better LIT, diet soda with no sugar. He claims that the sugar in the soda reacts with the alcohol. They sure were tasty.

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

So we are done kicking the tires, our original plan was thrown out the window by the YC experience. 

We may have been lucky to have a great butler, but others in the YC had different experiences with their butlers. We had no issues with our cabin or the cabin steward. It was simply put one of the best experiences we ever had. 

With the YC sanctuary, you can venture out and explore the ship but when things get too crazy head back to that safe place. Having no upcharges on any drink, unlimited internet for two devices and a DSC cost almost $7 dollars less is just more icing on the cake.

2024 is already booked so what about 2025, sailing out NYC on the Prima is around $265 per day per person ( balcony ), or the Meraviglia at $226 per day ( YC interior ).

We haven't abandoned NCL, the grass is not always greener on the other side but right now for our Winter cruise out of NYC, this makes the most sense. 

 

Jim

[lgdesign]

10 minutes ago, JIMESOPUS said:

So we are done kicking the tires, our original plan was thrown out the window by the YC experience. 

We may have been lucky to have a great butler, but others in the YC had different experiences with their butlers. We had no issues with our cabin or the cabin steward. It was simply put one of the best experiences we ever had. 

With the YC sanctuary, you can venture out and explore the ship but when things get too crazy head back to that safe place. Having no upcharges on any drink, unlimited internet for two devices and a DSC cost almost $7 dollars less is just more icing on the cake.

2024 is already booked so what about 2025, sailing out NYC on the Prima is around $265 per day per person ( balcony ), or the Meraviglia at $226 per day ( YC interior ).

We haven't abandoned NCL, the grass is not always greener on the other side but right now for our Winter cruise out of NYC, this makes the most sense. 

 

Jim

 

Welcome to embracing MSC as a cruising option... We felt exactly the same way on both our YC cruises!

 

 

 

[JIMESOPUS]

1 minute ago, lgdesign said:

 

Welcome to embracing MSC as a cruising option... We felt exactly the same way on both our YC cruises!

 

 

 

It was addicting, we will see you in about 43 days

 

Jim

[cruisebeachgirl703]

Thanks for the review. We cancelled 2 NCL 2024 Haven and Suite and booked YC on the Meraviglia. 

Better service and champagne available.

[JIMESOPUS]

2 hours ago, cruisebeachgirl703 said:

Thanks for the review. We cancelled 2 NCL 2024 Haven and Suite and booked YC on the Meraviglia. 

Better service and champagne available.

It was so strange that every time we sat down to eat, wine was available immediately even before water was offered. Champagne was flowing through the YC like a river. We seemed to be out of place because we enjoyed a mixed drink instead of wine.  

[Two Wheels Only]

1 hour ago, JIMESOPUS said:

We seemed to be out of place because we enjoyed a mixed drink instead of wine.  

 

With practice, you will adjust and feel more comfortable with the concept of "both". 😉

[cruiseny4life]

That afternoon tea may have just won me over to Yacht Club. I'm a sucker for that kind of dining, sans fancy clothes! Thank you for sharing. Sounds like your overall experience was very good too. And that is smashing!