OBSERVATIONS FROM THE POOP DECK SEASCAPE JULY

[DaKahuna]

11 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Fly to Beijing ( Ni hao) 3-4 day pre cruise take the cruise B2B2B down to Australia (6 weeks) and post in Sydney (Opera House Madame Butterfly) and fly 28 hours home. Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.

 

 Funny you should mention that. 

 Next April on a different cruise line we are flying IAD - HND - SYD (approx 32 hours), doing two days in Sydney, 17 day cruise to HNL.  A week in HNL and then HNL - SFO - IAD.  

 

[frank808]

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 At the cost of airline tickets these days, I want to get my money's worth when I fly so 7-days seldom works for me.  We typically try for 10 or more days or do a B2B, which is the case on our Seascape cruise next month. 

 

 As for the weight.  I have not solved that issue either.  I need to drop a few pounds in advance of the cruise so I am not running around the YC in sweat pants which might be the only thing that fits after the first week in the YC.  I have gotten much better at skipping also those dessert offerings they have out in the lounge but the potato chips I still find very difficult to pass up.  

 

I have a weakness for those truffle potato chips!

 

We fly from HNL-MIA so we do minimum of 14 days also. We loved those 28-32 day cruises we took once a year while working. Now when wife retires next month, we will be doing 2 weeks on MSC Virtuosa and then board RCL B4B for the next 35 days doing the trans atlantic and then southern caribbean.

Edited August 22 by frank808

[morpheusofthesea]

So I will not be called a hijacker on some other poster's thread...

 

Another observation. 

Been reading a few displeasures about sailing on cruise ships. Appears it is mostly due to the overcrowdedness of ships right now. Labor day should signal the arrival of the slow season, with kids back in school, a few more ships repositioned away from Alaska, and a new MSC terminal in Miami which can accommodate more MSC ships. The buffet lines should get shorter, which alleviates rudeness, butting and impatience. More lounges to be found helps alleviate some chair hogging (or increases more chair hogging from the more entitled which decide to hog both lounges in the sun and in the shade at the same time). This was actually encouraged during covid with only 600 of us on board a ship with a capacity of 6000. Having been spoiled it is hard to change back to being decent.

Heard a report that in the US alone, there are now an additional 10,000 new retirees (Baby Boomers) every day; 300,000 every month; 3,650,000 every year for the foreseeable future, looking for somewhere to travel.

Best to book as far in advance as prices will be increasing...supply and anticipated big demand.

   In anticipation the cruise lines are ordering new mega ships to handle this gigantic influx of travelers seeking getaways. With famous tourist destinations closing their doors to these mega liners, more and more the ships will become destinations rather than a means to get to some place. Also the cruise lines private islands will be the draw as they will be the only really safe, clean places to venture.

    P.S. Heard a rumor that MSC is planning on building the largest cruise ship in the world, calling it something like, "The Constellation" (something to do with the stars in the night sky). Just hearsay.

Edited August 28 by morpheusofthesea

[morpheusofthesea]

On 8/28/2024 at 8:19 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

Heard a report that in the US alone, there are now an additional 10,000 new retirees (Baby Boomers) every day; 300,000 every month; 3,650,000 every year for the foreseeable future, looking for somewhere to travel.

To add to this observation and give hope to all us Baby Boomer retirees I have come across a couple of encouraging statistics.

#1 By 2040 one in four of us will be over 65 years old.

#2 That one in five of us alive today will live to 100 years old.

#3 That 92% of us will never need care.

#4 This is the most important… that although 9 out of 10 of us are not looking forward to old age yet the statistics tell us that the happiest year in our lives is 82 years old.

We need a ‘kick in the butt’ attitude change in this world and reverse this thinking. We must all realize that the best is yet to come… so start booking cruises as far in advance as possible to get the best cabins and best prices …NOW. (I got this from James Cobb’s TED Talk)

[kelleherdl]

52 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

We need a ‘kick in the butt’ attitude change in this world and reverse this thinking. We must all realize that the best is yet to come… so start booking cruises as far in advance as possible to get the best cabins and best prices …NOW. (I got this from James Cobb’s TED Talk)

Yes! MSC should release its 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 …..  sailings immediately, 😀

Edited August 30 by kelleherdl

[Best Cat Mom]

@morpheusofthesea Have you ever had dinner in your suite? I know that MSC states that they won't do this and definitely won't do course-by-course dining (ala NCL Haven) but I thought that perhaps this was something you might have successfully tried, especially having YC crew that knows you so well.

[morpheusofthesea]

18 minutes ago, Best Cat Mom said:

@morpheusofthesea Have you ever had dinner in your suite? I know that MSC states that they won't do this and definitely won't do course-by-course dining (ala NCL Haven) but I thought that perhaps this was something you might have successfully tried, especially having YC crew that knows you so well.

No. We enjoy the pomp and circumstance of being escorted to our dinner table every evening. As much as we love being treated like Royalty, we do not wish to become, as one maitre d' put it, Royal pains in the a$$. Besides having cruised regularly during covid we equate eating in our cabin as being quarantined. We do make an exception for lunch (Ocean Cay Day) or late night pizza delivery in the cabin.

[Best Cat Mom]

Ah, yes -- we also enjoy the YC restaurant. And pizza in the cabin is a rite of passage in YC. Thanks!! 🙂

[lahlah57]

1 hour ago, morpheusofthesea said:

No. We enjoy the pomp and circumstance of being escorted to our dinner table every evening. As much as we love being treated like Royalty, we do not wish to become, as one maitre d' put it, Royal pains in the a$$. Besides having cruised regularly during covid we equate eating in our cabin as being quarantined. We do make an exception for lunch (Ocean Cay Day) or late night pizza delivery in the cabin.

Yes.....I do not want to eat in unless it's late night pizza and beer!

I will do breakfast in but never dinner! How boring!

[DaKahuna]

 

 I am not a big fan of room service breakfast.  We do have it from time to time but unlike some that do it every day it is usually a one off for us.  The toss up for us is going to be whether to have breakfast in the YC restaurant or on the Pool Deck.  It will depend on the weather obviously.  

 

 I checked us in for the 2nd leg of our Seascape B2B earlier this afternoon.  So we are all set to join @Best Cat Mom on 9/21. 

 

[morpheusofthesea]

Here is another observation at the terminal port of Miami for Yacht Club arrivals. Those YC that arrive at the tent set up and see no one around make the mistake of not waiting for an escort into the terminal. Instead they see others going it alone into the terminal and they follow suit. They are then caught in the long serpentine line of steerage passengers. 

[kelleherdl]

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Here is another observation at the terminal port of Miami for Yacht Club arrivals. Those YC that arrive at the tent set up and see no one around make the mistake of not waiting for an escort into the terminal. Instead they see others going it alone into the terminal and they follow suit. They are then caught in the long serpentine line of steerage passengers. 

Another positive for Port Canaveral!  The tent is always up and staffed prior to terminal door opening! No reason for YC guests to fend for themselves. The porter leads know how to handle the YC guests’ luggage. Always identify yourself as a YC guest; whether to traffic direction, porters or terminal staff.

[morpheusofthesea]

50 minutes ago, kelleherdl said:

Always identify yourself as a YC guest; whether to traffic direction, porters or terminal staff.

The ONLY problem I have observed is to whom one identifies oneself to. Most all the terminal employees do not know the difference between Yacht Club and steerage passengers (and could care less). They just herd everyone to the serpentine line. The shore side butlers are not the same as the ship butlers. These shoreside butlers are dressed differently than the ship butlers. The shoreside butlers live in Miami and do not board the ship.Shoreside butlers are tasked with escorting small groups of waiting YC guests from the tent outside into the terminal to a special line not the serpentine line. Ship butlers are allowed off the ship into the terminal but only as far as passenger security screening and not beyond. The shoreside butlers hand us off to the ship butlers once past security screening.

[MonsterJoe]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:05 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 I am not a big fan of room service breakfast.  We do have it from time to time but unlike some that do it every day it is usually a one off for us.  The toss up for us is going to be whether to have breakfast in the YC restaurant or on the Pool Deck.  It will depend on the weather obviously.  

 

 I checked us in for the 2nd leg of our Seascape B2B earlier this afternoon.  So we are all set to join @Best Cat Mom on 9/21. 

 

Same here. We usually do it the first morning and that's it. The food is fine...same as everywhere else you can get it...I guess I just don't like eating breakfast on a schedule.

 

We also never go to the restaurant for breakfast. I'm up early... drinking coffee..but I don't normally eat breakfast until a lot of people are starting to think about lunch.

 

That's partly why I was so disappointed by the brunch fiasco...I love everything about brunch.  The timing, the offerings...brunch is my jam (dad pun)

Edited September 1 by MonsterJoe

[MsTabbyKats]

@MonsterJoeI must have missed some posts. What is "the brunch fiasco "?  I was looking forward to brunch in April.

[Essiesmom]

19 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

@MonsterJoeI must have missed some posts. What is "the brunch fiasco "?  I was looking forward to brunch in April.

I think it’s in his Live from thread…. EM

[Bgwest]

😃 is when a "poop deck" thread has a life into the third month after the cruise!

[morpheusofthesea]

20 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

😃 is when a "poop deck" thread has a life into the third month after the cruise!

I feel terrible for @Corriegr on his Virtuosa cruise right now. Seasoned nice people that have cruised Virtuosa before and just missed within a week a great experience. Those that just got off Vitruosa last week are reporting a great time in the Yacht Club. 

    This may be attributed to the departure of just one important head position on board. A head concierge, a head butler, or a YC director. From the type of complaints posted I venture it is the head butler. When the cat’s away the new replacement doesn’t want to ruffle feathers in his or her new position and so the nightmare of embarkation/ debarkation and having to fetch one’s own drinks in the TSL are being common reports.

   We had a memorable instance thirty years ago that still lingers in our memories. We were on another cruise line (Pacquet) on a B2B. The first leg we had a maitre d’ that seated everyone that presented themselves for dinner immediately. On the second week we had 145 French group and the ship brought on board a French speaking maitre d’ instead. On the second week English speaking guests had to take a number and sit outside the dining room as the French were allowed to be seated ahead of us .

None of this is ever advertised by the cruise lines and is disconcerting to be on one of these cruises. It is doubly hard on those of us that have experienced the YC difference.

P.S. Sometimes when I get the insight to post, I have nowhere other than my original thread due to being called a troll or a hijacker on others.

Edited September 2 by morpheusofthesea

[Corriegr]

32 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

I feel terrible for @Corriegr on his Virtuosa cruise right now. Seasoned nice people that have cruised Virtuosa before and just missed within a week a great experience. Those that just got off Vitruosa last week are reporting a great time in the Yacht Club. 

    This may be attributed to the departure of just one important head position on board. A head concierge, a head butler, or a YC director. From the type of complaints posted I venture it is the head butler. When the cat’s away the new replacement doesn’t want to ruffle feathers in his or her new position and so the nightmare of embarkation/ debarkation and having to fetch one’s own drinks in the TSL are being common reports.

   We had a memorable instance thirty years ago that still lingers in our memories. We were on another cruise line (Pacquet) on a B2B. The first leg we had a maitre d’ that seated everyone that presented themselves for dinner immediately. On the second week we had 145 French group and the ship brought on board a French speaking maitre d’ instead. On the second week English speaking guests had to take a number and sit outside the dining room as the French were allowed to be seated ahead of us .

None of this is ever advertised by the cruise lines and is disconcerting to be on one of these cruises. It is doubly hard on those of us that have experienced the YC difference.

P.S. Sometimes when I get the insight to post, I have nowhere other than my original thread due to being called a troll or a hijacker on others.

It has settled down a lot now and I have updated my post. The theory is there have been some significant cruise changes this voyage and people finding their feet.

[lahlah57]

On 8/30/2024 at 5:40 AM, morpheusofthesea said:

To add to this observation and give hope to all us Baby Boomer retirees I have come across a couple of encouraging statistics.

#1 By 2040 one in four of us will be over 65 years old.

#2 That one in five of us alive today will live to 100 years old.

#3 That 92% of us will never need care.

#4 This is the most important… that although 9 out of 10 of us are not looking forward to old age yet the statistics tell us that the happiest year in our lives is 82 years old.

We need a ‘kick in the butt’ attitude change in this world and reverse this thinking. We must all realize that the best is yet to come… so start booking cruises as far in advance as possible to get the best cabins and best prices …NOW. (I got this from James Cobb’s TED Talk)

What interesting info you shared here. 😀 

It really looks as though cruising will take a giant leap as the preferred travel preference.

82yo as the best age to be!? Good I have something to look forward too!

I am not fond of mega ships but if all ships had an area where the adults resided for peace and quiet like YC....I'm there!

 

[MsTabbyKats]

On 9/1/2024 at 1:12 PM, MonsterJoe said:

Same here. We usually do it the first morning and that's it. The food is fine...same as everywhere else you can get it...I guess I just don't like eating breakfast on a schedule.

 

We also never go to the restaurant for breakfast. I'm up early... drinking coffee..but I don't normally eat breakfast until a lot of people are starting to think about lunch.

 

That's partly why I was so disappointed by the brunch fiasco...I love everything about brunch.  The timing, the offerings...brunch is my jam (dad pun)

Reason #1 that we are repeating a CCL cruise is that DH loved the brunch.  He's thin, and unlike me, the doctor wants him to gain weight; he'd have 2 full entrees (steak, bagel and lox) plus the bread plus other stuff. And the service was great.  I was hoping the Mera would be similar.

 

I guess when you eat with steerage, you get treated like steerage........

[MonsterJoe]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

Reason #1 that we are repeating a CCL cruise is that DH loved the brunch.  He's thin, and unlike me, the doctor wants him to gain weight; he'd have 2 full entrees (steak, bagel and lox) plus the bread plus other stuff. And the service was great.  I was hoping the Mera would be similar.

 

I guess when you eat with steerage, you get treated like steerage........

I wouldn't call myself thin Lol...I am /well fed/😭 😭 😭. But I could also bench press most of you 😁. He can totally eat as much as he or his doctor wants

..that was NOT the issue with brunch on my sailing. The issue was service, timing, and attitude. YMMV - it could have been a one off, but our experience put me off

Edited September 2 by MonsterJoe

[MsTabbyKats]

18 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

I wouldn't call myself thin Lol...I am /well fed/😭 😭 😭. But I could also bench press most of you 😁. He can totally eat as much as he or his doctor wants

..that was NOT the issue with brunch on my sailing. The issue was service, timing, and attitude. YMMV - it could have been a one off, but our experience put me off

I get it...the service, not the quantity.  The CCL brunch service was "white glove" each time (maybe we were just lucky), with offerings not available in the buffet. It was the combo of food/service that made him feel like he was in the Yacht Club.

 

Anyway....if the weather's good...it'll be breakfast on the YC pool deck, where we know the service will be excellent. And, those chocolate chip cookies....!

 

 

[MonsterJoe]

12 minutes ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I get it...the service, not the quantity.  The CCL brunch service was "white glove" each time (maybe we were just lucky), with offerings not available in the buffet. It was the combo of food/service that made him feel like he was in the Yacht Club.

 

Anyway....if the weather's good...it'll be breakfast on the YC pool deck, where we know the service will be excellent. And, those chocolate chip cookies....!

 

 

The menu was definitely a cut above normal fare ..my shakshuka was the best one I've had that I didn't make myself. We are on two msc cruises next year that are different ships than the one where we didn't have a good experience and to be honest we'll probably try again if it fits our schedule...knowing it's a new and  different crew and maybe a better experience 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, MsTabbyKats said:

I guess when you eat with steerage, you get treated like steerage........

This is a true statement. This is why when in the Yacht Club and miss breakfast on sea days in the YC restaurant and want to go to the brunch open at the MDR, MSC recommends that one uses the service of your YC personal butler to escort you to the head of any line and a personal introduction to the brunch maitre d', and premium seating. The maitre d' then gets his best waiters to assist.

  Before MSC offered Grandma's chocolate cake for dessert in the YC restaurant, we went to deck 8after YC dinner and asked the hostess at the Aurea restaurant if it would be possible to get a table for two for just dessert. She asked for our cabin number....being YC her answer was "Of course." She called over the maitre d' to escort us to a table. Even there we were treated like Royalty.