Deckside Digest - YC Edition: Volume 24 Episode 1 (MSC Seascape 8/17-8/24)

[Best Cat Mom]

18 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Was disappointed recently when I got a hot dog at Costco and discovered no onions any more and yellow vs deli mustard.

BCD has lunch at Costco once or twice every week. He says they only have chopped onions occasionally and he's always had yellow mustard -- this is for the past ~15 years. He would LOVE deli mustard instead!

[MonsterJoe]

I did do a loop today looking for deli mustard. I did not find any.

[JamieLogical]

Saw you in San Juan yesterday while we were docked there on the Enchanted Princess.

 

 

[MonsterJoe]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

Saw you in San Juan yesterday while we were docked there on the Enchanted Princess.

 

 

Same!

 

[DaKahuna]

13 hours ago, Best Cat Mom said:

BCD has lunch at Costco once or twice every week. He says they only have chopped onions occasionally and he's always had yellow mustard -- this is for the past ~15 years. He would LOVE deli mustard instead!

 

The one we went to had Deli Mustard and a chopped onion dispenser prior to the pandemic.  This is the fist time I have had a hot dog since then so was a little surprised.  Nothing wrong with yellow mustard but deli mustard is much more flavorful. 

 

12 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

I did do a loop today looking for deli mustard. I did not find any.

 

You did not have to do that but thank you for your troubles. 

 

[MonsterJoe]

The kids found one

 

[MonsterJoe]

I woke up early again yesterday to work on my paper and write up the previous day from my notes.

 

I skipped breakfast since I was still too full from the day before. When the family woke up, I went up to the pool deck with DS to bring breakfast down for everyone—I’ve got to say, I love those hash browns.

 

Instead of waiting for DD2 to nap before getting off the ship, we decided to take a chance that she would nap in her stroller.

 

We got off the ship around 10, and there was no crowd. San Juan is beautiful—we walked around, did a little shopping, and ate lunch outside at Muelle 13. We had a tapas sampler and mofongo, and everything was absolutely delicious. Afterward, we strolled around looking for empanadas before heading back to the ship.

 

We planned to go back to the room, but it was being cleaned, so we took over a quiet corner of Top Sail. DS promptly fell asleep, and DD2, who had already been sleeping, continued her nap. DW and I had a couple of drinks while we let them rest.

 

Later, we decided to get a small bite from the main buffet. I told them to go ahead while I tried to get a lunch reservation at Hola! for the next day. After securing the reservation, I headed to the buffet…where I found DS almost in tears. The place was a madhouse—apparently, he’d been pushed around while trying to get some food. I offered to get the food and bring it back to the room for them so they could leave.

 

It. Was. Nuts. I’ve never seen it so chaotic in there. I’m not a small guy—6’5”, 250 pounds—but people were pushing past me, reaching over me…one woman even took food from my tongs as I was putting it on my plate! I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the room until it was time to get ready for dinner. We dressed in our whites and made our way to the dining room. We ordered our martinis and headed upstairs. The crew was happy to see us again after we skipped the previous night. Everything went smoothly—DD2 was in a much better mood. One of the crew members even made her a jumping towel animal, which made her squeal with delight.

 

After dinner, we went back to the room, where I changed out of my suit whites into more casual linen whites. We then headed to the sports bar and played a couple of rounds of Skip-Bo in one of the large circular bench pods. I was in a scotch mood yesterday, so I had another Glenlivet double with a rock.  Some of the bars have the big single cocktail rocks -  some don’t. I’m not sure which are which.
 

It was a fun and relaxing way to wind down the evening.

 

After that, we opted to hang out in the room for the night. DW and I enjoyed drinks on the balcony while the kids watched TV together in the room.

 

Around 11 or 12 (I honestly don’t remember), I went out to grab a couple of slices of pizza for DW. The late-night buffet on this ship is not very interesting—just pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs. If there’s anything sweet, I haven’t found it.  I will have more to say about the buffet when I do my reflection post at the end of the cruise.

 

I grabbed a couple of slices and reached for the red pepper flakes, but a crew member grabbed the tray and took it away. I must have looked really annoyed because another crew member who saw me barked, “He’s just moving it over there!” Sure, I’m sure he couldn’t have waited for me to use it first…but whatever.

photo dump incoming

 

[MonsterJoe]

[morpheusofthesea]

11 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

It. Was. Nuts. I’ve never seen it so chaotic in there. I’m not a small guy—6’5”, 250 pounds—but people were pushing past me, reaching over me…one woman even took food from my tongs as I was putting it on my plate! I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Unbelievable. Can you imagine getting into a lifeboat with these same people and no other provisions in sight ?

[MonsterJoe]

2 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Unbelievable. Can you imagine getting into a lifeboat with these same people and no other provisions in sight ?

That is something I have never considered and now absolutely terrifies me.

[ChanelChanel35]

39 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

San Juan is beautiful

Were there any YC Excursions offered for San Juan? We sail in March and currently no YC Excursion options listed on the App for that port. (I have heard more may be added closer to sailing but thought I’d ask what current offerings were). Thanks in Advance! 

[MonsterJoe]

Yes there were a few. I tried to go back in the app to screenshot them, but I can't open that day anymore apparenty..

Edited August 21 by MonsterJoe

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, MonsterJoe said:

I headed to the buffet…where I found DS almost in tears. The place was a madhouse—apparently, he’d been pushed around while trying to get some food.

Nobody wishes to believe these reports. MSC knows all too well and they try very hard to insulate their Yacht Club guests from this feeding frenzy in the Market Place Buffet by giving their YC guests their own buffet on the One Pool deck every day, where no one is pushed around and brought to almost tears. The only problem are interlopers crashing the YC buffet. Whatever is seemingly missing is best thought of as 'sour grapes' and was best avoided anyway.

[DaKahuna]

11 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

I told them to go ahead while I tried to get a lunch reservation at Hola! for the next day. After securing the reservation,

 

Are reservations needed at Hola?  I thought you could just show up.

 

11 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

I offered to get the food and bring it back to the room for them so they could leave.

 

I notice you getting a lot of food.  Is room service a problem or just don't like the menu items? 

 

11 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

Some of the bars have the big single cocktail rocks -  some don’t. I’m not sure which are which.

 

I love a double shot of Ron Zacapa 23 over one of those big cubes of ice.  

 

The more I read about the main buffet the more I think I will make a concentrated effort to totally avoid going there, even for pizza.  On our last cruise we had a delicious pizza delivered to our room.  I think that is the way we'll go if we want pizza. 

 

 

[MonsterJoe]

45 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Are reservations needed at Hola?  I thought you could just show up.

 

 

I notice you getting a lot of food.  Is room service a problem or just don't like the menu items? 

 

 

I love a double shot of Ron Zacapa 23 over one of those big cubes of ice.  

 

The more I read about the main buffet the more I think I will make a concentrated effort to totally avoid going there, even for pizza.  On our last cruise we had a delicious pizza delivered to our room.  I think that is the way we'll go if we want pizza. 

 

 

Reservations are not required at Hola! Just recommended.  Being that today is a sea day, I just wanted to get ahead of it. There was plenty of seating available...and also several reservations came in when we were there.

 

I get a lot of food because I don't sit still well 🙂 I'm only in this ship for 7 days...I want to take it all in.

 

Room service is absolutely NOT a problem...they are super happy to bring you things. Its just that the room service menu is tiny. The cookies aren't good. The cheese tray is similar to the one at dinner...the prosciutto and grana padano is an unbelievably large pile of meat and cheese...and the pizza is of course awesome....we just love to try things and I love a reason to walk around the ship.

 

As I said earlier...I will write more about the buffet in my recap...but spoiler alert...this isn't the ship that I would try to convince you on using it.

Edited August 22 by MonsterJoe

[DaKahuna]

2 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

Reservations are not required at Hola! Just recommended.  Being that today is a sea day, I just wanted to get ahead of it.

 

 Thank you.  I will keep that in mind.   

 We had our Butler make the dining reservations we wanted.  Guess I could have done it myself. 

 

2 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

I get a lot of food because I don't sit still well 🙂 I'm only in this ship for 7 days...I want to take it all in.

 

 I get that.  I frequently try to think of things that I need to go get for myself or my DW just to get out of the cabin. 

 

Really looking forward to more of your review.  Sorry to be such a pest with all the comments and questions.. 

 

Edited August 22 by DaKahuna

[MonsterJoe]

4 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Thank you.  I will keep that in mind.   

 We had our Butler make the dining reservations we wanted.  Guess I could have done it myself. 

 

 

 I get that.  I frequently try to think of things that I need to go get for myself or my DW just to get out of the cabin. 

 

Really looking forward to more of your review.  Sorry to be such a pest with all the comments and questions.. 

 

I had the concierge do it. I like our butler but I don't see him much

 

I'm happy to answer the questions and read the comments. It gives me more to do. 🙂

[lahlah57]

One tiny question, kinda stupid but just need to know if I need to bring it.......Tabasco. Gotta have it for my eggs in the morning.  Thanks for the info!

[MonsterJoe]

6 hours ago, lahlah57 said:

One tiny question, kinda stupid but just need to know if I need to bring it.......Tabasco. Gotta have it for my eggs in the morning.  Thanks for the info!

Me too, but im a cholula guy.

 

They have Tabasco and a couple kinds of cholula

Edited August 22 by MonsterJoe

[MonsterJoe]

Yesterday started with another early morning in Top Sail. I suppose I have found my routine. My go-to order has been a double shot of espresso and a cappuccino, today was no different, nor have I had to ask for it for the past few days.

 

I spent some time there working, passing in my final project for my Film as Art course. Due to something going on with my English professor’s personal life, I got an extension on the deadline for my research project, which gave me some breathing room.

 

I was in Top Sail for a couple of hours, waiting for a text from my wife to let me know they were up. It came at 9:30, about two hours after I’d settled in.

 

I skipped breakfast again but brought some back for everyone else. We spent the morning puttering around until it was time for our reservation at Hola!

 

Hola! was fantastic. The service was great, and the food was very, very good. As a Mexican food aficionado (I’m really an aficionado of all foods), I have high standards, and this meal hit all the right notes.  We got one of all the tacos, a couple tamales, queso fundito, a braised beef quesadilla, guacamole and salsa.  DD2 loved the tortilla soup.

For those curious - in YC at least, your drink package carries over there.

I feel bad for the person whose recent review of it was terrible.  Ours was completely opposite…I wonder what went wrong there.

 

After lunch, we went back to the room, and I took my first nap of the week with DD2 while DW and DS enjoyed the water slides and arcades. About 2 hours for me - another additional for DD2.

 

Later, I made a stop at the casino for the “ATM” and ended up losing a little money. On the plus side, I discovered they have a kiosk to cash out, which is convenient. Unfortunately, that whole area of the ship, with its open staircases spanning a couple of decks, reeks of smoke. I am pretty sensitive to it as I smoked for 25 years…and have been clean of it for 8. I am not one of those former smokers who get cravings or longs for the ritual or smell - it is terrible to me now and I do not enjoy that part of the ship.

 

The daily planner suggested a casual night for dinner, but we march to our own drummer and dressed up as usual. Apparently, others did too—we saw more elegance tonight than on the official elegant night.

 

Dinner was Italian-themed, and it was the best meal of the week so far. Lasagna, osso bucco, veal chops, carpaccio, buffalo mozzarella…everything was great.  I wanted to try the fried seafood starter but at this point in the cruise I am in a state of constant fullness, and didn’t think I could do it.

DS is finally starting to catch on.  He’s been shy about asking for things all week, but tonight he ordered the mini-cheeseburgers as his starter before moving to the adult menu for his main.  He understands now he can curate his experience within reason and he enjoys that.

Turns out the mini cheeseburgers were a lie - a half pound cheeseburger came out as his starter lol - maybe the prep people misread “mini” as “many” - in any case, we cut it in quarters and passed it around….it was a really good burger.

DD2 has made friends with the servers - one who is not even in charge of us and gave her a cork person riding a napkin bird with reins and everything. Amazing.

 

After dinner, we booked four more cruises. DW took DD2 to bed, and DS and I played card games in Top Sail. You can tell the cruise is hitting the back nine—people are getting a wee bit sloppy, presumably trying to soak everything in. I brought a notepad to start collecting the names of crew members I want to be sure to mention in the survey. Some people take pictures of badges, but I find that impersonal and kind of weird to take pictures of people’s chests!

 

Drinks have been getting progressively stronger, and the crew has become progressively chattier as the week has gone on. I take that as a sign they enjoy our energy. We ended the night wasting some money at the arcade with DS

 

[Essiesmom]

@Best Cat Mom is t your DH the one that makes the cars?  If so, maybe he can use a driver…. EM

[lahlah57]

2 hours ago, MonsterJoe said:

Me too, but im a cholula guy.

 

They have Tabasco and a couple kinds of cholula

Oh good! I've tried to like cholula in a pinch but Tabasco is my egg ticket! 

Thank You!

[lahlah57]

57 minutes ago, MonsterJoe said:

Yesterday started with another early morning in Top Sail. I suppose I have found my routine. My go-to order has been a double shot of espresso and a cappuccino, today was no different, nor have I had to ask for it for the past few days.

 

I spent some time there working, passing in my final project for my Film as Art course. Due to something going on with my English professor’s personal life, I got an extension on the deadline for my research project, which gave me some breathing room.

 

I was in Top Sail for a couple of hours, waiting for a text from my wife to let me know they were up. It came at 9:30, about two hours after I’d settled in.

 

I skipped breakfast again but brought some back for everyone else. We spent the morning puttering around until it was time for our reservation at Hola!

 

Hola! was fantastic. The service was great, and the food was very, very good. As a Mexican food aficionado (I’m really an aficionado of all foods), I have high standards, and this meal hit all the right notes.  We got one of all the tacos, a couple tamales, queso fundito, a braised beef quesadilla, guacamole and salsa.  DD2 loved the tortilla soup.

For those curious - in YC at least, your drink package carries over there.

I feel bad for the person whose recent review of it was terrible.  Ours was completely opposite…I wonder what went wrong there.

 

After lunch, we went back to the room, and I took my first nap of the week with DD2 while DW and DS enjoyed the water slides and arcades. About 2 hours for me - another additional for DD2.

 

Later, I made a stop at the casino for the “ATM” and ended up losing a little money. On the plus side, I discovered they have a kiosk to cash out, which is convenient. Unfortunately, that whole area of the ship, with its open staircases spanning a couple of decks, reeks of smoke. I am pretty sensitive to it as I smoked for 25 years…and have been clean of it for 8. I am not one of those former smokers who get cravings or longs for the ritual or smell - it is terrible to me now and I do not enjoy that part of the ship.

 

The daily planner suggested a casual night for dinner, but we march to our own drummer and dressed up as usual. Apparently, others did too—we saw more elegance tonight than on the official elegant night.

 

Dinner was Italian-themed, and it was the best meal of the week so far. Lasagna, osso bucco, veal chops, carpaccio, buffalo mozzarella…everything was great.  I wanted to try the fried seafood starter but at this point in the cruise I am in a state of constant fullness, and didn’t think I could do it.

DS is finally starting to catch on.  He’s been shy about asking for things all week, but tonight he ordered the mini-cheeseburgers as his starter before moving to the adult menu for his main.  He understands now he can curate his experience within reason and he enjoys that.

Turns out the mini cheeseburgers were a lie - a half pound cheeseburger came out as his starter lol - maybe the prep people misread “mini” as “many” - in any case, we cut it in quarters and passed it around….it was a really good burger.

DD2 has made friends with the servers - one who is not even in charge of us and gave her a cork person riding a napkin bird with reins and everything. Amazing.

 

After dinner, we booked four more cruises. DW took DD2 to bed, and DS and I played card games in Top Sail. You can tell the cruise is hitting the back nine—people are getting a wee bit sloppy, presumably trying to soak everything in. I brought a notepad to start collecting the names of crew members I want to be sure to mention in the survey. Some people take pictures of badges, but I find that impersonal and kind of weird to take pictures of people’s chests!

 

Drinks have been getting progressively stronger, and the crew has become progressively chattier as the week has gone on. I take that as a sign they enjoy our energy. We ended the night wasting some money at the arcade with DS

 

I was wondering about getting drinks outside of YC and if we would be charged 🤔 

[MonsterJoe]

2 minutes ago, lahlah57 said:

I was wondering about getting drinks outside of YC and if we would be charged 🤔 

Outside of YC in all the bars and lounges, including all over Ocean Cay, your drink package absolutely works - there always seems to be questions as to whether or not that applies in the specialty restaurants, so that is my anecdotal experience.

Edited August 22 by MonsterJoe

[cellfree]

@MonsterJoe, enjoy your daily epistles every morning, appreciate the detail. What really struck me this morning (just now) was your comment on how the “crew has become progressively chattier.” I believe what they really appreciate and react to are people who address them with kindness, use their names, and show some interest in their lives - sounds like they love your family. Until tomorrow morning, cruise on! Next MSC for us is YC Interior Seascape in November, not so far away really.