Pirate’s LIVE on the Seashore! 9/1/24 thru 9/8/24

[pirate4me2]

Hello, my MSC cruising family!

 

It’s me Steph, one of your newest family members. I’m usually a Carnival cruiser, but last year Mom and I sailed on Seaside over my birthday (she was the one that insisted we try MSC, and I am SO GLAD we did!) and I was hooked. We sailed in the Yacht Club, and even though I was a fish out of water and a bit apprehensive of something so different from my usual Carnival, I left feeling the most relaxed, spoiled, and rejuvenated that I ever have from a cruise! 
 

Mom and I came home raving about how awesome MSC was, and when I sailed Mardi Gras just 3 weeks after my Seaside cruise I couldn’t help but make comparisons to my husband.  Yes, I still had a great cruise, and I still love Carnival (it’s “home” for me) and I will keep sailing them, but I am going to be mixing some MSC sailings in each year. My DH finally agreed to give MSC a try (he is even more loyal to Carnival than I was) so I quickly booked us on the Seashore for a September sailing before he could change his mind! I cannot wait for him to see how gorgeous the MSC ships are (those sparkly staircases!!!), experience the pampering of the YC, and see how absolutely BEAUTIFUL Ocean Cay is. He thought Half Moon Cay (Carnival’s private island) was nice in June, but to me OC blows it out of the water.

 

I am going to try and do a post each evening, and I am going to ask DH what he (the newbie) thinks of different things compared to Carnival…the ship layout/décor, the private island, entertainment onboard, etc. I am only going to ask him to compare apples to apples, the YC stuff we will cover separately.

 

As far as excursions go, we are pretty laid back cruisers. Back in our 20’s we did the adventurous stuff (river tubing, jet skis, underground rivers) but now we are just happy to go to a beach and become fish in the water. For this trip we have 2 days at Ocean Cay (hooray!) which will be spent on a combo of the YC beach and the lagoon across the way. I bought some blow up floaty chairs off Amazon that we will just float aimless around the lagoon in, drinks in hand. For Costa Maya we have reservations at Jaime’s at the Blue Reef, an all-inclusive beach club. We went there back in 2019 for our Dysfunctional Family Vacation and enjoyed it...maybe a little too much. Mom grew mermaid legs, my uncle almost got wheeled out to the taxi in a wheelbarrow, my husband learned to dance to music nobody else heard….hmmm, maybe I should re-think our plans for that day.  Cozumel we will be returning to Paradise Beach, our favorite beach club, for the day. We love lounging in their pool, eating tacos, and contemplating life. 

 

So, without further ado, who is ready to experience their favorite cruise line thru a newbie’s eyes?

 

[princess76021]

yay!!  i got here first!!

ready to cruise!! 

thanks for inviting  us

hugs from texas!!!

[pirate4me2]

@princess76021 I'm ready too! This has been a week for the books at my work. Shew.

 

Hugs from NC!! 

[princess76021]

1 hour ago, pirate4me2 said:

@princess76021 I'm ready too! This has been a week for the books at my work. Shew.

 

Hugs from NC!! 

you do realize this is a record for me!!

i'm so excited for you that i checked daily!!

hugs

 

[hapytobehr]

Hi Steph!

 

Just like you we are Carnival cruisers.  We have done 2 MSC cruises, One YC one not.

 

Nothing like the YC!  We did YC on Seaside (like you) and Divina we did Bella which convinced us that the YC is the way to go for us!

 

We will be going on the Seashore in October (Halloween cruise) in the YC and are so excited to get to Ocean Cay.  We never made it the last time it was scheduled due to high winds.

 

We also have 3 Carnival cruises in our near future and as you said, Carnival is home.

 

Have a blast and I will be following!👀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GeoHack]

Lol, I have also been on 2 MSC cruises - 1 Yacht club and 1 general pop and weird that my next 2 are 9/1 and 10/27 the same as you two. What are the chances....

[GA Dave]

I am on this cruise too, as part of a B2B. 

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, hapytobehr said:

Hi Steph!

 

Just like you we are Carnival cruisers.  We have done 2 MSC cruises, One YC one not.

 

Nothing like the YC!  We did YC on Seaside (like you) and Divina we did Bella which convinced us that the YC is the way to go for us!

 

We will be going on the Seashore in October (Halloween cruise) in the YC and are so excited to get to Ocean Cay.  We never made it the last time it was scheduled due to high winds.

 

We also have 3 Carnival cruises in our near future and as you said, Carnival is home.

 

Have a blast and I will be following!👀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh you will love OC! Mom is not a beach person but agreed she would be happy going on a cruise that spent 3-4 days there, it’s just perfect with so many different areas to enjoy. If you have any questions you’d like answered, ask away and I’ll try to find out answers while I’m onboard! 
 

3 hours ago, GeoHack said:

Lol, I have also been on 2 MSC cruises - 1 Yacht club and 1 general pop and weird that my next 2 are 9/1 and 10/27 the same as you two. What are the chances....

Thats crazy!! See you onboard (maybe) next week! 
 

1 hour ago, GA Dave said:

I am on this cruise too, as part of a B2B. 

See you (maybe) onboard! 

[Mezqal]

Hi, eager to read from your impressions - and the ones of your DH. I like it to read about impressions of first time YC pax because i remember vividly our first cruise in YC in 2018 on Meraviglia out of Hamburg toward Iceland and how great it was.

 

We will board Seashore on 09/29/24 for eleven night b2b in the YC. If you have recommendations about staff, wich YC-Director, wich Maitre D, best Concierge or something else, i'd love to read about 😀.

 

Before we're doing a 10 day Roadtrip in Florida for the first time..... 

 

Happy Cruisin to you and your Family, lots of fun aboard!

[KarenGretz]

Thanks for this! Hubs and I are looking to do this exact cruise in YC Oct '25. We're doing the Mer to Bermuda Oct '24, our first time in YC and we can't wait! I strongly suspect that once we do YC, we're ruined! 

[pirate4me2]

11 hours ago, Mezqal said:

Hi, eager to read from your impressions - and the ones of your DH. I like it to read about impressions of first time YC pax because i remember vividly our first cruise in YC in 2018 on Meraviglia out of Hamburg toward Iceland and how great it was.

 

We will board Seashore on 09/29/24 for eleven night b2b in the YC. If you have recommendations about staff, wich YC-Director, wich Maitre D, best Concierge or something else, i'd love to read about 😀.

 

Before we're doing a 10 day Roadtrip in Florida for the first time..... 

 

Happy Cruisin to you and your Family, lots of fun aboard!

I will try and give shout outs to the YC personnel we run into that make good impressions!! 

 

2 hours ago, KarenGretz said:

Thanks for this! Hubs and I are looking to do this exact cruise in YC Oct '25. We're doing the Mer to Bermuda Oct '24, our first time in YC and we can't wait! I strongly suspect that once we do YC, we're ruined! 

You will be!! I know I sure am. 

[pirate4me2]

Things that make me happy: shoes that inadvertently match my luggage set. 😂 I’ll be stylin’ on embarkation and debarkation day! 

[thepants]

I will be following this for sure. We have sailed both Mardi Gras and Vista. I actually preferred vista better than Mardi gras. We had a Havana aft balcony on vista and it was simply beautiful. I awoke around 4 on morning and sat on the extended large balcony watching the ship cruise past oil rigs until I fell asleep again on the balcony lounger. We loved the red frog pub and spent all night listening to the singer song writer play Dave Mathews covers. 

 

We have also sailed a number of Royal Carribean cruises and a celebrity and princess mixed in. We are more loyal to RC but are wanting to venture out to something new. We sail MSC for Christmas week!

Edited August 29 by thepants

[thepants]

Also I would love to see menus and any info on teen club activities. We are bringing our three boys/teens with us this time so they are looking forward to soccer games, dj parties, all you can eat food options. 

[ScottsSweetie]

Loyal Carnival cruiser here going on my first MSC on this sailing. I certainly understand the feeling of Carnival being "home", but I am so excited to try a new line, new ship, new menus, etc.

🌞

[Mommapadraig]

Yea!!!! Thanks for doing this. Have a wonderful cruise. My next YC isn’t until 2026 unless a last minute deal shows up.

[Mommapadraig]

I must have been asleep when I first read your post. You are on the Seashore! Our favorite waiter is Manuel. We were lucky to have the butler team of Emmanuel and Jayesh. The chef will visit your table every night.and last but not least our favorite bartender Jerome. I am so jealous!

[gentau]

My DW and I will be on this cruise for my birthday, never been on MSC but can't wait!

[DaKahuna]

@gentau

 

Roll Tide!

Edited August 29 by DaKahuna

[pirate4me2]

Luggage is packed and ready to roll! C’mon, 5 a.m. Saturday!!

[TOMMYCRUISER]

Sure wish I was going with you steph say hi to chris

[pirate4me2]

12 hours ago, thepants said:

I will be following this for sure. We have sailed both Mardi Gras and Vista. I actually preferred vista better than Mardi gras. We had a Havana aft balcony on vista and it was simply beautiful. I awoke around 4 on morning and sat on the extended large balcony watching the ship cruise past oil rigs until I fell asleep again on the balcony lounger. We loved the red frog pub and spent all night listening to the singer song writer play Dave Mathews covers. 

 

We have also sailed a number of Royal Carribean cruises and a celebrity and princess mixed in. We are more loyal to RC but are wanting to venture out to something new. We sail MSC for Christmas week!

 

11 hours ago, thepants said:

Also I would love to see menus and any info on teen club activities. We are bringing our three boys/teens with us this time so they are looking forward to soccer games, dj parties, all you can eat food options. 

 

 

I agree, I love the Vista class Havana cabins! They're simply awesome with that private pool area. And as much as I love MG, I would sail Vista/Horizon over her any day if I could snag a Havana room.

 

I will try and post the daily menus. Not sure if I will get much info on the teen club, as we are a non-kid couple, but if I remember/see anything on them, I will post it for ya!

[FLCruiser97]

I'll be on this ship in a few weeks. My first MSC and also my first solo trip. Looking forward to your observations.

[pirate4me2]

10 hours ago, ScottsSweetie said:

Loyal Carnival cruiser here going on my first MSC on this sailing. I certainly understand the feeling of Carnival being "home", but I am so excited to try a new line, new ship, new menus, etc.

🌞

Whoo hoo, hey fellow Carnival family! I might see ya onboard!

 

3 hours ago, Mommapadraig said:

Yea!!!! Thanks for doing this. Have a wonderful cruise. My next YC isn’t until 2026 unless a last minute deal shows up.

1 hour ago, Mommapadraig said:

I must have been asleep when I first read your post. You are on the Seashore! Our favorite waiter is Manuel. We were lucky to have the butler team of Emmanuel and Jayesh. The chef will visit your table every night.and last but not least our favorite bartender Jerome. I am so jealous!

Ohhhh, hopefully I see some of them onboard! 

 

58 minutes ago, gentau said:

My DW and I will be on this cruise for my birthday, never been on MSC but can't wait!

Hey hey, maybe we will run into each other onboard! 

 

16 minutes ago, TOMMYCRUISER said:

Sure wish I was going with you steph say hi to chris

Tommy!!!!! We have GOT to sail together again sometime! I finally have Chris branching out from CCL...maybe we can all meet up on another cruise!

[pirate4me2]

1 minute ago, FLCruiser97 said:

I'll be on this ship in a few weeks. My first MSC and also my first solo trip. Looking forward to your observations.

Welcome aboard! If you have any questions, ask away!