Beamafar

So glad you posted about the casino. I enjoy a flutter on the machines (though I don’t spend/lose enough anymore to qualify for anything). I do miss the old, ‘fun’, machines that they had onboard years ago.

The (unusual) experience calls to mind a conversation I had with a woman on the YC pool deck on Seaview (in the Med). We were about 3 days into a 7 night cruise and she shared how bad she (and her family) were being treated in the YC restaurant. I was totally shocked at her account and advised her to immediately speak to the YC director (described him to her as she had no previous YC experience). Next day she sought me out to thank me for the total change in her dining experience and, for the rest of the cruise, totally enjoyed her time onboard. It’s sad when people aren’t given the YC experience that they pay good money for.

That is usually my motivation for calling attention to problems. Also, there can be a welcome gesture, acknowledging that the experience should have been a better one.

Much appreciated. I was very disappointed on your behalf of your embarkation lunch experience. I hope that your overall YC experience exceeds your expectations. As far as I’m concerned, you should never have had to resort to the main buffet offerings for lunch. Personally, I would take it up with the YC concierge. This is not what your first exposure to YC should be.

If you could find out both the YC restaurant m’D and YC Director’s names and how long they’ll be on for, I’d appreciate it.

Deleted.

So glad you managed to sort it and delighted that the weather has improved for you. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how good YC is.

Following. Hope you have a wonderful cruise. (Did you have your username corrected?)

Nope - that was my main course (and I hadn’t ordered an appetiser beforehand as I’m not an app person). TBH, I was totally shocked by it. I even took it up with the YC director (who happened to be walking past as we were exiting the restaurant). Needless to say, I didn’t get anywhere with him (he wasn’t very good). However, we had a wonderful concierge who saw us right 👍 Apologies to the OP for the interruption.

This is what was served to me for my main course in Ocean Cay for our Diamond (formerly ’Black Card’) perk. Note that it resembled the original Black Card (it was similar in size - that’s the black cod, without the ‘accompaniments’).

Here’s how some of the dishes actually appear (though on a different ship)

Teppanyaki is incredibly popular. I’ve seen it totally booked out on a 23 night cruise.

I really appreciate that you’re not referring to it as ‘St Patty’s Day’. Geez, A) Patty is a girl’s name, and, B) it’s affectionately called ‘St Paddy’s Day’ (or even just ‘Paddy’s Day’).

Oh - I absolutely love cruise sunsets.

Photos much appreciated. 😊 On one of our cruises Mr B requested a second helping of mussels. The waiter brought him a basin-load. 😆 (He scoffed the lot!).

❤️ We once cruised on St Patrick’s Day (TA from Santos to Genoa). The only place decorated was the casino - with ’The luck of the Irish’ signs posted everywhere in the venue. 🤣 (I think we were the only Irish onboard and ‘the luck’ certainly was not with us. 😢

Mr B will be delighted to see Gateau Opera on the menu (as well as Moules Marinières).

As an FYI, those room service menu prices are in USD. The currency on your cruise will be Euros (but prices will be similar).

I’m not surprised about the app. We always have issues - either the itinerary won’t show or, recently, we couldn’t access any of the ‘Things to Do’ to add to the cruise. However, there shouldn’t be an issue on the website. Having said that, you’ll find (if you were to search) that there are lots of threads here about how poor the MSC website is. 🙄

Room service continental breakfast items are included; room service delivery is included but there is a charge for items (€6 for 2 plates last time I sailed). You will be assigned a time, MDR and table. If the time assigned doesn’t suit, you can meet with the m’D on embarkation at an allocated venue on the day. Be prepared for a queue - lots of people try to change their allocations during this time. The buffet will have set times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can go anytime between the times listed on the daily planner. There are also snacks available in between these times and pizza is available all day until late in the night (times also listed on the planner). Here’s an example of the room service menus (prices may have changed)

I’ve seen shorts worn on ‘Gala’ nights in YC (those dressed in such sniggered at those of us who made the effort to look smart).

The only one I have is the list of spirits (from last October). I usually photo the full bar menu, but since they brought in the system of using qr codes, I sometimes overlook requesting a paper version to snap. The prices may change (they usually do in April) but the package limits also rise so the inclusions tend to remain the same.

I’ve seen the way the YC crew fuss over kids. These are people who are away from their own families for months at a time, so they love interacting with passengers’ kids.

Even some of us who don’t sail with kids will be interested in your experience. 😉

Yeah - I meant ’adjusted’ rather than ‘upped’. 🤪