Heartgrove

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Thank you all for the birthday wishes yesterday! We had a wonderful lunch and the celebration continues today with DD, DSIL, and granddaughter Lily coming over for cake this afternoon. Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Having a late departure of 8:00 pm is to accommodate European passengers arriving on afternoon flights and then being able to board those Bermuda cruises.

On MSC cruises while sailing in YC, we don't bother with going to the Butcher's Cut. I know that when we were on the MSC Splendida in YC, my wife was not happy with the standard cut that was offered for dinner one night. The Matre' D offered her any cut she wanted.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Thank you for the birthday wishes! A little family history with the story that I was told about my name. My Irish grandmother lived with us as my brother, sisters, and I were growing up on the North Side of Chicago. Because I was born on Queen Victoria's birthday, my grandmother wanted me to be named "Victor." My older brother and sister said, when it was their turn to speak to my mother in the hospital, "How's Jack?" The name stuck but being a good Roman Catholic family it was changed to John for the Baptismal record. But Jack has been my nickname all my life. Besides Queen Victoria I share my date with the former Mayor of Chicago, Jane Byrne, and the English actor, Jim Broadbent, among others. Sue is treating me to lunch today at a new Seafood Mexican restaurant. Love Margaritas! I miss my brother who is gone almost two years now. Have a great Memorial Day weekend! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Yes, in 2015 on our first cruise with HAL we received an Upsell offer.

@smitty34877 Happy Birthday, Tana!

@MrSnuffleupagus Safe travels today, and Bon Voyage!

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Lat September we tendered from the MSC Preziosa to South Queensferry. The slack water that morning at the pier had fouled two MSC tenders' sea chests so MSC chartered Maid of the Forth to supplement the remaining MSC tenders. The Preziosa carries 1,200+ more passengers than HAL ships. Even with that we stood in line what would be a normal 15 minutes. But the next morning we were in Lewis (Calanais Standing Stones) and the two tenders were not back in operation until midday. That hampered tender operations. Isle of Lewis is planning on building a cruise ship pier in the future.

We just booked a cruise on the MSC Meraviglia for January yesterday. Under the Flash Sale the fare was about $450+ more than the Voyager 5%+5%. Luckily I had done a dummy booking the day before!

Is this ship the MSC Seaside? Helpful to know which ship. If it is, my choice would be Deck 15. Forward of that are actually the ship's officer's quarters.

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! We booked our MSC cruise for January yesterday for the three of us. Another cruise to look forward to! So many people complain on CC about how difficult it is to communicate with MSC. I have never had a problem and probably won't as we use an MSC Concierge which is similar to a HAL PCC. I can liken MSC to an acquired taste for some. It works for us! DSIL groomed Sam last evening out in the yard for over an hour in the cool grass. He just loves to be touched, petted and combed with all of his fur. That should be the end of blowing his winter coat. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Yes, in the buffet now on the MSC Seashore. You have a choice of a bowl or cone. It is very tasty and rich for being Soft Serve.

Once you choose your cruise, the next page will have "Choose Your Limited Time Offer." Above that, the middle choice is "Add Your Voyager Club Number." Click on that and add your number. Prices should change and there will be a Voyager Fare indicated.

Talking about pizza in the buffet, for the round thin crust pizza, are there three flavors or six? We were on the MSC Preziosa from Hamburg last year and they had six types of pizza including a Charcoal pizza that was excellent. Two weeks ago we were on the MSC Seashore but they only offered three flavors.

@marshhawk, @Quartzsite Cruiser, @ger_77, @57redbird, @Haljo1935 Thank you all for the concern towards Sam. I am so glad he rallied when we had made the decision to put him down March 4 and were able to change our mind! At some point though there will be a time when ... Right now we take it day by day. This morning he was so silly getting us up to feed him at 6:30 this morning. Head butting me to let me know what he wanted. And I have two 25 lb. bags of food for him to finish first! Happy to see us again after our cruise last week.

That was a Canadian Coast Guard evac. They might have different rules as they are a civilian organization.

Thank you for the kind words about Sam. We knew going in that his hip dysplasia would be the undoing. He has lost so much muscle in his rear legs that he is able to walk on all fours but the rear legs are basically dragged. He has an uneven gait (if that makes sense) where all four legs are almost independent when he walks. He did not hesitate going down the stairs this morning so he has not gotten to the point of being afraid of them. Your photo is nicely composed. It reminds me of our land trip to Lake Louise and Banff in 2005. We were younger then and able to do the hike up to the Lake Agnes Tea House. We also witnessed an avalanche which was miles away to the left in your photo. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! What do you do after going on a cruise? Plan for another one of course. It looks like we are going to book our once a year cruise where we treat DSIL with a MSC cruise from NYC in January. They are currently running a Memorial Day sale and along with our 5%+5% discount this far out, we will book an 11-night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Of course if Sam is still with us we will cancel before final payment. He fell down our stairs last night for his end of day trip to the outside. That is the second time that has happened. We are scheduled to visit today's Port next year as we have booked the 29-Day Japan + Pacific Collector with HAL for April 25. The Noordam is assigned which is the only Vista-class we have not sailed on. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

We were also on the MSC Seashore last week in YC. I echo everything that @Mommapadraig have said. Our butler was Anton and junior butler was Sonji. They were also very attentive! It was our first time sailing on a larger MSC ship as we have only sailed on Fantasia-class ships before this. You do notice the increase in the number of passengers but not to a large extent. - Jack

@Cruzin Terri Terri, I hope that you are feeling better!

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! I hope everyone is able to have a good weekend. Finally AMEX has given me an Offer that I can use with HAL. Still planning on our Transatlantic in October but the determining factor will be Sam's health. He managed the week we were on our MSC cruise without a problem. Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Thank you Rich, thank you Debbie, thank you Vanessa, thank you Ann, and thank you Dixie for all your work. And thank you everyone for being here! The rain held off until last night. Looks like a pretty gloomy day. Sam wanted to be fed at 6:15. I held him off until 6:30. But the good part is that I can now watch the F1 Practice 3 session live at Emilio-Romagna. MSC announced on the 17th that they are bringing the MSC Grandiosa to Port Canaveral in December 2025 in addition to the MSC Seashore. With Princess adding Port Canaveral next year, it will be a busy place. Have a GREAT weekend! Stay Safe, and prayers for those in need. - Jack

Check back in a few days as things change. Last week I checked on the EB Grand Voyage in November for the MSC Magnifica. Nothing was available for Balconies Miami to Lisbon. Today there must be at least 10 available.