Morgsmom

Actually it’s diminishing. lol. Please enjoy photo of iceberg lettuce and drinks listed for which they do not have the listed ingredients.

Good morning from the Bahamas - going to be a lovely day. Unfortunately, this sailing has not been so lovely, or up to expectations. I can't get my photos to come over as internet has been a bit spotty, so I'll paint a picture. I'll start with the fact that we boarded on Sunday and it's Tuesday morning and I still *have not met my butler.* Embarkation: a hot mess! This size of ship is too large for Terminal 10 and it's parking facilities, especially with half of the parking lot being ripped up. Cars were in line for hours waiting to park and tempers were high (in the online chat group). I arrived at 11:00am after having a tire blow out on the way (thank you Florida Highway Patrol!) and the YC waiting area was already packed. Check in was easy but we didn't board until shortly after 12'ish so it got a bit cramped. (The YC waiting area has not expanded even though the size of the YC in the Seashore holds considerably more guests - something MSC should account for). Fortunately I wisely grabbed a can of Pringles because there was none in my cabin 😞 So we are herded off to Top Sail. First observation - there is literally no fruit for garnishes. Margaritas without limes; Hugo Spritz without mint, etc. Ok, they are getting started I say (but surely there was some from, um, yesterday. They couldn't have worked it down to the last lemon...?) Anyhow, brush that off and make my way up to the pool deck for lunch. Here we find two bowls of the palest Iceburg lettuce you have ever seen marked "mixed greens" or something like that. Ok, again, first world issues. To note, I'm in the restaurant industry and DH is an exec chef so we really "notice" food. (Which is a kind way of saying that we are picky). Get to cabin - port side, balcony. I prefer starboard but didn't want to tempt the MSC IT gods and call and try to have it moved less they say "oh, that'll be treated like a new booking so you owe us another million billion dollars"... Cabin is nice enough, but no snacks (boo), no butler to ask about any preferences, no pen to leave a note (YC guests are now provided with a fancy #2 lead pencil). No welcome (Diamond) Prosecco (was told that's been done away with), no fruit, no nothing. Using said pencil I left a note for mystery butler asking for Tissues/Kleenex as there was none in bathroom nor a slot in the bathroom design where they normally insert them. Was provided with - drumroll please - a fresh roll of wrapped toilet paper by my bed, which had been opened and the first sheets pulled up to create short of paper candle effect. I KID YOU NOT. (Darn, I wish these pictures would come over!!!!) I nearly peed my middle aged pants laughing, which would have been given the extra toilet paper 🙂 Anyhooo, so I also sent two pairs of trousers for pressing on day 1.. unfortunately they not back until late last night well after dinner on day 2 so I had to juggle my dinner wardrobe plans. (Warning to anyone who thinks they might get their pressing back) On cocktails- there are these lovely menus here and there, at Ocean House and in Topsail. Unfortunately they are consistently lacking most of the ingredients and/or the recipes....lol... the Mule LePoire was made with regular grey goose (not the pear one) and without limes so they added a splash of sour mix 😞 The fancy Gin & Tonic drinks listed on the Topsail menu. For example, the Elderflower which is supposed to have Fever-Tree tonic, dehydrated orange peel, cinnamon stick and clove was made with the correct spirit, but regular tonic, and absolutely none of the other things...Some high fallutin' mixologist created these drinks that absolutely cannot be managed amongst a fleet of ships that can hardly keep up with all of the drinks they are making. Don't offer something if you can't make it. So much more to comment on but if this were my first YC I'd run for the hills and never return. I do have 2 more booked on this size ship (another Seashore, and then Euribia) but I personally prefer the Meraviglia size ships. The YC here is just too big and you roll the dice on getting what is listed as being available to you. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

@JCMAN I'm on same ship & sailing sailing solo. Booked Interior, Assigned Balcony. Bid max for YC inside and NOTHING for YC Deluxe as the starting bid (x2) was too high for me. Like you, was countered because there are no insides available. I DID take the counter offer, even at the 2x price because it was well worth it to me once I factored in Premium Drink package and wifi for 2 devices. The price I am paying is more than last year's 5 day/4 night sailing at the same time of year in Yacht Club, but significantly less than booking YC as a solo because of the 100% solo supplement.

If you purchased the drink packaged SEPARTELY (it was not part of the drinks + wifi fare) then,yes, you can cancel it.

Good ole MSC 🙂

After the muster video you then have to go in PERSON to your emergency station and have your card scanned. Did you do that part?

Yes 💯 Seashore

That's ridiculous and hopefully was not allowed.

As a cautionary note, yesterday's Seashore departure from Port Canaveral was a hot mess. Friends waited in security lines for hours to even get into terminal. The YC area ran out of seats and beverages (the horror!) Boarding did not begin until well after 1pm and the ship left about 8:45pm. Many stories were told but the scuttlebutt was some B2Bers who did not want to get off and turn around. They couldn't be located. Can't say if that was true or not but an entire ship of Thanksgiving week cruisers were backed up. So even though you theoretically can get to the port at 10am you might be waiting hours.

I don't think that someone intentionally stole the luggage; my guess is that another guest grabbed a bag in error and got to their taxi or even airport and then realized it. Maybe husband didn't realize that wife already had the look-alike 21" rolling black bag.. Rather than trying to do the right thing they abandoned the case. Just my guess.

Likely another guest grabbed your suitcase. You will likely not hear anything. Reason to never check your bags.

If you miss embarkation the balance of the first cruise would most likely be cancelled.

Diamond Plus and a free bag of laundry would be awesome!

Lunch? I assure you that I will be having a mid morning glass of champagne in Topsail well before lunch 🙂 to the OP, you can arrive at any time. Worse case scenario is that you comfortably wait in the YC waiting area in the port having a snack and beverage and a chat with fellow excited passengers.

Have my eyes deceived me or is the MSC website search engine now updated and more usable? WHAT kind of sorcery is this? I can search and sort using multiple factors so that I can see, for example, YC fares for a number of sailings all at one instead of having to go into each one individually..... Christmas has come early folks. Enjoy!

I booked a solo fare last week that was a 20% supplement, so it is possible. It just varies by sailing and ship.

@go.without.you are you arriving at the Winter Park or Orlando Amtrak station?

So this was new to me - upcoming Seashore 4 night cruise. Going solo but paid a reasonable single supplement for original cabin as the Yacht Club single supplements were 100% which was way too much per night per person (for just me!) First, received "standard" email to upgrade and I bid the maximum for a YIN (knowing full well that it would be x2). But I also knew that there were no YINs available on the cruise. This morning received a COUNTER offer to bid for a Yacht Club Deluxe Balcony because there were no YINs available. I accepted the counter and within 15 minutes my credit card was charged, and 30 minutes later a cabin assigned. SOOOOOOOO excited. I thought this was super smart of them. Hummm, someone is willing to go all in on the YIN, but I did not put in a minimum offer on the YCD, so they lowered their offer, leaving it within an acceptable range for me. To note, this is not my first yacht club rodeo by any means, but last year (same week, same 4 nighter but on Meraviglia), the solo supplements were waived so I sailed much cheaper last year booking outright.

Correct, there are so many factors that can come into play when coming back to port. Can a smooth connection happen? Sure, but have backup plans.

Very very wise, indeed 🙂

If you have an 8pm assigned time they reserve the right not to seat you if you show up at 8:30

well dang, I only saw BUCKETS... still seems odd though

Ok, so here's a conundrum (and not of the wine variety...) theoretically why couldn't you apply the $8 credit on the easy package towards a $7.50 beer so that you are not limited to just Heineken. I see that it says "cocktail, favorite spirit or special glass of wine" but this seems like a fine line to me... Thoughts?

Le Muse on the Divina (the YC dining room) is all the way in the AFT of the ship, so you'll want your butler to escort you the first time you go. Other than that the Divina's YC is lovely and intimate.

Shaking my head. Literally, there is a schedule on the cruise ship. No one, I mean NO ONE, in the cruise line industry gives a hoot about a shuttle launch. And as a Central Florida resident I couldn't care either; heck, 99% of them are scrubbed.