Best Cat Mom

I'm seeing that Murat Sengul is the YC Director on Euribia currently.

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

DW also read that Explora is discounting this Christmas cruise in the OT category for a price LESS than a Yacht Club balcony cabin

Christmas sounds like too many kids for us. 😞 But thanks for the info!

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

DW reported to me that there are disconcerting reports on social media that those booking Residences with butler service on the new Explora Journeys are not getting the same quality of service from their Explora butlers as they received from their MSC Yacht Club butlers.

Wow! I had thought that EJ was going to be an elevated YC from the initial descriptions. But when people have discussed what they've actually experienced, the price point just does not justify it for us. Pity, because I really was looking forward to trying EJ. 😞

Just now, morpheusofthesea said:

For us it boils down to .... Do we have the time (left in our lives) to gamble on a good time or a really good time ?

We are so with you on this way of thinking. If things were to permanently degrade in YC, we'd not be on another.

Just now, Sundiego said:

We are doing a 10 day B2B on the Seashore (3 plus 7) starting Dec 7th. It will be our 4th time in the YC. Hoping for the best but prepared for "the worst" after reading some of these reviews.

Definitely point out to the crew that you're on for 10 days and not just 3 days. I suspect that will elevate your experience. Fingers crossed for you! 🙂

12 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

I love sidecars and also love old fashion's.  How are they on Divina?

Hubert is one of the YC bartenders on Divina right now. He is in TSL in the evenings and makes excellent sidecars and old fashioneds. On our last Divina cruise, the bartenders did not make them as well (in our opinion, and everyone's is different). I hope that Hubert is around and you like his "cooking." LOL

As to the lamb and ossobuco, they were on the YC menu during our Caribbean cruises as well. And if you're Diamond in Voyager's Club and have a free specialty meal on your cruise, Butcher's Cut has them on the menu too. 🙂

13 hours ago, jean87510 said:

I have had reactions to shellfish, nuts and mushrooms.  It sounds like they work with you, correct?

You should expect to receive accommodations. Fill out the Special Needs form (here: https://www.msccruisesusa.com/manage-booking/special-needs) in advance and also notify your TA if you have one attached to the booking. I also make sure that our server and assistant server know. If you don't always have the same servers -- like often occurs at breakfast and lunch -- tell everyone who comes to your table to be sure that your chances of cross-contamination are minimized. I need to be gluten free, but I'm not celiac so I can tolerate a little cross-contamination. If you can't, then definitely keep reminding EVERYONE. 🙂

6 hours ago, capriccio said:

We embarked the Meraviglia on January 5, 2020 for a 7 day western Caribbean and there wasn't a Christmas decoration in sight.

Wow! That would have been disappointing for us. I wonder if MSC is indeed trying to incorporate differences based on the sailing location.

I've come to understand that Epiphany, also known as Little Christmas or Three Kings Day, celebrates the bringing of gifts by the Three Wise Men in the Christian religion.

When in the countryside in Italy for l'Epifania, locals will often have a feast and burn things to help determine if the new growing year will have a good harvest. It's basically a fun party for all and last well into the night. (Read more here: https://www.sandanielemagazine.com/en/events/the-tradition-of-epiphany-in-italy/)

We too are currently in the YC and receiving exceptional service with no advance tipping. We've not yet encountered a situation where we felt an advance tip would be needed to have proper service, though we are always keeping in mind that the day might come when it would be necessary.

Wow -- just wow. If we had the types of issues you mention and it was our first YC, we'd also be running away from MSC. Glad that you have history to know what is possible vs. what you're getting. I hope some of it works out before your cruise is over.

We did a B2B recently that was a 7-night plus a 4-night out of Canaveral on Seaside. There was one other YC cabin that did the B2B. We felt a distinctly different vibe coming from many of the people who were only on the 4-night. It made me wonder if the crew doesn't invest as much time and attention when the itinerary is shorter. Or maybe the party atmosphere that we hear about on the shorter cruises is what leads to that. Who knows which causes which?

We also noticed that hardly anyone had breakfast or lunch in the Top Sail Restaurant so the closer relationship with server and assistant had less time to develop. People would wake up early and then sleep in the loungers on the One Deck, hampering developing a relationship with their butlers/junior butlers.

Since you're a YC veteran, I hope that things get better for you and live up to your past experiences. 🙂

PS: Let the concierge desk know that you want to meet your butler. We did that last week after we did not meet ours the first day. We found out that he had just boarded with us to start a new contract and was dealing with jet lag -- just like us. But now, he's the kind of doting butler that we've had in the past. Matter of fact, he just stopped by our table on the One Pool Deck. He came looking for us to ask about a reservation that we needed to change.

Day 6 Dinner menu:

Day 6 Lunch menu:

Day 6…

Today we ported in Tenerife. We had a tour scheduled but were happy to learn that our meeting time was a little over a hour later then the two previous (way too early) tours. After coffee and Baileys in the cabin, we arrived at Le Muse at a much more decent 8am with the sun already peeking out from the horizon. We really don't like being up before dawn while on holiday, though just about every time we've had to fly back from land-based holidays in Europe we do need to be up that early.

I had booked us only half-day tours so that we'd always be back on the ship in time for lunch in Le Muse. However, when booking MSC tours, you don't know when the tour begins until your butler leaves your tickets in your cabin the night before. While we were happy to sleep in today, we did not think about how this would make the end time of the tour later as well.

The tour was very good, with a guide that had his own tour business in the Canary Islands. He packed a lot of information into our tour, both on the bus and when were were exploring on foot. As we approached the last stop, he told us what time to be back on the bus -- and then spoke of the next stop. Next stop? We would miss lunch in Le Muse. 😞 We knew that the hot buffet on the One Pool Deck stayed open until 3pm and hoped that we'd at least make it back to the ship by then. We had taken note of the path back to the ship when we left in the morning, learning from our long walk the day before in Funchal. Today we saw that there were no sidewalks near the dock and our last stop wasn't even close to the ship. We were resigned to staying with the tour and hoping to return in time for the buffet on the pool deck.

We were very pleased to get back to the ship just before 3pm and made it to the pool deck at 2:55pm. There was lamb, grouper and roast beef on the buffet, along with sides, salad, cold cuts, etc., and some desserts but we opted for burgers and fries instead. BCD had 2 Heineken beers and I had 2 glasses of Santa Cristina Chianti. BCD also grabbed a cookie for dessert.

I had wanted to talk with Mehmet at lunch about whether the lamb shank on the dinner menu would be GF so I could order it. I know it is slow cooked and thought that if it wasn't GF but I gave him enough advance notice that the chef would still have enough time to prepare a GF version for me. Luckily, our butler Elvin was circulating on the pool deck so I was able to ask him to pass on the request for me.

After lunch, we headed to TSL to hang out until dinner. We pleased to find that they had our favorite truffle potato chips today. Elvin came by with the head concierge Simone and they phoned the chef -- good news! I can have the lamb shank since as prepared it is GF.

We changed for dinner -- just casual tonight -- and arrived at Le Muse at 8:15pm. Champagne to start. BCD ordered the tuna poke as his starter, which he has had before and liked. I opted for the duck breast as my starter, also a dish I knew and liked. We both were looking forward to lamb shank as a secondi, and BCD added the gnocchi for his primi while I ordered risotto. We had Santa Cristina following our champagne. I also asked for a GF roll to sop up the sauce from my lamb shank.

After our starters were finished, the 4 entrées arrived as we had requested. (We don't split up the primi and secondi on MSC, as we would on a land-based Italian holiday.) I dug into my lamb and it was falling-off-the-bone excellent, as always. The risotto was even better than I expected, since vegetables are not my favorite for a risotto dish. A short while later, our server Glenn asked us if our lamb was to our liking and not too tough. I said mine was great and showed him how it fell off the bone. BCD said that his was a little tougher than usual. Mehmet also checked on us a little while later, asking about the lamb. Turns out that the lamb was cooked in two separate preparations and the second one was not as good as the first. Many people who had the second preparation had commented that they were not pleased and Mehmet stopped serving the lamb altogether, telling subsequent guests who ordered it that they were out of it. He even apologized to us about it as we walked out later. I guess I was fortunate in that I had received the exceptional preparation that we'd come to expect from the YC restaurant.

We were both pleasantly full after dinner so finished up our wine and headed back to TSL for after dinner drinks and live music. The saxophonist was in TSL again and we had left just after he began at 6:30pm so were looking forward to listening to him a bit more.

Given that we were turning the clocks back that night and would gain an extra hour of sleep, we opted for 4 rounds of sidecars and old fashioneds before calling it a night.

Day 7 to follow…

In Italy, l'Epifania (the Epiphany) on 6 January is traditionally the end of the Christmas holidays. I would hope that MSC honors that custom, though it's possible that they will defer to the region in which they are sailing. When we've been on land-based Italian trips during the end of year holidays, we've always seen festivities continue through l'Epifania.

Just now, go.without.you said:

I'm not going to spend over $6k for a substandard experience and "hope" that it will be good.

If our first MSC cruise had not met our expectations, we probably would have done the same. In the back of our minds, we're always concerned that there might be an appreciable drop in our experience. I guess we've been fortunate so far. If that changes, we'll just go to Italy for all of our holidays and opt out of cruising.

Just now, go.without.you said:

You pay extra for YC and they close the bar early?

Nearly all of the YC staff (servers, assistant servers, butlers, assistant butlers) are with you on Ocean Cay and then head back to the ship to take care of you there. The advantage of this is that you have people who know you and likely are anticipating what you might want. You barely need to think about what to eat and drink because they are already suggesting your favorites when you're on the island. 🙂

Day 5 Dinner menu:

Day 5 Lunch menu:

Day 5…

We had a tour scheduled for our port stop in Funchal, Portugal, today. We were disappointed to see when the tickets were delivered last night that our meeting time was the same 8:10am as in Cádiz but nevertheless set the alarm at a crazy early time so we could have a leisurely breakfast at Le Muse when they opened at 7am.

I forgot to mention that the evening before when we exited Le Muse, Mehmet was putting up a Christmas tree just outside the entrance. When we returned to TSL, there were the beginnings of decorations there as well. When we booked this cruise, I had never thought that we'd see any of these types of decorations. I am surprised that Italians are starting to decorate so early, given that they celebrate until the Epiphany on 6 January. I guess all the world is starting early these days. Oh well…

At Le Muse, BCD again ordered the MSC Express with some pastries. I again had an egg white omelet with ham and cheese with ham on the side. We had 2 mimosas and 1 cappuccino each. We headed back to the room at 8am to pick up our IDs, etc., for our tour and then went to TSL to meet our butler to be escorted down to the bus.

We really enjoyed the tour content. There were lots of stops for sightseeing and the tour guide delivered an ongoing speech on the bus about Funchal and also about Madeira in general and the history of the area while we were motoring around the island.

One thing about the tour that was less than ideal was that when we boarded the bus, there were no two seats together. There were, however, 5 solo people with open seats next to them. BCD and I sat in separate rows, thinking that at the next stop we would move to different seats side-by-side. When we did that, the solo person next to BCD also moved to another row to accommodate us. But at the next stop that solo person moved to a still different row and the people there complained that she was in "their" seat. Tour tickets clearly do not specify any type of assigned seats, just that you have seats for the tour. She said loudly in Italian how there are no permanent seats and moved to a different row, calling them pazzo (crazy).

We were ultimately dropped in the city centre at ~11:30am and we could either walk around and return to the bus a bit later for a ride back to the ship or explore completely on our own. We walked a bit and then decided to walk back to the ship ourselves for lunch. It was a longer walk than we anticipated but we persevered and made it back to Le Muse by ~12:45pm. We were on the elevator with another YC couple that we knew from YC who were also returning from port and they agreed when I said that "ho bisogno di vino" -- I needed wine.

For lunch, both BCD and I had the capri salad with sauvignon blanc to start. BCD chose the BBQ chicken legs for his entrée and paired it with Heineken, while I chose the turbot fillet and had 2 more glasses of sauvignon blanc. We both enjoyed our dishes and were happy to find that they were quite light, given that we felt the night's dinner menu would be on the heavy side for us.

We found out later that only one cabin boarded for YC in Funchal; I'm not sure if any disembarked, so we are likely still about only 50% full in YC.

After lunch we went up to the One Deck since the weather was so nice, thinking that we'd sit up there for a while. However, the sun was already starting to dip lower, with the result being that there were no seats in the shade at that time. We did get to see some of the improvements that Pepe has implemented up there. It is very nice. There are cushions on all the loungers, and several cushioned loungers for two. The tables are also new, with stone toppers, and new cushioned chairs. Divina is a Fantasia-class ship with the pool and the two hot tubs mostly covered and the area by the bar has more tables under cover. We think it makes for a better outside dining experience. There are still plenty of loungers in the sun. Even when we've been on much fuller Divina sailings, we've never seen people forced to be close to each other on loungers. There really is that much space up there.

We hung out in TSL until it was time to dress for dinner. Tonight was Mediterranean Night and we were very much anticipating some great food.

One of the first things we noticed was the changed attire of the staff in Le Muse. We had been used to seeing tricolored ties and cumberbunds and instead there were muted green ties and aprons. Not sure if that was because of the continent difference or a more permanent change. The napkins were all white, though festively folded, and not the previous normal of alternating green, white and red (il Tricolore, the colors of the Italian flag).

As we reviewed the menu choices, we had our usual champagne. I asked about the preparation for both the lamb chops and the ossobuco, hoping that they were the customary MSC recipes which I know from past sailings were GF. I was pleased to find out that they were indeed still GF and I could indulge in both. BCD and I both had the beef carpaccio to start as it is one of our absolute favorite dishes, whether on an MSC cruise or elsewhere. Then we both ordered the lamb chops and shared an ossobuco as our entrées. I also had bread with dinner for the first time, a GF roll to make sure that none of the delicious ossobuco sauce went to waste. I rarely have bread and butter at dinner, preferring to have bread with the sauce in my courses instead.

We had an Italian cabernet sauvignon with dinner, Cicogna, that we've had on previous US sailings. We finished our liquid grapes as dessert and headed to TSL for live music and a few more drinks, where we saw that the decorations were being augmented by lights and other details. We each had 2 rounds of our usual sidecar and old fashioned and headed to bed.

Day 6 next…

Day 4 Dinner menu:

Day 4 Lunch menu:

Day 4...

Another sea day today. We like the cadence of days at sea in between port days when the ports are new to us. The Caribbean doesn't offer as many new places for us, but the stops before the crossing on this cruise were all new to us, which was one of the big draws that led us to book this cruise.

Today we are heading to Funchal, Portugal, for our stop tomorrow. There was much ship movement overnight with doors slamming and other miscellaneous noises. We're not light sleepers so it was fine for us. Our walk-in closet door was one of the slamming sounds but we did not choose to secure it. We like to leave it open because the closet light is motion-activated and acts as our nightlight. I'm sure others do the same.

We had coffee and Baileys in our room and arrived at Le Muse just before closing time at 9am. We had 2 mimosas and 2 capuccinos each. BCD had the MSC Express with some pastries again and I had an egg white omelet with cheese and onion with a GF chocolate chip muffin.

As we ate, the sun started to come out but the seas were still quite choppy. We walked back to our cabin, picked up the newspaper and went to TSL to await the YC Cocktail Reception where all the ships' officers and YC staff are introduced at 11am.

They started with a "special" show for us -- a professional belly dancer. She danced quite a long routine and I felt that her glitzy style of dress (well, very little dress actually -- but quite glitzy) was a great fit with all the Italian style and Swarovski crystal of MSC.

Then the Cruise Director introduced the various YC staff, the ship's Hotel Director and the ship's Captain and we had the typical toast. I had champagne and BCD had a Bloody Mary for the toast.

This was one of the best receptions we've seen because after the formal presentations most of the staff hung around to visit each table in person, even each of the butlers. Every one of them tried to have a personal conversation at each table, which was a nice touch. Since we are only at ~50% capacity it was a doable undertaking and a pleasant surprise.

We were ready for lunch after the reception so we dropped our newspaper and devices at the cabin and proceeded to lunch. The walk aft to Le Muse was still a bit windy but there was much less chop in the water and the sun was shining brightly. There were even a few occupied loungers around the pools.

For lunch, I ordered the Mediterranean octopus and seafood salad and BCD had a Caesar salad with chicken. My salad was absolutely wonderful. I expected to enjoy it because of the octopus, but there were also shrimp, mussels, bay scallops and clams dressed with a light lemon vinaigrette. I would have loved to have another two for my entrée -- it was that good. But we had already ordered the grilled tuna so I resisted asking for more. The tuna in our entrées were both thick sliced and cooked how we each preferred. We again had the San Nicolas Sauvignon Blanc, 3 glasses each. BCD tried the Sour Cherry sundae for dessert and I had some fresh blueberries so he wouldn't be eating alone.

We headed back to the room afterwards and saw quite a few more people relaxing in loungers in the sunshine. BCD decided that he needed a short nap and I headed to the TSL for some champagne -- since it had been almost 3 hours since my last dosage. 😉

BCD joined me after a little while and we hung out in TSL until it was time to change for dinner. Tonight was Gala Night and we planned to dress accordingly -- he in a suit and tie and me in a dress and heels. One of the annoying things about having to walk back to Le Muse is passing all the photographers. Since we eat so late, they always try to stop us but we tell them that we're on the way to Le Muse and maybe we'd find them afterward. Usually when we're heading back to the YC it's around 10pm and they are no longer out in droves.

Dinner was excellent. We started with our usual glasses of champagne while we evaluated our menu options. We both opted for the scallops for a starter -- though in my dish they needed to omit the sauce to keep it GF. We both ordered the surf and turf for entrées and I was delighted that I could even have the béarnaise sauce (since the chef assured our server it was GF). We also shared the risotto with shrimp, courgettes and saffron, which was a risotto preparation we'd never had before and really liked. We had a cabernet sauvignon with our dinner. We were pleasantly full by then and headed back to TSL for some after dinner libations and live music. After 3 sidecars and 3 old fashioneds, we headed to bed.

Day 5 coming next…

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Do you know what champagne they have onboard?  I have noticed that you mentioned having it pre-meal a couple of times and was wondering what they might have for selections?

We do have champagne every night in Le Muse while we're deciding what to order. I also like it during the afternoon when we are in TSL. They are currently pouring Nicolas Feuillatte. We've also had Moët & Chandon as the house champagne on previous Divina sailings from Florida.

3 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

The MSC Divina and Queen Victoria on the webcam in Funchal today.

Indeed! We walked past the Queen Victoria on the way back to the ship. I have always like the look of the Cunard "ocean liners" -- as they call their ships. I have always wanted to sail from Hamburg to New York the way my immigrant Lithuanian great grandmother did, but I've never found an itinerary that worked for us. However, I'm not giving up the search! 🙂

19 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Is there a fixed wine list for Le Muse or is there a sommelier that will assist with selections.  I am not normally found of Chianti but I do enjoy a good Primitivo.

In our sailings in general, we've never seen a "fixed" wine list. Usually, the wines will vary depending on availability and whims of the staff of Le Muse. We were told there is no sommelier in Le Muse for this sailing. Our last two times on Divina, the maître d' was a former sommelier in Napa Valley, California, and chose the wines himself (that's Mauricio, if anyone knows him as well). He would often bring us "special selections" depending on the food we were eating or conversations we'd have with him about the grapes we preferred.

According to our maître d' now -- Mehmet from Turkey, the food and wine on this sailing are not the typical ones for a Caribbean sailing, as the ship is still stocked from the Mediterranean supply chain right now. Once the ship is home ported in the US, the supply chain will change and other foods/wines will start to appear and the menu may be tweaked.

We've enjoyed this chianti though I cannot recall the house. I'll try to get an image to share if we have it again. Primitivo is not a favorite of BCD, but I will have it when I'm having a dish where a tannic cabernet sauvignon is not what I want. I'll see if I can find what they have stocked for that grape.